SoFi Just Gave Credit Card Customers Good News -- Should You Apply?

SoFi offers a standout checking and savings account with excellent features and an easy-to-use app. Its savings account has one of the best APYs in the industry and makes it easy to set up "vaults" to save for specific goals, while the checking account offers free access to tens of thousands of ATMs, just to name a few highlights. SoFi also offers a cash back credit card that has no annual fee, no foreign transaction fee, and several other perks.

While SoFi has always been a leader when it comes to relationship benefits, the company recently announced the first one that directly ties its bank accounts and credit cards together.

The SoFi Checking and Savings account is already a strong product

SoFi offers a combo checking and savings account, so it's important to note that if you open one of them, you'll open the other. In other words, you can't just open a checking account. However, if you only need one or the other, you can simply fund the extra account with a minimal amount of money -- there are no minimum balance requirements.

Having said that, SoFi's checking and savings account combo is a feature-rich banking product. Both accounts offer competitive APYs, and the savings account pays up to 4.60% APY as of this writing for customers who set up direct deposit. There are no account fees whatsoever, and customers get access to their money at tens of thousands of fee-free ATMs worldwide.

A new perk was recently announced

SoFi offers a wide range of banking products and services, and one of them is a cash back credit card that earns unlimited 2% cash back on purchases (3% back on trips booked through SoFi travel).

However, the bank announced today that customers who set up direct deposit into a SoFi Checking and Savings account will automatically start earning a 10% boost on their credit card cash back. This effectively makes the cash back rate 2.2% on most purchases and 3.3% on SoFi travel.

This isn't just a promotional offer for new customers. If you already have one or both of these SoFi products and you have direct deposit set up, you'll automatically start getting the higher earning rate as well.

To be clear, this is one of the best unlimited cash back earning rates out of all the credit card products on our radar. There are plenty of cash back credit cards that offer 2% cash back, so this is a way for SoFi to not only deepen its member relationships but to bring new customers into the ecosystem by offering a superior rate than rivals.

Lots of relationship benefits for SoFi customers

The enhanced credit card reward earning rate is just one of the valuable relationship benefits SoFi offers. If you have a banking relationship with SoFi, you can get rate discounts on loans, discounts on trust and estate planning services, generous referral bonuses for inviting friends to open an account, and much more.

Of course, a higher credit card rewards rate, discounts on loan interest rates, and other relationship benefits are just one piece of the puzzle. It's important to thoroughly evaluate online checking and savings accounts to find the best fit for you. But this new perk makes SoFi's cash back rate on credit card purchases among the best we've come across, and can be a very nice relationship bonus indeed.