Until recently, buying and selling stocks were done via a phone call to a stockbroker, who would execute the stock trade on your behalf. With the advancements in technology right now, almost all our activities have gone online and stock trading is no stranger. There are numerous ways to watch the stock market online and it is possible to trade stocks via your favourite stock broker’s website or stock trading app.
Some brokerage firms provide a good stock trading experience with a minimal charge and some companies such as Robinhood that is based in the US and operating in the UK have launched the mobile app before the website. Also, some services have come up with commission-free stock trading, which motivates you to invest.
Having detailed the innovations in the stock trading industry, here we have listed some interesting stock trading apps that let you buy and sell stocks right from your smartphone.
Revolut (London)
Founders: Nikolay Storonsky, Vlad Yatsenko
Total Funding: €309 million
Founded year: 2015
Why its hot: Back in August, Revolut launched a commission-free stock trading service for its Metal customers. With this service, Metal customers can make up to 100 commission-free stock trades each month. Revolut provides a 0.01% annual custody fee sans any account minimums. The idea behind the launch of this service is to make trading and investing accessible to a wider audience.
Freetrade (London)
Founders: Adam Dodds, Davide Fioranelli, Viktor Nebehaj
Total Funding: €18.6 million
Founded year: 2016
Why its hot: Freetrade provides a commission-free stock trading app. Freetrade does not charge any commission for orders that are executed until 4 PM. If there is an instant order, then this stock trading app charges users £1 (nearly €1.2). As a result, London-based Freetrade is quite popular among young users. Recently, the company announced that it closed $15 million (nearly €13.4 million) Series A funding.
BUX (Amsterdam)
Founders: Egbert Pronk, Joost van de Wijgerd, Nick Bortot, Robbert Bos
Total Funding: €47.9 million
Founded year: 2014
Why its hot: Amsterdam-based BUX is a fast-growing mobile brokerage service in Europe. The company recently introduced BUX Zero, which is an app that provides all activities in addition to buying and selling stocks. BUX Zero offers two order types, Market Orders and Limit Orders for commission-free investment. In 2020, the app will introduce a third type called Basic Order, which will be commission-free forever.
Evarvest (Vilinius)
Founders: Stephanie Brennan
Total Funding: €240k
Founded year: 2018
Why its hot: The Lithuania-based woman-led startup Evarvest has crowdfunded its app on Seedrs, a UK-based crowdfunding platform. The startup is in plans to launch an upcoming app, which is a Spotify-styled trading app that presents users with a user-friendly and functional interface with stock playlists that they can choose stocks from.
Saxo Bank (Copenhagen)
Founders: Kim Fournais
Total Funding: €97.1 million
Founded year: 1992
Why its hot: Saxo Bank’s SaxoTraderGO is one of the leading platforms for active traders. It provides on-the-go access to over 35,000 financial instruments across all asset classes. The app provides access to powerful trading tools, comprehensive news, and innovative risk management features. Saxo Group is a fully licensed and regulated bank and a global leader when it comes to investing and online trading.
Trading212 (London)
Founders: Ivan Ashminov, Borislav Nedialkov
Founded year: 2004
Why its hot: Trading212 is a London-based fintech company, which democratises the financial markets with smart, free, and easy to use apps. The company lets anyone trade equities, commodities, Forex, and more. Trading212 disrupts the stock brokerage industry by providing the first zero commission stock trading service in the UK and Europe. It unlocks the stock market for millions of people. The Trading212 app has over 14,000,000 downloads, which makes it one of the most popular investing and trading apps.
Pelican Trading (London)
Founders: Mike Read, Peter Read
Total Funding: €1.3 million
Founded year: 2015
Why its hot: Pelican is an app, which lets you chat and trade simultaneously on the same platform. You can ask the audience, learn from the best and then trade the stock. The app connects you to the traders that matter to you the most. You can ask questions to mentors, chat with friends, and trade global markets.
DEGIRO (Amsterdam)
Founders: Niels Klok, Gijs Nagel, Jasper Anderluh
Total Funding: €7.1 million
Founded year: 2013
Why its hot: DEGIRO launched its online brokerage services in the Netherlands initially and then expanded to nearly 18 European countries. The service has enabled retail investors benefit from a highly competitive commission structure. Eventually, DEGIRO has quickly become one of the largest brokers in Europe in terms of stock trading.
Stockflare (London)
Founders: Jonathan Kelley, David Kelley, Shane Leonard
Total Funding: €1.6 million
Founded year: 2013
Why its hot: Stockflare operates with the mission to help people save more, improve the way they invest, and reap long-term benefits. The company was acquired by CPAY Group in 2018 and was rebranded Stockflare Analytics. It has been acquired to focus on delivering insightful and accessible financial data on stocks.
Stock photo from Bro Crock/Shutterstock
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