Two platforms that moved beyond FICO by controlling more of the lending stack
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CA
Cash App Borrow
Small-dollar, subprime-first
Borrower profile
Loan range$20 – $500
Loan rangeCash App Borrow offers short-term loans repaid over 4 weeks. The range expanded to $500 following the launch of Cash App Green in late 2025.
Average loan amount$153
Loan sizeAs of Oct 2025, the average limit for first-time spend active borrowers is $153.2
FeeFlat 5% (4-week term)
Loan structureCash App Borrow charges a flat 5% fee with a 4-week repayment window. There is no interest rate or APR in the traditional sense: the fee is fixed regardless of how quickly the borrower repays.
Users below 580 FICO score70%+
Borrower credit profileOver 70% of Cash App Borrow users have FICO scores below 580, a population traditional lenders would largely reject. A FICO score below 580 is typically classified as subprime.1
Performance
Repayment rate
Repayment performanceDespite serving a predominantly subprime population, Cash App Borrow maintains a 97% repayment rate, well above industry norms for this segment.1
0%97%100%
Approval lift after removing bureau score
+38%
Approval experimentRemoving bureau scores from the model increased approvals by 38% without any increase in losses, suggesting the score was incorrectly rejecting creditworthy borrowers.1
Change in losses after removal
None
Credit qualityRemoving the bureau score did not increase loan losses, validating that Cash App's behavioral data model is at least as predictive as traditional credit scoring for this population.1
Stack integration
Cash App Card spending
Spending patternsCash App Card is a debit card linked to the user's balance. Spending patterns reveal financial behavior in ways a credit bureau cannot, including frequency, merchant categories, and cash flow consistency.
P2P transfers & deposits
Transfers and depositsPeer-to-peer transfers and direct deposits show income regularity and financial relationships. Regular inflows are a strong proxy for repayment capacity.
Square merchant purchases
Merchant dataPurchases at Square merchants give Cash App visibility into real-world spending behavior across Block's merchant network, adding another layer of behavioral signal.
Afterpay BNPL history
Buy now, pay laterAfterpay buy-now-pay-later repayment history is a strong signal for credit behavior. Consistent BNPL repayments indicate financial discipline not captured by traditional bureau scores.
Borrow repayment history
Repayment historyPast Borrow repayment behavior is the most direct signal. Borrowers who repaid previous loans on time are rewarded with higher limits and better terms.
Replaces bureau scores with a proprietary Cash App Score built from real-time behavioral data generated inside the platform
Proprietary scoringBlock launched a pilot in late 2025 giving users visibility into their own Cash App Score, the internal behavioral score that determines Borrow eligibility and limits. This signals Block's ambition to position its scoring model as an alternative to bureau scores, potentially offering it to other lenders as infrastructure.2
SF
SoFi
Large-dollar, thin-file affluent
Borrower profile
Loan range$5,000 – $100,000
Average personal loan$33,000
SourceSoFi's own disclosure states the average personal loan funded in 2024 was around $33,000, orders of magnitude larger than Cash App's $153 average.3
Fee0–7% origination
Loan structureSoFi offers repayment terms from 2 to 7 years. Borrowers can choose a loan with no origination fee at a slightly higher rate, or pay up to 7% upfront in exchange for a lower rate over the life of the loan.
Mean FICO score | Avg. income746 | $158K
Borrower profileSoFi targets borrowers with strong incomes but limited credit histories: young professionals, recent immigrants, and others who earn well but have not had time to build thick credit files.4
Q4 2025 originations — $10.5B total
Q4 2025 breakdownSoFi originated a record $10.5 billion in loans in Q4 2025, up 46% year-over-year. Personal loans led at $7.5B, followed by student loans ($1.9B) and home lending ($1.1B).4
Personal $7.5B
Student $1.9B
Home $1.1B
Credit performance (Q4 2025)
Annualized charge-off rate
2.80%
What is a charge-off?A charge-off is when a lender writes off a loan as unlikely to be collected. SoFi's 2.80% is well below its 7 to 8% maximum tolerance and down 57 basis points year-over-year.4
90-day delinquency rate
0.52%
90-day delinquencyOnly 0.52% of SoFi's personal loan balance was 90 or more days past due in Q4 2025. This is down year-over-year despite record origination volumes, indicating improving credit quality.4
Stack integration
SoFi Money (banking & deposits)
Deposit behaviorSoFi Money gives SoFi visibility into members' deposit behavior, cash balances, and spending patterns before any lending decision is made. Nearly 97% of deposits come from direct deposit customers.
SoFi Invest (investment activity)
Investment activitySoFi Invest activity reveals financial sophistication and savings behavior. Members who actively invest signal long-term financial planning and lower default risk.
Credit card spending patterns
Spending behaviorSoFi's credit card data gives a real-time picture of monthly spending obligations and discretionary behavior, supplementing traditional income and debt measures.
Free cash flow analysis
Free cash flowSoFi analyzes income minus expenses to assess actual repayment capacity rather than relying solely on credit scores. This is especially powerful for high-income, thin-file borrowers.
Employment & education history
Career trajectoryFor borrowers like medical residents, SoFi factors in career trajectory and earning potential. A resident earning $60K today has a 97% probability of becoming a doctor, making them a low default risk.
Combines platform-wide member data with traditional credit scores to assess creditworthiness
Platform breadthSoFi offers a broad suite of financial products beyond lending: investing, insurance, credit cards, and digital banking. This gives SoFi visibility into members' full financial lives before any loan decision. Roughly 40% of new product adoptions come from existing members, and the average member uses around seven non-lending SoFi products before taking out a loan.4,5