Fifth Third Bank not only recommends that its customers take this step to pay down their student loan faster, it promotes it through the bank’s Momentum app, launched two years ago.
The Momentum app allows customers to round up their debit card purchases so that the additional funds can be applied towards payment of their student loan.
Last July, the Momentum app hit a milestone; customers reportedly paid down $1 million in student loan debt. Six months later, Crawford said, that total is now up to $1.7 million.
To inspire customers on their path to financial freedom, the bank awards #win badges to Momentum participants.
“We want to make users feel they’re making progress,” Crawford said.
There is a metaphorical pot of gold at the end of their financial rainbows.
Fifth Third Bank estimates that customers who round up $25 a month in debit card purchases using the Momentum app could pay off a 20-year loan three years sooner and pay 8 percent less in interest that would have accumulated as a result.
Crawford said that participating in the Momentum app program would reduce student loan interest, and so would many other small, yet equally significant budgetary actions.
“Instead of buying a Starbuck’s, invest in your future financial freedom,” he said.
Even an amount as small as $5 extra saved each a week could make a difference, Crawford maintained.