Robinhood · Robinhood Customer Agreement

Payment for Order Flow Disclosure

Medium severity
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What it is

You acknowledge and agree that Robinhood Financial may receive compensation from market makers and other third parties in connection with the routing of your orders for execution. This practice, known as payment for order flow, may create a conflict of interest in that Robinhood Financial has a financial incentive to route your orders to market makers that pay the most compensation rather than to venues that may provide the best execution for your orders. Robinhood Financial is required to seek best execution for your orders notwithstanding any such compensation arrangements.

Why it matters

Payment for order flow is how Robinhood makes much of its revenue — the 'free' trading model is subsidized by market makers who pay for your order flow, and this may cost you slightly more on each trade than using a broker that routes for pure best execution.

Consumer impact

Robinhood's Customer Agreement significantly restricts your legal rights by requiring all disputes — including those involving investment losses — to be resolved through binding arbitration rather than court, and explicitly waives your right to join a class action lawsuit. If you have a margin account, Robinhood can liquidate any of your securities positions without prior notice and can lend your securities to third parties. You can opt out of the arbitration clause by sending written notice to Robinhood within 30 days of account opening, as specified in the agreement.

Applicable agencies

  • SEC
    The SEC regulates payment for order flow under Regulation NMS Rule 606, Reg BI conflict of interest requirements, and best execution obligations, and has directly fined Robinhood for PFOF-related violations.
    File a complaint →

Provision details

Document information
Document
Robinhood Customer Agreement
Entity
Robinhood
Document last updated
March 24, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 6, 2026
Last verified
April 9, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-002199
Document ID
CA-D-00050
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
42fdece1ce06bb1213691f7474d4463025e28fcf4db4d7ada943d32d7009952a
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: Robinhood | Document: Robinhood Customer Agreement | Record: CA-P-002199
Captured: 2026-03-06 20:25:05 UTC | SHA-256: 42fdece1ce06bb12…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/robinhood/robinhood-customer-agreement/payment-for-order-flow-disclosure/
Accessed: April 21, 2026
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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