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SoFi 2.2% Card
- SoFi announced today that their 2% cashback credit card will now receive a 10% boost and earn 2.2% for those who have the SoFi checking/savings account with direct deposit.
The 10% boost does not expire and has no limits on how much you can earn. Offer is valid for new or existing card members.
Our Verdict
Getting 2.2% on all purchases is excellent, and gives this card the edge over the various 2% cashback card options. Great deal for those who can deal with the direct deposit requirement. If you are signing up new for the SoFi checking/savings, be sure to get the signup bonus for that as well.
Hat tip to reader MR
I just got my credit limit reduced to $3900 because of “too many payment returns on your account.” Those were all due to a glitch on their side and incorrect instructions from their help line. I eventually got it fixed and my payment works correctly now.
I called the help line. They said that there is no option to appeal this decision. I should wait for the “usual ongoing account review process” for a possible change.
This was my daily driver. $3900 is too low a limit. They have also popped a lot of ridiculous fraud flags. I’ll be closing this account, as well as the others I have at SoFi.
I think the Fidelity 2% will be good enough for me.
Did Doctor of Credit report that the SoFi credit card now allows points to be redeemed for statement at full value? This means one can get the card and not have to redeem into any other SoFi products (other than the credit card itself) to get the full 2% cash back.
See: https://www.sofi.com/blog/sofi-credit-card-upgrade
Beware of SoFi introducing inactivity fees. Here is the latest from them:
“Inactivity Fee: Per account for every 6 months of login inactivity $25”
If their business ethics allows to start drawing money from customers investment accounts when the customers are not able to login for whatever reason, it would be hard to imagine what schemas to enrich themselves would they invent and quietly introduce.
I cancelled Sofi credit card because Sofi is rounding the points down instead of up. This extra 10% shall make up the rounding down lost, but too late. I go with Fidelity 2% cashback since Fidelity added no foreign transaction. Fidelity usually adds 1000 to 2000 extra points so it is the best 2% cashback. Hahaha
Damn. Reminds me of the short lived ICONIC secured credit card with 2.2%.
I’m seeing the first 12 months with the Sofi credit card @ 3% not bad
FYI Sofi will not give you points/cashback on “fees” such as bank account funding. One of the reasons I closed this card a few days ago.
I also used to get cash back for purchases on common gift card websites, but last year it seemed they stopped rewarding points for those and other cash-equivalent charges. Which isn’t too unusual in the CC world I don’t think, but was still a bit miffed. I still use it as my catch-all and this will help keep me using it, but other cards like the Double Cash actually give me full CB and are my go-to for giftcards.com and similar sites.
Thanks for the heads up on this
Just looked at giftcards.com and nothing there is even discounted… What’s the point when you can get them at a discount elsewhere?
They’ll run promotions sometimes like 10% off Visa eGC that are worthwhile. Some people may use it to meet SUB requirements as well, I’m not sure if gift card sites count toward sign up bonuses on most cards or not. I’d guess not but I’m sure it varies.
Intredasting… So that’s basically 3 potential rounds of cashback… Purchasing the Visa eGC with a cashback card, the 10% off eGC, then using that to purchase another discounted GC? 98%*90%xx%?
Not sure if real life or I am missing something, seems too good to be true but I will keep an eye on this.
Odd reasoning. That is rarely considered “spend” to begin with. And 3% for a year, then 2% is still very competitive. You have enough different cards that offer cashback at 2%+ to cover all your real world expense categories?
This is a nice boost. The problem for this card is the lack of a decent signup bonus. Rather open the Citi Double Cash and get the $200 SUB. Then grab the Rewards+ to match the 2.2% and get another $200 SUB on top of that.
No foreign transaction fees is a nice perk though.
No FTFs is indeed one of SoFi’s good features that people sometimes forget. I’m often abroad, including 3-4 month a year on vacation in Southern Europe, and SoFi is one of my go-to cards overseas. Funny enough, my first 2.2% cash back just happened during a visit to the DMZ in Korea, and somehow was applied retroactively (I was there on March 30! 😉
Specific categories can of course do better than 2.2% abroad, but they are few and far in between. I often use the WF Autograph for airfare/cabs and dining (3%), or the Cardless Man. Utd. for dining (3%), or the 5x boosts with the X1 card for gas (equivalent to 3.5%), etc.. However, 2.2% on a no-annual fee card, paired with the Mastercard conversion rate, is truly excellent for everyday spending abroad.
The bigger problem is Sofi’s pattern of super low credit limits. I’d be shocked if most people can use this as a daily driver. P1 at 3k limit, P2 at 5k
Not to mention their abysmal (outsourced) customer service. Fraud on your Sofi card is not like fraud on your Chase card. Ask me how I know.
In this sense, I think the worst part is that SoFi still doesn’t accept requests for credit line increases. My limit is $10k and I normally pay as soon as a charge posts, so $10k is enough for almost anything in my everyday life (except for watches….but then 10x more wouldn’t be good anyway!). But that my limit hasn’t increased by a dollar in 3+ years is rather annoying. Same for P2 (though she got luckier with a $12k SL).
Such a gimmick. Using your direct deposit to hit new bank account bonuses is going to yield way more return
Can stimulate a lot of direct deposits without changing your payroll though so it’s not a choice between the two imo
A DD of any amount will do, so assuming you can split your salary among multiple banks, the two are not mutually exclusive.
I have done a bunch of checking bonuses without losing SoFi plus status. Even very small amounts work.
Also it’s possible to keep SoFi Plus for a bit even without direct deposit. They warn you before they change your status
Does anyone know if there is a minimum amount for the direct deposit?
$5 has worked for me for over a year… anything less than $1 might be classified as a verification micro-deposit
That’s good to know! According to the fine print you have to h ave $1,000 in monthly direct deposits to qualify for SoFi Plus. SoFi Plus is required to qualify for this and the highest APY on Savings and Checking.
IIRC the 1k minimum is specifically for the DD bonus, not Sofi Plus. The fine print is misleading but thats how I read it.
Yep, that is the correct reading, any amount will do to qualify for the 2.2% cash back (as well as other SoFi Plus perks).
SoFi Plus in general doesn’t have a $1000 minimum, just any amount of DD. The $1000 is just for a couple of the benefits: no-fee overdraft coverage, personal loan rate discount.
(And even for overdraft, I think Overdraft Protection (e.g., automatically pulling from Savings to cover a charge from your Checking) doesn’t require any DD; Overdraft Coverage which requires $1000 DD is something else, for debit card purchases if your balance would go negative, up to $50).
I divert $1 per paycheck (can split into 6, thanks workday). It works.