Customer: Acorns

Acorns stays at the forefront of innovation

Acorns was founded on a bold idea: make investing accessible to everyone—not just the wealthy. What began as a simple way to invest spare change has grown into a comprehensive financial wellness system used by more than 14 million Americans to date. 

Plaid has been a trusted partner in that mission for years, powering features like Acorns Round-Ups, which lets customers invest their spare change, and Acorns Earn, which invests cash-back bonuses from everyday purchases. Together, these tools have helped Acorns customers invest over $25 billion—much of it in small sums and spare change.

But in an increasingly digital financial landscape, staying ahead means constantly improving the customer experience. That’s why Acorns was one of the first companies to test and adopt Plaid Layer, a new instant onboarding experience that simplifies how users interact with financial services—without compromising security or trust.

Overcoming onboarding friction 

While opening an investment account with Acorns is relatively fast and easy, it does require entering detailed personal information, including sensitive data that’s often difficult to recall—like Social Security numbers or bank credentials. This can introduce friction at a critical moment: the decision for investors to take control of their financial future.

Plaid Layer simplifies that process. Using the customer’s phone number, Layer checks eligibility: If the customer is already part of the Plaid Network and meets Acorns’ onboarding requirements, their identity-related information is automatically filled in. If the customer isn’t eligible, they seamlessly fall back to Acorns’ standard onboarding flow without even knowing Layer exists. This creates the smoothest path forward for every customer, from download to onboarding to investment.

“Plaid Layer reduces friction for new customers, helping them create an account much more quickly and smoothly—without any compromise in security,” explained Seth Wunder, Global President and CFO at Acorns. “It’s a meaningful enhancement to the overall customer experience.”

Higher conversion, more engagement

Since implementing Layer, Acorns has seen a significant uptick in conversion, with a lift at every step of the onboarding journey: more customers are completing sign-up, becoming paying subscribers, and initiating their first investments.

Notably, customers who opt into using Layer don’t just onboard faster—they go on to be more engaged overall. Compared to other customers, these Acorns’ customers are more likely to start investing within 30 days and tend to invest at a higher frequency over time.

“They’re our best-performing cohort,” said Wunder. “Acorns customers who onboard via Plaid Layer convert more often and stay more engaged.”

Increasing financial trust

Speed means nothing without trust, however—especially in financial services. With Layer, Acorns customers remain fully in control of their data. They can review and edit all pre-filled information, and the onboarding flow clearly communicates each step in the process. It’s fast, but never opaque.

This provides the customer with a faster experience while building trust that Acorns and Plaid are taking their security seriously—part of both companies’ longstanding commitment to safety and transparency. 

“By not having to re-input sensitive personal data, customers who sign up with Layer enjoy a strengthened sense of security—which reinforces their trust in us right from the start,” concluded Wunder. “We’re excited to bring the experience to even more new customers—ensuring a seamless journey from the very first tap.”

Acorns counts over 14 million all-time customers and over $25 billion invested since inception as of 12/4/2024. 

Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Please consider, among other important factors, your investment objectives, risk tolerance and Acorns’ pricing before investing. Investment advisory services offered by Acorns Advisers, LLC (Acorns), an SEC-registered investment advisor. Brokerage services are provided to clients of Acorns by Acorns Securities, LLC, an SEC-registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC.  Plaid and Acorns are separate and unaffiliated companies.

Spare change invested with Round-Ups® is transferred from your linked funding source (checking account) to your Acorns Invest account when activated. Round-Up investments from an external account will be processed when your Pending Round-Ups reach or exceed $5.

Acorns receives compensation from business partners to promote or refer customers to such partners for the purchase of non-investment consumer products or services. This type of promotional partnership incentivizes Acorns to refer customers to these businesses instead of businesses that are not partners of Acorns. This affects the ability of Acorns to provide unbiased promotions and could mean that the products and/or services of other businesses, that do not compensate Acorns, may be more appropriate for a customer than the products and/or services promoted by Acorns. Customers are not required to purchase any products and services Acorns promotes.