Update October 2024: Well, that didn’t last very long. Right as competitors rush to copy the feature, Robinhood sends me a message that the last day to get your 1% Deposit Boost is November 25, 2024.
Update June 2024: The 1% Deposit Boost for Robinhood Gold subscribers is now live. As previously announced, the 1% boost is paid out gradually over 24 months on net new deposits. If you make future withdrawals, this may affect your unpaid boosts. If you were already paid a boost payment, it may affect the boost on future deposits. In other words, they are paying attention and it’s not simple to game by withdrawing your cash. You can find additional details on this FAQ page. The following deposits are eligible:
Standard bank account transfers (originated ACH)
Wires in
Direct deposit (non-originated ACH)
Debit card transfers (including Apple Pay)
Request for Payment (ex. Zelle or PayPal transfer)
Transfers from spending account
Transfers from IRA account
I tested it out with a $500 deposit with a debit card transfer via Apple Pay (for another 1%*). Hello, $0.21 a month! 💰 Here’s a screenshot. I’m already locked into a Robinhood relationship for 5 years with the expired IRA promo, so I will try to see how to best utilize this promo for the next 3 years.
(* Debit card deposit side note: I also stacked it with by making the deposit with Apple Pay linked to my 1% cash back debit card from Upgrade. This way, I’ll get another 1% on the $500. Now, this method should be used carefully and for deposits that you intend to invest at Robinhood, as I’ve read reports of Robinhood freezing accounts if this option is abused by depositing and immediately withdrawing. This works for me because I plan to invest smaller deposits there for 24 months to get the Robinhood 1% match anyway. Besides Upgrade, a few other places offer 1% cash back on debit card purchases, but Upgrade is also offering a $300 bonus which is noteworthy even if it is a fintech.)
Full review:
Robinhood recently held a Steve Jobs-esque product announcement about new upcoming features for their Robinhood Gold paid membership tier ($5 a month or $50 per year upfront). Here are the highlights of the new features:
- 1% match on all deposits. Called “Unlimited Deposit Boost”, Gold members will get a 1% match on all incoming deposits. For example, if you transfer $500 every month to invest at Robinhood, they will give you an extra $5 a month to invest. If you transfer in $100,000, they will give you $1,000. Doled out over a 2-year period if you keep your deposits there during that time.
- 3% cash back on all categories with their new credit card. Redeems directly into a Robinhood account. Can create virtual numbers and extra cards for family members. No annual fee, but does require Gold membership.
- New customizable user interface. One of Robinhood’s strengths has always been it’s modern user interface. That’s always been countered by their fintech-average level of customer service.
Here are the existing Robinhood Gold features:
- 5% APY on cash sweep deposits. (1.5% APY without Gold until May 2024, then 0.01% APY after that.)
- $1,000 in free margin ($2,000 until 8/18/24).
- 3% match on annual IRA contributions. (1% match without Gold.) 5-year lock-up period. This is meant to be a recurring thing. See FAQ for details.
- 3% match on incoming IRA transfers and rollover amounts (ended 4/30/24). This WAS a limited-time offer and potentially huge for those with big IRAs. 5-year lock-up period. See link for details.
- Bigger instant deposits. Instant Deposit eliminates the three-day wait period for funds to transfer from your bank into Robinhood. With Gold, customers can get larger Instant Deposits of up to $50,000 depending on their brokerage account balance and status.
- Free premium stock reports from Morningstar. Gold members get unlimited access to Morningstar’s stock research reports. These reports are available for approximately 1,700 stocks and are updated frequently to reflect important company events.
- Level II market data from Nasdaq. Level II market data shows multiple bid and ask prices from Nasdaq for any given security so investors can better determine the availability or desire for a security at a certain price.
The hottest deal WAS the 3% match on incoming 401k rollovers and IRA transfers. I participated for an $8,000+ payout and am now stuck in its 5-year lock-up period. They’ve added billions of new assets with this promotion.
The second hottest deal is the new 1% unlimited deposit match, doled out over a 2-year period. I find it a very clever way to keep customers locked-into their Robinhood accounts AND keep them paying for a Robinhood Gold subscription. Don’t be surprised if the price of Gold goes up within the next year or so!
Deposit boost is divided into 24 monthly payouts. To earn your full boost, hold or invest your brokerage deposits for 2 years. If you cancel Gold, you’ll lose future payouts you haven’t earned yet.
The third hottest deal is the 3% cash back credit card, even though the credit card is getting the most press attention. 3% cash back with no annual fee is certainly noteworthy, but the card also doesn’t have an upfront sign-up bonus (and technically requires Gold at $50/$60 a year). If you currently have a 2% cash back card and spend even $50,000 a year on your credit card, 1% more is only $500 a year in extra cash back.
Meanwhile, I don’t spend that much on any single card (due to other better promos that will earn me $500+ upfront and the equivalent of more than 3% back) and I already get 2.6% back from my Bank of America credit card with Preferred Rewards. I like the idea of simple 3% cash back, but not quite worth a credit pull for me (we’ll see how long it lasts, since 3% has historically been too high to last).
If you are one of the first 5,000 people to refer 10 people to Robinhood Gold, apparently they will send you a credit card made of actual gold. After reading the terms closely, even if I do get enough referrals for the “Solid Gold” card, I’ll get a 1099 for over $1,000. If they run out of Gold cards, you just get the cash, but there doesn’t seem to be an option to simply decline and opt for the cash. I’m not interested in paying $400 in taxes for a gaudy 10 karat credit card.
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Thanks for your posts. Always been very useful.
