If you travel within the United States, it is nice to be able to use an ATM without having to pay any fees.  If you travel internationally, being able to use any ATM you want without having to pay ATM fees or foreign transaction fees sounds almost too good to be true–for not only do you save a 3% foreign transaction fee and the fee from the ATM, but you also avoid the poor exchange rates that are offered at the airport (especially) and also at other places where money changing goes on–instead, you just pay the actual conversion rate into the foreign currency.  If one is frequently in foreign countries–whether as a missionary, a pastor who watches over those missionaries sent out of his church, or simply as a person who goes outside of the United States, the savings can definitely add up.  There are numbers of banks that I know of that give ATM refunds within the United States, but very few also do the same internationally.  There are two ways to get the above valuable benefits that I am aware of, and one of them is currently offering a very good deal, so I thought it would be a good time to write a blog post about this.

SoFi Money has a brokerage account that offers the benefits above.  That is:

• No monthly fees
• No minimum balance requirement
• No direct deposit required
• Unlimited ATM fee reimbursements worldwide (they give you a Visa debit card for use with your account)
• No foreign transaction fees worldwide
• High interest rate
• No hard pull on your credit report–no negative effects whatsoever on your credit score

Furthermore, right now they are offering you $50 for signing up for SoFi Money and depositing $100 (which you can take out again whenever you like).  You can possibly sign up in less time than it takes to read this post and get $50.  The bonus is posting very quickly as well–it shows up within a few days in my experience.  Furthermore, you can get a referral link from within their app and get $100 if you refer someone else, $200 if you refer two people, $300 for three people, and so on.  So if you sign up, then refer your spouse, you will get $50 (you sign up) + $100 (referral bonus for spouse) + $50 (spouse signs up) = $200 very easily.  If you have a lot of siblings you can get a lot of money for an account that is worth having.  You can leave $1 in there and then put money in the account whenever you travel, use the travel benefits, and then go back to leaving $1 in there, or you can actually use SoFi for the various things that they want you to use them for if you find their products attractive.  I signed up and then I referred my wife.

You can use my referral link by clicking here to get $50 and a worthwhile account.  You don’t have to use my referral link, of course, but if you do I will also be benefited financially, and I would appreciate that because we just had to buy some expensive equipment to help with our online classes and video ministry, and we would rejoice if God provided for us while also helping others get a valuable account that can save them a lot when they travel.

I know that advertisements always tell you to “buy RIGHT NOW” and stuff like that, but this is a very good deal with people signing up all over the place, and I don’t think they are going to keep offering it for a long time, so I would suggest signing up quickly before they end the promotion if you want to get the opening and referral bonus(es).

SoFi also makes loans, and you can find out more about them with my referral link about that by clicking here.  I have not looked into their loans much because I don’t need a loan, but if you absolutely cannot avoid debt (it is far better to lend than to need a loan) you can get information about SoFi loans here.

There are advantages SoFi Money has over the Schwab account below–a higher interest rate and a very easy $50 or possibly $200 or more if you sign up now, and no hard pull on your credit report. There are also some advantages to Schwab; I will discuss those below.

Schwab Checking Account–similar benefits

Charles Schwab has a checking account that offers:

I have had a Charles Schwab checking account for years and am very glad to have been able to avoid ATM fees and foreign transaction fees when we have travelled to Kenya, various parts of Europe, the Philippines, etc.  (When the ATM charges you a fee Schwab refunds it.) We don’t use our Schwab checking account that much except if we are not local–then we transfer some money into the account (both with SoFi and with Charles Schwab it is very easy to link another bank account) and use the Schwab account while we are away from home.

The Schwab checking account does not have nearly as high an interest rate as SoFi Money, and getting one involves a hard pull on your credit report, just like opening a credit card or applying for a home mortgage, etc.  On the other hand, Schwab is a very well-known and reputable brokerage firm so you can invest with them as well as bank.  I have found their customer service over the years to be excellent.  Furthermore, you can sign up for God-honoring Christian-based mutual funds through Schwab, since they carry them along with many, many other types of investments.  I do not yet know whether that is possible with SoFi Money because my account with them is very new and I wanted to get this post out before the SoFi Money promo ended.  Also, with Schwab you can get paper bank statements; I am not sure if SoFi offers those or not.  Finally, Schwab’s checking account is FDIC insured.  SoFi moves your money into FDIC insured bank accounts, utilizing six banks so it is FDIC insured up to $1.5 million, but if they were to go bust in the one day or two or whatever between when you deposited your money and when it got swept into an FDIC insured account, it might be a less than ideal situation for that particular deposit.  I have no concerns about depositing $100 in SoFi or even thousands of dollars in SoFi, but if I were a millionaire I would be more likely to keep my money with Schwab and I would do a lot more with their brokerage than with SoFi’s brokerage.

If you sign up with this link, you should be able to get $100 from Schwab’s refer-a-friend program.  I do not make anything from this program, but you get $100.  I am not sure if the link I just supplied for Schwab will work for more than the first person who tries it, unlike the SoFi money bonus which should work for as long as they offer the promo for as many people as click on it and sign up.  If you can deposit thousands and thousands of dollars, you can get more than $100 from Schwab–a certain level gives you $200 and if you deposit over $100,000 you get $500, but most people are probably not going to do that.

I have signed up for both SoFi Money and Schwab, and would suggest that you think about getting one or both of these accounts if you ever travel where your local bank does not give you ATM refunds, and especially if you ever leave the USA.

–TDR