Short for Social Finance Inc., SoFi is a personal finance company and online bank headquartered in San Francisco. Much more than a typical online broker, it provides a comprehensive range of financial services such as loan refinancing, banking, investing, insurance, personal loans, mortgages, and credit cards.
Given their unique value add seeming to combine Ally Bank with Robinhood, many interested readers are asking: what are the SoFi countries? Is SoFi international beyond the United States?
This article will cover where SoFi is available, the company’s expansion plans, and alternatives for international investors.
What is SoFi?
Before SoFi went public in 2021, CEO Anthony Noto clearly defined his ambition for the company to be a “one-stop shop.” It targets the gap between brick-and-mortar retail banks and online brokerages by coupling wealth management services with loan options.
Let’s break down its services into four categories: banking, investing, insurance, and lending.
- Banking means a joint checking and savings account. This checking account offers up to 4.20% APY if the customer establishes a direct deposit. Other perks include no overdraft fees, no monthly fees, and up to 3% cash back if a SoFi debit card is used.
- Investing refers to three distinct types: “active,” automated, or retirement. Active means self-directed trade through stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies (all major coins available), with the option to invest in IPOs too. Automated represents another term for passive or using a mix of ETFs within pre-packaged portfolios to follow market trends or your investment views. For American investors, they do offer retirement IRAs: Traditional or Roth.
- Insurance covers four separate types: auto, life, homeowners, and renters. SoFi partnered with known online service providers. Gabi for auto, Ladder for life, and Lemonade for homeowners and renters.
- Lending represents the original offering of SoFi and includes a wide array of products: student loans, student loan refinancings, personal loans, consolidation loans, auto loans, and mortgages.
Is SoFi international? Is SoFi available outside the US?
Currently, SoFi operates in the United States and Hong Kong.
SoFi went international in April 2020 with its acquisition of the Hong Kong-based investing app 8 Securities. However, its global reach still remains limited to the United States and Hong Kong.
According to an interview in March 2022 between Mr. Noto and Yahoo Finance, SoFi’s focus has evidently been on expanding its product offerings. As a relatively younger company, especially when compared to competitor Ally Bank, it wants to establish a foothold in the USA following its mandate to become a one-stop shop.
Unfortunately, there is no concrete timeline for when SoFi might consider international expansion. Further, they do not support international wire transfers.
The good news is that US-based clients can use a SoFi debit or credit card in any country where Mastercard is accepted.
But this still leaves international investors, perhaps such as yourself, unable to open an account with SoFi. In the next section, we’ll cover what we feel are the best alternatives.
Best SoFi alternatives for Banking, Investing, and Lending
If you’re searching for a one-stop-shop, but don’t reside in the USA or Hong Kong, then the following providers can help:
eToro
Trusted by 30 million users worldwide, the leading social investing platform focuses on cryptos, stocks, and ETFs. All ETF trades are commission-free (other fees apply). They provide an eToro “Money” card that exactly replicates a traditional debit card.
Disclaimer: eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
Interactive Brokers
A highly regarded investing platform for much of the globe, it does just that: investing. The platform offers much more than an average digital bank by providing, for example: short selling, mutual funds, bonds, and automated portfolio management tools. However, it does also provide a debit MasterCard.
Cash App
Foremost a digital bank, this is a no-nonsense money transfer service combining instant transfers, debit cards, commission-free stock trading, plus additional bitcoin trading. Like some other digital banks, they do advance direct deposits up to two days early.
WealthSimple
This digital bank combines cash-back debit cards, stocks, ETFs, cryptos, commission-free trades, managed to invest accounts, and tax filing services (Canada).
Revolut
Well-known globally, it capitalizes on the one-stop-shop model by providing a comprehensive array of services tiered into four different plans: standard, plus, premium, and metal. Metal covers personalized cards to international travel perks to theft protection–the list is extensive.
Vivid
Similar to Revolut, it offers several plans: standard, plus and prime. Prime includes personalized cards, commission-free crypto trades, stocks, ETFs, precious metals, competitive cash back rewards, and virtual cards for online shopping. Again, the list is extensive.
Meetcleo
This is a unique budgeting app powered by an AI assistant, not an investing app. It provides a checking account, a debit card, budgeting assistance, and access to short-term, small loans.
N26
This is also similar to Revolut, but focuses upon digital banking services at the cost of investing options. They also provide four tiers, the best of which being their metal option.
In the below table, we’ve covered which regions are served by which alternatives.
| Alternatives | Services Offered | Accepted Countries or Regions |
| eToro | Investing, debit card | Australia, European Economic Area, USA – and many others. |
| Cash App | Investing, digital banking | USA |
| Wealthsimple | Investing, digital banking | Canada |
| Revolut | Investing, digital banking | European Economic Area, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Japan, USA – with further expansion plans ahead |
| Vivid | Investing, digital banking | European Economic Area |
| Interactive Brokers | Investing, debit card | Global, with more than 200 countries |
| Meetcleo | Digital banking | USA |
| N26 | Digital banking | Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (not Overseas), Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA |
Bottom line
Is SoFi international? Unfortunately, no. It’s focusing on its product offering within the United States before announcing any concrete expansion plans.
Yet major competitor Revolut demonstrates to us that a good digital bank should arguably be global. It pays to grow ahead of the pack. Time will tell if SoFi broadens its borders, but until then, there are solid alternatives available for you.
FAQs
Can I make an international transfer using SoFi?
No, SoFi is currently unable to process international transfers.
Can I use the SoFi card internationally?
As a US user, yes, you can use the SoFi card wherever Mastercard is accepted.
Can a non-US citizen use SoFi?
SoFi is available to US citizens or lawful permanent residents. SoFi Hong Kong similarly requires a passport or a permanent resident ID.
Is there a SoFi Canada?
No, SoFi is not available in Canada.
Is there a SoFi Europe or SoFi UK?
No, SoFi does not provide services to residents of Europe or the UK.
