SoFi Bank Review
6 things you should know before you sign up
SoFi bank has truly come a long way since its launch in 2011. The platform allows you to deposit, send, and invest as well as trade cryptocurrencies. SoFi Bank allows its users to have checking and savings accounts, which is great!
In addition, its approved users can take a personal, student, or mortgage loan which are beneficial as they help you hit your financial or academic goals.
However, despite its many strengths, SoFi bank is not for everyone. A perfect example is how its minimum loan request limit is $5,000 which can be expensive to some users.
I’ve covered the most important things that need to know before settling for this digital bank – I’ve also included real users’ reviews (good and bad).
Let’s get started!
Full Disclosure: While we aim to show you the good and the bad in every review so you can make the best choice, there may be links contained in this page that are affiliate links (and while not costing you anything) do earn us a commission if you click on them and decide to use the service. In many cases, we also get the opportunity to provide you with discounts and offers as part of using the link. Cheers, and Thank You!
Quick Take
SoFi Bank has a rating of 4.5/5 stars from 4,300+ real users on Trustpilot which is “Excellent”. 79% of the reviewers gave this banking platform a solid 5-star rating, indicating how the platform is open and honest with its interest rates. They further indicated that the platform has one of the easiest and fastest account and loan approval processes. Your account’s approval can take just about 10 minutes.
Only 10% of the reviewers gave SoFi Bank a 1-star rating.
| ? Established | 2011 |
| ???♀️ Number of clients | 5 million active accounts (according to their website, 2023) |
| ? Currencies supported | USD, Cryptocurrencies |
| ? APY | Up to 3.75% |
| ? ATMs | 55,000 nationwide |
| ? Physical offices | N/A – SoFi is a fully digital banking platform |
| ?? Availability | The cloud/web, iOS, and Android |
| ? Security | Enterprise-grade security |
| ⭐️ Reviews | 4.5/5 from 4,300+ real user reviews on Trustpilot |
| ? Official website | Visit SoFi |
1. What Can You Do with SoFi?
- Save, spend, and budget: with SoFi Money, you can reach your savings goal faster with an automatic savings feature, free ATMs, and get your paycheck early with no account fees.
- Pay off debts with low-interest rates: With the SoFi Refinance Student Loan feature, you can pay off your student loan at better rates, with a bonus attached.
- Get loans with little or no fees: With SoFi loan features, you can get personal, mortgage, and student loans online at low rates.
- Track your money in one place: With SoFi Relay, you can monitor your spending and savings while having access to financial insights.
- Buy insurance online from the comfort of your home: with SoFi protect, you can have access to insurance policies to protect your cars, home, and life.
- Build your investment portfolio: With SoFi Invest, you can start investing in stocks, ETFs, and crypto manually or automatically.
To help you figure out if SoFi Bank is right for your specific needs, we’ve summarized the key points of when it’s right for you (and when it’s not). We’ve also included SoFi Bank’s best alternatives to help you make a solid decision before committing to this digital banking platform.
2. Is Sofi Bank Right For You? (And When It’s Not)
When SoFi Bank is right for you
- If you are looking for a digital banking platform that offers high-interest rates
- If you are looking for a platform that offers an early paycheck (up to 2 days early paycheck deposit)
- If you are looking for a platform that offers checking and savings accounts
- If you are looking for a platform that offers personalized savings goals
- If you need access to loans and overdrafts – SoFi Bank does not charge any fee when you overdraw money.
