Social Finance

Connections 3

Description

Social Finance, Inc. is an American online personal finance company. A mobile-first service based in San Francisco, SoFi provides a suite of financial products that includes student loan refinancing, mortgages, personal loans, credit card, investing and banking through both their mobile app and desktop interfaces.

Model

SoFi originally utilized an alumni-funded lending model that connected students and recent graduates with alumni and institutional investors via school specific student loan funds. Investors received a financial return and borrowers received rates lower than the federal government offered. The company sought to minimize defaults by focusing on low-risk students and graduates.

As SoFi's product offerings expanded to include mortgages, mortgage refinancing and personal loans, the company moved away from an alumni-funded model to a non-traditional underwriting approach focused on lending to financially responsible individuals. SoFi uses an underwriting model that examines free cash flow, professional history and education in addition to a history of responsible bill payment to evaluate its borrowers.

They also offer cash management (checking) accounts and an investment platform that includes brokerage and robo-advisor services.