By Niket Nishant
(Reuters) – Online trading app Robinhood (NASDAQ Markets launched a new credit card on Tuesday, in an effort to expand its presence in the personal finance market and drive subscriptions to its premium tier.
The credit card, available exclusively to Robinhood Gold customers, comes two years after the launch of a debit card to enable foreign exchange investments, and the Menlo Park, California-based company is looking to expand its product offerings.
Robinhood bought X1 Inc, the Max Levchin-backed fintech startup, for about $95 million last year, capitalizing on the popularity of fintech companies due to the growth of digital banking, as it seeks to become a one-stop shop. unique for financial services.
Expanding beyond its core trading business could also help protect Robinhood against bouts of market turbulence, such as when a series of interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve in 2022 spooked investors. retail investors.
The Robinhood Gold card would have no annual fee or foreign transaction fees and offers 3% cash back, in the form of rewards points, on spending. Bookings made through Robinhood's travel portal would earn 5% cash back, the company said.
Reservations for a spot on the card's waiting list began Tuesday. The company hopes to launch the product widely later this year.
In its latest quarter, Robinhood posted a surprise profit driven by higher interest income and a rebound in trading. Fintech shares are up about 50% so far this year.
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