These offers are no longer available on our site: SoFi Credit Card, Chase Freedom Flex℠
Pros
- Solid cash back rates for SoFi banking customers
- No annual fee
Cons
- Maximizing rewards requires additional SoFi accounts
SoFi Credit Card: Core features
The SoFi Credit Card has no annual fee and is uniquely designed to incentivize cardholders to open multiple accounts with the card issuer. These may include a SoFi bank account or investment account — or even student and personal loans.
Here’s how this card can shine for certain people while being a dud for others.
Maximize rewards when you redeem with SoFi
The SoFi Credit Card offers 2% cash back on every purchase. But it’s important to know that with this card, not every cardholder will be able to redeem at that rate.
The card technically earns two points for every $1 you spend. And you’ll get a redemption value of 1 cent per point. But there’s a catch — you’ll need to redeem your rewards in very specific ways to see that value, including the following:
- Deposit into a SoFi checking or savings account
- Deposit into a SoFi Money® account
- Deposit into a SoFi Active Invest account
- Payment toward a SoFi personal loan, SoFi private student loan or student refinance loan (student refinance loan redemption option is currently unavailable in New York)
What else you need to know about the SoFi Credit Card
As you consider whether the SoFi Credit Card is right for you, here are some other details to keep in mind.
- The card has no foreign transaction fees.
- You’ll get up to $1,000 in cell phone protection.
- You can enjoy some World Elite Mastercard® benefits, including $5 monthly credits with Lyft, free two-day shipping with ShopRunner, a two-month trial of Instacart and more.
Who this card is good for
The SoFi Credit Card could be worth considering if you already have an account with SoFi (like a bank account, investment account, personal loan or student loan), and would like to keep your financial accounts under one roof.
If you have a student or personal loan with SoFi, though, you’ll still want to have automatic payments set up from your checking account and only rely on your cash back redemption for extra payments. That way, you can avoid the possibility of not making the minimum payment required on your loan if you don’t earn enough rewards in a month.
Keep in mind, though, that you can use rewards from most cash back credit cards to save, invest or pay down debt — the SoFi Credit Card can just make the process a bit easier. If you’d rather not be tied down to only redeeming cash back with SoFi, there are plenty of alternatives that give you some more flexibility with how you can redeem your rewards, including other no annual fee credit cards.
Not sure this is the card for you? Consider these alternatives.
If you’re not sure about the restrictions that come with the SoFi Credit Card’s rewards program, or you simply want some other options to compare, here are some top choices.
- Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card: Good for people who want a high cash back rewards rate on all purchases with no caveats.
- Chase Freedom Flex℠: Consider this card if you want to earn a higher rewards rate on everyday spending categories that rotate every few months.
- Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express: A solid choice for families who spend a lot on groceries and gas.