BankMobile is deepening its relationship with customers by adding student loan refinancing to its portfolio of banking and credit products.

The bank’s president and co-founder Luvleen Sidhu, who touts the importance of long-term relationships with clients, told Bank Innovation she’s targeting student loan debt to help customers deal with a systemic, longstanding financial problem. “It’s really important to create a customer for life,” she said. “One of the biggest problems in the country today is student debt.” 

BankMobile, which initially acquired customers through partnerships with colleges and universities (via student accounts as a vehicle for financial aid refunds), sees itself as ideally positioned to compete for market share. Recent graduates can refinance up to $100,000 in undergraduate debt and $250,000 in graduate school debt. There is no origination fee, and the bank says graduates save 0.25% in interest when they set up recurring monthly payments.

Launched on Wednesday, the refinancing platform (called Student Refi) is the latest credit product to generate revenue for the company, along with credit cards and personal loans. Student Refi also will help BankMobile gain customers who never used the bank as students, Sidhu explained. The loan refinancing product is made possible through a partnership with tech company LendKey, which offers demand generation; online decisioning and loan origination engines; servicing; and compliance expertise.

BankMobile, a division of Customers Bank with $10.1 billion in assets, has quickly expanded its customer reach beyond its initial focus on students. Launched in April, the bank is working with T-Mobile on a checking account product called T-Mobile Money — a gateway to millions more potential customers. It’s also white-labeling its tech offerings to other institutions to complement its direct-to-consumer approach.

“There’s the flexibility that a smaller player like us might have in terms of customization,” said Sidhu in a recent interview with Bank Innovation. “Agility and the fact that our product is built from scratch gives us an advantage.”

BankMobile joins a growing number of banks and startups moving into the student loan refinancing market. With student loan debt hitting $1.4 trillion in 2019, refinancing is a growing opportunity, with players such as SoFi and Citizen’s Bank focusing on the millennial market.

David Gyori, CEO of financial technology training company Banking Reports, noted that BankMobile might not be the original disruptor in the space, but it’s still a good business plan. “Entering the student loan refinancing market greatly extends the length and the life stages that BankMobile can cover through its client relationships,” he said.