Today, you can buy and sell stocks and crypto on your app. But where do you start? How do you get started investing? That's where Plynk™ comes in.
While FinTech companies have paved the way for this wave of fingertip access and one-click investments, few have designed a product that helps you change your behaviors to start investing. Plynk™ is a mobile app designed to address that gap.
Using financial incentives, Plynk™ provides helpful investment articles for you to read, set up automated investments, and develop a diversified portfolio. If you’re new to investing, Plynk™ could be the ideal app to get you started.
Here’s what you need to know.
Quick Summary
- Mobile investing app that allows you to buy stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and crypto
- Emphasizes automated investments and education
- Option to cash in gift cards to start investing
Plynk™ Details | |
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Product Name | Plynk™ |
Min Invesment | $0 |
Management Fees | $0/mo to $2/mo |
Account Type | Brokerage Account |
Promotions | None |
What Is Plynk™?
Plynk™ is an investing app designed for people who are just getting started investing. The app incentivizes learning and automated investing, which are keys to long-term growth.
While Plynk™ offers the ability to explore everything from crypto to meme stocks, they want to expand your financial education and develop a long-term investing mindset. Most investors who use the app will likely build a well-diversified portfolio over time.
What Does It Offer?
Plynk™ is an online investing app available for iOS and Android. The app makes it incredibly simple to make investment decisions with just a few clicks.
Start Investing With Just $1
Plynk™ has no investment minimums. You can place trades for as little as $1.
Earn Investment Matches
Plynk’s™ emphasis on investment education shows with its Learn and Earn program.
Easily Automate Investments
Automating your investments “forces” you to spend less than you earn and invest the difference. Many brokerage companies make that easy, but the minimum investments can be a barrier for people just getting started. Plynk™ gives you the option to start automated investing with just $1. If you want to invest $20 per month, you can start with that.
Option To Buy And Sell Crypto
While Plynk™ emphasizes traditional assets and well-balanced investment portfolios, it also offers non-traditional assets like crypto. If you’re interested in learning about crypto, you can dabble in crypto trading through Plynk™.
The company partners with Paxos Trust Company to offer crypto trading through the app. If you choose to buy and sell crypto, you will pay a small fee to cover the transaction costs.
How To Invest In Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency can be a high-reward investment. Learn how to invest in cryptocurrency without such high levels of volatility risk.
Turn Old Gift Cards Into Investments
For a small fee, Plynk™ can even convert gift card balances into dollars that you can invest.
If you have a Cheesecake Factory gift card gathering dust in your dresser drawer, you can turn it into cash. Gift cards must have a balance of at least $10, and only select vendors are approved.
Are There Any Fees?
Plynk’s™ goal is to reduce friction from investing. Because of that, it does not charge trading fees on stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or ETFs. The platform itself and all features are free to use, but in the future, some features may be limited unless you upgrade, which will require a $2 monthly fee.
Plynk™ also charges for crypto trades. If you’re trading under $100 in crypto, you’ll pay a minimum fee of $0.50. Trades over $100 are charged a 0.5% fee.
This fee is less expensive than comparable trading fees on major crypto exchange Coinbase.
How Do I Contact Plynk™?
The best way to contact Plynk™ is via the “Contact Us” button inside the app. You can also email service@plynkinvest.com to get in touch with the app’s support team.
The company’s headquarter location is 499 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07310.
How Does Plynk™ Compare?
Plynk™ is one of the few investment apps designed to help you transition from investing curious to a long-term investor.
The emphasis on education and automation makes it an amazing option for many beginning investors. It is similar to Acorns which is another app designed for beginning investors. Plynk™ charges slightly lower fees than Acorns, but also offers fewer services.
Because Plynk™ emphasizes long-term investing behavior, it is important to compare it with other apps that emphasize the importance of long-term growth. For example, robo-advisors like M1 Finance, Betterment, and Wealthfront all create simple pathways toward wealth building.
