MENLO PARK, Calif.–Credit unions that have relationships with colleges and universities often seek to get their cards into the hands of students when they arrive on campus. Now, Robinhood, the trading app popular with young investors, is borrowing the tactic.
The digital brokerage has kicked off a nationwide marketing campaign that is designed to turn more college students into Robinhood customers, noted the Wall Street Journal.
According to the report, Robinhood will give students who sign up for brokerage accounts using their school email address $15 to trade, and enter them into a $20,000 giveaway. Robinhood executives will tour campuses of community colleges and historically black colleges and universities this fall, the report added.
The Journal noted millions of users downloaded the Robinhood app earlier this year to buy and sell shares in GameStop and other hot stocks. Many were novice investors.
“Robinhood reported earlier this year that its median user was 31 years old and that more than half of its customers hadn’t previously had a brokerage account,” the Journal reported. “Robinhood already has more than 3.8 million student customers.”
With trading activity starting to slow, the Journal said Robinhood has launched the campaign targeting college students.
The Long-Term Mission
Aparna Chennapragada, Robinhood’s product chief, told the Journal the marketing push is a continuation of Robinhood’s long-term mission to make investing accessible to people who hadn’t historically participated in the markets.
The campaign, she said, is about “meeting the next generation where they are” and communicating that by starting young, college students can enjoy the benefits of compound returns over decades, according to the Journal.