Sofi Credit Card Review

Pros Explained

• Can Use Rewards to Save, Invest, or Pay Off Debt: You can redeem your rewards into your SoFi Money account to save, SoFi Invest account to invest, or SoFi student loan or SoFi personal loan accounts to pay down debt. Using your rewards for these redemption options, instead of spending them in other ways, can help you improve your financial situation.
• Unlimited 2% Cash Back When You Redeem Points in Certain Ways: The SoFi credit card offers the equivalent of 2% cash back, but you must redeem your points into a SoFi Money, SoFi Invest, SoFi student loan, or SoFi personal loan account to earn that rate. Otherwise, you earn the equivalent of 1% cash back on your purchases. The higher redemption rate matches some of the more popular no-annual-fee cash back credit cards available today.
• Lower Your APR After 12 On-Time Payments: SoFi will lower your credit card’s APR by 1% if you make 12 on-time payments of at least the minimum payment due. This opportunity is a nice benefit to help lower costs, but it stays in effect only if you continue making at least the minimum payment on time each month.

Cons Explained

• Card Not Available to Everyone: Currently, only SoFi customers notified by email can apply for this card. You can apply to get on the waitlist, though. 
• High Balance Transfer and Cash Advance Fees: This card charges higher balance transfer fees and cash advance fees (at $10 or 5% of each transaction, whichever is greater) than some competitive credit cards charge. Additionally, SoFi is not currently accepting balance transfers. Those considering using this card for a cash advance or balance transfer may find better options elsewhere.
• No One-Time Bonus or Higher-Earning Categories: The SoFi credit card doesn’t offer a one-time bonus or any higher-earning cash back categories. Without those features, this card doesn’t offer as many points earning opportunities as some other cards do.

Who This Card Is For

The SoFi credit card may be a good fit for you if you want to use your credit card rewards to better your financial situation and not be tempted to use them for other purposes. The credit card rewards program gives you the 2% equivalent cash back reward rate only if you redeem your rewards into a SoFi Money account, purchase investments via SoFi Invest, or use them to pay down the balance of your SoFi student loan or SoFi personal loan. People who want more flexibility and true cash back, without having to redeem their rewards into SoFi account, may be better off with another credit card that offers a similar redemption value.

Rewards Earning Details

While this card is described as earning cash back, technically you earn points: 1 point per dollar spent with your card. If you don’t make the minimum payment for a billing cycle by the payment due date, you will not earn points for purchases posted to your account during that billing cycle.

You forfeit your points if your credit card account is canceled for any reason. Additionally, SoFi may cancel some or all of your points if the company decides you have violated the terms of its rewards program.

Rewards Redemption Details

You can redeem your points for the following options:

• Promotional offers listed on the redeem points page
• Cash deposited into your SoFi Money account
• Shares credited to your SoFi Invest account
• Cash applied to the balance of your SoFi student loan or SoFi personal loan

Technically, your points are worth $0.01 each. However, SoFi will add one additional reward point to each point you redeem for:

• Cash deposited into your SoFi Money account
• Shares credited to your SoFi Invest account
• Cash applied to the balance of your SoFi student loan or SoFi personal loan

This effectively means the card earns 2% cash back as long as you redeem your points using the three methods listed above.

You can’t redeem points if your account is past due or your SoFi credit card account is canceled.

How to Maximize Your Rewards

This card’s rewards program is straightforward, so it isn’t difficult to maximize your rewards. Put all eligible purchases on the card to maximize the points you earn. Then, redeem your points to deposit cash in your SoFi Money account, get shares credited to your SoFi Invest account, or to apply cash to your SoFi student loan or personal loan balance and get the additional point per point redeemed.

SoFi Credit Card’s Outstanding Benefits

• Cell phone protection: If you charge an eligible phone bill to your card, you can get reimbursed the actual cost to replace or repair a stolen or damaged eligible phone up to twice per 12-month period and up to $800 per claim and $1,000 per 12-month period, after paying a $50 deductible.

Standard Benefits

• Concierge services
• Free ShopRunner membership for unlimited free two-day shipping and free return shipping at select online stores
• Special promotional offers at Boxed, Fandango, Lyft, Postmates, and onefinestay

Cardholder Experience

The SoFi credit card is issued by The Bank of Missouri, which was not ranked in J.D. Power’s 2020 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study. SoFi has customer support available by phone, but not 24/7.

Security Features

This credit card offers Mastercard ID Theft Protection. According to Mastercard, once the service is set up, it will alert you to possible identity theft by monitoring the surface, dark, and deep web for compromised credentials and damaging use of your registered personal information.

You also get access to emergency card replacement through your Mastercard benefits. You can receive a temporary card the next day in the United States and within two business days in most other locations.

Fees to Watch Out For

This card does not charge foreign transaction fees, which is a nice feature if you travel outside the U.S. But if you make a balance transfer or take a cash advance, you’ll face fees of $10 or 5% of each transaction, whichever is greater. Note, however, that SoFi is not accepting balance transfers at this time.

Our Verdict

The SoFi credit card makes it easy to use your credit card rewards responsibly, as long as you have other SoFi accounts, such as SoFi Money, SoFi Invest, SoFi student loans, or SoFi personal loans. The 2% cash back equivalent earning rate is decent for a no-annual-fee credit card, but having to stay in the SoFi ecosystem to get it may be frustrating to some cardholders. If you aren’t a big fan of keeping everything with SoFi, you may want to consider other cash back credit cards that offer a similar rewards rate.