- You can invest in fractional shares and crypto from the same platform
When SoFi Bank is NOT right for you
- If you’re not comfortable doing everything online – you prefer a brick-and-mortar bank
- If you need a loan below $5,000
- You want to access smaller loans with a co-borrower
2.2 SoFi Bank Alternatives
Check out some of the best SoFi alternatives:
| Platform | User’s needs | Why we think it’s better |
| OnJuno (currently Juno) | Better APY rates and cashback when you shop | OnJuno is a digital bank similar to SoFi. OnJuno allows its users to have checking accounts that help them manage cash and crypto assets. We think OnJuno is better than SoFi because it has better APY rates depending on your account type and bank balances. OnJuno offers a maximum of 5% APY which is significantly higher than SoFi Bank’s 3.75% for customers with direct deposits. OnJuno also gives you 5% cashback every time you shop in 5 supported brands of your choice (e.g. Amazon, WholeFoods, CVS, etc.) Read our full OnJuno review to learn more about the platform. |
| Current Bank | Lower cash deposit fees | Current Bank is, yet again, another digital bank that allows its manage traditional money and cryptocurrencies just like SoFi Bank. However, Current Bank has an upper hand when it comes to cash deposit fees. It charges $3.50 on cash deposits which is a bit lower that SoFi Bank’s $4.95 cash deposit fees. Current Bank also allows its users to have checking and savings accounts. You can learn more about Current Bank by reading our comprehensive Current Bank review. |
2.3 SoFi Pros and Cons
Pros
1) All-in-one platform: With SoFi, you have access to investments, savings, loans, and insurance.
2) No monthly, overdraft fees, and minimum
balances.
3) No investment account minimum: You can start your investment journey with as little as $5.
4) Access to membership benefits at no extra cost: benefits include discounts, rewards, career coaching, financial plans, etc.
5) Robust website and easy-to-navigate mobile app with a spending tracker
6) Multiple ways to fund your account: You can deposit checks via mobile, transfers, direct deposits, or through a third-party service called Green Dot.
Cons
1) Currently only available to U.S residents
2) Cash deposit fees are considerably higher (@$4.95) compared to other platforms. In addition, these
deposits are available through 3rd-party retailers only.
3) Minimum loan amount is $5,000 which can be expensive for some users
3. How Much Does It Cost To Use SoFi?
Opening an account with SoFi is free.
So how do they make their money?
Through the following:
- Loans: SoFi monetizes the loans it issues through a process called “whole loan sales. This involves selling them to firms and investors who pay SoFi a premium upfront.
- Investments: Interests from uninvested cash held in accounts and done through FDIC programs. SoFi does not charge any commission fees when you want to invest and trade.
- Insurance: They earn a referral fee every time a member applies for an insurance policy with any of their partners.
- Deposits: SoFi earns a small amount of interest from the accounts, and with each use of the debit cards.
3.1 What are the Fees?
| Service | Fees/Details |
|---|---|
| Account Fee | None |
| Annual Percentage Yield (APY) | 1.20% – 3.75% |
| ATM | Free (in-network) and up to $5 per transaction for out-of-network ATMs |
| Loans | Student loans capped at 13.95% APR Refinancing loans – Personal, Student, & Mortgage (read more by clicking the above links) |
| Investment Assets | Cryptocurrencies (1.25% fee on any crypto coin trade), Stocks (free), IPOs, ETFs (free) |
| Overdraft | Free |
| Transaction Fees | Domestic – $25, International – $45, Balance Transfer – 5%, minimum $10, crypto transactions – 1.25% commission fee |
Here’s how SoFi Bank tries its best to keep fees and charges as low as possible:
Firstly, they monetize from their partners and other institutions, as well as interests from loans, debit cards, and investment products.
This means that there are no direct fees you’re paying when using their services. Most reviewers on Trustpilot indicated that SoFi bank is open and transparent about its fees. And as far as we can tell, we think it’s true.
4. How To Sign Up To SoFi
You can sign up for SoFi if you’re a U.S. resident. You will have to sign up to access the different products separately, but they have similar processes and are fully digital.
- Create an account by providing your basic details from either their website or through their app. The details needed are your name, email address, state, and password. (Remember, SoFi Bank is currently available in the U.S. only).
- Provide answers to simple regulatory questions
- Provide proof of identity
- Fund your account.
4.1 Does Sofi Have an App?
SoFi mobile app is available for both Android and iOS users, rated 4.8/5 and 4.0/5 on the iOS app store and Android Google Play Store respectively.
