DEGIRO Review for Beginners for 2023

Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates or conversion fees.

Here is an overview of the fees charged by DEGIRO:

DEGIRO's trading fees are low for all asset classes. DEGIRO also has low non-trading fees, as there is no account fee, inactivity fee, withdrawal fee, deposit fee or custody fee.

On the downside, there is an unusual fee category called the "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 stock exchange you have used 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 Germany or France would need to pay €2.50 each year if they used the London Stock Exchange and 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 on the specific exchange at any time during the calendar year.

In addition, 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. The same is true for US futures markets.

If your account currency differs from the currency of the asset you want to buy, a currency conversion fee is charged. DEGIRO charges 0.25% of the transaction value (above the current spot rate).

DEGIRO deposits and withdrawals are free of charge via bank transfer. A big drawback, though, is that you can't deposit funds using a credit or debit card, and DEGIRO does not accept deposits from digital banks such as Wise, Revolut, Monese, Currencies Direct, Currency Cloud or PayPal; such transfers will bounce back immediately. This means that you can't save on currency conversion fees by using a digital bank.

In theory, the withdrawn amount should be transferred to your bank account within 3 business days. We tested it and actually received the money within 1 business day.

There is no minimum deposit. This is great if you want to invest small amounts only. At DEGIRO, you can choose from 9 base currencies.

DEGIRO is considered reliable as it is regulated by top-tier financial authorities and also comes with a banking background.

The legal entity behind the DEGIRO brand is flatexDEGIRO Bank Dutch Branch. As a German-regulated bank, flatexDEGIRO Bank AG is primarily supervised by the German financial regulator, the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin). We consider being regulated by a top-tier regulator a good sign of safety for investors, and a big plus is that DEGIRO now also has a banking background.

Investor protection means that up to a certain limit, you get your money back if the broker goes bankrupt or commits fraud. The investor protection amount defines the limit of protection. This can vary from country to country, and also depends on the regulator that oversees the broker.

When you open an account with DEGIRO, you are eligible for investor protection for up to €20,000 in securities and, additionally, up to €100,000 of any uninvested cash.

Here is a quick glossary to help you with some terms in our review:

Inactivity fee: a fee that is charged when a customer has not done any buying or selling on their brokerage account for a specific amount of time determined by the brokerage.

Deposit fee: this is charged when you send money to your trading account at a broker. The fee may differ depending on the method of transfer (i.e. bank card, bank transfer, e-wallets, etc.).

Withdrawal fee: an amount you need to pay when you withdraw money from your trading account, e.g. to your bank account.

Regulators: these are established by governments or other organizations to oversee the functioning and fairness of financial markets, including markets, exchanges and firms. They also oversee that investors are not fooled by scams, and in case of wrongdoing, they try to provide some level of financial and legal backing.

Investor protection: this means that up to a certain limit, you get your money back if the broker goes into bankruptcy or commits fraud.

Non-trading fees: charges not directly related to trading, such as deposit/withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

Trading fees: these are charged when you trade; for instance, in the form of a commission, spreads, financing rates, margin rates or a conversion fee.

If you want to learn more about DEGIRO, go to our detailed review.

Learn about account opening at DEGIRO.

Read about DEGIRO's fees in detail.

Learn more about DEGIRO's safety features.

You can find out more about investor protection in our dedicated article.

To understand more about stock trading, go to our expert's explanation.

How do decide which shares to buy? Find the answer here.

How to start, how to buy shares online? Here you can find our tips.

In our article on brokerage fees, you can learn what these fees mean and what they entail.