Barclays vs Charles Stanley Direct compared

Barclays
Charles Stanley Direct

Barclays

Key score differences
We took 8 criteria of our comparison (fee, account opening, customer service, markets&product, research, trading platform, deposit&withdrawal) and listed the angles with the greatest difference here below.
  • Customer service score0.0/5.0
  • Trading platform combined score1.0/5.0
  • Markets and products score3.2/5.0
Good to know
Recommended for
  • beginners 2.48/5
  • equity 4.33/5
You can't open an account at Barclays

Charles Stanley Direct

Key score differences
We took 8 criteria of our comparison (fee, account opening, customer service, markets&product, research, trading platform, deposit&withdrawal) and listed the angles with the greatest difference here below.
  • Customer service score5.0/5.0
  • Trading platform combined score3.6/5.0
  • Markets and products score1.5/5.0
Good to know
Recommended for
  • beginners 3.64/5
You can't open an account at Charles Stanley Direct
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*Data marked with an asterisk contain additional info, expand the relevant sections below to see details.

Basic data of broker

Overall Score
4.3

Recommended for Long-term investors looking for a broker with low fees and solid background

Overall Score
4.5

Recommended for Beginners and buy-and-hold investors focusing on the UK market

Country of origin

UK

Country of origin

UK

Fees

Fees score
3.6
Fees score
3.4
Fees summary

Low trading and non-trading fees

Fees summary

Low trading and non-trading fees

Stock and ETF fees

Forex fees

Fund fees

Bond fees

Options fees

Futures fees

Crypto fees

CFD fees

Non-trading fees

Deposit and withdrawal

Deposit and withdrawal score
4.0
Deposit and withdrawal score
3.8
Number of base currencies

1

Number of base currencies

1

Deposit type

Withdrawal type

Account opening

Account opening score
3.5
Account opening score
4.6
Account opening fully online
Account opening fully online
Minimum deposit
*

$0

*
Minimum deposit
*

$22.6

*
Time to open account

>3 days

Time to open account

1-3 days

Required documents

Proof of identity: passport / driver's license Proof of residency: bank statement / utility bill

Required documents
*

Proof of identity: passport / driver's license Proof of residency: bank statement / utility bill

*

Trading platform

Web platform score
3.5
Web platform score
3.5
Mobile platform score
-
Mobile platform score
3.7
Desktop platform score
-
Desktop platform score
-

Markets and products

Markets and products score
3.2
Markets and products score
1.5
Stocks
Stocks
Fractional shares
Fractional shares
ETFs
ETFs
Forex
Forex
Funds
Funds
Bonds
Bonds
Options
Options
Futures
Futures
Crypto
Crypto
CFDs
CFDs

Research, education

Research score
4.0
Research score
3.5
Charting quality

Poor

Charting quality

Mid-range

Education score
1.5
Education score
2.0
Demo account
Demo account

Customer service

Customer service score
0.0
Customer service score
5.0
Phone
Phone
Live chat
Live chat
Email
Email
24/7 availability
24/7 availability

Security

Investor protection amount

£85,000

Investor protection amount

£85,000

Banking background
Banking background
Listed on stock exchange
Listed on stock exchange
Foundation date

1992

Foundation date

1985

Country of regulation

UK

Country of regulation

UK

Barclays

For detailed information and hands-on experience, read our review of this broker.

Charles Stanley Direct

For detailed information and hands-on experience, read our review of this broker.

*Data marked with an asterisk contain additional info, expand the relevant sections below to see details.

Everything you find on BrokerChooser is based on reliable data and unbiased information. We combine our 10+ years finance experience with readers feedback. Read more about our methodology.

Barclays's service is on par with Charles Stanley Direct's and a comparison of their fees shows that Barclays's fees are similar to Charles Stanley Direct's.

Account opening takes somewhat more effort at Barclays compared to Charles Stanley Direct, deposit and withdrawal processes are about the same quality at Barclays, while customer service quality is considerably lower than Charles Stanley Direct's.

Our experts rated the trading platform of Barclays as much less user-friendly than the platform of Charles Stanley Direct, found that clients have access to more markets and products with Barclays, while Charles Stanley Direct provides somewhat lower-quality research and education.

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