Game Over: Robinhood Pays $7.5 Million to Resolve “Gamification” Securities Violations

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image sourced from https://newsroom.aboutrobinhood.com/learn-and-grow-with-robinhood/

Robinhood is a “popular commission-free investing and stock trading platform that provides investment and brokerage services through its titular smartphone application” Robinhood has exploded in growth having only a million customers in 2016 and in 2024 they had 23.3 million customers (Game over: Robinhood pays $7.5 million to resolve “gamification” securities violations: Insights: Vinson & Elkins LLP, 2024). The FinTech (financial technology) application has generated much interest with younger generations because of its “notoriously usable, accessible, and satisfying user interface for its app-based trading platform” (Game over: Robinhood pays $7.5 million to resolve “gamification” securities violations: Insights: Vinson & Elkins LLP, 2024). With this large generation of interest and new found responsibility Robinhood was put in an awkward space. I was curious to find how the affect of ‘gamification’ has had it’s financial gain and legal troubles, and what insights that may deliver my research.

As I have personal experience with the Robinhood, I can attest to the usability and the ‘fun’ I had while using it. It requires no prior knowledge of stocks or trading to be able to invest money, and the fun factor inspires you to continue to invest your money. Although the product itself has amazing interface, the care of the user is not in the forefront. Robinhood does not “promote—the individual needs, goals, or risk profile”, which puts an inexperienced user in a dangerous position (Game over: Robinhood pays $7.5 million to resolve “gamification” securities violations: Insights: Vinson & Elkins LLP, 2024). I find it interesting that you can tell that the user was involved in the product production, but the well-being of the user was not considered. With this being the case how can design use ‘fun’ interfaces, while also having their financial well-being cared for?

Source

Game over: Robinhood pays $7.5 million to resolve “gamification” securities violations: Insights: Vinson & Elkins LLP. Vinson & Elkins. (2024, July 1). https://www.velaw.com/insights/game-over-robinhood-pays-7-5-million-to-resolve-gamification-securities-violations/