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  • Writer's pictureNathan Zarcaro

[2023] Splash Financial Student Loan Refinancing Review

Updated: May 19, 2023

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​Check your refinancing interest rate using this link, and $5 will be yours! See the FAQ below for more details.

Minimum Loan Amount

​$5,000

​Maximum Loan Amount

No maximum

​Variable APR

Starting at 3.99%

​Fixed APR

Starting at 4.39%

Term of Loan

5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25 years

​Student Debt Destroyer Rating

​4.75/5


Summary


Splash Financial is a great option for prospective student loan refinancers that want to rate shop, but don't have the time or the energy to do so alone. If you want to view quotes from multiple different lenders, this is the marketplace for you.



What is Splash Financial?


Splash Financial is a student loan refinancing company that offers competitive interest rates and a number of flexible repayment terms to college graduates looking to limit the impact of their remaining student loan debt.


Splash is best known for offering refinancing loans without any origination or prepayment penalties whatsoever. As a business, Splash Financial's model is similar to LendKey, as both can be thought of as student loan marketplaces.


These online marketplaces help student loan borrowers find a lender to help them lower their monthly payments. By partnering with banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions, Splash is able to help you find a new lender that works best for your financial situation.


Founded in 2013, its' marketplace allows you to prequalify and receive a rate before you commit. To do so, you'll need to:


  1. Prequalify online to determine what interest rates are available to you (this will require a soft credit check which will not impact your credit)

  2. Complete an online application

  3. Once approved (after a hard credit check), you'll need to finalize the process by selecting your loan terms



A Splash Financial refinancing review


The rest of this article will serve as a review of the refinancing experience with Splash Financial, both in terms of the customer service experience and in terms of the program's requirements and terms.



Splash Financial refinancing eligibility


To qualify for refinancing, you'll likely need to meet the following criteria:


  1. Earn at least $25,000 per year (proof of income required)

  2. Have a minimum credit score of 660

  3. Have a maximum debt-to-income ratio of 40-45%

  4. Be a United States citizen, legal resident, or qualifying visa holder

  5. Have attended a participating Title IV school


You also must be a college graduate with at least an associate's degree, or a parent of a student or college graduate. Finally, borrowers must have graduated from an accredited college or university in the previous five years, or they otherwise will need an undergraduate degree to be eligible.


To be honest, I am impressed by these offerings and eligibility guidelines. Not only does Splash offer more flexibility than many other refinancing lenders on the market, but they also have lesser eligibility requirements.


Lenders such as SoFi, for instance, require many borrowers to have credit scores over 700!




Terms and fees


Like many student loan refi lenders on the market, you'll be able to pick from a variety of terms that work for you. Splash's partner lenders offer terms from 5 years to 25 years in length.


At last check, the full list of term options includes 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 25 years.


As I said, you will not be subject to any application or loan origination fees as a Splash member. The only extraneous fees you may be subject to include late fees for any missed payments, as well as returned payment fees.


At the end of the day, your interest rate will likely determine whether you refinance with Splash or not. Do remember that the interest rate you are quoted likely includes a 0.25% autopay discount (if available), so you'll want to keep your payments on autopay to take advantage.



Are cosigners allowed?


Student loan cosigners are allowed to help you qualify for refinancing. Whether or not you decide to apply with one is up to you, but it could help your application get improved. Splash Financial guidelines for your cosigner are as follows:


  1. Must be a United States citizen

  2. Can be a spouse, parent, relative, or any adult that understands that he/she will be responsible for the payments if you default


Since Splash works with multiple lending partners, cosigner release programs vary, but generally, you can request your cosigner to be released from your loan after making twelve months of consecutive, full, and timely payments.



Forbearance and deferment options


Working with multiple lending partners also means that there is not one overarching forbearance or deferment policy. Once you've prequalified for a rate that you like and submitted an application, you should ask any questions you have directly to the lender you'll work with.


It would also be wise to check on your lender's policies regarding death and disability discharge, just so you understand what would happen if something were to happen to you.




Splash Financial application process


Once you've completed your rate check and decided to move forward with Splash, you'll need to submit an application to formally refinance your loans. To complete your application, you'll need to have the following personal information on hand:


  • Name

  • Social security number

  • Birth date

  • Phone number

  • Legal address


You'll also be asked questions about your finances, so you'll want to have documentation ready of:


  1. Your income

  2. Information about your current bills

  3. Employer information (pay stubs and maybe a W2)

  4. Your diploma or college transcript


Once your application is approved, you'll select your loan term and finalize all of your paperwork. From there, Splash Financial will pay off your loans with your previous lender(s), and your new monthly payments will begin.



