Trading 212 Review


Updated: June 4, 2024
Matt Crabtree

Written By

Matt Crabtree

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Thousands of products, including stocks, currency, and cryptocurrencies, are available for no-commission trading on the well-known smartphone trading platform Trading 212. The investment service opens up markets for people of all levels of skill with a robust and user-friendly platform.

Additionally, a wide range of practical withdrawal and deposit options for simple account funding. If you want to try the platform before investing money, register a free demo account or make a deposit of just a quid…

First, find out more in our Trading 212 review.

At a Glance – Pros and Cons

Pros

✔️ Many instruments

✔️ Intuitive software

✔️ Zero-commission trading

✔️ Low minimal deposit

✔️ Good selection of methods for deposits and withdrawals

✔️ 24/7 client assistance

✔️ Helpful instructional materials

✔️ Demo accounts for trading practice

Cons

❌ Some nations block

❌ No solutions for MetaTrader

❌ No halal/compatibility with Islam

❌ There may be funding charges

Trading 212 – Overview 

Who are they, where did they originate from, and what have they been doing for the past few years, then? This section answers that question.

There are several CFD trading sites that are not regulated by the FCA and do not have FSCS protection… However, they are a well-known participant in the CFDs market. Here is a brief summary of what has happened to them since they were founded.

Founding

First, it’s a fintech business with headquarters in London, U.K. called Trading 212. Since its introduction, the Trading 212 platform has received millions of downloads, making it one of the most well-liked free trading applications worldwide.

According to installations, it has been the top trading and investment app in Germany and the United Kingdom, and it has received a very high rating from hundreds of user evaluations.

The Trading 212 platform is robust and user-friendly, making it simple to use regardless of your past online trading expertise. The hassle-free commission-free trading and investing they provide is one of the primary benefits. You may easily trade and invest in different marketplaces using a single user-friendly software.

Press outlets have praised Trading 212 for providing zero-fee trading on more than 2,000 instruments across several asset classes, including stocks, FX, cryptocurrencies, and more. Respected periodicals including Forbes, Financial Times, The Telegraph, and The Independent have featured them. This, in my opinion, is evidence of their ability to provide world-class trading and investing services.

Regulations

Due to Trading 212's multi-jurisdictional regulation, I feel comfortable entrusting them with my money. A registered broker is required to abide by specific policies and guidelines to protect your account when you trade with them. Always, I would want to deal with a broker that was overseen by the FCA or another prominent regulator (how the FSCS works).

Segmentation of business funds 

Trading 212 keeps customer funds in separate bank accounts to maintain security and adhere to rules. They are protected by the Investors Compensation Fund, Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and more. 

Security

Trading 212 protects personal data by using the finest techniques available. To make sure your information is safe, they regularly test and analyze their apps and architecture using security metrics.

Grant Thornton conducts audits of the organization's governance, financial, business, and IT systems and procedures. They have a specialised, round-the-clock security operations centre that keeps an eye on the activity, analyses it, and issues warnings to safeguard clients in real-time.

Additionally, they take part in a bug bounty scheme that pays investigators for submitted findings. The public may easily access top implementation sites and quality of execution information from the Trading 212 website. The fact that the company goes above to achieve the greatest security protocols definitely helps to distinguish them from rivals.

Countries

Trading 212 accepts customers from most nations, however, they are unable to offer services to citizens of the US or any other nations or authorities where there are limitations in place. 

Trading 212 Review – Platforms

App for Trading 212

Trading212 Platform

For iOS and Android smartphones, Trading 212 offers trading applications. You only need to download the mobile applications from the appropriate app stores in order to use them on your device.

The software is absolutely free to use; but, dependent on the trading item, you may need to pay a spread.

Additionally, you may trade using the Trading 212 web app, which works seamlessly in the majority of current web browsers without having to install or set up any other software. This is good since it allows you to view your account whenever you want from just about any device, and it keeps the web platform current.

The Trading 212 platform's combination of strength and an easy-to-use, completely customizable interface is appealing to me.

It features several useful built-in trading tools, as well as clean and simple charts for doing technical analysis and possibly robo-advisor guidance

Your tactics might be as basic or as complex as you need them to be. By pressing a button, you may quickly see any instrument and execute or manage transactions. You may become acquainted with the platform with the aid of training videos and trial practice accounts.

The following are some of the primary platform features:

  • Livestreams of current prices
  • your preferred trading tools' watchlists
  • 10 time periods, from one minute to one month
  • 5 sorts of charts (bar, candlestick, line, area & more)
  • Tools for technical analysis (indicators & graphical objects)
  • Sentimental evaluation
  • price warnings
  • fresh market information and analysis
  • financial calendar
  • video instruction
  • Quant Pro (automated trading strategies)

Trading 212 Review – Toolsets

The majority of the financial tools are integrated into the excellent platform and are available through the mobile or online app, as you'll observe. Regarding stand-alone trading tools, the website contains sections devoted to news releases and market research, as well as a financial timetable to keep up with the most recent market developments.

I believe that the majority of traders will be able to survive using the platform's built-in features. If you do need more sophisticated features, you should probably think about using a different trading platform.

Education

There is the Trading 212 YouTube channel for educational content teaching you how to do online trading using apps. For those of you that learn best visually, this is fantastic. Admirals, which has a wealth of educational materials and offers more than simply films for you to explore at your leisure, can be a good option if you're looking for different content.

Channel on YouTube

You may broaden your trading expertise by watching one of the many constantly updated instructive films on the renowned Trading 212 YouTube channel.

