text: Round up the amount of your purchase and pay down your college debt
  Round up your spending and pay down your college debt
  This new app aims to help millennials pay down college debt by rounding up their purchases.
  Round up your spending and pay down your college debt This new app aims to help millennials pay down college debt by rounding up their purchases. Check out this story on vcstar.com: https://www.vcstar.com/story/money/business/2017/09/20/round-up-your-spending-and-pay-down-your-college-debt/681051001/
  Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press Published 8:00 a.m. PT Sept. 20, 2017
  It's a strategy that might work for many millennials. A new app, for example, allows Fifth Third banking customers to link their debit cards to student loans held by more than 30 major loan servicing firms.
  Sure, anyone can put extra change and loose bills in a jar at night, count it up each month, take it to the bank and then write an extra check toward student loan debt. But who's going to feel great doing that drudge work?
  When it comes to banking, Fifth Third said, millennials want a product that's "positive, approachable and celebrates their wins."
  The bank said its research indicates that millennials want an app to make them "feel better while saving them money."
  Smart finance apps are all about offering immediate solutions that fit easily into a consumer's lifestyle and makes the most of that mobile moment.
  "It's budget friendly," said Nick Sky, 29, a founder of ChangEd, an app that was introduced this year to help borrowers throw their spare change at student loan debt.
  "We're solving our own problem, and we're really passionate about helping people," Sky said.
  Sky, who graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a degree in business and entrepreneurial studies in 2013, said he has more than $60,000 in student loan debt that he's dealing with now. He borrowed far less than that but the debt has built over time as interest piled up.
  Keeping money in an ultra-low rate savings account won't cut it. But Sky said putting extra cash toward a student loan is like finding a way to get a guaranteed rate of 6 percent to 8 percent. Pay off some debt and interest isn't building at high rates any more.
  Here's a look at some of the apps and rewards for paying off student loan debt:
  You cannot use the app to make extra random payments, say another $30 or $40 here and there. It's only a tool for rounding up those debit card purchases. But Fifth Third said that once $5 in payments for those student loans is accumulated, the money is automatically sent to the student loan account at the end of the week.
  The app allows a college grad's family members to use it, too. They can sign up their own Fifth Third debit cards to pay down the student loan debt.
  The one concern I'd have with such a program, of course, is that many times, consumers can trigger overdraft charges because they have problems managing how much money they have in their checking accounts.
  On the plus side, it's possible to pay down your debt more quickly. Fifth Third estimates that customers who round up $25 a month using this app could pay off a 20-year student loan three years sooner and pay 8 percent less overall by avoiding extra interest that would have accumulated. The numbers are based on a loan amount of $37,172 with a fixed interest rate of 6.8 percent.
  Someone who is on a 10-year repayment plan, though, would see a savings of about 2.3 percent compared, according to Mark Kantrowtiz, publisher and vice president of strategy for Cappex.com.
  You'd need to sign up for the free account and make purchases at specific retailers, travel sites and online stores. You'd need to register your credit card to secure some points. But if you don't want to register your credit card, it's possible to shop online at Upromise.com and still earn points.
  The extra pennies and dollars that you round up get transferred to an FDIC-insured ChangEd account. ChangEd charges a $1 fee each month that's taken out of the balance that has built up to pay off student loan debt. Once $100 is accumulated in change, ChangEd sends a payment for your loans.
  "Obviously, it's your money until we send the payments," he said. But most consumers are willing to wait and direct that money for student loan debt."
  One of the key features, he said, is a personal dashboard that shows borrowers how much they're cutting into their debt and how much closer they are to paying off those student loans.
  "College grads in their 20s and 30s shouldn't be sacrificing a cup of coffee to make loan payments," ChangEd states on its website.
  "We say, buy that latte and let us round up your change and apply it to your loans! It's a win-win."
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