PROVIDENCE, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As part of its commitment to being a transparent lender, RBS Citizens Financial Group (RBSCFG) today announced the introduction of a new TruFit Student Loan Annual Summary to student loan borrowers and their parents or co-signers to help them effectively manage their student loans and be well prepared for life after graduation.
Traditionally, many lenders have shared student loan totals after a student graduates, right before it is time to start making payments. With these annual updates, Citizens Bank and Charter One TruFit Student Loan borrowers and their families now will have more visibility into their total debt and estimated monthly payment well in advance of graduation to help them adequately prepare and make sound borrowing choices while in school.
“We believe we are leading the industry with this effort to make it easier for our borrowers and co-signers to ‘know what they owe’ and plan their finances accordingly as students progress through college,” said Brendan Coughlin, President of Education Finance, RBS Citizens Financial Group. “As a transparent lender, we already work with our customers when they apply for a loan to help them find the solutions that are right for them, whether they be federal student loans or private student loans. The TruFit Student Loan Annual Summary extends that same level of transparency and support over the course of our customers’ college years. With this new tool, it will be easier for students to avoid surprises and prepare better for life after college by incorporating their future loan payments into their financial planning.”
The TruFit Student Loan Annual Summary provides Citizens Bank and Charter One student loan borrowers with the following details:
- Amount borrowed to date from Citizens Bank or Charter One
- Estimated monthly payments after graduation based on the total amount borrowed to date
- Date payments are scheduled to begin
These summaries, sent to student borrowers and co-signers for the first time this month, will be issued annually to TruFit Student Loan borrowers.
RBSCFG’s TruFit Student Loan is a private student loan available with a fixed or variable rate and flexible repayment terms of five, 10 or 15 years, giving students the choice to select the option that best fits their needs. Borrowers receive interest rate reductions for automating their payments.
As part of its dedication to students and its commitment to being transparent, RBSCFG has a dedicated team of customer service representatives who work with students to make sure they are aware of all of their funding options before determining if a private student loan is the best solution for them. It also works with schools to ensure that students only borrow what they need to pay for their education, including indirect costs like books and personal expenses.
RBSCFG also offers online tips and tools to help students prepare and save for college as well as student loan information on how to apply for financial aid, federal and private student loans. The site includes a financing calendar with important dates and deadlines for securing funding and a student loan calculator to help students determine how much they will need to borrow to pay for college and how much they will owe once they graduate.
About RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a $126 billion commercial bank holding company. It is headquartered in Providence, R.I., and through its subsidiaries has approximately 1,400 branches, more than 3,600 ATMs and nearly 19,000 colleagues. Its two bank subsidiaries are RBS Citizens, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. They operate a 12-state branch network under the Citizens Bank brand in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Charter One brand in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. RBSCFG has non-branch retail and commercial offices in more than 30 states. RBSCFG is owned by RBS (the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc). RBSCFG’s website is citizensbank.com.
