“Can a premium income-based credit card become the credit layer of a broader consumer financial operating system (Robinhood)?”
Founded in 2020, X1 differentiated in the saturated consumer credit card market by underwriting based on income rather than just credit score, offering smart limits, no fees, and an automated rewards program on a premium stainless steel card. After raising $62M in venture funding and launching publicly in 2022, the company was acquired by Robinhood for $95M in mid-2023 as Robinhood moved to expand beyond brokerage into credit. Post-acquisition, the X1 card infrastructure and team were folded into what became the Robinhood Gold Card, embedding credit into Robinhood's consumer financial platform and relying on Coastal Community Bank as the issuing sponsor bank.
X1 discloses Coastal Community Bank (sponsor) as its banking provider, with Coastal Community Bank as its sponsor bank, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
X1 does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Coastal Community Bank.
X1's cards are issued through Coastal Community Bank.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 4 layers in X1's stack: Banking / BaaS (Coastal Community Bank (sponsor)); Card issuing (Coastal Community Bank); Lending (Income-based credit limits (smart credit limits based on employment/income data)); Sponsor bank (Coastal Community Bank).
X1 was founded by Deepak Rao and Siddharth Batra and is founded in 2020, headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA.
X1 has raised $62M in total (latest round: Acquired by Robinhood for $95M, 2023; valuation: $95M acquisition price (2023)).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against X1 and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.