Pros Explained

• Competitive APYs on checking and savings accounts: SoFi offers good interest rates on its combined checking/savings account (one rate for checking balances, another for savings). Both rates are significantly higher than the national average rates on checking and savings accounts—as long as you meet deposit requirements.  
• No minimum deposit or balance requirements: You don’t need to deposit a certain amount upfront or maintain a balance in your account from month to month.  
• Does not charge monthly maintenance or account overdraft fees: SoFi doesn’t charge monthly account fees, and it offers up to $50 in free overdraft coverage if you receive monthly direct deposits of at least $1,000.
• Offers early direct deposit: You can get paid up to two days ahead of time with early direct deposit in your checking/savings account.  
• Accounts can be FDIC-insured for up to $2 million: By enrolling in SoFi’s Insured Deposit Program, your accounts are insured for up to $3 million, significantly higher than the usual FDIC insurance maximum of $250,000. SoFi offers this benefit by partnering with multiple FDIC-insured banks to spread out your deposits.

Cons Explained

• No option for a standalone checking or savings account: SoFi doesn’t give you the option of opening either a checking or savings account—there is only a combined checking and savings account. 
• No physical branches or in-person banking: SoFi is an online bank, so it doesn’t have the option of in-person banking. 
• Cash deposits come with a fee: If you deposit cash at a retail location through Green Dot, you’ll have to pay a fee of up to $4.95. 
• No reimbursement for out-of-network ATM fees: While some banks offer reimbursement up to a certain amount for out-of-network ATM fees, SoFi doesn’t offer this benefit.

Who Is SoFi Best For?

SoFi may be best for customers looking for a checking and savings account who can meet the direct deposit requirements to qualify for the highest APY. Eligible direct deposits include regular paychecks from an employer or regular pension or government benefit payments. It may also be a good fit for customers who maintain large balances in their accounts, since SoFi offers FDIC insurance for up to $3 million.

Plus, SoFi offers various benefits to members, including free financial planning and discounts on loans. If you need a personal loan, student loan, home loan, or other lending product, bank꧅ing with SoFi could score you a member discount on your loan’s interest rate. 

To bank with SoFi, you’ll also need to be comfortable with online and mobile banking, since it doesn’t have any physical branches. It also doesn’t offer certificates of deposit (CDs) or 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:money market accounts, so it wouldn’t be your best choice if you’re looking for th🌄ose banking options. 

Bank Accounts Offered by SoFi

SoFi offers a combined checking and savings account. Each portion, checking and savings, comes with a competitive APY. You can’t open a standalone account; you must open both account types at the same time. Within your savings account, you have the option of creating up to 20 “vaults,” which are free sub-accounts that you can designate for specific savings goals. 

Checking

SoFi offers an interest-bearing checking account with no minimum deposit or balance requirements and no monthly fees. The checking account offers fee-free overd꧋raft protection for up to $50 for customers who receive monthly direct deposits of at least $1,000, as well as early direct deposit of paychecks and government benefits.

SoFi also offers the option to round up the amount of all debit card purchases and transfer the differenceᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ to your savings account.🙈

Savings

When you open a SoFi checking account, you’ll also get a SoFi savings account. The savings account has no minimum balance requirements or monthly fees. Along with setting up roundups to move small amounts to savings each time you use your debit card, you can also automatically transfer part of each direct-deposit𝔍ed paycheck into savings.

You have the option of creating up to 20 vaults at no cost if you want to set up savings buckets for different goals. SoFi’s savings account offers a competitive APY across all balances, but you’ll need to receive monthly direct deposits or deposit at least $5,000 every 30 days to qualify for the higher rate. If you don’t meet one of these criteria, your savings account will earn a much lower APY. So, depending on your monthly activities, it may or may not qualify as a high-yield savings account.

