Nelnet is a leading education and finance company that services 12 million student loans worth $60 billion. To provide better customer service and meet the needs of their tech-savvy, college-aged demographic, Nelnet developed a mobile app called Loan Assist using Appcelerator Titanium. The cross-platform mobile app allows users to check their loan status, account information, payment history and request status from their mobile device. Within a few months of launching on iOS and Android, the Loan Assist app had over 20,000 downloads with minimal promotion. The app helped move some customer inquiries from more expensive call centers and paper-based methods to the more cost-effective mobile platform.

1. Loan Assist is a mobile
loan inquiry and payment
system for Nelnet-
serviced student loans.
Users can stay up-
to-date with detailed
summaries of loan status, account
information, payment history, and status
of requests.
Nelnet is one of the leading education
and finance companies in the United
States, providing student loan servicing
for 12 million student loans. Nelnet is a
servicer for student loans underwritten by
the Department of Education.
Nelnet uses Titanium to service 12 million student loans worth $60 billion
Nelnet has built their business around consistently improving customer
service and self-service. Until a year ago, they were servicing 12 million
student loans worth $60 million through US mail, call centers, and their
web app, Manage My Account. To uphold the company’s promise to offer
service “Anytime, anyplace, anywhere” to their tech-savvy, college-aged
demographic, Nelnet needed a mobile strategy.
“It’s clear that our customer base – college students – have gone mobile.
Titanium helped us develop a cross-platform mobile app quickly so that we
could be with them wherever they are.”
Developing a mobile strategy with Titanium
In late 2009, Nelnet began investigating mobile development options.
Initially, they considered developing with native SDKs but the learning curve
was too high for their IT staff.
“We didn’t have the time or resources to retrain everyone on native
development languages. With Titanium, our IT team could use the JavaScript
and HTML skills they already have, and focus on developing a great mobile
app,” said Mike Randash, Executive Vice President at 5280 Solutions, a Nelnet
wholly-owned subsidary.
COMPANY
CASE STUDY: NELNET
APPLICATION
BENEFITS
Enhancing customer service by expanding
online payment system to mobile
Push notifications keep students up-to-
date on their payment status
80% code reuse between iPhone and
Android deployments
Mobile app ties into backend
payment system
“It’s clear that our
customer base – college
students – have gone
mobile. Titanium helped
us develop a cross-
platform mobile app
quickly so that we could
be with them wherever
they are.”

2. When evaluating platform options, Mike’s team considered Titanium and
PhoneGap. The team chose Titanium for its superior performance and
usability. His mobile team began developing their mobile app immediately,
with no retraining necessary.
Development of the iPhone and Android mobile apps as well as their
backend payment system occurred simultaneously over a four month period.
The mobile app was launched on both platforms, and Nelnet had 20,000
downloads with little promotion in the first few months.
“Students/Borrowers love the app. Since our launch several months ago, some
customer service inquiries have moved away from more expensive call center
and paper-based methods to cost-effective mobile inquiries.”
Nelnet is currently promoting Loan Assist and planning the soft launch for
several student focused apps built with Titanium.
Future Plans
Mike plans to develop iPad-specific apps in the future, and is considering
rolling out to Android tablets.
“We didn’t have the time
or resources to retrain
everyone on native
development languages.
With Titanium, our IT
team could use the
JavaScript and HTML
skills they already have,
and focus on developing
a great mobile app,”
MIKE RANDASH
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
5280 SOLUTIONS (A NELNET
WHOLLY-OWNED SUBSIDARY)
RV083011
CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS | 440 N. Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043
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