Moneybox vs. Trading 212: Fees, Platforms and Offerings Compared

About Moneybox

Moneybox is a micro investment app that rounds up the daily purchases of young people to ensure that they have something to invest. Founded in 2016, it is one of the best money-managing apps in the UK. The app has earned massive recognition in the past few years for its beginner-friendly and intuitive approach to investing.

It is not just for investing in small companies. You will come across several big-name investment funds like Nintendo, Amazon, and Disney. It ensures that you are able to diversify your portfolios even when you are putting away only a small amount in your investment account.

About Trading 212

Trading 212 is a CFD broker with zero commission trading of stocks and exchange-traded funds. The account opening process is fast, straightforward, and online. The easy-to-use and well-designed interface make Trading 212 suitable for beginners as well as more experienced investors.

Moneybox vs. Trading 212: Services

Moneybox offers the following accounts and services:

• General investment account: It can hold different types of investments but doesn't offer any tax-free benefits like ISAs and pensions.
• Advisory services: Moneybox offers free mortgage advice.
• Saving accounts: Moneybox lets you create different savings accounts.
• Junior ISA: It is a tax-saving account for everyone under the age of 18.
• Stocks and Shares ISA: It is a tax-free account that lets you contribute to different investment funds.
• SIPP: It is a pension where you have full control over the investments that you put your savings into.

Trading 212 is primarily focused on ETFs, real stocks, and CFDs. Popular asset class like bonds and options are missing. But the product selection range of Trading 212 is still quite extensive with the following:

• Stocks and EFTs: The vast portfolio of 11,000 instruments includes more than 9000 stocks.
• Pies and auto-invest: The Pie function on Trading 212 is useful for creating your own portfolio. If you set up auto-invest, you will be able to add automatic investments to your pies.

Moneybox vs Trading 212: Fees

Moneybox does not have any transaction fees for normal stock trades, and it does not have any account minimum. But ISA and general investment accounts have a monthly fee of £1 and a 0.45% yearly platform fee.

Trading 212 has no commission or platform fees. Passive investors don't have to bear any management fee.

You also don't have to worry about any fixed fee while withdrawing or depositing money. Even though everything seems low cost, any experienced trader will find the forex trading fees to be quite high.

Moneybox vs Trading 212: Platform

Moneybox has a web-based platform that is intuitive and customizable. The desktop version of the platform is also quite user-friendly. The mobile app can be downloaded for Android as well as iOS.

The web platform of Trading 212 is extremely well-designed. It does not have any desktop platform, but the mobile version with robust security measures can be downloaded at no extra cost. The mobile platform is available for both Android and iOS to create new accounts and buy and sell shares.

Offerings

Moneybox lets you choose between three types of investment strategies. Every option differs according to the amount allocated to property shares, global shares, and cash funds. The three types of investment strategies are as follows:

• Cautious
• Balanced
• Adventurous

The Trading 212 offerings are as follows:

• Trading 212 Invest: It is a general investor profile with no commissions or fees for individual stocks. When you have used your ISA allowance of £20,000, you can use the general investment account.
• Trading 212 ISA: It isn't a new account but the same one with a tax-free wrapper. You are allowed to invest up to £20,000 without any small fee or tax.
• Trading 212 CFD: Trading with your CFD account is risky. But it lets you trade contracts according to stock movements.

Security

Moneybox is a safe, legit, and user-friendly investment app. It is covered by FSCS and protected up to £85,000. The 256-bit TLS encryption makes it easy to protect the personal information of users and reduces the risk level. Moreover, the app doesn't sell any personal data to third-party organizations without your permission.

Trading 212 is a regulated broker monitored by top-tier financial institutions in Bulgaria, Cyprus, and the UK. In a few areas, Trading 212 also comes with investor protection. The investor protection amount is €20,000 for clients under CySEC or FSC Bulgaria and £85,000 for clients under FCA.

Other Features

• Customer Service: Customer service is quite efficient and offers quick replies. Trading 212 also offers fast and relevant replies all the time.
• Education: Moneybox constantly helps beginners learn more about trading. Trading 212 offers text resources and video tutorials to help beginners.

Moneybox vs. Trading 212: Which Is Better?

Instead of free trading, you can use apps like Moneybox to invest your spare change and get exposure to the markets. Moneybox gets linked to your bank account and rounds up all your spending to invest the spare amount in a Lifetime or Stocks and Shares ISA and pensions. Moneybox will make you aware of different investments and ensure that you also save money regularly.

Even though it is an excellent introduction to saving and investing apps, you will get decent returns after a long time, and the monthly fees will be too high. You cannot rely on Moneybox as a long-term investment or saving source, especially when you are putting away small amounts.

On the other hand, Trading 212 is a commission-free trading platform for experienced investors interested in stocks as well as ETFs. The CFD trading broker is regulated by the UK FCA, Cypriot CySEC, and Bulgarian FSC. It is highly suitable for equity investors and CFD traders trying to find an easy-to-use platform.

Other Comparisons

Trading 212 vs Degiro

Trading 212 vs Trade Republic

Trading 212 vs Interactive Brokers

Trading 212 vs IG

Trading 212 vs XTB

Trading 212 vs Fidelity

Trading 212 vs Robinhood

Trading 212 vs Hargreaves Lansdown

Trading 212 vs Vanguard