Company's 2025 Annual Impact Report highlights significant outcomes as AI innovation democratizes personalized financial guidance at scale

Candidly, the market's only AI-driven student debt and savings optimization platform, today announced key achievements in its 2025 Annual Impact Report, including $2.3 billion in projected student debt impact and $66 million in projected additional retirement savings. The year also marked the launch of Cait, Candidly's Conversational AI Tool, and the Candidly Intelligence Center, a multi-agent AI platform that democratizes access to personalized financial guidance at scale.

Candidly's launch of Cait addresses a critical gap in financial guidance accessibility, moving beyond simplistic chatbots to deliver comprehensive expertise across the full education financing lifecycle and its interplay with every other aspect of financial decisions, chiefly focused on retirement savings. The platform's strong adoption reflects its effectiveness at translating complex financial concepts into actionable steps:

• 71% of users click through to relevant next steps when suggested by Cait — compared to a typical 50% product exploration rate without Cait, showing the technology effectively guides users to take meaningful financial action
• 61% of returning users explore new topics with Cait, indicating the platform serves users across different life stages, from managing existing debt to planning for education expenses for themselves or their families.

Candidly's core solutions continued to deliver meaningful impact in 2025 amid ongoing uncertainty in the student loan landscape:

• Core Platform: Users who qualified for new federal repayment plans achieved an average $337 monthly reduction on their student loan bills, unlocking $146M in total projected student debt impact and saving an average of 33 months off student debt repayment through smart payments
• Student Loan Employer Contributions: $73 million in total employer contributions facilitated in 2025, with 73% reduction in likelihood of turnover among participating employees
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness: 61% of PSLF applications submitted through the platform came from first-time applicants, showing the power of the platform to educate, inform, and facilitate enrollment
• Student Loan Retirement Match: 52% reduction in likelihood of turnover among enrolled employees, with $62,275 in average projected additional retirement savings per participant
• Coaching: Expanded beyond student debt to cover full spectrum of education financing, achieving 9.7/10 average post-call satisfaction score and $18,258 average per-user projected student debt impact

The company also saw substantial business growth, with a 121% increase in the number of new employers offering Candidly in 2025.

“In 2025, we demonstrated that AI can democratize financial guidance at scale without sacrificing experiences rich in empathy,” said Laurel Taylor, Founder and CEO of Candidly. “When we see 71% of users taking meaningful action, we know we're onto something big, making sophisticated yet simple financial expertise accessible to everyone. We're not just helping people manage debt. We're expanding access to wealth-building opportunities that have been out of reach for millions of Americans.”

The company's work gained significant recognition throughout 2025, earning the Fintech Breakthrough Award for Best Student Loan Management Platform for the third consecutive year. Candidly was also named to Forbes' Best Startup Employers list, while CEO Taylor received individual honors including Inc. Magazine's Female Founders recognition and the American Fintech Council’s Exceptional Woman in Fintech award. Beyond industry accolades, Taylor was featured at the World Economic Forum in Davos and Candidly was subsequently invited to serve as one of only 100 global companies as a Technology Pioneer to the World Economic Forum. Candidly also hosted its inaugural HR Leadership Summit, bringing together workplace leaders to discuss how AI is shaping the future of work.

The 2025 Candidly Impact Report is available here: https://getcandidly.com/2025-candidly-impact-report/

Projected impact is based on platform data, user inputs, and program assumptions. Individual outcomes vary and are not guaranteed.

About Candidly

Candidly is on a mission to empower Americans to pay off debt while simultaneously building wealth.

Since our founding in 2016, we've been defining what's new, now, and next as the category leading AI-first technology platform powering financial wellness — with comprehensive employee benefit solutions that help the modern workforce plan for college, repay student debt, and build savings. Through our partnerships with leading employers, workplace service providers, and financial institutions, Candidly is positioned to serve 1 in 2 U.S. workers.

Candidly is backed by leading venture capital and strategic investors including Altos Ventures, Breton Capital, Cercano Management, Rethink Impact, Salesforce Ventures, and several additional notable investors. For more information, visit www.getcandidly.com.

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“In 2025, we demonstrated that AI can democratize financial guidance at scale without sacrificing experiences rich in empathy,” said Laurel Taylor, Founder and CEO of Candidly.