If you have received a notification or letter requesting directions on how you would like payments applied, you will only need to take action if you are not enrolled in Auto Pay and intend to make extra payments toward your loan. An extra payment is any amount received that is more than the past due amount (if applicable) plus the current amount due. When an extra payment is made, and you are not enrolled in Auto Pay, you have the option to “advance your due date.” This allows clients the flexibility of paying ahead on their loans or paying down their loan balances faster.
What does “advance your due date” mean?
All payments will be applied toward any interest that has accrued since your last payment, and the remaining amount will be applied toward your principal balance. Advancing your due date, however, is the ability to extend your upcoming payment due date to future months. For example, if your monthly amount due is $100 and you make a payment of $500, you will not have a payment due for the next 4 months. Please keep in mind that your current monthly minimum payment amount must be satisfied in order to be paid ahead. This means that if you were to make a payment of $450, you would have a payment due in 3 months since the $100 threshold was met for only 3 additional months. When you once again have a payment due, that payment will be $50.
It’s important to note that when paying ahead, you agree to make a payment towards your next billing cycle(s) since you cannot pay interest that has yet to accrue, and interest will continue to accrue on the borrowed balance during the paid-ahead months. This means that if you are paid ahead for 4 months and don’t make any payments during this period, you will have 4 months' worth of interest accrue by the time you make your next payment. As you reduce your principal balance, the amount of interest that accrues will also be reduced. If you enroll in Auto Pay while paid ahead, your next Auto Payment will be extracted on your next payment due date after you enroll in Auto Pay, once an amount is due on the account.
How do I change my billing direction?
If you are making your payments manually and have received a letter in the mail or see the option online, you can let us know your billing preference by sending it back to the address listed on the notice. If you made your payment online and need to change a previously selected option to reapply the payment, please let us know by clicking the Get In Touch button at the bottom of the page.