Has this promotion ended for good? I know all the promotional stuff said until 14th December, and I got a couple of reminders in app.
However, I hadn’t expected all the referral links to completely disappear in app, there seems to be no benefit in referring someone any more, from what I can tell…
I only ask because it was only last night that someone asked me about investing, and I told them about Freetrade, and then I discovered I had no way of giving them a referral link any more. Which surprised me a bit, even if FT decide to reduce the value of the free shares, I’m very surprised they’ve stopped the programme entirely, as growing organically through word-of-mouth has to be cheaper than advertising and stickier too as it encourages friends to really explain the benefits to a receptive listener.
FWIW, I’m not looking for a one-off extension here, as my friend probably isn’t even going to sign up until January / February anyway as he’ll do it in time for the end of the tax year, but I am surprised that FT seem to have decided it’s not worth running this scheme any more.
Apologies if this has already been brought up elsewhere. I searched for “free share” before posting, and couldn’t find anything relevant to this change, but maybe I missed something.
Yeah, I can find this very obviously on the front page too.
But I spent ages looking for it on Friday night and gave up, maybe I’d just had too many beers…
Maybe I just wasn’t looking on the main screen because I was expecting it to be on one of the other screens, but anyway, good it’s still there, I was worried removing this would seriously impact organic growth.
I see that Freetrade’s free share referral scheme is changing to something more sustainable/viable from tomorrow.
Free shares shall now be worth a minimum of ÂŁ10 (previously between ÂŁ3 and ÂŁ200) but shall be subject to a minimum funding amount of ÂŁ250 (deposits minus withdrawals), met within 30 days of the referral link being used.
This minimum funding amount shall apply to the referrer too.
Makes sense for Freetrade to not continue losing money from all those free shares handed out to people who have only topped up their accounts with a few quid.
I still think free plus for a year is much better idea. It is cheaper than buying the customer a share and the customer will then potentially use the ISA and SIPP and are MUCH more likely to stay on and never leave. Also, they may then renew for years to come. Win win.
Yes, they can. But some might be tempted to invest a little/all of that 250 once it’s in the account?
The T&Cs also state that sale proceeds from free shares can only be withdrawn after 180 days, which is quite a long time, time to be tempted to invest, etc?
There’s an incentive for people to stay on the app and for people who want to carry on referring, they need to keep 250 in their accounts.
Freetrade need to become profitable ASAP, handing out free plus to new users isnt going to support the rise in funded subscriptions they are hoping for?
Disagree, It is zero outlay and removes the cost of FT buying a share in a company each time. The medium to long term effects could be huge. When you add all the free shares given and never made any profit on the outlay is huge. Think over 1 million customers getting a free share FT had to buy.
Also, don’t forget all the referral free shares FT had to buy. A promo to lock in people for many years is much better long term. People will often stay on a subscription once using the SIPP and ISA when MANY MANY just took the free share and never gave any benefit of paying any fees subscription wise.
Even the forum is full of people who admit they never bought subscription and they are the ones who go to the effort of coming on here.
Edit, you could even be cheap and go 6 months or something instead.
I don’t quite understand how free Plus for a year (£119.88) would be cheaper than handing out a free share? The majority of free shares handed out were in the £3 - £5 range.
If Freetrade had given free Plus for a year for each referral, I’d have Plus for free for Life and then some!
Freetrade do not pay for membership as they own it. They do buy the free shares though. Once people are hooked and invested in SIPP etc they are much more likely to stay for years and invest more.
The long term profit forr FT is getting more people into the long term subscription model. Most who got a free share probably do not pay for subscription. If they did FT would be getting a lot more income each year so it is not a net loss of income for the full price.
As i also said maybe a smaller amount like 3-6 months. The point is getting people into the paid for model and not the free version and getting shares then walking away or leaving dormant like many accounts are.
Win win.