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LendKey and Member Student Lending offer $20,000 in student scholarships

CINCINNATI, OH (May 1, 2023) — LendKey, a pioneer in network digital lending, and Member Student Lending, a leading network of credit unions offering private student loan and student loan refinance lending solutions, today announced they are offering $20,000 in college scholarships.

Twenty merit-based $1,000 scholarships are available to members of the Member Student Lending CUSO credit unions and are one-time awards for high-achieving undergraduate students studying at an accredited four-year college or university.

“LendKey was founded to offer credit unions a better way to provide in-school private student loans and student loan refinancing to their members,” said Vince Passione, Founder and CEO of LendKey. “We know the cost of higher education can be daunting and wanted to give our credit union partners an additional way to help their members.”

Initially, LendKey’s scholarship program was designed to offer ten $1,000 scholarships, and Member Student Lending’s Board of Directors agreed to match it so there would be twenty scholarships. “We’ve always enjoyed a strong partnership with LendKey and are proud to join them in this scholarship program,” explained Dan Picard, Member Student Lending Board Chair.

Applications for the scholarships open May 1 at learnmore.scholarshipapply.org/LendKey and the deadline for applications is May 29. LendKey has partnered with a third party, Scholarship America, to manage the selection process using a standardized rubric to measure candidates’ community involvement, academic achievements, and other qualifications. Winners will be announced in July.

About LendKey

LendKey is a financial technology firm and leader in providing "lending-as-a-service" solutions to credit unions, community banks, and customers. LendKey works with its clients by providing digital loan origination and servicing capabilities and delivering a loan trading marketplace platform for financial institutions and fintechs. LendKey pioneered the concept of "digital lending networks," which harnesses the collaborative nature of community-based financial institutions to build standard lending programs for private student loans, student loan refinance, and home improvement loans. These programs utilize LendKey's lending-as-a-service platform to provide customer acquisition, online decisioning, loan origination, loan servicing, customer service, and back-office support. ALIRO is LendKey's loan trading marketplace where financial institutions and other market participants can easily transact. Loans are offered for sale and purchased in either whole loan or fractional loan participation format, and the platform supports both one-time and forward-flow transactions. ALIRO delivers the technology, tools, and ongoing service that financial institutions need to evaluate, execute, and manage loan trades to optimize their balance sheet and risk, focusing on improving net interest income. Since 2009, LendKey has empowered more than 350 financial institutions to offer competitive loan programs and increase their digital presence across various customer acquisition channels and marketplaces. Today, LendKey has helped its clients deploy over $6 billion in loans and services more than $3 billion in consumer loans. Visit lendkey.com for more information.

About Member Student Lending LLC

Member Student Lending LLC is a leading network of credit unions offering private student lending options to students and families nationwide through a turnkey digital lending solution. Formed in 2010, the CUSO is comprised of hundreds of progressive credit unions that built a member-responsive private student loan program utilizing common underwriting and pricing. Nationwide loans and a modern loan participation program allow credit unions to mitigate risk while still serving young borrowers.