I discovered that in February 2015, that SoFi began funding “personal loans” ($10,000 to $100,000; 6% to 9% apr; 3, 5 or 7-year terms) I also discovered that many believe that SoFi’s membership/application review standards are high..thus requiring a little extra time to complete. My online research revealed that many applicants apparently may be initially rejected during pre-qualification review, and, if pre-qualified, loan applications may eventually be denied based on SoFi’s document information verification and final underwriting review process….
Nevertheless, I had to give it a good shot…I was looking to consolidate about $50,000 of revolving/installment debt (ave. 17% apr), to reduce my current DTI and ave. apr … The following is my chronologically summarized positive experience….Hope this provide you with useful process information:
03/14/15 – I visited SoFi’s website. After review, I decided to complete the “profile” pre-qualification registration requirements. SoFi’s “pre-qualification” review process (based on a “soft credit pull”) resulted in the following initial offered rates and terms to be considered for acceptance or rejection.
03/16/15 - SoFi uses Experian credit reporting agency, so I decided to check my Experian FICO score at My Fico. Experian Fico score was 755….not bad, I thought,…After further consideration, I decided to “continue” the application process, which resulted in a “hard credit pull” of my Experian credit report. At this point, SoFi requires that you download documents to be used to verify: income, indentity and address...After download of documents, SoFi instructs the applicant to “Check-Back” for status of the application.
03/19/15 – I login to my Homepage and found updated instruction directing me to provide an additional “identification” document….either a copy of my birth certificate or current passport. I downloaded a copy of my birth certificate.
03/23/15 – I received a 1st email contact from SoFi informing me that an additional document was required to verify income… a copy of a recent paystub issued within the last 30 days. I immediately login to my Homepage and uploaded another copy of the specifically requested paystub.
03/24/15 – I received a 2nd email contact from SoFi advising that I was “conditionally pre-approved” for a personal loan. This email also instructed me to select from a list of three offered rates and terms (see above) and to upload any identified required documents (email indicated that no additional documents were required)…I selected one of the three term and rate offers and replied back, as directed. I login to my Homepage to confirm that no additional documents were required.
03/25/15 - I contacted SoFi’s “Chat Support” representative and asked whether the emailed notice from SoFi stating that my loan was “conditionally pre-approved” indicated that the application was already reviewed by an Underwriter. SoFi’s representative advised that issuance of the notice of “conditional pre-approval” is allowed, only after all required uploaded documents have been reviewed and accepted by the “Reviewer”…Next step…Underwriter review and approval/denial stage…
03/25/15 – l login to Sofi Homepage….Loan has been APPROVED! I noted instruction to “Sign Documents”… Documents electronically signed…it appears funding has been approved, too…. $50,000 to be directly deposited into checking account….
CONCLUSION
What can I say?...Sofi’s personal loan product offers the best rates and terms around. In my case, from application submittal to final approval only took 7 business day...Not Bad! Finally, unlike Lending Club, Prosper or any other P2P lender, Sofi does not take out an up-front “origination fee” (1%-5%)… So, if you think you can qualify, I stongly recommend giving SoFi a shot….and, don’t get hung-up about Sofi’s processing time. I believe it was Molière who said: “Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.”
5-Star Rating!
Personal Loans
Sofi are legit. Upfront. No fees, no charges. All onine application, quick turn around (a few of days from application to money in the account).
Don't use SOFI.
I refinanced my school loans with sofi. The application process was very easy. Shortly after opening a sofi loan account I put my loans in in-school deferment while beginning my masters degree. Little did I know that they are unlike any other school loan company and you still have to make payments while on in-school deferment. There is one sentence in the paperwork that states "You may be required to make payments while on deferment". The multiple representatives that I spoke with stated that they agreed the wording wasn’t very clear and could cause confusion while on in-school deferment.
Two months later I refinanced to a different company. While in the process of refinancing, somehow the payoff amount was wrong when given to the new loan company and I was told that I need to go ahead an pay it.
