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With nearly four million members, San Francisco-based SoFi is well-known for its myriad of financial products, including a cash back credit card.
Originally founded in 2011 as an alternative for student loan buyers, SoFi has grown with the times and now offers a vast collection of financial products. But how does their credit card stake up against other Canadian credit cards? Let’s find out in this SoFi credit card review.
Since opening in 2011, SoFi has funded more than $50 billion loans in what they call their quest for providing financial independence. Launched in 2022, the Sofi Credit Card is a new endeavour for the company, though it’s a continuation of the company mission of empowering customers to make good financial choices. With cash back rewards that can be redeemed as debt repayments, investments, or even as crypto, the card is a product departure but still continues the company’s mission of empowering customers to make good financial choices.
| Sign-Up Reward | SoFi offers up to $510 in rewards in the form of points, cash, and Bitcoin for signing up for various services on their site. |
|---|---|
| Annual Fee | There is no annual fee for the SoFi Credit Card. |
| Other Fees | The Balance transfer fee and cash advance fee are both either $10 or 5% of the balance transfer (whichever is greater). |
| Regular APR | The standard APR (for both purchases and balance transfers) varies between 13.74% to 25.74%. There is a minimum interest charge of $1.00. The APR for cash advances is 22.74%. |
With the SoFi Credit card, you earn 2% cash back for every dollar you spend, excluding fees, interest charges, traveler’s cheques or prepaid card purchasing. You also can’t earn points on balance transfers or cash advances. If you set up direct deposit SoFi account, you earn 3% cash back for one year. You can redeem these rewards a number of ways, including crypto. Keep in mind, though, that if you redeem your rewards as statement credits you’ll only earn 1%.
As mentioned above, new cardholders receive $100 in rewards points for applying online. Cardholders also have the option to “tap and play” at their change to win up to $10,000 in rewards points when making purchases.
The SoFi Credit Card doesn’t carry an annual fee. There are, however, fees for both balance transfers and cash advances (either $10 or 5%, whichever is greater). Cardholders who carry a balance will be subject to an APR of between 13.74% to 25.74%. There are no foreign transaction fees when using this card.
Aside from being a $0 annual fee cash back card, the SoFi Credit Card has several other unique features. For the budget-conscious cardholder, the SoFi Credit Card allows you to pay off debt with ease by seamlessly connecting to any SoFi student loan or personal loan accounts. They can also redeem them directly into a SoFi Checking or SoFi Savings account, or invest them with SoFi Invest.
Cardholders earn unlimited 2% cash back on all eligible purchases. The idea is that cardholders can more easily find financial freedom by using their rewards towards debt repayment and investing instead of rewards (which are often just for fun). As a way to further reward good financial choices, SoFi will lower a cardholders APR by 1% if they make 12 on-time payments.
The minimum limit you can carry on a SoFi card is $1,000. It’s possible to have a higher limited on your SoFi Credit Card, but it’s determined by your annual income, debt to income ratio, and other factors in your credit history.
Options for directly redeeming rewards towards debt or investing
No annual fees
Option to lower APR with on-time payments
2% cash back rate on eligible purchases
Option to earn 3% for a year if you have direct deposit
Higher-than-average cash advance fees
Requires a decent credit score to qualify for the card
If you’re carrying a high student (or personal) loan balance and determined to pay it off, then this card definitely deserves your consideration. The quick option to apply rewards to debt can go a long way in your repayment journey, and can feel relatively painless.
However, if you’re not concerned about debt or direct investing, there are other cash back cards on the market that offer more flexibility with their redemption options. So if you’re looking for a card to fuel your fun, this might not the best choice overall.
At the time of writing, SoFI products are only available in the United States. The company previously discussed an expansion into Canada (and Australia) in 2017 but it appears that those plans have been dropped. Though there is not a debt repayment card on the Canadian market, other online credit card options include Koho and Mogo.
Yes, a SoFi Credit Card is safe to use. Not only does SoFi have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, but it also has a long history of operations (since 2011). SoFi is also protected by the SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation). SIPC-backed companies are protected against the loss of cash and securities in the event that they went out of business.
The SoFi credit card requires a good credit score for approval. This is usually in the range of 700 or above. Applicants with a lower credit score can work on paying down debt and making monthly payments on time if they want to increase their credit score before applying for a SoFi credit card.
