SoFi Money is a free online bank that is currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account using a SoFi Money referral link. You can earn your $25 SoFi Money referral bonus by doing the following:
- Open a SoFi Money account using a referral link (here’s my SoFi Money referral link).
- Fund your SoFi Money account with at least $10 within 5 days of opening the account
When it comes to bank account bonuses, SoFi Money is currently one of the easiest bank account bonuses to earn. This makes SoFi Money an especially good bank account bonus for beginners looking to dip their toes into the world of earning bank account bonuses.
Specifically, the following reasons are why SoFi Money is a bank account worth opening to earn the referral bonus:
- No Fees. SoFi Money has no minimum balance requirement, no monthly fees, and no maintenance fees of any kind. Since there are no fees to worry about, this makes SoFi Money an easy bank account to manage.
- The Bonus Terms Are Easy To Meet. SoFi Money has really easy terms you have to meet to earn your referral bonus. All you have to do is download the SoFi app and create a SoFi Money account. Since SoFi Money has no maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about, you can keep the account open without having to do anything to keep it fee-free.
- The Bonus Posts Quickly. Most banks have a waiting period before your bonus posts – some longer than others. The SoFi Money bonus, on the other hand, posts immediately.
- You Can Refer People With Your Own SoFi Referral Link. When you open a SoFi Money account, you also get your own referral link that you can use to refer friends and family to SoFi Money. You’ll earn $50 for every person you refer to SoFi Money. The person you refer will earn $25. If you have people that you can refer, you can dramatically increase your bonus earnings via referrals.
In this post, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step directions you can follow to earn your $25 SoFi Money referral bonus. I’ll also give you some additional strategies you can use to earn even more from your SoFi Money account.
But before we get started, a little background about what SoFi Money is and how it works would be helpful.
What Is SoFi Money?
SoFi Money is an online-only bank account that you can access via the SoFi app or the SoFi website. The account has no monthly fees, no minimum balance requirement, and also provides free ATM transactions at over 55,000 ATMs worldwide. Since SoFi Money has no fees, this makes it a good bank account to use beyond just getting the referral bonus. And of course, all of your funds are FDIC insured.
Beyond being a good bank account, one of the little-known benefits of a SoFi Money account is that it makes you a SoFi member. This gives you access to all of the benefits that SoFi provides its members. And one of the best benefits has to be SoFi experiences.
In normal times, SoFi hosts free events for its members throughout the country. Tickets for these events are typically given out on a first-come, first-serve basis and you can sign up for these events via the SoFi app. I’ve gone to fancy dinners, attended fun parties, and have been to multiple sports events where I got to watch games in a suite with other SoFi members – and these events were all completely free because I’m a SoFi member.
For example, I’ve done the following:
- Attended multiple dinners at fancy restaurants in my city (each dinner would easily cost $100 per person)
- Went to a debt payoff party in New York City which was held in a great venue and included a catered dinner, free drinks, and an ice cream food truck
- Went to the Big Ten Championship twice in Indianapolis to watch my alma mater, the Wisconsin Badgers. The tickets included access to the game in the SoFi suite and free food and drinks in the VIP pre-game area.
- VIP tickets to watch the X-Games, along with free food and drinks in the VIP lounge.
- Tickets to see West Side Story, along with free drinks and food before the play.
I’ve written about my experience at these events in previous posts on the blog, which you can check out below:
- A Weekend In New York City, Compliments of Hyatt and SoFi
- How I’ve Received Thousands Of Dollars Worth Of Free Stuff From Refinancing My Student Loans With SoFi
- Combining SoFi Experiences And Travel Hacking For Free Flights And Free Events
Of course, things are very different right now given the state of the world and it’s unknown what the future of these in-person events will be like. At the moment, SoFi has shifted to online SoFi events, which are nice, but of course, don’t come with the benefit of going to cool events and getting free food and drinks. My hope is that SoFi eventually brings back these experiences.
SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step-By-Step Directions
With that brief bit of background out of the way, here’s what you need to do to earn your SoFi Money referral bonus. These steps should only take you a few minutes to complete, so if you follow the steps, you’ll earn your SoFi Money referral bonus with just a few minutes of work.
Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your SoFi Money referral bonus.
1. Open A SoFi Money Account. Open a SoFi Money account using a SoFi Money referral link. Here’s my SoFi Money referral link.
2. Fund Your SoFi Money Account With At Least $10. You’ll need to fund your SoFi Money account with $10 or more within 5 days of opening your account. The terms state that you need to either link a bank account and transfer the $10 via an ACH transfer or via an instant transfer from a debit card. Your $25 SoFi Money referral bonus should post within two weeks after you fund your account with at least $10. In practice, I’ve found it posts faster than that.
After you earn your bonus, you can decide what you want to do with your SoFi Money account. It’s a free account with useful benefits, so I recommend keeping it, especially since it has no fees and won’t cost you anything to keep it open. Also, you’ll want to keep your SoFi Money account open because of the possibility of referring your friends and family, which you can only do when you have a SoFi Money account. More on that in the next section.
Refer Your Friends And Earn More SoFi Money Referral Bonuses
One key benefit of having a SoFi Money account is that it allows you to refer other people using your own referral link. You’ll earn $75 for every person you refer to SoFi Money.
To refer someone to SoFi Money, simply open your SoFi app and go to your SoFi Money account. From there, you’ll see an option to invite friends to SoFi Money.
On the next page, you’ll get an option to share your referral link. Share your referral link with anyone who you think might benefit from this account and the signup bonus.
The big thing you can do is refer your spouse or partner to open a SoFi Money account. If you do this, they’ll get $25 for opening a SoFi Money account and you’ll get $75 too. Together, that’s a net profit of $100 for a few minutes of work ($25 for opening a SoFi Money account, then $75 each for referring your spouse or partner).
How to Earn an Additional $50-$300 Bonus
After opening your SoFi Money account, you have the opportunity to earn either an extra $50 or $250 by setting up Direct Deposit. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your additional SoFi Account referral bonus.
1. Open A SoFi Money Account. This is found in the first part of this post above.
2. Set up Direct Deposit and Wait For It To Hit Your Account. You’ll need to need to complete direct deposit(s) in order to earn an additional bonus. Here is the breakdown of how much you need to deposit and how long you have.
The terms state that you have 25 days from when the initial direct deposit hits your account to earn the maximum bonus. So you can have multiple direct deposits within the 25 day window and the aggregate of those deposits will determine the bonus amount you get. So for example, if you receive a direct deposit of $2,500 and then another one 2 weeks later, you will qualify for the $300 bonus.
So to recap,
Receive direct deposits totaling $1,000 or more within 25 days of the first direct deposit being received to earn a $50 bonus
OR
Receive direct deposits totaling $5,000 or more within 25 days of the first direct deposit being received to earn a $300 bonus
This money will be in addition to the $25 bonus you will receive for opening a SoFi Money account in the first part of this post (opening a SoFi Money account and depositing at least $10). So your total bonus amount will be either $75 or $325, depending on how much you direct deposit into your account.
The terms also state that you should receive your bonus within 7 business days after the 25-day evaluation period from receiving your first direct deposit. My experience has been that the bonus pays out pretty quickly after you meet the direct deposit requirements.
SoFi Invest
In addition to SoFi Money, SoFi also has another product called SoFi Invest, which offers free stock trading. You can earn a $25 signup bonus from SoFi Invest as well if you open a SoFi Invest account and fund your account with $10.
I’ve written a full step-by-step guide on how you can earn your SoFi Invest referral bonus. Check out my SoFi Invest step-by-step guide for more information.
Student Loan Refinancing
SoFi also does student loan refinancing and personal loans. You’ll earn $300 if you refinance your student loans or get a personal loan. If it makes sense for you, consider refinancing your student loans. The fact that you can earn a bonus for refinancing your loans is a nice benefit. I refinanced my student loans several years ago and it’s part of the reason I was able to pay off my student loans in just 2.5 years.
