ARK Invest said Robinhood’s bigger story is no longer tied only to swings in trading revenue. In a report published on July 6, research lead Nick Grous and Varshika wrote that Robinhood Gold, priced at $5 per month, is becoming a membership product similar to Amazon Prime, drawing retail users into a wider financial ecosystem and pushing the company beyond its roots as a brokerage.
A low-cost subscription is pulling users deeper into the platform
According to the report, Gold is less about short-term subscription income and more about retention and product adoption. ARK said the package connects banking, credit cards, managed portfolios, and a 3.35% cash yield inside one account structure, making Robinhood more central to how users manage money.
First-quarter data pointed to a clear gap between Gold members and standard users. Gold subscribers held roughly 5x more assets on average, posted deposit growth that was 1.2x faster, and opened retirement accounts at a rate 3.3x higher. Among all funded customers, Gold represented 15.8%. Among new users, the share choosing Gold was close to 40%.
Banking and card products are scaling fast
ARK highlighted Robinhood Banking as one of the strongest growth areas. The service has about 100,000 users, and deposits climbed from $100 million in the prior quarter to $1.6 billion. That was a sharp jump in a single quarter. Nearly 40% of those users had enabled direct deposit, a sign that Robinhood may be becoming a primary financial account for part of its customer base.
Gold Card also expanded quickly. Cardholders reached about 765,000, up 4x year over year. ARK said the credit card gives Robinhood a daily payment touchpoint instead of being used only when customers want to trade. Its managed investing product, Strategies, had 270,000 funded customers and $1.5 billion in assets under management.
Recurring revenue is becoming a larger part of the model
The report said traditional brokerage revenue is closely tied to market activity, while banking balances and consumer spending are based on everyday habits. By using Gold to expand into those areas, Robinhood is trying to build a steadier stream of recurring revenue.
ARK said Gold subscriptions alone are already generating more than $100 million in annualized recurring revenue, and Gold Card is expected to reach the same scale this year. Grous wrote that Gold is central to Robinhood’s shift from a single-purpose broker to a broader financial platform, and that the transition is still in its early stage.