Trading212 Review

2.655 • 64 REVIEWS
Updated: Jan 30, 2024
Trading212.com

Trading212 is a Bulgaria based broker established in 2006 and regulated by FCA (UK). Trading instruments include over 165 currencies, 10+ crypto currencies, and 10,000+ stocks, stock indexes, ETFs, precious metals and commodities as CFDs. 

Trading 212 platform is available through Apple App Store or Google Play and supports fractional shares trading with zero commission, and Autoinvest and Pie features for your personal investment and trading options.

Please read Trading212 Reviews below and share live trading experiences with this broker.

Broker Details

Minimum Trade Size: 0.01
Maximum Leverage: 30:1
Minimum to Open Live: $10
Established: 2003
Address: 107 Cheapside, London , EC2V 6DN, United Kingdom
Contact: info@trading212.com
Regional offices:
Regulators: FSC #RG-03-0237, CySEC #398/21, FCA #609146
Prohibited countries:
Trading platforms: Trading212
Web Trading: ✅ Yes
Mobile Trading: ✅ Yes

Trading Instruments

Currencies: (225+)
Cryptocurrencies: (15+) Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum
CFD: (9645+) Gold, Silver, Other Precious Metals, Stocks, Stock Indexes, Oil, Other Commodities, Futures, ETF

Trading Conditions

EAs/Robots: ✅ Yes
News Trading: ✅ Yes

Managed Accounts & Social Trading

Copy Trading: ✅ Yes
Deposit Methods: Bank Wire (BankTransfer/SWIFT), VISA, MasterCard, Apple Pay, Giropay, GPay, iDEAL, PayPal
Withdrawal Methods: Bank Wire (BankTransfer/SWIFT), VISA, MasterCard, Apple Pay, Giropay, GPay, iDEAL, PayPal
* Please check broker website for more information
2.655 • 64 REVIEWS

Recent User Reviews of Trading212

M
Matsau
Hull, United Kingdom,
Apr 12, 2021,
Registered user

VERY DISAPPOINTED

Service use: Live Length of use: 3-6 Months
I believe I have been cheated by this platform. I opened aeur/cad sell trade at 1.4953 and set my stop loss at 1.4993 and my tp at 1.4939. But today at 2201 UK time, my position mysteriously closed with a loss of about - £53.00 at 1.49951. But it turns, the price of eur/cad did not even move above 1.4970. So how come I made a loss? I'm pretty sure the market didn't gap in any way...
2 traders have found this review helpful
M
Reply by Trading 212 submitted Apr 19, 2021:
Greetings,

We're sorry to hear you feel this way, and we'd like to shed some light on the case.

When having a short position, its return is calculated in real-time in accordance with the current Buy price of the forex pair. However, by default, the platform portrays the sell chart, which in the case of your position does not have any effect. In this light, when reviewing the buy chart at the closing time, we can confirm that the price of 1.49956 has been reached.

In order to switch the chart to your preferred one, please right click on the screen> Chart Settings> chose the respective Buy or Sell chart you would like to observe.

On the other hand, we've also made a follow up to your initial inquiry over email on the 13th of April. If any questions on the matter persist, feel free to reply, and we'll be happy to assist further.
E
EricCartman
Italy, Italy,
Feb 16, 2021,
Registered user

Simply HORRIBLE!

Service use: Live Length of use: 6-12 Months
I can confirm from my experience that everything I read in other reviews here are correct, so I won't repeat things already said. They are totally scam. I can't withdraw my funds to move to another platform and their customer service is absent. Very bad and deceiving people. Stay away.
1 trader has found this review helpful
E
Reply by Trading 212 submitted Feb 25, 2021:
We are sorry to hear you feel this way.

As a trusted broker, we put great priority on ensuring our clients are happy with the provided service while striving to provide an exceptional customer experience, and we are disappointed to learn this has not been the case with you.

While we aim to make thе withdrawal process as smooth as possible for our clients, there will be occasions where we need to ask for additional information, which can result in it taking a little longer than we'd hope. We're sorry if you feel we could have handled this better, however as an FCA regulated broker, we must perform the necessary checks following strict regulatory and compliance requirements.

Nonetheless, we can assure you that every single case is reviewed with the greatest care, and you can expect a follow-up email on the matter since we want to make sure there are no remaining doubts.
J
JBZH86
Zurich, Switzerland,
Feb 3, 2021,
Registered user

Awful: refuse to accept proof of address or return funds

Service use: Live Length of use: 0-3 Months
A terrible broker who try anything to not return your funds. Customer service is practically non existent and damn right insulting.

