I bought 1 share of Disney at $139.27 (see screenshots) on a basic trade (4pm execution, no fee). Disney is currently $134.16 so I’m down $5.11.
Freetrade converted that $139.27 to £108.23 at the time of the trade (see screenshots). Freetrade tells me the current value of my share is £101.44, and that I’m down £6.79.
So I’m down $5.11 (share price at purchase - current share price in $) but freetrade says I’m down £6.79.
The only way I can see this happening is the GBPUSD exchange rate moving against me, given that £1 > $1. $5.11 in GBP using xe.com as a basic rate is £3.88, not £6.79.
In short, I have no idea what rate freetrade converted my buy order at, no idea what rate freetrade is using to convert current value (and how it’s changed since I bought the share), no idea why freetrade shows purchase price in $ and current share price in $, but current value in £ especially given there’s zero information on exchange rates in the app so you’re just left scratching your head.
In my opinion there seriously needs to be exchange rate information available; where it shows stock activity for buys/sells, and current rate freetrade are using in current value.
I’m guessing that you know this Mike but for the benefit of new users, we currently use a conversion rate, for changing GBP to USD & vice versa, of the spot rate + 0.45%. This is transparently displayed on the pricing page on our website.
The prices that are displayed in the app when you go to place an order are displayed in both GBP & the converted amount, with that conversion rate applied.
There’s more on how this works in this blog post, under the header “What about US stocks? 
”.
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I agree that the exchange fee isn’t clear. While Freetrade don’t hide away from it, it could be clearer I think
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Hi Alex
So as per your example post here the $1.31 includes the 0.45%? Does this also apply when selling too?
Ok - so i’ve just looked at an example of selling my match shares (not actually looking to sell), when i go to the sell confirmation screen this shows 2 shares latest price $71.22 and a GBP - $ rate of £1 - $1.27.
In theory if i was to sell i should be looking at $71.22 x 2 = $142.44 then divide this by the rate to get my £? So $142.44 / 1.27 = £112.15.
This is however not the figure the confirmation screen is showing (£111.14), so i’m really confused why this is just over a £1 out. Hope this makes sense?! I’m scratching my head…
Are you only taking the 0.45% conversation into account and not the spot rate on top of that?
From my understanding the figure quoted on screen includes the 0.45% - Taken from Alex’s post on 3 May above.
I commented in another thread that the exchange rate and the 0.45% fee should be separate line items to make it clear what is being charged.
I recently came across the EU Cross Border Payments Regulation which will come into force soon. It requires disclosure of the currency conversion fee as a percentage. Even if it does not apply to Freetrade, it will establish expectations in its customers that the fee is clearly disclosed.
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If the exchange fee it’s a transaction fee, it should clearly be displayed when buying/selling any share or ETF. You want all the fees in one place, easy to see, not just some of them.
The worst thing you want to do is being named “Freetrade” and having customers thinking you’re “Feetrade”.
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yes it does.