Update 4/25/23: 4.20% now
Update 3/17/23: Savings and Vault is now 4%; checking is now 1.2%
Update 10/31/22: Rate increased on savings to 3.00% with direct deposit. The checking account is still at 2.50% as they’ve now split the rate between the two accounts.
Update 9/30/22: Increased to 2.50%
Update 8/12/22: Rate increased to 2.00% APY.
Update 7/26/22: Rate increased to 1.80% APY (from 1.50% APY).
Original Post:
SoFi increased the rate on their SoFi checking & savings hybrid account to 1.25% APY for those who have a monthly direct deposit (any amount) post to their account. Previous rate was 1.00% APY.
SoFi has also removed the max eligible for increased rate (previously there was a $150k max). This is better than any other simple savings account, though – again – it does require a direct deposit of any amount in order to be eligible for the 1.25% rate.
They’ve also sweetened the deal for new members to get a signup bonus of up to $300 which we posted about separately.
Hat tip to reader Ronald
Current requirements seem to be 1k/month direct deposit, but sofi is very picky that it actually be from an employer; not helpful if you are a contractor with irregular or non-ACH pay. It looks to me like CapitalOne is the best rate without a direct deposit requirement (but haven’t verified that for myself).
4.6% savings now
SoFi just cut the savings rate to 4.5%. I am curious to see what other banks do. Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech seems to be causing a rate cut to get priced in. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/author/chucksithe/
If I’m reading this right, it looks like SOFI only pays 4.5% if you have DD of $5k or more each 30 days. If you don’t DD $5k every 30 days, the rate drops to 1.2%. See footnote 1 here, https://www.sofi.com/banking/savings-account/
On the DOC page, https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-savings-to-get/
it says: SoFi Savings – 4.50% with monthly direct deposit of any amount.
Someone please fact check me on my assumption.
You have to have a DD of ANY amount or $5k in qualifying deposits.
Qualifying Deposits only include those deposits from the following eligible sources: (i) ACH transfers, (ii) inbound wire transfers, (iii) peer-to-peer transfers (i.e., external transfers from PayPal, Venmo, etc. and internal peer-to-peer transfers from a SoFi account belonging to another account holder), (iv) check deposits, (v) instant funding to your SoFi Bank Debit Card, (vi) push payments to your SoFi Bank Debit Card, and (vii) cash deposits.
Thanks for the detail on this.
SoFi Savings is now 4.4% APY per email received today,
Chuck
To get the increased rates, does the direct deposit need to be into the savings or checking account? Does it matter?
doesn’t matter. I have mine goto savings
That’s what I was hoping, thanks!
SoFi savings just jumped to 4.20% per email received
Chuck
I got that too. 4.2% also shows in the account on the app. Note that this is APY, the rate is therefore 4.125%, the same as Northwest Bank’s High Affinity Savings.
Does Sofi claw-back bank account signup bonus if checking and savings are closed within a certain time after account opening?
My inbound transfer availability has been very unpredictable. In the past, I’ve usually had at least some money availability same day, it was lower starting off then worked it’s way up to about $2000 available same day. However, recently when I’ve gone to transfer money, they are saying no money is available same day, only $200 in 3 business days, and the rest in business 4 days. I understand from a rep that interest does not accrue on unavailable funds. Anybody else notice behavior such as this?
Another datapoint, I went in today and it is saying $2000 would be available same day, obviously a much different story than yesterday. Anybody know why this keeps changing? CSR is not able to tell me.
I did see the same. It gives me $500 available on the same day, but only $200 other days. SoFi interest rate is not attractive anymore so I don’t use it anymore. Good luck
Sofi just quietly implemented withdrawal limits for online banking. Ran into the limits this month. Daily limits of $5000 and monthly limits of $15000. Confirmed the amounts with an online agent
Wow, this is a true game changer for me. Glad I didn’t close my Discover account.
What was the previous limit?
Where do you see those limits? Does the website show an error when you type in a big amount, before submitting the transfer? For my SoFi Savings account, I don’t have a huge balance to test, but it lets me enter an amount up to my $8600 balance, which is higher than the $5000 limit you’re saying (though I did not try submitting the transfer).
Possibly the limit is specific to your account. https://support.sofi.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044409132-Are-there-limits-on-ACH-transfers- still says “In general, the maximum daily limit on ACH transfers in or out of the account is $100,000 but may be lower based on multiple factors like account activity and tenure.”
Have you had a low balance in SoFi for a while? Have you not done any big deposits/withdrawals at SoFi recently? (trying to figure out what may have triggered the reduced limits; and maybe if you do the opposite the limits would go back up, e.g., make some $5000 deposits)
Did you recently link or unlink a bank account at SoFi? (if you link via Plaid, SoFi can see your balance at the other bank; I wonder if they give you bigger transfer limits if they see you have a big balance elsewhere)
I did some big withdrawals lately. It could be just my account. We’ll have to wait for more DP.
It sounds like it may be account specific, may also depend on your balance history.
For Incoming transfer availability with Sofi, my experience has typically been
first $2,000 – next bus day
next $3,000 – two business days
balance over $5,000 – at least 3 business days
Initiating incoming ACH from Sofi, there is a limit of $100,000; initiating from the sending bank I’m not aware of a significant limit. (Sofi has mentioned a limit of $1,000,000 – I don’t have bank balances to test this.)
Interesting to confirm that interest does not start until they make funds available (e.t. 3-4 business days); I suspected this might be the case.
When I initiated the transfer from the sending bank, the funds were available the next business day. (Incurred fee, more than covered by 3 days interest on deposit).
I also get the impression they are still working on functionality. Sofi’s ougtoing wires are limited to home purchases. Other transfers you have to make to your linked account (typically available next day), then you can transfer from the brick/mortar bank to anyone you want.
Customer service said they are working on this, but I note this has been the case for at least a year or more. Not a deal breaker, but something to be aware of.
What is the best way to qualify deposit as DD? I tried ACH push transfer from Schwab and it doesn’t work
A legit DD or you’re not qualifying. Numerous DPs about this already.
I know this is old but I was able to trigger it by withdrawing money from my Charles Schwab Brokerage into Sofi. These were dividends that paid out from index funds and I withdrew it to spend. I was surprised too.