Source: CommonBond
It’s that time of year when recent college graduates have to start paying back their student loans – “grace period” is ending, and Fifth Third Bank has a solution. By teaming up with CommonBond, a leading financial technology company, Fifth Third Bank is providing its customers with solutions that could help them save money on their student loans.
“Fifth Third is working hard to help our customers achieve their goals, and we know that student debt is the single largest obstacle for many of our millennial customers,” said Ben Hoffman, head of Fintech Investing and Partnerships and co-head of Strategy for Fifth Third Bancorp. “We are proud to offer our customers an industry-leading product and experience with CommonBond to help them better manage their student debt and accelerate their path to financial independence.”
CommonBond finances and refinances student loans, and works with businesses to help their employees pay off student loans. The company, which was recently named one of TIME magazine’s 50 Genius Companies, is known for its advanced technology, competitive rates, and award-winning customer service. CommonBond is also the only finance company with a one-for-one social mission: for every loan funded through CommonBond, the company also funds the education of a child in need.
"We are thrilled to team up with Fifth Third to offer CommonBond student loan refinancing to Fifth Third customers,” said David Klein, CEO and co-founder of CommonBond. “With this partnership we are combining the best of financial technology and banking to make personal finance better for consumers. Both companies value delivering great financial products to customers, building long-lasting brands that matter, and having outsized impact on communities across the U.S.”
The first payment for many student loans is due six months after graduation, meaning that many 2018 graduates will begin their payments this time of year. The average college debt for a 2017 graduate is $39,400, up 6 percent from the prior year.
Fifth Third Bank invested in CommonBond earlier this year and will now work with CommonBond to offer a student loan refinancing solution to Fifth Third customers paying down student debt. This builds on prior success for both companies in this space. CommonBond has surpassed $2.5 billion in loans funded, and Fifth Third has helped customers in accelerating the pay down of more than $1 million in student debt, a year after launching Fifth Third MomentumSM.