I started using Freetrade in May 2020, and it quickly became one of favourite investing platforms.
In this post I will layout what exactly Freetrade is, how to use the app, positives and negatives and how you can sign up!
What is Freetrade?
It is a fee-free mobile investing app! The unique feature, and what makes it so popular is that users can buy and sell shares with zero fees, quickly and with the ease of their mobile phones.
You may be wondering how Freetrade makes money. Whilst the General Investment Account (GIA) is free to use they also provide and ISA and SIPP at a cost.
They provide an Investment ISA (£3 a month) as well as a Self-Invested Personal Plan (SIPP) (£9.99 a month). For those seeking additional features such as 3% monthly interest on cash, priority customer service and access to more stocks, you can upgrade your account to Freetrade Plus – this costs £9.99 a month.
As with the majority of banks and brokers, up to £85,000 of the amount you hold within your account is protected by the Financial Service Compensation Scheme (FSCS) meaning that in the unlikely event of Freetrade going bust, £85,000 of your money will be returned back to you.
Positives and Negatives of Freetrade
Positives
- Accounts can be set up in a few minutes, the app is incredibly simple to use, user-friendly and well laid out
- Low minimum investment figures – you can make an investment with just £2. The greatest benefit for me is no fact there is no commission fees! Also fractional shares are available on the app, which helps building up to owning a single stock
- Free share feature! A great marketing incentive – if you sign up for an account with my link, you will receive a free share worth up to £200
- Customer service is great – questions are answered by a real human (not a bot) quickly
- Good social media presence & responsive to customer feedback. The app is continuously being updated and improved inline with customer feedback such as a recent update providing instant bank transfers
Negatives
- Lacking features – such as upcoming dividends or past dividends. Tracking past dividends gets lost in a long list on my purchases which takes time to pick out (to overcome this I have created a spreadsheet and fill it in whenever I receive a Freetrade dividend)
- I also do think they can provide more detailed information on company past performance and statistics – which will improve researching the product. However the app is continually being improved and I am sure an update addressing these issues will soon come!
- Annoyingly some of the stocks I brought before Freetrade Plus was introduced are now unable to those who have the free account, so I can not buy additional shares – only hold or keep them
How To Sign Up
The sign up process is incredibly easy. As they do not have a website, this will be easily done on your phone.
One of my favourite things about Freetrade is the free share you receive if you sign up via a referral link! Follow my exclusive link and once you deposit at least £2 in your account you will gain your free share worth up to £200!
You will then be asked to fill in a few personal details, link your bank account and fill in a W-8BEN form (which allows you to buy USA based stocks). Take your time to familiarise yourself with the app – it is well laid out! Happy investing 🙂
A free share is a great way to start your account as you can either choose to keep the share or sell it immediately & keep the profit to invest in other ETFs / shares.
It has been great to see Freetrade grow incredibly quickly over 2020 and continuing to do so during 2021 – they must be doing something right to be attracting new customers. There are new shares / ETFs continually being added to the app continuously, and IPOs are quickly added including Bumble and recently Deliveroo.
I am excited to see what is in store for Freetrade and trust they will continue to attract new investors and act on customer feedback.
Please note – this in not a sponsored post, all views shared on here are my own. Finally, I am not a financial advisor, please do your own research before carrying out any investment.
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