Retail Trading Apps Once Built on Free Trades Are Now Pivoting to Sell a Premium Lifestyle

Retail trading apps spent years crashing Wall Street’s party — now they’re trying to host it. Platforms like RobinhoodHOOD

and eToroETOR

are rolling out private banking-style perks like F1 access, airport lounges, and premium cards to keep higher-value users from leaving. The shift comes as they face “graduation risk,” where maturing investors move to Goldman SachsGS

or JPMorganJPM

, pushing these platforms to pivot from driving trades to retaining assets.

• Robinhood’s median user age has climbed to 36 from 31, with 300K+ accounts holding $100K+ — a jump of over 250% since 2022.
• eToro’s elite Club grew to 720K members in 2025 (from 579K), as CEO Yoni Assia signals a long-term push toward becoming a “family office.”

Not everyone’s buying it: Brand experts say the shift won’t be easy, with Abigail Sussman noting that moving upmarket is far harder than going mass without established trust. And the trust gap remains real — Robinhood was hit with a $70M FINRA fine in 2021, and eToro paid $1.5M to settle SEC allegations in 2024. The perks are getting flashier, but trust is still the product Wall Street has perfected over centuries.