Retail Investing Goes Upscale
Illustration by Arnaud Aubry
The Big Take

Anti-Wall Street Trading Apps Now Offer Rich Traders Big Bank Perks

Meme stock apps are piling on luxury offerings from F1 access to premium credit cards to keep wealthy clients from leaving

Retail-trading apps that got famous for “democratizing finance” with free trades, fractional shares and meme stocks are going elite.

Robinhood, eToro, Revolut and Public.com are often associated with twentysomethings in their parents’ basements. Now those brokerage firms are offering investors access to airport lounges, gala dinners and Formula One races. They’re rolling out $695 premium credit-cards made of precious metals, creating elite concierge services exclusively for customers with million-dollar balances and pushing into complex tax planning, wealth management and even trust accounts in a bid to compete with more established rivals.