Sallie Mae (Nasdaq: SLM), the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company, has earned two Gold Awards in the 2017 AVA Digital Awards, an international competition that recognizes excellence in digital communication. Sallie Mae was recognized for its new mobile app for iPhone and Android devices as well as its innovative Apple Watch app. The company also received an honorable mention for 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.

With Sallie Mae’s mobile app, customers have anywhere, anytime access to information about their accounts, including current balance, total amount due, interest rate, and payment history, along with the ability to make payments easily. The app’s simplified screens lead customers seamlessly through the process in a matter of seconds, and iPhone users can use Touch ID for even faster account access. In addition, customers who have an Apple Watch can now make payments from their wrists. Sallie Mae is the first major private student lender to offer this capability.

The mobile app, expansion into wearables, and the new SallieMae.com are part of the company’s continued commitment to enhancing customers’ overall experience. Over the past two years, Sallie Mae has modernized and upgraded technology and systems, invested in customer service training, and transferred all private student loan customer service activities to Sallie Mae employees based in the United States.

“We constantly listen to our customers and consistently hear they want choice, convenience, and flexibility in how they interact with us,” said Charlie Rocha, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Sallie Mae. “Our new and improved website along with our mobile apps help customers do just that and, frankly, we are just getting started. We will continue to explore new and innovative ways to help students and families not only navigate their higher education financing options but also effectively manage their student loans.”

Sallie Mae has 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 www.SallieMae.com.

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.