https://robinhood.com/creditcard/
Here’s the first thing to know about the new Robinhood credit card that promises 3 percent cash back on all purchases, without limits: Yesterday, when I asked Vlad Tenev, the company’s chief executive, to guarantee that it would stay at that level for 18 months, he would not.
Resolves YES if, as of 18 months after the card is in the first consumer hands, the card still offers:
3% cash back
On all standard purchases
For up to at least $50,000 in purchases per month
With a monthly fee of <$10/month
Resolves NO otherwise. If they do not put the card in consumer hands by the end of 2025, also resolves NO.
Currently, there is no spending limit and I believe a $5/month or $50/year fee. I'm adding the slightly higher upper bounds to allow some minimal wiggle room. There are some purchase limitations, I will use my discretion on if any new restrictions are added. The spirit would be broken if they limited it to travel, or dining, or even a large combination of these categories. If they have closed the card to new signups, that's fine as long as existing cardholders maintain their privileges.
I'm highly considering getting it, but I don't want to go through the effort of signing up and doing all the effort of dealing with brokerage/account setup if they're just going to rug pull the deal. If they deal doesn't last very long, it's basically a glorified signup perk, which would probably be beat by many other cards. Help me decide!
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@benjaminIkuta Seems like it is in consumer hands as of ~dec 2024 (that's the earliest I've seen someone claiming to have it on reddit), albeit very few - the rollout seems very slow.
But yea, I didn't add a clause about being stingy with the rollout, so if nothing changes this will resolve YES in June 2026.
@Sketchy did you ever end up trying it? (I'm not a fan of spending much time for credit card optimizing so I'm dubious I'd find it worth the effort, but got an email invite so figure I should confirm it isn't some amazing deal)
@Ziddletwix have they even launched it yet? I still see the “reserve your spot” language on the site.
I never added myself to the waitlist, no - partially because of this market.
@Sketchy fair! Yeah people don’t seem super confident it’s worth it.
But yeah the email I got seemed to be an actual invite not just waitlist (and if I’m getting invited it cant be very selective, I’ve spent like $100 ever on Robinhood barely use the app)
(I don’t remember signing up for a waitlist so I assume this is a turn of phrase but maybe I signed up a year ago and don’t remember)
@PaperBoy I’m not - 50/50 shot of surviving 18 months just isn’t worth the hassle for me. Sticking with my Citi 2% card and a chase travel card.
I suspect this program will be a net loss to Robinhood and therefore it's likely they'll lower the rewards rate or alter the rewards structure (change to miles/points which are worth < $0.01 ea).
This card is a Visa. Visa recently agreed to an antitrust settlement in which they'll limit and reduce (very slightly) interchange fees for the next 5 years. It's these fees which fund credit card rewards. 3% on all categories seems much higher than the competition which from my experience only offers 3% on limited categories.
Credit card companies make money from interest income, but I don't think Robinhood will make much interest income. I expect the investment-minded crowd is more financially responsible and therefore less likely to carry a balance and incur high APR interest.
Robinhood is also spending quite a bit to acquire new business. For instance they match IRA rollovers 1-3% which can't be cheap. They might feel pressure to reduce this spending.
3% cash back is almost worth opening a merchant account and churning it with RH cards! The only thing stopping someone would be violating the card's & merchants' TOS and the potential for it to draw attention from financial crimes law enforcement thinking it could be part of a money laundering scheme Iit's not, but it could look that way).
@benjaminIkuta Money laundering is necessary for both paper currency and bank credits (ledger in a computer). When people manufacture spend aka churn for credit card rewards it can sometimes be mistaken for money laundering. That's because they share certain characteristics such as spending that primarily serves to move the money from one form to another (USD credit purchases goods when acquiring the goods is not the true purpose for the activity).
@benjaminIkuta Money laundering relies more on obfuscation than merely traceable/untraceable. But my comment was in passing and I wouldn't dwell on it too much