Citizens Bank Student Loan Refinancing Review
Citizens Bank offers student loan refinance with features such as a soft credit check, a cosigner release option, and autopay and loyalty rate discounts of 0.25% each, for a total potential APR reduction of up to 0.50%. However, the loyalty discount requires an existing qualifying Citizens Bank account, and is only available to borrowers in select states and Washington, D.C.
Table of Contents
Editorial disclosure: Our goal is to give you the tools and confidence you need to improve your finances.
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Our Take
Citizens Bank offers student loan refinance with an autopay and loyalty rate discounts of 0.25% each, for a total potential APR reduction of up to 0.50%. However, the loyalty discount requires an existing qualifying Citizens Bank account.
Min. Credit Score:
N/A
Loan Amount:
$10,000 ~ $750,000
Fixed APR:
5.73% - 10.30% with autopay
Variable APR:
6.00% - 11.29% with autopay
Loan Terms:
5, 7, 10, 15 or 20 years Years
Loan Types Offered:
Private Student Loans, Parent and Medical Residency Refinance
Pros
- Offers up to 0.50% in APR discounts
- Refinance loans don’t have application, origination or prepayment fees.
Cons
- Only borrowers in 14 states and D.C. can take advantage of an additional 0.25% rate discount
What is Citizens Bank?
Citizens Bank is a full-service national bank founded in 1828 and headquartered in Providence, RI.
Citizens operates both online and through more than 1,000 branch locations, offering personal banking, lending and student refinance products.
Citizens’ student loan refinancing features no application, origination or prepayment fees. Borrowers can choose from five repayment terms and can prequalify with a soft credit check before applying.
Borrowers may qualify for up to 0.50% in total interest rate discounts. While 0.25% applies to those who set up automatic monthly payments, borrowers must have a qualifying account with Citizens Bank to take advantage of the additional 0.25%. Borrowers have to be in one of 14 states or D.C., to open a qualifying Citizens Bank account.
Who would benefit the most from Citizens Bank Student Loan Refinance?
- Borrowers who live in one of the 14 states specified by the lender, along with D.C. where qualifying accounts are available to receive an additional 0.25% interest rate discount.
- Individuals who prefer the flexibility of managing their refinance online or in person through Citizens’ network of 1,000 branches.
- Applicants seeking a traditional bank lender with financial products beyond student loans.
How can Citizens Bank Student Loan Refinance improve?
- Shorten the cosigner release period. Citizens Bank requires 36 consecutive on-time payments before a borrower can apply to release a cosigner. Reducing this timeline to 12 months, as offered by some other lenders, would make refinancing more appealing to borrowers who want to remove their cosigner’s responsibility sooner.
- Expand access to the APR discount. Many lenders offer an automatic 0.50 autopay discount. Citizens Bank could increase their autopay discount, or expand access of their Loyalty Discount program to borrowers outside of the 14 states and D.C.
Terms, fees & details
- Loan terms: 5, 7, 10, 15 or 20 years
- Loan amounts: $10,000 to $750,000. Up to $300,000 for borrowers with a bachelor’s degree, $500,000 for graduate degrees, and a max of $750,000 for professional degrees.
- Soft credit check offered: Yes.
- Allows you to transfer a parent loan to a child: Not publicly disclosed.
- Application or origination fee: None.
- Prepayment Penalty: None.
- Late Fees: Not publicly disclosed.
Friendly Finly Advice
If possible prequalify with multiple lenders before committing to a loan offer. Prequalifying allows you to compare potential rates and terms to ensure you’re getting the lowest rate. Rates can depend on a variety of factors, including credit history and income.
Fixed APR:
4.29% - Undisclosed with autopay
Variable APR:
4.74% - Undisclosed with autopay
Min. Credit Score:
680
Max. Loan Amount:
$0
Fixed APR:
8.60% with autopay
Variable APR:
N/A with autopay
Min. Credit Score:
N/A
Max. Loan Amount:
$500,000
How do we select lenders?
We select three alternative refinance lenders that offer similar products to the lender featured in this review. These lenders are chosen based on their relevance to common borrower-related information—such as APR ranges, repayment terms, credit score requirements and loan amount options—their overall competitiveness in the refinance market, and their strong performance on our lender rating rubric. Our editorial team makes these selections independently to help borrowers easily compare key features and make an informed decision.
