Trading 212

Sorry if this has been asked before, but here goes.

US has Robinhood, and UK has 212 which allows zero commission trades on stocks.

What Unique Selling Point does Freetrade have over either of these?

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Welcome to the community first (should have started with that, but I am getting there :hugs:).

US is rather irrelevant in this subject as RH has no presence in the UK.

Comparing to 212, Freetrade

  1. Has no minimum deposits (Ā£100 for the other)
  2. Has no fees for over 10 transactions a month (Ā£1.95 + 0.05% for the other)
  3. Does not have a 0.7% - 3.5% deposit fee (insane!)
  4. Offers partial shares (minimum 1 for 212)
  5. Has a community interaction directly with the executives
  6. Are transparent in every single step they do

There is plenty of additional information in the pitch that you can request on Crowdcube, the Team has made an incredibly insightful and yet simple presentation explaining the uniqueness of the venture in comparison to the existing competitors.

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To add to @Vlad’s excellent answer -
Have you ever tried 212? I have an account with them but they come from the CFD trading background and the user experience is not built around long term investment.
I find it very difficult to track my portfolio and there’s very little information on how much money is currently in my account, how much is currently invested in which companies, whether I have received my dividends etc.
The UX doesn’t even show you the stamp duty you are paying for instance.
Our app is built more around the idea of long term investment in equities rather than equities added into a CFD trading app. Also, we will eventually offer a stocks and shares ISA.

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And SIPPs, completely got out of my mind!

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My response to each answer:

@Vlad Thanks, these are great points, and the kind of info I was fishing for before making an investment decision. That said, 2 points, firstly I think Robinhood IS relevant. Yes you are looking at two different markets, but Freetrade need to be watching them and their success very closely despite no entry their side in the UK (yet). This could change very quickly if they decide to expand, as they already have outside the US. Second point, yes 212 generally suck. Although I have an account with them and the fee’s related to depositing can be worked around if you do bank wire’s so customers can avoid this if necessary. But glad to see Freetrade are already ahead of this.

@greg Totally agree 212 is sub par currently, and good to hear about the ISA, that will be big (all other stocks and shares ISA’s are north of a fiver (at best) per open and close of a trade). One bit of feedback I’d advise however, you’ve sent out a private link to subscribers to invest, before showing the actual platform / app. Yes we’ve seen screenshots etc, but I’ve had no real experience with the app to determine whether it’s better than 212.

Any way we can get a more hands on look before roll out and preferably before the expiry of the investment for community members only?

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Have a look at this thread, which picks up on Robinhood.

Long story short - the US market is still more juicy for them than the EU. They tried to expand to China and Australia but not much luck.

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I’m not certain anyone enters the UK investment or bank market quickly, but there will be followers eventually. Take solace that freetrade have been putting in the legwork for over a year to get that FCA approval!

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I’ve moved the two replies below to this topic, to keep all of the discussion about Trading 212 in one place :point_down:

What about these guys? actually never saw them before

Will Millennials Flock To First-Ever Unlimited ā€˜Zero Commission’ Share Trading Platform In U.K.? - Forbes Magazine

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trading212 mentioned in that article Will Millennials Flock To First-Ever Unlimited 'Zero Commission' Share Trading Platform In U.K.? - I think they have been discussed here before?

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surely if it has:

It’s not:

edit: they’ve dropped the 10 trades limit, I should have read the article :smiley:

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One advantage 212 has over Freetrade at the moment, is in the app store when you search for Robinhood, 212 is the 1st thing that crops up.

Guessing its solely down to the # of reviews. Freetrades 85 vs 212’s 7.43k.

Need to get users reviewing in the store

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The even bigger advantage that Trading 212 has over Freetrade at the moment is that it exists!
All I ever get as an Android user with Freetrade are promises. I’m already wound up by being treated as a second class citizen as an Android user rather than iPhone and patience is wearing thin. If you only want iPhone users then fine, just say it. Stop PROMISING the android app and just do it! Put up or shut up. It DOES NOT get people more interested with anticipation. Monzo tried it with joint accounts and got beaten to it by Starling. I got a Starling account and never regretted it. Monzo are always secondary in my mind now. If you can’t get the product out, don’t keep promising it

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They’ve said it’ll be out by April at the latest, not sure where you’ve seen promises of anything different.

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Thank you. As a second class citizen Android user I think you’ve convinced me to give Trading 212 a go. I take on board a certain user unfriendliness in the UI. However, they have more stocks and also include investment trusts.
Freetrade have actually been giving me the impression that the Android app will be out imminently ie I was expecting January. Nowhere have I seen April. With the market as it is now it is a buying opportunity. Time in the market etc April is way too far away. Opportunities missed. Bad organisation by Freetrade to have the android app out well after the iPhone one.
It seems to be playing catch up. Will try 212 and will consider playing catch up with Freetrade later. Probably much later bearing in mind the limited stocks and no investment trusts by comparison.

I’m sorry that you’re frustrated about the wait for the Android app. Unfortunately as a startup with limited resources, we had to choose to develop the app for one platform to begin with & that’s why the app hasn’t launched yet. If we could have bought out both apps at the same time then we absolutely would have.

Our lead Android engineer has explained more here -

We’ll certainly be adding more stocks as we go & perhaps more investment trusts, to keep the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust company, too. Please do request anything else that you’d like us to add in Stock Requests :chart_with_upwards_trend:.

We’re looking forward to launching the Android app early next year!

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Honestly 212 seems a bit scetchy to me. I might be wrong of course , but I wouldnt trust them with my money. Freetrade have probably the best customer service , which is a very good selling point, especially for a platform which offers free trades.
Also that deposit fee with 212 is going to make add a big weight to your portfolio long-term.

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Coming to Freetrade after the other brokers is a huge ā€œaha momentā€ - so this is how it should work :wink:

Of course go ahead and try them all and don’t believe a random guy on the interwebs. However if you do want to listen to me then I recommend Halifax Share Dealing Service first as it only gets better from there.

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I suppose most of the stocks will be Barclays’ price range with a few exceptions, but the hype will pay that off. Who knows, maybe Freetrade could test this strategy one day :wink:

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Barclays’ value is currently Ā£1.50 per share and I just assumed Trading 212 would not be too generous giving Ā£10 to Ā£20 to everyone who signs up. Maybe those who get cheap ones don’t brag? :smiley: