Daily Tearsheet: Robinhood’s UX experiment backfired, Oxygen’s new debit loyalty campaign, and the launch of Tearsheet’s 10-Q newsletter
- In a good market, Robinhood's slick UX made it fun to trade. Now, people are losing money and leaving the online broker.
- Also, there's new creativity around loyalty programs for banking, including Oxygen's four-tiered new product, Elements.
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The double edged sword of good UX: How Robinhood's gamification of investing backfired during the market downturn
Robinhood rose to fame with its hyper-gamified user interface optimized for its PFOF (Payment For Order Flow) business model. The app made it extremely easy and appealing for young investors to get into trading, among market surges such as the meme stock trend.
However, earlier this year, Robinhood reported $423 million in net losses in the last quarter of 2021, causing a 15% dip in its shares in after-hours trading. The new year hasn’t gone any better, either – with the company reporting a 43% dip in revenue in the first quarter.
The recent downward trend suggests that although Robinhood’s strategy worked well during the peak of the pandemic, now that the market is contracting, young investors are starting to realize the true cost of “commission-free trades”.
The Acquire Podcast Ep. 9: How Oxygen's new debit loyalty program Elements is winning rebels and change makers
In episode 9 of Acquire, Tearsheet’s Marketing Podcast, host Rebecca Alma Cohen, Head of Tearsheet Studios, speaks with Oxygen’s SVP, head of business development and strategic partnerships, Ryan Conway, and creative director, Sani Gad, to delve into the thinking and execution behind Elements.
They talk about Oxygen’s campaign for Elements -- Elements is Oxygen’s new multi-tier debit card loyalty program for creatives and solopreneurs, and its campaign brought about a new face to Oxygen at large.
10-Q – Tearsheet’s new weekly report on financial and fintech stocks
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The first issue of 10-Q – Tearsheet’s weekly report on financial and fintech stocks – lands in your inbox this week, May 20. Don’t miss it.
Just look at the charts
1. 2022 online bank ranking
Source: Ron Shevlin
2. A framework for navigating down markets
Source: Nick Thomas
Today's stories
Warren Buffett’s portfolio: Out with Wells and in with Citi
Berkshire Hathaway on Monday said it added new investments in Citigroup and several other companies in the first quarter, as Warren Buffett’s conglomerate took advantage of volatile stock markets to invest $51.1 billion that had largely been sitting in cash (Reuters)
Senior Square business lending exec quits, to join Coinbase
Ronak Daya, who spearheaded several of Square Capital’s lending divisions, including “head of product for business lending” and “head of product for external lending and partnerships,” announced that he had moved on from the company to Coinbase as the Head of Financing Products (deBanked)
Revolut reports a 215% increase in 'silver swipers'
Revolut, the global financial super-app with more than 18 million customers worldwide and over 4 million in the UK, has seen an increase of over 215% in the number of UK users aged between 55-74 over the past two years (AltFi)
Coinbase unveils Web3 mobile DApp and DeFi wallet and browser
Coinbase Global will begin allowing for a “small set” of its app users to access Ethereum-based decentralized apps (dapps) directly from the Coinbase app (CoinDesk)
Dave reforms guidance, reports Q1 2022 financial results
Neobank Dave, on a mission to build products that “level the financial playing field,” recently reported its financial results for the first quarter (Crowdfund Insider)
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