Amazon has just partnered with Wells Fargo to offer student loans. Diligent young scholars will receive better terms if they subscribe to Amazon Prime for Students. Right now this program is only available online, but it will be only a matter of time before Amazon starts offering it in all of their drop centers and university bookstores.
“Amazon’s looking for increased membership in Student Prime. That’s what they want out of this deal,” John Rasmussen, head of Wells Fargo’s Personal Lending Group, said in an interview. “What we’re looking for is exposure to our products and services and awareness. That’s the extent of the relationship.”
Wells Fargo charges between 3.39% and 9.03% for a variable-rate student loan, and from 5.94% to 10.93% for a fixed-rate loan, according to rates listed on its website. This means, if a person subscribes to Prime for Students, they would only pay 2.89%.
Student loans is big business for Wells Fargo, they processed payments of over $12.2 billion in 2015.
Amazon currently deals with a number of universities in the United States. They recently partnered with University of Pennsylvania and in early 2015 started selling textbooks in the University of Massachusetts. They also run the bookstore at Purdue University. I think Amazon offering student loans directly at their University bookstores will be the next step the company takes.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.