Robinhood’s new credit card was revealed Tuesday, and though it’s only available for Robinhood Gold members, the Gold Card does have a feature that’s spurring headlines: the ability to invest cash-back bonuses into investments.
The announcement comes eight months after the acquisition of the startup X1 for $95 million, and it just so happens one of X1’s biggest features was the ability to invest cash-back benefits. Coincidence? Obviously not! Robinhood is hoping that bonus, plus a slew of other perks, including the ability to add family members as cardholders, even if they’re young or without a Social Security number, will be enough to pull customers away from Apple’s pull.
But what gives with tech companies getting into the consumer credit game? You could argue that Robinhood’s choice to offer a card is just an extension of its already expanding portfolio of financial products. But Apple also has a card, recall. And the tech giant is getting deeper into the realm of personal finance as time goes along.
Tech companies expanding their product remit over time is not new — hell, I wrote about it back in 2014 — but it’s notable to see how day to day consumer finance is becoming a technology story. Hit the clip, let’s chat!