SoFi kicks off banking operations in Q1 to bolster monetization efforts

SoFi Technologies Inc. started capitalizing banking operations in March, as the fintech company closed its acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp Inc. in February.

SoFi Bank NA is currently growing deposits by $100 million weekly, CEO Anthony Noto said during the first-quarter earnings call May 10. Total deposits at the bank stood at $1.2 billion at the end of the quarter.

It has started holding loans longer, for six months on average from three months, to collect more net interest income, Noto said.

As a result, SoFi grew loan balances to $7 billion for the three months that ended March 31, CFO Christopher Lapointe said. Net interest income increased by 82% during the first quarter.

"The recent opening of SoFi Bank only reinforces the strength of our balance sheet and provides us with more flexibility and the ability to further lower our cost of capital," Lapointe said.

The growth momentum will only continue in the second quarter since the benefit of operating as a bank only contributed to one month of the first quarter, Lapointe noted.

For the three months that ended March 31, SoFi posted $322 million in adjusted net revenue, up 49% year over year, and 15% sequentially. Revenue from lending grew 45% year over year to $244 million. It has been profitable for the last seven quarters measured by EBITDA, with $9 million in adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter.