Credit cards are normally evaluated by the perks and benefits they offer, but so, too, by the way the look – and sometimes feel. Most credit cards are made from recyclable plastic these days, but there are some premium cards that elevate the ownership experience with fancier materials like metal. But what about a card made from solid gold?

The popular US-based investment app Robinhood has taken its first step into other financial products with the launch of its inaugural credit card, the Robinhood Gold Card, which is made from 10 karat (10k) gold!

Benefits-wise, the Robinhood Gold Card – which exists as both virtual and physical cards – is also surprisingly decent. It offers 3% cashback on most purchases (dining, shopping, groceries, and so on), and 5% cashback on travel spend via bookings made through Robinhood’s new travel portal.

However, the cashback earned will not be disbursed as cash. They’ll first be calculated as rewards points, and once the points have been posted to the cardholder’s account, they can then be redeemed for a variety of rewards, including travel, gift cards, shopping credit at major retailers like Apple and Nike, as well as cash.

Aside from that, Robinhood Gold Card cardholders will be covered with a number of benefits and coverage protections. These include trip interruption reimbursement, purchase security, Visa Signature Concierge Service, as well as travel and emergency assistance – just to name a few. On top of these, there are no annual fees and no foreign transaction fees.

The virtual card, specifically, comes with improved security features, such as disposable card numbers (similar in concept to Alliance Bank’s Dynamic Card Number on its Virtual Credit Card) for safer online spending and the ability to authorise cards for one-time use. Cardholders will also be able to easily cancel subscription payments and end free trials automatically.

The Robinhood Gold card is offered exclusively to Robinhood Gold members, a paid subscription that offers special benefits for its investors (priced at US$5 per month). And even then, there’s some legwork to be done: the card – which weighs 36g – has to be earned through a referral programme, where existing members are required to successfully refer 10 eligible customers to the Robinhood Gold subscription service.

Of course, as Robinhood does not operate in Malaysia, it won’t be available here. That said, we do have some cards in Malaysia that are fancy in their own right, including the American Express Platinum Charge Card (that arguably created the trend of “accidentally” dropping your metal card as a flex), the OCBC Premier Voyage Card which is made from Duralumin (a lightweight metal), and the by-invitation-only UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card. (Editor’s note: do let us know if we missed out on other metal cards available in Malaysia!)

One thing’s for certain, though: while it’d be a grand experience to have a solid 10k gold card in your wallet, the horror of losing it is real!

(Source: Robinhood [1, 2])

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• Robinhood
• Robinhood Gold Card
• Solid 10k Gold Robinhood Gold Credit Card