The financial services company Robinhood has unveiled a waiting list for its new debit card, the Robinhood Cash Card. This debit card incentivizes investments in stocks and cryptocurrency, and can be considered an early pioneer of both rewards types. Unlike traditional debit cards and credit cards, you'll have to go a step beyond making transactions to earn rewards.
With the Cash Card, you'll have the option to round your purchases to the nearest dollar and invest the difference, aka "spare change," in crypto or stock. This approach is reminiscent of the financial services company Acorns, which automatically invests the change from rounded up transactions. But the Robinhood Cash Card won't require a fee to maintain the account, like Acorns does. And at the end of each week, Robinhood will award you a bonus of 10% to 100% of your rounded-up investments -- up to a maximum of $10 per week -- making this a more valuable program than Acorns.
You'll be able to choose to invest and earn rewards in any of the seven cryptocurrencies Robinhood currently offers: bitcoin, bitcoin cash, bitcoin SV, dogecoin, ethereum, ethereum classic and litecoin.
Robinhood is currently in the process of rolling out the capability to move crypto off the platform and to your own wallet. According to a company representative, 250,000 users are already enrolled in the crypto wallet program. The popular stock and crypto trading app expects 500,000 users within the coming weeks.
The Robinhood Cash Card will have its own "spending account" in the app, separate from your brokerage account, so it doesn't require you to open a separate bank account. You can add funds by transferring money from linked savings or checking accounts. Alternatively, you can get your paychecks deposited directly to your Robinhood account. There is no minimum balance requirement for your spending account to get or maintain the Cash Card. And because this is a debit card, there is no credit check.
There are no ATM or overdraft fees associated with the Cash Card. The Robinhood Brokerage Account is FDIC-insured up to $250,000, minimizing the risk associated with other crypto cards. You'll also be able to send checks from this account. The Cash Management card -- Robinhood's previous debit card -- has been discontinued in preparation for the launch of the Cash Card.
Robinhood told us in an email that, as early as this summer, the company expects to enable a feature for cash back and savings at specific brands and retailers. We'll keep you updated with more details as we learn them.