Robinhood Markets Inc. announced Tuesday the roll out of 24-hour customer phone support, seven days a week, following a recruiting spree earlier this year of financial advisers turned customer service reps.
The free trading app more than doubled the number of full-time registered reps this year after recruiting 100 advisers from other firms since 2019, according to InvestmentNews’ Advisers on the Move data. The online brokerage has beefed up its customer support features and staff since facing harsh criticism of its communications with users among a string of regulatory woes, including a record $70 million Finra settlement.
Robinhood said expanding its customer support would help its users feel confident, informed and secure about investing, especially when trading assets like cryptocurrencies, according to the company blog.
This new in-app feature makes Robinhood one of the first major crypto platform to roll out 24/7 phone support. Now investors can trade crypto 24/7 and get live customer service 24/7, said Christine Brown, Robinhood's chief operating officer of its crypto business.
The adviser recruits from earlier this year are not used to provide financial advice, rather, specialized customer service. For example, if a customer reaches out with a question about options, they will get a call directly from a registered representative to help with their issue or question.
Robinhood opened offices in Tempe, Arizona, as well as Southlake, Texas, and Denver to create additional centers for customer support. The company continued to grow its customer support team in Lake Mary, Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Robinhood came under criticism for its lack of customer support and education after the tragic death of Alex Kearns, a Robinhood customer who took his life in June 2020 after mistakenly thinking he had lost some $730,000. Kearns’ family sued the trading app for “misleading” customer communications in a case that was settled earlier this year, Robinhood said in a regulatory filing.
Robinhood has been working to patch its image with on-demand customer support, while being a huge beneficiary of this year’s market frenzies, like GameStop’s stock surge and cryptocurrencies.
The app has also been able to maintain its popularity, even going public and trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange, throughout the year despite some regulatory hiccups. More than 21 million people trade stocks and cryptocurrencies on Robinhood.
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