The whole purpose of putting loans in in-school deferment is because you cannot financially afford these loans while pursuing your degree. Instead I paid SOFI $1,000 before I could refinance to a new company. It is been a very stressful time while being with SOFI and I encourage anyone looking to refinance to use a different company.
stress free process
Less than seven business days with a holiday in between, my account was funded. Nice rate of 9.95% with auto pay, 10.20% without. CS 735 with Exp. Please make sure you have all your documents ready to upload and your process should be stress free.
Easiest approval process ever. Ever.
Applied online, on my my phone! Filled the application, uploaded ID document by taking a picture with my phone and uploading. Got a pre-approval!
A customer service rep called me within 15 minutes to ask for address verification (I moved so the address was different). I took a screenshot of my cable bill with my current address and uploaded. The CS rep stayed on the phone with me while I did this. And Viola! About 15 minutes later, she calls me back to say I am officially approved.
Documents were e-signed (this i did on the computer. I dont know if you can do this on your phone, but i would not be surprised if you could!) and the $ was in my account by the next morning.
Wow! I am getting all my loans through them for my future investments.
Also want to add:
They ask about your education. Not entirely sure if they put a lot of weight on if you have a degree or not.
My stats are: BS Engineering, 811 Fico, Annual Income: 95000
Loan amount: 35000
Easy, convenient and very helpful!
My wife and I used Sofi to consolidate our credit cards debt and wedding expenses. Needless to say, Sofi is great. They offer additional resources and benefits that no other lending institution would offer. The payment plans are manageable and the interest rate was lower than our credit cards. I highly reccomend Sofi to build up your credit and pay down your debt.
Very Poor Experience with Sofi
Sofi didn't pay off my entire student loan balance leaving me with over $1,200 to pay outside of my new refinanced loan with Sofi. They claimed they based the payoff amount on the statement I provided, however the statement I provided clearly stated the outstanding balance and outstanding accrued interest balance. They shorted the loan and gave me unsatisfactory options to correct the issue. I would caution anyone trying to refinance their student loans through Sofi.
Complete Process Review
Applied for $45K on April 8 with a score of 750 (they pull Experian) and annual income 200K. Self employed S Corp.
75% of income from K-1 distributions. Uploaded 2 yrs personal and business tax returns, DL copy. I was quoted
7.74% interest. Then I waited. 9 Days later they ask for my W-2 for rest of income. 10 Days later they send an email
that they thought my income was 8K lower than stated. Since this is stricty an on line process, rather than correct them,
I agreed and received an interest rate of 8.49 which is still a pretty good deal for a personal loan and FAR better than
any of the well known personal loans. (one company offered me 18%!! and of course I turned them down). 3 days later
my loan docs were ready for on-line signature. After signing you must phone in for final identity verification. 24 hours
later loan was funded on a Saturday. Monday morning the funds were in my bank account. Purpose of loan was 1 CC
payoff and some new windows in my home. I hope this review helps those of you who are self employed. My loan had
nothing to do with college and or student loans - which it appears that is all they do. Obviously they do more. Note
that represntatives are availble by phone. However, my experience is they could just tell you to wait for the online
process to update. I would rate my experience 5 Star with the understanding that you will get a fair interest rate and that
the process takes time.
Fantastic Experiance
I do not normally write reviews for anything online - but this is an exception. I applied for a personal load via SoFi's website, finished the online forms in about 30 minutes - got an email regarding pending approval shortly after
The rate was - not AMAZING - but definitely better than the rates i got from two local banks that I had been a member of for 15 plus years...
I called Sofi the next day - excellent customer service reps - I SPOKE TO A HUMAN FIRST TRY CALLING!!! While on the call they completed my final approval - got the finds deposited the next day.
The entire process took less than 4 business days.
Would reccomend to anyone looking for an easy process with fantastic customer service.
Easy to set up but issues
Easy to set up and pay but if their system has any kind of problem (in my case it said the one time payment failed yet they pulled the money out causing all kinds of trouble) they will blame you, not call you back when they promise and just make it such a pain that they assume you will give up trying to fix things.
a loan to pay off bad credit cards
Was way easy and so quick....very happy