Trading 212 review 2025 for Emiratis & Expats

Trading 212 is a broker with over 4.5 million users worldwide and over €30 billion in assets under management. It stands out for its simplified approach to investing, offering an intuitive app, zero commission on specific transactions, and a platform designed for those who want greater autonomy in managing their portfolio.

Trading 212 may be well-suited to those looking to invest in stocks and ETFs for the long term without paying transaction fees, and who also want to earn interest on uninvested cash (USD, EUR,... It does not pay in AED). Additionally, you can receive a free fractional share valued up to €100.

In this article, we’ll look at Trading 212’s main features in the UAE, including fees, functionality, advantages, and limitations, as well as safety and regulation, helping you figure out if this broker is the right choice for you!

Overview

Launched in 2004 and based in the UK, Trading 212 provides a streamlined trading platform that allows commission-free investing in stocks and ETFs, including fractional shares. Accessible through both its mobile app and a web version, the platform boasts a clean, intuitive design that appeals to both beginners and experienced investors who value simplicity and control.

One of the most popular features is the ability to invest in fractional shares starting at just $1, enabling diversification even with a small amount of capital. The platform also provides a free demo account for learning risk-free.

Trading 212 includes a feature called “AutoInvest,” which lets you create a diversified portfolio and manage it automatically based on your financial objectives. In addition, you have access to “Model Pies” and “Community Pies,” giving you the option to start with either a pre-made portfolio designed by Trading 212 itself or by other users in the community.

One of the few fees is the 0.15% currency conversion fee. For example, if your account is in USD and you want to invest in Adidas (listed in EUR), you’ll pay 0.15% when buying and 0.15% when selling (a total of about 0.30%). On a €1,000 investment, that would amount to around €3 in fees.

When using Trading 212, you can choose whether or not to lend out the securities you hold. By lending your shares, Trading 212 earns daily interest, which is shared with you on a 50/50 split. The collateral used to back these loans consists of government bonds.

The account opening process is fast, fully digital, and requires a minimum deposit of $10. Trading 212 supports multi-currency accounts, meaning you can hold multiple currencies in your portfolio (GBP, USD, EUR, CHF, DKK, NOK, PLN, SEK, CZK, RON, BGN, HUF). However, it does not support the AED.

Finally, it offers 24/7 customer support:

Highlights

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Commission-free trading of real stocks and ETFs (other fees may apply; see official terms)
• AutoInvest & pies feature
• Fast, easy account opening
• Free demo account
• Free fractional share up to €100 (with the promo code “IITW”)
• Competitive interest on uninvested cash (in several currencies)

Cons

• Limited range of instruments (no bonds, mutual funds, options, or futures)
• Few advanced analytical tools
• 0.15% Currency Conversion Fee

Interest on uninvested cash

Trading 212 is among the more generous platforms in terms of interest paid on idle cash. Your cash is placed in a mix of time deposits and money market funds (which invest in short-term debt from EU member states). These are the interest rates as of August 2025:

Trading platform

Trading 212 provides a trading platform for both mobile devices and desktop. As mentioned, there are two main account types (e.g., Invest, CFD), but in this review, we focus on the Invest account using the web interface.

Upon logging in, you immediately see your account balance in the top left corner, a bar in the middle for navigating products (“News”, “My watchlist”, “Top winners”,...), and a graph of an instrument pre-selected:

On the pie icon, you can check the value of your portfolio and how it is disaggregated (“main pot”: investment account and “spending pot” for daily purchases:

If you go to the top right corner, you will find the “search” bar. When clicking on it, this window appears:

If you search for Tesla (just an example), this page appears:

By scrolling down, you can check the company's “Financials” and other relevant information:

Markets and financial products

On Trading 212, you can buy over 10,000 real stocks and ETFs from various exchanges - NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE, Euronext, and more - commission-free. All starting from just $1.

Trading 212 AutoInvest and Pies

AutoInvest is a feature designed to solve two common problems for investors:

• Building a diversified portfolio of stocks and/or ETFs.
• Doing so automatically, without having to decide each month, “Which ETF or stock should I invest in now?”

The first step is to build your own “Pie” or invest in a “Model Pie”:

Each Pie - whether pre-made or custom - can include up to 100 assets, and you can hold multiple Pies simultaneously.

Fees and commissions

With Trading 212 Invest, the only main fee is the 0.15% currency conversion fee. That’s it!

Other standard fees, such as withdrawals, deposits, or inactivity, are waived.

Please note that there are other charges you may face depending on the asset you are trading and the exchange you use:

Example of UK stamp duty

• Purchase amount: £10,000 in UK shares
• Stamp duty rate: 0.5%
• Stamp duty cost: £10,000 × 0.005 = £50

So, if you invest £10,000 in UK-listed shares, you would pay £50 in stamp duty on top of the share price.

Security and regulation

Trading 212 segregates client funds from its corporate funds, providing this layer of protection across all its subsidiaries. This means that if the company were to go bankrupt, your funds would remain protected and separate from its assets. You would, in practice, just need to transfer your assets to another broker.

In the UAE, Trading 212 is fully regulated and supervised by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), United Kingdom. This means that your account will be opened via Trading 212 UK Limited:

Since Trading 212 is privately held, it’s not required to publish annual reports on its website, unlike publicly traded companies. Nevertheless, its regulatory oversight gives its UAE investors a degree of confidence in its reliability.

Final verdict: Is Trading 212 worth it?

If you're looking for a simple, intuitive app that offers commission-free stock and ETF trading, along with attractive interest rates on uninvested cash, Trading 212 is a compelling option for many UAE investors.

Though it has some limitations, such as fewer available product types (no bonds, mutual funds, or futures) and relatively basic analytical tools, the platform compensates with useful features like AutoInvest, Model Pies, fractional shares starting at just €1, and high interest rates.

From a security standpoint, Trading 212 is regulated by the FCA for most EEA clients, with investor protection up to £85,000 (or equivalent in AED/USD). This should offer additional peace of mind.

For many investors in the UAE, Trading 212 can be an excellent entry point to the world of investing: user-friendly, accessible, and transparent.