DEGIRO Review 2020

DEGIRO has low trading fees for all asset classes, from stocks to options. Non-trading fees are also low, as there are no inactivity or withdrawal fees.

How we ranked fees

We ranked DEGIRO's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

First, let's go over some basic terms related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of DEGIRO for each asset class. For example, in the case of stock investing the most important fees are commissions.

We also compared DEGIRO's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, TradeStation Global and Interactive Brokers. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of DEGIRO alternatives.

To have a clear overview of DEGIRO, let's start with the trading fees.

DEGIRO trading fees

DEGIRO's trading fees are low for all asset classes. We analyzed the fees of DEGIRO UK. However, fees vary a bit from country to country.

Stock fees and ETF fees

DEGIRO offers low stock and ETF commissions on the market.

There is also a list of ETFs that can be traded for free once a month (conditions applicable -more information on DEGIRO), meaning either one buy or one sell transaction. Additional transactions for the same ETF product within the same month may also be free, as long as they are the same type of transaction (i.e. buy or sell) as the first one, and the trade is at least $/€1,000.

At DEGIRO, stock, ETF and warrant fees are the same.

The trading fee is usually calculated as a flat fee plus a percentage of the traded volume, except for the US and Canada, where you are charged based on the number of shares traded. The flat fee for Asian and smaller European markets is higher.

If you prefer stock trading on margin, you should check DEGIRO financing rates.

A margin rate is charged when you trade on margin. This basically means that you borrow money or stocks from your broker to trade. For this borrowed money/stock you have to pay interest. It can be a significant proportion of your trading costs.

DEGIRO margin rates are low. The margin rates vary based on the base currency of your account.

Fund fees

DEGIRO has generally low fund fees. 

Similarly to stocks, DEGIRO charges a flat and a volume-based fee for funds. Flat fees are high for some non-listed funds.

Any entrance or exit fees the fund provider might charge are passed on to the client by DEGIRO.

Custody fees are charged monthly (DEGIRO calls them a service fee), based on the value of the investment fund portfolio on the last day of the month. It adds up to 0.2% for a year, with the exception of FundShare Cash Funds / Morgan Stanley Liquidity Funds, where no such charge is levied.

Bond fees

DEGIRO has generally low bond fees.

Check out the volume-based pricing in the following table:

Options fees

DEGIRO's options fees are low. Its competitors charge a higher trading fee for this asset class. However, at DEGIRO, a connectivity fee of €5 per calendar month will be charged for using US stock index options markets. This fee will be charged for trading and holding positions on these markets, irrespective of the transaction size.

Unlike some brokers, DEGIRO has a charge for Exercise/Assignment/Cash settlement of options, although it is only €1 per contract.

DEGIRO options fees are volume-based, i.e. the fee you pay depends on the number of contracts you buy. Exchange costs are not included in the commission (for example, exchange costs are SEK3.50/contract for indices on Sweden's OMX exchange).

Futures fees

DEGIRO's futures fees are also low. Compared to TradeStation Global, they are lower on US and German markets.

However, at DEGIRO, a connectivity fee of €5 per calendar month will be charged for using US futures markets (CME, CBOT, CBOE, COMEX, NYMEX). This fee will be charged for trading and holding positions on these markets, irrespective of the transaction size.

Unlike some brokers, DEGIRO has a charge for Exercise/Assignment/Cash settlement of futures, although it is only €1 per contract.

Similarly to options, futures fees are calculated based on the number of contracts. Exchange costs are not included in the commission for US and Nordic markets (for example, exchange costs are SEK3.50/contract for indices on Sweden's OMX exchange).

Crypto fees

At DEGIRO, you can buy cryptos only through ETNs (exchange-traded notes). At the time of our review, it is possible to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum ETNs on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. DEGIRO's trading cost here is €4 + 0.05%, capped at €60. If you want to understand what a crypto ETN is, check out our crypto blogpost.

Non-trading fees

DEGIRO has low non-trading fees. There is no account fee, inactivity fee, withdrawal fee, deposit fee or custody fee (with the exception of a service fee for mutual funds, levied monthly).

On the downside, however, there is an unusual fee category, called an "Exchange Connectivity Fee." This is charged for trading outside of your home market.

You will pay a maximum of €2.50 per calendar year for each exchange with the exception of your home market. For example, as a UK investor, you wouldn't have to pay for using the London Stock Exchange. However, an investor from Portugal would pay €2.50 each year if they used the London Stock Exchange, another €2.50 for using the Stockholm Stock Exchange, etc. These charges will be applied if you carry out a transaction or hold a position during the calendar year. 

