Frequently Asked Questions

• 1. A US citizen or permanent resident.
• 2. Hold a 4-year undergraduate or graduate degree from a Title IV accredited institution.
• 3. Good employment history. Currently employed, have sufficient income from other sources, or have an offer of employment to start within the next 90 days.
• 4. In good standing on current student loans.
• 5. Strong monthly cash flow.
• 6. A responsible financial history.

SoFi provides you the option of adding a co-signer as an opportunity to help you qualify for a loan. Once you request a co-signer, we will instruct your co-signer to complete the application and consent to co-signing your loan. Since adding a co-signer to your application introduces additional effort for our review team, we want to ensure your co-signer is committed to helping you reduce your student debt and ask for their consent to co-sign at the beginning of the process. We will notify you if you are pre-qualified with a co-signer; from that point, you will be able to see your rates and select a loan.

Once you have been presented with your offer, SoFi recommends that you discuss the rates and loan terms with your co-signer before proceeding with your application. Your co-signer is not obligated, in any way, if you do not accept the terms.

Over time, the savings from the lower interest rate may outweigh the cost of the discount point. When considering whether points are right for you, make sure you run the numbers to know how long it will take for the upfront cost to be worthwhile.

Yes, with the SoFi mobile app, you can apply for a Personal Loan, check your balances, and manage your payments. You can download our mobile apps for iOS or Android here:

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To earn rewards for referring friends to SoFi, users must register for a SoFi.com account and sign up for the internal Referral Program to generate their unique invite links.

So long as the referred borrower correctly uses their friend’s unique invite link immediately before registration, both the referrer and the referred borrower will earn a reward automatically after the referred borrower’s loan has been funded.

All individuals, regardless of whether they are current SoFi borrowers, can sign up for a referral account to refer their friends to SoFi.

However, not everyone is eligible for a welcome bonus. Only brand new SoFi customers are eligible to receive a welcome bonus (or generate a referral reward for the friend who referred them). If the referred applicant already has a SoFi account, does not use their friend’s unique referral link when first creating their SoFi account, or has an account associated with another promotion, their application will not earn a welcome bonus, and their referring friend will not earn a referral reward.

Referrers will never receive credit for referring themselves or for refinancing their existing SoFi loan. Each referred SoFi Refinance Community Member is eligible for at most one welcome bonus. SoFi reserves the right to disqualify anyone from this program at any time.

The SoFi Referral Program only applies to student loan refinancing (“ReFi”), Parent Plus loans and personal loans. MBA loans, mortgages, and all other types of SoFi products are ineligible for the Referral Program.

You may refer friends, family members, coworkers, and direct acquaintances. Only brand new SoFi customers are eligible for a welcome bonus under our referral program.

Send your friend your unique invite link before they first register for their SoFi account and create an application. Your friend should use your invite link just prior to registering for their SoFi account and starting the application process.

Please note that only brand new applicants for SoFi student loan refinancing are eligible to generate a referral reward for you or a welcome bonus for themselves.

For privacy reasons, we cannot disclose the names or contact information of people who have used your unique referral link, but your referral account dashboard at sofi.com/b/ will allow you to see the number of people who have used your link correctly to register or refinance.

Your referred friend will also be able to see their association with your referral account after their refinance application has been approved. If they correctly used your referral link when first registering for their SoFi account they will see a little tag on the right-hand sidebar of their approved loan application letting them know that their application has been associated with your referral account, and they can expect the a welcome bonus.

After your referred friend’s loan has been funded, you’ll both receive an email about the referral reward. Those rewards will come through ACH (based on the information you submitted when registering for the Program).

After a loan is funded, it takes up to 30 days to approve and fund referral rewards.

You must have confirmed your ACH account and routing number to collect your reward.

Reasons for this may vary. Possible reasons include:

Your friend did not apply using your unique referral invite link, in which case it has not been linked to your referral account.

Your friend’s loan has not been approved or funded.

You have not added your ACH information to your referral account.

You have not completed your W-9 form.