You can use this app to save, invest, apply for loans, monitor your finances, and buy insurance policies.
5. What Do SoFi Customers Say (Including Negative Reviews)?
SoFi is rated 4.5/5 on Trustpilot with over 4,300 reviews.
After 12 years in the industry, 79% of these reviews are “excellent,” while 10% are “bad.”
Check out our SoFi Bank review summary of the good and bad we were able to deduce after going through hundreds of real user reviews.
The Good
SoFi’s customers love it because of its:
- Robust features
- Easy-to-use platform
- Easy application process
- Rewards and bonuses.
Here’s what a user, Ernesto had to stay:
“I have obtained 3 mortgages in the last 5 years. Two were from SoFi (one, a refi). The outstanding service drew my interest in their other offerings. My primary credit card is now a SoFi card, I do most of my banking and investing on SoFi. I was even introduced to crypto by SoFi. My initial meager crypto investments took off. I started paying attention. I researched and bought more crypto and other related stocks. My investments are exploding. Thank you SoFi for teaching me how to make money.”
And here’s a review by another user, Maurice
“I refinanced my home loan through sofi & honestly it was a breeze. From beginning to end. I was able to shorten my loan by 5 years & got a great APR. I’d definitely recommend their service.”
The Bad
- Bad customer service: This can happen with lots of users to attend to. The majority of bad reviews are from customers who complained that they had to wait long hours before getting customer support on the phone to help resolve their concerns.
- Some users complained that SoFi was asking for their details (such as social security numbers) or bank statements. But Know Your Customer (KYC) is a mandatory verification process employed by SoFi to meet the regulatory requirements of the financial bodies that oversee SoFi’s operations
- Some other users complained that the loans they applied for were not approved, and it took much longer for feedback. Some even say they did not receive a valuable or reasonable reason for the disapproval.
- There were one or two instances of identity verification failures.
Here’s a review by Kristi who was dissatisfied with SoFi Bank’s support team services:
“My Sofi Money (Checking account) was blocked over a month ago with a balance of almost $10,000, without any explanation. Live Chat support becomes unavailable while the account is locked,…the matter cannot be handled by their support, but by a so called Security Team that doesn’t want to talk to the customers in any way.“
6. Is SoFi Safe?
As far as we can tell, SoFi is safe. It is a regulated financial services provider.
Check out how SoFi keeps your money safe:
- Secret Socket Layer (SSL) encryption
- Two-factor authentication: providing additional verification is required before you can gain access to your account.
- Fraud protection
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance – Your money is protected for up to $1.5 million.
If you’re curious, SoFi is regulated by:
- Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB)
- Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
- Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.
Wrap-Up on SoFi Bank Review
So should you use SoFi Bank?
If you’re looking for these qualities in a personal finance management tool, then SoFi may be a good choice for you:
- Everything you need in one place
- No account opening fees
- Zero membership fees
- Rewards and early paychecks
- Quick access and low rates for loans
- Automated investments
- Easy-to-use platform
SoFi bank is available on the web/cloud, iOS, and Android – you only need access to the internet to access this feature-rich platform. You can open an account today and have it approved within minutes. Loan requests are paperless and are also processed quickly, which, in our opinion, is more beneficial compared to using traditional banks.
Why choose SoFi?
SoFi Bank is a digital banking platform that offers high-interest rates, early paycheck deposit (up to 2 days early), checking and savings accounts, personalized savings goals, and access to loans and overdrafts. Additionally, it allows for investment in fractional shares and crypto.
Are there better choices to SoFi?
SoFi may well be the best option for you. On the other hand, cash deposit fees are on the high side and the minimum loan amount is $5000.
SoFi Bank Review → 6 Must Knows (Before Signing Up)
SoFi bank has a rating of 4.5/5 on Trustpilot from 4,300+ real user reviews which is "Excellent". This SoFi bank review takes a look at its charges and fees, pros and cons, and alternative(s).
Application Category: Finance Application
4.5