SoFi Review 2024: Checking and Savings
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Overall institution rating
5.0
Financial services company and brokerage SoFi gained its bank charter in 2022 and launched a combination checking and savings account, which is not a common offering. SoFi Bank’s account features some of the best rates available, no monthly fees and a solid free overdraft coverage program for customers who qualify. To earn SoFi’s highest rate on its savings account — one of NerdWallet’s picks for best high-yield online savings — requires meeting a steep minimum deposit each month.
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 annual percentage yields. Here’s a quick look at SoFi’s APYs:
Checking account: 0.50% APY. Savings account without direct deposit or $5,000 in monthly deposits: 1.20% APY. Savings account with direct deposit or $5,000 in monthly deposits: 4.60% APY.
Best for: Those who want to earn high interest, don’t need to deposit cash often and don’t mind using customer service online or by phone instead of at bank branches.
Pros
- No overdraft fees.
- No monthly fees.
- Competitive rate on savings account.
- Large, free, nationwide ATM network.
- Early direct deposit.
Cons
- No branch access.
- Fees for cash deposits.
Full review
Savings
![SoFi Checking and Savings SoFi Checking and Savings](https://www.nerdwallet.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85/cdn/banking/logos/sofi.png)
Savings
Member FDIC
4.5
/5 NerdWallet ratingat SoFi Bank, N.A.
With direct deposit set up, you’ll earn a higher rate on your savings balance than you would without direct deposit or meeting a minimum deposit requirement. For customers who set up direct deposit in any amount or who deposit at least $5,000 every 30 days into their account using other accepted methods, SoFi savings pays a competitive 4.60% APY on the savings balance.
$5,000 is a steep requirement, and what’s necessary every 30 days in order to qualify for the higher APY without direct deposit. Setting up direct deposit — for which there’s no minimum requirement — is probably more feasible for most people. Other online savings accounts may offer a higher APY but require a high minimum balance.
If a customer hasn’t set up direct deposit, then they will earn 1.20% on their savings account balance, with no balance minimums or limits. While that’s much lower than SoFi’s maximum rate, it still beats the national savings average of 0.46% APY.
Savings features. The savings account also comes with 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. These features can help make it easier to organize your money and manage your finances.
» SEE: Check out the best high-yield online savings accounts
Checking
![SoFi Checking and Savings SoFi Checking and Savings](https://www.nerdwallet.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85/cdn/banking/logos/sofi.png)
Checking
Member FDIC
5.0
/5 NerdWallet ratingat SoFi Bank, N.A.
SoFi's Checking and Savings account is a combined account, but the checking and savings balances earn different rates. Whether you set up direct deposit or not, you’ll earn 0.50% (APY is variable and subject to change) on your checking balance. That’s much higher than the national average of 0.08% for interest checking accounts.
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 use tens of thousands of nationwide machines 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, which you can find at places including 7-Eleven, CVS, Rite Aid, Safeway, Walgreens and Walmart. Green Dot charges a fee of up to $4.95 per deposit. Other online checking accounts allow customers to make cash deposits for free at retail locations.
Customer experience
4.5
NerdWallet ratingConvenient 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 X (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 a strong customer star rating in the Apple App Store and a solid rating in the Google Play Store.
Note that customers can have either an individual account or a jointly owned account, but not both.
Federal insurance for up to $2 million. A unique feature that SoFi Bank offers is the option to have up to $2 million of your account funds federally insured. The standard insurance coverage from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is $250,000 per person, per bank, per category, but SoFi is able to offer FDIC insurance for a much bigger amount through its partnership with a network of other banks.
Learn more about FDIC insurance limits and how to insure your money when you’re banking over $250,000.
Overdraft fees
5.0
NerdWallet ratingNo 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 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
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 4.60%, 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.