Other Products Offered by SoFi

Although SoFi doesn’t offer other banking products, such as CDs or money market accounts, it does provide a wide array of other financial pro🤡ducts and services. These include: 

• A credit card
• Mortgages
• Personal loans 
• Student loans
• Student loan refinancing
• Investing accounts
• Insurance plans 
• Small business financing

Credit Card

SoFi offers a straightforward 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:rewards credit card that earns 2% cash back o🦂n most purchases, other than purchases on SoFi Travel, which get 3%. You can redeem your rewards as statement credits, mov𝔍e them to your savings or investment account, or put them toward eligible loan payments.

This card doesn’t charge an annual fee and allows balance transfers, although꧙ it doesn’t offer a 0% introductory rate, like some others.

Mortgages

SoFi also provides a 🌸variety of home loans, including: 

• Mortgages with down payments as low as 3% to 5%
• Mortgage refinancing
• Cash-out refinancing 
• Jumbo loans 
• Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) 
• FHA loans
• VA loans 

Other Loans

SoFi offers competitive rates and large amounts for its personal loans, student loans, and student loan refinancing products. It advertiඣses loans for specific purposes and borrowers, like credit card consolidation, home improvement, family planning, travel, and weddings, but these are all essentially the same kind of personal loan.

SoFi also offers a variety of student loans, including undergraduate, graduate, law school, MBA, health profession, and parent stude🌞nt loans. Similarly, it offers general student loan refinancing as well as spec♚ialized refinancing options, such as medical resident, parent PLUS, medical professional, law, and MBA refinancing. 

SoFi offers the option 🤪to pre-qualify for personal loans, student loans, and student loan refinancing on its website, meaning you can check your rates without impacting your credit score.🐽 

SoFi ranked fourth in J.D. Power’s 2024 Consumer Lending Satisfaction Study for the best personal loan lenders. This study relied on responses from 4,387 personal loan borrowers and rated customer satisfaction in various areas, including experience with customer service and obtaining and managing the loan.

Mobile App

SoFi offers a mobile banking app for both iPhone and Android that allows you to manage all your accounts in the same place. You can deposit checks, transfer money, invest and trade, check your rates, apply for loans, and more. You can also earn SoFi Rewards by using the app to pay bills, monitor your credit, and handle other financial tasks. Points can be redeemed as cash or credits toward your credit card statement or loan payments. 

SoFi’s apps get strong customer reviews, especially in the Apple App Store, where it has an average rating of 4.8 stars out of 5 based on nearly 351,000 customer ratings. 

Customer Service

Although SoFi doesn’t have physical branc🍃hes, it does offer assistance over the phone and via web chat. Here’s how to contact SoFi’s customer service team.

Customer Satisfaction

SoFi has an excellent rating on Trustpilot, receiving 4.4 stars out of 5 based on more than 9,100 customer ratings and reviews. Among reviewers, over 81% gave SoFi five stars, saying that they had an easy and straightforward experience with the bank and received helpful and professional customer service. 

SoFi used to have a low rating of 1.39 out of 5 stars at the Better Business Bureau, but as of January 2025, SoFi is no longer BBB Accredited and there is no star or reviews featured. Previously, there were complaints that involved account restrictions deemed by customers to be unfair.

How to Bank With SoFi

You can open a SoFi checking and savings account online in a few simple steps. To get started, choose whether you want to open an individual or joint baꦇnk account.

Then, you🌺’ll enter your personal details, including your name, address, phoneꦯ number, date of birth, and Social Security number. SoFi will text you a code to confirm your mobile number. 

You’ll also indicate your citizenship status, country of citizenship, employment status, and annual i🅷ncome. Once you’ve submitted everything, SoFi will quickly review and process your application.

The Bottom Line

SoFi Bank offers competitive APYs and a user-friendly experience on its website and mobile app. If you don’t mind not having access to physical branches, SoFi could offer you an easy and convenient banking option without having to worry about minimum balance requirements or monthly fees. You may also enjoy the perks of fee-free overdraft protection up to $50, early direct deposit, and FDIC insurance up to $3 million. However, ensure you can meet SoFi’s direct deposit requirement, or your savings account APY will earn a fairly low rate. If you can’t meet that requirement—or if you want a bank with CDs and money market accounts—then another financial institution would be a better fit.  

