The ULTIMATE SoFi Product Overview

It’s no secret that SoFi is the best one-stop financial solution, at least in my opinion. So today I want to go through every single financial account and product that SoFi currently offers to show you why I feel that that opinion is true. Let’s jump right into it. So obviously, we have a lot to cover in this blog post.

So if you do want an in-depth look at any of the products that we’re going to talk about, So right out of the gate, we have the core feature of SoFi, which is their new checking and savings accounts. Previously, this was referred to as “SoFi money,” but just a few months ago, SoFi received its national banking charter, which came with a ton of additional benefits for their users, including a true and separate checking and savings account.

This product has no account fees. Let’s get paid up to two days early using direct deposit, up to 15% cash back at select locations, automated roundup savings tools, their vault savings feature, no fee overdraft coverage, and one of the best interest rates on a bank account that I am currently aware of at 1.8%. Plus, the Federal Reserve just raised interest rates by an additional 0.75%, which means rates could continue to rise going forward. The banking tab within the SoFi app allows you to check your balances, easily transfer money, pay your bills, and set up savings vaults, and, in general, is just one of the best-designed mobile banking apps in my opinion.

Obviously, the checking and savings account comes with a SoFi debit card, but I actually never use that product because of the next SoFi product that SoFi offers that we’ll look at, which is the new SoFi credit card. This is new compared to some of their older products, but in reality, it’s been out for well over a year and offers a flat 2% cashback across the board on all of your purchases, making it one of the best flat cashback options on the market.

Plus, right now, you’ll earn 3% cashback for your first year of having this card when you redeem it towards paying down eligible debts, depositing it into your savings account, or putting it towards investing. Plus, you’ll get an additional $300 cash bonus as a thank you, and considering this card has no annual fee, that makes it one of the best sign-up offers currently available. 

Again, the credit card tab can be accessed within the exact same app as your checking in savings account, where you can view your available credits, your current balance, pay off your card in full of course, manage your points and rewards, and of course redeem them in a number of different ways, which is really what makes this product truly unique. 

As I said, you’re able to use your cashback towards eligible SoFi loans, have it direct deposited right into your checking or savings account, invest it with SoFi Invest, which we’ll talk about next, or even invest it in cryptocurrencies, among a number of other additional redemption options? Speaking of SoFi Invest, this is obviously their all-in-one investing platform, and SoFi continues to add new and improved features too. 

To be clear, it is definitely not going to give you nearly as much analytical information as those other platforms.  To be clear, it will not provide you with nearly as much analytical information as those other platforms. 

But if you are already a user of the SoFi platform and you’re looking to just get started with your investing journey, then SoFi Invest is going to offer you like 90% of what you need to get started. Obviously, they’re going to have your standard active investing account where you can open a regular individual account, a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA, a SEP IRA, and several other account options. And within that account, you can purchase individual stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies, and even invest in initial public offerings, or IPOs.

But beyond that standard active investing account, they also have their own robo-advising automated investing tool that I absolutely love, where you can again open a number of different account options. But in this case, you’ll answer a few different questions about your investing goals and your risk tolerance. And SoFi is going to automatically create a diversified portfolio for you and will automatically rebalance your investments to make sure that you are staying on track with those investing goals. 

You all know that I am a huge fan of automated investing. And while SoFi’s robo advisor is not the platform that I personally use right now, again, if you want to have everything under one platform, then I do love the fact that they give you the choice of using an automated investing service instead. Plus, with all of these account options, they offer fractional shares, allowing you to get started with just a few dollars. And of course, all of this is completely free.

There are no commissions, trading fees, or minimum investment requirements. So you can literally get started with a robust investment portfolio for free today. As I mentioned earlier, SoFi also has its own crypto investment platform, which is part of SoFi Invest. And while it is fairly limited in terms of the cryptos that you can invest in, they are constantly adding new asset classes.

And right now you can trade things like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, and 26 of the most popular cryptocurrencies currently on the market. Plus, on the standard investing side of things, they also have their own ETFs for specific asset classes to help you build that diversified portfolio at a lower management fee. 

