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Citizens Bank introduces refinance loan for student loan borrowers

Citizens Bank Education Refinance Loan offers new option for borrowers after leaving school; latest part of Bank Better initiative to make banking simple, clear and personal for customers

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Citizens Bank today announced the introduction of the Citizens Bank Education Refinance Loan, creating a new option for students looking to refinance their private student loan debt. Designed to help simplify private student loan payments, the loan enables borrowers to refinance or consolidate their private student loans at a competitive rate with flexible repayment terms.

“Private student loan borrowers have historically had a limited number of refinancing options available to them,” said Brendan Coughlin, Head of Education and Auto Finance for RBS Citizens Financial Group. “After graduation, many students successfully build their credit and are off to a promising start to their career, and they deserve more flexibility regarding their student loans. As part of our company-wide Bank Better program making banking simple, clear and personal for our customers, our new Education Refinance Loan offers qualified borrowers an option to change the terms of their loans to better meet their current life situation.”

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With no prepayment penalties, the Citizens Bank Education Refinance Loan provides borrowers with the potential benefits of a single monthly private student loan payment, refinancing a variable rate into a fixed interest rate loan and potentially lowering the interest rate and/or lowering the borrower’s monthly payment. The loan offers interest rates as low as 2.82 percent. There are no application, origination or disbursement fees, and refinancing is available with either a fixed or variable rate. Borrowers and co-signers with a prior TruFit Student Loan or qualifying Citizens Bank account receive a 0.25 percent interest rate reduction on their loan. Detailed information on qualifications required for the loan is available on the Citizens Bank website.

As part of its commitment to students through the life of their student loans, Citizens Bank has created a number of resources to aid borrowers in making the decision of whether refinancing is right for them, including decision-making guides and loan estimators from Citizens Bank, as well as a dedicated team of education finance specialists who work with students to make sure they are aware of all of their options.

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The Education Refinance Loan follows the recent introduction of the Citizens Bank TruFit Annual Summary. The annual summary provides annual updates on loan amount and repayment so students and their families have more visibility into their total debt and estimated monthly payment well in advance of graduation to help them effectively manage their student loans and be well prepared for life after graduation.

Citizens Bank Education Finance products include the TruFit Student Loan for undergraduate and graduate students, and the new Education Refinance Loan.

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