I have reported them to the FCA; whom, incidentally I deal with regularly as part of my job and am also very well aware of AML / KYC requirements; which they claim to be the reason for not returning your money.

I opened an account and invested 4k. I made 500ish in gains but grew tired of the applications limitations and wanted to cash out. Despite providing everything they asked for upon opening the account and investing money, I then found i couldn't access my money without providing a proof of address that they never previously requested before taking my money.

Per their alleged proof of address examples, I have provided them:

- residency permit
- monthly salary statement
- annual salary/ tax declaration
- pension statement
- mobile/ broadband invoice (twice)
- bank statements (three times)

Each time they reject it without any reason or justification. On a couple of occasions they requested I send in a different format I.e. take a picture of printed statement as opposed to via my computer screen, which they still rejected. They then asked for a pdf, which they still rejected. Again, no rationale or reason. I think it's a game for them.

I have provided all communications and evidences to the FCA and will be following this through to the end. I will provide an update once I hear from the FCA agent. I have also engaged legal representation to ensure these fraudulent like practices are put to an end.

I have warned everyone in my circle and bank I work to stay away from them and my friends using them to freeze any more deposits and ensure they can withdraw funds before trading further with them and look elsewhere. They've all seen the hypocritical, ridiculous responses and constant moving of the goal posts that I shared with the FCA too.

It would seem they're keen to take and hold your money for as long as they can to leverage deposits for their own nefarious means.

Tread very carefully.
4 traders have found this review helpful
J
Reply by Trading 212 submitted Feb 15, 2021:
Greetings,

As a regulated broker, we are obligated to conform to all AML regulations - these regulations, while strict, ensure the safety of our platform and our clients. The specifics of the process, however, may vary from region to region, as well as from broker to broker, as there are internal regulations to take into consideration.

Regarding the matter of your documents, for example, a residence permit, a bank statement, or a landline phone bill are all acceptable documents for EU/EEA clients. However, they may have not been accepted for a different reason, such as wrong formatting, address mismatch or expired document. Please do email us at feedback@trading212.com from the email address you're registered with, and we'll make sure to explain the reason the documents have been refused.

Of course, we still respect your right to escalate the matter further, and if you wish to do so, we'll make sure to address accordingly.
M
MMansour
UAE, United Arab Emirates,
Dec 16, 2020,
Guest

Worst broker ever. Seriously

Service use: Live Length of use: 0-3 Months
Their servers are always freezing, interrupted service all the time, they delay withdrawals and they don't have a proper contact information, they only have a chat which is actually a message sent to them like an email and they don't even reply ! after all of that they refuse to close your account !!!! :)
2 traders have found this review helpful
M
Reply by Trading 212 submitted Dec 23, 2020:
Greetings,

As most brokers, we also rely on third-party services, such as intermediaries to the stock exchange, hosting services, etc., to ensure smooth trading on the platform. Our intermediary recently experienced connectivity difficulties on a couple of instances, which led to longer processing time and delay in order execution. Nevertheless, everything was promptly resolved, and we remain in constant communication to ensure similar events remain in the past.

On a different note - withdrawals are processed manually by our team, complying with the highest AML standards. We work tirelessly to process all requests, yet a slight delay might be experienced due to the high volume. Nonetheless, you may be confident that we'll do our best to ensure that the funds are issued as soon as possible.

We are also sorry to hear you experienced difficulties contacting us. Our team is available to help 24/7 both via email and instant in-app chat. We completely understand the importance of timely assistance when financial matters are involved, and the response time is shrinking every day as our team is working hard to catch up with the demand.

Lastly, we assure you that we take all client requests extremely seriously, and the same applies to account cancellations. When a customer asks for their account to be closed, the request is escalated immediately, and the account is deactivated in the prescribed time-frame.

We appreciate that you took the time to review us. Please give us a follow-up at feedback@trading212.com regarding the transaction in question, and we'll gladly take a closer look.
P
PotatoSkywalker
London, United Kingdom,
Sep 8, 2020,
Registered user

The mess with the ADR stock created by Trading 212

Service use: Live Length of use: 6-12 Months
I am appalled by the way Trading 212 has handled the ADR stocks issue. Trading 212 sold ADR stocks to ISA account users and were told that this was something that they should not have done according to HRMC. For those that bought into the stock, including myself, we were not made aware of the fact Trading 212 sold stock they should not have until after everything went downhill and after many of us bought into the stock thinking nothing of it. This meant I ended up taking the JUMIA stock at a loss as they gave me no option on this despite this being their mistake. However, they are not willing to refund the loss to those they screwed over.

