$114,000 Debt Paid in Cash: Canadian Man Finally Pays Off Student Loan

Alex Kenjeev has finally managed to pay off his student loans. In fact, the last portion of it – totaling about $114,000 – he paid in cash.

Last week, Kenjeev posted a photo of his massive payment to Facebook, and it was then shared on Reddit, where it drew thousands of comments from users.

The 2009 law school graduate of the University of Toronto, who now works for venture capitalist firm O’Leary Ventures, says the $114,000 payment was the last chunk piece left of the $190,000 in loans he took out while he was in school.

He had spent several years stretching out his loan payments while pouring most of his income into a start-up. Why did he decide to pay in cash?  He stresses that he wasn’t trying to prove a point or show off.  He just thought it would be funny.

“It was stressful enough to carry such a big debt load. I thought it would be worth getting a few laughs out of it,” he said. “Neither bank thought it was as funny as I thought it was.”

As a matter of fact, when Kenjeev showed up at his Royal Bank of Canada branch to withdraw the $114,000 in cash, the manager initially refused his request. Then they informed him that he would have to pay a transport fee to have it delivered by armored truck.

As it turned out, Kenjeev was able to get out of paying the fee, but still have to wait a few days to pick up his cash.

“After so many years of carrying student debt, a few extra days didn’t bother me,” he said.

With the money shoved into a bag, he trotted on over to Scotiabank, two blocks away, where his student loan was held.

“I just plopped the bag down (on the counter),” he said. “They also didn’t know how to handle it. At first the manager didn’t want to accept the money.”

After a few phone calls and a diligent count of the currency by the bank’s tellers, Kenjeev walked out two-and-a-half hours later debt-free.

“I was feeling very good about finally being debt-free,” Kenjeev said. “Some people have taken it pretty offensively. I actually think they have a point. It hadn’t really occurred to me.”

Related articles

• Here’s What Happened When I Tried To Pay My $114,000 Student Loan In Cash (businessinsider.com)
• University of Toronto student pays back $114,000 of loans with duffel bag of cash (news.nationalpost.com)