SoFi grew third-quarter revenue 44% from a year earlier while passing higher benchmark interest rates to borrowers, showing it could sustain growth as rates rose, its chief executive said.
The company entered the quarter questioning whether higher borrowing costs would slow its expansion. Its performance left the chief executive as confident about operating with rising rates as with falling rates.
“The answer to that question is definitively yes,” the executive said in an interview on Bloomberg Technology, published Oct. 27, discussing whether SoFi could pass higher rates to customers.
SoFi attributed that ability to its technology and customer data, which allow it to adjust loan prices as benchmark rates change. Other parts of the business continued to grow alongside lending.
The company said eight businesses each generate at least $100 million in annual revenue, while products outside lending account for 87% of its products. That spread gives it other sources of growth when lending faces economic difficulties.
Membership grew 35% from a year earlier. Customers also took up more products each, helping total products grow 44%, matching the pace of revenue growth.
The company is focusing on adding members, increasing the number of products each member uses and generating more revenue from each product.
SoFi expects its adjusted earnings margin before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to reach 40% or more over time. Its net income margin was 17% in the quarter.
The company aims to retain 30 cents in net income from each additional dollar of revenue, leaving 70 cents to invest in further growth. The executive did not give a date for reaching the higher earnings margin.
By 2030, SoFi aims to have five businesses generating more than $1 billion in revenue each, another five exceeding $500 million each and five more exceeding $100 million each.
The executive also expects artificial intelligence agents, software that performs tasks for users, to help customers compare deposit rates, loan costs and financial services. The company expects those comparisons to make its products more visible.
“SoFi is gonna win in that world,” the executive said, arguing that its range of products and revenue from each customer allow it to offer competitive rates.
SoFi already offers automated bill payments and recurring investments. The executive expects AI agents eventually to make payments too, but said adoption depends on customers’ willingness to let software act for them.
The company sees its banking status and insured deposits as advantages in gaining that trust. The executive gave no timetable for introducing payments through AI agents.
