Imagine if, instead of visiting an ATM to get cash, someone brought that cash to you.
Digital finance platform Robinhood is banking on the idea that this scenario will appeal to its customers, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday (Nov. 13).
To that end, the company is teaming with delivery platform Gopuff to let customers withdraw cash from their Robinhood bank accounts and have it brought to their homes. For a delivery fee of $6.99, or $2.99 for users with over $100,000 in assets in their Robinhood accounts, customers can have cash delivered to their homes in a sealed paper bag.
While this offering might seem quaint in an age of digital payments, Robinhood Money Vice President and General Manager Deepak Rao said in the report that cash deliveries could eliminate one of the main reasons consumers still go to bank branches and ATMs.
“Everything gets delivered to their house from burritos to medicine,” Rao said, per the report. “Why not cash? Now imagine any reason you could ever think of for going to the bank.”
Cash delivery is already happening in New York, and there are plans to bring it to San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and other major cities in the months ahead, the report said. Customers must be members of Robinhood Gold and have direct deposits of at least $1,000 a month set up to their Robinhood bank accounts.
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Executives from the two companies said they’ve collaborated to address some security fears that might arise about getting cash delivered, according to the report. Customers will need to present a verification code and take their cash directly from the driver rather than having a package dropped off.
The delivery worker won’t know if the sealed bag contains dollar bills or any of the myriad other household and food products that Gopuff sells, the report said.
The move is the latest in a series of indicators that Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev is not afraid to “push the envelope,” according to the report. The company this year expanded the event contracts offered on its platform to include wagers on entertainment, politics and sports.
That expansion, a collaboration with Kalshi, has drawn criticism from industry observers who say the contracts blur the line between investing and gambling, the report said. During an earnings call last week, Tenev said prediction markets are Robinhood’s fastest-growing business to date.
“I think it’s really exciting to see where this can go,” he said. “I mean, we love being early to this new asset class, and some people are saying this could be one of the largest asset classes because you can price risk in pretty much anything.”
