Splash Financial is a leading online platform that specializes in student loan refinancing. The platform aims to help borrowers secure lower interest rates and better repayment terms, ultimately allowing them to save money and simplify their debt management process.
Key Features and Benefits
Splash Financial offers a range of features and benefits that make it a standout choice for borrowers considering student loan refinancing:
- Competitive Interest Rates: One of the primary draws of Splash Financial is its competitive interest rates. By refinancing, borrowers can potentially secure lower rates, leading to substantial interest savings over the life of the loan.
- Flexible Repayment Options: Splash Financial provides borrowers with a variety of repayment plans to choose from, including fixed and variable rates, as well as multiple term lengths to align with individual financial goals.
- Simplified Application Process: The platform prides itself on a user-friendly application process, ensuring that borrowers can complete the refinancing process with ease, right from their computers.
- No Origination or Prepayment Fees: Splash Financial does not charge origination fees, and borrowers can make extra payments or pay off their loans early without facing prepayment penalties.
- Cosigner Release: After meeting specific credit and payment criteria, borrowers may have the option to release their cosigner from the loan, offering greater financial independence.
Check College Ave Student Loans Review
Application Process and Eligibility
The process of refinancing student loans through Splash Financial is straightforward:
- Complete Prequalification: Start by providing some basic information to check your eligibility and receive personalized refinancing offers.
- Choose Your Loan: Review the offers provided by Splash Financial, considering factors like interest rates, repayment terms, and monthly payments.
- Gather Documentation: Collect necessary documents, including proof of income, credit reports, and loan statements.
- Submit Application: Complete the online application by providing accurate information about yourself and your existing loans.
- Loan Review and Approval: Once your application is submitted, Splash Financial will review it and perform a credit check.
- Finalize Loan: If approved, review the final loan terms, sign the necessary documents, and your loans will be refinanced.
Considerations and Responsible Borrowing
While Splash Financial’s refinancing offers are attractive, responsible borrowing remains a priority:
- Evaluate Offers Carefully: Take time to thoroughly review the refinancing offers provided by Splash Financial, ensuring they align with your long-term financial goals.
- Consider All Factors: While a lower interest rate is enticing, also consider other factors such as the loss of federal benefits when refinancing federal loans.
- Compare Multiple Lenders: While Splash Financial offers competitive rates, it’s wise to compare multiple lenders to find the best deal for your specific situation.
Splash Financial Student Loan Pros And Cons
Pros
- No loan maximums
- Potential for excellent loan options
- Easier repayment plans for medical and dental school loans
- May be able to refinance student loans together with spouse
- No origination fees, application fees, or prepayment penalties
Cons
- May need to join a credit union
- Loan options vary among lenders
- Generally only available to people who’ve finished their degree
Splash Financial Student Loan Rates
Splash Financial’s discounts may vary by lender, but in general, you’re likely to receive a 0.25 percent discount for setting up autopay. Splash Financial’s rates below reflect this discount:
| Loan product | Variable rate | Fixed-rate |
|---|---|---|
| Private student loans | 5.32% to 16.20% APR (with autopay) | 4.43% to 14.90% APR (with autopay) |
| Student loan refinancing | 4.99% to 10.89% APR (with autopay) | 4.96% to 10.99% APR (with autopay) |
| Medical school loan refinancing | 6.45% to 9.32% APR (with autopay) | 6.54% to 9.41% APR (with autopay) |
Lenders Available Through Splash Financial
Splash Financial doesn’t offer student loans directly. Rather, it partners up with other lenders and compares your financial details with the requirements of each individual lender in its network to match you with the best options. If you like one of the offers, Splash Financial will facilitate your loan application with the lender, who’ll take it from there after your loan is disbursed.
Unfortunately, Splash Financial is relatively tight-lipped about how many—and which—lenders are in its network. That makes things tough if you’re still shopping on your own, because there’s no way to know if you’re reinventing the wheel by checking your rate with a lender you didn’t match with in Splash Financial’s network.
While we aren’t sure of all of the lenders in Splash Financial’s network, we can get clues about some of its partners from its website and various press releases over the years:
- Earnest
- PenFed Credit Union
- Bethpage Federal Credit Union
- First Tech Federal Credit Union
Check Credible Student Loans Reviews
Loan Eligibility and Approval
Specific loan eligibility requirements vary depending on each individual lender in Splash Financial’s network. However, when you compile them all together, we do have some information about who is eligible to apply:
- Location: Available in all 50 states, plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
- Residency: U.S. citizens and permanent residents
- Credit score: Recommended minimum of 640
- Types of loans: Private student loans, and student loan refinancing for federal and private loans; parents are able to refinance loans they took out for their child’s education
- Degree completion: Required, unless you’re getting certain associate degrees, you’re in your last semester, and you have a related job offer4
Are Co-Signers Required?
Splash Financial is not currently offering co-signers. However, Splash continues to allow you to refinance your spouse’s loans under your own name to combine all student loans into one loan and one payment.5
Is Loan Pre-Qualification Available?
Yes. You can fill out a form on Splash Financial’s website in a few short minutes and get a rate estimate from its partner lenders. Splash Financial uses a soft credit check for this part, so there’s no impact on your credit score.
