In an innovative collaboration with Wells Fargo, Amazon will offer student subscribers to its Prime service access to discounted loans that they can use to pay for college. Whereas federal student loans all offer the same interest rate, private lenders such as banks can charge varying rates. Therefore, Amazon and Wells Fargo will promise Prime members that they can save a half a percentage point off the going rate if they take out their loan from the service. The agreement between the retailer and the service provider took several years of negotiations, and the multiyear contract promises to make the loans available for an extended period, especially if the options prove popular among students. Thus, for the cost of their Prime membership (which is lower than the cost for traditional consumers), college students can save not just shipping costs on their textbooks but also a substantial amount of interest over the life of their loans.

Source: Annamaria Andriotis, The Wall Street Journal, July 21, 2016