Great

We created SoFi to do something huge – transform a retail-banking paradigm that hasn’t changed for 50 years. We want the world to demand something better than the old transactional and impersonal financial model. We want to deliver a solution that integrates money, career and relationships – the things that really matter to people. For the first time in SoFi’s history, we have used mainstream media to get our message out using two key themes: “Bankless” and “Great”. I want to talk about what these themes mean to us.

The first video we produced was “The Beginning of a Bankless World”. The media often paints us (and me in particular) as hating banks, and this title won’t help in dispelling that image. But we don’t hate banks. What we don’t like – and what we believe needs to change – is the bank service model. The idea of branches, fees and disjointed and slow service are why big bank NPS scores are less than zero. Banks offer a transactional, impersonal and commoditized service. It’s a model that has outlived its purpose. 

We believe there is a path for financial solutions based on product fit, mobile delivery and outstanding service. Most importantly, we believe your financial provider is investing in you, and should be your partner, not your adversary. This goes beyond money. You deserve someone who invests in your success, and helps you when things don’t work out to plan. Someone who helps you meet your new co-founder – or your next life partner. Banks won’t (and in some cases, can’t) do these things. “Bankless World” is our rallying cry to be part of making the SoFi vision reality.

The second video – and what ended up being our Super Bowl commercial, was “Great, Not Great.” SoFi's success is built on a community of financially responsible individuals who are capable of great things. People often start their SoFi journey to get out of debt, and we’re proud of the fact that we’ve saved our members over $700 million dollars in interest expense to date. And most of all, we love how we’ve had such a positive impact on so many lives.

As I’ve written about before, our community is extremely diverse, but not everyone can be a member. Being part of SoFi requires hard work, sound financial decisions and individual potential. We want to recognize the accomplishments of our members and also help aspiring members who might be good today but will be great tomorrow. Great is our celebration of the SoFi community today and tomorrow.

When the world forgets what banking was, and remembers it as money, career and relationships, we will have succeeded. And we’ll get there with the help of a member base that will grow to the millions over the coming years. A member based backed by SoFi.