On Tuesday, Robinhood announced that it would expand its customer phone support to operate for 24 hours per day, every day of the week. This move marks the company’s efforts towards enhancing customer access for both account support and financial education. The move comes as the company has started to expand into crypto assets.
Robinhood has 30 million users- as of June- as has said that it wants to increase “reliability, accessibility and understanding of our service and financial markets.” After the announcement, shares of HOOD were trading more than 3% higher, at around $42.40.
The demand for 24 support has been prevalent for years and the new offering suggests that Robinhood is giving more priority to crypto trading customers. It follows the company’s September announcement that it would roll out crypto wallets, allowing users to send and receive their crypto holdings off their platform.
According to Christine Brown, Robinhood COO, “There is a large emotional barrier for new investors entering the crypto industry as crypto has traditionally been an experience made by engineers for engineers.” She then added, “We hope providing 24/7 phone support will break down this barrier as our customers are now able to ask questions along their crypto journey.”
A Robinhood spokesperson has also said that Robinhood is on track to more than double its support staff. According to a blog post that was published in June, Robinhood currently has 2,700 employees working in customer service.
A move in the right direction
Alvan Chow, a 27-year-old Robinhood trader, said that the new support offerings are a move in the right direction. “Robinhood, with all its pains as a startup, has made wonderful strides in democratizing finance, evident by the mass of brokerage firms now adopting zero-commission trading,” said Chow. “The addition of 24/7 phone support will help traders understand the risks they are taking in the market with greater clarity.”
Chow is not yet sure how much he will use the service. Chow also stated that he suspects the company will need to make clear the difference between customer support and financial education.
HOOD security
Security is one issue that is often missed in 24/7 phone support. The 24/7 phone support will provide customers with a helpline during times when they may notice something suspicious on their trading account. Head of Cyberthreat Intelligence, Roman Sannikov, said that this is a “psychological measure,” saying, “The idea is that if you find something [suspicious] in the middle of the night, you know something was deducted from your account, you can immediately reach someone who could provide you with some sort of mitigation, and can potentially stop a transfer before it goes through.
The new Robinhood phone support is only available to customers with account access and the company has said that it will offer additional support (for customers who cannot access their accounts) soon. ”
