Higher One - Students and Client Universities Give High Marks to Higher One

Nearly 9 in 10 Students Are Satisfied with their OneAccount from Higher One; Universities Cite Significant Cost Savings and Improved Administration

NEW HAVEN, CT – January 24, 2005 – Higher One, a leading provider of customized financial services dedicated exclusively to the higher education market, today released the results of its first-ever customer satisfaction survey. Overwhelmingly, university and student clients gave Higher One high marks for satisfaction with the company’s suite of proprietary Refund Management disbursement and banking services including OneDisburse^SM and OneFinance^SM. Since September 2002, Higher One has processed over $501 million in refund disbursements comprising more than 237,000 individual payments. Higher One surveyed thirteen universities and more than 3,750 students.

With OneDisburse^SM, Higher One manages the refund disbursement process, saving universities money, increasing customer service and eliminating worries about meeting federal funds disbursement deadlines, even for universities already offering ACH. OneDisburse^® allows universities to provide their students with a suite of financial services – OneFinance^SM – that can be implemented through a complete card-based program, including ID or non-ID cards. OneFinance^SM offers students a free checking account – the OneAccount – and a MasterCard® Debit Card – the OneCard.

“Universities that offer our suite of financial services have found that students are very satisfied, and the universities themselves are quite pleased with the cost and time savings they are achieving with us managing their refund disbursement process,” said Dean Hatton, President and CEO, Higher One. “We feel strongly that because we are dedicated to providing services that are a win-win for universities and their students, Higher One’s financial service products will continue to enjoy high customer satisfaction rates.”

Student Satisfaction Results

More than 86 percent of student OneAccount holders were extremely satisfied, very satisfied or satisfied with the ability to deposit financial aid refunds electronically into the free OneAccount checking account that comes with their OneCards, replacing paper checks.
Over 85 percent of students reported that they were extremely satisfied, very satisfied or satisfied using the OneCard as a MasterCard® Debit Card to make purchases at area merchants.
Seventy-three percent of students at 13 universities reported that they found the OneCard very convenient. In fact, more than 60 percent of students said they use the OneCard frequently to make purchases, 69 percent said they used the OneCard because it is easier than writing out checks and 62 percent indicated they used the OneCard instead of cash.

“MasterCard® is delighted to work with Higher One to help provide universities and their students with the most sophisticated and versatile payment options,” said Richard G. Lyons, senior vice president, Deposit Access Group, MasterCard International “The OneCard Debit MasterCard® offers students an enhanced level of financial control and flexibility, including important benefits such as access to the world’s largest merchant and ATM network, and features such as Zero Liability protection against unauthorized card use.”

Student satisfaction with the OneAccount’s banking features was also high with students responding most favorably (93 percent) to the no monthly fee or minimum balance requirement, the free, easy-to-read online statement (90 percent) and the fact that they could have their financial aid refunds deposited directly to their OneAccount (86 percent).

“Now my students are more knowledgeable regarding financial responsibility, and the financial aid process here on campus,” said Mary Beth Irwin, Eagle Card Operations, Eastern Michigan University.

University Satisfaction

Survey results from ID Offices of client universities showed that they also agree or strongly agree that Higher One has added value to their office and staff, with the majority citing significant savings on carding costs, office supplies, postage and marketing. Responding ID Offices reported saving substantial amounts even on carding alone, anywhere from $1.21 to $6 per card issued.

“Five dollars per card times 6,000 students – we saved over $30,000 on carding alone, and haven’t had to pay anything for ID Office Marketing thanks to Higher One,” said Audrey Wilson, Director of Angelo State University’s OneCard program.

Higher One clients have indicated that this program also allows universities to save administrative jobs and maintain enrollments.

“Our survey has also shown a side benefit many universities are experiencing after implementing the Higher One solution – an increase in interdepartmental relations,” added Hatton. “By helping them coordinate their financial aid refund process with financial services through the OneCard and in many cases a OneCard ID card, Higher One helps foster increased communication on campus among the many core constituencies.”

“We get a lot of comments since the addition of Higher One that now, we can do it all! We are the place for refund information. We don’t have to send them students away without an answer any more,” Bob Gilbert, ID Services, Kennesaw State University.

“This Fall term August 1st through October 15th we successfully disbursed $93,483,232 for 13 higher education institutions faster and at very low cost to the universities– saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless man hours they used to spend managing and distributing refunds to their students,” continued Hatton. “The recent customer satisfaction survey has made it clear that the universities themselves are also quite pleased with both OneDisburse^® and OneFinance^SM.”

Higher One's OneDisburse^® service is the only comprehensive Refund Management available to colleges and universities. Unlike EFT programs or stored value refund card programs, OneDisburse^® is a patent pending service that offers students three choices to receive their refunds while eliminating many of the costs associated with refund delivery for the university. The choices include Easy Refund^SM (an instantly available refund to their OneAccount), ACH to any 3rd party bank, or a paper check. Regardless of the student preference, Higher One handles the delivery of the refund. In addition, Higher One handles: management of student refund preferences; collection and archiving of ACH authorization forms; exception handling; refund returns; rerouting of checks; errors and refund reversals; reconciliation and archiving; customer service; regulatory compliance; and online reporting of refund statuses.

About Higher One

Founded in 2000, Higher One provides higher education institutions and their students with efficient, convenient and easy-to-use solutions to handle financial disbursements. These include: student refunds, on-campus and community purchases, payroll and employee expenses, as well as the collection of payments from students, parents, and sponsors.

Higher One offers a suite of online banking services including the OneAccount, an FDIC-insured checking account, and OneCard, a Debit MasterCard^®. To date, Higher One has disbursed over $4 billion dollars in refunds for its clients to more than 1,000,000 students, faculty, and staff at distinguished public and private higher education institutions throughout the country.

Higher One recently ranked # 85 on the 2007 Inc. List of the 500 Fastest Growing Companies in the United States. Higher One is based in New Haven, CT.