I contacted customer support about this through the Trading 212 mobile app, and every single customer support advisor fobbed me off with macro responses stating this was not the fault of Trading 212. They also advised me that I should recuperate the loss by investing in the Trading 212 Invest account, which I have no intention of doing. In short, I was forced to take the loss and it is somehow my responsibility to recuperate that loss when Trading 212 sold stock they were not supposed to. If they didn’t make this mistake in the first place, me and others that have complained would not have to be going through this mess… Because of this, I lost £81.55 (which may not be a lot) and they refuse to take accountability for the cock up that Trading 212 made by selling the JUMIA stock that they should not have done. Their excuse for not refunding the loss is simply because they are not choosing to take money back from those that profited from the cock up.

According to the CS agent I spoke with about this, they stated it was my choice not to use an Invest account to recuperate the loss, hence it is nothing to do with them now. This was a complete derail from the situation at hand. More so, who would even consider making an Invest account on Trading 212 when issues like this happen. It obviously shows they don’t care about their customers if this is how they treat them.

What’s worse is that they kept getting my name wrong with the final advisor I spoke to stating it was a typo. However, as a customer support lead using the same Helpshift system they use, they could easily go back through the conversation to see that I already made the complaint about getting my name incorrect and yet they still referred to me incorrectly. Not to mention they got my gender wrong, which is clearly discrimination, as they referred to me as a he, when in fact I am female. Even though the final advisor made his apology for that, he still referred to a ‘he’ in his reply to me.

Another annoyance is that they kept sending me the helpshift FAQ to make a complaint about this issue, which is how I came to be in contact with the staff in the first place. One of the staff even contacted me through the very same email that shows on their FAQ telling me to send a complaint through… How is that even good customer service?! As a customer support lead that works in the tech industry, I know how difficult this job can be, and it is not my initial plan to write a negative review from the get-go. I gave every advisor multiple chances to resolve this problem that Trading 212 started with the last advisor being given one final chance to do something about the cock up, but like all the rest, they passed the responsibility on to me without even trying to do something about the issue.

I know that Trading 212 community/customer support will reply to this, so don’t even think about telling me to send a message to customer support about this issue, as this is exactly why I am here in the first place.

I would advise people to avoid using Trading 212, because when it comes situations like this where it is their error (to which they even admitted to it being as such), they refuse to even compensate users for this. Once I have taken all of my stock out from Trading 212, I will be moving to another, more respectable platform.
2 traders have found this review helpful
P
Reply by Trading 212 submitted Oct 12, 2020:
Greetings,

We appreciate you bringing this to our attention, and we are very grateful for the opportunity to respond.

Before all else, we apologize for your recent experience and the frustration this has caused you. The level of service you are describing is certainly not on part with our high standards, and we are taking the necessary measures to leave such occurrences in the past.

With regard to the ISA stocks availability, as part of an internal compliance check, 90 of them were found to be ineligible for ISA accounts, and due to regulations, we were required to close all such positions. These are all stocks which are not listed on the recognized stock exchanges by HMRC, and we had to close some of the positions with short notice (due to technical complications with the AutoInvest pies). We completely understand your frustration, however, as a strictly regulated broker, we need to ensure that all ISA listed stocks on our platform comply with the imposed regulations.

While indeed we’d also prefer to not requesting you to close the positions in your ISA account, yet, as suggested by our team - the overall account value will not be affected if a client decides to reinvest in the same instruments via the Invest account. All our service are commission-free, and if you take out $X amount of money from ISA & transfer it to Invest, you only lose the spread needed to open new positions (a few pennies) & potential market movement while doing the transfer, which can be either beneficial or negative.

We deeply regret the bad experience you had, and we assure you that we will use your feedback to strengthen our service further and to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Your patience and understanding are appreciated!
J
john
leeds, United Kingdom,
Sep 5, 2020,
Guest

scam company keep your money and look else where

Service use: Live Length of use: over 1 Year
i been using trading 212 for about a year,it was my first brokers as i was new to trading and didn't really know what to look for plus it was commission free etc but theirs noting free about this scam company,first of all if u trade cdf's you cant possible make money on the spreads over been so wide the average been 25 cent and sometimes even wider and this during normal trading times no news or anything like that.If you hold trades over night the interest charges are shocking my last trade cost me £94 pounds to hold for 3 days including over the weekend.If you question it you get silly excuses because no one has told trading 212 that cdf's are not real shares u don't need to borrow them to be short on a instrument. They have like a online community for there members to chat etc but if your comments are negative about the company in any way they get deleted and you get blocked from it.I haven't had any issues with withdrawing funds yet and the customer service ain't bad but it feels like there just reading there reply's from a pre planned response sheet.SO save your money and shop around for other brokers which am going to do now they must be better ones out there so why settle for a bad one
1 trader has found this review helpful
J
Reply by Trading 212 submitted Oct 12, 2020:
Thank you for sharing your experience, John!

