With over $1.3 trillion owed in just the United States alone, student debt is likely one of the largest pieces of financial stress weighing on the country.
With U.S. authorities reporting one in four of the 44 million student debtors defaulting or struggling to keep up with payments, it should come as no surprise that JPMorgan Chase was looking to offload its part of the pie.
This week, JPMorgan Chase shared the news that it is moving forward with selling off its portfolio of $6.9 billion student loans to the Navient Corporation, the largest servicer of U.S. student loans. Within this sale, $3.7 billion of the loans are federally guaranteed loans and $3.2 billion are whole private education loans. The acquisition is expected to be completed this quarter and has the potential to make money in the 2017 fiscal year.
Navient’s Chief Executive Officer, Jack Remondi, commented on the deal to American Banker: “We welcome our new customers, and we commit to delivering best-in-class support to ensure a seamless transition. We will provide ongoing assistance to help our new customers continue to successfully manage their education loans.”
