Latest news with #RobinhoodBanking
Finextra
18-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Deep Dive: Robinhood's Full-Stack Fintech Transformation: By Sam Boboev
On March 27, 2025, Robinhood made waves again. At its second annual Gold Keynote, the company unveiled three major products—Robinhood Strategies, Robinhood Banking, and Robinhood Cortex—all designed to bring private banking and professional-grade investing tools to everyday users. Robinhood Strategies offers personalized, expert-managed portfolios right inside the app—think of it as wealth management without the Wall Street minimums. Gold members even get assets above $100K managed for free, capped at $250/year. Robinhood Banking, launching later this year, is set to deliver a premium banking experience with 4.00% APY on savings, estate and tax planning support, and luxury perks—all wrapped into a mobile-first experience. Robinhood Cortex is their upcoming AI-powered investing assistant, designed to help users analyze markets, build trades, and act on insights in real time. These bold moves aren't just about product expansion—they're a clear signal of where Robinhood is headed: toward becoming a full-stack financial ecosystem for the next generation. So, in light of these announcements, I wanted to take a step back and ask: Where is Robinhood really going? What's the strategy, and how do these launches fit into the big picture? Robinhood's 10-Year Vision and Three Strategic Arcs Robinhood's leadership laid out an ambitious 10-year vision centered on three strategic 'arcs' to capitalize on major generational and technological shifts. They note that roughly $84 trillion in wealth will transfer from older generations to younger ones over the next two decades — the largest such transfer in history. Unlike their parents who relied on stockbrokers and bank branches, these younger investors grew up with smartphones and expect to manage finances independently online. With more Millennials and Gen Z users than any other top brokerage, Robinhood sees itself at 'the epicenter' of this cultural and financial shift. And as internet connectivity and mobile adoption rise globally, people worldwide are increasingly demanding the same modern financial tools available in the U.S. In response to these trends, Robinhood outlined three strategic arcs to 'democratize finance for all' over the coming decade. The first arc is achieving dominance in active trading — becoming the #1 platform for highly engaged, tech-savvy traders. Robinhood considers itself in the 'heyday' of serving active traders and is rapidly gaining market share in this segment. Continuous product improvements for these power-users directly translate into higher trading volumes, revenue, and business value. Management believes success with active traders will generate resources to fund the longer-term arcs. They even liken this approach to Tesla's Roadster strategy: focus on an elite, innovation-hungry customer base first, which keeps the company at the industry's cutting edge and provides a springboard into broader markets. In Robinhood's case, catering to demanding active traders (its 'Roadster') pushes the platform's capabilities to the forefront of fintech, while yielding revenue to reinvest in expansion. The second arc targets expanding wallet share for the next generation of investors. Here, Robinhood plans to broaden its services beyond brokerage into areas like wealth management, banking, and credit — essentially becoming a more holistic financial hub for customers. The company expects this arc to 'reach its climax in about five years,' by which time these new offerings could rival trading as leading revenue sources. Robinhood is already exploring features like retirement accounts with matching contributions, high-yield cash sweep programs, and credit cards (via its Gold membership) to deepen engagement. The emphasis is on meeting the specific needs of Gen Z and younger Millennials as they build wealth, rather than relying on what appealed to earlier generations. Ultimately, Robinhood aims to be 'number one in wallet share for the next generation,' meaning the go-to app where young investors keep the majority of their financial assets and conduct most financial activities. Disclaimer: Fintech Wrap Up aggregates publicly available information for informational purposes only. Portions of the content may be reproduced verbatim from the original source, and full credit is provided with a 'Source: [Name]' attribution. All copyrights and trademarks remain the property of their respective owners. Fintech Wrap Up does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the aggregated content; these are the responsibility of the original source providers. Links to the original sources may not always be included. For questions or concerns, please contact us at
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Robinhood to launch banking product
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter. Stock trading platform Robinhood seeks to dive deeper into financial services with the launch of a banking product later this year. Robinhood Banking, set to be rolled out this fall, will offer checking and savings accounts for its gold members featuring services that aim to solve some of the challenges with legacy bank accounts, said Deepak Rao, vice president and general manager of Robinhood Money. 'We want to have the full wallet share with customers,' Rao told Banking Dive, 'but we wanted to do it in our style and make sure that we build something that's no longer reserved for ultra-wealthy individuals.' While announcing the banking product last week, Vlad Tenev, chairman and CEO of Robinhood, also said the firm is adding two other new features, Robinhood Strategies and Cortex. Strategies is an advanced investing service that offers expert-managed goal-aligned portfolios and personalized insights with a cost cap of $250 per year for gold members and no management fees on amounts over $100K. Cortex is an upcoming artificial investment tool that will provide real-time market analysis, investment opportunity identification, and market news updates. Robinhood's credit card, rolled out last year, has around 200,000 cardholders and 3 million people on the waitlist. Following that, the fintech wanted to build an accessible product that members would use to invest and manage their wealth and handle all of their financial transactions. 