Dear Sofi: What spend to save could cost you

Sofi has amazing ambition. And they execute on it. You've got to love that. I sure do. *I'm a customer.

I remember reading-up on Sofi in its earliest days, as a nifty little company where smarty pants students lent money to their peers. At the time, I was launching Discover into private student loans. And not too far from helping Bank of America exit all student loans. I presented Sofi's model, PR and marketing to my then clients and said Hey, we better watch this space. Better yet, why aren't we doing what they're doing? 

I think that's about the time I stopped working exclusively with enterprise financial brands and started representing the upstarts too. Jump ahead circa 10 years and the new kids on the block and their elders sure look a lot alike. Vice versa on that too! Look no farther than Citizens, Chase, Citi all introducing neo-banks with happy names like Finn.  Or. for its part, Sofi saying it plans a rewards-based credit card program that will let borrowers accumulate points to pay down/off things like student loans. Classic big bank move.

Considering I worked programs like Bank of America Keep the Change, it's fair to say I know a thing or two about these spend to save rewards programs. First thing I learned, you'd better have an infrastructure in place -- policymakers, academics, think tanks, consumer advocates, and then some -- that helps you confirm your great ideas actually advance the good interests you hand in mind. In other words, if you're asking someone to "spend money to save money," make sure others (let alone yourself) help you confirm and ensure you won't have the opposite effect.

In a worst-case scenario, Sofi could see its youngish, now greying a bit customers accumulating debt (credit card spend) on top of debt (student loan) on top of even more debt (personal loans) all from Sofi, which will greatly impact their lives alright; with the inability to purchase a home and raise a family and unimportant things like that.

I'd propose that if what Sofi is really advocating for is savings accumulation, then they should make their advocacy their product. It's their customers money after all. If they want to help them save it, then start with ideas about how not to spend it. Such human-centered design always seems to help me harmonize my big eyed ideas with what I can and should actually stomach. 

As I like to say: Brand is the promise you make. Reputation is whether you keep the promise. The last I'd want for Sofi right now post Mike Cagney is for its wondrous ideas and superb execution to be smothered by the baggage of a bad reputation.