$500 SoFi Checking & Savings Bonus
There is a pretty rewarding $500 SoFi checking & savings bonus available to you. I should say, there is an up to $500 offer, since there are different options available, via different vehicles. I'll go over each of them with you so you can decide which option works for you best. The direct deposit requirement is kind of high, and they are sticklers on other things counting as direct deposit. That is something to be aware of when diving into all of this. Let's get to it!
$500 SoFi Checking & Savings Bonus Via Swagbucks
The best offer is stacking Swagbucks with this offer. You need to click through Swagbucks to make it work. If you don't already have a Swagbucks account, here is our referral that also gets you a $10 bonus. Thanks in advance if you use it.
Swagbucks Portion Of The Offer
Here are the details for the Swagbucks portion of the SoFi checking & savings bonus offer:
- Must open a new account and complete direct deposit within 45 days.
- First deposit must be a qualifying direct deposit of $400 or more
- SB will appear as Pending for 32 days.
- Current account holders are not eligible
Swagbucks are their own currency that can be cashed out for gift cards, PayPal or to your bank. They are worth at least 1 cent a piece. That makes this a $200+ bonus.
SoFi Portion Of The Offer
The Swagbucks offer stacks with SoFi's own checking and savings bonus offer. Here are the details for their offer:
- Earn up to 4.60% APY and up to $300 with direct deposit.
- $1,000 – $4,999.99 in direct deposits earns $50
- $5,000+ in direct deposits earns $300
- The Direct Deposit Bonus Period begins when SoFi receives a Direct Deposit within the Promotion Period and ends 25 calendar days later
- SoFi will credit members who meet qualification criteria within seven (7) business days of the end of the Direct Deposit Bonus Period.
The requirement is pretty steep, at $5,000 to get the big bonus, and 25 days isn't a ton of time from the first direct deposit. It means you will probably only get two paycheck direct deposits for one person. Maybe you could tie a spouse's direct deposit in with that too to hit the bonus if needed. Here is a list of things counting as direct deposit with SoFi invest in the past, which I assume would be the same for their checking account. If these don't work you have no recourse though. At least the Swagbucks portion only requires a $400 direct deposit.
Personal Referral Option
The other option is to skip Swagbucks all together and use a personal referral. This would be for people that don't want to deal with the third party platform or have had issues with Swagbucks in the past etc. It is the less rewarding option overall though. Here are the details for this SoFi checking and savings bonus:
- $25 when you get SoFi Checking & Savings
- Up to $300 when we receive your first direct deposit
- $1,000 – $4,999.99 in direct deposits earns $50
- $5,000+ in direct deposits earns $300
You essentially get a $25 bump for using a personal referral instead of going direct to SoFi. The Swagbucks offer is the better deal but I figured I would highlight this one for anyone that didn't want to bother with SB. Here are some referrals for the offer, thanks in advance if you decide to use one.
Here are some terms that deal with referral offers. I think this is talking about the person referring getting a bonus, but I am not 100% sure on that:
- Any person referred to a SoFi loan, SoFi Checking or Savings account, or SoFi Credit Card may not have an existing registered SoFi account.
- A person referred to a SoFi Invest account or SoFi Digital Assets account (for crypto) may have an existing SoFi registered account.
I say that I think that it is for the referrer's bonus because lower in the terms it says the direct deposit bonus is available to current members that have never had a direct deposit. I have bolded that below. Confusing, I know!
Terms Of The SoFi Checking & Savings Offer
Here are some notable terms from SoFi on this bonus:
- Promotion Period: The Direct Deposit Promotion will begin on 12/7/2023 at 12:01AM ET and end on 6/30/24 at 11:59PM ET.
- In order to qualify for eligibility for a bonus, SoFi must receive at least one Direct Deposit (as defined below) from an Eligible Participant, the first of which must be received on or after 12/7/2023.
- Direct Deposits are defined as deposits of $1,000.00 or greater from an enrolled member’s employer, payroll, benefits provider, or government agency via ACH deposit.
- Deposits that are not from an employer, payroll, benefits provider, or government agency (such as check deposits; P2P transfers such as from PayPal or Venmo, etc.; merchant transactions such as from PayPal, Stripe, Square, etc.; and external bank ACH transfers not from employers) do not qualify for this Direct Deposit Promotion.
- All new and existing members without any history of direct deposit transactions into their SoFi Checking and Savings account are eligible for the Direct Deposit Promotion.
- Members who previously enrolled in direct deposit into either SoFi Money or SoFi Checking and Savings, whether currently still enrolled or not, do not qualify for this Direct Deposit Promotion.
- Bonuses are limited to one per SoFi Checking and Savings account.
ToP Thoughts
If you can manage the large direct deposit requirements this is a pretty solid offer. Especially if you pair it with the $200 Swagbucks offer. If you can't swing the full $5,000 then it may still be worth grabbing the $200 Swagbucks offer. I would do it for a $1,000+ direct deposit to trigger at least the $50 part of the SoFi checking & savings bonus. If you want to avoid Swagbucks all together then you can use one of the referral links above as well.
The savings account rate at 4.6% is pretty solid, although you can do better.
Let me know if you are going after, or have done, this bonus over in the ToP Facebook Group.
