Loyal3 predates the robo wave slightly, but it belongs in this graveyard because it pioneered the promise that defined the era — investing for free, for everyone — and demonstrated in 2017 exactly how “free” dies. It let ordinary people buy fractional shares and, uniquely, get into IPOs with as little as $100, charging customers nothing at all.
What Loyal3 was
The “3” stood for company–customer–shareholder loyalty: brands would pay Loyal3 so their fans could own their stock commission-free, and IPO underwriting fees would supplement. The showcase was real — T-Mobile ran a loyalty program giving customers shares through the platform, and the Square IPO in late 2015 was its peak moment. Trades executed in daily batches, which was the cost trick behind the free model.
Why free failed
Both revenue streams dried. Brands didn’t keep paying, IPO deal-flow slowed, and then Robinhood arrived with real-time free trading of every stock — making batch trades of ~75 curated stocks look ancient. The founder left in early 2016; by April 2017 customers got the email: accounts would transfer to FolioFirst, a platform built by — the graveyard’s recurring custodian — Folio Investing, effective that May. (Folio itself was later acquired by Goldman Sachs, whose customer accounts went on to Interactive Brokers — custody chains outlive every brand attached to them.)
The lesson for the free-app era
Loyal3’s obituary is the origin story of a question every user of free platforms should ask, and which our payment-for-order-flow explainer picks up in its modern form: if you’re not paying, trace who is — because when they stop, the platform stops. Robinhood answered the free-model question with PFOF; Loyal3 never found an answer at all. Fifteen thousand small accounts changed platforms twice in three years through no action of their own — never with funds at risk, but never by choice either.
Sources: contemporaneous customer notices and coverage compiled by AccessIPOs and trade press. Checked July 2026.