Webinars!I have two upcoming webinars you can join for free! First up, Payment Infrastructure Lessons from Scaled Businesses on Thursday, March 19 at 11 a.m. PDT. Next, Cards That Compete: Building Credit Cards That People Actually Want on Tuesday, May 24, at 10 a.m. PDT. Robinhood PlatinumRobinhood announced its new Robinhood Platinum credit card last week. In a fascinating contrast to their Robinhood Gold card, which is widely adored due to its simple value proposition (3% cashback on all purchases, with no limits), the new Robinhood Platinum card is a complicated coupon-book credit card that looks a lot like American Express’s Platinum and Chase’s Sapphire Reserve.  Richie Rich In a marketing line that feels like my 14-year-old wrote it, Robinhood notes this is the “actual” Platinum card, much like users can redeem points to get a gold-plated version of the gold card. It is a gimmick. Look, I am a true credit card nerd, and I want to collect things like the actual platinum card and the actual gold card because I have a credit card collection. (PS, if you have an expired weird card and want to send it to me, I’ll reward you with a complimentary subscription! Email for details!) However, for the average user, having an insanely heavy card in your wallet seems like a bad idea. Platinum is very dense (21,450 kg/m3). Gold, which we all know is heavy, has a density of 19,320 kg/m3. Let’s examine, making the unreasonable assumption that these cards are solid materials, not composites with plating. This platinum card would weigh 15 times as much as a standard plastic card. Yikes. We’ve been playing this game for years. American Express’s Centurion card went to titanium as a material in 1999. First USA, Bank One’s credit card brand, launched a “Titanium” labeled Visa in 2001, although it was plastic. (I had one of these cards, but that’s before I started collecting.) Doing a platinum-plated card is on brand for Robinhood, though. They love a gimmick. As far as the card program itself goes, it sounds amazing, but it is full of fine print. For most credit card enthusiasts, the ultimate goal is transferable miles or points that offer flexibility and let you take advantage of travel deals. The Robinhood card has a base cashback rate of just 1%, with a 5% boost on dining. You can earn 5% on flights and 10% on hotels and rental cards, but only if you book through Robinhood Travel, much like you can earn 10x on Chase Sapphire Reserve when you book through Chase. I don’t think users want to book through these portals. I think, in general, people want to use their card wherever they want to. These types of structures sound great: 10X (!), but they are not. There is a slew of potential credits (more than $3,000 worth!) just like other coupon book cards (e.g., Amex Platinum). Some of them are rough: - $250 DoorDash discount, but only allotted monthly and only on orders of $50 or more
- $500 in hotel credits, but only $250 per six months, when booked through the app, and with a two-night minimum
- $250 on autonomous rides, allotted per month, and not many people live where they can take Waymo
The list goes on. You can read them all here. I was excited about the free Oura membership, but then I read this: Eligible Robinhood Platinum cardholders who purchase an Oura Ring can receive one complimentary 1-year Oura Membership access, enabling advanced analytics and personalized guidance. To receive the benefit, Cardholder must opt in via the Robinhood Banking App and within six (6) months, purchase Oura Ring with a pre-paid annual Oura Membership at the time of purchase on www.ouraring.com. Oura enrollment is required to receive membership access. Once the Oura charge posts, Cardholder will receive a statement credit of $70 within a few weeks to cover the Oura Membership.
Oy. Will I get this card? Probably, if just for the collection. (I know, it’s absurd.) Will this card be successful? Probably, just because there are Robinhood superfans and they are deep in the Robinhood ecosystem (with trading, crypto, prediction markets, banking, and more). Do I think this is a good card or impressive? No. It’s a knock-off of American Express’s Platinum product, first launched in 1984! Robinhood certainly doesn’t have the reputation of American Express for customer service, and I wouldn’t want to trust them as my primary card. Rogers World LegendFor the second week in a row, Canada has new cards I want to mention! Rogers Bank and Mastercard announced the first World Legend card in Canada. World Legend is a new super-premium product from Mastercard designed to compete with Visa’s Infinite product. (For the non-Canadians, Rogers Communications is a wireless, cable, and internet conglomerate that owns a bank and sports teams, amongst many other things.)  That's Mister Rogers to you, buddy! The new card earns 3% cashback when redeeming towards Rogers products, plus benefits from Mastercard. The K-shaped economy and the rise of the global elite are here to stay. We’re going to see more World Legend cards soon. Speaking of Mastercard and metal cards, MetaMask announced that its card is now available nationwide (finally including New York) and now comes in metal! For $199, the card offers what they call an “elevated physical experience.” 🤢 Please note for the record: I am tired of the word “elevated” being used to mean fancy. I heard “elevated bites” the other day and it made me nauseous. The irony of the physical experience being important to MetaMask crypto payments isn’t lost on me either. To the first part of this newsletter: people love fancy physical cards, even, or maybe especially, for their digital currency!  Redd Foxx The MetaMask card is issued by Cross River Bank and operated on Monavate’s platform. The card is uniquely self-custodial, whereas most crypto products operate through an exchange. I think connecting debit cards to crypto is difficult because of crypto's volatility, but I can see where one might find this useful. CardsFTWCardsFTW, released weekly on Wednesdays, offers insights and analysis on new credit and debit card industry products for consumers and providers. CardsFTW is authored and published by Matthew Goldman and the team at Totavi, a boutique consulting firm specializing in fintech product management & marketing. We bring real operational experience that varies from the earliest days of a startup to high-growth phases and public company leadership. Visit www.totavi.com to learn more. Interested in reaching our audience? You can sponsor CardsFTW.
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