Research contextSee what supports this page, how current it is, and where comparable or historical context is available.
- Research date
- Sep 22, 2026Use the dated article and cited sources for the definition, examples, and stated limitations.
- Operating-model context
- 12 connected conceptsPart of the reviewed Online Brokerage Operating Model; issuer definitions remain distinct where disclosed.
- Company examples
- 1 reviewed companyRelationships reflect supported examples, not a normalized cross-company KPI ranking.
Brokerage cash sweep balance measures customer cash automatically transferred from brokerage or banking accounts into participating deposit destinations under a sweep program.
Robinhood defines Cash Sweep as the period-end amount of participating users' uninvested brokerage and banking cash automatically moved into deposits for their benefit at a network of program banks.
Why it matters
Cash sweep balances can influence interest-related revenue and show how much customer liquidity sits in a specific sweep channel.
Investor caution
Cash sweep balance is narrower than total customer cash.
Customers may hold cash in brokerage payables, money market funds, direct bank deposits, securities, or other investment cash products that are outside a particular sweep metric.
Source:
Cash sweep balance measures one cash-allocation channel, not all customer liquidity.
Part of the Online Brokerage Operating Model
Connect customer and asset growth, trading engagement, margin and cash balances, and recurring or per-customer monetization to understand online brokerage economics.
How the model fits together
- Customer scale and asset gathering: Account count shows customer-base scale, client assets show the economic base on platform, and net new assets or net deposits show customer funding flows under issuer-specific methodologies. Market appreciation can increase client assets without new customer funding, so asset growth should not be read as pure organic gathering.
- Trading engagement and transaction monetization: Daily average revenue trades measure trading flow, trades per account normalize activity by the eligible customer base, and commission per order measures one form of per-trade monetization. These measures are not fully comparable across brokers because order-counting rules and monetization channels differ.
- Cash, lending, and customer monetization: Client cash balances and cash sweep balances describe different customer-liquidity channels, while margin loans show collateralized customer borrowing. ARPU and paid subscription customers add customer-level and recurring monetization context. None of these measures alone captures total brokerage profitability, and issuer scopes remain distinct.
See It in Company Research
These companies are examples of how the concept is reported or discussed in public filings. Definitions can differ by issuer; these links open company research rather than a normalized metric comparison.
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