Your friend’s application was not eligible for a referral bonus. Please see the eligibility criteria above.

Have your friend email [email protected] from the email address they used in their SoFi application with the following information to see if you may still be eligible:

Your friend’s full name and the email address used in their SoFi application.

Your full name, email address, and unique invite link.

Details of how and when you referred them to SoFi.

Exceptions are not guaranteed and will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

You must use your friend’s unique URL immediately prior to registering for your SoFi account and starting your loan application.

Please note that only new applicants for personal loans and student loan refinancing are eligible for a welcome bonus.

After your loan has been funded, you’ll receive an email about the welcome bonus. You will be asked to add your ACH account and routing number to your referral account profile if you have not already done so. Once that’s done, we can send the payment via ACH.

After a loan is funded, it takes up to 30 days to approve and fund referral rewards.

Reasons for this may vary. Possible reasons include:

You did not apply using your friend’s unique referral invite link, in which case it has not been linked to your friend’s referral account.

Your loan has not yet been funded.

You have not added or confirmed ACH information to your referral account.

You have not completed your W-9 form.

Your application was not eligible for a referral bonus. Exclusions include if you’re already a SoFi member, if you started an account/application before receiving your friend’s referral link, or if you tried to refer yourself. Clicking on a friend’s referral link after you registered and created a SoFi application will not work retroactively.

Please email [email protected] from the email address you used in your SoFi application with the following information to see if you may still be eligible:

Your full name and the email address used in your SoFi application.

Your friend’s full name, email address, and unique referral URL.

Details of how and when your friend referred you to SoFi.

If you lose your job through no fault of your own, you may apply for the Unemployment Protection Program. Your loan(s) must be in good standing at the time you request enrollment in the Unemployment Protection program. If approved for the program, SoFi will put your loans into forbearance, suspending your monthly SoFi loan payments. Unemployment Protection is offered in three month increments, and is capped at 12 months, in aggregate, over the life of the loan.

During each three-month forbearance period, unpaid interest will continue to accrue and will be capitalized (added) onto your principal balance. You do have the option to make interest-only payments during this period in order to prevent the interest from increasing your principal balance.

SoFi student loans and personal loans are eligible for Unemployment Protection, provided the loans are in good standing. “Good standing” means that you are currently and have been historically abiding by the terms of your loan agreement. Mortgage loans are not eligible for Unemployment Protection.

To apply for this assistance you must:

• – Be a current SoFi member
• – Have an eligible loan that is in good standing
• – Certify that you have lost your job through no fault of your own (involuntarily)
• – Actively work with our Career Team to look for new employment

The SoFi Career Team is committed to our members’ professional success and we look forward to helping you accelerate your job search. The minimum requirement to be considered “engaged” with the Career Team is to complete at least one of the career offerings outlined under Step 2 during each forbearance period.

Step 1: Sign up with KornFerry Advance!

Step 2: Choose a career related activity:

You can apply for Unemployment Protection via your SoFi account if you have a funded Personal Loan or Student Loan in good standing and have lost your job through no fault of your own:

• 1. Log into your SoFi account
• 2. Click on ‘Learn More’ on the Unemployment Protection Program button in the lower-left corner of the page
• 3. Review the definition and requirements for the program; if you’d like to apply for the program, you’ll indicate your date of unemployment and certify several statements before moving to the next page to ‘Begin Application’
• 4. You’ll be asked to update your SoFi profile with your most recent employment information, so our career coaches can best-support your job search before moving to the final page

Our team may request additional documentation (such as proof of eligibility for governmental unemployment benefits or separation/severance letter) to verify the nature of your unemployment.

IMPORTANT NOTE: While your application is pending approval, you are still required to make payments on your loan(s).

When approved for Unemployment Protection, your loan is placed into forbearance. This status is reported to the credit bureaus, and may be a factor in credit-based decisions from other institutions.

Each forbearance period lasts for three months. You can re-apply to extend this in three-month increments, up to 12 months in aggregate over the life of the loan.

