Robinhood Offering Gold Members Up to 3% Interest on Brokerage Cash

Online broker Robinhood is upping the interest rate it pays to Gold members on uninvested cash held in brokerage accounts.

Through Robinhood’s brokerage cash sweep program, Gold customers now earn 3% interest on uninvested funds retained in accounts, compared to 1.5% for non-gold users, according to a press release on Monday (Sept. 26).

With the new higher rate, Robinhood Gold members can earn 23 times more in interest compared to the national average savings rate of 0.13%, based on data from Bankrate as of Sept. 14.

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Robinhood overhauled its brokerage cash sweep program in May and has since experienced “strong adoption from our Gold users, who currently have about $750 million enrolled in cash sweeps,” per the release.

All cash sweep balances are now earning 3% interest with the interest compounding daily, according to the release. Monthly interest paid by program banks can be tracked by users in the Robinhood app.

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The new higher interest rate is on top of Gold customer perks like larger instant deposits, access to Morningstar research, Level II market data from Nasdaq, and access to margin investing at 5.75% interest for eligible users, with the first $1,000 of margin included. Non-gold eligible customers have access to a margin interest rate of 9.75%.

Customers who are part of the cash sweep program have their uninvested brokerage funds automatically moved into deposit accounts at a network of six program banks. Funds are covered by FDIC insurance up to a “total maximum of $1.5 million, up to $250,000 per program bank, inclusive of deposits customers may already hold at the bank in the same ownership capacity,” according to the release.

Robinhood Gold costs $5 a month; new customers get a free 30-day trial. Customers not enrolled in Robinhood Gold can still earn 1.5% interest for all uninvested brokerage cash once they enroll in the cash sweep program.