Upside & Atomic team up to help individuals build wealth while paying off student loans
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San Francisco, California, February 22, 2022 - Upside, a novel student loan refinancing and wealth-building platform, and Atomic, the investing API that allows fintech and consumer companies to offer best-in-class investing solutions with zero account minimums, announced their partnership today. Together, the two companies have unlocked a solution that enables student loan borrowers to reduce their monthly loan payments, while simultaneously using part of that payment to invest for retirement.
By extending the loan’s repayment term, Upside enables borrowers to refinance their loans and leverage lower interest rates to lower monthly payments. A portion of those payments is also invested into an investment portfolio powered by Atomic. This enables borrowers to pay down their student loans while accumulating retirement savings, all within the same monthly budget.
Upside’s platform solves two critical issues facing many student loan borrowers. First, refinancing student loan debt can be difficult for all but the most credit-worthy borrowers. Second, many borrowers find their budget won’t allow for student loan repayment and saving for retirement at the same time. Upside’s key to addressing these problems is what Upside calls ‘Self-Collateralizing Debt’ – the idea that the savings can serve both as wealth for the borrower and collateral for the loan.
"We can offer lower rates and payments to a wide range of borrowers – across many income levels – thanks to the collateral they’re building. The portion of their payment they invest for retirement makes them more attractive as borrowers, and results in lower interest rates,” says Upside Co-Founder Kamran Hameed."
Atomic’s platform enables Upside to offer best-in-class investing opportunities, such as ESG investing, tax-loss harvesting, and direct indexing with zero account minimums. That means Upside’s users can enjoy benefits usually reserved for only large account holders.
"We recognize that student debt crowds out an individual’s ability to invest in life milestones such as buying a first home, starting a family, or securing one’s retirement. We are proud to be part of Upside’s journey to give individuals room to invest for the future,” says David Dindi, Co-Founder and CEO of Atomic."
Upside’s users will have the opportunity to build significant wealth for retirement over the life of their loan. Based on their models, a 25-year old borrower with a current monthly loan payment of $1,100 could see their monthly payment reduced to $800 while contributing $415 of that new lowered payment to investments. Better still, the invested portion of their monthly payment, using Atomic’s investing tools, is projected to generate almost $2 million by the time the customer reaches age 70.
“The Atomic-Upside partnership illustrates how financial innovation can be applied toward the common good, solving real-life financial problems. Student loan payments are no longer just a payment burden, but a source of financial growth for the borrower,” says Upside Co-Founder Adam Falls. “When you’re paying off student loans, it can feel like you’re stuck making payments toward your past – your college education. We’ve created a platform that allows your student loan payments to go toward your future, too.”
About Upside
Upside enables college graduates to build wealth with every student loan payment. The Upside platform refinances student loans for a lower interest rate while automatically generating a solid foundation for retirement – with no change in behavior or budget. Borrowers who refinance with Upside don’t have to wait until they pay off their student debt before they can start investing. They can enjoy peace of mind knowing they are on track to automatically build their net-worth.
About Atomic
Atomic enables consumer-facing fintechs to integrate wealth management and trading into their products in a frictionless way. Using the Atomic platform, companies can launch engaging investing experiences without the burden of developing in-house regulatory, operational, and compliance expertise. Businesses powered by Atomic can offer their customers cutting-edge investing capabilities such as ethical investing, direct indexing, and tax-loss harvesting. The company recently announced its Series A round backed by QED Partners, Anthemis, SoftBank, and Y Combinator.
Media contact: mediainquiries@atomicvest.com
Disclaimers
Hypothetical Performance data contains inherent limitations and is not a substitute for actual investment returns derived from a live portfolio. There are numerous risk factors related to trading and markets which cannot be fully accounted for when depicting Hypothetical Performance. Consequently, future returns are not guaranteed, and a loss of principal may occur. The Hypothetical Performance described assumes the following:
A monthly contribution rate of $415 per month for 540 months.
That the ratio of student debt to retirement contributions will decline over time until the satisfaction of the outstanding student debt.
An annual rate of return of 8% per year after the deduction of any client expenses, including taxes.
Dividend reinvestment.
Further, any investing strategy involves legal, regulatory, macroeconomic, liquidity and other risks which could negatively impact returns. Similarly, operational risk, such as business continuity risk could negatively affect investment results.