SoFi's new AI coach connects to 12,000 institutions, analyses your spending and tells you what to do with your money. It costs $10 a month. Your IFA costs considerably more.
SoFi Technologies launched SoFi Coach on Tuesday, an AI-powered chat tool that provides personalised financial guidance to the company's 27.5 million members. The feature rolled out first to SoFi Plus subscribers, who pay $10 a month.
The product connects to more than 12,000 financial institutions through SoFi's Relay platform, analyses a customer's accounts and answers plain-English questions about spending, debt, savings and investment planning. A user can ask whether to prioritise credit card debt or student loans, whether they can afford a major purchase, or how to restructure their finances to save more.
In early testing, SoFi said nearly 70% of engaged users took steps to improve their finances after using the tool.
CEO Anthony Noto framed the product in simple terms: "The formula for getting your money right is simple: spend less than you make and invest the rest. But too many people don't have the information to do that with confidence."
SoFi Coach is designed to fill that gap at a price point that undercuts every human alternative.
What it does and does not do
The disclaimers are worth reading. SoFi Coach does not provide investment advice or recommendations. It does not recommend securities, investment strategies, brokerage accounts or account transfers. It is offered by Social Finance LLC, not by SoFi's securities or wealth management arms.
It is, in regulatory terms, an information tool rather than an advisory service. The distinction matters because it means SoFi avoids the compliance burden and fiduciary obligations that apply to registered investment advisors.
The practical effect for the user is the same: a conversational AI that knows your financial position, understands your goals and tells you what to do. The legal framework says it is not advice. The experience says otherwise.
The IFA problem
A traditional independent financial advisor in the UK charges between 1% and 3% of assets under management, or £150 to £300 per hour for fee-based work. The advice is regulated, personalised and backed by a human relationship.
SoFi Coach costs $10 a month and is available at 2am on a Tuesday. It does not get tired, does not have a minimum portfolio size, and does not require a meeting to be booked three weeks in advance.
For complex financial planning, estate work, tax structuring or high-net-worth clients, the human advisor remains irreplaceable. For the mass market, the millions of people who need basic guidance on budgeting, debt management and savings but cannot afford or do not want to pay for a professional, AI coaching is a credible alternative.
Where this goes
SoFi is not the first company to launch an AI financial tool. But the combination of a large existing customer base, deep account integration across thousands of institutions, and a subscription model that bundles the service into an existing membership makes this a more serious proposition than a standalone chatbot.
The independent financial advice industry will not disappear. But the addressable market for human advisors is shrinking from the bottom up. The clients who needed basic guidance but could never afford it now have somewhere else to go.
The question for IFAs is not whether AI will replace them. It is how many of their clients were only there because no cheaper option existed.
