Trading 212 is a professional online platform for trading CFDs and Forex. There are currently more than 200,000 people from over 65 countries that have an active account at Trading 212. The websites is currently available in 16 languages, including English, Russian, German, Mandarin and several more. Trading 212 is a brand name of Avus Capital Ltd and Avus Capital UK Ltd. In this review you can read useful information on Trading 212, on their offer, on the instruments, markets and their leverages and spreads, on banking methods, customer support and pretty much everything you need to know about this trading platform.
UK Regulation and Reputation
As we already mentioned, Trading 212 is owned by Avus Capital Ltd, a company registered in Bulgaria. Therefore, Trading 212 is licenced in Bulgaria, a country which is an EU member. Moreover, since the company has a UK branch, Trading 212 is also licenced in the UK and authorised by the FCA. This operator has a good reputation and the platform is already used by a lot of people. Avus Capital UK Ltd keeps all of the clients’ funds in a separate account and has established a Financial Services Compensation Scheme that guarantees that the clients’ will be compensated should anything unexpected occur.
Trading Offer
Trading 212 offers Forex trading (currency pairs), and CFD trading of commodities, as well as stocks and indices. Trading 212 offers 270 different currency pairs, which is a lot more than some other online Forex traders. You can trade major currency pairs like GBP/USD, EUR/GBP and EUR/JPY, but also pairs where one of the currencies isn’t a major currency like GBP/BGN and GBP/CZK. You can even trade pairs like BGN/CZK and DKK/CZK and virtual currencies like Bitcoin. When it comes to commodities you can trade products like cocoa, coffee, gas, gold, platinum, silver and several others, but you can also trade currencies paired with either gold, or silver ounce (XAG and XAU), such as XAG/GBP and XAU/GBP. If you prefer trading stocks you’ll be quite overwhelmed, since the choice is quite extraordinary. Trading 212 features over 350 different companies, including Apple, Mark and Spencer, McDonalds and many more. Stocks can be traded in the hours when the stock market, where the stocks of the company in question are traded, is open. And last but not least, for those who prefer trading indices, there are over 35 indices featured at Trading 212, such as: Banks Index ETF, NDAQ100, UK100, US30 and many more.
Leverage and Lot Sizes
The highest leverage that you could get at Trading 212 is 1:200. The leverage for each individual currency pair, or index or commodity is not displayed, but you will be able to see it when you’re trading. When it comes to the lot size, or the Min Traded Quantity as it is called on Trading 212, it may vary. When it comes to currencies it can be 2,000, 3,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 or even 100,000. For Bitcoins it is 1 due to the relative value of this cryptocurrency. When it comes to commodities, the lot size can be 1, 2, 5, 25 or 100. It varies for stocks and indices as well.
Spreads/Fees/Commissions
When it comes to trading currencies, Trading 212 don’t charge any commissions or fees, they get compensated through the respective market spreads. There are no commissions or fees for CFD trading of commodities and indices either, whereas for stocks there is a fee of EUR 2.00. As for the spreads, they may vary. Some of the Forex spreads are fixed, whereas others are floating. For example, GBP/USD has a floating spread of 0.000150 and GBP/CAD has a fixed spread of 0.000890. Commodities and indices also may have fixed or floating spreads. The UK100 has a fixed spread of £2.0 and the Canada ETF has a floating of $0.1.
Trading Platforms
Trading 212’s website is quite user-friendly and very responsive. The platform that is used is web-friendly and you don’t need to download any software. In the beginning you can choose whether you want a demo or a real account. Even if you choose a demo account, you can switch to a real account later. In addition to the web-based platform, Trading 212 have also developed apps for iOS and Android mobile devices. They have an app for Android smartphones, a separate app for Android tablets, and two iOS apps, one for iPhones and another for iPads. You can download these apps from Google PlayStore and from the App Store. These apps have all the features that the web-based platform has and you can trade Forex and CFDs wherever you are. In addition, Trading 212’s platform now features tradebird, a new social network for traders. On it you can find a lot of information and analyses on Forex and CFD trading. Trading 212 doesn’t feature a Meta Trader platform, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you should look elsewhere. However, Trading 212 features a Trading 212 PRO platform for all those who are more experienced. This platform features a Hedging mode.
Banking
If you open a real account you can fund it via credit card payments (Visa, Visa Electron, Maestro and MasterCard are accepted) and bank transfers. In addition, numerous alternative methods such as PayPal, Skrill, SafetyPay, UnionPay, as well as direct eBanking are accepted. The minimum deposit amount is £100. If you deposit via your credit card, or some of the online banking methods it’ll only take 10 minutes before the deposit is processed, but you’d have to wait 1-2 working days for a wire transfer. A fee between 0.7% and 3.5% is applied on every deposit. There isn’t a fee for withdrawals, although Trading 212’s bank charges 5 Euro (or an equivalent) amount on every withdrawal.
Welcome Offer for new Traders
Trading 212 doesn’t offer a Welcome bonus to its new customers, neither a no deposit bonus, nor a first deposit bonus. The only thing that you can get for free is a demo account with £10,000. However, on the website it is stated that in some cases certain customers may get a personal bonus. In order to see if you’re entitled to such a bonus and eventually get it, you should contact their stuff and see if you’re eligible. All in all, there isn’t a default Welcome bonus that is offered to every new player.
Support
Trading 212 provides a specialised telephone line and an email address for many of the countries where they have clients. If you live in the UK, you can either contact them via the UK telephone line or the specialised email. Same goes for residents of other countries such as: Germany, Bulgaria, France, Spain, Russia, China and several other countries. Alternatively, you can fill in a form online and address your issue, or you can engage a member of staff in live chat through the website. In addition, there is a FAQ section which provides answers to a lot of questions and issues that you may encounter.
Training Materials
The website of Trading 212 features a section called Learning Centre where both their clients as well as other people can learn a lot about Forex and CFD trading. There are many informative videos as well as other training materials. For example, you can watch videos on trading strategies, including videos on how to: place entry orders, trade retracements, etc. You can also watch tutorials on how to use the trading platform. In addition, you can read on Forex trading and learn the difference between trading modes like aggregating and hedging. If you’re new to Forex trading you could learn a lot by opening a practice account.
Conclusion
Trading 212 provides an extensive list of trading instruments, especially when it comes to Forex currency trading. So if that’s what you’re looking for in a Forex trader, then it is definitely the right place for you. Their spreads are quite competitive and most traders would be quite happy with them. They have great customer support and the website is quite user-friendly, informative. The platform offers traders numerous options and features which allow them to trade with ease. The only thing that may be considered a disadvantage is the fact that they charge a fee on deposits. Also, a welcome bonus would be nice.