Growing demand for full-service digital finance has prompted fintechs to replicate services once limited to wealthy private bank clients. Robinhood aims to close that gap this fall when it launches a banking product for its Gold subscribers.

Not a bank: Robinhood Banking, currently accepting waitlist sign-ups for early access, will offer checking and savings accounts with a 4% annual percentage yield and up to $2.5 million in FDIC coverage through partner Coastal Community Bank. Although Robinhood's product is not itself a bank, it uses "pass-through" deposit insurance, holding customer funds at the FDIC-insured institution on their behalf.

Global features: Alongside standard features like global money transfers in over 100 currencies, the platform distinguishes itself by offering cash deliveries on demand at a user’s address, removing the need for ATMs. Robinhood is simultaneously expanding its wealth management portfolio. A new feature called Robinhood Strategies offers managed baskets of single stocks and exchange-traded funds, and another tool called Cortex will arrive later this year, using AI to parse market trends and highlight potential investment ideas. With this growing suite, Robinhood aims to position its platform as a single ecosystem for traditional banking, investment management, and real-time market intelligence.