During the forbearance period, interest will continue to accrue. Unpaid interest will be capitalized (added) to your principal balance at the end of each three-month forbearance period. For student loans, we recommend making interest-only payments during this time in order to prevent the interest from being capitalized to the loan principal, if you’re able.

For student loans, forbearance does not extend the loan repayment term.

For personal loans, forbearance does extend the loan repayment term.

To be eligible for Unemployment Protection, you must be a current SoFi member, have a loan (or loans) in good standing, and have proof that you are eligible for unemployment benefits or have proof of involuntary severance with an employer.

Denial for Unemployment Protection may happen because one or more of the eligibility requirements have not been met. For example:

Regardless of your enrollment in Unemployment Protection, all members can request job search assistance from the Career Team, who can advise on job search and interview techniques, networking, and offer negotiation.

No. Becoming employed would not revoke the approved forbearance benefit during the forbearance period. Members can choose to resume payments if they’d like by submitting a request in writing; however, they can wait until the forbearance period officially ends to begin making payments.

Note that interest will continue to accrue and be capitalized onto the loan’s principal balance during your forbearance period. Please read the How will my loan payments be affected after Unemployment Protection ends? section for more information.

• Find and click the big blue button to “Add money”

• Click the name of your account under the “source” row (it might say “add account” if you don’t have an account preselected)

• Click the link at the bottom that says “Transfer via ACAT, wire, or send a check” (pro tip: ACAT is just the industry term for an account transfer)

• Follow the flow and feel free to email [email protected] if you run into any issues and one of our advisors will help you out

To find out more about term life insurance and other helpful articles, visit Ladder’s Knowledge Center. You can also reach out to their helpful experts with any questions at 1-855-622-0299.

• 1. You’re a medical/dental resident or fellow with up to four years left in your approved program.
• 2. You are a US citizen or permanent resident, 18 years or older. If you are a permanent resident, you have more than 2 years until your status expires, or you have filed an extension.
• 3. You have over $10k in private or federal student loan debt. The minimum amount may be higher in certain states due to legal requirements.
• 4. You have graduated with an MD, DO, DMD, or DDS from a selection of Title IV accredited university or graduate programs in the U.S.
• 5. Dental residents only: You must provide documentation that proves you are not taking on additional tuition liabilities. Proof may be provided in the form of full scholarships or receipt of direct payment from the official bursar for all remaining terms.
• 6. You meet SoFi’s underwriting criteria.

SoFi Money is a mobile-first financial product which functions like a checking account but pays a higher interest rate on deposits like a savings account. It’s powered by the SoFi mobile app and the SoFi Money Debit Card. In addition to a higher interest rate¹, SoFi Money charges no account fees and offers unlimited reimbursement for ATM fees each month ², with free P2P payments, free bill pay and much more.

You can contact your company’s payroll department to find out how to set up your direct deposit with SoFi Money. We do have some resources to help you through this process! Direct Deposit information can be found under “More.” There is a section for “Fund your Account” where you can select “Get Started” and choose between the resources we have available for your convenience.

In order to get a Direct Deposit Authorization Form that you can provide to your employer, click on “Direct Deposit Form” and select how much of your paycheck you would like to go to your SoFi Money account. There is the option to download this information as a PDF so that you can provide it to your employer.

The other option is to add your SoFi Money account to your employer’s payroll provider. We provide a step by step walkthrough for ADP. The same information can be used for other payroll providers as well.

Yes, you can deposit checks electronically using the SoFi mobile app on iOS or Android. Take a photo of the front and back of your check, enter the amount, and review everything to make sure it’s correct. Once confirmed, the transaction will appear in your account within 1-2 business days. How soon the funds will be available for use depends on the size of the check and how long your account has been open, but it ranges from 1-4 business days. You can see the full funds availability policy here.

We’re constantly working on improving SoFi Money, including increasing the speed of access to funds from checks, so stay tuned!

