Robinhood offers to Uber cash to customers and have AI give trading advice

Trading platform Robinhood Markets plans to offer a service that delivers cash to its customers alongside an artificial intelligence research assistant that offers trading advice.

The company said in a March 27 blog post that its online banking arm, Robinhood Banking, will offer savings accounts to its Gold subscribers through its partner Coastal Community Bank and will be given the option to have physical cash delivered on demand.

“You could be sitting at home and decide to get a cash delivery the same way you’d want to order an Uber or a Postmates,” Robinhood Markets CEO Vlad Tenev said during a livestream

He added there are already home delivery services for groceries and meals, but banking still “hasn’t progressed that much past the branch office and the ATM.”

https://t.co/oGJ630tmI2

“In the past, cash delivery was a service that some private bankers offered to their high-end customers. It wouldn’t work exactly like this, though. The cash would be a much larger amount and would usually make its way to you in an armored vehicle,” he said.

The service terms and conditions state that the delivery service coverage is based on geographic location and that travel routes may be limited without mentioning who the drivers are or how they’re selected.

Robinhood’s concept for its planned cash delivery service. Source: Robinhood

The firm also has plans for a platform called Robinhood Strategies, offering a mix of single stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Later this year, the firm said it will launch an AI-powered research assistant called Cortex for its $5 a month Gold subscribers that can provide analyses and insights about market trends and stocks to consider trading.

Tenev said the firm spoke to traders about what would give them a better edge in stock trading and then spent two years developing Cortex, keeping their feedback in mind.

Related: Robinhood to pay $30M to settle US regulator probes

Robinhood product management vice president Abhishek Fatehpuria added that the firm is looking to bring cryptocurrencies to the platform at some point in the future.

Robinhood has been expanding its footprint in emerging asset classes, including crypto and derivatives. 

The platform launched a prediction betting markets hub on March 17, which sent its stock surging by 8%.

Robinhood Markets (HOOD) closed the March 26 trading day down 7.1% at $44.73, which continued to fall an additional 2.84% after hours, according to Google Finance.

On March 13, the company listed memecoins like Pengu (PENGU), Pnut (PNUT) and Popcat (POPCAT) in a bid to expand its presence in crypto. In January, it rolled out futures contracts tied to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC).

Magazine: What are native rollups? Full guide to Ethereum’s latest innovation