To help readers evaluate whether the featured lender is the right fit for their needs, we include a comparison section highlighting three alternative student loan refinance lenders. These lenders are selected using the following criteria:
1. Direct Relevance to Borrower Decision-Making
We choose lenders whose core offerings overlap with the featured lender—specifically in APR ranges, repayment terms, required credit scores and loan amount minimums/maximums. This ensures borrowers can make an apples-to-apples comparison of the factors most likely to influence their refinance decision.
2. Competitive Position in the Market
Alternative lenders are selected based on their market presence, competitive rates, and borrower-friendly features. We prioritize lenders that are commonly considered alongside the featured lender by refinance shoppers and industry experts.
3. Coverage of a Representative Spectrum of Options
We include lenders that together provide a balanced view of the refinance market, such as:
- A lender with low advertised APRs
- A lender with flexible or unique loan terms
- A lender with broad loan amount ranges or borrower eligibility criteria
- A lender with strong performance on our lender rating rubric
- A lender with minimum credit scores that fit borrowers who may visit the featured lender review.
This mix helps borrowers understand how the featured lender compares across different strengths.
4. Data Availability and Consistency
We only include lenders for which we have current, verifiable information on APRs, repayment options, loan amounts, and eligibility requirements. This ensures the comparison is accurate, transparent, and aligned with our editorial standards.
5. Editorial Independence
Alternative lenders are chosen by our editorial team based solely on borrower benefit and informational value. Lender partnerships or compensation agreements do not influence which lenders are selected or how they’re presented.
How to Qualify
You’ll have to meet Citizens Bank’s eligibility criteria to refinance your student loan. The company has various requirements for applicants to meet:
Financial criteria:
We contacted Citizens Bank to request additional details about borrower qualification benchmarks, including typical credit profiles, debt-to-income expectations and average approval metrics, but did not receive further clarification in time for this review.
While some eligibility requirements are not publicly disclosed, approval ultimately depends on a borrower’s overall financial profile, including credit history, income stability, and debt-to-income ratio. Borrowers who are unsure whether they meet these criteria may want to pre-qualify or contact the lender directly before submitting a full application.
Location, citizenship and education criteria:
- Citizenship requirements: Be a United States citizen or permanent resident. If you are not a citizen, you must be an eligible non-citizen who applies with a creditworthy U.S. citizen or permanent resident co-signer.
- Location restrictions: Available in all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Checking and savings account products are only available to borrowers in CT, DC, DE, FL, MA, MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA, and VT for those who want to take advantage of the 0.25% interest rate Loyalty Discount.
- Graduation criteria: Borrowers must have completed a Bachelor’s Degree or higher.
- School criteria: Borrower must have graduated from a Citizens-participating school.
- Percentage of borrowers with a co-signer: Not publicly disclosed.
- Other restrictions: N/A
Friendly Finly Advice
Citizens Bank, and other refinance lenders, may have additional criteria they use to determine eligibility for potential borrowers. Always check the lender’s website and contact them to confirm or ask about eligibility criteria.
Repayment, deferment, forbearance and discharge options
- Immediate Repayment: Principal and interest payments start immediately after loan disbursement.
- Interest-Only Repayment: Borrowers can make interest-only payments for up to 45 months while in school and during the six-month grace period.
- Medical Residency Refinance Option: Borrowers in an approved medical residency or fellowship program can make fixed $100 monthly payments during training for up to 48 months, plus a 6-month grace period. Accrued interest capitalizes, added to the principal, after the residency ends. Also, any payment amount over the interest is applied to the principal.
Related: Interest Capitalization: The Hidden Factor Increasing Your Student Loan Balance
We reached out to Citizens Bank to clarify the structure and eligibility requirements for deferment options associated with its student loan refinance products but did not receive additional information in time for this review.
While deferment may be available under certain qualifying circumstances, the full details are not clearly outlined publicly. Borrowers who anticipate needing temporary payment relief may want to confirm available deferment options directly with the lender before refinancing.
We also contacted Citizens Bank to request clarification about the forbearance options available to borrowers, but did not receive further information before publishing this review.
Borrowers in need of short-term payment flexibility should check directly with the lender to understand the specific terms, limits, and eligibility requirements for forbearance, as these details are not publicly disclosed.
- Death or disability discharge for borrower: Yes.
- Death or disability discharger for co-signer: No. If a co-signer dies, the primary borrower is responsible for the balance on the loan.
