PayPal Touts Investing App With Investment

When a company like PayPal invests in another financial technology firm, you tend to pay attention.

The online payment powerhouse has become so successful in the fintech realm that it has become a household name.

Now PayPal has announced a joint investment with Rakuten into robo-investing app Acorns. The app has become popular with millennial investors due to its ease of use and low costs.

Acorns offers users a chance to auto-invest small amounts of funds each month and build a strong portfolio.

The app focuses on low-cost ETFs, which are investments that tend to perform moderately well.

The robo-investor simplifies the investment process by asking two simple questions – how much would you like to invest and how much risk are you willing to take?

Users of the app can deposit a small amount of funds, create a simple portfolio profile, and have money transferred and invest automatically into these low-cost EFTs.

Acorns is quickly gaining in popularity, and an investment from PayPal will likely increase the app’s popularity.

PayPal and Rakuten duel-invested $30 million in the app, with PayPal providing the majority. Acorns has plans to move past just investing and transition into a mobile financial hub for the younger generation.

“Investing is a powerful first step,” said Jefft Cruttenden, cofounder of Acorns, when asked about Acorns future as a financial hub. “They’ll listen to us.”