My answer directly inspired from @valex very usefull, if you need several cols in the ORDER BY clause.
SELECT u.*
FROM users AS u
INNER JOIN (
SELECT p.*,
@num := if(@id = user_id, @num + 1, 1) as row_number,
@id := user_id as tmp
FROM (SELECT * FROM payments ORDER BY p.user_id ASC, date DESC) AS p,
(SELECT @num := 0) x,
(SELECT @id := 0) y
)
ON (p.user_id = u.id) and (p.row_number=1)
WHERE u.package = 1