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Refinancing with Citizens One is a great option, especially if you didn’t graduate. The lender can help lower your rate, extend your repayment term and reduce your monthly payment for both federal and private loans. Instead of managing several loans and making multiple separate monthly payments, you’ll just deal with one consolidated loan from one lender.
Also, see the $300 bonus offer for student loan refinancing from Splash Financial.
Citizens One In A Nutshell
| Loan Terms | 5, 7, 10, 15 or 20 years |
| Loan Amounts | $10,000 – $350,000 |
| Loan Types | Variable, fixed |
| Parent Loan Refinancing | Yes |
| Cosigner | Yes |
| Loyalty Discount | 0.25% |
| AutoPay Discount | 0.25% |
Citizens One Features
Citizens One offers education refinancing loans for federal and private loans, including Parent PLUS, Stafford and GradPLUS. By refinancing, you can consolidate all your loans together into one easy payment to one lender. Unique features include:
Degree Not Required
Not at all the norm, Citizens One will refinance your student debt even if you left school before graduating. Take charge of your student loans, even if you don’t have a degree.
Cosigners Accepted
If you have less than perfect credit, or no credit history, we recommend you apply with a qualified cosigner. Doing so will help you get a lower interest rate.
Cosigner Release
After making 36 consecutive on-time payments, you can apply to release your cosigner from the loan. This improves the cosigner’s debt-to-income ratio and credit score, and makes it possible for them to get a good deal on another loan.
Parent Loan Refinancing
Parents can refinance one or more student loans – that they have taken out themselves or cosigned on behalf of others – into a new single loan with a new interest rate, payment amount and term. The student’s level of education doesn’t affect how much a parent can borrow, and the student can still be in school when the parent decides to refinance.
Citizens One Rates & Fees
The company offers loans with either variable or fixed interest rates. Variable rates change and reflect market rates, which means your monthly payment can change as well. With a fixed rate, your interest rate and monthly payment stay constant for the duration of your loan. Although a fixed rate loan may have a higher interest rate, you won’t have to worry about rate fluctuations and changes to your payment amount so you can better plan for the future.
According to the company, Citizens One customers save an average of $2,544 a year. If you want to know what your refinancing interest rate will be, you can do a rate check without it affecting your credit score. The lender’s “Get My Rate” tool only uses a soft pull, so your credit score won’t take a hit. If you choose to complete your application, that’s when Citizens One will make a hard inquiry.
Interest Rate Discounts
Reduce your interest rate even further with the following discounts:
- Loyalty discount: 0.25% off your interest rate if you or your cosigner has a qualifying account with Citizens One when you submit a completed application.
- Automatic payment discount: 0.25% off your interest rate by authorizing Citizens One to automatically deduct your payments each month from a bank account.
No Fees
Citizens One does not charge any application, origination or prepayment penalty fees.
Citizens One Eligibility
In order to apply for student loan refinancing with Citizens One, you must:
- Be a United States citizen, permanent resident or resident alien with a valid Social Security Number.
- Not be currently attending school.
- At least $10,000 in student debt.
- Have made at least 12 qualifying payments after leaving school, if you are applying with an associate’s degree or with no degree.
Citizens One requires a “reasonably strong credit history,” but doesn’t specify a minimum credit score. The lender does have a minimum household income limit of $24,000, for either you or your cosigner.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for competitive rates and special features, Citizens One could be a good fit, especially if you didn’t graduate with a degree. However, before you settle on a lender to refinance your student debt, compare multiple options to make sure you’re getting the best deal for your financial profile.
To see multiple refinance offers at once, check out LendKey.
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