Cash App Stocks Rating: 
Overview of Cash App Investing
Cash App offers more than just a mobile app for cash services. Investment services are on tap as well. Before opening your next brokerage account, be sure to look over our review of this up-and-coming investment firm.
Cash App Investment Accounts and Assets
Cash App offers self-directed accounts only. It does not have robo accounts or any other type of investment-advisory service. Inside its brokerage accounts, Cash App offers trading in stocks, ETFs, and one cryptocurrency (bitcoin). There are no other asset classes available, and some stocks and ETFs aren’t available, either. For the assets Cash App does offer, short positions are not permitted.
Every brokerage account at Cash App must be an individual taxable account. There are no other tax structures available.
Securities, but not cryptocurrencies, held inside an individual account at Cash App are insured by SIPC up to program limits. Cash App does not have an excess SIPC policy.
Cash App Margin
Although every brokerage account at Cash App is technically a margin account, there is no borrowing feature. As already mentioned, it is not possible to short securities or trade options. An account cannot engage in pattern day trading, either.
Cash App Fees and Minimums for Investment Accounts
Trades of bitcoin carry no commissions, although there is a spread on either side that compensates Cash App for its brokerage service in this asset. The spread could be 2% or even higher for small purchases. Large orders might see smaller spreads. The exact pricing schedule is not published, which we view as a drawback.
Trades of securities follow a very similar system. There are no commissions, although there is a bid-ask spread that compensates Cash App (it receives payment for order flow). Every security will have its own bid-ask spread that varies by market conditions.
Brokerage accounts at Cash App are subject to no minimums and no recurring fees.
Banking Tools
True to its name, Cash App has some pretty sweet cash-management features available through its mobile app. For example, there is a Visa debit card that comes with fee-free ATM withdrawals at in-network machines (there is a $300 monthly direct deposit requirement for this feature, however).
The debit card, which Cash App calls its Cash Card, is really important because FDIC insurance on free cash balances is available only for accounts that have the card. Boosts are available when using the Cash Card. These are discounts at participating retailers. And using Cash App for the direct deposit of a paycheck results in the funds being available two business days early.
The Cash Card has another feature: round ups. It’s possible to transfer spare change to a cash balance or invest it in a security or bitcoin.
And here’s where Cash App is really popular: transfers with other Cash App customers using $cashtags. These are identifiers that are automatically created through the company’s app. It’s possible to instantly send other Cash App users money (or request money from them) using a $cashtag (or email address or phone number).
But here’s where Cash App is a little tricky: it automatically moves a free cash balance from an investing account to a Cash App balance where SIPC insurance is not available. And if the account doesn’t have the Cash Card, there is no FDIC insurance, either.
To top off its money services, Cash App has a free tax-filing service.
Website
To manage its financial services, Cash App offers a simple but effective website. Unfortunately, there are no tools on the site to research or trade securities or bitcoin. It is used to manage the cash side of the business and to file taxes.
A phone number or email address can be used to log into the site. Once inside, there is a vertical menu on the left-hand side with a few tabs, such as Tax Filing and Pay & Request. The latter one can be used to send money to another Cash App user or request money from one.
Not all functions can be performed on the website. For example, the Cash Card can only be requested within the mobile app. Let’s look at it now.
Mobile App
On the mobile app, we finally get to the trading department. A good place to begin is on the Home screen, which can be accessed by tapping on the home icon in the bottom menu. Here, there are tiles for stocks and bitcoin. On the bitcoin page, there is a link to automatically convert a paycheck into bitcoin whenever the paycheck comes in via direct deposit.
On the stocks page, there is a search bar at the top to actually find something to trade. Tapping on the bar produces a page with a few lists of stocks to consider. One is the most-traded stocks at Cash App. Another is a list of dividend payers. At the bottom of the screen, there are tiles for various economic sectors, including energy, health, and technology. Tapping on one of these tiles will produce a list of securities in the category. Tapping on a stock or ETF generates the asset’s profile, which is fairly brief, although there are useful details. Big-name stocks will have:
- Analyst opinions
- Earnings history
- Financial statements in bar-chart format
- Trade stats like P/E ratio and the day’s volume
The app’s order ticket is extremely simple. There are only three order types—market, recurring, and custom. The custom order is similar to a stop order. If the market price crosses through the price specified on the order ticket from either direction, a market order will be released.
Charting is on an even lower level. A graph sits at the top of an asset’s profile with no axes, which means it’s really not possible to read the information that the graph is trying to present. There is only one graph format (line), and there are no tools at all. A chart cannot be rotated horizontally.
The settings menu sits under the icon in the upper-right corner. Here, it’s possible to adjust the privacy settings on the app. Under the Security & Privacy menu, it’s possible to turn off money requests to prevent other Cash App users from requesting money from you.
Other Software
Because the website has no trading tools at all, and because the mobile app delivers only a simple experience, one might hope for a desktop platform or other trading resource from Cash App. Unfortunately, there is not one.
Customer Service
Cash App has representatives on the phone during the week from 9 o’clock in the morning until 7 o’clock in the evening, Eastern Standard Time. There are no weekend hours. In order to actually receive phone service, Cash App customers must complete an in-app verification process at least once. This can be accomplished by simply trying to cash out (withdraw money to an external bank account) or send or receive a payment.
Besides phone support, Cash App has a chat feature on its mobile app (it won’t be found on the website). On the settings page already mentioned, scroll down to the support link, and then scroll down to find the chat icon. It’s not a live chat. It’s more of an email form.
Finally, there is a help page on the Cash App website that provides information on a wide range of topics that Cash App customers will need help with eventually.
Additional Services
Fully-Paid Stock Lending: Not offered.
Initial Public Offerings: Not on tap, either.
DRIP Service: Missing in action.
Extended Hours: Once again, not available.
Fractional-share Trading: All trades at Cash App are placed in whole dollars. Whole-share trading is not available.
Individual Retirement Accounts: As already mentioned, the individual taxable account is the only option right now at Cash App.
Recommendations
Mutual Fund Trading: Although Cash App fails to offer anything here, we can recommend
Firstrade for mutual funds. It has over 11,000 of them, and none of them have any transaction fees.
Frequent Stock Trading: Because Cash App only has rudimentary software and no usable charting, it
obviously would be a very poor choice for active equity traders. A better idea would be
Webull, who has an advanced desktop program, thorough stock research, and access to foreign markets.
Small Accounts: The minimum order size at Cash App is $1. Auto purchases have a $10 minimum.
Retirement Planning & Long-Term Investing: Cash App would be a rather awful investment firm for
long-term investing. Besides the lack of IRAs, the brokerage firm has no annuities, lifecycle mutual funds,
financial planning, or bond ladders. These and much more can be found at
Charles Schwab.
Beginners: Although Cash App tries to simplify investing, we think novices would be better off
with a managed account with a firm like
Acorns.
Cash App Invest Final Judgement
As its name suggests, Cash App is primarily about money management. Its investing service is decent, but there are far better alternatives out there for all sorts of trading.
Free Firstrade Account
Open Firstrade Account
Free Charles Schwab Account
Open Schwab Account
Updated on 1/1/2025.
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