SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) Education Financial Services (EFS) announced today that Navient will purchase a principal balance of $8.5 billion of Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans, which are included in Wells Fargo’s held-for-sale loan portfolio.
Due to a change in federal law, Wells Fargo has not issued federal student loans since June 30, 2010. This sale supports Wells Fargo’s ongoing strategic focus on its private student lending business.
“By selling these FFELP loans to Navient, Wells Fargo will be in a position to focus more on meeting the needs of our private student loan customers,” said John Rasmussen, head of Wells Fargo’s Education Financial Services. “We are deeply committed to the private student loan business because next to purchasing a home or saving for retirement, paying for an education is one of the most important financial events for our customers.”
Since 2011, these FFELP loans have been serviced by American Education Services (AES) and XEROX Education Services (ACS). The sale is expected to close in a series of transactions, substantially all of which are expected to be completed in fourth quarter 2014, subject to customary closing conditions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed and the sale is not material to Wells Fargo.
Wells Fargo EFS remains the nation’s largest private student lender among U.S. banks, and as of Sept. 30, 2014, served 1.3 million customers with $11.9 billion of balances outstanding.
About Wells Fargo Education Financial Services
Wells Fargo Education Financial Services has been in the student lending business since 1968 and currently serves more than 1.3 million student, parent and family private student loan customers in all 50 states. Wells Fargo provides private student loans directly to consumers, through the Internet and at more than 6,000 Wells Fargo banking stores to help customers finance their education. Wells Fargo Education Financial Services also provides customers with tools to help them succeed financially while in school and prepare them for when they finish college. Through the Wells Fargo Foundation, we partner with nonprofit organizations and stakeholders to strengthen our goal of providing high quality assistance to those individuals who are working to achieve their educational dreams. Learn more about Wells Fargo Education Financial Services.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.6 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,700 locations, 12,500 ATMs, and the internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 29 on Fortune’s 2014 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at Wells Fargo Blogs and Wells Fargo Stories.
