If you’re going to start making money, you need to begin with a place to put it. I could make a metaphor about “needing a bucket to carry water home” but I can’t pick the best and you get the idea. So, I got a new SoFi bank account.
I do already have an “old” bank account, but it has some complications. I haven’t finished explaining the backstory of my situation yet, but part of the problem is that my old bank account can be monitored and accessed by a financially dubious and very controlling family member I am currently forced to live with. It’s a joint account because it dates back to a time when it made sense because of how we were paying the bills. And if I try to separate or close it now, I’ll have to deal with both personal drama and the incredible hassle of moving the money, remembering everything that’s connected to the account, and so on, and I am just not ready for that. I also cannot use my “old” bank account with PayPal (I’ll explain later).
I would have done this a lot sooner if I’d realized back then how easy it would be. The thing is, I have been treated badly by banks in the past, and I’m used to senseless fees that punish anyone who doesn’t have like $1500 in the account at all times, and other issues that seem to exist specifically to make the poor stay poor and force you into overdraft so they can levy a fee, which can eventually go into collections and haunt you for years by hurting your credit score. (I think you can tell I’ve been personally burned…)
So, I thought I would need at least a few hundred dollars to open an account without having to pay fees. And I also wouldn’t be able to use those few hundred dollars because they would need to stay in the bank to qualify for the fee to be waived. Argh.
But it’s actually not like that now! There are several online banks that offer completely free accounts. Some physical banks may as well, but I only researched online ones while making this decision. I may try other online banks in the future (especially if I’m going to compare them for a writeup here) but for now my SoFi bank account is a good enough place to start.
SoFi Bank Account Information
I found SoFi by doing a search for free bank accounts which led me to an article called 6 Best Free Checking Accounts of 2023 by NerdWallet (it’s been updated for 2024!). I’ve read articles on the NerdWallet site before, and I usually find it accessible and easy to understand. You could consider it a good source if you want advice or information from someone other than me.
Before I go into more detail about SoFi I want to make sure you know this: if you decide to sign up for a SoFi bank account, use a referral link. This will give you the opportunity to earn a bonus, although as with many services, you still have to do something else to qualify — in this case, at the time of writing, you get a couple of separate rewards:
- First you have to fund the account by moving at least $50 into it, “via an ACH transfer from a linked bank account, or via ‘Instant Transfer’ from a debit card (if available). P2P transfers (ACH-based P2P or debit-card based P2P from Venmo, PayPal, Apple Cash, Square Cash, etc.) are excluded.” Those are the instructions directly from SoFi’s website, so it’s just saying to fund the account through another bank and not a service like PayPal. As said, the minimum is $50 and the funds just have to settle in there within 14 days of opening your account via the link. If you do this, SoFi will give both you and your referrer some extra cash. You’ll get $25, and your referrer gets $75.
- The second reward comes if you set up direct deposit. In that case, SoFi will give you an additional bonus of up to $300 (last I checked) depending on your direct deposit amount.
Since the person who referred you will also get a bonus if you meet the qualifications, and because I’m having a hard enough time right now where every little bit helps, I’d love it if you sign up for a SoFi bank account with me as your referrer. However, SoFi doesn’t like people to publicly post their referral link, so you’d have to request it from me. If you comment on this post (using an email address you’d like me to reply to), or email me at [email protected] I can give you the link. Remember you can get $25 from this and the account itself is free.
I believe the NerdWallet article also has a referral link if you would prefer that, but I’m not sure it gives any rewards — it might be a different kind of referral since it’s on a review article. However, I have no idea.
There are other banks on that page that I might also try (like I said) but I decided to start with SoFi because they got such a good score in the article, and I liked the benefits that are listed. It also comes with a free savings account. The most important thing is that the whole SoFi bank account (checking and savings) is free, but the APY is a good bonus if I can actually start saving like I want to and if I’m able to get direct deposit into it.
A higher APY means faster growth of a savings account. My SoFi checking account earns 0.50% APY (variable and subject to change) while the savings account could earn up to 4.60% APY if I’m able to set up direct deposit into it. Otherwise it’s at 1.20% APY.
Final Notes on My SoFi Bank Account
Anyway, I liked these benefits and there are probably others I haven’t really absorbed, but the most important thing is to have a free bank account where I can deposit money. If it happens to earn interest at any point that’s just a bonus. I’m not sure I’ll ever use an ATM with this account but it’s good to know that they have a pretty large network I could access if I needed to. There’s a map on their website that shows ATMs in your area and there’s actually one at a store I already go to. Neat!
As for the actual savings, I might open an account somewhere else that offers a higher APY without requiring direct deposit to activate it. But we’ll see what happens.
I signed up for my SoFi Checking and Savings on October 9, 2023, and I’m not sure this is really important information, but it’s good for me to remember if I need to.
Now, if you are trying to hide a bank account from someone in your household, SoFi automatically enrolls you in paperless statements, which is good. But they do send you a debit card, and I could not find a way to change the address where it would be mailed to — it automatically used my home address. I also couldn’t find anywhere to track the card on its journey to me, so you won’t be warned if it’s going to arrive soon. A common strategy for receiving mail secretly is to have a PO Box or have a friend let you use their address, but I don’t know if you can get SoFi to accept a different mailing address than the address where you actually reside. At least my debit card arrived in a completely blank envelope with zero indication of what was inside (it didn’t even say SoFi on it).
I think I may write a more in-depth post later after using SoFi for a while and digging around a bit more in their options. I have it on my to-do list to contact them with feedback about the way the debit cards are sent and how they could possibly improve this process for people in difficult situations. In the meantime, my account has worked fine so far for what I needed: a completely free bank account I could use with PayPal. If you’re interested in SoFi yourself I’d greatly appreciate it if you used my referral link to sign up. I know it’s annoying that you have to ask me for it privately, but I am eternally thankful to anyone who helps me transcend my situation by using my links.
Thanks for reading!