SoFi

Social Finance, better known as SoFi, has a reputation as an elite online lender that provides loans and additional benefits for individuals with good credit scores and a high income. It was founded in 2011 by a Stanford alum who wanted to offer graduates a way to consolidate federal and private loans, although they now offer extra services such as mortgages and personal loans.

SoFi is unique in the fact that they do not simply look at your credit score or income, but at other factors including a high-income career or potential high-income career in a growing field, degree, education, financial history, and payment history that shows you are a reliable borrower.

Applicants must be a US citizen or permanent resident, over 18 years of age, and live in one of the 48 eligible states. To pre-qualify, you must create a username and password, and then fill out personal information regarding your education and job. SoFi then performs a soft credit check, which does not hurt your credit score.

Once SoFi has processed your information, they show which loans you are eligible for. From there you can pick a fixed or variable rate loan.

After you choose a loan, SoFi performs a hard credit check and once approved, you must also upload documentation like your driver’s license or paystub, and choose a bank account for the funds. If you enroll in automatic payments, you receive a 0.25% discount on your APR. If all terms are agreeable to you, the final step is to sign the loan agreement.

If you are wondering whether you are eligible for SoFi, keep this in mind for comparison:

• The average borrower has an average income of $106,000.
• The minimum required score is 660.
• The average borrower has a score around 730
• Credit scores for borrowers can range from 680 - 850.

You can also check your credit score for free at www.annualcreditreport.com before you apply. With a high score and low risk, you are more likely to qualify for a low-interest loan.

There are no origination fees, closing costs, or prepayment penalties. These competitive rates are highly dependent on your credit score and can either be fixed or variable. Fixed rates are great for those who want assurance that the rates will not change and is the most popular option for SoFi borrowers, while variable rates are generally lower than the fixed rate loans, but could go up over time. A late fee is incurred 15 days after your grace period and is either 4% of your loan or $5, whichever is lower.

SoFi allows you to temporarily stop your payments if you become unemployed. These payments can be stopped for three months at a time, up to 12 months, until you are employed again or have another source of income. Interest still accrues even during the Unemployment Protection period, although you can make payments on your interest during this time. To receive Unemployment Protection, you must work with SoFi’s career strategy services and show that you are receiving unemployment benefits and actively seeking a job.