If you invested $1,000 in SoFi Technologies (SOFI 3.69%) two years ago on June 30, 2021, your position would be worth a disappointing $470 today. That translates into a loss of 53%. Investor interest in fintech stocks has fallen off a cliff from a couple years ago. The Nasdaq Composite, by contrast, fell only 5% during the same time frame. 

Investors might be tempted to buy shares. The stock is up more than 80% year to date, so for some folks looking to ride the momentum to high returns, it could be an interesting play given SoFi remains well off its all-time high. 

But before doing that, let's discuss what's been happening with this popular fintech stock, as well as how it's positioned as we look ahead. 

Online bank with blistering growth 

What started as a peer-to-peer lending platform to help students refinance their expensive loans, SoFi has now become a budding all-around digital bank. Besides student loans, the business also offers personal loans, mortgages, checking and savings accounts, credit cards, and a brokerage service to buy and sell stocks. 

Growth has been outstanding. First-quarter 2023 revenue of $472 million was 43% higher than the year-ago period. SoFi has also added customers at a blistering pace, now totaling 5.7 million. Although these gains have slowed over the past couple years, they still represent fantastic growth. 

SoFi shares are up about 70% in just the past six weeks. Many believe this huge bump has to do with the pause on student loan payments coming to an end. Because SoFi is well-known for its student loan segment, investors think this could be a catalyst that can boost the business in the near term. Already struggling with inflation, consumers might turn to refinancing options to better manage their loan payments. SoFi could benefit. 

The company has yet to generate positive net income, however, reporting a net loss of $320 million in 2022 and $34 million in the first quarter of 2023. And this could be a reason the stock has done so poorly over the past year and a half. When the Federal Reserve started hiking interest rates, investors began to prioritize and value current profits more than the promise of them at some unknown future date. To be fair, SoFi's net loss in Q1 was much lower than in the prior-year period. 

Navigating an unfavorable situation 

Investors are probably still shying away from owning any bank stocks, whether a traditional incumbent like JPMorgan Chase or Bank of America, or a tech-focused one like SoFi or Ally Financial. And this is understandable. The regional banking crisis in March, when several sizable institutions failed, has forced customers to seriously question where they can park their hard-earned savings because of the risk of insolvency. 

During what has been a tumultuous time for the industry, SoFi is steady as she goes. As of March 31, its balance of deposits was just over $10 billion, up from $7.3 billion as of Dec. 31. That's a roughly 37% increase in just three months. Customers are shifting their money to what they believe are the safe institutions. 

I think there are three primary reasons SoFi has done well in recent months. First is the simple fact that because SoFi is purely digital, it's basically optimized to make it easy for customers to seamlessly open an account and move their money over from another bank. 

Moreover, SoFi's savings account offers an annual percentage yield of 4.3%. This product is rated as one of the best savings accounts out there, which likely helped draw in potential customers looking to take advantage of the higher-rate environment. 

And most recently, management introduced deposit accounts that can have up to $2 million in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. coverage. This is much more than the standard $250,000 of protection. Taking all of this together, it's not a surprise that SoFi has attracted deposits at a rapid pace. 

With some positive developments working in its favor, coupled with a stock that's still well below its peak, some investors might view this as a potential buying opportunity.