Sallie Mae, the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company, has kicked off the new year with its latest customer service enhancement: the ability for customers to view and make payments on their student loan accounts from an Apple Watch. Sallie Mae is the first major private student lender to support customer payments from an Apple Watch.

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These screen shots show how easy it is for Sallie Mae customers with an Apple Watch to check account ...

These screen shots show how easy it is for Sallie Mae customers with an Apple Watch to check account balances and make loan payments from their wrists. Other financial institutions offer mobile apps that allow customers to check account balances and status, but Sallie Mae is the first major private student lender to offer an app with transactional capabilities that support customer payments from an Apple Watch. (Photo: Business Wire)

The newest innovation from Sallie Mae is part of the company’s continued commitment to enhancing customers’ overall experience. The expansion into wearables comes just weeks after Sallie Mae introduced its mobile app for iPhone and Android devices. The company’s new mobile app lets customers access loan information, including current balance, total amount due, interest rate, and payment history, as well as make loan payments. To perform those functions on an Apple Watch, iPhone users simply sync their phone to the watch.

“We hear from customers that they want choice, convenience, and flexibility, and we are constantly looking for new ways to respond to their needs,” said Dan Kennedy, senior vice president and chief information officer, Sallie Mae. “We’re proud to be the first major private student lender to bring the Apple Watch payment option to market and give customers the option to manage their accounts and make payments from their homes, on their phones, or now on their wrists.”

Over the past two years, Sallie Mae has transferred all private student loan customer service activities to Sallie Mae employees based in the United States, modernized and upgraded technology and systems, and invested in customer service training. In addition, the company recently launched the new SallieMae.com, a one-stop digital destination full of tips, tools, and guidance on everything students and families need to make college happen.

Sallie Mae has also introduced new products to help families save for college, launched initiatives that encourage families to plan for college, conducted research on how families save and pay for college, partnered to create materials to help families understand and manage credit, and continued to offer competitive private education loans for students and now parents to cover any gaps in college financing.

For more information, visit SallieMae.com.

About Sallie Mae

Sallie Mae (Nasdaq: SLM) is the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company. Whether college is a long way off or just around the corner, Sallie Mae offers products that promote responsible personal finance, including private education loans, Upromise rewards, scholarship search, college financial planning tools, and online retail banking. Learn more at SallieMae.com. Commonly known as Sallie Mae, SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.