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Update 12/14/19: More people have been targeted, same subject line.
The Offer
No direct link, check email for subject <Get $100 when you set up direct deposit>
- SoFi Money is offering $100 for users who set up a recurring payroll direct deposit of $500 or more. After receiving two payroll direct deposits, you’ll be eligible for the $100 bonus.
The Fine Print
- Only SoFi Money members without any history of direct deposit transactions as of 11/07/2019 are eligible.
- To receive the bonus offer, a payroll direct deposit of at least $500 must be made by the SoFi Money member’s employer, or payroll provider by ACH deposit before 12/31.
- A second deposit from the same employer must then be made to the member’s SoFi Money account within 31 days of the initial direct deposit.
- Direct deposits that are not from an employer (such as check deposits; P2P transfers such as from PayPal or Venmo, etc; merchant transactions such as from PayPal, Stripe, Square, etc; and bank ACH transfers not from employers) do not qualify for this promotion.
- Within two weeks of the second direct deposit clearing, qualifying participants will receive a $100 deposit into their SoFi Money account.
- This offer is limited to one per person and is limited to recipients of this email.
- The offer expires on 12/31/2019, at 5pm EST.
- Participants must comply with the SoFi Money terms of use.
- Any fraudulent or returned funding will result in disqualification.
- Bonus amounts of $600 or greater in a single calendar year may be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as miscellaneous income to the recipient on Form 1099-MISC in the year received by applicable law. Recipient is responsible for any applicable federal, state or local taxes associated with receiving the bonus offer, consult your tax advisor to determine applicable tax consequences.
- SoFi reserves the right to change or terminate the offer at any time or without notice.
Our Verdict
Lots of people just got this email. Seems anyone without a history of direct deposit transactions should have gotten the email. I guess if you got the email then you know for sure you are eligible (?).
It’s a hassle for some to change their direct deposit, but could be worth it for the bonus. You need to get the first direct deposit by 12/31, and then the second one from the same employer within 31 days of the first.
Gosh, SoFi seem flush with cash.
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SoFi’s account opening rewards are too hard to get
Just got an email saying I could get $75 for this. Need to get two DDs within sixty days of getting the email, and I get paid only monthly. All loopholes seem closed, too. Alas
On the same boat too. Got the targeted email but I don’t have Wealthfront account and not sure if it’s worthy to open?!
I’m just giving this offer a pass lol
Yeap I saw that too. Thanks for info again.
Just sent a transfer from Welathfront Cash to SoFi and it’s coming up as “Deposit” and not “Direct Deposit”…. so I am guessing that loophole is gone. If anyone has any other banks that work, would appreciated the info.
Shoot. Thanks for the heads up
Targeted offer for new accounts but only $75:
“Only SoFi Loan and Invest members who are original recipients of this message (email, sms text, push notification) without a SoFi Money cash management account are eligible. To receive the bonus offer, participants must first apply and successfully open a SoFi Money cash management account. To receive the promotional balance, two qualifying payroll direct deposits of at least $500 must be made by the new SoFi Money member’s employer, or payroll provider by ACH deposit within 60 days of receiving this email. Direct deposits that are not from an employer (such as check deposits; P2P transfers such as from PayPal or Venmo, etc.; merchant transactions such as from PayPal, Stripe, Square, etc.; and bank ACH transfers not from employers) do not qualify for this promotion. Within two weeks of the second direct deposit clearing, qualifying participants will receive a $75 deposit into their SoFi Money account. After receipt, the promotional balance must remain in the account for 30 days. This offer is limited to one per person. The offer expires on 3/30/2020, at 5pm EDT. Participants must comply with the SoFi Money terms of use. Any fraudulent or returned funding will result in disqualification. Bonus amounts of $600 or greater in a single calendar year may be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as miscellaneous income to the recipient on Form 1099-MISC in the year received by applicable law. Recipient is responsible for any applicable federal, state or local taxes associated with receiving the bonus offer, consult your tax advisor to determine applicable tax consequences. SoFi reserves the right to change or terminate the offer at any time or without notice.”
I don’t think Wealthfront worked to trigger the credit because 8 days went by after my second Wealthfront depost with no signs of the credit. It seemed most people got the bonus a day or two after meeting the requirements.
When I saw Wealthfront wasn’t triggering it, I made a second deposit using Bluebird, Discover, and Paypal. The next day I received the bonus.
The only ones that were marked Direct Deposit were the Wealthfront deposits. All the rest were marked Deposit.
Here are my DPs:
12/20 Discover $504.00
12/23 Paypal $548.69
12/24 Discover AAII $521.12
12/24 Bluebird $518.28
1/3 Wealthfront $501.11
1/13 Wealthfront $501.11
1/21 Paypal $548.69
1/21 Discover AAII $521.12
1/21 Discover $504.00
1/22 Marketing Credit $100.00
My take would be that Wealthfront did trigger the bonus, but for whatever reason (perhaps because 1-20 was a bank holiday or something else), it took a bit longer for the marketing credit to post.
Thank you for your insight. It seemed that Wealthfront should trigger the bonus because it did for others, but then it took a long time. Then there was that holiday weekend to consider.
None of the following worked:
Treasury Direct
Merrill Edge
Schwab Checking
Marcus
Chase Business Checking
Capital One 360 Checking
Schwab Brokerage didn’t work either
DP: Wealthfront still working to trigger credit.
1/9/2020 – Wealthfront $501
1/10/2020 – Wealthfront $501
1/13/2020 – Marketing Credit $100
Did Wealthfront post as “direct deposit” for you?
yes
DP: wealthfront seems no longer working.
4/10 Wealthfront $502 ACH push (requires call to verify identity), arrived 4/17
4/18 Wealthfront $503 ACH push, arrived 4/23
No bonus credit as of 4/28. On the website deposit shown as “deposit”, not “direct deposit”.
Same here. Though, I did mine in May. No dice.
Just got an Email from Sofi for a $10 gift card for completing a survey.
Fidelity didn’t work. I’m not interesting in opening a new account just to get this $100. Oh well. Hats off to SoFi for figuring out what a lot of other banks can’t.
Nothing I’ve tried has coded as DD. These coded as Deposit: Chase, Discover, Discover AAII, Bluebird, & Paypal. Has anyone tried Serve? Someone said deposits work to trigger the bonus and the person got the bonus after one deposit, not sure how accurate that is because the terms say the bonus is awarded after the second DD. Are people getting the bonus after only one DD?
No, it takes two direct deposit of at least $500. Serve likely codes the same as Bluebird. So best option would likely be opening a Wealthfront Cash account, funding it with at least $500 or $1k from Sofi and ACHing it back to SoFi in at least 2 $500 increments. If you fund the Cash account from somewhere else besides SoFi, Wealthfront may delay your ACH to SoFi.
Thank you for your help/advice. I opened a Wealthfront account and did as you suggested (transferred money back and forth from SoFi). The first $501 posted to Wealthfront from Sofi as a DD. Thanks!
Svy What is the shortest amount of time one is to wait between the two $500+ transfers? As a back-up, my real DD is to post later this month.
I don’t think there is any period that you need to wait according to the T&C’s, but you should find them in the email message you received with the offer. Good luck!