(EXPIRED) SoFi $100 bonus for direct deposit [Targeted?]

SoFi just can’t seem to give away enough money; after recently giving away a bunch of money in new account and referral bonuses, they are now offering an additional bonus of $100 when you set up direct deposit and receive two recurring direct deposits of $500 or more. If you recently opened a SoFi Money account, keep your eye on your email for this promo as it looks like another easy hundo for those in on the deal. The terms state that you must have received the email to be eligible, though everyone I know personally who opened SoFi Money accounts recently got this email today.

The Deal

• SoFi Money is offering a bonus of $100 when you set up direct deposit and receive two recurring direct deposits of $500 or more (first deposit must be in your account by 12/31/19
• Note there is no direct link. Check your email for the subject line “Get $100 when you set up direct deposit”

Key Terms

• Only SoFi Money members without any history of direct deposit transactions as of 11/07/2019 are eligible.
• To receive the bonus offer, a payroll direct deposit of at least $500 must be made by the SoFi Money member’s employer, or payroll provider by ACH deposit before 12/31.
• A second deposit from the same employer must then be made to the member’s SoFi Money account within 31 days of the initial direct deposit.
• Direct deposits that are not from an employer (such as check deposits; P2P transfers such as from PayPal or Venmo, etc; merchant transactions such as from PayPal, Stripe, Square, etc; and bank ACH transfers not from employers) do not qualify for this promotion.
• Within two weeks of the second direct deposit clearing, qualifying participants will receive a $100 deposit into their SoFi Money account.
• This offer is limited to one per person and is limited to recipients of this email.
• The offer expires on 12/31/2019, at 5pm EST.
• 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

SoFi Money is a cash management account that we’ve recently written about as they offer a new account bonus of $50 when you open an account and fund it with $100 or more and they were additionally offering $100 for each person you referred you did the same, making it an easy win for anyone playing in multi-player mode. They have since decreased the new account referral bonus to $50, which still isn’t bad considering the fact that it’s such an easy win: then account has no fees, no minimums, pays decent interest (currently 1.6% at the time of writing), and rebates ATM fees worldwide. You can read more about SoFi Money in this post.

Many readers were able to help friends and family sign up, earning some great bonuses from SoFi. Not content to leave it at that, today everyone I know who recently opened a SoFi Money account received an email alerting them to the fact that SoFi is offering a bonus of $100 when you set up direct deposit and receive two direct deposits of $500 or more (with your first direct deposit received by 12/31/19). While that’s not a huge bonus, it’s another easy Benjamin in your pocket on top of what was likely a couple hundred bucks already for many readers. Talk about low-hanging fruit.

Keep in mind that SoFi Active Investing is also still offering a new account opening bonus of $50 in free stock (of your choice from a bunch of mainstream options) when you open an Investing account and fund it with at least $100. Note that you can fund that account with the $100 from your SoFi Money account – it does not need to be new funds. The free stock bonus and any Investing referral bonuses are much slower to post to your account — whereas SoFi Money bonuses generally show in pending activity the next business day and become available within about a week, Investing bonuses can sometimes take 2-3 weeks.

Many readers will likely wonder what qualifies as a direct deposit. Experience tells us that many bank account bonuses that are contingent on direct deposit are triggered by things like an ACH push from another bank account or a transfer from PayPal, etc. The terms on the SoFi deal clearly exclude all of those ways that have traditionally been used to game the requirement. Whether or not SoFi’s computer system is actually set up to recognize the difference between an employer direct deposit and something else is anybody’s guess. I guess if you haven’t yet set up direct deposit, you’ve got nothing to lose in trying. On the other hand, if you can easily set up a legit direct deposit to SoFi for a month or two, this would be a pretty easy hundred bucks.

As someone who implored my own friends and family to take SoFi up on its free cash, I certainly understood and experienced plenty of the skepticism in terms of their deal thus far sounding too good to be true. However, it’s been smooth sailing for me so far for the most part. I was able to withdraw bonus money from my own account in a timely manner and without any issues. My wife did have her first withdrawal attempt flagged for potential fraud and received an email saying that her account was temporarily frozen, but she received a follow-up 15 minutes later that she was good to go (and she was subsequently able to withdraw as expected). Nobody in my family has yet needed SoFi customer service, so I have no idea what that experience is like (my expectations are low just because they generally are for customer service), but so far the app is pretty smooth and visually appealing. I’m a fan. I’m not a big fan of keeping much money in an account linked to a debit card, so I can understand why some may not go after this bonus. On the other hand, if you can easily set up direct deposit or a portion of your salary to direct deposit to trigger the bonus, the required effort here is low.

Overall, I’m just amazed that SoFi was able to continue the previous promotion as long as they were and that they now have an extra hundred bucks on hand for each customer. A couple playing in 2-player mode previously stood to earn an easy $200 with SoFi Money or $250 and $100 in stock with Money & Active Investing. This promo potentially tosses another $200 on the pile on top of any other referrals they could have picked up. That’s pretty terrific for an account that is desirable and that has essentially no tough requirements. Of course, those totals are now $50 less since the referral bonus for referring P2 is down to fifty bucks, but it’s still an easy $150 for a couple of $200 and $100 in free stock. A 2-player team where each opens Money and Active Investing and each does direct deposit stand to earn an easy $400 and $100 in stock, assuming that this deal continues to be available for new account holders. The terms of the deal do state that you must have received the email.

For those who missed our previous posts about SoFi Money, I strongly encourage you to read this post for full details. If you’re new and interested in  opening a new account, consider using one of our team’s referral links with our thanks.

SoFi Money links

• Greg’s family SoFi Money referral link
• Nick’s family SoFi Money referral link
• Stephen’s SoFi Money referral link

SoFi Active Investing links

• Greg’s family SoFi Investing referral link
• Nick’s family SoFi Investing referral link
• Stephen’s SoFi Investing referral link

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