SoFi Review: Checking and Savings
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Overall institution rating
4.9
Financial services company and brokerage SoFi gained its bank charter in 2022 and launched a combination checking and savings account. The account offers strong rates, no monthly fees and a solid free overdraft coverage program for customers who qualify. Though this account is a combo account, we've covered the checking and savings portions separately since money held in the different parts of the account can earn different APYs.
Even after taking into account its customer complaints relative to asset size (see more info below), SoFi earns strong ratings.
Best for: Those who want to earn high interest and don’t mind using remote customer service instead of bank branches.
Penalty for outsize CFPB complaints: NerdWallet deducted 0.5 star from SoFi’s overall rating due to the volume of complaints on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau database relative to its asset size. For more information about this penalty, see our methodology page.
- High rate if you set up direct deposit.
- No overdraft fees.
- No monthly maintenance fees.
- Fee-free access to more than 55,000 Allpoint ATMs.
- Two-day early direct deposit.
- Fees for cash deposits.
- Cash deposits available only through third-party retailers.
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Checking
5.0
/5Monthly fee
$0
APY
0.50%
With $0 min. balance for APY
Monthly fee
$0
APY
0.50%
With $0 min. balance for APY
Bonus
Up to $300
Earn up to $300 with direct deposit. Terms apply.
Show details
SoFi's Checking and Savings account is a combined account but if you set up direct deposit, your money earns different APYs depending on where within the account you keep it. Your checking balance will earn 0.50% APY and your savings balance will earn 3.80% APY (APY is variable and subject to change). Without direct deposit, you'll earn 0.50% on all balances.
Early paycheck. In addition to a higher APY, customers who set up direct deposit also have the ability to receive their paycheck two days early. There’s no minimum direct deposit requirement to earn either perk, but there is a $1,000 monthly direct deposit requirement to qualify for overdraft coverage.
Wide access to ATMs. SoFi is part of the Allpoint ATM network, so customers can access more than 55,000 nationwide ATMs for free to withdraw cash.
Costly cash deposit services. If customers want to deposit cash, then they'll need to visit a Green Dot retail location. Green Dot charges a fee of up to $4.95 per deposit.
SoFi says: Account fees, APY rates and ATM fees are variable and subject to change.
Savings
4.5
/5APY
Up to 3.80%
With $0 min. balance for APY
Bonus
Up to $300
Earn up to $300 with direct deposit. Terms apply.
APY
Up to 3.80%
With $0 min. balance for APY
Bonus
Up to $300
Earn up to $300 with direct deposit. Terms apply.
For customers who set up direct deposit, SoFi pays a competitive 3.80% APY on the savings balance. If a customer hasn’t set up direct deposit, then they will earn 1.00% on their account balance with no balance minimums or limits.
Savings features. The savings account also comes with savings Vaults, which are subaccounts that can be designated for different savings goals. If a customer has at least one Vault, they can also set up an automatic savings program called Roundups, which allows SoFi to round up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and deposit the difference into a Vault of the customer’s choice.
Customer experience
Convenient remote customer service options. SoFi is an online-only bank and financial services company. It offers strong remote customer service options, including extended business hours seven days a week for customer service phone calls, a robust Twitter account to handle customer questions and complaints, a virtual assistant chat feature for customers who are logged in and a website with a large FAQ section. Its mobile app also has strong customer star ratings in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
Note that customers can have either an individual account or a jointly owned account, but not both.
Penalty for outsize CFPB complaints: NerdWallet deducted 0.5 star from SoFi’s overall rating due to the volume of complaints on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau database relative to its asset size. For more information about this penalty, see our methodology page.
Overdraft fees
No overdraft fees and strong overdraft protection programs. SoFi doesn’t charge overdraft fees. If a customer has direct deposits of $1,000 or more per month, they qualify to opt in to overdraft protection coverage services.
For overdraft protection, SoFi will transfer funds from a customer’s general savings balance to cover a transaction when their checking balance is low. For overdraft coverage, SoFi will spot a customer up to $50 to cover a debit card transaction. For customers who opt out of overdraft protection or coverage, SoFi will simply decline any transactions that would result in an overdraft.
» Tend to overdraw your account? See our list of the best banks for overdrafts
How does SoFi Bank, N.A. compare?
Up to 3.80%
Up to $300
4.30%
N/A
Methodology
NerdWallet’s overall ratings for banks and credit unions are weighted averages of several categories: checking, savings, certificates of deposit or credit union share certificates, banking experience and overdraft fees. Factors we consider, depending on the category, include rates and fees, ATM and branch access, account features and limits, user-facing technology, customer service and innovation. The stars represent ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars). Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star.
Frequently asked questions
As a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. member, SoFi is a safe place to keep money. A SoFi Checking and Savings account gets the full standard federal insurance of $250,000 per person on the account. SoFi also offers a program that allows account holders to have up to $2 million covered by FDIC insurance.
SoFi Bank, a nationally chartered bank, is the financial institution that offers SoFi Checking and Savings.
Yes. SoFi is now on the list of banks that use Zelle as a way to send and receive money to and from people you know.
SoFi offers new SoFi Checking and Savings customers a sign-up bonus of up to $300 depending on their direct deposit amount. Get details and compare with other offers in our roundup of the best bank promotions.
SoFi Bank offers SoFi Checking and Savings, which is a combination checking and high-yield savings account.
To earn the highest SoFi APY of 4.20%, you’ll need to either set up direct deposit or have at least $5,000 in qualifying deposits every 30 days into your account. Qualifying deposits include cash and check deposits, ACH transfers and peer-to-peer transfers such as those made via PayPal or Venmo.
Previously, a product called SoFi Money was offered, but new SoFi Money accounts are no longer offered, and those accounts do not earn interest. An existing SoFi Money account can be converted to the interest-bearing SoFi Checking and Savings account.