Yrefy vs. ELFI

Choosing the right student loan refinance lender depends on your financial situation, credit history, and the type of student loans you have. While both Yrefy and ELFI offer student loan refinancing, they serve different types of borrowers and have different eligibility requirements.

If you're considering refinancing your student loans, it's important to compare more than just interest rates. This comparison looks at important factors such as loan eligibility, credit requirements, repayment options, fees, and borrower qualifications to help you determine which lender may be the better fit for your needs.

While Yrefy specializes in helping borrowers who may have delinquent or defaulted private student loans, ELFI focuses on borrowers with strong credit seeking traditional refinancing.

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How Does Yrefy Compare to ELFI?

Student Loan Refinance Comparison	Yrefy	ELFI
Primary Borrower	Borrowers with delinquent or defaulted private student loans.	Borrowers with strong credit who are looking for traditional student loan refinancing.
Private Student Loans	Yes	Yes
Federal Student Loans	No. Yrefy focuses on private student loan refinancing.	Yes. ELFI refinances both federal and private student loans.
Delinquent Loans Accepted	Yes. Yrefy specializes in borrowers who may be behind on private student loan payments.	Generally no. Traditional refinance lenders like ELFI typically require loans to be in good standing.
Defaulted Loans Accepted	Yes. Yrefy may refinance defaulted private student loans.	No. Defaulted loans are generally not eligible for traditional refinancing at ELFI.
Bad Credit Considered	Yes. Bad credit is not an automatic disqualifier.	ELFI usually requires stronger credit to qualify.
Minimum Credit Score	No credit score requirement.	ELFI generally requires a minimum credit score of 680 to qualify.
FICO-Based Decision	Yrefy does not use FICO score as the primary factor when reviewing borrowers.	Credit score is a significant part of traditional refinance underwriting with ELFI.
Degree Required	No. Borrowers may qualify even if they did not complete their degree.	A bachelor’s degree or higher is typically required.
Income Requirement	Uses ability-to-pay underwriting based on the borrower’s financial situation.	Requires borrowers to meet minimum income and underwriting requirements.
Minimum Loan Amount	$5,000	$10,000
Loan Types Refinanced	Private student loans only.	Federal and private student loans accepted at ELFI.
Fixed Rates	Yes, fixed interest rates from 0.1-5.99% APR	Yes
Variable Rates	No. Yrefy offers fixed-rate refinancing.	Yes. ELFI offers fixed and variable-rate options.
Loan Terms	Custom loan terms may be available based on the borrower’s situation.	Standard refinance loan terms.
Soft Credit Check	Yes. Borrowers can check eligibility without impacting their credit score.	Yes. Borrowers can check rates with a soft credit pull.
Origination Fee	5% loan origination fee, financed into the new loan.	No origination fee.
Application Fee	No application fee.	No application fee.
Prepayment Penalty	No prepayment penalty.	No prepayment penalty.
Cosigner / Co-Borrower	A co-borrower may be requested depending on underwriting.	A cosigner may help borrowers qualify or receive better terms.
Best For	Borrowers who have been turned away elsewhere because of delinquency, default, damaged credit, or nontraditional refinance needs.	Borrowers with strong credit, steady income, and a traditional refinance profile.

Reasons Why Refinancing Makes Sense

Lower interest rate & payment

Typically, one of the main reasons to refinance your existing student loans is to get a lower interest rate. By obtaining a lower interst rate, you will also normally see a lower monthly payment. This of course is based off of your new loan terms. Yrefy borrowers reduce their monthly payments by 50% on average.

Pay off faster

With better loan terms or a lower monthly payment, you can potentially pay off your student loan faster. With a lower monthly payment, you could pay extra each month and pay off your loans even faster.

Customize payments

At Yrefy, we offer customizable repayment options to help make your payments more affordable and manageable.

How Refinancing with Yrefy Works

Four simple steps to transform your student loan debt into a manageable financial plan and help you plan for the future.

Call us or apply online

Fill out our simple inquiry form or call us. Our secure online application takes less than one minute to complete or call us and speak to one of our loan specialists today.

Speak with a specialist

Every borrower who works with Yrefy gets a personal, dedicated loan advisor who understands the complexities of restructuring student loan debt.

Start qualification

Starting the Yrefy qualification process is simple and takes just a few minutes. We collect some information about your loan and you to access your qualification status.

Get out of debt

Once approved and you accept your new interest rate and terms, we will then fund your low fixed interest rate student loan helping you save more money each month.