SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI), “the digital personal finance company, today announced that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve have approved its applications to become a Bank Holding Company through its proposed acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp, Inc., and operate its bank subsidiary as SoFi Bank, National Association. SoFi expects the acquisition to close in February, subject to completion or waiver of the remaining customary closing conditions.”
The positive news kept its stock prices in the ‘green’ during today’s pre-market trading session. The stock earlier dipped drastically yesterday as the whole stock market was in the ‘red’. However, this development has been of relevant benefit to the company, its stock trends and of course its investors.
SOFI stock performance
The SOFI stock was up by 1% and was priced at $12.18 (up by 0.12 points) in the pre-market trading session today. The stock earlier closed at $12.06 yesterday, losing a huge 8.64% (down by 1.14 points). At the time of writing, the market capitalization of the company stood at $9.7 billion. The share volume traded yesterday for the SOFI stock was 58,153,538, almost double of the average share volume of 32,960,046.
On Monday, SOFI shares had closed at $13.20 a share. It was close to beating its 52-week low. SoFi Technologies Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.02 and a 52-week high of $28.26. The company’s beta is 0.67.
Last year, the company went public by an alliance with a blank-check startup founded by venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya. This year, investors have been moving away from high-growth IT businesses, putting pressure on stock prices. To begin the year, shares had lost around 23% as of Tuesday’s close.
SoFi: A National Bank
Last year, SoFi “announced a definitive agreement by its subsidiary Social Finance, Inc. to acquire Golden Pacific Bancorp, Inc. (OTCPK: GPBI) and its wholly owned subsidiary Golden Pacific Bank, N.A. (together, “GPB”).” This was a key strategic step in the company’s path to obtaining a national bank charter. SoFi intends to invest “$750 million in capital and pursue its national, digital business plan while” keeping GPB’s community bank business and footprint, which includes the bank’s three physical branches.
SoFi submitted an updated business plan for GPB to the OCC, as well as “an application to become a bank holding company and” a change of ownership to the Federal Reserve, for approval at the time of the announcement. After completion of “the acquisition of GPB, SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SoFi) will become the parent company of SoFi Bank, National Association.”
CEO’s Statement
“This incredible milestone elevates our ability to help even more people get their money right and realize their ambitions. With a national bank charter, not only will we be able to lend at even more competitive interest rates and provide our members with high-yielding interest in checking and savings, it will also enhance our financial products and services to ensure they efficiently meet the needs of our members, business partners, and communities across the country, while continuing to uphold a high bar of regulatory standards and compliance. This important step allows us to add to our broad suite of financial products and services to better be there for our members during the major financial moments in their lives and all of the moments in between. I’m incredibly proud of our team and excited about the opportunities ahead to help even more people achieve financial independence.”
– said said Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi
