
Robinhood Markets Inc., a popular online brokerage platform, will increase its minimum transfer fee for instant withdrawals from $0.02 to $2 starting Nov. 1, 2023. The changes have yet to be acknowledged on Robinhood's own Help Center, which doesn't mention the minimum fees associated with instant transfers. The support article acknowledges the 1.5% fee charged on instant transfer, but the current example of a $100 instant withdrawal says users will see the total transfer amount change to $98.50. Under the new terms, a $100 instant withdrawal would be subject to a minimum fee of up to $2, making the total transfer amount $98.
In practice, it means that instant transfers under $133.34 will have higher fees and users will likely decline to make smaller instant transfers instead of opting for larger instant transfers or forgoing the service altogether and utilizing free traditional deposits that typically take four to five business days to complete.
The fees are rising as Robinhood contends with declining monthly active users and increased scrutiny by the SEC. Robinhood, which owns FTX, announced a repurchase deal with US Marshals last week to buy back past FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's stock.