Regional lenders have been struggling to attract the next generation of banking consumers to fill the gap that will be left by an aging baby boomer population. As a result, traditional financial institutions have been rushing to acquire or invest in fintech companies to reach the student loan market. In 2017, the education finance start-up Earnest was purchased by Navient, a federal loan servicer and provider of asset management and business processing solutions, for $155 million. A subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp jumped into the fray in 2018, leading a $50 million financing round for student lender CommonBond. And, earlier this year, Key Bank acquired the digital student lending business of Laurel Road Bank for an undisclosed sum.