SoFi Personal Loans Review

SoFi has provided customers with unsecured personal loans since 2011 and earned a spot on our list of the best personal loans. In this guide, you'll find a complete overview of everything you need to know to decide whether a SoFi loan is the right option for you.

Table of contents

• SoFi: Best online lender for personal loans
• SoFi personal loans pros and cons
• SoFi personal loan offerings
• How to apply for a SoFi personal loan
• SoFi personal loans financial stability
• SoFi personal loans accessibility
• SoFi personal loans customer satisfation
• SoFi personal loans FAQs
• How we evaluated SoFi personal loans

SoFi: Best online lender for personal loans

If you’re in need of some fast funds for personal use, SoFi offers benefits that other lenders don't, such as 60-second rate checking, same-day deposits and seven-day customer service. SoFi provides loans of up to $100,000, and if you don’t qualify on your own, the lender allows you to add a co-borrower (though this might increase your approval time by a week or two).

These perks are part of why Money named SoFi the best online lender for personal loans.

Here’s a closer look at the pros and cons of getting a loan through SoFi.

SoFi personal loans pros and cons

Pros explained

Below is an overview of the main benefits SoFi personal loans have to offer.

Fast, same-business-day funding

SoFi's streamlined application process makes it possible to apply and get approval for a personal loan online in just a few minutes. You can do this through the website or the mobile app. The company also uses soft credit pulls to give you a pre-approved rate without affecting your score.

Once everything is finalized, SoFi can transfer the funds to your bank account on the same day. This is a huge benefit for people who need access to funds quickly. Plus, you can get up to $100,000, which is more than many lenders with same-day funding. Be aware this only applies to loans with single borrowers, not ones with co-applicants.

Considers alternative credit data

Many personal loan lenders only consider traditional credit data, namely your credit score, to determine whether they lend to you.

On the other hand, SoFi does not have hard minimum credit score requirement. Instead, it considers an array of information about your personal finances to determine your creditworthiness, including cash flow, professional history and how financially responsible you’ve been.

Still, to get the most attractive loan terms possible, it’s recommended you have a good to excellent credit — more specifically, a FICO score of 670 or higher.

No late fees

SoFi is one of a handful of personal loan lenders that does not charge late fees if you're behind paying your monthly bill. (Of course, there are still consequences to not paying your loan on-time — namely, it will hurt your credit.)

Cons explained

SoFi personal loans have plenty of benefits, but you should also know their disadvantages.

Large minimum loan amount

Unless otherwise required by state law, the smallest amount you can borrow from SoFi is $5,000. This amount is much higher than other lenders, which may have loan options between $500 and $1,000. Do not borrow large loans if you don’t need to. Consider using another lender for smaller amounts.

Cannot remove co-borrower

Having the option to add a co-borrower to help you qualify for a SoFi loan is a boon, but be advised that you can’t remove them once they’re on the loan (unless they die). You will both be responsible for the debt until it is fully paid off.

SoFi personal loans offerings

SoFi personal loans can be used for any number of reasons, like credit card debt consolidation, home improvement projects, medical bills and more. (Note that you cannot use personal loans for higher education — SoFi offers student loans for that — business purposes or real estate investments.) Regardless of what you use the loan for, there are some basics to keep in mind.

Eligibility requirements

To meet basic personal loan qualifications, you must:

• Be 18 or older and a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or non-permanent resident with a qualifying Visa
• Reside in one of the 29 states or Washington, D.C., where SoFi’s consumer lending division operates
• Have a job, an employment offer that starts in 90 days or sufficient income from other sources

Loan terms

APR: In many cases, SoFi personal loans come with lower fixed rates than other lenders and typical credit cards. Personal loan rates run between 8.99% and 29.99% APR including all available discounts.

However, APRs can vary based on several factors, including credit score, loan amount and repayment terms. If your credit score is below 670, we recommend you check out our guide to the best bad credit loans or consider applying with a co-borrower.

