Update: This $300 bonus seems to stack fine with the $175 Swagbucks deal we posted a few months back for a total $475. Simply click through Swagbucks and you’ll see the $300 offer on the landing page, so it would seem that it should stack. I wonder if they’ll pull the Swagbucks offer as this $300 offer rolls out, so I’d sign up soon.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $50 – $300
- Availability: Nationwide
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $1,000 – $5,000
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: ?
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: May 31, 2022
The Offer
- SoFi is offering bonus of up to$300 for new customers who signup for their SoFi hybrid checking & savings account and receive direct deposit within 30 days:
- Get $50 bonus with direct deposit of $1,000 – $1,999
- Get $100 bonus with direct deposit of $2,000 – $4,999
- Get $300 bonus with direct deposit of $5,000+
They seem to have rebranded from ‘SoFi Money’ to ‘SoFi Checking and Savings’.
The Fine Print
- Eligible Participants: All new members who open a SoFi Checking and Savings account during the Promotion Period and all existing SoFi Checkings and Savings customers who have not previously set up Direct Deposit transactions (“Direct Deposit”) into their SoFi Checking and Savings account as of the beginning of the Promotion Period are eligible for the Program.
- Promotion Period: The Program will be available from 4/5/22 12:01AM ET to 5/31/22 11:59PM ET.
- Bonus Terms: In order to qualify for eligibility for a bonus, SoFi must receive at least one Qualifying Direct Deposit from an Eligible Participant during the Promotion Period. Qualifying Direct Deposits are defined as deposits from enrolled member’s employer, payroll, or benefits provider via ACH deposit. 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. The amount of the bonus, if any, is described below. No bonuses shall be paid for qualifying Direct Deposits of less than $1,000 during the Evaluation Period (defined below).
- Evaluation Period: The bonus amount will vary based on the total amount of Qualifying Direct Deposits received during the Evaluation Period. The Evaluation Period is defined as 30 days from the date your first Qualifying Direct Deposit is received. For example, if you receive $1,000-$1,999 in Qualifying Direct Deposits in the Evaluation Period, you will receive a cash bonus of $50. A member may only qualify for one bonus tier and will not be eligible for future bonus payments if inflows subsequently increase beyond the Evaluation Period.
- Total Qualifying Direct Deposit amount in 30-day Evaluation Period Cash bonus
- Payment timeline: SoFi will credit members who meet qualification criteria within 14 days of the end of the Evaluation Period.
- This offer cannot be combined with the SoFi Checking and Savings Direct Deposit rate discount on a SoFi personal loan. Bonuses are considered miscellaneous income, and may be reportable to the IRS on Form 1099-MISC (or Form 1042-S, if applicable). SoFi reserves the right to exclude any Members from participating in the Program for any reason, including suspected fraud, misuse, or if suspicious activities are observed. SoFi also reserves the right to stop or make changes to the Program at any time.
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account doesn’t have any monthly fees to worry about.
Early Account Termination Fee
Not sure if there is any early termination fee or not, but there is no monthly fee and it’s worth keeping the account open long term for the spending bonuses.
Our Verdict
I believe $300 is the most we’ve seen from SoFi Money bonuses, though this does require a $5,000 direct deposit. It’s not clear how quickly you need to get the direct deposit, but it is clear that you have 30 days from when your first direct deposit posts to rack up the $5,000 in direct deposits. E.g. if you sign up on April 5th, get your first direct deposit on May 1, then you have from May 1st through May 30th to meet the $5,000 in combined total direct deposits to qualify for the full $300 bonus.
The fine print states that the income might be reported on a 1099-MISC form which might mean that it won’t get reported at all given the $600 minimum required for that form. Regardless, you’d be legally required to report the bonus.
Separately, the SoFi Money account is actually a nice account to have your regular direct deposit go to since they offer a nice, high APY rate for those who have a monthly direct deposit (any amount) post to their account. At time of this writing that rate is 1.25% APY with no deposit limit.
There’s one rumor in the comments that upgrading your existing SoFi Money account to the new SoFi checking and savings account will be eligible for the $300 bonus as well (though you’ll lose the free ATMs when upgrading), but I’m not assuming this is true unless it gets confirmed.
We’ve added this to our List of Best Bank Bonuses.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
