SoFi just launched a new premium membership called SoFi plus that
takes this already fantastic platform to the next level. (CHANNEL INTRO)
What is going on everyone I hope you are all having a fantastic day. So we don't know a ton
about this new SoFi plus membership at the moment and I’ll likey do a more in depth review as more
of these features are rolled out but today I want to go through what we do know from SoFi’s own blog
post about this new upgrade and also take a look at the refreshed user interface within the SoFi
app to show you what has changed so far. But before we get to all of that what is SoFi plus
and how do you get it. Well according to the SoFi blog post it says that “SoFi Plus is our
first-ever premium membership product, intended to ensure members get the most out of their money
at every turn.” We'll get into exactly what the featured benefits are in the second but in order
to get SoFi plus the good news is you don't have to pay some kind of monthly fee like you do with
every other plus service that has hit the market in recent years and the only requirement is that
you have direct deposit set up with your SoFi checking and savings account which as we've talked
about in previous videos comes with a number of benefits already including increased interest
rates and early direct deposit. Now this video is not sponsored by SoFi however if you would
like to sign up for a SoFi checking and savings account to take advantage of the benefits that
we're about to talk about then I will leave a link where you can sign up down below the like button.
But cool looking branding and a big announcement is one thing but what do you actually get with
this new membership. Well the current benefits include that increased APY that I just mentioned
which is currently 2.5% at the time of recording this video however it has been climbing steadily
over the past few months as the Federal Reserve has continued to raise interest rates so if they
continue to raise rates at the federal level then it's very likely that SoFi will continue to pass
that higher interest on to you which in this case is a good thing 'cause we're talking about
the interest that you earn on your deposits rather then what you owe. You also get double the rewards
points on qualifying activities which includes some basic things like activating your debit
card maintaining a 7 day login streak within the SoFi app and even linking other external accounts
to the sofi relay budgeting platform. and if you have the SoFi credit card then you're probably
familiar with these points and how they work but SoFi has now started offering points too general
checking and savings customers for various things and if you're not familiar, you are able to redeem
these points directly for cash into your account, you can use them too pay down the balance on your
SoFi credit card or eligible SoFi loans, and you can even use them too invest in you're SoFi
invest accounts or to purchase cryptocurrencies. As was already the case you still get that two
day early paycheck feature meaning if you usually get your direct deposited paycheck
on Fridays you will now get that on Wednesdays plus you get discounted personal loan rates,
the same no fee overdraft coverage that we've come to love from SoFi and it's likely that they will
continue to add additional features as they roll out SoFi plus to their users. And remember that
all of this also comes in addition to some of the crazier benefits that already set this platform
apart from the competition including access to certified financial planners, career counselors,
a number of educational resources and many other benefits that are unheard of for a free bank
account. So if you are already a customer with SoFi and you have direct deposit set up then you
will be automatically enrolled as a SoFi plus member and in their initial post from the end
of September of 2022 they said it would take a few weeks but I'm recording this in early
October in my app updated almost immediately so just keep an eye out for that. Now if you're not
yet a customer with SoFi or maybe you don't use direct deposit then obviously you'll want to go
ahead and get that set up if you do want to reap all of the benefits that we just talked
about so again link in the description if you want to sign up for the checking and savings
accounts and from there you'll just want to set up direct deposit which I will walk you through
exactly how to do this in a second and once you start receiving those direct deposits you'll then
once again be automatically enrolled as a SoFi plus member. Now from what I have seen thus far,
the app itself has stayed pretty much the same at least for the time being but this could chage
in the near future. But as you can see in the top left hand corner it shows the little plus icon and
if we click on that and select SoFi plus you'll see a breakdown of all of the different benefits
that we already went through as well as a bunch of legal jargon and more details as you Scroll
down to the bottom of the page but otherwise the app has stayed pretty much the same and I
have not noticed any major differences…yet. The reason why I keep coming back to yet is
I really think SoFi is positioning themselves for some new products and features that could
be coming in the near future. Now I want to be clear that this is purely speculation However
I did predict that they were going to launch their own credit card and I talked at length
about how when and why they would get their national banking charter in order to launch
the new checking and savings account. So while it may be unclear what they're doing at the moment
considering on the surface this is really just a rebranding and there are no major new features,
this kind of opens the door for limitless opportunities going forward. Now my hope is
that they do not continue to add more and more features just for those direct deposit members
to the point that being a SoFi member without direct reposit isn't worth it anymore and I
don't think that that will ever be the case nor do I think that's SoFi would ever charge any kind
of monthly fee for a plus subscription in the future. However I could see them continue to add
additional cash back opportunities, higher and higher interest rates, more advanced budgeting
tools within relay, and potentially entirly new products like a business banking option which
is something that we have been asking for for a very long time. The point I'm getting at here is
if you use the SoFi platform and you don't yet have direct deposit set up then there are more
than enough reasons to go ahead and make the switch. I realize that if you're self-employed
or your employer doesn't offer direct deposit then you don't really have much of an option but if the
only thing holding you back is you don't know how to change where your direct deposit paycheck goes
then trust me it's a lot easier than you think. All you've got to do is log into the SoFi app
and select the banking tab at the bottom of the screen. Then you're going to select the icon on
the right here that says more and choose direct deposit from the list of options. In here you'll
see some of the autopilot features including the vaults and split your paycheck tools which
I talked about in this recent video but at the top of the screen you'll see the option that says add
new direct deposit and in this case we want to deposit it to our checking account and from here
you're actually able to search from a number of popular companies and payroll providers in order
to automatically transfer your direct deposit to SoFi. Obviously this is only going to include
larger companies or if you’re employer uses a major payroll provider like ADP or Paycom so if
your company or payroll provider is registered in SoFi then it's just a matter of logging into your
accounts and filling out the relevant information but if it's not you can also elect to receive a
prefilled direct deposit form that will have your routing and account number on it as well as all
the relevant information needed for your employer to make that change and from there you should be
able to take this to the HR department at your employer and get your direct deposit switched over
relatively quickly. This video is not intended to be a tutorial but the reason I walk you through
all of that is because again the only criteria necessary to get SoFi plus and all of the benefits
that come with this new feature and likely will continue to come as they add new benefits is to
have direct deposit set up with your SoFi checking and savings accounts and as you just saw, it's
really not that difficult to do. Plus remember that with direct deposit you're then able to
use autopilot to automatically pay yourself first and save money into your different savings vaults,
split your paycheck and really just set your finances on autopilot so that you set your
goals once and you don't ever have to think about it which I think is the best long term strategy
when it comes to saving budgeting investing and all things required for a healthy financial life.
Let me know what you think of this new membership down below and check out this recent video where
I talked about five hidden features of the SoFi platform and also remember you can sign up using
the link down below if you do want to sign up. Take it easy and I'll see you in the next one!