Banking Bank Reviews

SoFi Checking and Savings Review [2025]: High Interest + More Pros Than Cons

SoFi®'s checking and savings account, the online platform's only bank account, offers impressive benefits, but many features require direct deposit.

Updated June 23, 2025
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5.0
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2025 award winner Best Checking and Savings Combo

SoFi Checking and Savings

OUR VIEW

SoFi Checking and Savings is a high-yield savings account, checking account combo that earns a savings rate that’s competitive with the best on the market, offers early paycheck access,1 and provides overdraft coverage at no cost2. Oh, and did we mention that’s all without minimum balance requirements, maintenance fees,3 or monthly withdrawal limits? Having tried it ourselves, we’re also fans of the mobile banking app, and it’s helped us save more.

However, people who can’t meet direct deposit activity requirements won’t enjoy many of the perks this account has to offer, and you may not be able to do all of your banking with SoFi®.

This review, which is really a review of banking with SoFi, will focus on the SoFi Checking and Savings account. We’ll talk about who it’s good for, why we’ve always rated it highly when analyzing accounts, and more.

Pros

High APY of up to 3.80%4 with direct deposit
Paycheck access up to 2 days early1
No monthly maintenance or overdraft fees3
Streamlined savings and savings goals with Vaults
Access to a large ATM network5
SoFi is a member FDIC6

Cons

No physical branches for in-person banking
Direct deposits required to unlock all perks1
Overdraft coverage is limited compared to some rivals2
How we evaluate products

SoFi Checking and Savings account overview

SoFi Checking and Savings
APY on checking 0.50% (as of 01/24/25) APY on checking balances
APY on savings Up to 3.80% APY on savings balances with qualified direct deposit or 1.00% (as of 01/24/25) APY on savings balances without direct deposit4
Minimum balance None, but qualified direct deposit is required to earn the higher APY
Minimum deposit to open None
Monthly maintenance fees None3
ATM access 55,000+ fee-free ATMs within the Allpoint ATM Network5
FDIC insurance SoFi Bank, N.A. is a Member, FDIC 6 (Cert. #26881)

Deposits are insured up to $250,000, or up to $3 million by enrolling in the SoFi® Insured Deposit Program.

Sign-up bonus Up to $300 when you sign up and set up direct deposit. You can qualify for a bonus of $50 to $300, depending on your direct deposit amount7
Visit SoFi®

Editor's note
If you visit SoFi's website, you might be a little confused to see separate tabs labeled "Checking Account" and "High Yield Savings Account" under the Banking section of the products list. Note that these are not actually two different accounts but two different pages describing the same account.

What is SoFi®?

SoFi®, short for Social Finance, is an online personal finance company that offers a range of products, including checking and savings accounts, credit cards, loans, and investment options. It's not a traditional bank with brick-and-mortar branches, but it does offer excellent cash access.

SoFi has one of the highest ratings I've ever seen from a financial institution on Trustpilot — 4.3 out of 5 stars based on customer reviews.

Is SoFi Checking and Savings good for you??

SoFi's greatest strength is that it can appeal to you whether you're looking for a checking account, a savings account, or both. And since it doesn't have many fees or requirements, there's little risk to opening an account.

We'd enthusiastically recommend SoFi Checking and Savings if:

  • You want to avoid balance requirements and monthly service fees.

  • You want to earn a high interest rate on all your money, and the requirements aren't a problem.

  • You want more flexibility in a savings account.

You want to earn a high interest rate on checking and savings

If you're looking for an account that'll pay interest on your whole balance, whether you're stashing away funds to save or spending every day, SoFi is one of the best (and only) options that can do both.

Just note that because the account requires direct deposit activity to unlock the best features, like the highest stated APYs, it's best for people who can comfortably reroute their paycheck or other deposits to a new account. If you can't, steer clear.

You want a flexible savings account

To take it a step further, SoFi Checking and Savings would be great for you if you wanted to earn a high rate without forfeiting easy access to your cash. 1

Because this is technically a combined checking and savings account, you can tap into your funds via ATMs and use a debit card to spend your balance directly. Savings accounts very rarely come with cash access like this. The account also doesn't have monthly withdrawal restrictions found with many traditional savings accounts (though there is a daily ATM withdrawal limit of $1,000).