Side question : Is there any brokerage house out there that allows you to invest in IPOs in IPO price ? Some of the ones I know ( Fidelity : too may requirements for traders ..100000 $ deposit , Wellsfargo does not even allow it) are not very helpful.
IPOs are usually only given to preferred customers of brokerages that have access to certain IPOs. You’ll likely either need a big balance or some sort of connection, especially for a “hot” IPO.
I simply do not trust Robin Hood. Their behavior during the GameStop debacle was deplorable.
I’m hoping to test out Robinhood Gold before the year is over! I want to see what it’s like, but I don’t think I’ll use it forever. Investing money that isn’t actually mine could be asking for trouble.
I don’t like the format of the Robinhood app but I like the free trades. Im a long time follower of this blog and I’m trying to get offered the Robinhood gold so if I can get a couple people that are interested to help me out by signing up through this link- http://share.robinhood.com/briann80 it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Brian
Do I have to pay the $2000 addition buying power back? Can I take the money out? How do I pay it back?
Please do more research before trading, you’re going to blow up your account if your comprehension is that low.
This is what research is, I have the same question, 2X buying power means, I get 2k in my account for my use?
What is Gold Buying Power, and what are the benefits?
Gold Buying Power — it’s money that we lend to you to buy stocks in the stock market. You can invest more, and keep the profits. It also gives you flexibility with your cash: if you see an opportunity and want to invest more, you can right away without depositing from your bank. And if you need to withdraw some cash from your account for day-to-day spending, you can use Gold buying power to keep the stocks you’ve got and not have to sell.
This FAQ should help.
https://support.robinhood.com/hc/en-us/articles/214681823-Introducing-Robinhood-Gold
If I open up a margin account with $2,000 and my account drops down to $1,000 do I still get charged $10 a month, or what if I take all my money out, and now the account has a 0 balance , do I still get charged the $10 a month?
Small correction: markets close at 4 pm (6 pm for after hours), not 4 am and 6 am.
Thanks!
How do you come up with $38 in interest for $2,000 for a full year? I have not seen a single lender of any type charge simple interest at that yearly rate. It would at least be broken down monthly but more likely, at the average daily rate.
The way you describe the new 1% deposit match is not correct. Unless they changed it since they initially did the credit card announcement, the terms said they are doling out the 1% in 24 monthly installments, and they didn’t mention anything about a lockup period for the small deposits that are received. The way I interpret it, if someone transferred $100k, one would receive $41.66 per month for 24 months.
Thanks, corrected. I thought I saw that in their presentation but it was the credit card rewards that show up instantly in your brokerage account.
“Boost is divided into 24 monthly payouts. To earn your full boost, hold or invest your brokerage deposits for 2 years. If you cancel Gold, you’ll lose future payouts you haven’t earned yet. Only deposits into your non-retirement brokerage account will be eligible to earn the boost. There are daily ACH deposit limits.”
That’s what I mean as a 2-year lockup. You need to keep those deposit there for 2 years to earn your boost. If you transfer $100,000, that $100,000 has to stay there for 2 years to get the 1%. “To earn your full boost, hold or invest your brokerage deposits for 2 years.”
I’m doing a couple bonuses with RH right now, so I looked into there checking account but unfortunately they don’t offer joint accounts or even bill pay, that would make my finances difficult for sure. But ya if you don’t want to churn CC, then there 3% back seems like like a good deal.
Have you decided to pull the trigger for IRA? Debating too
I took the bait; Robinhood got me. Soon to be 3% cash back credit card, 3% Roth match, and soon 1% transfer match.
I transferred just under $30,000 from my Roth located at Fidelity on 4/8; the funds were taken out that day. The transfer was completed on 4/12 with my 3% match without issues.
Robinhood Gold cost me $5 a month, and I use the $1000 margin included with gold and purchased SGOV. With the Federal Reserve likely to keep interest rates high for longer, most of the fee will likely be covered with SGOV.
looks like the 1% deposit match is gone. so bad
I don’t think it has started yet.
Expired in Jan 2024
The 1% ACAT transfer bonus expired in January 2024, but their new “1% deposit boost” is still “coming soon”. That will give 1% on all new cash deposits.
I get this is an update to an old post but didn’t you say you were taking your money out of fintech?
Is robinhood different than other fintechs?
The credit card I really did want but there is a huge waitlist.
If you just hold stocks and ETFs in their brokerage account, that’s a pretty standard product and well-covered by regulation. I’m not exactly sure how their cash sweep is set up, but I would rather hold SGOV ETFs as cash inside their brokerage.
Do you know if SGOV ETF is state/local tax exempt for Minnesota? If yes, the boost, plus the tax savings really make this compelling.
Thanks!
My understanding is that whatever percentage of SGOV interest is from a US government obligation (reported after end of year) should be exempt from MN state income taxes.
Thank you. Thoughts on USFR vs SGOV?
In case anyone is wondering, that 3% cash back on the Robinhood credit card seems to be restricted. I tried making a property tax payment with it yesterday (which requires a 2.2% convenience fee for using a credit card, but I figured I’d still come out ahead with 3% cash back), and it was immediately declined, with a text message to my phone that said, “Loan and tax payments aren’t supported and can’t be paid with your [Robinhood] credit card.” So there goes a significant chunk of what I was hoping to use the Robinhood credit card to pay for.
Robin Hood is as dirty as the day is long. I know so many people who have been screwed by their unnannounced rule changes and their behavior during the GME run was truly abhorent. I wouldn’t trust them with a dime.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameStop_short_squeeze#:~:text=The%20lawsuit%20claimed%20that%20Robinhood,manipulating%20the%20open%2Dmarket%22.