However, the connectivity fee for US options markets is €5 per exchange per calendar month, so this would add up to €60 per year if you were to trade on one of these markets every month.

If your account currency differs from the currency of the asset you want to buy, a currency conversion fee is charged. At DEGIRO, you can do this either automatically or manually, but the fees for these two options are different. The default setting is automatic, but you can change it to manual for each currency.

• For automatic currency conversion, DEGIRO charges 0.1% of the transaction value (above the current spot rate). If you set up your account this way, DEGIRO will simply do the conversion automatically when you buy or sell an asset. For example, if you have a GBP account and you sell a stock denominated in EUR, you won't end up with a EUR balance, because it will be automatically converted back to your base currency (GBP in this case).
• For manual currency conversion, DEGIRO charges €10 + 0.02% of the amount. You should avoid this option when exchanging lower amounts, because of the fixed fee. If the account is set up up this way, this means you might end up with other currencies on your account than your base currency (e.g. if you sell Apple shares, you will end up with USD on your balance, even though your base currency is EUR).

The account opening process at DEGIRO is fast, fully digital, and no minimum deposit is required.

Can you open an account?

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What is the minimum deposit at DEGIRO?

There is no minimum deposit. This is great if you want to invest only smaller amounts. 

Account types

DEGIRO offers the following account types:

• Custody
• Basic
• Active
• Trader
• Day Trader

You can access more and more products and features as you go down the list; Custody offers the fewest and Day Trader the most services. Trading fees are the same across all profiles, though there are some minor exceptions for Custody accounts.

For a summary of profiles, see the table below: 

Some of the profiles may not be available in some countries. You can read more about DEGIRO profiles here.

At the time of our review, DEGIRO does not provide tax-free account options like DEGIRO ISA or others available in some European countries. Two exceptions to this are Sweden, where ISK accounts are available; and the Netherlands, where a pension account can be opened.

How to open your account

Account opening is fully digital. After the waiting list was removed, we tested the process again, and it took us 1 business day to open a new account.

For the initial registration you need:

• a copy of your passport or ID card
• the bank account number from which you will fund the investment account.

After the initial registration, there are three more steps to complete before your account is activated and ready for trading:

1. Complete an appropriateness test. 
2. Agree to the conditions for real-time prices.
3. Transfer money to your investment account.

DEGIRO deposits and withdrawals are free of charge via bank transfer. On the other hand, you cannot deposit funds using a credit or debit card.

Account base currencies

At DEGIRO, you can choose from 9 base currencies. The available base currencies are CHF, DKK, GBP, NOK, SEK, EUR, CZK, PLN and HUF.

At DEGIRO, as a general rule, the base currency of your account is the currency of your home country. This means, for example, that you will have a GBP account if you register at www.degiro.co.uk as a UK citizen. You cannot have more than one base currency for an account.

However, it is possible to open another DEGIRO account in a different currency if you have a bank account in your name in the country of that currency. For example, if you are a UK citizen, you can have an account in Swedish krona if you have a bank account in Sweden. In this case, you have to apply for a DEGIRO trading account on the local DEGIRO website.

Why does this matter? For two reasons. If you fund your trading account in the same currency as your bank account or you trade assets in the same currency as your trading account base currency, you don't have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. These usually offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates, as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.

Deposit fees and options

You can easily fund your DEGIRO account via bank transfer. On the downside, the convenient and fast option of depositing via credit and debit card is not available.

For some accounts, Trustly, iDEAL and/or Sofort might be available as instant deposit options, but this varies by country. In the UK, only bank transfer deposits are allowed at the moment.

Bank transfer deposits usually take 2-3 business days, while Trustly would take around 30 minutes.

DEGIRO charges no deposit fees.

DEGIRO has strict rules on bank transfer deposits. It only allows transfers from bank accounts in your name from the accepted countries.

Deposits via TransferWise, Revolut, Monese, Currencies Direct, Currency Cloud or PayPal are not allowed.

DEGIRO differs from most other brokers in how it holds clients’ money. Instead of holding clients’ money in cash, DEGIRO is obliged by the Dutch regulator to put currently uninvested funds deposited by clients into Money Market Funds. This is set to change soon, however, as customers' cash will be migrated to flatex Bank accounts, following DEGIRO's recent acquisition by flatex Bank AG. This is good news, as it strengthens DEGIRO'S safety, and provides a higher investor protection of €100,000 for cash (and €20,000 protection for your assets).

As short-term debt currently has negative interest rates in many European countries (especially in the Eurozone), and since these money market funds also have a small management fee, you may notice a small negative return while your cash is parked in these funds.

