Best discount brokers in Cuba in 2021

To help you to find the best discount brokers in 2021 for citizens in Cuba, we went ahead and did the research for you. So what did we focus on? Fees, fees, and fees. We don't like them and surely you don't either. Checking carefully, we uncovered all the hidden fees. After testing 84 brokers for fees and checking what markets and products they offer, 3 made it to the top. And now, without further ado...

The top 3 picks for the best discount brokers for Cuban citizens in 2021:

1. Trading 212 is the best discount broker in Cuba in 2021. Real stocks and ETFs are free, average CFD and high forex trading fees.
2. Passfolio takes second place. Free stock and ETF trading, average non-trading fees.
3. Swissquote rounds out the top three. High trading fees, average non-trading fees, low fund fees.

What makes a good discount broker? Well, did we mention low fees? This holds for commissions, financing rates, and, let's not forget, non-trading fees like inactivity or withdrawal fees. The table above gives you a good hint; the scores include all fees, with 5.0 being the best. Besides low fees, a good discount broker should also offer access to a lot of markets and products. All brokers in our list offer real stocks, but we also looked into whether you can trade bonds, currencies and options.

These features may sound obvious and easy to list, but they're hard to figure out. We are testing brokers based on more than 300 criteria with real accounts and real money. We know what's up.

For a tailored recommendation, check out our broker finder tool. Just enter your country, and it will show you only the relevant brokers. Want more details? Compare brokers with this detailed comparison table.

And now, let's see the best discount brokers for Cuban citizens in 2021 one by one, starting with the winner, Trading 212.

Trading 212 is a global CFD and forex broker, but clients can also trade stocks and ETFs free of charge. The company was founded in 2004 and is now headquartered in London. Trading 212 is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission (FSC). 

Trading 212 is considered safe as it is regulated by the top-tier FCA. 

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Recommended for active cfd and fx traders and investors looking for intuitive trading platforms

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#1 Trading 212
Fees

3.4

Trading 212 has commission-free stocks and ETFs, and there are also no fees for deposit, withdrawal or inactivity. However, fees for forex trading are high.

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#1 Trading 212
Markets and products

3.7

Trading 212 focuses mainly on CFDs, forex and cryptos. You can also trade real stocks and ETFs, but popular asset classes like bonds, mutual funds, options and futures are missing.

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#1 Trading 212
Account opening

4.5

The account opening process is straightforward, user-friendly and quick. Our account was verified within one business day.

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#1 Trading 212
Deposit and withdrawal

4.3

Trading 212 deposits and withdrawals are free, fast, and can be done in several way. On the negative side, there are only a few account base currencies available in each country.

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

#1 Trading 212
Verdict

Trading 212 works as a CFD and forex broker regulated by multiple financial supervisory authorities.

On the plus side, Trading 212 offers commission-free stocks and ETFs, while CFD fees and non-trading fees are low as well. The account opening process is seamless and the trading platforms are user-friendly.

However, Trading 212 has a limited product portfolio, lacking popular asset classes such as bonds or options. We missed phone and live chat support, and found forex fees relatively high.

So is Trading 212 good? Trading 212 is a good choice for those interested in investing in equities or trading leveraged forex and CFD products, with the use of a great trading platform. As it offers a demo account, don't hesitate to give it a try.

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76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Passfolio, a global zero-commission stockbroker, is a young and ambitious brokerage founded in 2018. It is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). In addition to the top-tier regulation, clients also enjoy additional investor protection under the SIPC policy of Passfolio's clearing firm for up to an additional $30 million (with a cash sub-limit of $900,000 per account), subject to an aggregate limit of $150 million.

Although Passfolio is a global broker, there is a distinct focus on Brazilian customers, as evidenced by the fact that a good portion of the content it offers is available in Portuguese. 

Passfolio is considered safe because it is regulated by top-tier authorities and offers extra protection to investors. 

Recommended for beginners and long-term investors focusing on the us stock market

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#2 Passfolio
Fees

4.6

Passfolio's fees are highly attractive as trading in all assets except fro cryptos is free of charge, provided the value of the trade reaches $5. On the other hand, most withdrawal options are subject to a fee.

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#2 Passfolio
Markets and products

2.0

In addition to cryptos, Passfolio offers stocks, ETFs, REITs and ADRs traded on US stock exchanges. Popular assets such as mutual funds, bonds and options are missing from the product portfolio.

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#2 Passfolio
Account opening

5.0

When made on a mobile device, the account opening at Passfolio is super fast and fully digital. The validation time is a mere 15 minutes. On the other hand, experience shows that validation can run into issues on the computer.

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#2 Passfolio
Deposit and withdrawal

1.5

Passfolio's deposit functions are numerous and they all come free of charge. On the other hand, withdrawal is not free and the process of depositing funds is complicated.

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#2 Passfolio
Verdict

As an up-and-coming brokerage, the main attractive feature of Passfolio is its highly competitive fee structure. You can essentially trade free of charge with an amount exceeding $5, the deposit is free and the broker doesn't charge any account fees either. The mobile app is exceptionally user friendly and the account opening and validation was extremely fast.

On the negative side, the range of products is rather limited and customers have access solely to US markets (NYSE/NASDAQ). Depositing funds in your Passfolio account can prove to be a cumbersome process and all withdrawals carry a  price tag. Educational materials are pretty scarce, albeit some of high quality, and videos are only available in Portuguese.