'Bank account is still, by far, the center of gravity of most financial transactions,' Rao noted. The Menlo Park, California-based fintech aims to bring a 'private banking experience' to its members, including offering the option to apply for a bank account from the app, send money across the world in over 100 currencies and access private banking services like estate planning and professional tax advice. Robinhood's new feature of getting cash delivered to the doorstep physically within an hour will be a differentiating factor and eliminate the need for an ATM, Rao asserts, since bigger banks typically take several days to give money. The fintech plans to have an app dashboard where a customer can get a money order and have it sent to a recipient or order foreign currency to be delivered to their doorstep, the executive added. He said the banking product will be available to current Robinhood gold customers. Robinhood is offering a 4% annual percentage rate on savings and up to $2.5 million in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insurance. The fintech has partnered with Coastal Community Bank to offer its banking products. The lender has recently teamed up with fintechs like Dave to facilitate their banking services. Robinhood, which has nearly $200 billion in assets under custody, will use the same security system it uses now to ensure the safety of its customer money, according to Rao. Robinhood eventually wants the banking product to reach worldwide, but first he wants to figure out the best way to pursue what he sees as missing from it — like personal loans, mortgages or home equity lines of credit. The banking app can help members get an idea of their entire net worth when they open the app, including their liabilities not on Robinhood's platform. All liabilities like mortgages, student loans, personal loans, credit card debt, and assets appear on the screen. Members can connect to other accounts through Plaid, Rao said. This isn't Robinhood's first venture into banking. In October 2019, the fintech announced plans for a high-yield cash management account — a second attempt after a previous failed launch in December 2018. The fintech's first savings account initiative was halted since it had failed to notify the Securities and Exchange Commission and Securities Investor Protection Corporation before launching. Robinhood announced plans to rebrand the product into a cash management service following regulatory pushback. In April 2019, Robinhood applied for a bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency but chose to withdraw it that December. Since then, neobanks like Chime, SoFi and Revolut have dominated the fintech space. Chime recently added instant loans to its service. Rao says he's not worried about the proliferation of neobanks in the space. He argued that neobanks have failed to gain significant market share from traditional banks because neobanks lack 'backward compatibility' with essential banking features, such as physical checks or comprehensive services like bill pay, mortgage payments, and auto payments that traditional banks offer. 'I think they looked too forward without making it backward compatible,' Rao said. 'They have done good for a niche segment, but they haven't taken business away from legacy banks; that's where most of their market has stopped.' Recommended Reading Robinhood goes live in the UK Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Now Robinhood says it will deliver cash to your door
Robinhood plans to launch online banking, which it says will include perks like home cash deliveries. The service will offer a 4% annual interest rate, Robinhood said in its announcement. Robinhood is also launching a wealth management platform and AI investment tools. Robinhood said on Wednesday that it is launching an online banking platform for its premium members in the fall, which will include home cash deliveries. In an announcement, the California-headquartered financial technology company outlined a number of incentives that will be offered to Robinhood Banking users, including cash delivery. "Your cash is delivered on-demand right to your doorstep," it said. "No need to search for an ATM." The service offers a 4% annual interest rate and deposit insurance of up to $2.5 million via the FDIC. It will offer international transfers to over 100 currencies and whole-family accounts for partners and children. "Robinhood Banking is thoughtfully designed to be as easy to use as possible, while still delivering cutting-edge features historically reserved for the ultra-wealthy," Deepak Rao, vice president and general manager of Robinhood Money, said. "We're pushing the boundaries of what you should expect from your bank." The fintech firm's gold membership costs $5 monthly or $50 annually and gives users access to Robinhood's premium features. Perks include IRA matches and the option of margin trading. Gold members who opt for the banking services, which Washington-based Coastal Community Bank will provide, would also have access to perks including the chance to get tickets to events like the Met Gala, the Oscars, F1's Monaco Grand Prix, and Coachella. Robinhood said customers would also have access to private plane travel, personal chauffeurs, luxury helicopter rides, and luxury hotel experiences. It did not elaborate on how these perks would work for members. Robinhood also said it would be launching a wealth management platform. Robinhood Strategies would allow investments into a mix of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and individual stocks. The management fee for those who use the service is 0.25% of the assets under management a year. Robinhood Gold member will pay management fees on $100,000 of assets in their accounts. Robinhood said it would introduce an AI investment tool called Cortex for its premium subscribers. "Over time, Robinhood Cortex will completely transform the Robinhood experience as we strive to bridge that gap and put a premium research assistant right in your pocket," Abhishek Fatehpuria, vice president of brokerage product, said. Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tech Bros Want Underpaid Gig Workers To Drive Big Wads Of Cash Around For You
