Consumer complaint received 2024-11-22 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: SOFI TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
State: DC

Complaint narrative:
I have a SoFi Personal Investment account, which I use to invest in a variety of stocks and funds. I manage the account on the SoFi app and it was marketed to me as a SoFi product, but my investment account statements note that the brokerage is Apex Clearing ( XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX  XXXX, XXXX, TX XXXX ). I can provide my account number when needed. 

I recently sought to add funds from a new bank account I have with XXXX ( an online bank that also does business as XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX ), ending in the digits XXXX. When I attempt to add funds through the SoFi app, the app ( 1 ) lists every prior account I have ever linked to SoFi, including old bank accounts from many years ago that I have closed due to moving around and ( 2 ) only allows me to add funds from my SoFi Savings account or a XXXX checking account. I have attempted on numerous occasions to add funds from my XXXX account ( ending in XXXX ), but the app always blocks me from doing so. Sometimes the app interface will allow me to select the account and the amount of money Id like to add, but when I press the confirmation button, it cancels/fails to complete the transaction.

I have called SoFi numerous times during the month of XX/XX/year> to address this issue. Each time, the call center representative claims that I have exceeded the number of accounts that can be linked to my SoFi Invest account, but they are unable to help me remove prior accounts that I have already unlinked from my SoFi bank accounts. Even when I send them screenshots showing the excess/closed accounts that still appear on SoFi Invest , they say they can not see them on their end of the system. One SoFi call representative advised me that I could simply transfer the money I intend to invest into my SoFi Savings account first, before moving it into the SoFi Invest account. This is not a satisfactory resolution as I keep the bulk of my funds in XXXX for its higher interest rate, and migrating funds to SoFi each time I want to invest would ( 1 ) add significant time delays and user burden and ( 2 ) deprive me of the preferential XXXX interest rate during that time. Moreover, this so-called resolution requires me to use a SoFi banking product in order to access the SoFi investment product, which was not disclosed when I signed up for the service and is effectively anti-competitive. On top of this, when I looked into transferring my investments out of SoFi, SoFi noted that they would charge a {$100.00} fee.

SoFi is effectively holding my investment funds hostage, requiring me to use a SoFi banking product in order to add funds ( which was not disclosed when I signed up for the service, adds significant time delays, and deprives me of access to preferential interest rates at other firms ), and charging {$100.00} if I seek to take my investments to another brokerage.

To resolve this issue, I would like SoFi to ( 1 ) simply allow me to add funds to my SoFi Investment account from the WealthFront account ending in the digits XXXX and ( XXXX ) remove my closed accounts from being linked with the SoFi Investment account, which include ( as listed in the attached screenshot ) XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX XXXX. I have asked SoFi to do this numerous times through its customer service process and each time it has failed. 

I have also submitted a complaint to the SEC and FINRA.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation