Fineco UK Review: Best Low-Cost Trading Platform?

For over 20 years now, FinecoBank has made its name as a popular choice for great value international investment and trading. Boasting more than £91 billion in assets globally, Fineco is competing well against the likes of Degiro and Freetrade, for example. But, how does it appeal to the everyday trader – and complete newbies?

In this Fineco UK review, I’ll take you through everything you need to know about the banking and trading platform and why it may be the best cost-effective choice for growing your money.

Fineco UK Review – a brief summary

If you don’t have time to read my full review right now, here are the main statistics you need to know about.

Who is Fineco?

Fineco, or FinecoBank, is an Italian banking, trading and investment platform that started life back in 1999. It’s publicly listed (FBK:IM) on Italy’s Borsa Italiana – the national stock exchange – and is fully regulated in both the UK and its homeland.

Fineco’s main appeal lies in its quick-start registration process, its wide access to forex, bonds, ISAs, ETFs and free banking, and its competitively low share-dealing. It’s only been a part of the UK trading scene since 2017, but in the time since reaching British shores, Fineco has picked up a firm following.

What accounts do Fineco offer?

Fineco specialises in basic individual accounts and joint accounts – it provides a wider range of ISAs and SIPPs, too, however, SIPPs are not available to UK traders at this time. Customers in Italy, on the other hand, have an extra option available in the form of business account setup.

What’s interesting about Fineco is that they will allow you to open both a trading and a standard bank account at the same time at no extra cost. Great news, then, if you’re looking for a standard holding account as well as somewhere to grow your money from.

The stocks and shares ISA option available at Fineco may not be open to everyone worldwide, but it holds plenty of strong incentives. As I’ll discuss below, Fineco is famous for its low prices – and for a time, they’ve run a zero ISA fees scheme. This can and will change from time to time, of course, so keep a close eye out for the latest deals.

If you’re looking to trade or bank with Fineco outside of the UK and Italy, you will need to open an account at a physical branch. Right now, online applications are only open to British and Italian customers.

What can you trade with Fineco?

Fineco provides a broad trading platform that allows you to deal in:

• Bonds
• Funds
• CFDs
• Shares in the UK, US and Europe
• ETFs in the UK, US and Europe
• Options
• Forex
• Stocks and shares via ISA (not available globally)

As mentioned, you can also open a standard bank account with Fineco for no extra cost, and there’s a free currency exchange you can monitor through your online account, too.

What’s lacking at Fineco is cryptocurrency trading – rivals such as Interactive Bankers already do everything Fineco can, plus provide a space for growing crypto. It may be that that brand opens up to digital banking a little more in the years to come.

Otherwise, its thousands of ETFs and stocks are fairly competitive, with 13 different stock markets available to choose from at the time of writing. Conversely, its currency pair potential is quite small, with forex potential around half of some of its competition. Funds, bonds, futures and options, too, remain fairly low compared to the industry average. CFDs vary – so do take a look at what’s available once you’re signed up and good to go.

What are Fineco’s fees?

There’s no fee to open an account with Fineco online, placing the platform and bank firmly alongside the likes of Freetrade ahead of any share prices. There are also no monthly account costs or any charges to deal or transfer money out.

Fineco also scores highly with traders thanks to its flat-rate trading commission on shares. In the UK, for example, you can expect to pay a basic rate of £2.95 per trade. In the US, that’s US $3.95, in Canada, it’s C$10. In Germany, France and Italy, expect to pay €3.95. The fees are quite low when compared to some of the competition.

This varies in some territories – in Switzerland and Spain, for example, you can expect to pay a commission of 0.19% on all trades, with a minimum bar coming into effect in some cases. It’s well worth checking the terms and conditions for your territory before you get started.

Fineco leans into building fees into the spread, however, meaning you can expect to see costs rise if you are solely trading in US or EUR assets. For stocks and mutual fund trading, however, the fees are refreshingly low.

With annual fund charges, there’s a 0.25% fee on any trading between £100 and £250,000. This drops to 0.15% all the way up to £1 million, with a drop to 0.05% between this point and £2 million. Any funds over £2 million, and you won’t have to pay a penny in stocks and shares platform rates.

For ETFs, shares and bonds, you’ll normally expect to pay 0.25% on any assets available per year – and this is capped at £2.95, monthly.

Banking via Fineco, meanwhile, is completely free at the start of the process. You won’t get charged for withdrawals or transfers in the UK or European Union, and you’ll have access to a free budget tracker and currency exchange. 

Trading in UK, US and European CFD shares is free through FinecoBank, too. You’ll pay variable pips for CFD indices, commodities, futures and forex trading, however – and there’s a sliding scale of costs for options, ranging from $1.95 to $3.95 per lot. Bonds, too, will normally require £6.95 in trading commission per order.