Who we would not recommend SoFi Checking and Savings for

SoFi Checking and Savings isn't ideal for people who can't meet direct deposit requirements. If you're looking for a rewarding checking account without these, we recommend Discover® Cashback Debit. For a combined checking and savings option with an even higher savings APY, check out Axos ONE and look closely at the deposit requirements.

If you want an account that could help you save more, LendingClub LevelUp Savings is designed to motivate you by requiring you to deposit at least $250 each month to access the highest APY (but the rate without this is still competitive with SoFi's).

If you prefer in-person banking or frequently need to deposit cash, SoFi® might not be the best fit for you as it doesn't have in-person branches and charges up to $4.95 for cash deposits.

4.5
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2025 award winner Best Online Checking Account

Discover® Cashback Checking
Earn 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases each month.8 No minimum deposit or balance. FDIC Insured.
Learn More
4.6
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Axos ONE® - Earn up to 4.66% APY
Axos ONE® offers up to a powerful 4.66% APY on savings and 0.51% APY9on checking to help you grow your money. No monthly maintenance, minimum balance, account opening, or overdraft fees. FDIC insured.
Learn more
4.8
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Earn up to 4.40% APY
Earn up to 4.40% APY10when you open a new LevelUp Savings account and deposit $250+ per month. Member FDIC.
Learn More

SoFi Checking and Savings benefits

Unlike many banks, SoFi doesn't offer separate checking or savings accounts. Instead, its sole Checking and Savings account combines benefits and features of both types of typical banking products.

So while you can't sign up for "SoFi savings" without signing up for "SoFi checking," you can sign up for a single account with, we'd argue, far more perks than you'd typically enjoy from two separate products.

No monthly fees or minimum balance requirements

One of the biggest perks of SoFi Checking and Savings is the lack of monthly maintenance fees. You won't pay a dime just to keep your account open, regardless of your balance.3

While it's becoming increasingly common for online bank accounts to not attach maintenance fees or balance minimums to their accounts, SoFi stands out for charging very few account fees in general.

High APYs on checking and savings balances

SoFi® offers an impressive APY of up to 3.80%4 on your savings account balance when you set up direct deposit. That's several times the national average of 0.38% (as of 6/16/25), according to FDIC data.11

Plus, don't forget about that checking yield. You can earn 0.50% (as of 01/24/25) APY on checking balances. Not enough to get rich, but certainly better than the 0% interest rate checking accounts usually pay.

Get paid early with direct deposit

Like many checking accounts from online banks and financial technology platforms, SoFi's checking accounts let you get paid up to two days early.1 While not an uncommon perk anymore, this automatic benefit can be handy.

Since enrolling in direct deposit with this account is the best way to take advantage of its full suite of features and benefits (like higher APYs, SoFi Plus, and sign-up bonuses) anyway, it's worth routing your paycheck here.

Read more: Best Banks with Early Direct Deposit

Save more easily with Savings Vaults

SoFi®'s savings Vault feature allows you to set up separate savings buckets within your account for different goals that still earn the same high APY rate. For example, you could create a Vault for your emergency fund, another for a down payment on a house, and a third for a dream vacation.

I currently have Vaults set up for my side hustle taxes and a Europe trip. By automatically routing a portion of my direct deposits into these Vaults, I'm able to save for my goals without even thinking about it.

SoFi Checking and Savings restrictions and drawbacks

Direct deposit requirements

To unlock SoFi®'s best features, like the up to 3.80% APY4 and early paycheck access, you'll need to set up direct deposit. If you're self-employed or don't have a steady paycheck, this could be a challenge.

While you can still earn 1.00% (as of 01/24/25) APY on your savings without direct deposit, you won't be able to take advantage of some of SoFi®'s most attractive benefits.

Relatively low overdraft coverage limits

SoFi® does offer no-fee overdraft coverage, but it's limited to $50 and only available to members with at least $1,000 in monthly direct deposits.2 Some other online banks and fintechs, like Chime, offer a higher overdraft limit or don't require direct deposit to qualify.

No other banking products

SoFi isn't a one-stop shop for all your banking needs. Checking and Savings is the institution's only banking product, though SoFi also offers other financial services, including loans, credit cards, insurance, and investment accounts.

