5 Reasons Why I’m Eyeing the New Robinhood Gold Card

Using credit cards that work for you on a daily basis is an important factor in the personal finance equation, as they can reward you handsomely for the spending you’d be doing anyway.

Of course, this is all predicated on the assumption that you use your cards responsibly and pay the balance off in full each month. Otherwise, any rewards you may earn are negated by the interest you’d be charged for maintaining a balance.

While I’ll never abandon earning and redeeming rewards points for travel (it’s going to be a big part of my life for the foreseeable future), I am thinking more about how I can keep even more dollars in my pocket or, even better, divert them to meaningful savings goals, like a down payment for a house or investment accounts.

Enter the Robinhood Gold Card, a unique product that provides new ways to earn and leverage rewards. The card’s been on my radar ever since it was announced, and I’m very much considering adding it to my portfolio of cards. Let’s take a deeper look at it and talk about why I just may add it.

What Is the Robinhood Gold Card?

Robinhood is a financial services platform best known for its commission-free trading app. Millions use it as a user-friendly method for investing in stocks, options, and ETFs. It’s been regarded as a vehicle through which many more people can jump off the sidelines and right into the market.

Now, Robinhood is getting into the credit card game with the Robinhood Gold card, available on a waitlist-basis only. Additionally, the card is only available for those with Robinhood Gold membership, which costs $5 per month or $50 per year.

Robinhood Gold members can also open a high-yield savings account, a 1% bonus on all other assets transferred from other brokerages, 3% IRA matching, and other tools for trading and investing.

In addition, the metal Robinhood Gold card will offer 5% cash-back on travel booked through the Robinhood travel portal and 3% cash-back on all other categories. As a bonus, it will be issued as a Visa Signature card. Here’s a look at the card’s features:

• The ability to redeem points for travel, gift cards, or as a reinvestment into a Robinhood brokerage account
• Travel and purchase protection benefits such as trip delay and trip cancellation insurance
• Return protection
• No foreign transaction fees
• No annual fee

Before we go any further, I should point out that the card’s terms and conditions say that rewards redeemed as statement credits (the only way to redeem as “cash-back”) will be valued at “less than $0.01 per point.” They go on to state that this may not be available to everyone but don’t specify a specific per-point value when redeeming this way.

Why I’m Considering the Robinhood Gold Card

Over the years, I’ve built up a fairly deep roster of credit cards — I now have 16 active cards in my portfolio. Each of those has served a specific purpose for me, whether it was taking advantage of a particularly lucrative welcome bonus offer, providing certain perks that I derive a lot of value from, or simply earning well in the categories I make the most purchases in.

However, I’ve been thinking a lot more lately about simplicity in all aspects of my life, including my finances. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had absolutely amazing experiences thanks to points and miles, including first class flights and free nights at some of the most luxurious hotels around, but as I settle into my 30s, I’ve begun thinking a lot more about my future than I did in my 20s (I know, I know …).

Now, let’s examine why I think this card is a good fit for my life.

1. Excellent Cash-Back Rates

The Robinhood Gold card earns an uncapped 3% cash-back on all purchases (besides travel booked through the Robinhood travel portal, on which it earns 5%). Most cash-back cards on the market today earn a maximum of 2%, so this is a significant improvement over the competition.

There are drawbacks, however, like the fact that “true” cash-back can only be redeemed as a statement credit. Also, when done this way, points are worth less than 1 cent per point.

Even with an elevated 5% earnings on travel purchases, I’m probably better off using the Platinum Card^® from American Express. It earns 5x Membership Rewards points (which we value at 2.2 cents apiece) on travel purchased directly with the airline or through AmexTravel.com, up to $500,000 per year.

That said, though, the card is a powerful earner — a baseline of 3% back is best in class for cash-back cards. These days, life is incredibly expensive, and earning cash-back seems more and more valuable to me with each passing day.

2. Ability To Reinvest Rewards Is Huge

In addition to earning cash-back as statement credits, the Robinhood Gold card allows you to reinvest rewards into a Robinhood brokerage account. To me, this is actually the most enticing option for leveraging rewards earned with this card.

Since I have to operate on a relatively strict budget, I want to do everything I can to ensure that I’m putting as much money as possible toward savings goals. This means setting aside money in various savings accounts, retirement accounts, investment accounts, and more.

The Robinhood Gold card allows cardholders to take the cash-back earned on purchases each month (if redeemed this way, rewards are worth 1 cent apiece) and deposit that cash into Robinhood brokerage accounts.

Having the ability to contribute to investment accounts in Robinhood on a monthly basis ensures a steady contribution to these important financial vehicles. Although it may not be heaps of money every month, the power of compound interest is your friend here, and as time goes on, those contributions, however small they may be, can grow healthily.

3. Visa Signature Perks Make It an Everyday Card

This is a no-annual-fee card, but it comes with an entire suite of Visa Signature perks that make it a solid choice for spending on everyday purchases — even large ones.

It offers trip interruption protection, up to $2,000 per person for nonrefundable passenger fares. It has broad applications, with flights, trains, buses, and cruises all eligible. Cardholders can also expect purchase protection, extended warranty, return protection, and auto rental collision damage waiver.

Further benefits include access to Visa Signature Concierge Service, roadside dispatch, emergency assistance while traveling, and virtual card numbers for more secure online and digital wallet transactions.

4. No Annual Fee or Foreign Transaction Fees

Another reason the Robinhood Gold card is powerful for everyday spending is because, in addition to not having an annual fee, it doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. The same can’t be said for many of its cash-back competitors, such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited^® and the Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express (rates & fees), both of which charge fees abroad.

Not only can I earn more cash-back than with other cards, I don’t need to worry about incurring additional fees when traveling abroad, which I do frequently. This ensures that I can continue my earnings uninterrupted, even if I spend significant amounts of time out of the country.

5. Do Everything on the App

The Robinhood app (iOS, Android) has a user-friendly interface that allows users to manage rewards, track spending, and invest. In fact, if you can invest rewards earned on the Robinhood Gold card right from the app. You can instantly convert your cash-back into cash that can then be used to invest in stocks, cryptocurrencies, options, or ETFs.

This helps to demystify investing and makes it quick and easy for casual users or investors like myself.

Final Thoughts

I’ve been playing the points-and-miles game for more than a decade at this point, and I never thought I’d be considering using a cash-back card as one of my daily drivers. But the Robinhood Gold card offers a pretty compelling package that aligns nicely with my goals for the future.

The option to take the rewards earned as cash-back and immediately reinvest them into a Robinhood brokerage account is particularly alluring to me, as it ensures steady contributions to accounts that will grow over time and one day could be a great nest egg to draw from.

I won’t be giving up on earning points — far from it — but if I get off the waitlist for the Robinhood Gold card, it looks like I’m going to be not only adding it to my wallet but using it on a regular basis.