Length of Time for Loan Approval and Disbursement
It only takes a few minutes to see if you’re pre-qualified for a loan, but after that, Splash Financial doesn’t say how long it actually takes to complete the loan approval process. Typically, with most lenders, it’ll only take a few days at most unless they need to do extra work to verify your information.
Once you’re approved for a refinance, however, it could take between three days to two weeks before your old student loans are closed out and your new account is set up.6
Splash Financial Student Loan Fees and Repayment Options
The specific details of the student loans available through Splash Financial vary, but they do have some commonalities.
Loan Fees
Splash Financial itself doesn’t charge any fees. Nor can you expect its partner lenders to charge any application, origination, or prepayment fees. However, after that, each lender may differ in terms of what loan fees they charge, if any (such as late fees, or returned payment fees).7
Loan Discounts
Since Splash Financial doesn’t charge you anything for its service, there aren’t any discounts it can offer. Some of the individual lenders may offer autopay or other discounts, but you’ll need to verify that based on your lender match results.
Splash Financial Student Loan Repayment Options
The specific repayment options available to you depend on the lender that Splash Financial matches you with, and they could vary. However, we do have some information about what you might be able to expect.
- Grace period: If you’re applying for new private student loans, you’ll benefit from a nine-month grace period before you have to start repaying your loans after you graduate (six months is the norm). During this time, your payments are deferred, but interest will still accrue.
- Term lengths: You may be able to choose loan term lengths of 5, 7, 10, 12, or 15 years if you’re applying for private student loans while you’re still in school.8
- Medical and dental school repayment: Refinance your med or dental school loans and you’ll only have to make fixed monthly payments of $100 while you’re in a residency or fellowship, and for a six-month period after you leave those programs.
Rewards
If you like Splash Financial and you have some friends or family members who might benefit from it too, you can give them a custom referral link.
If they check their rate and get pre-qualified for a refinance student loan (with no obligation to apply), you’ll get paid between $10 and $20 per person, depending on how many people use your referral link. If they use Splash Financial to refinance at least $30,000 in student loans, you and your friend will be paid an additional $200.11
Loan Forbearance and Discharge Options
Each partner lender that Splash Financial matches you with will vary in terms of their forbearance and discharge policies. You’ll want to make sure to understand under what circumstances your loan will be discharged, if any, and what your forbearance options are before you sign on any dotted lines.
Is Student Loan Refinancing Available?
Yes. Although Splash Financial does allow you to apply for private student loans through Earnest if you’re still in school, it’s mainly used by people looking to refinance the student loans they already have.
Splash Financial’s partner lenders offer the following terms on student loan refinances:7
- Fixed rates: 4.96%–9.99% APR (with autopay)
- Variable rates: 4.99%–9.99% APR (with autopay)
- Term lengths: Varies by a lender; you’ll need to apply and see what you’re offered
- Loan amounts: $5,000 minimum, no upper limit on loan amount
How To Apply For A Loan With Splash
Applying for a Splash Financial Student Loan
To get started, you’ll create an account and fill out a brief pre-qualification form on Splash Financial’s website. From there, Splash will present you with a range of pre-qualified offers from lenders within its network. You can keep shopping around on your own, or you can start an application for one of your pre-qualified offers.
The specific information and documents you’ll need to provide in your application depend on the lender. However, most lenders will require the same few items. Take a few minutes to get these documents together before you apply so you can speed up the application process:
- Most recent pay stub
- Copy of your official photo ID
- Most recent tax return, if you’re self-employed
- Payoff Verification Statement from your current student loan lender
If you’re still in school and looking for private student loan options, remember to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) before getting any private loans. This lets you apply for federal student loans first, which usually offer much better terms and benefits than private student loan lenders.
Alternative Choices
| Splash Financial | Laurel Road | Education Loan Finance (ELFI) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loan types offered | Refinance; various student loans through partners | Refinance; refinance for medical professionals | Undergraduate; graduate; parent |
| Student loan refinance fixed APR | 4.96%–9.99% | 5.49%–11.24% | 5.08%–8.04% |
| Student loan refinance variable APR | 4.99%–9.99% | 5.24%–11.14% | 5.28%–8.99% |
| Origination/administrative fee | None | None | None |
| Repayment options | Deferred; fixed payment (med and dental students; interest-only; full payment | Fixed payment; variable-rate payment | Deferment; fixed; interest-only; full payment |
| Refinancing available | Yes | Yes | Yes
|
Customer Service
It’s fairly easy to get ahold of a live person with Splash Financial. Customer service hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Time, which is quite a broad range. There are also plenty of ways to contact customer service.
- By phone: (800) 349-3938
- By email: [email protected]
- By mail: Splash Financial, 812 Huron Rd E Ste 350, Cleveland, OH 44115
- By live chat: On Splash Financial’s website
It’s important to note that Splash Financial is not who you’ll be working with the entire time you have the loan. Its customer service team will only be able to really help navigate the sometimes-tricky process of getting the loan in the first place. After that, your main contact will be whoever services your student loan.
Conclusion
Splash Financial’s student loan refinancing program offers borrowers a way to alleviate the burden of student loan debt. With competitive interest rates, flexible repayment options, and a straightforward application process, Splash Financial empowers borrowers to take control of their financial future.
As you navigate the refinancing landscape, remember to carefully consider the benefits and potential trade-offs, and make a decision that aligns with your unique financial goals. Student loan refinancing can be a pivotal step towards achieving financial freedom and regaining control of your economic journey.