TechCrunch Minute: Robinhood’s credit card has arrived to take on Apple and any upcoming challengers

Robinhood’s new bank card was revealed Tuesday, and although it’s solely accessible for Robinhood Gold members, the Gold Card does have a characteristic that’s spurring headlines: the flexibility to take a position money again bonuses into investments.

The announcement comes eight months after the acquisition of the startup X1 for $95 million, and it simply so occurs one of X1’s biggest features was the ability to invest cash back benefits. Coincidence? Clearly not! Robinhood is hoping that bonus, plus a slew of different perks together with the flexibility so as to add members of the family as cardholders, even when they’re younger or with no Social Safety quantity, can be sufficient to drag prospects away from Apple’s pull.

However what provides with tech corporations moving into the buyer credit score recreation? You could possibly argue that Robinhood’s selection to supply a card is simply an extension of its already-expanding portfolio of economic merchandise. However Apple additionally has a card, recall. And the tech large is getting deeper into the realm of private finance as time goes alongside.

Tech corporations increasing their product remit over time is just not new — hell, I wrote about it back in 2014 — nevertheless it’s notable to see how day after day shopper finance is turning into a know-how story. Hit the clip, let’s chat!