275 Community Banks Offer Student Loans with ICBA and iHELP®

Washington, D.C. (Nov. 3, 2016)—Today, the Independent Community Bankers of America^® (ICBA) and iHELP announced that 275 ICBA community bank members have committed to helping young adults meet the challenges of funding a higher education through the iHELP private student loan program, which helps students bridge the gap between scholarships, federal loans, and the final cost of tuition.  So far, community banks have provided $92 million in private student loans.

“Rising costs of tuition has been a challenge for families who prioritize higher education as a means of personal and professional growth,” said Dan Clancy, ICBA executive vice president of services.  “For six years, the iHELP program has been successfully working with community banks to serve these families with low-cost, transparent loans.”

The iHELP private student loan program is designed specifically for community banks, which have identified a need for higher education funding based on the needs of their customers and local community. iHELP® is an end to end private student loan solution which provides exceptional personalized service for the bank’s customers along with full lender support to ensure all compliance and regulations are followed without the need for additional bank staffing.

Through iHELP, ICBA community bank members have the opportunity to participate in the student loan space where performance has been impressive. On average, lenders are receiving a net return of 4.8% on an insured product (principal and interest are paid back to banks on defaulted loans).  Since the program’s inception in 2010, defaults have been less than 0.8%.

The iHELP program is administered by Reunion Student Loan Finance Corporation who performs all loan origination and servicing support to ensure a turnkey program for participating banks.  ICBA banks can also expand their services to include student loan consolidation services to college graduates, offering a single iHELP Consolidation Loan with a fixed or variable rate of interest.

Dick Behl, president of Farmers & Merchants State Bank in Scotland, SD said “We got into the iHELP program because it was a turnkey operation” which creates a partnership between originating banks, participating banks and SFLC, resulting in “a better product for all involved.”

To learn more about the program or get to started providing another great service to your customers call Spencer Aberle at 800-645-1608.