Robinhood, best known for its popular investment app, is entering the credit card space with its Robinhood Gold Card* -- a no-annual-fee, pseudo-travel rewards, cash-back credit card. That’s a lot of hyphens, but is it as impressive as it sounds?
The details
The answer is yes. The Robinhood Gold Card is pretty impressive. Though it’s listed as a no-annual-fee credit card, you do have to be a Robinhood Gold member to apply (just like you need Amazon Prime to apply for the Prime Visa).
Oddly, Robinhood doesn’t say how much it’ll cost on its website, just that it’ll be a monthly or annual subscription, but a spokesperson for Robinhood confirmed that it costs $5 per month or $50 annually.
Aside from that, the card has a lot to offer: unlimited 3% cash back for every purchase, numerous shopping and travel protections, no foreign transaction fee, virtual card capability for added security, and no hidden fees. And, for those that care about the heft of a card, it’s a metal, gold-plated credit card.
- Intro Offer
-
No current offer
- Annual fee
- N/A
- APR
- 20.24% – 29.99%
- Recommended Credit A credit score is used to indicate an applicant’s credit worthiness and may provide guidance about account eligibility. It does not necessarily guarantee approval for any financial product.
- N/A
- Rewards rate
-
3% – 5% 5% cash back when you book travel through the Robinhood travel portal; 3% cash back on all categories for eligible purchases
Is Robinhood Gold replacing the X1 Card?
Robinhood acquired X1 last June, and it looks like the X1 Card is no longer open to new applicants. (If you go to the X1 Card website, you’ll be redirected to the Robinhood Gold Card.) But if you have the X1 card, you can continue to use it and the X1 app. Users aren’t being migrated to the Robinhood Gold card, an X1 representative told CNET in a statement.
“The launch of the new Robinhood Gold Card will not change X1 cardholder’s X1 account in any way. These are two separate credit cards, and the X1 Card will continue to be functional for all current X1 customers,” an X1 customer representative said.
Gold-plated rewards
A flat 3% cash-back rate for every purchase is practically unheard of, aside from the PayPal Cashback Mastercard®* or Apple Card*, but even those cards are limited to both PayPal and Apple purchases respectively. The Robinhood Gold Card also earns a higher 5% cash back rate for travel booked through Robinhood’s travel portal.
With the Robinhood Gold Card, your rewards are added directly into your Robinhood brokerage account, which you can then invest. You can also redeem for travel through Robinhood’s travel portal, to shop with points or to redeem for gift cards.
More impressively, no matter how you choose to redeem, your cash back (which is initially earned as points) will be worth 1 cent.
Most other cash-back credit cards take a dip in value if you choose to redeem your rewards through an issuer’s shopping portal. With the Robinhood Gold Card, you can redeem any way you want without having to worry about losing out on value. The downside is that it’ll take a bit more time and work if you want to move your rewards from your Robinhood account into your own bank account.
Any card fees?
You’re probably thinking, “Where’s the catch?” Well, at least for right now, there doesn’t seem to be one. Aside from the membership fee for Robinhood Gold, this card shouldn’t cost you anything extra, even if you bring it with you overseas.
Extra card perks
The card comes equipped with an impressive arsenal of protections, including:
- Trip interruption insurance
- Roadside dispatch
- Auto rental collision damage waiver (rental car insurance)
- Travel and emergency assistance
- Purchase security
- Extended warranty protection
- Return protection
- Visa Signature concierge
That’s an extensive list for a credit card without an annual fee. This could even work as a travel credit card if your wallet lacks one.
Any type of travel insurance is a rare find on a no-annual-fee card, coupled with the lack of foreign transaction fees, you could do worse than the Robinhood Gold Card.
How does it stack up to the competition?
The Robinhood Gold Card looks to be giving other 3% cash-back credit cards some serious competition.
The Apple Card
The Apple Card earns 3% cash back for Apple purchases, with a 2% daily cash rate at select retailers. It doesn’t have nearly as impressive card perks or flexible redemption options. At the moment, the Robinhood Gold Card seems to blow this one out of the water.
The PayPal Mastercard
The PayPal Cashback Mastercard® also earns 3% cash back for PayPal purchase, with a flat 2% cash back for all other purchases. But it also doesn’t have as good redemption options or card perks.
- Intro Offer
-
No current offer
- Annual fee
- N/A
- APR
- 20.24% – 29.99%
- Intro Purchase APR
- N/A
- Recommended Credit A credit score is used to indicate an applicant’s credit worthiness and may provide guidance about account eligibility. It does not necessarily guarantee approval for any financial product.
- N/A
- Rewards rate
-
3% – 5% 5% cash back when you book travel through the Robinhood travel portal; 3% cash back on all categories for eligible purchases
- Intro Offer
-
No current offer
- Annual fee
- $0
- APR
- 19.24% to 29.49% Variable
- Intro Purchase APR
- N/A
- Recommended Credit A credit score is used to indicate an applicant’s credit worthiness and may provide guidance about account eligibility. It does not necessarily guarantee approval for any financial product.
- N/A
- Rewards rate
-
2% – 3% Apple Card gives you unlimited 3% Daily Cash back on everything you buy at Apple; With every purchase you make using your Apple Card with Apple Pay, you get 2% Daily Cash back
- Intro Offer
-
No current offer
- Annual fee
- $0
- APR
- 20.24%, 29.24%, or 32.24% Variable
- Intro Purchase APR
- N/A
- Recommended Credit A credit score is used to indicate an applicant’s credit worthiness and may provide guidance about account eligibility. It does not necessarily guarantee approval for any financial product.
- Fair – Excellent
- Rewards rate
-
2% – 3% Earn 3% cash back on PayPal purchases; Get 2% cash back* every day, every purchase, every time you use your card. No exceptions. No rotating categories to keep track of
The bottom line
The Robinhood Gold Card has a lot of attractive card features. Despite its membership fee, it could become one of the better cash-back credit cards on the market. But we won’t know how it stacks up against the likes of the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card or Citi Double Cash® Card until it releases. For now, if you’re interested, you can sign up on the waitlist on Robinhood’s website.
*All information about the Robinhood Gold Card, Apple Card and the PayPal CashBack Mastercard has been collected independently by CNET and has not been reviewed by the issuer.
The editorial content on this page is based solely on objective, independent assessments by our writers and is not influenced by advertising or partnerships. It has not been provided or commissioned by any third party. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products or services offered by our partners.