Passfolio is ideal for non-U.S. investors looking for an easy-to-use platform to trade in US securities. 

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Swissquote is a Swiss investment bank established in 1996. It has two main trading arms: a Swiss unit for trading stocks, funds, options and futures, and a company in the UK for CFDs and forex.

Formally, Swissquote Bank Ltd is based in Switzerland and is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), the country's financial regulator.

The other entity, Swissquote Ltd, is Luxembourg and offers CFDs and forex trading. It is regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), Luxembourg's regulator. The purpose of this entity is to grant access to the European markets after Brexit. The UK entity remained only for UK clients

Swissquote is considered safe because Swissquote Bank Ltd has a banking license, it is listed on the Swiss stock exchange, discloses detailed financials regularly and has a long track record.

Here, we focus mainly on the Swiss entity, sometimes referred to as "Swissquote (CH)". Throughout our content, we will refer to the Luxembourg-based entity as "Swissquote Europe (LUX)".

Recommended for affluent investors who value safety and are ok with higher fees

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#3 Swissquote
Fees

2.2

Swissquote charges no inactivity fee and you can trade an impressive selection of funds for favorable fees. On the other hand, trading fees are generally high, including stocks and ETFs fees, and there is a fee for withdrawing your money.

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#3 Swissquote
Markets and products

5.0

At Swissquote (CH) you can access many markets and trade with a lot of different product types. At Swissquote Bank (LUX) you can trade forex and CFDs too.

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#3 Swissquote
Account opening

4.0

Swissquote offers a fully digital account opening process, although we encountered wait times. There is no minimum deposit for trading accounts, but a high minimum for forex and robo-advisory accounts.

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#3 Swissquote
Deposit and withdrawal

4.6

Depositing at Swissquote is quick with credit/debit card and can be done in several base currencies. On the negative side, you can only withdraw money via bank transfer, and the Swiss entity charges fees.

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#3 Swissquote
Verdict

Swissquote is an investment bank with a rock-solid background:

• It is Swiss,
• it is listed on an exchange
• and it is a bank. 

It has two main entities, one in the UK and one in Switzerland. If you open an account at the London-based entity you can trade forex and CFDs, while the Swiss entity gives you access to assets ranging from stocks to options.

Swissquote offers a broad range of products across many markets. There are many stocks, mutual funds, and a lot of different other types of products, from bonds to cryptos.

However, nothing is free: Swissquote's trading fees are relatively high. 

All in all, Swissquote is a great stockbroker. As you can trade many products and no inactivity fee is charged, feel free to give it a try.

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You are probably curious how we came up with this list. To get a better understanding, let's discuss the following three points:

1. What is a discount brokerage?
2. Why do we think these brokers are safe?
3. What were the most important factors when we picked the best discount brokers?

What is a discount broker?

A discount broker is a brokerage company that executes your buy and sell orders at a low trading fee. Discount brokers can afford to charge lower fees, since, unlike full-service brokers, they usually don't provide extra services like research, personal investment advice, tax planning or robo-advisory.

Discount brokers first appeared along with the rise of online broker services. Many brokerage companies started to provide their service online and fully automated via online trading platforms. An online trading platform is basically a website where you can insert your own orders, and while you get customer support, the broker offers no investment advice.

The difference between full-service brokers and discount brokers has blurred somewhat in recent years. Discount brokers started to offer extra services as well, like research; while full-service brokers started to lower their fees. The traditional brokerage and wealth management industry is under fee pressure from increasingly cost-effective online broker companies.

Many US brokers have slashed their fees to zero and now promote commission-free trading , following in the footsteps of brokers such as Robinhood. Drawbacks for some of these commission-free brokers include the limited number of assets you can trade (for example, bonds are less likely to be offered), so some investors and traders still prefer traditional discount brokers, where order execution also tends to be better compared with zero-commission brokers.

Are these brokers safe?

These brokers are all considered safe.. They are regulated by at least one top-tier authority. We at BrokerChooser distinguish between mid-tier and top-tier regulators, based on various factors with the most important being the investor protection amount. It is very unlikely that you will run into severe problems, and even if you do, you are protected by a top-tier regulator.

How did BrokerChooser pick the best discount brokers?

We tested brokers based on more than 300 criteria, with a real account and real money. When we selected the best discount brokers, the primary selection criteria were fees. Importantly, we only included brokers where you can trade real stocks. This means that we excluded brokers where stocks were only offered through CFDs.

We calculated the rankings based on trading fees for all asset classes, such as stock fees; as well as fees not related to trading, such as withdrawal fees. We also assigned a higher score to brokers that offer a wide range of asset classes, because providing low fees in more than one asset class is not an easy job. Note that our maxium score is 5.0 and the minimum is 1.0.

Lastly, we incorporated additional criteria to measure the overall quality of the broker: if the account opening process, customer service and other aspects of the broker are high quality, they all boosted the overall score.

You saw the details, now let's zoom out. Here are the best discount brokers in 2021 for citizens in Cuba:

Trading 212 is our winner, the best discount broker in Cuba in 2021. Real stocks and ETFs are free, average CFD and high forex trading fees.

All of these brokers are considered a great choice. Pick the winner or any runner-up, and save a lot of money on fees. Let us know what you think in the comment section.

Still unsure? Check out our broker finder tool and find the best broker for you, or learn more about how to invest your money.