Sallie Mae Bank
An industry-leading student loan company revolutionizes the way customers manage their loans.
The Opportunity
Sallie Mae sought to empower their customers to make wise financial decisions and have more control over managing their student loans.
The Solution
Sallie Mae and Stable Kernel collaborated to offer customers more options for viewing their loan status, setting up payment notifications, and making payments on the go.
Background
For more than 45 years, Sallie Mae has committed to helping families save, plan, and pay for higher education. As one of the top student loan management companies in the U.S., Sallie Mae recognized its need for innovative technology solutions to help millions of students fulfill their dreams of going to college by simplifying the loan process.
Our team collaborated with Sallie Mae’s internal stakeholders to build a mobile application, resulting in technology that enables customers to make payments from anywhere, even through the Apple Watch interface. Sallie Mae is the first major lender to offer students this level of control over their loan management, further solidifying their place in the industry as a top choice for student loans.
Stable Kernel pushes us to do more for the app and the services we provide.
Whenever we have any amount of free resources, they will give us a list of possibilities for adding value for our customers. They’re more than a vendor to me. It’s a partnership.
Director of Application Development, Sallie Mae Bank
Process
- Collaborating to Create a Seamless Mobile Banking Experience
- Software Development
Sallie Mae approached Stable Kernel with the understanding that its customers are increasingly accessing its services while on the go. Though Sallie Mae has its own internal mobile experience team, it partnered with Stable Kernel to take advantage of our established history of mobile strategy expertise.
Together, we conceived a solution to integrate mobile software with secure banking software while ensuring adherence to the company’s brand guidelines and native mobile experience standards. Keeping in mind how and when users would access the app, we designed a simplified user experience that allows customers to access loan information and make payments in a matter of seconds.
We guided Sallie Mae’s internal team through its first agile development project to build iOS and Android applications and an Apple Watch extension that complements the lender’s mobile strategy. Knowing the majority of Sallie Mae’s customers were Apple-based users, we started with iOS to quickly gain a return on investment with super users. Android was the logical next step to ensure its entire customer base has access to its loan management tools.
I'm so thankful for the Sallie Mae app.
Sallie Mae has provided me with the opportunity to attend undergrad and graduate school as well as travel to Europe. I'm so thankful and happy to pay Sallie Mae back through the app. It's been a great experience.
Sallie Mae Customer
Outcomes
With a groundbreaking new mobile experience, Sallie Mae has given users the freedom and flexibility to manage their loan payments on their own time. The lender is empowering families to develop better financial behavior, thanks to convenient payment reminders, greater transparency and accessibility to their loan information, and an easier payment process.
The mobile application has led to a more than 45% adoption rate by Salle Mae’s loan customers — a higher adoption rate than the mobile banking industry standard — and has strengthened its brand connection with students and their families.
As a testament to the success of its digital services, the Sallie Mae Mobile application has won numerous FinTech, personal banking, and wearables awards. The app’s biggest outcome, though, is the peace of mind customers experience now that they have more control over their student loans.
45%
adoption rate
3
awards earned
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