This blog post is not meant to outline how we might productise sec lending in the future. It is meant to give lengthy advance warning of changes to T&Cs.
We receive and hold client cash in bank accounts, which we earn some interest on. That’s revenue for us to support the low-cost service we provide customers. We pay interest on uninvested cash for Plus members.
We’re taking a similar approach to sec lending, where we’ll earn some interest on client securities we have under custody, which is revenue for us to support building Freetrade. The banks that will be borrowing securities and posting collateral are in the same tier as where we hold client cash, eg JP Morgan.
On opting out, initially that would mean keeping all your assets in an ISA, or moving your account elsewhere. As I said in the AMA, we’d like to productise sec lending for our more advanced users, along with things like the ability to short stocks.