SoFi Bank is a financial technology company that offers a variety of banking products and services, including checking accounts, savings accounts, loans, and investments. SoFi Bank is a member of the FDIC, and its deposits are insured up to $2,000,000.
SoFi Bank was founded in 2011, and it has since grown to become one of the largest online banks in the United States.
Features Benefits & Rewards
SoFi Checking
- High APY: Earn up to 1.20% APY on your checking account balance.
- No monthly maintenance fees: There are no monthly maintenance fees for SoFi Checking.
- Free ATM withdrawals: You can make unlimited free ATM withdrawals at any Allpoint ATM.
- Direct Deposit: You can set up direct deposit to your SoFi Checking account to earn a higher APY and avoid monthly maintenance fees.
- Mobile Check Deposit: You can deposit checks using the SoFi mobile app.
- Bill Pay: You can pay bills using the SoFi mobile app or website.
- P2P Payments: You can send and receive money from friends and family using the SoFi mobile app.
- SoFi Debit Card: You can use your SoFi Debit Card to make purchases online and in stores.
- SoFi Money Management Tools: You can use SoFi’s money management tools to track your spending, budget, and save for your goals.
SoFi Savings
- High APY: Earn up to 4.30% APY on your savings account balance.
- No monthly maintenance fees: There are no monthly maintenance fees for SoFi Savings.
- Free ATM withdrawals: You can make unlimited free ATM withdrawals at any Allpoint ATM.
- Direct Deposit: You can set up direct deposit to your SoFi Savings account to earn a higher APY and avoid monthly maintenance fees.
- Mobile Check Deposit: You can deposit checks using the SoFi mobile app.
- Goal-Based Savings: You can create goal-based savings accounts to help you save for specific goals, such as a down payment on a house or a new car.
- SoFi Money Management Tools: You can use SoFi’s money management tools to track your spending, budget, and save for your goals.
Other Services by SoFi
SoFi provides a diverse range of financial services for both individual clients and business proprietors, encompassing:
- SoFi Invest: This feature allows SoFi users to engage in stock and ETF trading, delve into cryptocurrency investments, and more, all within the SoFi app, without incurring any commission fees.
- Refinancing Student Loans: SoFi presents refinancing options for student loans with competitive fixed rates starting at 5.24%, and without any associated fees.
- Private Student Loans: Catering to various educational needs, SoFi’s private student loan options include loans for MBA programs, law school, undergraduate studies, loans for parents, and others.
- Personal Loans: Individuals seeking personal loans can apply through SoFi’s online platform, with potential loan amounts ranging from $5,000 to $100,000.
- Mortgage Loans: Offering mortgage loans with low initial payment requirements, SoFi also provides attractive rates and flexible repayment terms that span 10 to 30 years.
- Auto Loan Refinancing: SoFi enables its customers to explore and compare auto refinancing rates from a network of leading lenders, offering an application process free of fees or commitments.
- Credit Cards: The SoFi credit card rewards users with an unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases and comes without an annual fee.
- Insurance Products: SoFi’s insurance offerings are comprehensive, including auto, life, homeowners, and renters insurance, along with a novel cyber insurance option that provides up to $10,000 in coverage for identity theft, cyber extortion, and related concerns.
- Estate Planning: In collaboration with Trust & Will, SoFi facilitates online estate planning, offering its members a 15% discount on selected services.
- Financial Insights: The platform offers a suite of financial management tools, including credit monitoring, budgeting aids, and investment tracking services.
- Business Financing and Solutions: SoFi extends its services to the business sector, providing small business financing and tools designed to enhance employee support within businesses.
Account Types
SoFi Money
SoFi Money is a cash management account that allows account holders to deposit, spend and save money. Instead of offering a separate solution for saving and checking needs, SoFi Money is offered as a hybrid solution to both problems.
SoFi Money Account is powered by the mobile application and comes with a Mastercard debit card. While there is no minimum balance requirement to open a SoFi Money Account, you need to have recurring monthly deposits of at least $500 per month to earn the APY of 0.25%. The interest is accumulated on daily basis and compounded on monthly basis. It is deposited by 5th business day after the end of a particular month.
The account can be opened online and accessed anywhere from the mobile application or the desktop solution. SoFi Money Account is remarkable in the sense that no fees are charged for offering the services. There is no fee for account opening, overdraft, account maintenance, minimum balance, ATM usage, card replacement, bill payment, POS transaction or dormant account.
SoFi offers state-of-the-art security, including FDIC insurance of amounts up to $1,500,000. This means your funds are kept in a secure vault where only you can decide whether and when to spend them. The fraud policy of SoFi is strict, and you can instantly freeze your card from the mobile app.
SoFi offers joint accounts, and you can easily add a joint account holder to your account from the mobile app. The banking services are, however, currently limited to individuals and not offered to businesses.
SoFi Credit Card
SoFi Credit Card is designed to help customers save, invest and pay down their debts. The APR currently varies between 12.99% to 24.99%. The APR for cash advances can be as high as 26.99%. SoFi encourages the consumers to pay off their credit balance on time by offering an unparalleled incentive; if you make 12 on-time payments, you can reduce your APR by 1%.
There is no annual fee for using the card, but the balance transfer and cash advance fees are greater than $10 or 5% of the transaction value. In addition, the late payment and return payment fees can be as high as $39. SoFi offers 2% unlimited cash back on all the qualifying purchases, and you can use redeem it to pay down the debt, invest or save with SoFi.
Unlike some of its competitors, applying for a credit card through SoFi results in a hard credit check, which may adversely impact one’s credit score. Therefore, availing of a SoFi credit card may not be your best option, in case you are looking to improve your credit history.
SoFi Relay
SoFi Relay is not a bank account, but a banking solution to help you integrate all the accounts and track your money in real-time. This means you can understand your spending habits, get financial insights and monitor your credit scores.
You can use SoFi Relay to stay updated about the credit score changes and factors that may or may not affect your credit score. Checking the score is free and does not affect your score as it only results in a soft check.
What is SoFi Account Best For?
SoFi is best if you can set aside a recurring amount for savings, and prefer to have a single instead of two separate savings and checking accounts. It is also recommended for users tired of bearing excessive bank fees, as SoFi does not charge any fee for offering the majority of its services. The APY, however, is on the lower side, making SoFi a less-attractive choice for those looking to maximize their interest income. A high insurance value of up to $1,500,000 means that you can stop worrying about your funds.
Overdraft Facility
SoFi prevents you from overdrawing your account in most cases. This is done by rejecting the transaction if the amount is higher than the current balance. However, in some cases, the transaction amount can be higher than the available balance, resulting in an overdrawn account. In this case, SoFi deducts the additional value from the next credit and does not charge you any overdraft fees.
Beginning March 2021, overdraft coverage can be set up by members who receive at least $1,000 in monthly direct deposits, and the maximum coverage is $50.
State Availability
- Available in all states