Earn up to a $735 bonus with a new SoFi checking/savings account

After spending some time in the doldrums, SoFi has again increased its stackable offer, which can give you up to $735 back when you open a new checking/savings account.

The shopping portal Swagbucks is offering a 33,500-point (~$335) bonus for opening a new SoFi Checking/Savings account by clicking through the portal link and making a $400 direct deposit within 45 days. Once the Swagbucks are credited, they can be redeemed for cash via a PayPal gift card or for merchant gift cards. I signed up for this offer when it was 25,000 SB, and it was easy money.

The Swagbucks promo will stack with SoFi’s direct $400 sign-up bonus for a total of up to $335 back when opening a new online account and completing a qualifying direct deposit.

It’s worth noting that the amount of these SoFi/Swagbucks bonuses is sometimes targeted, so you may see a different amount than 33,500. If so, let us know in the comments.

The Deal

• Open a SoFi Checking/Savings account and get a $50-400 bonus when completing qualifying direct deposits (see table below for amounts).

See Doctor of Credit’s list of what SoFi considers a direct deposit

• Stack with Swagbucks for an additional ~$335/33,500 points when opening a new account through the portal and completing a direct deposit of at least $400 within 45 days.
  • $10 when you open the account, and $325 after making a direct deposit

Direct Link to Offer (listed under “featured offers”)

Key Terms

Swagbucks

• Award for account open is independent of the award for Direct Deposit. Must be a new SoFi Checking & Savings user.
• To receive the account open award, you must complete the offer via Swagbucks and directly apply and open a SoFi Checking & Savings account within 45 days.
• To receive the direct deposit award, you must open a new SoFi account and make a qualifying direct deposit of $400 or more as your very first deposit within 45 days.
• This reward cannot be combined with any other enrollment bonuses, including a referral reward.
• To earn, you must complete the offer via Swagbucks and apply directly to SoFi Checking & Savings.
• Award will pend for 31 days

SoFi Checking

• Promotion Period: 12/7/23 12:01AM ET to 12/31/2026 11:59PM ET.
• New and existing SoFi members who have never set up direct deposit with SoFi are eligible for the Direct Deposit Bonus. Bonuses are limited to one bonus per SoFi member. In the case of a joint account, direct deposit activity will only be counted towards the primary account holder’s eligibility for the bonus (the primary account holder is the member who opened the joint account first).
• In order to qualify for a bonus of either $50 OR $400, SoFi must recognize receipt of at least one Eligible Direct Deposit (as defined below) from an Eligible Participant, the first of which must be before the end of the Promotion Period. The amount of the bonus, if any, will be calculated during the Direct Deposit Bonus Period as described and defined below.
• Eligible Direct Deposit means a recurring deposit of regular income to an account holder’s SoFi Checking or Savings account, including payroll, pension, or government benefit payments (e.g., Social Security), made by the account holder’s employer, payroll or benefits provider or government agency (“Eligible Direct Deposit”) via the Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) Network.
• Deposits that are not from an employer or government agency, including but not limited to check deposits, peer-to-peer transfers (e.g., transfers from PayPal, Venmo, etc.), merchant transactions (e.g., transactions from PayPal, Stripe, Square, etc.), and bank ACH funds transfers and wire transfers from external accounts, or are non-recurring in nature (e.g. IRS tax refunds), do not constitute Eligible Direct Deposit activity. SoFi Bank shall, in its sole discretion, assess each account holder’s Eligible Direct Deposit activity to determine eligibility and may require additional documentation to complete this verification.
• The Direct Deposit Bonus Period begins when SoFi receives an Eligible Direct Deposit of $1 or more within the Promotion Period and ends 25 calendar days later (the “Direct Deposit Bonus Period”), subject to the Bonus Terms. For the avoidance of doubt, the Direct Deposit Bonus Period shall not extend beyond the Promotion Period.

• Once the Direct Deposit Bonus Period has elapsed, SoFi will determine if you have met the offer requirements and will deposit any earned bonus into your checking account within seven (7) business days. For example, if SoFi receives between $1,000.00 and $4,999.99 in Eligible Direct Deposits during the Direct Deposit Bonus Period, you will receive a one-time cash bonus of $50.
• Bonuses are considered miscellaneous income and may be reportable to the IRS on Form 1099-MISC (or Form 1042-S, if applicable).

Quick Thoughts

In order to max out these offers, you have to sign up for a SoFi checking account through the Swagbucks link and then make a total of $5000 in direct deposits.

In terms of timing, if you make your first direct deposit on July 28th (for instance), then you have until August 21st to meet the $5,000 in combined total direct deposits to qualify for the full $400 bonus. It doesn’t need to happen all at once, but it does need to happen within 25 days of the first direct deposit. Each deposit needs to be at least $1,000 to be considered qualifying. Note that the money doesn’t need to remain in the account to qualify toward the $5,000 total.

SoFi is known for being fairly strict with what it considers a direct deposit (see DOC methods list here). I was able to trigger both Swagbucks and SoFi by making a $5,000 transfer from Wells Fargo and entering “Payroll Direct Deposit T. Steinke” as the reference (based on a few positive comments I saw in the DOC thread). But, of course, YMMV.

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