SoFi Card Review

Written by Dayana Yochim
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Fact-checked by Andrea Coombes

May 04, 2023

The SoFi Credit Card's 2% unlimited cash back sounds great, until you find out it’s only 1% if you don’t deposit your rewards into a SoFi account. That key detail is explained in the fine print.

Here SoFi’s pitch for its credit card: “Unlimited 2% cash back rewards* and no annual fee.” Here it is without the touch-up filter: You’ll get that 2% rate if (big if) you funnel rewards into a SoFi savings or investment account or apply it to a SoFi loan. Not a SoFi customer? Sorry, your cashback rate is only 1%, as revealed in the eensy weensy type at the bottom of the SoFi Credit Card's splash page.

The basics: Earn 2 reward points for every dollar spent on eligible purchases. Redeem points at a rate of 1 cent per point if you elect to redeem as cash deposited into your SoFi Money account, as fractional shares into your SoFi Invest account, as cryptocurrency into your SoFi Active Invest account, or as a payment toward your SoFi Personal or Student Loan. Points redeem at a rate of 0.5 cents per point if you elect to redeem them as a statement credit into your SoFi Credit Card account.

SoFi Credit Card pros and cons

SoFi Credit Card cashback rewards spending categories

The following table shows the cashback rewards rate per $1 spent in the six most common spending categories. The “Bonus Rate” refers to the amount you can earn in excess of the card’s standard rewards rate.

Some cashback cards limit the spending amount eligible for the bonus rate (a.k.a. the “Spend Cap”). Once you hit that cap (e.g. $1,500 spending in a particular category during a defined time period), the rewards rate on future purchases in that category reverts to the lower “Default Rate.”

Note: The table above shows the rewards rate you'll earn if redeem your points to your SoFi savings or investment account, or apply them to a loan held by SoFi. We use this 2% cashback rate in the rewards card calculator to illustrate your potential earnings. If you redeem points as a credit card statement credit, the rewards rate is 1%.

What we like

Unlimited cash back? You betcha! No earnings caps, category restrictions or other funny business? Yes, yes and, um, please hold your applause while we unpack that last one.

If you’re a SoFi bank/loan or brokerage customer, the way you redeem your cash back is where you’ll score. Points are worth $0.01 each (or 2% per $1 spent) when redeemed within the SoFi universe of loans (as extra payments toward a student loan refi or a personal loan), savings (SoFi Money) or investment accounts (SoFi Invest or SoFi Crypto).

Alt investors take note: You can redeem cash back for bitcoin and ethereum in your SoFi Crypto Account with a minimum balance of 500 points.

Extra rewards points can be had by signing up for direct deposit, activating a SoFi Money debit card, setting up bill pay, and other banking/investing account actions.

The SoFi Credit Card, issued through the Bank of Missouri, is a World Elite Mastercard, which comes with fancy-pants stuff like access to concierge services, profesh travel services, Priceless golf experiences, hotel and car rental upgrades, savings on private jets (oh hey, friend). Less show-offy but still useful: ID theft and zero liability protection, global emergency services and cell phone protection ($800 max per claim, two claims per year).

We like that you can set up a monthly budgeting notification (aka overspending alarm) when you’re about to blow through your allowance.

What we don't like

Not all points you earn are created equal, as mentioned above. Several times. Point value is cut in half to $0.005 (as in a not-very-competitive 1% per $1 spent) when you redeem them for a statement credit to your SoFi Credit Card account.

Translation of previous point: Do not redeem rewards as a SoFi Credit Card statement credit or you’ll only get 1% cash back. If you don't have/want a SoFi account, there are better rewards cards to be had.

The easiest 1% vs. 2% cashback rate workaround is to add a bank account to your life: If you open a SoFi savings account you can send your earnings there for a pit stop to nab the 2% rewards rate and then transfer the money to an outside account.

No sign-up bonus? You’re really not giving us a whole lot to work with here, SoFi.

A sad farewell to a perk we liked: A previous version of the SoFi credit card knocked 1% off of your APR after 12 monthly on-time minimum payments. We found no mention of this APR reduction setup in the most recent card terms, which is a bummer.

The bottom line

Is the SoFi Credit Card the best rewards card for your wallet? The answer depends entirely on your spending patterns. Let the numbers speak for themselves: Use the investor.com Cashback Credit Card Calculator to see which credit card pays back the highest rewards based on how much you spend each month.

