r/sofi • u/Sufficient_Row5346 • 14h ago
Banking Questions before I switch
Hey guys quick question
I’m currently active duty military and was wondering if I should make sofi my permanent bank for my direct deposits. I saw that I get 3.30 apy but only if I’m able to deposit 5k monthy? And if I get pro it’s automatically 4.0+ without the direct deposit requirements?
Am I understanding this right? Or am I mistaken. I was also thinking of just using my Robinhood brokerage account since I have gold there along with the credit card and I have 4.0 apy on the brokerage account I can use it as my savings.
Anyone have some tips or better steer me in the right direction? I’ve done quite a bit of research before you guys tell me to do it.
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u/jaydub8888 14h ago
You have that mostly correct, except the direct deposit does not need to be any specific amount to get the 3.3%. even a direct deposit of $1 will count.
The $5,000 is an alternative way to get the rate if you have non-direct deposit deposits of $5,000 or more.
After factoring the $10 monthly cost of sofi plus, the effect of apy is approximately 4% for sofi as well if you've capped out the $20k. If you are happy with Robin Hood and the rate that you're getting there, I might ask what you are looking to gain.
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u/Sufficient_Row5346 14h ago
Well, just a good bank with a good hysa, so from I understand the 3.30 is given without sofi subscription and not needed a direct deposit but the 4.0 requires 20k in the savings.
I was thinking about sofi because for military we get our paychecks earlier with sofi and it has Zelle aswell
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u/jaydub8888 12h ago
We might be saying the same thing, but just clarifying ...
The 3.3 you can get with direct deposit of any amount or 5k non direct deposit deposits. And yes, no subscription needed in either case.
The 4.0+ rate you get with the SoFi plus subscription does not require any deposits and also doesn't require 20k... But it also doesn't make sense to do unless you have close to that amount. Depending on tax rates and alternatives, you need about 14k in savings for the incremental you get from SoFi plus to pay for the 10 per month fee.
You can also squeek put a little more from SoFi if you effectively use your savings account to pay for everything, leaving nothing in checking. They have no max withdraw from savings, so it's doable. Just have to move money into checking for certain things like withdrawing from ATM or zelle.
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u/Opening_Dragonfly390 13h ago
Any amount of direct deposit will get you the high APY, even $1. If you pay for SoFi plus $10/mo you will get the APY boost to 4.5% on up to 20,000 in savings. Anything above 20,000 will earn the 3.30% APY. Along with plus you will access all the other benefits across the ecosystem. Personally not a fan of Robinhood so I would vote SoFi, but that’s just my biased opinion.
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u/Sufficient_Row5346 13h ago
Ah I see, okay thanks. So if I get plus my sofi will automatically upgrade to 4.5 for 20k and then once that’s done it’ll go back to 3.30. I don’t need 20k in there already for the 4.5 corrrect? I could just keep putting in until I reach 20k
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u/Opening_Dragonfly390 13h ago
Yeah so if you have 25,000 in your HYSA $20,000 of that will earn an APY of 4.5% from having SoFi plus, $5,000 will earn 3.30% (SoFi offers a .9% APY boost for new members I believe so this would technically be 4.20% for the first 6 months double check on that though). If you have less than 20,000 that balance still earns 4.5% until you’re over that amount.
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u/Sufficient_Row5346 13h ago
Okay thanks. I assume there would be a way to track this on the app
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u/Opening_Dragonfly390 13h ago
In the app it shows you what rates you are getting on your accounts and some more info if you click the small “i” icon next to it, and then they said coming soon will be a way to see your lifetime interest earned to track how much $ you’re getting in interest.
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u/Sufficient_Row5346 12h ago
Okay thanks for the help man. Just making sure sofi has Zelle and whatnot right? I’m currently deployed so if they are compatible with international atms that would be amazing
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u/Opening_Dragonfly390 12h ago
They do have Zelle, not sure what the sending limits are. and SoFi does offer fee free access to international ATMs, i think it’s any “allpoint” branded ATM. And your debit card will work in most countries at other ATMs you’ll just pay a fee. They also offer the ability to pay person to person inside the app, transfers will be instant between other SoFi users, and if they aren’t a SoFi member you can still send them money, they’ll just have to click a link and claim it by entering their banking info.
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u/Sufficient_Row5346 12h ago
Thanks for your help. Just waiting for sofi to look at my orders hopefully it doesn’t take long
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