Now, we are just scratching the surface on this one, but moving on from there, we also have my favorite feature from SoFi. And that would be the SoFi Relay platform, which is their free integrated budgeting tool that works so well with not only your other SoFi accounts but any and all third-party financial accounts as well. 

Again, this is all accessible from the exact same SoFi app. And within SoFi Relay, you can monitor your credit score, track your spending by time period or category, and set financial goals for yourself. And in general, track your financial progress towards those goals. Now, this isn’t going to be the best platform, in my opinion, if you are looking for an in-depth, dedicated budgeting tool. However, if you’re just looking to get a brief understanding of how much you’re earning, how much you’re spending, and where that money is going based on the category, then SoFi Relay really gives you more than enough information. 

And again, seeing that it is completely free and automatically integrates with your other accounts, you really have nothing to lose. And again, you are able to link third-party bank accounts, investment accounts, and even credit cards and other debts and liabilities, giving you an accurate and real-time representation of all of your assets and liabilities, and therefore your net worth. 

So those are the four core features of SoFi that I have personally used for a number of years now. and largely the reason why I feel this is such a well-rounded platform. But of course, we have to talk about the product offering that really puts SoFi on the map. And that, of course, is their lending service. Now, more specifically, SoFi started as a student loan refinancing service.

And while the other products that we just talked about have certainly surpassed that in terms of their business model, SoFi, continues to expand its lending services and now offers student loan refinancing, a number of different personal loans, mortgage options, private student loans for undergraduate graduates, and specific educational programs. And really, the only kind of lending service that they do not currently offer for some reason is auto loans. 

But otherwise, they probably have a lending option for you. Again, I have never personally used their lending services. However, I did apply for a mortgage through the SoFi app. And while I ultimately decided to go with a different option, the process was super easy. Again, I applied right from my phone in a matter of minutes. 

And since they already had a lot of my other financial information, including my income, my spending, and other expenses, they were quickly able to approve me for that mortgage, which ultimately helped me show proof of funds and helped me get the house that I recently bought. 

In my opinion, you want to try to avoid the majority of these lending services, not only because of the high-interest rates and how they are going through the roof right now but also because I just believe that you want to avoid debt as much as possible. However, if you’re looking for a competitive mortgage rate or to refinance your student loans, this is definitely something worth looking into. 

So that’s the majority of what SoFi itself has to offer currently. However, they have made a number of strategic partnerships over the years that have allowed them to expand their financial services even further. For example, they offer SoFi Protect, which is their network of strategic insurance partnerships, allowing them to offer auto insurance, life insurance, homeowners insurance, and renters insurance. 

Again, SoFi themselves are not the ones holding that insurance policy, but they are partnered with really reputable companies like Lemonade, Experian, and Ladder in order to offer competitive rates for those different types of insurance that you may need. And they have integrated that application and payment process within the already well-designed SoFi app. And beyond those tangible account options and products that SoFi offers, the full list of member benefits is extensive. 

They also provide free financial planning, estate planning discounts, personalized career advice, an unemployment protection program, and more. So needless to say, SoFi has pretty much everything you could possibly need in terms of your financial wellness. And while there certainly are a few gaps in their product offerings, in the several years that I have been a member with SoFi, they have greatly improved SoFi Invest, added their checking and savings accounts, added the SoFi credit card, and continued to partner with new companies that have allowed them to expand their financial services. 

I understandably get pinned as a SoFi fanboy, which is totally fair. But again, the reason that I talk about this company so much is because of the hundreds of different financial tools and products that I have used and reviewed over the years. SoFi is the one that I still use as my main banking platform, one of the few credit cards that I carry with me every single day, and one of the very few investing platforms that I actively use. and, in general, a financial app that I use on a daily basis from my phone. But that is just my opinion. So I would love to know what you think of the SoFi product in the comment section below and what new features and product offerings you would like to see them add going forward.