LendKey Student Loan Refinance Review (Up to $1,250 Cash-Back Bonus)

LendKey connects borrowers to a network of hundreds of community banks and credit unions to explore financial products like refinancing, private student loans and home improvement loans. Its platform focuses on nonprofit community banks and credit unions that have more than just the bottom line in mind.

Take a look at our LendKey student loan refinance review to gain a better understanding of what to expect when refinancing with LendKey.

LendKey student loan refinancing review

LendKey doesn’t do the actual loan underwriting itself. Instead, it's a platform that connects you with lenders and guides you through the student loan refinancing process from beginning to end.

LendKey has refinancing options for existing federal and private student loans, including fixed-rate and variable-rate loans with repayment terms ranging from five to 20 years.

You can refinance student loans starting with a minimum requirement of $5,000. But there might be limitations depending on where you live. For example, these states have higher minimum loan amounts:

• Arizona residents must refinance a minimum of $10,001.
• Connecticut residents have a minimum of $50,001.
• Massachusetts residents require a minimum $6,000.

Undergraduates can refinance student loans up to $125,000. But borrowers with graduate degrees are able to refinance up to $175,000 of graduate or combined student debt.

If you decide to refinance with LendKey, use our LendKey bonus link to receive up to $1,250 as a cash-back bonus.

Pros and cons of refinancing student loans with LendKey

Here are the biggest pros and cons of refinancing with LendKey to consider.

Pros:

• Can compare student loan rates from hundreds of local lenders. Compare rates and terms from a network of private student loan lenders within minutes. The online application is quick and streamlined.
• Great unemployment protection. LendKey’s lending partners offer up to 18 months of forbearance if you experience financial hardship. This is a rare commodity among private lenders, so it’s worth considering if your future job stability is unknown.
• Browsing rates won’t impact your credit. LendKey performs a soft credit inquiry when you check your rates, so it won’t affect your credit score.
• Good customer service. You’ll have access to LendKey’s customer service reps from the time you start browsing until your final student loan payment.
• Offers some death and disability protection. In every case so far, LendKey’s lenders have forgiven student loans when the borrower became disabled or died.
• Low fees. None of LendKey's partners charge loan application fees or origination fees.
• Autopay discounts. Many of the community banks and credit unions that LendKey partners with will reduce your interest rate by 0.25% after you sign up for automatic payments.

Cons:

• Maximum loan limits. LendKey has varying loan limits based on degree level.
• Excludes offers from other banks and online lenders. You’ll have access to many offers, but you may miss out on lower interest rates from lenders who aren't partners. For example, you won’t see interest rates from SoFi®, Earnest or Citizens.
• May have to join a credit union. You may have to open a checking or savings account with the credit union that provides your loan.

Eligibility requirements

LendKey requires borrowers to be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and to have completed an associate degree program or higher from a Title IV eligible school to qualify for student loan refinancing. Other LendKey refinancing requirements include:

• Minimum income of $4,000 a month.
• Existing student loan debt between $5,000 and $175,000, depending on your program and state residency.
• Must be a good financial candidate (e.g., minimum credit score and debt-to-income ratio).

If you don’t qualify for LendKey’s partner offers on your own, you can improve your chances of getting approved by refinancing with a cosigner who has a positive credit history. Their partner lenders offer cosigner releases after 12 to 48 months of consecutive, on-time monthly payments depending on the individual loan terms.

Keep in mind that these aren't only the requirements for refinancing loans. There will be other eligibility criteria you'll need to meet to take out a LendKey private student loan. For example, you won't be able to borrow more than your school's stated cost of attendance minus any financial you received.

Learn more about LendKey private student loans.

Application process

You can get preliminary loan offers by filling out a quick, simple application. You’ll need to provide information related to your income, loan amount, and the school you attended. The minimum loan amount is $5,000. Here are the maximum borrowing amounts:

• Undergraduate degree holders: $125,000
• Graduate degree holders: $175,000

Unlike a hard credit inquiry, LendKey’s soft credit check won’t impact your credit score. Within just a few minutes, you’ll see interest rates and loan terms on student loans from lenders that match your location and characteristics.

Should you refinance student loans with LendKey?

In January 2024, we surveyed over 3,900 of our readers to better understand their student loan refinancing experiences with LendKey and other major lenders. We also surveyed our readers back in April 2022. Overall, borrowers were satisfied with their interactions with LendKey.

Here’s what one reader said:

“LendKey has great customer service and was a pretty great deal for me considering I don’t have a very high income and was applying without a cosigner.”

2022 Student Loan Planner Reader Survey

But we did get some complaints worth noting. For example, some of LendKey’s partner credit unions and community banks require membership as a condition of loan approval. That means you may be required to open an account or join an association.

Additionally, although the process was wrapped into the same refinancing application process, some borrowers still felt it was burdensome. This reinforces the need to review the fine print of loan disclosures before submitting a final application for student loans.

One of our readers found a great interest rate with LendKey, but has trouble understanding his loan paperwork:

“I've been with LendKey for a few years now (I refinanced a private Navient Loan). The interest rate is better than I had before, but the way payments apply and the way interest is added each month keeps appearing to change in the transaction report in ways I don't really understand.”

2024 Student Loan Planner Reader Survey

Finally, it's important to note that all student loan refinancing loans are private student loans. That means borrowers with federal student loans will lose eligibility for a variety of government benefits after refinancing.

Losing those benefits may be worth it if you're able to lower your interest rates or change your loan repayment options. But if you're currently taking advantage of an income-driven repayment plan or are pursuing a federal loan forgiveness program, student loan refinancing might not be a good fit.

Refinancing by annual earnings

Our previous survey showed that LendKey’s bread and butter of refinancing are borrowers who make an annual income of up to $100,000. Our 2022 data showed that only 3% of LendKey’s business is with borrowers who earn more than $200,000. This aligns with our most recent 2024 survey, which found that LendKey performed well with professions, such as:

• Nurses (17% of market share)
• Psychologists (13% of market share)
• Teachers (17% of market share)

So, what does this tell us? Considering that most of our survey respondents applied to three lenders or less, you can save time by focusing your energy on a lender like Laurel Road or SoFi® if you make more than $200K.

It also means borrowers who have lower incomes and don’t hold professional or graduate degrees — which typically translates to less debt — have a good shot at getting lower interest rates from LendKey.

Final thoughts: LendKey student loan refinance

LendKey received the lowest rating from our readers, according to our January 2024 Student Loan Planner Survey. It also found itself toward the bottom of the list in our previous survey. But it ranked high in terms of its customer service and website.

This lower-than-expected ranking may be attributed to their inconsistent interest rates. Because they’re a platform-based lender, interest rates are solely dependent on the bank or credit union you work with. Therefore, marketplaces of lenders (like Lendkey and Credible) tend to do better when the lenders in those platforms are more competitive than normal.

So, if LendKey’s partner lenders are doing really well, LendKey will offer great rates. If they aren’t doing well, it'll be directly reflected in less attractive rates.

We give LendKey a 4 out of 5-star rating, due to its network of credit unions and community banks and its strong unemployment, disability and death protections. We also like that none of its partners charge origination fees or prepayment penalties.

If you have a good credit score and owe five figures worth of debt or fall into a lower minimum income bracket, we recommend checking out LendKey’s offers. Don’t forget to use our Student Loan Planner® LendKey referral link to receive a refinancing bonus up to $1,250.

But we recommend shopping around with at least three lenders to find the best rate. So, be sure to compare LendKey's rates and terms with other offers from some of the best student loan refinancing lenders.