While private student loans typically have much higher rates of interest as compared to federal student loans, private lenders often offer a discount on a student loan interest rate if you meet their qualifying criteria. These are some of the private student loan interest rate discounts that you may qualify for:
Auto-Debit Student Loan Interest Rate Discount
This is the most common type of private student loan interest rate discount. You may qualify for an auto-debit discount if you transfer your monthly payments automatically from your bank account. Which is easier than manually writing out checks to the lender every month.
Some lenders may also require you to agree to receive notifications and billing electronically. That saves them the cost of printing and mailing and these savings pass on to you as a discount.
Graduation Student Loan Discount
Graduating within the stipulated time frame can also qualify you for a private student loan discount. This is because borrowers who graduate on time are less likely to default on their loans.
Students who qualify may get a 1% or 2 % reduction on the loan or the discount may be applied as a specific dollar amount.
Customer Appreciation Discount
Banks often offer customer appreciation discounts to borrowers who have an existing account with the bank from which they are taking a student loan. You may also qualify for a customer appreciation discount if your co-signer has a qualifying consumer checking account.
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