Last week Robinhood, the company behind the free mobile trading app, filed an application to open an online bank that would be FDIC insured and offer high rates on savings and low rates on credit cards. Robinhood is looking to expand beyond the brokerage business and launch a deposit account with an interest rate higher than what’s on the market today. There will be no fees attached to the account.
Marcus, the online lending unit of Goldman Sachs, uses Infosys for its core banking platform, the report noted. Robinhood will combine the core processing platform with its consumer-facing platform to create mobile and web-based banking products. “Robinhood currently uses innovative technologies to deliver brokerage services to U.S. retail consumers. It proposes to leverage those same and other innovative technologies to offer banking services in a safe and sound manner to U.S. retail consumers,” it says in its application to the OCC, according to the report.
After garnering a lot of attention for launching a checking and savings product with 3 percent interest, it was forced to pull the offer days later. Robinhood ran into trouble with regulators and was forced to remove all material on the product from its website.
Earlier this year Robinhood did get the green light to trade seven digital currencies from New York State, which also signed off on a money transmission license for the company.