Higher One buys Sallie Mae division for $47M
Higher One Holdings Inc. announced the acquisition of Sallie Mae’s Campus Solutions business. Sallie Mae’s Campus Solutions provides billing payment solutions, refund disbursement services and tuition payment plan administration, to college and university business offices across the country.
Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Higher One acquired all of the assets of the Campus Solutions business in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $47.25 million. The acquisition will enable Higher One to offer more services to the 1,300 school and 10 million students it services.
Sallie Mae had made inroad to financial aid dispersal market last August, launching a prepaid debit MasterCard to help schools disburse financial aid refunds. The debit card featured student protections and same-day refunds. The My Flex Card was provided through a partnership with Green Dot Corp. and was available to all eligible students, including those without access to a traditional bank account.
Student protections included no insufficient funds or penalty fees and access to account with mobile banking. Access to funds was available at no cost at more than 22,000 surcharge-free ATMs nationwide. In addition, students have the ability to reload the card online or at more than 60,000 Green Dot retailer locations nationwide.
With the acquisition, Higher One announced that the MyFlexCard will no longer be a disbursement option for schools and their students. Higher One states that they have products offering students more options. “Students can chose to ACH the funds to any domestic bank account, receive a paper check in the mail, or direct deposit the funds into a OneAccount,” the company stated.
Higher One checking accounts include different options — none of which require a credit check, including a paid account that has fee-free access to the Allpoint network of 38,000 ATMs, a flat-fee checking account that has no NSF fees or penalty fees and a basic checking account as well.
