HIGHER ONE SIGNS CONTRACT WITH GEORGIA BOARD OF REGENTS AND DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL AND ADULT EDUCATION FOR HIGHER ONE’S ONEDISBURSE REFUND MANAGEMENT SERVICE

Middle Georgia and Fort Valley State Becomes the First of 69 Institutions to Take Advantage of New Contract

NEW HAVEN, CT, August, 2006 –Higher One, a financial services company that provides refund management and banking services to higher education institutions, announced today a contract naming Higher One the preferred vendor of choice for refund management services for the Georgia higher educational system including the University System of Georgia (USG) and the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education(DTAE).  The contract allows the 69 schools and more than 300,000 students within these systems to benefit from Higher One’s OneDisburse Refund Management service.  OneDisburse helps institutions increase student services and choice while helping administration reduce costs.  The contract was awarded after an RFP process was undertaken by the Board of Regents.  Prior to the RFP, Higher One has worked with and had strong successes with eight school partners that are part of the Georgia system.

“We are excited that Georgia’s Board of Regents sees the quality and value in our program and services we offer our college and university partners,” said Walter Hinckfoot, Vice President of Sales, Higher One.  “This contract further confirms the amount of time and money current clients within the Georgia system have already saved, while benefiting their students at the same time.”

The University of West Georgia and Kennesaw State, both part of the Georgia system, won Best Practice awards from the Board of Regents for their implementation of Higher One’s refund management program.  These awards brought acclaim to the Higher One program within the Georgia school systems, resulting in six additional schools signing on to the program after recognizing the many benefits it has provided for their sister schools.

"We’ve had great success with Higher One. Our student payments get to our students faster, students have more choice, exceptions are handled without cost to our institution, and best of all, we are able to offer electronic payment options to students without storing student bank account information in campus systems." Said Earle Holley, Vice President Business & Finance from Kennesaw State University. 

After noting the trend that an increasing number of institutions were adopting a refund management service, the Board of Regents wanted to see this sort of program adopted statewide and decided to run an RFP process.  The RFP resulted in the contract with Higher One and simplifies the sign up process for member institutions.

To date, Higher One has helped its eight college and university partners in Georgia disburse more than $222,900,000 in payments via Easy Refund, ACH, and paper check payment.  More than 40,000 students at these schools have chosen to actively use the OneAccount, the free checking account offered as part of Higher One’s service.  Some student benefits include increased choice in how to receive payments, faster receipt of refunds and other payments, and the option of a free FDIC insured checking account which enables the use of their Refund or ID card as a Debit MasterCard.

“As schools look to meet the demanding needs of students by providing the latest in technology and convenience, the adoption of refund management will continue to grow, , increasing the need for a solution like OneDisburse,” added Hinckfoot.  “Students and schools benefit from the fact that with OneDisburse, Higher One handles the entire process, making the payment and managing any associated exceptions or customer service needs.”

Refund management provides institutions with an easy way to increase the percentage of payments that are made to students electronically.  The desire to have payments made electronically is a growing trend that was recently acknowledged in guidance from the Department of Education.  According to ED, “Institutions are increasingly changing the way they disburse funds to students by moving away from issuing checks to transferring funds electronically.”  Refund management is the easiest way for an institution to help students receive their money electronically while still allowing for the option to receive a paper check if the student desires. 

In a separate announcement, Middle Georgia College and Fort Valley State University became the first schools that are part of the USG to sign up for OneDisburse under the new umbrella agreement and both anticipate being live with the system later this summer.

It is estimated that higher education institutions make approximately $15 billion in refund disbursements to students per year through more than 15 million payments.  The processing and handling of these payments, along with associated customer services, is estimated to cost schools over $225 million per year.  Higher One’s patent pending OneDisburse refund management service vastly improves the student payment experience and reduces costs for the institution.  It has quickly become the standard of service for American higher education institutions looking for ways to improve the payment process. 

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About Higher One

Focused exclusively on higher education, Higher One provides refund management services to higher education institutions and banking services to members of their community through a card-based solution. Higher One's integrated solution helps universities reduce administrative costs, streamline business processes, create new revenue streams, increase student customer service and strengthen the campus community. Higher One's refund service, OneDisburse, provides students with more choices and better service for receiving financial refunds. Higher One also offers a suite of banking services called OneFinance, which includes the OneAccount, a no minimum balance, no monthly fee checking account, the OneCard, a Debit MasterCard® card for ATM withdrawals and purchases, and exclusive features such as "Send Money", Easy Refund, and Campus AutoLoad for stored value programs.  The OneFinance and OneDisburse solutions can be integrated with the institution's ID card or provided through a separate "refund only" card.

To date, Higher One has disbursed more than a billion dollars in refunds for its college and university clients. More than 400,000 students, faculty, and staff at distinguished public and private institutions use Higher One's services through their ID or refund card.

 

For more information visit www.higherone.com. Banking services are provided through an agreement with Frost Bank, member FDIC.