Guides

Trading 212 is FCA-regulated and your money is protected, but the protection has edges: interest on cash, share lending and CFDs each sit outside part of it. Here is exactly what is covered, with the licence numbers to check.

3.60% AER variable, tax-free, protected up to £120,000 — and held entirely in banks, unlike the QMMF-backed interest on Trading 212's other accounts. Here is the rate, the promo bonus, what a flexible ISA means in practice, and where it doesn't fit.

Trading 212 charges no commission, but it is not free. The FX fee, the card-deposit threshold, stamp duty, CFD financing and the cost of leaving interest switched off all add up. Here is every charge, with worked examples in pounds.

Spread betting pays no capital gains tax and no stamp duty; CFD losses can offset other gains and CFD positions are available outside the UK and Ireland. Same leverage limits, same negative balance protection. Here is which one actually suits you.

Trading 212 has a 4.6 Trustpilot score from around 100,000 reviews, and a steady stream of people saying it is terrible. We took the ten complaints that come up most on Trustpilot, Reddit and the Trading 212 community and checked which are true, which are misunderstandings, and what to do about each.