While Plynk™ has the greatest emphasis on investment education, its tools aren’t perfect for the long haul. Unlike the robo-advisors, Plynk™ doesn’t offer automated rebalancing, and it doesn’t host retirement accounts.
These features could make it a less valuable tool over time.
Header | |||
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Rating | |||
Management Fee | $0/mo to $2/mo | $3/mo to $5/mo | 0.25% |
Min Investment | $0 | $0 | $500 |
Advice Options | Auto | Auto | Auto |
Banking? | |||
Cell |
How Do I Open An Account?
Download Plynk™ from the App Store or Google Play. Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can create an account.
You will need to provide your name, email address, cell phone number, physical address, and your Social Security Number.
Once that is done, you will add a bank account. After you have an account, you can follow simple tutorials to start investing.
Is It Safe And Secure?
Plynk™ is an online brokerage that is regulated through FINRA and is a member of the SIPC. As a member of these regulatory bodies, Plynk™ is required to follow certain safety and security practices such as encrypting personal data, and disclosing when it shares your data.
In general, the company does not share data except with Paxos, which is the company’s crypto partner.
As a digital-first company, Plynk™ maintains high security standards. While it has not suffered from a data breach in the past, that is always a risk.
If a data breach should happen, your assets would be restored for up to $500,000 via SIPC insurance. That insurance would not cover losses in crypto assets if they were stolen in a hack. This is standard across all crypto brokerages.
Is It Worth It?
Plynk™ removes obstacles that often prevent people from investing. If you’ve struggled with investing in the past, Plynk™ is a great tool to jump-start your investment journey.
Changing habits don’t happen suddenly, so using the app over time can allow you to see how certain investments relate to short- or long-term strategies for example, so in some ways, you can put theories into practice.
Unless the app evolves over time to include more features such as retirement accounts and automated rebalancing it’s more of a beginner’s route to investment education.
Plynk™ Features
Account Types | Brokerage Account (Stocks, Mutual Funds, ETF's) Crypto Account |
Minimum Investment | $0 |
Monthly Fees | $0 to 2/mo |
ETF Expense Ratios | None |
Socially Responsible Investments | Yes |
Access to Human Advisor | No |
Automatic Rebalancing | No |
Tax-Loss Harvesting | No |
Customer Service Email | service@plynkinvest.com |
Web/Desktop Account Access | Yes |
Mobile App Availability | |
Promotions | None |
DISCLOSURES
Cryptocurrencies are volatile and highly speculative, and you may lose the full value of your investment. You should carefully consider your financial circumstances and risk tolerance before trading crypto.
The Plynk™ app provides access to two different types of accounts, brokerage and crypto. Brokerage accounts and related information and services are provided by Digital Brokerage Services LLC (DBS). Crypto accounts and related information and services are provided by Paxos Trust Company (Paxos), a New York State-Chartered limited liability trust company (NMLS #1766787).
Minimum $10 gift card balance required. Fees apply to use program which vary by vendor.
Commission-free applies to U.S. equity trades, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and Mutual Funds (MFs) for Digital Brokerage Services LLC (DBS) retail clients. Expenses charged by investments, interest charges, or other expenses for transactions still apply. See https://www.plynkinvest.com/disclosures/fee-schedule/ for details. Separate fees for crypto apply. See https://www.plynkinvest.com/disclosures/crypto-fee-schedule/ for details.
Plynk™ Review: This App Wants You To Improve Your Investing Behavior
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Summary
Plynk™ is an investment app that nudges you to change your investment behavior so you can build your future wealth and a diversified portfolio. If you’re new to investing, Plynk™ could be the ideal app for you.
Pros
- Inexpensive—you can start investing with as little as $1
- Ability to buy stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and crypto in one app
- Emphasis on learning and automated investing
Cons
- No option to start a retirement account
- Some features may require a $2/mo fee in the future
Hannah is a wife, mom, and described personal finance geek. She excels with spreadsheets (and puns)! She regularly explores in-depth financial topics and enjoys looking at the latest tools and trends with money.
Editor: Claire Tak Reviewed by: Robert Farrington