SoFi Technologies secures bank charter, boosts deposits to $46B

SoFi Technologies quietly built itself into an actual bank. The result: a deposit base that ballooned from $1.2 billion to roughly $45.5 billion in just over four years. From fintech to bank: the Golden Pacific pivot SoFi’s transformation traces back to February 2022, when the company completed its acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp. That deal gave SoFi a national bank charter. Before the charter, SoFi funded its lending operations through securitized debt and warehouse credit facilities. With the ability to offer checking and savings accounts, SoFi could attract consumer deposits and use that capital to fund loans directly. On March 31, 2022, deposits sat at $1.2 billion. By March 31, 2026, that figure had reached $40.2 billion. By the end of Q2 2026, deposits climbed further to approximately $45.5 billion — a roughly 33-fold increase in four years. Deposits now represent 94% of SoFi’s total liabilities, which stood at $42.9 billion as of Q1 2026. That ratio was just 17% four years earlier. Why deposits matter more than they sound When a company like Upstart originates a loan, it typically needs a bank partner or institutional buyer to fund it. Affirm operates similarly, relyin...