SoFi Signs $22.3 Million Acquisition Deal For Golden Pacific Bank

FinTech startup Social Finance (SoFi) is acquiring Golden Pacific Bancorp (GPB), a community bank in Sacramento, California, for $22.3 million.

“We believe that by pursuing a national bank charter, we will be able to help even more people get their money right with enhanced value and more products and services,” Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi, said in a press release on Tuesday (March 9).

He added that the tie-up with Golden Pacific will help speed up SoFi’s development of a “national bank subsidiary.” The partnership will also help SoFi expand its financial services offerings and will enable Galileo’s tech platform to better serve local communities.

Golden Pacific has three branches — in Sacramento, Yuba City and Live Oak — and approximately $150 million in assets. Pending approval by regulators, SoFi will invest $750 million for bank capitalization in preparation for going digital and rolling out across the country.

Virginia Varela, president and CEO, Golden Pacific Bank, N.A., said that joining SoFi strengthens the bank’s ability to provide top-notch service to its customers. “We will continue our commitment to bringing more services and convenience for our individual customers, small businesses and the communities that we serve in Sacramento and surrounding counties,” she added.

With a national bank charter, SoFi will be able to take deposits and extend loans backed by members’ deposits instead of the pricier loan products it offers as a non-bank. The Silicon Valley startup already obtained conditional approval by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in October 2020 based on its original plan. SoFi will work with GPB on a new business plan for the OCC and will next apply for Bank Holding Company status from the Federal Reserve.

SoFi merged with Social Capital — a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) — for $8.6 billion in January of this year. The deal with SoFi is the SPAC’s third so far. Earlier this year, SoFi acquired payments firm Galileo for $1.2 billion. It also acquired Hong Kong investment app 8 Securities.