The name of the company is, as already mentioned in the beginning, Trading 212. This company was established in 2004 in Bulgaria and is operated by the Cypriot company Trading 212 Markets LTD. In addition to the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, it also operates on the Cyprus and London stock exchanges. In thefollowing years, there was a lot of discussion about this company. This is mainly due to the fact that it offers trading of so-called fractional shares, thus opening up business opportunities for almost every investor. The company’s fees are very friendly and, of course, it not only offers trading fractional shares, but also investing in ETFs and CFD contracts.
Table of contents
Terms and Conditions of Investing with Trading 212
The company makes no secret of the fact that it welcomes all clients regardless of the amount of money they want to trade. The conditionsof the shop are client-friendly, cheap and, of course, simple. You can trade from 1 EUR, they do not have many fees and you can trade both through classic websites and, of course, through applications in mobile phones, which are now an integral part ofeach of us.
If you are at least a little interested in the introduction, let’s analyze all the information more.
What they trade
A few years ago, companies that were able to offer their clients a really wide range of products were very popular. In certain branches itis still needed, but when it comes to investing and financial products, times have changed slightly. With the challenging times, the financial thinking of investors has also changed, both large ones (corporations, turnovers over EUR 250,000), but also those small investors who caninvest funds from EUR 1 or USD. Clients are not looking for brokers who offer them dozens or hundreds of products, but they are looking for professionals who understand their work and can meet the client’s needs.
Trading 212 is aware of this. Neotrades with products such as bonds, or even very modern cryptocurrencies or futures and options, but focuses primarily on stock markets, ETFs and CFD contracts. Let’s introduce these terms for explanation.
SHARES – this is a security that confirms that its owner is a so-called shareholder, i.e. that he has invested a certain property share (capital) in a joint-stock company. A shareholder has different rights against the assets of a joint-stock company, depending on the type of share he holds. Shareholders are not liable for the company’s obligations for the duration of their participation in the company. The only exception is the liability for the company’s debts up to the shareholder’s share nand the liquidation balance after the dissolution of the company with liquidation.
Some stocks are traded on stock exchanges, where their price is determined within the supply and demand.
ETF – Exchange Traded Funds – this is the designation of a modern investment product and can literally be translated as “exchange-traded funds”. It is a fund that, unlike classic open-ended mutual funds, has issued its shares, which are tradedon stock exchanges as ordinary shares.
CFD – Contract For Differences is a type of financial derivative that is suitable for trading virtually any asset (stock, commodity, currency/currency pair, cryptocurrency, fund, index…) without physically owning the asset.
This broker offers thousands of products, especially stocks from stock markets around the world. It focuses primarily on European and American markets, among which, of course, technology giants such asGoogle, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft cannot be missing. Of course, car manufacturers are also very popular, which TRADING 212 knows and therefore offers VW, Daimler, Tesla, or BMW.
What it does not offer, however, are the financial products of the Czech stock exchange. Here,trading212 does not move at all. BUT! What is not, can be. The company is very progressive and is open to new possibilities.
DIVIDENDS
Dividends are definitely a topic that needs to be mentioned at the TRADING 212 broker. Of course, the need to own a business accountwith this company. If you have an account and hold a dividend stock at the time these dividends are paid, the broker will credit this dividend to your trading account. The advantage is that it is already a taxed dividend, so you no longer have any worries and activities. But beware of one thing – you are only entitled to a dividend payment if you bought the share on the so-called ex dividend day.
However, if it happens that you speculate on a market decline, dividends are deducted from your account.
It is certainly necessary to mention the dividend tax. This depends on where the company from which you purchased the shares is based. In the Czech Republic, the withholding tax is 15%. For some states, such as the US, it is necessary to fill in the W-8BEN form, which avoids double taxation. It may seem like a waste of your precious time, but thanks to this form you do not pay 30% tax, but reduce it by half, ie 15%.
CFD
As already mentioned, this broker offers, in addition to securities, trading in so-called CFDs. Thanks to these, you canbet on the rise or fall of the price of any asset, while not actually owning it. It is possible to trade thousands of assets around the world, and in order to be able to understand them, we divide them into 5 categories.
- 200 měnových párů (USD/CHF, GBP/USD, EUR/USD….)
- More than700 stocks (Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, Facebook, Google…)
- ETF (QQQ, SPY, SLV, VOO, DIA, EEM…)
- 31 commodities (gold, silver, platinum, oil, natural gas…)
- 22 indexů (DAX, Nasdaq 100, VIX, DJIA…)
To complete and explain the situation in a simplified way. If you decide to buy commodities – for example, platinum. You are not buying real platinum. The CFD copies the market price of this commodity. This means that your profits, but also losses, will be the same as if you traded on a real exchange with physical platinum.
