CommonBond Launches Most Comprehensive Employee Student Loan Repayment Benefit in the U.S.

NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CommonBond, a leading marketplace lending platform that lowers the cost of student loans for borrowers and provides financial returns to investors, today announced it will provide each company employee up to $100 every month, or $1,200 each year, to help pay down their loans. The benefit will last until the loan is fully paid off, so long as the person is employed at CommonBond.

Outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. has surpassed $1.3 trillion, and with the average debt of recent college graduates at a record high of $35,000, student loans are a top concern among millennials.

"Half of our team is currently paying off student loans, so we decided to launch this benefit to help our team reduce their monthly student loan payments," said CommonBond CEO and Co-Founder David Klein. "Our team members are very excited about it, and so am I."

In addition to offering this as a benefit to its employees, CommonBond is also partnering with companies to provide low-cost student loan refinancing options to their employees. Borrowers save over $14,000 on average when they refinance through CommonBond. 

Millennials now represent one-third of the US workforce, and many companies are seeking ways to source and retain top millennial talent. With 77% of millennials citing debt reduction as the key step they are taking to plan for retirement, student loan assistance is starting to move to the top of list of benefits that companies want to provide.

In September, global consulting and accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers announced it would offer a student loan benefit to its associates and senior associates for up to six years. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, just 3% of companies offer a student loan-related benefit.

Of CommonBond's employees, many of whom are millennials, about 50% have outstanding student loan debt that averages close to $40,000. 

"This is an incredible benefit to offer," said Nikki Singh, CommonBond's Director of Campus Relations, who plans to use the matching program to help pay down her remaining business school debt. "It makes sense given who we are as a company and our commitment to making education more accessible by easing the burden of student debt."

Tom Blair, a software developer at CommonBond who will apply the benefit to help pay down the $15,000 in loans from his undergraduate degree at Syracuse University said, "The fact that CommonBond is proactively helping employees pay down student debt speaks volumes about the organization and its focus on people." 

"We have always believed in using business as a force for positive change," Klein said. "This applies both externally in serving our customers and social mission as well as internally in taking care of our team."

About CommonBond 

CommonBond is a leading marketplace lending platform that lowers the cost of student loans for borrowers and provides financial returns to investors. Started by three Wharton MBAs with backgrounds in finance, CommonBond delivers best-in-class student loan options with competitive pricing, a simple tech-enabled experience and exceptional customer service that is empowered to help borrowers. The company saves borrowers more than $14,000 on average, over the life of the loan. CommonBond is the first company to bring the "one-for-one" social model to finance: For every degree fully funded on the company's platform, CommonBond funds the education of a student in need for a full year, through a partnership with Pencils of Promise. For more information, visit http://www.commonbond.co.

SOURCE CommonBond

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http://www.commonbond.co