During fintech app Robinhood's annual keynote event this week, titled "The Lost City of Gold," the company announced that it was launching a new Robinhood Banking service. That's not really out of the ordinary, there are hundreds of Silicon Valley nerds trying to crack the code of reinventing banks. Elon Musk, for example, is obsessed with the idea of turning Twitter (also known as X The Everything App) into a bank for some reason. Robinhood Banking is different from most other attempts, however, as it offers special perks like getting "cash delivered on-demand right to your doorstep, eliminating the need for an ATM." If there's one thing I wish I could do it's to have a stranger access my bank account, retrieve a large amount of cash, risk potential harm carrying a big wad of greenbacks across town, and then making a surreptitious cash transaction on the street in front of my house. That sounds like it would make my life so much easier, despite the fact that I haven't regularly carried cash or paid for anything with it in close to a decade. "With Robinhood Banking, we're trying to solve many of the challenges presented by legacy banks," said Deepak Rao, GM and VP of Robinhood Money. "Robinhood Banking is thoughtfully designed to be as easy to use as possible, while still delivering cutting-edge features historically reserved for the ultra-wealthy." Read more: There's A Relic Runway From America's Failed Supersonic Future Hiding In The Everglades Robinhood hasn't provided any further information about the cash delivery service yet. According to Entrepreneur, there's "no word yet on how the cash deliveries will take place, what identification will be required, or how the company will ensure the safety of its drivers." The fine print of the announcement does read "Cash delivery service coverage varies based on geographic location." so maybe it'll be limited to big cities. I imagine there is a reason that banks and large retailers use armored vehicles and teams of trained threat-assessors to move their money from place to place. I'm not sure I would trust the Uber Eats guy who skims a couple fries off the top of your McDonald's order to bring my cash without taking an Andrew Jackson or two for themselves, and I'm pretty sure I'm not comfortable risking their wellbeing carrying cash in public for a gig worker economy job that pays worse than minimum wage. There are so many ways this could go wrong, and nothing about it seems like a good idea. Maybe leave this one on the cutting room floor, Robinhood. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
NBC News
28-03-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Robinhood CEO sees Amazon-like subscription model as path to 'loyalty' in financial services
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev is betting that by rolling out a large enough portfolio of digital investment products, more consumers will be willing to pay a monthly subscription for its product suite. Subscribers to Robinhood Gold pay $5 a month or $50 a year for perks like 4% interest on uninvested cash, access to professional research, and no interest on the first $1,000 of margin borrowed. Now the company is adding wealth management features called Robinhood Strategies, which offers curated access to exchange-traded fund portfolios and mixes of handpicked stocks. The service, available to Gold Subscribers, carries a 0.25% annual management fee, capped at $250. Robinhood also said this week that with its new Robinhood Banking offering, Gold subscribers will get private banking services with tax advice and estate planning tools, perks like access to private jet travel, five-star hotels and tickets to Coachella, and 4% interest on savings accounts. Customers will also soon be able to get cash delivered to their doorstep, saving them a trip to the ATM, though few details were provided. Tenev told CNBC in an interview that Robinhood's subscription service could be similar to what users get from Amazon Prime or Costco membership, where their monthly fee feels justified by the quality and quantity of the perks, which keep them coming back. 'My philosophy behind it is subscriptions are about loyalty,' Tenev said. 'So if you're a subscriber to something, then that service is sort of the first in mind when you think about trying something else from that category.' Tenev said that in financial services, loyalty is particularly important because it's 'equivalent to wallet share.' Tenev said the number of subscribers increased from about 1.5 million a year ago to 3.2 million today, adding that it's a 'nine-figure business,' meaning at least $100 million in annual revenue. Robinhood grew in popularity among younger investors by making it easy to buy and hold fractional shares in companies using a simple mobile app, and then moving into crypto. Tenev said on Thursday that over the longer term, Robinhood wants to be 'the place where you can buy, sell, trade, hold any financial asset, conduct any financial transaction.' Robinhood shares are up 19% this year after almost tripling in 2024, when crypto prices soared.