We take security of your sensitive information seriously, including your cardholder data. We maintain stringent industry-standard administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect your information.Your swept deposits with SoFi Money are insured by the FDIC, which means deposits in your account are protected up to $1.5MM.³ For details, please see www.fdic.govWe also use two-factor authentication to protect access to your account through the SoFi website or mobile app. Two-factor authentication means we use a device-based security layer in addition to simple password validation. On our website, you have the option to receive a security code by SMS or to use Google Authenticator. Mobile app users can also use fingerprint recognition.

SoFi Money® is offered through SoFi Securities, LLC Member FINRA/SIPC

SoFi members with the following products are eligible for SoFi Career Services:

• ● Student Loan Refinance (co-signers are not eligible)
• ● Personal Loan (co-borrowers are eligible)
• ● Mortgage (co-borrowers are eligible)
• ● Funded Wealth Account
• ● Life Insurance

At this time, spouses or children of members are NOT eligible for career services.

* Eligibility requirements include 1) Your bank account must be linked, verified and approved through our instant verification process. 2) Your bank account must have a reported balance greater than or equal to your deposit.

Unfortunately, we can’t advise on specific stocks to buy or sell. However, as a SoFi member you can tap into a team of financial advisors that are dedicated to helping you make sure your overall financial strategy is aligned with your personal goals. You can reach them at [email protected].

The product pulls in all accounts displayed by your provider, regardless of status. In many cases there will be historical transaction data associated with a closed account (for instance, loan payments) that may be helpful for your overall financial picture and trends over time. When you pay off a loan or close an account, the product has the ability to show that data in your historical spending & net worth.

You are able to hide accounts from your display. To do this, go to “manage accounts” and scroll down to the account(s) you’d like to hide and click “hide”. You won’t see the account (or its respective data) reflected anymore.

• ● Bank/account entity is not showing up in search. It’s possible that the entity is not yet set up in the system and therefore it cannot be linked. In this case, you can manually add your account or property. If you believe the entity should be searchable and linkable, please contact [email protected].


• ● Username/password not correct. It’s possible that the username or password is not correct. The wrong account entity may have been selected. If there are similar linkable institutions, try your username and password with one and if that does not work, try connecting a different account. If you believe there is an error with your username and password and the correct corresponding account, please contact [email protected].


• ● Amount displayed is not accurate. It’s possible that the linked account has not refreshed and so is not displaying the most recent account balance. If you believe there is an error with the way your account is displayed, please contact [email protected].


• ● Unable to link credit union. You may be prompted to enter your “PIN” to connect your credit union account. Try using your standard online credit union password instead of a PIN. If entering your standard password does not add your credit union account, please submit contact [email protected].


• ● Loan is reported as asset with positive balance. It’s possible that an amount you owe, through a mortgage, auto loan, or other debt, was incorrectly transferred to the system as something you own. Please contact [email protected] so we may escalate the issue to our account aggregation partner Quovo.

If you do decide that a private student loan is the right fit for your education, we’re happy to help! Our loan process is trusted, easy, and fast. SoFi’s Private Student Loans offer competitive rates and flexible payment options and terms, with absolutely zero fees.

Still curious? Check out our Guide to Private Student Loans on SoFi Learn.

You can also get a 0.25% interest rate reduction when you sign up to make automated payments from your checking or savings account. Learn more about SoFi’s autopay discount on our repayment options and examples page.

If your cosigner is an existing SoFi Member, you could get an additional 0.125% interest rate reduction on your SoFi Private Student Loan. Find out more about SoFi’s Member Rate Discount eligibility requirements here.

If you or your cosigner are an existing SoFi Member, you could get an additional 0.125% interest reduction on your SoFi Private Student Loan.

You and your cosigner may also be eligible for 0.125% discount on future loans with SoFi.

Find out more about SoFi’s Member Rate Discount eligibility requirements here.

But remember: just because we don’t charge late or insufficient funds fees, it doesn’t mean there are no consequences! By paying after your bill’s due date, paying less than the minimum due, or even missing payments, you’ll accumulate more interest and your final payment will be larger as a result.

Payments that are not made in full or on time may be considered a default event under your Loan Agreement. Late payments, partial payments, missed payments, or defaults on your loan may be reflected on your credit report. And nobody wants that.

