Chipotle Partners With SoFi to Offer Student Loan Matching Program

In order to support its growing Generation Z workforce, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. announced Tuesday that it will partner with SoFi to provide a new employee assistance program, featuring student loan benefits, access to mental health resources and more. 

Through SoFi’s Student Loan Verification service, once an employee becomes eligible for Chipotle’s 401(k) plan match, the company will match up to 4% of an employee’s salary through contributions to their retirement account if the employee makes eligible student loan repayments. 

The Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. 401(k) plan has more than $183 million in assets, according to its 2022 Form 5500 filing. 

According to SoFi, the benefit solution launched in response to the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022’s student loan matching provision, which went into effect January 1 of this year, which allows employers to provide matching retirement contributions for qualified student loan repayments.  

SoFi and Chipotle were introduced via Alliant and Principal, Chipotle’s benefits broker and recordkeeper, respectively, according to a spokesperson at SoFi at Work. Through its SoFi at Work platform, SoFi has an existing strategic partnership with Principal, dating back 2021.  

SoFi at Work cited a 2019 study from MIT, which found that 84% of adults who carry student loan debt say it has impacted how much they can save for retirement. When it came to those who had not saved for retirement, more than one in four respondents said it was because they had to put their money toward paying off student loans. 

In addition, Chipotle employees will have access to a debit card created by Cred.ai, allowing them to have payroll funds deposited into a bank account, with those funds available via the debit card to make purchases and build credit with no fees or interest. A Chipotle spokesperson said in an emailed response that the “high-tech” Visa card offers security features, faster access to paychecks and Cred.ai’s “Credit Optimizer”—an algorithm the card uses to optimize users’ credit utilization, so people do not overspend and damage their credit score.  

As more than 73% of Chipotle’s restaurant employees are part of Gen Z, SoFi argued that these new benefits cater to the challenges people in that cohort are facing. In addition to student loan debt, many Gen Z employees face credit card debt that is growing at a faster rate than previous generations, according to Credit Karma. 

American credit card balances hit a record $1 trillion last year, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. 

Chipotle’s partnership with SoFi will also provide employees access to the SoFi at Work Dashboard, which includes an assessment of the user’s current financial outlook, as well as other financial education tools and materials. 

Chipotle’s new Employee Assistance Program, powered by the financial wellness platform SupportLinc, focuses on employee mental and emotional well-being. Through the platform, Chipotle employees will have access to six free sessions with a licensed counselor, as well as tools, resources and community support for legal, financial and family matters. 

Beyond the 110,000 employees that currently work at Chipotle restaurants across the country, the company has announced it is looking to hire 19,000 additional employees for its upcoming “burrito season,” which the company identifies as from March through May, its  busiest time of year.  

According to the company, Chipotle promoted more than 26,000 employees in 2023, and crew members can advance to “Restaurateur” status in three and a half years. At that level, they can earn a total compensation package of approximately $100,000.