Final Thoughts
SoFi Money is an easy bank account bonus that is worth doing, especially if you are a beginner and new to the world of bank account bonuses. Because SoFi Money is completely free and has no minimum balance requirement, it’s an easy account to open and manage. I typically recommend everyone keep their SoFi Money account open forever so they can refer people and gain access to free SoFi experiences.
Earning this bonus is fast and easy, so you should be able to earn your SoFi Money referral bonus with just a little bit of work. You can open your SoFi Money account and earn your $25 referral bonus with my SoFi Money referral link.
If you’re interested in learning more advanced strategies about bank account bonuses, be sure to check out my post, The Ultimate Guide To Bank Account Bonuses. That is a massive post that goes into a lot of detail about how bank account bonuses work and how you can take advantage of them. Hit me up if you have any questions!
This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with just $10 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Webull (20 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 20 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 2 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Upgrade ($200) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $200 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $200 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- Ally Bank ($100) – Of all the banks out there, Ally is, without a doubt, my favorite. At the moment, Ally is offering $100 to customers who open an eligible Ally account and meet the requirements. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your Ally Bank referral bonus.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($175) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- US Bank Business ($800) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- Fifth Third Bank ($200) – This offer is limited to customers in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and South Carolina. If you don’t live in one of those states, you won’t be able to open an account online but you can still open an account in-branch if you happen to be visiting a city that has a branch. This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, especially since there are plenty of data points showing what will trigger the direct deposit requirement. In addition, you can open the Fifth Third Momentum Checking bank account, which comes with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. Read my guide on this bonus here.
- GO2Bank ($50) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $50 referral bonus.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $800 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
How did everyone handle the direct deposit requirement ? if you didn’t go thru payroll, how did you do it to meet the requirement ? i didn’t go thru payroll because i don’t make 5000 in 30 days. I did go to Doctor of Credits direct deposit page where there is a list of banks that would meet SOFI’s requirements. Looks like both my transfers I failed – Ally and Novo.
direct deposit $1000+ to get $50, or $5000+ to get $250 (you have 25 days for the DDs to be made, so you can spread it over two paychecks conceivably).
Looks like the terms have as of July 2023 — you’ve got to direct deposit $1000+ to get $50, or $5000+ to get $250 (you have 25 days for the DDs to be made, so you can spread it over two paychecks conceivably).
Kevin: I have had good luck with bonuses for SoFi. Has anyone considered (and been successful ) in churning SoFi bonuses. One the other hands, while it might be easy to churn the bonus, SoFi’s services may make it worth keeping open.
I will stand by for comments)… David
I know this sounds obvious but could you please clarify what you meant by ‘instant transfer from a debit card’? I tried a bank transfer from Chase and apparently that wasnt acceptable to trigger the bonus. Seems on many bonuses a debit card transfer is required but since SoFi is an online bank it isnt possible to walk in and make a deposit with a debit card.
Ive checked online and it seems many people (besides myself) are confused about how to transfer via debit.
I really appreciate your blog, it is quite interesting and generally easy to understand, it’s enjoyable. I know you’re busy but hopefully someone here can help me out. Thanks in advance!
Hey Amanda, You’ll get that initial bonus just for moving money from Chase to SoFi Money. To trigger the direct deposit requirement, you’re likely going to need a real direct deposit.
People have mentioned that this app, Astra works to trigger the Direct Deposit. I’ve used Astra in the past and had a conversation with their founders many years ago – it’s basically just an app that lets you move money between accounts, but you go through them as an intermediary.
Do you have an article yet on Astra?
Great website! I just used your referral link to sign up for the SoFi checking and savings bonus. I already deposited $100 to the account. Hopefully it doesn’t take that long for them to deposit the $25.