At that point, we send the loan application information to the school for certification. During this process, schools verify your enrollment status, academic progress, and your financial aid package. Every school has their own processes and timelines, so certification can take several days or sometimes weeks. Once we receive the certification back from the school, we’ll schedule the funds to be sent according to the school’s requested timeline.

The entire process from application to actually sending the money to the school typically takes at least 4-6 weeks, but it can be shorter or longer than that depending on the school.

Each school has an SAP policy for financial aid purposes—if you’re not sure what your school’s SAP policy is, check their website or ask someone in their financial aid office.

Most undergraduate students have limited credit history and income; having a cosigner with a solid financial history and good, established credit may help improve your chances of loan approval. It might even help you qualify for a lower interest rate.

With SoFi’s online application process, you and your cosigner can see what rates and terms you pre-qualify for before submitting your full loan application—and it won’t impact your credit score.

Need some tips on choosing a cosigner? Here’s a SoFi Learn post that might help.

The Root app uses technology in smartphones to measure driving behavior—such as braking, speed of turns, driving times, and route consistency—and determines who is a safe driver and who isn’t. By only insuring safe drivers, Root can offer more affordable rates. And the entire Root experience is simple and easy.

You can do everything in the app—customize and purchase your policy, find your insurance card, make changes to your policy, and file a claim. Root can even request cancelation of your old insurance policy for you.

Driving ability is the single largest factor in deciding your quote.

Root does take into account several standard factors which are mathematically predictive of risk or fraud—it’s the responsible thing to do—but they are committed to eliminating as many factors as we can as technology progresses and artificial intelligence gets smarter.

If you do decide that a private student loan is the right fit for your education, we’re happy to help! Our loan process is trusted, easy, and fast. SoFi’s Private Student Loans offer competitive rates and flexible payment options and terms, with absolutely zero fees.

Still curious? Check out our Guide to Private Student Loans on SoFi Learn.

You can also get a 0.25% interest rate reduction when you sign up to make automated payments from your checking or savings account. Learn more about SoFi’s autopay discount on our repayment options and examples page.

If your cosigner is an existing SoFi Member, you could get an additional 0.125% interest rate reduction on your SoFi Private Student Loan. Find out more about SoFi’s Member Rate Discount eligibility requirements here.

If you or your cosigner are an existing SoFi Member, you could get an additional 0.125% interest reduction on your SoFi Private Student Loan.

You and your cosigner may also be eligible for 0.125% discount on future loans with SoFi.

Find out more about SoFi’s Member Rate Discount eligibility requirements here.

But remember: just because we don’t charge late or insufficient funds fees, it doesn’t mean there are no consequences! By paying after your bill’s due date, paying less than the minimum due, or even missing payments, you’ll accumulate more interest and your final payment will be larger as a result.

Payments that are not made in full or on time may be considered a default event under your Loan Agreement. Late payments, partial payments, missed payments, or defaults on your loan may be reflected on your credit report. And nobody wants that.

At that point, we send the loan application information to the school for certification. During this process, schools verify your enrollment status, academic progress, and your financial aid package. Every school has their own processes and timelines, so certification can take several days or sometimes weeks. Once we receive the certification back from the school, we’ll schedule the funds to be sent to the school according to the school’s requested timeline.

The entire process from application to actually sending the money to the school typically takes at least 4-6 weeks, but it can be shorter or longer than that depending on the school.

To learn how different repayment options can affect your monthly payment amount and what you might pay overall for the loan, check out our repayment options and examples page.

Each school has an SAP policy for financial aid purposes—if you’re not sure what your school’s SAP policy is, check their website or ask someone in their financial aid office.

Most students have limited credit history and income; having a cosigner with a solid financial history and good, established credit may help improve your chances of loan approval. It might even help you qualify for a lower interest rate.

With SoFi’s online application process, you and your cosigner can see what rates and terms you pre-qualify for before submitting your full loan application—and it won’t impact your credit score.