- Co-signer release: Yes, after 36 months of on-time consecutive payments. Borrowers must also pass a credit check, and meet other underwriting requirements.
The Citizens Bank Student Loan Refinance customer service experience
- Loan servicer: Firstmark Services
- Online chat support (Bot, live or both): Both. Citizen’s chat starts the conversation with a virtual agent and informs you when a live agent is available.
- Physical location or branch: Yes.
- In-house customer service representatives: Yes, they have a hotline for discussing your loan option and refinance goals.
- FAQ experience: Available. Citizens answers over 35 questions regarding eligibility, repayment, and their application process.
- Provides borrowers a representative who works with them throughout the entire repayment process: Not publicly disclosed.
- Offers a process for making and escalating complaints: Yes, they have dedicated hotline for Education Loan Refinance.
- Has tools that allow applicants to calculate potential monthly payments: Yes, they have a Student Loan Payment and College Savings Goal Calculator. However, they do not have a student loan refinance payment calculator.
- Typical time from loan approval to funding: Not publicly disclosed.
- Citizens Bank’s track record with customers:
Citizens has a score of 1.2 out of five on Trustpilot, with over 700 reviews. Complaints addressed their online banking service, particularly problems with bill payments. Other reviews mention problems with inconvenient branch hours and customer service responsiveness.
Not all Trustpilot reviews are specific to Citizens’ student loan refinance products. They reflect interactions with many of Citizens’ other products.
Citizens Bank has received 3,806 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) complaints over the last 12 months.
Ninety of those complaints are about Citizens Bank’s student loan product. The majority of complaints were related to issues with how payments are handled and receiving bad information about the loan. Eighty-eight percent of complaints were closed with an explanation.
Regarding Citizens Bank’s other products, most complaints center on issues managing accounts, incorrect or improperly used credit report information, and problems during payment processing. A smaller share involves closing or opening accounts and general customer service disputes.
Perks & Benefits
Citizens offers a 0.25% Loyalty Discount for existing customers who already have a qualifying Citizens Bank account, such as a personal checking, savings, credit card, or student loan account. Either the borrower or co-signer can qualify for the discount if the account exists at the time of application.
This rate reduction applies for the life of the loan and is automatically reflected in the approved loan disclosure. Checking and savings account products are available only in CT, DC, DE, FL, MA, MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA, and VT, and each borrower may receive one Loyalty Discount per loan.
Promotional Offers
Borrowers can receive a 0.25% interest rate reduction by enrolling in autopay. This discount applies when payments are automatically deducted each month from a linked bank account. The benefit remains active as long as payments are made through autopay and may be revoked if automatic withdrawals fail three or more times within a 12-month period.
Combined with the 0.25% Loyalty Discount, eligible borrowers can reduce their interest rate by up to 0.50%. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions may apply. Offer details are subject to change.
Friendly Finly Advice
Even if Citizens Bank has competitive rates, compare multiple refinance lenders before committing to a loan. Prequalifying and comparing lenders is the best way to ensure you’re getting the lowest possible rate and most affordable repayment plan for your budget.
How to apply for a Citizens Bank Refinance Loan
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Citizens Bank is a national bank founded in 1828 and headquartered in Providence, RI. They offer a variety of financial products, including student loans and student loan refinance.
Citizens Bank is an option for borrowers with strong credit who want several repayment term choices and rate discounts through loyalty and autopay programs. However, its cosigner release requirement of 36 on-time payments is longer than some competitors, which could limit flexibility for certain borrowers.
No. They are a traditional bank that provides private student loans and refinancing options for both federal and private loans. Only the U.S. Department of Education can offer federal loans.
Yes. Citizens Bank requires a minimum gross annual income of $24,000 for primary borrowers or cosigners.
Citizens Bank is a full-service traditional bank that also operates online, offering digital account management and application tools alongside more than 1,000 branch locations across the U.S.
Methodology
Making finance more human through transparent rating methodologies…
Finly reviews student loan refinance lenders using a transparent, borrower-first methodology built around real financial outcomes. We evaluate lenders across six weighted categories—including cost, protections, flexibility and accessibility—using a structured scoring model grounded in what matters most to borrowers.
Our ratings are developed independently and regularly updated to reflect current rates, terms and lender policies, helping you compare options with clarity and confidence. Take a look at our Methodology page for an even more in-depth view of our scoring process.