(EXPIRED) SoFi: Take Out Loan & Earn $500 Bonus Cashback

SoFi is targeting some users with an offer to earn $500 bonus cashback when taking out a loan with them. This could be a great deal if you’re subsequently allowed to pay the loan back almost immediately.

The Deal

• Take out a SoFi loan & earn $500 bonus cashback.
• Greg’s referral link – SoFi Personal Loans (we’ll both get $300 if you take out a SoFi Personal Loan)
• Stephen’s referral link – SoFi app (we’ll both get $10 if you join SoFi).
• Stephen’s referral link – SoFi Personal Loans (we’ll both get $310 if you take out a SoFi Personal Loan)
• Nick’s referral link – SoFi app (we’ll both get $10 if you join SoFi).
• Nick’s referral link – SoFi Personal Loans (we’ll both get $310 if you take out a SoFi Personal Loan)

Key Terms

Steps required

1. View your rate – Use the link in the email from SoFi before 8/24 to view your rate in minutes.
2. Finish your application – Complete your application by 8/27, and sign electronically through your computer or smartphone.
3. Open a SoFi Money account – Already have one? You’re good to go.
4. Get $500 – Receive your cash bonus in SoFi Money within approximately 30 days after funding a loan.

Other Terms

• Offer is subject to lender approval, and not available to residents of Ohio.
• The offer is only open to new Personal Loan borrowers and may not be combined with other offers aside from the autopay discount, direct deposit discount, and direct pay discount.
• To receive the offer, you must: (1) register and apply through the promotion link for a SoFi Personal Loan by 11:59pm EST 8/23/2021; (2) complete a loan application with SoFi before 11:59pm EST 8/26/2021; (3) have or apply for a SoFi Money account within 30 days after starting a personal loan application; (4) meet SoFi’s underwriting criteria; and (5) take out a SoFi personal loan.
• Once conditions are met your $500 welcome bonus will be deposited into your SoFi Money account within approximately 30 calendar days.
• If you do not qualify for the SoFi Money Account, SoFi will offer payment via ACH transfer pending completion of a W9 form.
• Bonuses that are not redeemed within 60 calendar days of the date they were made available to the recipient may be subject to forfeit.
• 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 as required 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 with or without notice.

Quick Thoughts

This is a very attractive offer, especially if you’re playing in one player mode and are targeted for this offer. Unless something has changed in recent months, SoFi allows you to pay back personal loans quickly without charging a penalty for doing so.

You could therefore apply for a loan and then pay it back fairly soon afterwards, pocketing the $500 bonus cashback in the process minus however much interest you’ve had to pay in the meantime. The terms state that you’ll be awarded the $500 within approximately 30 days, so it’d be best to keep the loan open until the bonus posts to your SoFi Money account as paying back the loan in its entirety before that might affect the bonus payment.

You might also be able to pick up a little additional cashback along the way. SoFi now has a rewards program that offers points which can be redeemed for cash rewards, with 1 point being worth $0.01. Here are the bonus amounts on offer when it comes to personal loans:

As you can see, checking your personal loan rate earns you 50 points, so that’s worth $0.50. Signing your loan documents earns you $3; I’m assuming that’s valid on digital signatures which is what’s used for the $500 offer, although the 150 points for uploading documents makes me question that. If you did end up earning all these small numbers of bonus points, that’d be an extra $6 you’d earn.

I’m assuming this $500 promotion is targeted seeing as it’s only available for new personal loan borrowers. It also requires applying via a link in an email they send, so keep an eye out for an email with the subject line ‘[Name], this $500 bonus expires soon.’

If you’re in two player mode though, there might be a better alternative. SoFi allows you to refer people for a personal loan even if you don’t have one yourself. Their current referral promotion on personal loans is $310 for each party, so if you refer your partner you’d earn $620 between you. That’s obviously better than this targeted $500 promotion, so bear that in mind if you were considering applying for a loan in order to earn $500.

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.