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Update 8/12/20: The landing page no longer shows this offer. It was scheduled to be available until 8/14/20, and Doctor of Credit reports that some readers have been told by SoFi that the offer is still valid even though it no longer shows on the landing page. YMMV – I’d hope to get that in writing from SoFi if I were going to apply.
SoFi Money is offering a great deal for new accounts that beats the current referral and is an excellent deal given super easy requirements to earn the cash. In short, you can get a $125 bonus for opening an account and depositing just $100. You can get a further $75 for getting a single direct deposit or a stimulus check deposit of $500 or more for a total bonus of $200. A couple playing in 2-player mode could easily pick up $400 very quickly.
The Deal
- SoFi Money is offering a new account bonus of $125 when you open a new SoFi Money account and fund it with at least $100. You can get a further $75 with a single direct deposit of $500 or deposit of a stimulus check of $500 or more
- Direct link to this deal
Key Terms
- To receive the bonus offer, participants must first apply and successfully open a SoFi Money cash management account.
- To receive the promotional balance, deposit(s) of $100 or more must be made in the new account by the new SoFi Money member; additionally, the $100 minimum balance needs to stay in the new member’s account for 90 days in order for the new member to qualify for a $125 bonus. Within 3 business days of such a deposit, qualifying participants will receive a $125 deposit into their SoFi Money account. This offer is limited to one per account.
- This is a limited time offer that will expire on 8/14/2020 at 5pm ET. SoFi reserves the right to expire the offer at any time.
- The deposit of $100 or more must be made into the new account prior to offer expiry.
- Participants must comply with the SoFi Money terms of use. Any fraudulent or returned funding will result in disqualification.
- Bonus amounts of $600 or greater in a single calendar year may be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as miscellaneous income to the recipient on Form 1099-MISC in the year received by applicable law. Recipient is responsible for any applicable federal, state or local taxes associated with receiving the bonus offer, consult your tax advisor to determine applicable tax consequences. SoFi reserves the right to change or terminate the offer at any time or without notice.
Quick Thoughts
I’ve written a couple of times in the past about picking low-hanging fruit (see this recent post: Money moves: $3K in bonuses so far this year (low-hanging fruit, 2020 edition)). Bank bonuses can be easy money, and it doesn’t get a lot easier than this new SoFi bonus: just for opening an account and depositing a hundred bucks, you’ll get a bonus of $125. That’s a great bonus for just a hundred dollar deposit. You do have to leave the $100 in the account for 90 days, but the $125 bonus can be used (and in my experience, SoFi Money new account bonuses post very quickly).
Then a single direct deposit of $500 or a stimulus check deposit of $500 or more will get you another $75. Again, that’s a pretty low bar that most readers can probably reach. I don’t know as though it would be worth the hassle to change your bank with the government to do this, but on the other hand you may have some time before a new stimulus package is put in motion. An employer direct deposit may also be easy enough for at least some readers.
We recently wrote about the latest referral offer. Through that offer, the new account bonus is only $50 and it requires a deposit of $500 (and the $75 direct deposit bonus comes on top of that). If you’re playing in 2-player mode, the referral offer comes out almost as good since you get another $50 for referring Player 2, but it still isn’t as good as this bonus (in my opinion, that kind of stinks for those who recently opened new accounts!). Through this new public / non-referral deal, a couple playing in 2-player mode can bring in $400 in bonus cash with very low deposit requirements.
If you’ll also do the investing bonuses, a couple in 2-player mode could add $150 in free stock bits on top of that. Here’s the full run-down:
- Player 1 and Player 2 both sign up through this new offer and deposit $100 each and each get a bonus of $125 for a total of $250 cash
- Player 1 and Player 2 each get a direct deposit of $500 for an extra $75 each for a total of $150 cash
- Player 1 opens a SoFi Investing account through a referral and funds it with $1,000 to get $50 in free stock
- Player 1 refers Player 2 to open a SoFi Investing account through a referral and gets a bonus of $50 in free stock when Player 2 funds the account
- Player 2 gets a bonus of $50 in free stock for opening and funding their investing account with $1,000
Note that there is no requirement to invest the money deposited on the investing side, but you’ll get the stock in fractional shares.
For more information about SoFi Money and SoFi Investing, see our full post about both accounts: SoFi Money & SoFi Investing new account / referral bonuses. I’ve now updated it with this latest deal.
H/T: Doctor of Credit
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I just did it the other day, it took 3 days for my transfer to show up but my extra $125 was already there that day when I checked to see if the transfer had cleared. It says total balance and available spending balance are both $226 (in deposited $101) but I’m not sure if it would prevent me from using anymore than $126 and hold the $100 back until the 90 days are up but I mean if I can only spend the bonus it’s still like getting an extra $25 added to what I originally had and the. Down the line I’ll get a free hundred bucks then probably never use the account again ahahuA
Yeah, their bonuses on the Money side have always come in fast. I don’t know whether they’d block you from withdrawing the extra hundred or not, but as you said it still works out nicely.
On a related note, my account came in handy yesterday. I was at a grocery store buying a money order and my last Visa Gift Card didn’t work. Ran out to the car and grabbed the little cash I had. Stopped at the ATM on the way back in to take out the difference using my SoFi card (I could have used the card to pay at customer service, but had already split tender a number of times and didn’t want to split over cash and another card at that point). By the time I walked out of the store, I had a phone notification that the $3.50 ATM fee had been rebated (and sure enough, it was there in my available balance).
I didn’t expect to use SoFi much, and it’s still not my primary account, but I’ve come to like it.
Good point. There’s a lot of places I don’t like using my cards (I have 4
accounts cause I use them each for different things) plus I live in a small town without many ATM options so I’m always paying up the a** in fees. If I’m able to connect the SoFi card without an issue to cashapp so I can transfer money instantly from another account that would actually come in really handy I’d probably save about $40 a month just in ATM fees!
The link to the deal is just the normal website. Is this still valid?
You’re right. I’ve updated the post. Some readers at Doctor of Credit say that they’ve been told that the offer is still valid, and it was scheduled to be valid until 8/14. However, with it not showing on the website, I’d want to get that in writing from SoFi if I were opening an account. YMMV now unfortunately as they may have pulled it early.
Thx for posting this, I nearly jumped on the other offer and am glad now that I didn’t
Pls double check details. I read that an employer paycheck was required, stated very specifically. So UNE and Stimulus checks wouldn’t qualify then??
They specifically advertised stimulus checks working. Click through to the promo page and this is number 3:
“Set up a direct deposit or deposit your stimulus check of at least $500 and we’ll give you another $75.”
If my 20 yo DD opens an account and I direct deposit there, will that work ?
It might. I bet it would.
Do you know if you can open up a second account and qualify for the bonus? I opened an account last year.
Lift the freeze on your Experian credit report first. Ask me how I know. 🙂
Ha! That’s pretty standard — most banks do a soft pull for a new checking account, so I always lift the freeze before applying for a bank account.
It has been so long since I applied for anything, I forgot.
Same issue here. Denied. I’ll guess I’ll deal with it on Monday.
Anything working as direct deposit? Back in Feb, I tried multiple methods and none worked. Earlier data points on Wealthfront working were replaced by not working for me and others.