James Brumley, The Motley Fool

Sat, May 31, 2025, 1:20 AM7 min read

• The advent of mobile internet connectivity has turned the banking business into self-serve.

• Cryptocurrencies’ underlying blockchain technology, in the meantime, has been held up as a solution for a range of problems.

• Investors are underestimating the potential of one of these young businesses while overestimating the upside of the other.

• 10 stocks we like better than SoFi Technologies ›

Does your portfolio need a bit more exposure to the fintech space? There are plenty of great options out there, although payment technology platform Block (NYSE: XYZ) and online banking outfit SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI) are a couple of investors' favorites right now. Either would likely work well enough for you.

If you've only got room for one of these holdings at this time, however, choose SoFi. Here's why.

Don't panic if you already happen to own a stake in Block. You're hardly doomed. While shares are still trading down more than 70% from their pandemic-inspired 2022 peak, analysts remain largely bullish, collectively rating the stock as a strong buy while supporting a consensus price target of $66.86 that is roughly 7% above this ticker's present price. Slow and steady long-term revenue and earnings growth are in the cards, even if that progress can run a little hot and cold.

SoFi Technologies is still the better bet, though.

On the off-chance you're reading this and aren't familiar with it, SoFi is an online bank offering all the services you'd expect from a more traditional brick-and-mortar banking company. Checking and savings accounts, loans, credit cards, investing services, and even insurance and travel planning are in its wheelhouse. Where SoFi Technologies differs is that it's only an online bank -- there are no physical branches to visit.

That might initially seem a bit nutty to investors who remember a time when online banking didn't exist at all, simply because the internet itself had not yet been invented. When brick-and-mortar banks added online self-service as an option, it was a game-changing add-on.

Now, this digital self-service choice isn't just the norm -- it's the preferred means of handling most banking matters. A 2024 survey commissioned by the American Bankers Association and performed by Morning Consult found that 22% of bank customers in the United States now use their personal computers as their first choice for taking care of their banking business, while a whopping 55% of this crowd prefers a mobile app for handling banking matters. In-branch visits and phone calls, conversely, are only the first choice for 8% and 4% (respectively) of U.S. banks' customers. It also comes as no surprise that older consumers are less likely to use a mobile app or PC to do their banking, while digitally native younger customers are increasingly likely to do so.