I’d highly recommend you take a closer look at Fineco’s fees for a little more detail into what you’ll be charged for your specific activities. Generally, the costs are refreshingly low – but do remember that Fineco may displace some of these costs into the spread you ultimately clear when trading.

How do I deposit and withdraw with Fineco?

Fineco allows you to set up an account with one of more than 20 different base currencies, with GBP, CAD, USD and EUR included. This is highly competitive with the likes of Interactive Brokers, making it a viable choice for international traders, or those looking to get deeper into forex.

You can make deposits into Fineco using bank transfer, and there won’t be a fee for the privilege. In the vast majority of scenarios, you also won’t be charged to withdraw through the same channels. Do, as always, check the fine print – as there’s a 0.2% fee for instant transfers, and a £19.95 charge for transferring internationally.

Where Fineco falls down a little, unfortunately, is the lack of flexibility in deposits and withdrawals elsewhere. At the time of writing, users won’t be able to fund with credit or debit cards, and there’s also no provision for e-wallets such as PayPal or Neteller. You can, however, withdraw to cards if you wish (with a free debit option provided by Fineco directly).

UK traders and customers, take note – you won’t be able to withdraw to credit cards at this time, though Fineco will allow you to cash out to a debit card.

Is it easy to learn trading through Fineco?

Fineco does go out of its way to provide a series of videos and general platform guides, though there’s nothing too in-depth. Once again, you are on your own to some degree, too – as there is no functionality for a demo account to help you get used to the platform and how it works. For a trading platform this complex, I honestly expected better!

How can I contact Fineco?

You can call FinecoBank on its UK toll-free number, 0800 640 6465 – or, + 020 7065 7555 from overseas (charges may apply). You can also contact the team through WhatsApp on the latter of these numbers, or email / chat with representatives directly through the website.

Fineco’s customer care team is delightful to deal with, and it’s great that there’s a telephone support line as well as the standard email option. I’d highly recommend you use either phone or live chat support for the quickest answers, though emailing longer queries may grant you more in-depth analysis and care.

What’s strange about contacting Fineco, however, is the fact there isn’t an ‘always-on’ approach to customer service. In a global landscape where 24/7 customer service has become the norm, it’s a little odd that the customer reps here are normally only available between 8am and 9pm GMT, on weekdays. That applies to British account holders – callers and customers from other territories may find opening hours vary.

Trading with Fineco online – platform thoughts

Fineco’s online trading platform has received high praise for its in-depth setup and its thirst for data. It’s easy to drill down into multiple portfolio options with a smart search function, and it’s one of the more modern-looking interfaces available for web and mobile.

Searching allows you to break down into lots of asset classes as well as international exchanges, meaning it’s easy enough to manually customise your experience. However, the web interface itself is not ‘literally’ customisable – there is quite a bit of wandering around and trading manually, which may not appeal to traders used to a more user-friendly approach elsewhere.

Fineco allows you to trade via desktop app, mobile web, and desktop web. In my experience, the web version of the Fineco experience works best – it’s the most efficient, and by far the most intuitive.

That said, many first-time traders and online investors may find Fineco’s setup a little complicated at first glance. Providing you are willing to put time into learning how it all works, however, it’s likely to deliver tons of value in the long run.

Order placing is fairly in depth, meaning you can tweak when you’d like to stop orders, and any conditions you’d like to set. It’s also relatively simple to set up notifications across the web platforms – meaning you can always be kept up to speed on what’s going on.

Research and education available through Fineco while-you-trade is quite appealing. It’s easy enough to find ‘consensus’ details on whether to sell, buy or hold – but there’s not much beyond a few figures here and there. There’s a lack of charts and advanced correlation to Fineco, too, which may not appeal to all traders. You can, thankfully, tap into financial histories reaching back years for better-educated decisions.

Is Fineco safe to trade with?

Yes – Fineco is remarkably secure, with Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulation in the UK. It’s also backed, as mentioned earlier, by Italian authorities – specifically, the CONSOB, and the Bank of Italy. The fact Fineco is listed on the stock exchange, too, is a clear sign that your money is as safe as it can be.

Fineco pros

• No minimum account opening charge
• No deposit fees in most cases
• Wide selection of stock exchanges and trading options
• Safe and fully regulated
• Low commission fees
• In-depth web platform
• Reliable customer service
• Ability to book a demo

Fineco cons

• Costs accrue in spread fees
• Very few educational resources
• No 24/7 customer care
• Only UK and Italy traders can sign up online
• No cryptocurrencies
• Few account options

Fineco – the bottom line

Personally, I like Fineco for low-cost trading – it offers plenty of different options to help keep your portfolio interesting. However, a handful of usability issues drive down the experience compared to some of its rivals. I’d love there to be more in the way of interactive tutorials, for example!

For sheer convenience and value in many other ways, Fineco is worth a closer look. You can set up a standard bank account along with a trading profile when you first get started, too – which is a surprising bonus.