Methodology

Investopedia is dedicated to providing coꦍnsumers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of banking institutions. We researched 19 institutions, reviewing account types, rates, fees, minimum balance requirements, rewards, customer service, and mobile apps. Our research and editorial processes are designed to ensure that our reviews help users make informed decisions for their banking needs.

New and existing Checking and Savings members who have not previously enrolled in Direct Deposit with SoFi are eligible to earn a cash bonus of either $50 (with at least $1,000 total Eligible Direct Deposits received during the Direct Deposit Bonus Period) OR $300 (with at least $5,000 total Eligible Direct Deposits received during the Direct Deposit Bonus Period). Cash bonus will be based on the total amount of Eligible Direct Deposit. If you have satisfied the Eligible Direct Deposit requirements but have not received a cash bonus in your Checking account, please contact us at 855-456-7634 with the details of your Eligible Direct Deposit. Direct Deposit Promotion begins on 12/7/2023 and will be available through 1/31/2026. Full terms at sofi.com/banking. SoFi Checking and Savings is offered through SoFi Bank, N.A., Member FDIC. SoFi members with Eligible Direct Deposit can earn 3.80% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. There is no minimum Eligible Direct Deposit amount required to qualify for the 3.80% APY for savings (including Vaults). Members without Eligible Direct Deposit will earn 1.00% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. These rates are current as of 1/24/25. There is no minimum balance requirement. Additional information can be found at //www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet.

SoFi members who enroll in SoFi Plus with Eligible Direct Deposit or by paying the SoFi Plus Subscription Fee every 30 days or SoFi members with $5,000 or more in Qualifying Deposits during the 30-Day Evaluation Period can earn 3.80% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. There is no minimum Eligible Direct Deposit amount required to qualify for the stated interest rate. Members without either SoFi Plus or Qualifying Deposits, during the 30-Day Evaluation Period will earn 1.00% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. These rates are current as of 1/24/25. There is no minimum balance requirement. If you have satisfied Eligible Direct Deposit requirements for our highest APY but do not see 3.80% APY on your APY Details page the day after your Eligible Direct Deposit arrives, please contact us at 855-456-7634. Additional information can be found at //www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet. See the SoFi Plus Terms and Conditions at //www.sofi.com/terms-of-use/#plus.

We’ve partnered with Allpoint to provide you with ATM access at any of the 55,000+ ATMs within the Allpoint network. You will not be charged a fee when using an in-network ATM, however, third-party fees incurred when using out-of-network ATMs are not subject to reimbursement. SoFi’s ATM policies are subject to change at our discretion at any time

Overdraft Coverage is limited to $50 on debit card purchases only and is an account benefit available to customers with Eligible Direct Deposits of $1,000 or more during the current 30-day Evaluation Period as determined by SoFi Bank, N.A. The 30-Day Evaluation Period refers to the “Start Date” and “End Date” set forth on the APY Details page of your account, which comprises a period of 30 calendar days (the “30-Day Evaluation Period”). You can access the APY Details page at any time by logging into your SoFi account on the SoFi mobile app or SoFi website and selecting either (i) Banking > Savings > Current APY or (ii) Banking > Checking > Current APY. Members with a prior history of non-repayment of negative balances are ineligible for Overdraft Coverage.

SoFi Bank is a member FDIC and does not provide more than $250,000 of FDIC insurance per depositor per legal category of account ownership, as described in the FDIC’s regulations. Any additional FDIC insurance is provided by the SoFi Insured Deposit Program. Deposits may be insured up to $3M through participation in the program. See full terms at SoFi.com/banking/fdic/sidpterms. See list of participating banks at SoFi.com/banking/fdic/participatingbanks.