DEGIRO compensates these negative returns up to a certain amount. E.g. the following terms apply for EUR accounts:

• Compensation will only be given for the first €2,500 in money market fund holdings and only for the Morgan Stanley EUR Liquidity Fund.

• If you have paid €350 or more in transaction fees during a 60-day period, a limit of €100,000 will apply to you. This will be reviewed on a monthly basis.

DEGIRO withdrawal fees and options

DEGIRO charges no withdrawal fees.

You can withdraw only via bank transfer. E-wallets are available only for certain residents, like German or Spanish clients.

DEGIRO ensures that the withdrawn amount is transferred to your bank account within 3 business days. We tested it and received the amount within one business day.

You can only withdraw money to accounts that are in your name.

How do you withdraw money from DEGIRO?

• Click the 'Deposit/Withdraw Funds' button and select the 'Withdrawal' tab.
• Select the appropriate DEGIRO account and bank account for the transaction.
• Enter the amount and a description.
• Click 'Transfer.'

Compare to other brokers

DEGIRO's web platform is simple and easy to use, even for beginners. On the negative side, you cannot set price alerts.

DEGIRO's web platform is available in your local language. For example, if you register from Germany, your platform language will be German.

Look and feel

DEGIRO's web trading platform is great for executing trades, but it's not the most advanced we've seen. 

It is well designed and user-friendly, but it lacks any customization options.

Login and security

You can choose between a one-step or a two-step login. The two-step option is available through Google Authenticator.

We recommend two-step login as it is more secure.

Search functions

The web platform's search functions are good.

When you type in the name of a product, a list of matching products will appear, categorized by asset class. You can also see the stock market and the currency the product is available in. 

You can even filter your search based on the asset class you're interested in (e.g. only options).

Placing orders

You can choose from several order types, although not all of them are available for every tradable instrument. The following order types are available:

• Limit
• Market
• Stop loss
• Stop limit

If you are not familiar with the basic order types, read this overview.

You can also use two order terms:

• Day
• Good-till-cancelled (GTC)

Alerts and notifications

You can receive order confirmations by email, but text message notification is not available. There is also no price alert function.

Portfolio and fee reports

DEGIRO's portfolio and fee reports are well organized. They are transparent, and you can easily see what products you own and the fees you paid for the transactions.

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DEGIRO's mobile app has a basic but good design and is pretty straightforward to use.

The mobile trading platform is available in the language of your account.

Look and feel

DEGIRO's mobile trading platform has a great and clear design and is fairly intuitive.

Login and security

The DEGIRO mobile platform provides a safe login. You can set up two-step authentication through the web platform; then you need to download the Google Authenticator app on your mobile, which will generate a temporary passcode each time you want to log in.

At the same time, you can't log in using biometric authentication. Providing this feature would be more convenient.

Search functions

The mobile platform's search functions are good.

When you type in the name of a product, a list of matching products will appear, categorized by asset class. You can also see the stock market and the currency the product is available in. 

You can even filter your search based on the asset class you're interested in (e.g. only options).

Placing orders

Order management is the same as on the web platform.

Alerts and notifications

You can receive order confirmation messages in email, but price alerts are not available.

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DEGIRO does not provide a desktop trading platform.

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At DEGIRO, you can access many markets and trade a lot of different products. CFD and forex are not available, though.

DEGIRO has a good product portfolio. From stocks to futures, you will find everything, though forex and CFDs are not available. In terms of stocks, options and futures, DEGIRO is really competitive. The broker's fund and bond selection, however, is average.

Stocks and ETFs

DEGIRO's stock and ETF selection is smaller than TradeStation Global's or Interactive Brokers'.

DEGIRO gives you access to 30 stock exchanges and more than 5,000 ETFs. The selection includes the biggest international markets, as well as several smaller European stock exchanges.

Unlike some brokers, at DEGIRO you can trade almost all listed companies, not just a select few. On the other hand, they do not offer access to American Pink Sheets or US over-the-counter (OTC) markets at the moment.

Funds

DEGIRO's selection of fund providers is narrow compared to TradeStation Global. Among others, you can choose from mutual funds offered by big players such as BlackRock or Vanguard.

Bonds

DEGIRO has an OK lineup of corporate and government bonds, but it compares poorly to TradeStation Global or Interactive Brokers.

Options

You can trade on 12 options markets at DEGIRO. This is considered a competitive selection, though not the best on the market.

Futures

DEGIRO's futures market coverage is also good, though it is still relatively narrow compared to TradeStation Global.

Cryptos

You can invest in Bitcoin and Ethereum through ETN instruments traded on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. If you want to learn more about crypto investing, we recommend our crypto blogpost.