SoFi Credit Card fine print

See for yourself the SoFi member rewards program terms and SoFi Credit Card terms and conditions.

Does the SoFi Credit Card charge an annual fee?

No, there is no annual fee for the SoFi Credit Card.

Does the SoFi Credit Card offer a welcome bonus?

No, the SoFi Credit Card card does not currently offer a welcome bonus.

How much cashback can I earn with the SoFi Credit Card?

The average American that spends $1000 per month will earn $240.00 in cash back per year using the SoFi Credit Card. For comparison, the average annual rewards payout from the cashback credit cards in the investor.com database is $191.26, and $180 is the median.

These calculations are based on average consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the reward payout rates from the providers we track. Of course, you’re so much more than an average data point (aka “consumer unit,” in BLS parlance). The amount you can earn in cashback rewards using the SoFi Credit Card depends entirely on your unique spending habits.

Find out exactly how much you’ll rake in with the SoFi Credit Card by tailoring the spending inputs in the calculator above.

Methodology

The results of the investor.com Credit Card Rewards Calculator are based on the monthly spending amounts you enter and the annual dollar value of the rewards each credit card program pays per $1 spent. Credit card companies often express this payout amount as a percentage (e.g., 1.5% of every dollar spent) or on a points basis (e.g. ,1.5 points for every dollar spent). We converted all of them to a dollar amount (“Cash Back Per Year”) to make comparing offers easier.

To calculate the amount of cash back you could earn per year, we factored in:

• Spend category inputs: The default dollar values for each “Spend Category” in the Best Cashback Credit Cards tool — gas, groceries, travel, restaurant, entertainment, pharmacy, other — are based on average American spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We also include additional spend categories (such as streaming services, online shopping, utilities, transit, Amazon and more) to help you see which rewards cards are most closely aligned with your actual spending patterns. We encourage you to customize the monthly spend inputs for the most accurate results.
• Tiered rewards rates: If a rewards credit card pays higher cashback rates on certain spending categories (also called “Bonus Rewards”), that difference is reflected in the total “Cash Back Per Year” tally.
• Rewards spending caps: Some cards impose category- or time-based limits (monthly, quarterly, annually) that affect the amount of rewards you can earn. For example, a card may pay 3% cash back on groceries on up to $1,000 of spending each quarter, then revert to the base/default rewards rate until the following quarter. We accounted for bonus spending caps and timeframe in the calculations.
• Default rewards rates: Purchases that exceed a spending cap are usually subject to a lower default rewards rate (e.g., 1% or 1.5%). We mathed that out too.
• Annual fees: If a rewards card charges an annual fee, we deducted that amount from the “Cash Back Per Year” total to provide a true accounting of a card’s annual rewards payout.

What’s not included in the “Cash Back Per Year” total is the cash value of any sign-up/introductory bonus. We highlight any Welcome Bonus separately. While sign-up bonuses can be the most lucrative part of getting a new cashback rewards credit card, not everyone will want or be able to do what it takes to earn the extra cash. (It usually requires spending a certain amount in a specified time period after the card is activated.)

Read next

• Best Cashback Credit Cards
• Best Business Cashback Credit Cards
• What Is Credit? (And Why It Matters)
• Best High-Yield Savings Accounts
• Find a Financial Advisor
• Our Complete Coverage of Credit Cards

About the Editorial Team

Dayana Yochim

Dayana Yochim has been writing (articles, books, podcasts, stirring speeches) about personal finance and investing for more than two decades, focusing on bringing clarity and the occasional comedic aside to what is often a murky, humorless topic. She’s written for NerdWallet, The Motley Fool, HerMoney.com, Woman’s Day, Forbes, Newsweek and others, and been a guest expert on "Today," "Good Morning America," CNN, NPR and wherever they’ll hand her a mic.

Carolyn Kimball

Carolyn Kimball is Managing Editor for Reink Media Group and the lead editor for content on investor.com. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money

Andrea Coombes

Andrea Coombes has 20+ years of experience helping people reach their financial goals. Her personal finance articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MarketWatch, Forbes, and other publications, and she's shared her expertise on CBS, NPR, "Marketplace," and more. She's been a financial coach and certified consumer credit counselor, and is working on becoming a Certified Financial Planner. She knows that owning pets isn't necessarily the best financial decision; her dog and two cats would argue this point.