The videos cover a wide range of subjects, including the many types of markets, trading methods, technical analysis, fundamental analysis, how-to instructions, and much more. They are entertaining and simple to understand. I had a great time viewing various videos and learned some helpful strategies that I will utilise in my own trade.

A component of the Trading 212 website is devoted to educational resources. For traders of all skill levels, there are trading manuals that provide information on the various trading options, how to utilise charts, a vocabulary, and economic indicators. Regardless of your background, you will undoubtedly learn something.

Trading 212 Review – Marketplaces

I believe that the ordinary retail trader should have access to more than adequate financial instruments. To put things into perspective, sector pioneer IG has a little more than 17,000 instruments.

You have the option to pick between a CFD trading account and an investment account with Accounts Trading 212, which you can quickly change at any moment with the push of a button. Additionally, they provide a free lifetime practice account with fake money that you may use to get acquainted with the site and trade without risk.

I always believe it is a good idea to practise your trading techniques on a practice account before you feel ready to deposit real money. A demo is a fantastic approach to confirm if the broker suits your needs.

212 Invest

Trading 212 offers no commissions, no inactivity fees, no maintenance costs, and no limitations while investing in more than 2,000 stocks for stock trading and ETFs. By using direct execution and intelligent routing, they provide instant execution on the top exchanges while offering the best pricing.

You can't find better trading circumstances anyplace than them. I discovered that the spreads and charges were reasonable by industry standards and comparable to those of rivals like AvaTrade.

This account type has an extremely low minimum deposit requirement of merely €1/$1/£1, which is quite low. There are no costs associated with depositing money or keeping an open position for the next day.

This is preferable to some brokers that charge you a swap for keeping holdings overnight; this should be something to think about. One share is the minimum deal amount, which should be doable for most investors.

CFDs 

The key markets covered by Trading 212's CFD (contract for difference) trading platform include equities, currency, crypto investments, commodities, and more than 1,800 other products. Spreads on more than 150+ pairs are favourably narrow, and there are no commissions or other unforeseen costs associated with CFDs. 

You may choose your take-profit and stop-loss levels.

Instantaneous processing and account protection from negative balances impressed me as transparent features of the trading circumstances. This implies that my account balance shouldn't go below my initial contribution, which is significant for me.

There are no deposit fees and a minimum balance requirement of €29, $29, or £29 applies to this account type. The margin requirements for your open positions will change based on the asset, and Trading 212 will regularly credit or debit your profile with an interest swap.

For CFD trading, qualified clients are eligible for leverage up to 1:300. You must satisfy 2 of the following 3 requirements in order to be considered a professional client:

  • Personal holdings worth more than £500k (this doesn't include property or cash)
  • Verified record of big volume trade (down to broker discretion)
  • Experience working in a financial position of competence

ISAs

Customers of Trading 212 may also participate in zero fee stocks and shares ISA tax-free. For this type of account, a deposit must be at least £1. There are no costs associated with depositing money or holding an open position for the next day. One share is the minimum trading quantity, which again shouldn't be a problem for most investors.

Account Creation

It was quick and simple for me to register for an account with Trading 212. You must submit a brief online form along with evidence of address and some kind of identification (such as a passport or driver's licence) (e.g. utility bill but less than 3 months old).

Trading 212 Review – Experience

Overall, I found the support by Trading 212 customer care personnel to be very quick to answer, typically within seconds. You may get in touch with them by phone, online chat, or email.

On the website, there is also a commonly asked question (FAQ) area that includes comprehensive answers to many of the most often asked issues. The fact that help is available 24/7 is fantastic because markets are always open, in my opinion.

Funding

Money transfers, credit/debit card transactions, Skrill, Dotpay, SafetyPay, Giropay, Carte Bleue, Mister Cash, and UnionPay are just a few of the handy funding ways accepted by Funding Trading 212. 

They provide a decent selection of payment methods, so you should find one that works for you. Cash put into bank accounts is not accepted. Please be aware that not all methods are accessible for both deposit and withdrawal, and some may only be accessible to certain countries.

Your account will typically be filled if you are paying with a debit or credit card within 10 mins after authorization. It might take up to two or three business days to finance through bank transfer.

It typically takes two to three working days for withdrawals to show up on your checking account or credit/debit card. Some withdrawal methods such as online payment 

Trading 212 does not impose any charges or commissions for withdrawal, but certain forms of payment may incur costs. You should be informed that certain banks may impose a bank transfer fee on you, and Trading 212's bank imposes a cost of €5 or the equivalent amount in another currency. I've seen brokers charge much more than this, so this is a fairly modest price.

USD, EUR, and GBP may be used to open accounts.

The availability of other currencies is advantageous since there are no currency translation costs when using an account in your own currency.

You must withdraw using the same payment method that you used to make your deposit initially out of security concerns. Trading 212 firmly prohibits accepting money from outside parties.

Trading 212 Review – British Verdict

Overall, I believe that anyone in the world of money who is looking to invest in and trade the markets should use the Trading 212 app. Without any trouble, you may easily access a wide variety of trading products from various asset classes.

They provide flexible zero-commission trading on a strong, user-friendly platform that is suitable for traders of all levels of experience. 

Viewing charts, analysing markets, and placing and managing trades are all simple tasks. In an industry where this is frequently a worry, I appreciate that the firm has stringent security measures and regulations in place to offer us peace of mind that we are transacting with a respectable source. 

Additionally, the 24/7 customer service is swift, kind, and available. By offering teaching materials apart from videos and more trading tools, I believe they might do better.

Related Guides:

FAQs

How is Trading 212 profitable?

Reddit review of Trading 212

Trading 212, is it safe?

Trading 212 latest promo coupons

Trading 212, is it halal?

Trading 212 phone number

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