If you need a low-fee online bank where you can open separate checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs), money market accounts, and/or other bank accounts, consider Ally, Capital One 360, Axos Bank, and Discover.

SoFi account fees

Not only won't you pay monthly maintenance fees, but you won't pay for overdraft fees2, returned items, abandoned accounts, stop payments, or even replacement debit cards with SoFi.

In fact, one of the only fees that really applies with this account is for domestic outgoing wire transfers you initiate, at a cost of $30 per transfer.

SoFi Plus

SoFi Plus is an optional premium membership you can sign up for if you want to qualify for more banking perks and other benefits. This membership is going to offer the most value to people who already have or are interested in opening more accounts with the company, including credit cards or SoFi Invest® accounts, or who want to access more services like SoFi Wealth12 financial planning.

Here's how SoFi Plus enhances regular SoFi accounts, including Checking and Savings.

SoFi Plus SoFi
SoFi savings rate Up to 3.80% APY 1.00% (as of 01/24/25) APY
SoFi credit cards 10% boost on cash back rewards through select SoFi credit cards No boost
SoFi Invest Unlimited 1% match on recurring deposits, paid in rewards points13 No match
SoFi Wealth Unlimited one-on-one financial planning One 30-minute session

To enroll in SoFi Plus, you can either pay a $10 monthly subscription fee or set up direct deposit with your SoFi Checking and Savings account (no activity minimum required).

SoFi Checking and Savings alternatives

We suggest looking into these two options if SoFi's checking and savings option leaves you wanting more or a different set of benefits.

Discover Cashback Debit

If you want to earn rewards on your checking account purchases but have issues with SoFi's activity requirements, Discover's checking account is worth considering. Unlike SoFi®, Discover offers 1.00% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases each month.14 If you use your debit card frequently, you might get more benefit out of this perk than the APYs on SoFi's Checking and Savings account—especially if you can't meet direct deposit minimums.

Discover also shares some of SoFi®'s most appealing features, such as no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. We'll recommend it again and again for low-fee, low-stress online banking, and this is also one of the best banks for bad credit (alongside SoFi).

Visit Discover | Learn more in our Discover Checking review.

Axos ONE

Axos is one of very few banks that offers a combined checking and savings account like SoFi, and we prefer its Axos ONE account to the SoFi Checking and Savings account in two cases. For one, savings balances can earn up to 4.66% APY9 with direct deposit compared to SoFi's rate of up to 3.80% APY with direct deposit. For another, Axos Bank is friendlier about cash deposits. You can add cash at Green Dot Network® retailers and participating ATMs, and Axos won't charge you a fee. Both SoFi and Axos are FDIC insured, offer early access to paychecks, and no monthly fees.

However, to get the better savings rate with Axos, you'll need to receive at least $1,500 in direct deposits by the 25th of each month and maintain an average daily balance of $1,500. This makes the account a little more restrictive than SoFi, which accepts any qualifying direct deposit activity without minimums, but it could be worth checking out Axos ONE instead if you know you can meet the requirements anyway.

Visit Axos ONE | Learn more in our Axos Bank review.

Bottom line

If you're like us and prefer online banking, especially when it means earning a high rate on your money and getting access to perks, the SoFi Checking and Savings account is an exceptionally good choice. We'd feel good about recommending it to many people, especially if you can meet direct deposit requirements and want a high-yield savings option that's more flexible than traditional accounts.

That said, we also want to be clear that this joint checking/savings account has limitations. If you don't see SoFi being good for you, go with your gut and check out other high-yield savings accounts and free checking accounts.

FAQs

Is SoFi Checking and Savings safe?

SoFi Checking and Savings accounts are safe. SoFi® is a trusted company that has been offering financial products and services since 2011. Your accounts are also FDIC-insured, so you don't have to worry about losing your money in the unlikely event the financial institution fails.

Is SoFi Money® still available?

SoFi Money® is no longer available to new members. Existing SoFi Money® account holders have been invited to complete a quick process to upgrade to SoFi Checking and Savings.

Learn More
5.0
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Financebuzz awards badge

2025 award winner Best Checking and Savings Combo

High APY of up to 3.80%4 with direct deposit
Paycheck access up to 2 days early1
No monthly maintenance or overdraft fees3
Streamlined savings and savings goals with Vaults
Access to a large ATM network5
SoFi is a member FDIC6
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