How to Make Student Loan Refinancing a Cinch

For borrowers who are eligible, the decision to refinance student loans is typically a no-brainer. Not only does refinancing allow you to choose between lower monthly payments and a shorter payment term, but it also lets you consolidate your monthly bill and – most importantly – save a significant amount of money over the life of the loan.

But even if you’re excited about the idea of sticking it to your student loans, you may be concerned about how much work will be involved in the refinancing process. Which is understandable, given that most important financial transactions involve a mountain of paperwork and multiple calls to an unhelpful customer service center.

The good news is that student loan refinancing doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, at SoFi we’re focused on making our application experience as fast and easy as possible. And if you know what the process entails at the outset, you’ll be better prepared to breeze through it and be on your way – savings in hand.

Want to refinance in a flash? These tips will help make the process a cinch:

1. Know your loan info
If it’s been a while since you’ve thought about your student loans, you may need to spend a few minutes getting reacquainted. In particular, you’ll need to know the servicer for each of your loans. You can find your federal loan information using the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). For private loans, check your monthly statements or contact your school’s financial aid administrator. You can also pull your credit report to find your loans and loan servicers listed there.

2. Gather your documents
There are only a few documents required in the application process, most of which can be easily found in your wallet, mailbox or online. If you have everything on-hand before starting the application, it decreases the chance that you’ll get stuck at the document upload stage.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Income verification (paystub within last 30 days)
• Identity information (driver’s license, birth certificate, military ID, US passport, social security card, certificate of citizenship, certificate of nationalization)
• Address verification (utility bill, bank statement, credit card bill)
• Loan statement

3. Find out your 10-day pay-off number
In order to pay your existing loan balance in full, your new lender will need to know the exact payoff amount – which can be a bit of a moving target when you factor in interest and fees. Luckily, it only takes a few easy steps to get the 10-day payoff amount from your current lenders. SoFi actually includes instructions for obtaining this information from each servicer in the refi application process.

4. Get to know your new lender
It goes without saying that customer service should be a big factor in choosing a refinance lender. At SoFi, our team is always standing by to answer questions and make the application process as painless as possible. The SoFi online application is known for being extremely easy to use, but if you’d prefer to have a person walk you through it, we’ve got you covered there, too.

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If you want to get the benefits of refinancing, the application process is a necessary step. However, it doesn’t have to be a painful one. Our borrowers tell us that the SoFi app process takes about 15 minutes to complete, and can be even faster if you have all the necessary information on-hand.