Loan amounts: SoFi gives you the option to borrow a minimum of $5,000 (depending on state limits) and a maximum of $100,000. You can choose the payment term you want, from two to seven years.

Fees

SoFi doesn’t charge prepayment penalties or late fees like many other lenders. That said, there are still consequences for late payments, such as interest accrual and a blemished credit report.

Origination fees are technically not required, as SoFi gives you the option to pay a one-time origination fee of up to 7% of the loan amount to lower your interest rate.

Loan discounts

SoFi has two ways for you to knock off a combined 0.5% APR from your personal loan.

• Autopay: By electing to have your monthly loan payments automatically withdrawn from your checking account, you can receive a 0.25% rate discount.

• Direct deposit: Those who have SoFi bank accounts can receive an additional 0.25% APR discount if they have at least $1,000 directly deposited into their account each month.

How to apply for a SoFi personal loan

The first step is to prequalify and find out your rate. Prequalification can take as few as 60 seconds and is done with a soft credit pull. Once you choose to proceed with the loan and pick your term length — between two and seven years — then SoFi conducts a hard credit check. When you’ve finalized signatures on all documents, funds can be wired to your account in as fast as one business day.

SoFi personal loans financial stability

When you're considering a personal loan, you need a lender with solid financial standing. SoFi is a reputable lender that has been in business for over a decade and is backed by prominent investors such as SoftBank and Silver Lake. This investment provides SoFi with a strong financial foundation and allows the bank to offer competitive rates and features.

SoFi personal loans accessibility

SoFi makes it easy for anybody to apply for a loan online. Customer service representatives are not available 24/7, but they are accessible every day of the week. Below is more information about SoFi's customer service and experience.

Availability

SoFi's customer support for personal loans is available on Monday to Thursday from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific time and on Friday to Sunday from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Having customer service representatives available on the weekends is a helpful feature many providers don't offer. You can also chat with the virtual assistant at any time. This assistant should be able to give you answers to common questions.

(This schedule does not apply to personal loan applications. You can apply for a loan online at any time and get your rate in minutes.)

Contact information

You can reach SoFi's personal loan support team via telephone at 855-456-7634 or use the online chat 24/7 once you have your account set up. With the online chat, you'll first talk to the virtual assistant, which can connect you with a representative if necessary.

SoFi does not have physical branches, but you can use this address if you need to get a hold of the company by mail:

SoFi Lending Corp. or an affiliate Personal Loans
PO Box 654158
Dallas, TX 75265-4158

Aside from these contact options, you can also tweet at the company by tagging @SoFiSupport.

User experience

On TrustPilot, SoFi has over 8,000 user reviews and a 4.6 rating out of five. On the Better Business Bureau site, SoFi has an overall A+ grade, with a customer-review rating of 1.61 out of five. The company is not BBB accredited.

SoFi personal loans customer satisfaction

Online reviews rate SoFi in the four out of five-star range on many sites, and an A+ with the Better Business Bureau. One of the main positive comments about SoFi's personal loans is the easy and fast application and approval process.

SoFi also ranked third out of 18 lenders on J.D. Power's 2023 U.S. Consumer Lending Satisfaction Study, which rated personal loan lenders based on customer satisfaction with loan application processes, loan management, shopping and loan terms.

How we evaluated SoFi personal loans

To provide a complete review of SoFi personal loans, our methodology considers the following factors:

• Interest rates and fees
• The ease of the application process
• Special offers
• Perks to customers
• Customer reviews
• User experience of the website and any associated apps

Summary of Money's SoFi personal loans review

SoFi is a great option if you're looking for quick funding and have an excellent credit history. You can borrow up to $100,000 and receive the funds the same day you get approved. Users on review sites mention this fast process as a main benefit.

To get these benefits, though, you need a good credit score, generally 670 or above. If you have a score in this range and are looking for a personal loan, you should find out the rate you would get from SoFi. The inquiry is free, and it won't affect your credit history.

Finally, if you don't have a great score, don't worry. You have the option to apply with a co-borrower.