by Dana Sitar, CEPF®
Contributor
SoFi is the brainchild of a few Stanford University business students who initially wanted to tackle the student loan debt issue in this country by making it easier for borrowers to refinance student loans.
Eventually, they expanded the company’s focus to include several financial products and services, including online banking through SoFi Money. Today, SoFi offers a lot of banking services with some great benefits. This SoFi Money review gives you everything you need to know about those banking options.
Our review of SoFi Money will look at the product’s cash management features, and how SoFi Money compares with other online banking accounts to help you determine whether it’s right for you.
SoFi Money isn’t a traditional checking account. It’s an FDIC-insured cash management account that combines your checking and savings into one. Here’s a look at its “checking” style features.
SoFi Money has a lot of attractive features as a cash management account. It might be most appealing to SoFi customers who use its other products, like automated investing and student loan refinancing.
Unlike most checking accounts, SoFi Money accounts come with these transaction limits that could make it tough to use as your primary spending account:
Still, your cash management account gives you access to a debit card and gives you the option to order checks. Individual and joint accounts are available, which is rare among online banking accounts.
SoFi Money offers fee-free overdraft protection up to $50 as long as you receive at least $1,000 in direct deposits.
You can use a SoFi Money account as both your checking and savings account. Here’s an overview of its savings features.
You only have to open one account with SoFi Money to get the benefits of both checking and savings, so you don’t have to worry about which bucket your money is in.
The downside to having your checking and savings in one account is that your savings are easily accessible, which can make it easy to dip into that account instead of letting it sit and grow. Instead of the monthly withdrawal limits of a typical savings account, SoFi Money comes with the daily transaction and withdrawal limits mentioned above to curb your spending.
With the combined checking and savings features, SoFi Money acts best as a short-term savings account, rather than a primary saving or spending vehicle. Move money into the account for short-term goals, such as:
The checking account features make your money more accessible through SoFi Money than in a traditional savings account, so you can build your savings knowing you can get to the money anytime if you need it.
Cash in SoFi Money is FDIC insured up to $1.5 million through a program of partner banks. FDIC insurance depends on the number of partner banks available (but hasn’t strayed from the $1.5 million mark according to any sources we’ve found).
The biggest benefit to signing up for SoFi banking is becoming a member and gaining access to SoFi’s suite of products and services.
SoFi members (anyone who uses a SoFi product, like Money), get exclusive benefits like member-only events and member rate discounts on SoFi loans.
SoFi boasts no fees, and it’s serious about that.
Fee structures are subject to change and have over the years, but you can take some comfort knowing the lack of fees is one of the most attractive features of online-only banking.
SoFi offers online-only services, so you won’t find a brick-and-mortar SoFi branch or even any SoFi ATMs.
Customers do all their cash management through the app or website, plus nationwide ATMs. SoFi Money account holders have access to these basic checking account features:
As an online-only institution, SoFi’s suite of digital tools is optimized for user ease and stacked with features like easy account transfers, bill pay and even budgeting tools.
SoFi banking happens primarily through the SoFi app, which is free to download for smartphones and tablets. Customers give the app 4.8 out of five stars in the Apple App Store and 4.4 out of five stars on Google Play.
The app lets you sign up for and access all SoFi products, including your cash management account, and free budgeting and money tracking tools.
Through the app, you can:
SoFi customer support is available through email, Twitter or by phone with limited hours.
SoFi Money might not be a perfect replacement for your primary checking or money market accounts, but it could be a good fit for short-term savings and managing money you want to invest through SoFi.
SoFi could be a fit for you if:
SoFi might not be a fit for you if:
We’ve rounded up pros and cons about SoFi Money to help you decide if this is the personal finance company that’s right for you.
Here are our answers to some common questions about using SoFi Money.
Dana Sitar (@danasitar) has been writing and editing since 2011, covering personal finance, careers and digital media.
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