DEGIRO provides limited research functions. There is a basic news feed and a simple charting tool.

Trading ideas

DEGIRO does not provide trading ideas at the moment.

Fundamental data

Fundamental data is not available.

Charting

The charting tool is rather basic, but sufficient for an execution-only trading platform. It is easy to use and comes with more than 10 technical indicators.

News feed

You can access a very basic news panel with short news items on both the web and the mobile platforms. These are available on the main page of the trading platform, and also in the information sheet of products that have any news related to them.

Usually, news only cover major stocks. Among DEGIRO's competitors, the news feature is much better on TradeStation Global's TWS platform.

Compare research pros and cons

Customer support is average at DEGIRO. You can reach out to them in many languages, and phone support is great. On the other hand, there is no live chat and 24/7 availability.

Phone and email support are available, but there is no live chat service.

A big advantage is that you can contact customer service in your own language if you're from one of the 18 countries supported.

Overall, the quality of DEGIRO'S customer support was OK. The response time of phone support was fast and we got relevant answers. Email support is mediocre, as its average response time was around 2 days.

We missed 24/7 availability. DEGIRO's customer support is only available between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time on weekdays.

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DEGIRO has quality services, but there's room for improvement. The broker provides a limited set of tools that are available only through the Dutch and UK websites.

At DEGIRO you can learn in the following ways:

• Platform tutorial videos
• General educational videos
• Blog

DEGIRO's Education materials can be found under the 'Knowledge' tab on their website. It has an 'Investor's Academy' consisting of 10 fundamental chapters to kickstart your investor journey with texts and videos. 

The 'Products' section introduces you to all the asset classes that are available at DEGIRO, while 'Strategies' and exchange Information' teaches basic charting and analysis techniques. 

There are videos that cover basic topics like asset classes and order terms. There are also videos about the trading platforms; explaining, for example, how you can buy stocks via the DEGIRO web platform. These are all under 'Investing with DEGIRO' menu. 

There's also a blog with quality articles about the markets every month.

However, we missed additional services that could boost DEGIRO's education sections, such as a demo account or webinars. We think having an option to open a demo account is the best way to test out how the platform operates. 

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DEGIRO is a licensed investment firm regulated by top-tier financial authorities, and now comes with a newly secured banking background.

Is DEGIRO regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and the Dutch Central Bank (DNB). Regulators of other countries where DEGIRO offers its services are also notified by DEGIRO and are aware of its operations. For example, in the UK, Degiro is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

DEGIRO is based in the Netherlands and was founded in 2008.

Is DEGIRO safe?

To be certain, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• what the background of the broker is

How you are protected

When you open an account with DEGIRO, you are eligible for investor protection for up to €100,000 in cash (and €20,000 in assets). This is thanks to DEGIRO's banking background, following its acquisition by flatex Bank AG, effective as of August 2020.

Negative balance protection is not available.

The acquisition by flatex Bank is still an ongoing process. Client funds are currently being migrated to cash accounts at flatex Bank. Previously, instead of holding clients’ money in cash, DEGIRO has been placing currently uninvested funds deposited by clients into Money Market Funds. It has been obliged to do so by the Dutch regulator.

All assets in the Money Market Funds are held separately by an independent legal entity, eliminating any risk in the event of DEGIRO going bankrupt.

With Money Market Funds, you run credit risks, just as with a bank, as the portfolio is invested in bonds. However, these Money Market Funds adhere to very strict investment policies. Investment is only allowed in bonds with very high credit ratings and a short duration; credit risk is therefore very limited. The deposit guarantee scheme does not apply to Money Market Funds.

DEGIRO compensates the negative return of the Money Market Funds up to a certain amount; click here for more details.

By joining flatex's banking network, DEGIRO will gradually abandon the use of Money Market Funds. The process will take time, but clients won't feel a thing, and are covered by a higher investor protection amount from day one.

Background

DEGIRO was established in 2008. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

Most of the products you can trade at DEGIRO, like stocks and ETFs, are exchange-traded. Therefore you do not run a counterparty risk with DEGIRO. This is good news, as it means that if DEGIRO defaults, your assets will still be safe.

Find your safe broker

DEGIRO is a good choice if you want a simple platform and don’t want to spend too much on fees.

Transaction costs are generally very low. DEGIRO also has one of the best trading platforms for Europeans. In addition, the account opening process is fast.

On the other hand, education and research tools are limited. We should also mention that there is no forex trading, and most clients can only deposit and withdraw by bank transfer.

All in all, DEGIRO is a great online broker. There is no minimum deposit and no inactivity fee, so feel free to go ahead and give it a try.

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