We respect all of the points you've raised, and while we strive to keep the rates as tight as possible, they are dependent on the market conditions. In any case, however, we'd like to share a different perspective. As we are an FCA-regulated broker, every client must complete an appropriateness test before opening an account so that we ensure they are fully aware of the potential outcomes caused by market movements and leverage. Every single trade you make on the platform is free of commissions. Moreover, we have no deposit/withdrawal fees, and we place no margin restrictions, such as requiring more margin as the traded quantity increases.

While we try to keep spreads as tight as possible, yet, naturally, some instruments such as cryptocurrencies may have wider spreads/swaps, especially during weekends, since the spread values depend on the market fluctuations. For the most part, however, these fees are kept at a minimum.

The swap can be found on both our site and under the instrument's details, and it's up to the trader's strategy whether the fee will be applied. The swap itself may be added or deducted, depending on the rates of the respective instrument.

Nevertheless, we are always looking to improve every aspect of our business, while at the same time providing an exceptional and seamless experience.
V
Vasile I Cotoc
NG17 4EL, United Kingdom,
Jun 11, 2020,
Registered user

Trading 212 they are not serious

Service use: Live Length of use: 0-3 Months
Trading 212 they are not serious
Trading 212 they are not serious, don't invest with them. Ex; the company sells you 1 share with £1 and worth it 60p-1 share at the trading market London. When you want to sell it back is worth for them 1 share-30p. So to each 1 share price you lost 70p. Don't go with them or any market trade because they are looking to take each pany from you. They advertise that they didn't charge you commissions. But the share what they are looking to sell is worthless. Listen to my advice, they are become reach and you become poor. State institutions do nothing to them, because they are working together. Invest in land or house, not in marketing.
1 trader has found this review helpful
V
Reply by Trading 212 submitted Oct 13, 2020:
Hello, Vasile,

As an execution-only broker, we forward all clients' requests to the respective exchange, where the execution depends on the current market conditions. Moreover, we have a zero-commission and fee-free structure for our Invest and ISA accounts, which results in cutting of all additional costs usually charged from other brokers.

Nevertheless, we want to attend any remaining doubts. Please contact us at feedback@trading212.com, so that we can take a closer look and clear out any concerns.
N
nunya
bizness, United Kingdom,
Jun 2, 2020,
Guest

Avoid it like Covid-19

Service use: Live Length of use: over 1 Year
i've lost money and i've made money, thankfully i've now made enough of it to move on to a "professional " broker unlike the monkey setup that is trading 212!

first of all i have a strong technical mind and a strong background in computer science just so that you get the idea these aren't randomly formulated theory's and were built up over time comparing results from 3 different brokers simultaneously comprising of approximately 600-700 test trades and 2 additional volunteers to assist
So...
Broker stop hunting most certainly happens, whilst having a trade in progress on each of them with the exact same amounts,SL & TP settings, approximately 63% of the time on trading 212 the price rallied down to hit my stop loss and then returned to normal leaving a big wick/shadow and stopping me out, this wick/shadow did not exist on the other 2 platforms candles and a few moments later and they both hit the TP, more than strange if you ask me!

they have a delay built into their system, and i must admit its a very clever one, it's down to how it shows your "result" price, ive noticed, several hundred times now, that when the market price moves it takes a minimal of 3 seconds before the "result" price changes, and since the TP & SL settings seem to run off this price you can all work out for yourself in how many ways this could affect your trading! for example on the other 2 platforms the exit conditions had been hit and the trade was successful but trading 212 was still running
their spread size varies from moderately tight (for a free broker) to wider than the grand canyon.
their buy & sell prices, i don't even have to look at the number to guess what they are, all i have to to is identity the nearest support/resistance line to what ever position i wish to take and sure as hell i've found the trading 212 price

for this next one i had to recruit some assistance
i also believe that in some cases they are manipulating the information going to a certain amount of people, as a further test i enlisted a couple of friends who each opened a 212 account and we all sat in the same room trading and noticed that more often than not 2 out of our 3 laptops displayed the same information while the 3rd displayed differently, some examples are, the change in the market showed smaller and the sentiment was so different it might as well have been a different asset, we also had the other 2 broker platforms side by side on the 60" tv so we could compare to what we were doing, we were all trading with the same amounts and settings and you think then we would all have the same results but that was not the case, we ran this test 3 times over 3 weeks and each time there were inconsistent results, which in our minds partially confirms the chart manipulation

so this isn't a "they took all my money review" as i said they actually made me more than enough to move on but that doesn't change that they are actively cheating people and should be avoided at all costs, and possibly incarcerated
2 traders have found this review helpful
N
Reply by Trading 212 submitted Oct 12, 2020:
Greetings,

Feel free to send us the data you've gathered so we can check the raw (underived) quotes & see if the claim has any merit. If you wish, we can provide examples from Bloomberg of the raw data so you can check for yourself.

