Could SoFi Become One of the Biggest Banks in America?
It's relatively tiny now, but never say never. The online-only bank's got a curious competitive edge.
By James Brumley
In the grand scheme of things, online bank SoFi Technologies (SOFI +1.11%) seems a million miles away from the biggest names in the banking business. SoFi boasts less than $47 billion in total assets, for comparison, versus powerhouses like JPMorgan's (JPM +0.92%) and Bank of America's (BAC +1.01%) $3.7 trillion and $2.6 trillion (respectively). It's difficult to imagine this neobanking outfit ever catching up with the industry's longest-established players.
Don't dismiss the potential growth of this newcomer, though. It's built from the ground up to serve modern-day banking.
The new norm is ushering in a new guard
Online banking isn't exactly new anymore; most banks offer the option in one way or another.
Just appreciate how important this option has become. Recent numbers from the American Bankers Association put things in perspective. As of last year, over half of all Americans said a mobile app was their most frequently used method for handling banking matters.
And that doesn't include browser-based banking on a laptop or desktop, which ranked a distant second at 22% of consumers' top ways of banking. Past that, only 9% of domestic consumers reported that in-branch visits were their preferred method of handling banking business. Telephone calls were dead last, at 4%. Moreover, even older consumers who aren't "digitally native" prefer mobile and online banking about as much as Millennials and Gen Z.
This doesn't necessarily mean customers are leaving the major banks in droves, even though they would enjoy just as many services, features, and options if they did. Again, powerhouses like BofA, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo (WFC +0.35%) offer their customers mobile and online banking as well. Indeed, Bank of America reports that its customers collectively logged in to their accounts 4.3 billion times in Q1 alone.
SoFi Technologies appears to be winning far more than its fair share of new customers, many of whom may just be looking for something a little more modern. It now serves 14.7 million members, up 1 million from 2025's year-end head count, and 35% better than its customer count as of the end of the first quarter of last year, extending an uninterrupted growth streak that first began in earnest all the way back in early 2020 when it was only serving a little over 1 million customers -- when the COVID-19 pandemic gave everyone time and reason to rethink how they banked. SoFi's Loan originations surged 68% year over year last quarter, too.
Connect the dots.
It's all relative
Don't misunderstand. SoFi isn't apt to dethrone the major names in the banking business anytime soon, if ever. Wells Fargo and BofA aren't simply going to sit back and let themselves be lapped by a new rival.
SoFi Technologies doesn't need to become one of the nation's biggest banks to reward shareholders, though. Even growing to half the size of JPMorgan and Bank of America would translate into a 30-fold increase in assets from here. The stock could -- and should -- grow by about as much if it does, even if it takes a while to do so.
This might help: Precedence Research expects the global neobanking business to grow at an average annual rate of 36% through 2035. SoFi is well positioned to capture a significant share of this growth.