Paying back an American student loan whilst living and working in the UK

Hi all

My wife is American and went to University in America (later also in the UK).  She has a large student loan in America to pay off.

What is the easiest mechanism for paying this off?

Currently she has an American bank account that she has to do ad-hoc transfers to from her UK bank account and then makes payments from the US account to the student loan.

This seems like a very clunky, convoluted way of doing this.  Is there any way to pay the student loans in America back via internet payment (Visa / Access / Paypal) or direct from her UK account (Direct debit / standing order / ad-hoc).

Any advice anyone has on this topic would be very gratefully received.

Thanks very much.

Hi!

There are a few threads about this in the Money Matters forum that you can peruse. 

I think mostly what you'll find is that people will set up a UK Paypal account that is linked to his/her UK bank account.  You'll also have a US Paypal account linked to your US bank account.  Then you can just Paypal yourself the amount as and when you need it.

There are other internet services like XE, that you can also check out.

Hope that helps! 

I think others have mentioned before using credit/debit cards to pay for their loans. Unfortunatly, that often involves calling the loan company monthly.

I do a monthly transfer to my US account to cover bills (student loans, US credit card debt) - and Sallie Mae does direct debit from that account - so it's not TOO clunky.  I mean, once I make the transfer, I don't have to worry about it.

Depending on the size of the loan, family can be quite helpful too. My wife is paying money (in pounds) into a UK bank account for her father, and he is paying the equivalent (in dollars at whatever the current exchange rate is) into her student loan. This will only work in the short term (her family are going to visit, not emigrate!) but it gives us time to save the money up to pay off big chunks of the loan at once (from memory, last time we sent a chunk over the bank charge was fixed at about 30 quid - so for big sums the cheapest way to send money).

Thanks to everyone for the replies.


The 2 PayPal accounts sounds like a great idea for ad-hoc transfers.

@sb15 Is there a way of setting up a direct debit from UK account to US account that doesn't incur heavy charges?

:-)

My sympathies!! I also have student loans to pay for the next 20 years or so!!  After years of trying out various ways of sending money across to the USA, the best (and cheapest) way I have found so far is using a fairfx card (www.fairfx.com).  You order a  card from them (it's basically a debit card), and you can top it up online using your UK bank account.  You are able to order more than one card, and so my dad has one of mine in the US.  I let him know when it is topped up and he takes it to the ATM and gets out money to put into my US bank account.  If you have someone in the US that could help you out in this way, then it isn't too bad.  I think they may have new options available on their website (for paying money directly into your US bank account).  The card has worked for us so far and comes in handy for when we're on holiday too.  Just another option to consider.  Good luck!