Hello Kevin,
I just stumbled upon your blog and was intrigued by the varios ways to make money. I started by creating a Chime account and funded with a Chase push deposit but didnt get the bonus. Your advice is to try from other banks but I dont have so many bank accounts as you have 🙂 believe it or not, I actually bank with Chase only. I did read that a push from Sofi should work so I went ahead and opened a Sofi account. Got my $25, thank you, now I am trying to see how I can refer a freind (on a regular desktop) without downloading the mobile app as I dont own a mobile device, just a simple flip phone. I cant find a link to refer a freind on their website (the only one is sending you to a page to download the app). Any advice?
Thanks so much!
Way to go Kevin! I’m a beginner and find your detail blog extremely helpful.. just wanted to share my appreciation.
Glad I could help!
I solved my other issue but it say I would only get 15 for referrals instead of 50 was this an update or something?
You’re probably looking at the app referral. There are multiple types of referrals in the app. $15 for referring someone who downloads the app. Then the referral for referring someone to SoFi Money, SoFi Invest, etc.
The minimum to transfer is $50 now can i get some help with this
Not sure what you mean? Like you want to pull your money out? You have two choices. Either put the $50 in there so you can pull everything out. Or do a pull from your regular bank.
Earned my $50 bonus- thank you! My referral bonus link says the bonus will only be $25 now though. Anyone else seeing the lowered amount?
Fyi SoFi now requires you to maintain the $500 deposit for thirty days in order to receive the $50 bonus. Thanks for all the useful info!
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Oh wow, I thought SoFi was just a refinancier of student loans. Had no clue they had their own bank accounts as well.
Super appreciate your blog! Used it to walk through the NETSPEND process and signed up for a SoFi account using your link a couple weeks ago. Sadly, even though I used the direct link, I never received the $50 bonus so assume you didn’t either 🙁
Hmm…not sure why you didn’t get it. Hit them up and tell them you met the terms and see what’s up. If you met the terms, they have to pay you.
It’s strange as I referred two friends and was quickly paid out for those referrals! I’ll try support. Thank you!
Hi Kevin,
Just a heads up… for the SoFi bonus, it never posted to my account. When I contacted SoFi, they requested your full name and email to check on the referral. When I couldn’t provide that, they stated that the referral bonus is only for Family and Friends and not eligible from a Third Party site. Seems I’ve hit a dead end there. Wanted to bring it to the attention of your followers just in case it happened to them too.
Thank you for all you do! I’ve gained a lot of bonuses thanks to your info!
-CJ
Shoot me an email and I’m happy to give you the info
Hi Kevin, Danielle here from Oklahoma! Just want to say thank you so much for all of the FREE INFO GIVEN COMPLETELY IN YOUR OWN TIME, BECAUSE OF YOUR GOOD NATURE, and just to let you know that in 2021, my new thing has been to begin working on my credit in order to become a responsible adult and with your guidance and help, its been an amazing journey thus far. Thanks again!!
Thanks for providing step by step!
I will say that it’s taken 4 business days to transfer money to fund my Money account on Sofi. That is hugely annoying.
I don’t understand how it can take so long between two banks. I wanted to invest via the sofi invest — that’s funded by the sofi money but $$ not available in my account all these days. 🙁 sorry not stock buys this week when it was hot.
That’s definitely annoying. My experience has been that transfers are faster than that, but I don’t know why it sometimes takes longer.
Kevin, I just used your link and the bonus posted. Thanks for writing these post! I have gotten the DCU and SCU account for me and my spouse and ordered the first netspend account. After getting those I am going to work more on the bank account bonuses. Any idea on if and when you become bonus eligible again for a sofi account if you keep and close the account? I am working on filling out the bank account bonus template.
Thanks!
Glad it worked out for you!
SoFi only lets you earn the bonus once. However, over the last two years, they’ve had bonuses for current users. Last year (and it still might actually be active now), they offered a bonus of $75 to current users after a direct deposit, so my wife and I each earned a $75 bonus in 2020. Keep an eye out for if they do that type of deal again.
Yes Kevin, you are doing an excellent job providing us with free financial information. I Thank You for all you do helping us average Joe’s make a few bucks.
