RobinHood actually uses Apex Clearing Corporation on the backend, which you'll find is true of a lot of tech-forward retail-facing brokerage. (Other examples i

RobinHood actually uses Apex Clearing Corporation on the backend, which you'll find is true of a lot of tech-forward retail-facing brokerage. (Other examples include OptionsHouse, TradeMonster, etc.) This is an optimization which reduces, but certainly does not eliminate, the red tape that the brokerage has to deal with.