Robinhood has announced its acquisition of X1, a no-fee credit card startup, for $95 million in cash. X1, which provides an income-based credit card with rewards, has raised a total of $62 million in venture-backed funding since its establishment in 2020. The acquisition is seen as a strategic move by Robinhood to expand its product offerings and deepen its relationship with existing customers, especially amidst declines in its core trading business and slower crypto trading. With this purchase, Robinhood enters the credit card business and gains interchange fee revenue. X1’s co-founders, Deepak Rao and Siddharth Batra, will oversee the credit card business for Robinhood. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