The US Bank promotional offer, ends on 12/14, is an easy $400 with 2 direct deposits. I had to first open a brokerage account online with US Bancorp, their brokerage arm. Then 2 days later, Dec 9th, since I established a relationship with US Bank, while living in a state without any US Bank’s in it, I was approved for their checking account. The 2 direct deposits have to be deposited within 60 days. I set up direct deposits so I can score the $400 US Bank bonus.
Later this December, I will open Capital One 360 Checking account for their bonus for another $400 bonus.
This SoFI offer doesn’t look valid based on the reviews in Consumer Affairs.
I will not open a SoFi account.
Did you actually receive the $75 bonus from Chime using Discover Bank ACH Kevin or is this a side hustle to scam your readers?
Based on your information, I did open a Chime account. You, Financial Panther, stated I would receive the $75 bonus using the ACH from Discover Bank, which I initiated today. Next week I will transfer in the $200. However, it states on their website:
>>>In order for both the referred individual and the referring Chime member to each qualify for and receive the $75.00 referral reward, the following conditions must be met: the referred individual may not have previously opened a Chime Spending Account (“Account”); they must open a new Account between December 7, 2020 and January 7, 2021; they must open the new account using the referring Chime member’s unique referral link; and they must receive in the new Account a qualifying direct deposit of $200.00 or more within 45 days of opening. The qualifying direct deposit must be made by the referred individual’s employer, payroll provider, or benefits payer by Automated Clearing House (ACH) deposit. Bank ACH transfers, Pay Friends transfers, verification or trial deposits from financial institutions, peer to peer transfers from services such as PayPal, Cash App, or Venmo, mobile check deposits, and cash loads or deposits are not qualifying direct deposits.<<<
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/online-banks/sofi-money.html
You also provided your email address to contact you with questions. I did contact you last week regarding US Bank's Bonus. I have yet to receive an email from you. Don't bother to respond. I took advantage of that offer. However, I hope you will publicly respond to my query on Chime so I do not waste time or money.
Hey Joe. I’m not sure why you have so much animosity against me. I provide you free information, which you are of course welcome to use or ignore. I’m not sure why you would call me a scammer. How exactly would I scam you? I don’t receive anything unless you get something too and nothing I write about costs you any money. Heck, I don’t even charge any money for anything on this site – it’s all totally free.
Regarding SoFi Money, I’ve had no issue with SoFi Money ever in the 3 years I’ve had it. As with any bank, you’re gonna see tons of complaints. But if you’re opening just for the bonus, you’re not even going to be using the account for anything but to get the bonus. But again, it’s totally up to you.
Regarding Chime, while the terms say that it needs to be an employer direct deposit, in practice, any ACH transfer will trigger the direct deposit requirement. This has been true for several years and remains true as of when I write this. The systems these banks use are all automated, so they can’t always tell what’s a “real” direct deposit. Check my Ultimate Guide to bank Account bonuses for more info about how these direct deposit requirements work. It’s a key component of bank bonuses that you have to understand.
Regarding your email, I do apologize if I missed it. I get hundreds of emails per week and since this is a one-man operation, I sometimes let emails slip through the cracks. I’ll go through my emails again and see if I can find it.
Hi Kevin, you’re doing a great job.. thank you for providing insight. Please disregard the negative comments! 🙂
I did the chime one and works perfect with ally. Thanks Kevin! I’m trying to use this today an old debt.
Sir, I write this message coming from a neutral point of view and 💯 percent can say that everything that “Financial Panther” says to do…I just do. Completely opening my eyes and taking advantage of any free money out there. In less than 2 years of following him I have saved thousands. But, you do have to follow everything to the T. Something could throw off the smooth collection of free money. I suggest you really pay attention to account opening day and when you have to find the opening by and when you have to spend money by and how many transactions and what kind to make sure you benefit from the bonus you’re trying to get.
Definitely no scam going on here, “Financial Panther” fan!