Lendkey Review

Unlike some other services, Lendkey brings borrowers together with small banks and credit unions that can offer excellent loan terms but that don’t have their own online application process. Lendkey is a platform that lets you search hundreds of lenders for your best refinancing deal. The company is a third-party platform and not an actual lender, so your loan is not from them. As a bonus, Lendkey’s service is free. Simply visit the site, click on “Refinance Student Loan” and fill out an application. Lendkey will evaluate your information and show you only the offers for which you are eligible. Some banks require that you live in a specific area, or they have other standards you must meet. Of course, these banks have their own credit score and personal income standards that you must meet to be approved. Approval for a loan is not guaranteed.

Lendkey gives borrowers a wider pool of lenders than other similar sites. Their process is convenient and offers a number of options for student loans. For instance, you may choose a loan consolidation, which means combining several student loans into one, resulting in a much smaller monthly payment in many instances. Consolidation may allow you to release a cosigner from further responsibility. For, some that means freeing mom and dad from student financial obligations. In addition, you may be able to get a high-interest rate lowered so that you pay less over the life of the loan, depending on your monthly payment amount. Also, Lendkey has an excellent reputation among sites that rank these services, so you can feel confident that you are dealing with a qualified company.

The Better Business Bureau gives Lendkey an A+ rating, and sites such as Credit Donkey, Nerdwallet, College Investor, Student Loan Sherpa and others give Lendkey excellent ratings, generally between 4 and 5 stars. They acknowledge the advantage of Lendkey’s ties with small, quality banks, which offer borrowers more options to both potentially lower their interest rate and change the length of their loan. You aren’t stuck with only start-up lenders or the big names in banking. The online process is also relatively simple and straightforward.

Borrowers do need to understand that Lendkey is not involved in the actual loan. They do not back them or guarantee them. They are purely a third-party loan facilitator. Your legal obligations are to the bank or credit union.

Refinancing student loans helps many borrowers with heavy educational debt. When you refinance, you do have to consider whether doing so will be beneficial in the long run. You may want monthly financial relief so badly that you don’t consider if refinancing will cost more over the life of the loan. Some borrowers feel they must lower their monthly payments in order to meet their financial obligations. Others simply want more monthly cash at hand.

If you have a high interest rate, you can seek to lower it and then keep your payments the same as they are now, meaning you shorten the term of your loan but don’t improve your monthly obligation. This strategy does mean you pay less in total for your loan.

Also, if you refinance through a private lender, you will be ineligible for government loan relief programs including loan forgiveness for certain careers. You need to consider the long and short-term effects of refinancing your student loan debt.

When you first graduate college, you may not have the option to refinance. Perhaps your credit score is not great, and your starting salary is low. As time goes on, however, you may well qualify for better loan terms – terms that can shave thousands off your loan totals. If you haven’t researched your options recently, you should try Lendkey and see if you qualify for these better terms. You do not have to remain locked into a loan that costs too much.