5 Credit Unions Who Offer Student Loan Refinancing

Make your student loan refinancing is possible and get the best attainable benefits by seeking the right lender. If you haven’t found the right lender or if you are confused to choose among the available lenders, then this article will be guiding you through one of the options for refinancing student loans. Credit Unions have recently added refinancing to their list of offers. Different Credit unions vary in terms of their features, membership policies, eligibility criteria, terms, and conditions. Know more about Credit Union student refinancing loans in this article.

Student loan refinancing is a good option for reducing your interest rates and to have some useful additional benefits. But it is more important to make the right choice in selecting the best lender for refinancing your student loans. Different types of lenders offer student loan refinancing. Private banks, online lenders, like Sallie Mae and credit unions offer student loan refinancing.

Table of contents

What is a Credit Union
5 Credit Unions that refinance student loans
Why Refinance with Credit Unions
Features of credit unions

What is a Credit Union?

Credit Unions are financial institutions that help people achieve their goals by providing financial assistance. Credit unions don’t aim at earning profits, instead, the main purpose of credit unions is to serve their members. Credit Unions offer low fees, low-interest rates on loans, they provide higher interest rates on your savings. At a credit union, one member’s savings can become another member’s loan.

Credit Unions are owned by the members and they elect a volunteer board of directors. Becoming a member of the credit union is very essential to avail of the privileges offered by it. Usually, a one-time membership fee and a deposit of up to $25 is enough to stay as a member. Membership does not guarantee you with all the available services, there might be eligibility criteria that a member must possess to qualify for specific benefits or services.

5 Credit Unions that refinance student loans

National credit unions for student loan refinancing are the Navy federal credit union and PenFed credit union. The refinancing process happens online. To refinance with the Navy federal credit union you must always be a member or must have served in the U.S armed /Department of defense. By being a member you receive multiple benefits like the convenient banking process, eligible for discounts, low charging fees, and home loans too. To be eligible to hold a membership of PenFed Credit Union you must have worked at the American Red Cross or the U.S. Department of Energy.

There are many credit unions available, but not all of them offer student loan refinancing. You need to explore and compare all the credit unions that provide student loan refinancing. You must have a clear knowledge of the interest rates and other features associated with refinancing student loans through a credit union.

The table lists a few important credit unions, their features, and eligibility criteria, that offer student loan refinancing.

Lenders	Suitable for	Fixed APR	Variable APR	Min.Credit Score
PENFED	Suitable for Married couples to refinance their student loans into a single one	3.48 - 6.03%	2.32 - 7.06%	670
LendKey	Has Payment flexibility	3.39 - 7.75%	1.90 - 8.59%	660
Navy Federal	Borrowers with an associate degree	4.29 - 12.46%	4.96 - 12.84%	Not disclosed
First Tech	Borrowers who will have better income over time	3.20 - 7.15%	N/A	Not disclosed
Ardent	Borrowing for working professionals	2.49 - 9.75%	3.49 - 7.75%	Not disclosed

The table mentions the refinancing interest rates at which you can refinance your student loans.

Alliant Credit Union

Note: Alliant Credit Union is no longer accepting applications for Student Loans and refinancing as well. Besides Alliant Credit Union, you can explore many other options by reading Best companies to refinance your student loan with.

PENFED

Penfed does not require you to be in military service. They offer student loan refinancing. They provide an online tool that helps the user to consolidate their loans. Purefy is a partner of PenFed. You can apply online for a credit check and retrieve information about interest payments etc.

Fixed-rate - 3.23%
Variable-rate - 2.58%
Loan term - 5- 15 years
Borrowing Limits - 300,000 dollars

LendKey

One of the benefits of LendKey is a soft credit check. Their application process is faster and easily done via the online process. They provide personalized student loan refinancing offers from credit unions and other lenders. This helps to compare interest rates and other benefits.

Fixed rates - 2.99%
Variable rates - 1.99%
Loan term - 5 - 20 years
Borrowing limits - $175,000

Navy Federal

Like the other lenders, the Navy Federal credit union also offers information online for both comparing and the application process. Navy Federal Credit Union
are for those who are members of serving or served the U.S. Armed Forces /worked in defense.

Fixed rates - 2.89%
Variable rates - 3.39%
Loan term - 5 - 20 years
Borrowing limits - $175,000

First Tech

They provide flexible repayment options and gives auto pay choice for providers to manage their loans online with ease. Below are their rates and duration of loans.

Fixed rates - 3.05%
Variable rates -9.00%
Loan term -15 years
Borrowing limits-$500,000

Ardent

They provide competitive interest rates and reduce the interest rates by 0.25% on autopay.

Fixed rates -4.89%
Variable rates -3.89%
Loan term -15 years
Borrowing limits-$100,000

Why refinance with Credit Unions?

Credit unions offer services like providing loans, managing accounts, consolidating loans, and refinancing. They also offer specific services for students, one among them is student loan refinancing. You must choose the best credit union for student loan refinancing.

Credit Unions can be a smart option for refinancing student loans.
Refinancing student loans through a credit union are similar to that of refinancing student loans through private banks or online lenders. As there are many credit unions available you have to choose wisely among them to get better rates.
As said above, credit unions are non-profit financial institutions which makes them more flexible in their underwriting standards. They also offer competitive interest rates with a member-oriented model of service. A credit union student loan refinances lender may be appropriate for you if you prefer credit unions over banks and other lenders.

But always remember to explore more student loan refinancing options. You may end up finding a better lender than a credit union. To avoid the burdens of finding lenders to refinance your student loans in the later stages better think wisely when borrowing a student loan. Explore the best student loans available and learn about them to have clear knowledge and avoid future issues.

Features of Credit Union

Credit Unions work only to serve its members. Credit unions do not aim at gaining huge profits. As said before, unlike banks and online lenders, credit unions require membership and are non-profit institutions.

As credit unions are nonprofits, they repay their members in a few ways. Some credit unions reward their student loan refinance customers for staying active with their loans. Credit Unions offer loans using the savings that are invested by the members of the same credit union. One member’s saving helps offer loans to other members of the credit union. This makes money flow only within the credit union.
It is not always the best to go through a credit union for refinancing your student loans, there are many other options available. There may be other lenders too who provide refinancing options at a lower rate when compared to some credit unions. So make sure you choose the best lender for refinancing your student loans.
Credit Unions serve as the best option to refinance your student loans, only if you do not find a better option with comparatively better rates. Though credit unions do not have grater drawbacks, its membership policies may be slightly rigid.

To enjoy the benefits offered by credit unions you must have enrolled as a member of that credit union first. Some credit unions demand the member to be from a specific geographical location. They might be given specific or limited repayment terms only. You can choose a credit union for refinancing your student loans only if you feel that they offer maximum benefits when compared to other lenders. Credit unions also offer student loans at good rates. Check out for the Credit union student loans so that your spectrum of lender options widen up.