It is also important to mention that when trading CFDs, so-called leverage is used, which can multiply our profits up to 30 times. But BEWARE of one thing. If we talk about the exorbitant multiplication of profits, we must not forget the fact that this is how leveragewill rob us and our losses. For the TRADING 212 financial group, this possibility actually exists. However, it is regulated and laid down by ESMA regulations as follows:
- 30 x – major currency pairs
- 20 x – minor currency pairs, gold and major indices
- 10 x – Minor indices and commodities excluding gold
- 5 x – stocks and ETFs
What is important to mention about the possibility of leverage at TRADING 212 is the fact that the leverage is fixed and therefore cannot be reduced. Somebrokers offer this. However, if you are a professional trader, you have the option to increase the leverage up to 500x.
Trading Platforms
Trading212 uses a classic web browser for investing. The client does not have to download any application andjust log in through his computer, or anywhere else and through any device. Of course, there is also a mobile application that uses all modern instruments that inherently belong to such a progressive company as Trading212 undoubt would be.
Both of these options are completely free. For the time being, the client can only investigate the possibilities before embarking on investing. In addition, the application for mobile phones is very highly rated. Mainly due to its timeless design, but also advanced featuressuch as charts.
If you were afraid that the application may be complicated in any way (given the features it offers), the opposite is true. The application is very intuitive and leads you step by step to the desired result. Orders can be made (as with other investment companies) in several ways. One of them is, for example, “Market”, where it makes a purchase immediately after shipment at a current and affordable price. Another is the “limit”, when the price drops to an acceptable value, or, for example, “stop”, when the price rises to the desired value. The last option is the “stop limit” operation – the order is switched to the limit when the price rises to the desired one.
Trading 212 fees
It has already been said several times that TRADING212 has very low andaffordable fees. Personally, I have to evaluate very positively the fact that the fees he charges are not difficult to understand and even a complete beginner knows exactly how much he will pay for his particular trade. Such positives cannot be said about some competing companies.
One of the things that is a real rarity in the investment market is the fact that TRADING212 does not charge any withdrawal fees. You don’t even have to pay for depositing your funds. Here, however, there is a small condition. It is necessary to make the deposit via bank transfer. I do not consider this to be a problem and I even think that making bank transfer transfers is very easy and for a regular client who uses his bank’s mobile application, it is no problem at all.
This broker also does not accountfor there is no inactivity fee. There is not a single broker on the market, but it should be mentioned that some investment companies charge very high fees if the client does not execute any trade in a given month. Example: If I decide to go on vacation and take a break from the world of finance and from 1.9.-30.9. I do not make any trade (deposit, withdrawal, transfer), a fixed amount will be deducted from my broker account. BUT…. This is not really the case with TRADING212. So de facto we can trade only once a year.
Let’s get back to deposits for a little while. These are completely free of charge and in any amount for transfers from a bank account. For cards and electronic wallets are also free, but BEWARE, only up to $ 2000. If you exceed this value, you pay a fee of 0.7% of the deposit.
However, the good “fee” policy of this company certainly does not end there. Very often, investment firms charge a so-called commission fee. In other words: ‘brokerage fee’. Again, TRADING212 is free of charge. So really good news especially for those who like to trade more often and in smaller amounts.
Indeed, the broker TRADING212 belongs to one of the cheapest brokers on the Czech market. However, of course, thereare definitely some pop atks. If we talk about fees in forex, then the fees here are average compared to other companies on the market. For other tradable instruments, spreads are higher.
At the end of the topic of “fees” it is still necessaryto mention some factual information. With TRADING212 you can trade from about 30 CZK – ie from 1 EUR. The minimum deposit value is CZK 200 – ie EUR 10. You can deposit your funds via bank transfer, credit and debit cards, Google pay, Ap ple pay, iDeal, DotPay, GiroPay, Sofort and more…
The last conditions of the trade that I would like to mention are
- currency conversion fee’, which is 0.15%.
- leaving an open position for the next day – free of charge
- commission fees zero
Conclusion on fees at TRADING212.
The topic of fees is not very popular. Not even for us, who are trying to make information about individual brokers available for readers and those interested in investing. However, with this company, I really enjoyed the topic of fees. Simple, accessible, vidible and most importantly CHEAP. Way to go…
Website and client account
For the company’s website, I would like to mention a big disadvantage. And that is that they are not translated into the Czech language. In my opinion, this is a big mistake. If I enter or want to succeed in a particular (Czech) market, it is necessary to adapt to all clients. It is definitely not a rule that clients who have financial means have knowledge of foreign languages, such as English. As a result, TRADING212 may lose a significant part of its clients and therefore profits. And that is definitely a great pity for such a young and progressive company.
However, the site is very simple and the client is very well oriented in a few seconds. The design is in a blue-white combination, which is a good marketing strategy. It subconsciously brings the user peace of mind and certainty, whichis very important due to the nature of the trades. We want to put our finances where we feel safe. The company’s motto, which can be found on the first page, is “Commission-free investing for everyone” – we have already verified this and it really is!
