SoFi.com: Full Review

SoFi is a US internet personal finance company and internet bank. It got created in 2011 and is located in San Francisco. Presently, over 1500 employees and 10 offices within America exist currently.

The Company’s objective is to help its members get their money right. Through it, customers can gain financial independence to achieve their ambitions. Financial independence does not imply richness. Instead, it means reaching a level where members’ money works for the life they desire to live. As a result, the Company keeps developing ways to give customers what they require to achieve their goals.

SoFi offers financial products, among them:

• Student and auto refinancing mortgages;
• Personal loans;
• Investing;
• Credit card;
• Banking through desktop and mobile app platforms.

The Company, at a glance:

• Affordability: There are no fees, and auto payments have discounts.
• Transparency: Customers can perform soft credit checks to know if they qualify for the offers. SoFi reports payments to three credit bureaus. The FAQ section provides answers to crucial questions.
• Flexibility: The Company provides direct payments to creditors with debt consolidation loans. Loans can get funded within three working days.
• Customer experience: There are two customer communication methods, and support is available seven days a week. There is a mobile app to manage loans. In addition, customers get financial education and perks exclusive to users.

What does SoFi Offer?

The lending platform offers both online and offline services. It began as a peer-to-peer lending platform where customers got student loans. It provides personal finance services that let people borrow, invest, use, and insure assets.

At the beginning of 2021, the lending company became public through a Special Acquisitions Company, and Social Capital gave it a valuation of over eight billion dollars. The platform provides various financial services. They range from financial planning to funding and investments. The service runs in a competitive environment against highly funded entities. The lender offers offline opportunities where students get connected with alumni. The relationship enables learners to find mentorships and advice needed to go through school and join the employment sector.

The SoFi model got introduced in April 2012, and it hit instantly. The entity turned that achievement into its following funding round in a seventy-seven million dollars Series B. The funds got used to expand into over fifty higher learning institutions in the US. During the first operation year, the entity provided learners with over one hundred million dollars in new loans. Currently, SoFi has over two million people using the service. In addition, it is among the top FinTech startups in America, having collected above 2.5 billion dollars across fourteen VC payment rounds.

Loan services. These days, the entity generates loans via its other network associates. At times, they can use collateral to underwrite funding. SoFi monetizes the loans it provides using “whole loan sales.” They bundle the money under an agreement and offer them to institutions and investors like pension funds.

The recipients pay the lending company a premium upfront to access the money flows generated via the origination activity.

Investment services. The service lets people trade stocks and ETFs. They may additionally buy cryptocurrency and fractional stocks or pick automated robo-advisory ways that perform investment.

The entity generates funds from the Invest services through the protection it gives other financial companies that require shares for individuals interested in covering short positions. SoFi additionally profits from the FDIC-insured sweep schemes.

SoFi company also acquires revenues via rebates from market creators that they get for providing payment for order flow services to HFT organizations. In addition, the platform gathers a 1.25% markup on all crypto purchases done.

Insurance services. The insurance products require high capital, which is why the lender partners with other service providers in the field to spread the danger of its functions. The lending company gets a referral fee whenever they send a new client to their associates and register for a policy.

The sum of money gotten depends on what the lender agrees with their partners and the kind of policy a customer receives.

Deposit services. SoFi introduced debit account and credit card services in 2018 and 2020 and partnered with MasterCard. Customers can open and access their accounts using an app without connecting to a bank account.

The Company additionally benefits from transactions, collecting fees whenever clients swipe their cards. MasterCard is the one that receives most of the transaction money, and SoFi Company only gets a small percentage of the charges.

The platform additionally acquires interest on the money in their customer deposits. The Company offers the money to banks and other financial entities, thus gaining interest at the interbank rate. The money gained forms a solid revenue stream for the lending company.

Advantages of SoFi

• No fees: The platform does not charge origination, late payment, or prepayment fees.
• Term availability: Loan payment terms range between two to seven years, a wide range compared to what lenders specify. The wide choices allow customers to prioritize less overall interest with a shorter period or low monthly payments with a more extended period.
• Discounts: Customers can enjoy multiple discounts that reduce interest costs. A rate discount of 0.25% points is available for creating autopay. An extra rate discount of 0.25% points is available for creating and maintaining a money account.
• Co-signed loans: Customers can include a co-signer on their application. Introducing a person with better credit or higher income than you increases the probability of receiving a lower rate or a higher amount of money. Unlike co-borrowers, co-signers do not have access to the funding proceeds but are responsible for defaulted payments.
• Unemployment protection: If a person loses their job when repaying a debt, they can apply for the lender’s unemployment protection program. If approved, the lender will put the owed money into forbearance and suspend the borrower’s monthly payments. Interest will keep accruing during that period, but customers can make interest-only payments to prevent the principal from going up.
• Career and financial advice: The lenders offer customers access to career coaching to enable them to find jobs, advance their knowledge and improve personal branding. Users can also get free advice from certified financial planners to build a budget, form an investment strategy, select insurance, and save for the future.
• Mobile app to manage loans: The mobile lender app checks featured rates, applies for a loan, and makes payments faster.

Disadvantages of SoFi

• The Company does not offer secured or joint funding services: Customers cannot secure a loan using collateral like a vehicle or savings account. The lender does not even permit applying with a co-borrower. Using collateral or getting a joint loan are ways of getting a low APR.
• The minimum borrowing amount is high: The lowest you can borrow at SoFi is five thousand dollars. However, that amount can be too high for individuals interested in funding a small project or paying minor expenses.

Lending Requirements

Below are the requirements for qualifying for a loan:

● You must be at least eighteen years;

● You must be a US citizen, either a permanent resident or hold a visa;

● You must be working, have enough income, or expect to get a job within the following ninety days.