Unlike other brokers, who've been penalized many times due to "good practices" our CFD platform is pretty straightforward: raw quote comes in, a spread percentage markup is added & that's what you see on the app.

There's no slippage, nor stop-loss hunting. It's illegal to show one client X & another client Y, that's outright false.
The result does, however, indeed take 1-3 seconds to update but the prices you see do update in real-time, instantaneously.

We are eager to take a look at the mentioned tests at feedback@trading212.com and clear out any doubts.
J
Jim B
Wales, United Kingdom,
Apr 28, 2020,
Registered user

Not the best choice available.

Service use: Live Length of use: 0-3 Months
I used these for a little while and although the app they offer was pretty nice, I found the leverage offered not that great and the fees are a little high.
J
Reply by Trading 212 submitted Oct 12, 2020:
Hello Jim,

Thank you for taking the time to review us!

As a regulated European broker, we're applying all ESMA's requirements, including the leverage for the different types of instruments. Moreover, our only fees are ones affected by market conditions. We do not have any commissions, transaction fees or hidden costs.

In any case, we always strive to provide better conditions for our clients and will continue finding new ways to do so in the future.
A
Ahmed Idriss
Kinshasa, Congo, The Democratic Republic of The,
Apr 21, 2020,
Registered user

Verification Declined and money refused to be rufunded

Service use: Live Length of use: Have not used
I have tried to open an account with Trading212.com but they did not accept my bank statements which reflect my residence address, my mistake was depositing of 80 USD which still stuck with them and they refuse to refund it back. they are not replying to my emails and the chat has been stopped in order not to contact them. stay away from such brokers who are happy to take your deposit even before verifying the account. I thank God that I lost 80 only because I was planning to deposit 15K. Now I opened an account with a different broker instead. this is the first reply I received from them:


Dear AHMED MOHAMMED AHMED IDRISS,

With the following email notice, we would like to inform you that your trading account cannot be verified.

Your pending deposit, if you made one, was automatically cancelled. It can take up to three business days until the funds are reflected back in your balance.

Should you decide to trade with us in the future, you are free to create a new account at any time.

Should you have any questions, please contact us by email: info@trading212.com or chat with us.

Best regards,
The Trading 212 Team
A
Reply by Trading 212 submitted Oct 12, 2020:
Hello Ahmed,

We appreciate you sharing your experience, and we will gladly answer all of the questions you've raised. As much as we would love to have you as our client, there are certain regions where we do not provide our services due to local restrictions and regulations. We also want to clarify that this is not an internal decision and is not something we have control over. This is the reason why we were not able to accept your documents.

Moreover, when you deposit to an account, which has not been activated yet, the transaction remains pending and does not enter our accounts. If it is not accepted within 30 days, it automatically expires, and the funds go back to your account. In this case, however, you have requested that the payment be cancelled, and we can confirm that it was refunded.

Additionally, we will gladly provide you with a Proof of Payment, which contains an Acquirer Reference Number, which can be used at the bank to track the funds. Make sure to contact us at info@trading212.com, and we will gladly send you the document to clear any doubts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Trading 212 any good?

Unbiased traders reviews on ForexPeaceArmy is the best way to answer if Trading212 is a good broker. https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/forex-reviews/8416/trading212-forex-brokers

Please come back often as broker services are very dynamic and can improve or deteriorate rapidly.

Additionally, we'd recommend to check recent Trading212 community discussions: https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/community/tags/trading212/

What is the minimum deposit on Trading 212?

The minimum deposit on Trading 212 varies depending on which category you are trading.
  • Stocks trading: $1
  • CFDs trading: $10

Is Trading 212 legal?

Trading 212 is a trading name of Trading212 group which is regulated in 2 countries.
  • Trading 212 UK Ltd is regulated with United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, (FCA)609146
  • Trading 212 Ltd is regulated with Bulgaria Financial Supervision Commission (FSC), RG-03-0237