At every step we can also find the option to open a client account. We will come to this topic at the end of this chapter.
What I evaluate very positively is that on the first page we find everything essential for our first investment. If we scroll down the scroll box, we find information that the company already has 1.5 million clients and has funds worth EUR 3.5 billion. This certainly looks good. So if so many clients have decided to invest so many funds, it is probably a quality company towhich I can entrust my funds. Well, right?
There is also a sample of a mobile application. It is very simple and with 3 basic steps we can invest. Mobile applications rule today’s world and surely each of us likes to see our finances whenever weremember.
An important element on the first page is definitely security. Safety is definitely No. 1 these days. TRADING 212 therefore shows us what security they have and what regulations they follow.
At the bottom of the www.trading212.com page , you will also find a list of individual states from which the shares suitable for purchase originate. Just choose and get information to buy and sell.
However, what TRADING212 really does not hide is the fact that they have client support 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. The average response time to questions from investors or potential clients is 29 seconds.
On the top bar we find tabs – invest, cfd and more.
- If you chooseto invest, the company will ask us to open an account.
- If we select CFDs, a page will open that informs us that we can trade long and short with leverage in stocks, forex, indices and other investment products ( below on the page we can view all possible products and possibly make a selection. Of course, everything is possible only after opening a client account)
- If we select “more” – a rolbox will open where we can find all the additional information. From the company’s trading conditions, toarière, broker information, communication videos on youtube, but we can also contact TRADING212.
Finally, about the company’s website. The website contains all the important information for current and potential clients. They are clear, simple and client-friendly. Only the “Czech” is a bit missing.
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Opening a managed account
The company offers two types of trading accounts. INVEST AND CFD. They can be activated separately or even simultaneously. Registration is really very simple and takes really only a few minutes. It is therefore necessary to fill in basic information such as name, surname, date of birth (due to age restrictions – according to the Financial Products Act, only a client older than 18 years can trade). Of course there is also an address and a telephone number.
If we get past this step, we choose the currency in which we want to trade. We have a choice of USD, EUR, CZK.
Another part of the registration is a questionnaire in which TRADING212 asks us questions about our earnings and especially our trading experience.
Then you register your email, choose a password and you’re done.
You have an account with these steps, but you can only start trading after you have uploaded copies of two documents. The advantage is that you just need to take a picture of them on your mobile phone and upload them to andpplication. Personal documents in this case are taken identity card, passport, or driver’s license.
In order to verify a valid address, companies require, for example, a bank statement, an invoice for electricity, gas, or water. On these documents, theclient’s address is indicated in the left corner. These documents must not be more than 3 months old from the date we upload them to the system. If you have any questions, we can of course contact the client line, where they will be happy to explain everything to us, or find alternativevu how to solve our situation.
Advantages and disadvantages
One could speculate at length about which broker is good and which is bad. As with everything in the world, trading is not just black and white. Each investor may be suited in a different way. Some pride themselveson low fees, others on professional communication and an individual approach (this applies mainly to large investors with funds of more than EUR 250,000). It is therefore necessary to realize what kind of investor I am, what pros I will handle, how often I will trade and what is a priority for me.
If you are clear about this, you can be helped by a few of these basic points that highlight the advantages of TRADING212 as well as points that state the disadvantages that maycome with trading with them. I myself am surprised that this company greatly exceeds the number of advantages over the disadvantages of trading.
So let’s take a look…
Advantages:
- Zero or very small and transparent trading fees
- Deposits possible from €1 withINVEST, from €10 with CFDs
- No commission fees for the broker
- The company’s platform is very sophisticated, but despite this, it is simple and client-friendly
- Customer support at TOP level (communicate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
- Customer Support Response Time 29 seconds
- Educational platform option (link from www.trading212.com website to youtube
- There is no double taxation of US dividends
- Analytical and trading tools at a very high level
- The priority for the company is the safety of trading
- Simple and attractive websiteof the company, where the client can find all the information clearly and in one place
Disadvantages:
- Compared to the competition, some spreads are slightly higher (but it is not a rule, it is necessary to look at the specific product we want to trade)
- TRADING212 does not offer the possibility of working with cryptocurrencies
- The company’s website is in English only
- Closely related to the previous point is this one – there is no support in the Czech language
Conclusion
I think that everything essential that should influence your decision whether or not to start trading with TRADING212 has already been said. The decision is yours..
Clients who do not have sufficient knowledge of English may be a little disappointed. However, google translate manages quite a nice translation even for these clients.
Those whospeak English well will be thrilled. The company offers a large number of business opportunities with very little or no fees. The website is simple and will definitely not distract from the essential, which is your money.
The review is also available in other languages on partner websites:
– Slovak – Trading 212 Recenzia
– Czech – Trading 212 Recenze