Splash Financial customer service


When you pick a new private lender, the customer service you receive is really important. So, for the sake of completing this review, I did some customer service digging.


And past and current clients seem very happy overall with the services provided. As of May 2022, the company has a 4.8/5 rating on Trustpilot, an online service that aggregates reviews for businesses of all types.


These positive reviews are not isolated to just Trustpilot, either.


Splash Financial also has a 5-star rating on NerdWallet, an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and a 4.5-star review with Student Loan Sherpa.


If you're looking to reach Splash directly, you can reach them:




Splash Financial refinancing pros and cons


There are a number of pros to refinancing with Splash Financial. Included are:


  • The ability to refinance Parent PLUS loans

  • Couples may be able to refinance their loans jointly

  • No/high loan maximum



1. Refinance Parent PLUS loans


Splash Financial offers the ability to refinance your Parent PLUS loans, which is not always a given with all the lenders out there. The best part is that you may even be able to refinance these loans while your child is still in school.


This could provide you with the opportunity to earn more savings much more quickly.



2. Couples can refinance together


At this time, Splash Financial is one of the only refinancing companies to even offer the ability for couples to jointly combine and refinance their loans. And while the accessibility of this may depend on which one of Splash's lender partners you do business with, it is still a perk that is very new to the student loan industry.



3. No maximum refinancing amount


Again, this may be lender specific, but at least some of Splash Financial's partners do not actually have a maximum amount of money that you can refinance in one swoop. In my experience, this can be really helpful if you've gone to medical school, law school, or completed another sort of graduate school.


Other lenders set this threshold somewhere around $200,000, but it is good to know that you will be able to secure a lower interest rate on as much of your student debt as you want to.


 

As is the case with every company, Splash Financial won't be right for every student loan borrower. Over the past couple of years, I've gotten a better gauge as to the cons of refinancing with Splash.


For one, you may need to join a credit union or bank, depending on which lender offers you the lowest rate. So if that isn't something that you're interested in, I'd recommend looking for another lender, though you may encounter the same thing with PenFed and other lenders.


Additionally, some borrowers don't love the idea that Splash Financial's lender requirements and eligibility requirements can vary slightly depending on the lending partner you use in the marketplace.


In my opinion, neither of these cons is reason enough to not refinance with Splash, but that is up to you.


 

All this said, most borrowers do really enjoy the refinancing experience with Splash Financial. Customer service is prompt, the rates are good, and it offers student loan borrowers nationwide a little easier path out of debt.


Plus, regardless of the balance in which you refinance, if you use our special link, you'll receive a $200 bonus directly from Splash Financial. That's right! You'll get paid to save money each month.



Frequently asked questions


I bet you still have questions, and I've got you covered. Below are some answers to the most popular questions I get asked about Splash.



1. Is Splash Financial legit?


Believe it or not, I get asked whether Splash is a trustworthy company, especially since you may not be familiar with the exact lender you ultimately refinance with. I am here to assuage these fears.


Not only is Splash Financial an exemplary lender with a proven track record, but their customers oftentimes rank them among the top student loan refinancing lenders in the United States!



2. Should you refinance with Splash?


To be completely transparent, Splash Financial is my go-to lender. They do a great job, offer good rates, and provide a good all-around experience. I've pointed many borrowers to them in the past for three simple reasons:


  1. Their status as a marketplace

  2. Their great customer service reviews

  3. Flexible options, terms, and rates



3. How do I get my rate check bonus?


For a limited time, readers that complete the 2-3 minute rate check process with Splash will be eligible to receive a $5 bonus through The Student Debt Destroyer.


Here's all you need to do:



It's that simple!



Check out our refinancing lender guides




Affiliate marketing disclosure


studentdebtdestroyer.com is a student loan research and education website provided by Grow Your Green LLC.


studentdebtdestroyer.com is not a student loan lender.


We're passionate about teaching and guiding people to a better personal finance situation. To do this, we create an enormous amount of content, which takes time, resources, and money.


In order to write about and offer these products and services for you, we utilize affiliate marketing and link to certain products and services. If you click on, subscribe, to purchase on these links then we may be paid a small commission. These are at no cost to you, but by earning small commissions, are able to help us keep our website active.


We manually review all products and services that we think are of high quality and value to you.

About Nathan Zarcaro

Nathan Zarcaro is the founder of The Student Debt Destroyer and is passionate about personal finance related causes.  A 2018 graduate of Providence College's Liberal Arts Honors Program, Nathan studied Finance, and has worked for industry leaders in both finance and healthcare.  In his free time, Nathan enjoys playing golf and traveling with his wife Brigid.

Student loans are hard

My friends over at Student Loan Planner have consulted with over 13,000 clients, saving them over $783 million off their student loan repayments.

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