# Zero-Commission Stock Trading App RobinHood



## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

RobinHood Kicks Off Private Beta










Maybe this is one reason the big banksters recently dropped to $10/trade for everyone? I'm pretty happy with Questrade's mobile app and prices, but there isn't much competition for either of those in Canada. One thing with Questrade is it attracts all the noobs who overwhelm their support, so I imagine this free RobinHood App would be even worse.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

nah, not new. New for mobile is all. Ever since Zecco in 2006, there have been zero commish brokers.

alas poor zecco, as it teetered towards bankruptcy in 2011, the broker had to impose commish at rates up to 6.95. These didn't help, so zecco sold what was left of itself to tradeking.

the dodgy thing about zecco was that it reportedly tracked clients' net navigation with malware, then sold the data. Not cool.

since google ventures is a big angel investor in robin hood, one can hazard a guess that similar spywares are going to help the world's biggest data compiler enhance its data base & user profiles. After all some kind of return has got to be motivating google in this startup venture; return has to be revenue dollars or better user data or both.

as for margin lending, impulse buying & other stuff that appeals to the ADHD/ACC crowd, all robin hood needed was a catchy-looking mobile app & it sure looks like they produced one.

i wouldn't be caught dead, though


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## richard (Jun 20, 2013)

It sounds like it will be just like all those generous financial advisors who work for free  That may not be a bad thing for some since $10 can be a large percentage of a small trade. Then again a lot of people tend to do worse the more they trade. This may be the gamification of the stock market.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

when questrade announced its zero-commish platform for buying etfs, there were threads on here asking how they could absorb the costs of the buy trades.

wondering if perhaps the Zecco prototype is how. Brokers AFAIK don't normally sell their client data. But questrade could perhaps be bartering or exchanging some or all of its client etf-trading data with the etf industry.

data such as client profile details would greatly help the etf industry to prepare long-range marketing plans.


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## richard (Jun 20, 2013)

Apparently RobinHood is or expects to be paid for the order flow, although that isn't the only potential source of revenue they mention. Maybe it's just because some exchange wants a little more volume... from small-time traders buying 10 shares? Maybe...

This reminds me of the ETF that had a 0% MER funded by securities lending. That might be part of their plan too (or Questrade's plan for that matter). Either way customers have to pay somehow. If it's a tiny percentage they never see maybe it works out for everyone.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I think Questrade makes far more on FX transactions. That might be enough to justify drawing in clients with free buying transactions for ETFs.


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## Westerncanada (Nov 11, 2013)

I wanted to bump this as I received notification that I would get my invite in 24 hours? 

Is anyone on or using this?


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

My invite came and expired in 48 hours after a 24 hour warning.

Did you try it? There are reviews out there. Looks useful for beginners


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## Westerncanada (Nov 11, 2013)

m3s said:


> My invite came and expired in 48 hours after a 24 hour warning.
> 
> Did you try it? There are reviews out there. Looks useful for beginners



I didnt get a chance to set it up.. really not sure why my invitation would have an expiry on setting up an account.. feels a little shady to me but hopefully it's a great platform down the road that forces other companies to further reduce commissions!


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## avrex (Nov 14, 2010)

I hear they have Robin Hood by the bag. <old joke>


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Westerncanada said:


> I didnt get a chance to set it up.. really not sure why my invitation would have an expiry on setting up an account.. feels a little shady to me but hopefully it's a great platform down the road that forces other companies to further reduce commissions!


Maybe they can only manage so many clients. It says the invitation expires so that others can get an invite. I was initially interested for the mobile app, but other discount brokers have that now. Free is free though for a starter account


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

be self-rising, guys. Ask again for another invite.

i could see the flour bag spreading like wildfire but imho there are a few things that could cause the cake to fall.

how come canadians can suddenly become clients of a US broker, no prob, when historically nobody could?

plus there's no CIPF protection for canadian robin hooders. They'd have US SIPC but there's probably a provision somewhere spelling out that SIPC benefits can only be paid to lawful residents of the US of A.

possible baking flop: i don't believe it's a good idea for kids to play stock games on iPhones for free. There's too much ADHD already.


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