# DeGiro pros/cons?



## jabberwocky (7 May 2017)

Apologies if this is overly general or has been done in various formats before.

I have been testing out DeGiro for the last two weeks and while it's nice, I'm a little bit "meh" on it so far. Their fees are attractive, the interface is okay but with a few little quirks.

Pros
- Ease of use
- Very low charges
- Consolidated interface
- Useful features like submitting a W-8BEN form for you

Cons
- No ability to create graphs or visualise the data
- Values sometimes seem a little wonky - several threads exist on this topic.
- Deposits only guaranteed up to 20k
- Non-custody (standard) account introduces some small risks

I'd like to throw say 300 or 400 euros a month at a service that offers low cost US-domiciled ETFs. I'm unsure if DeGiro are the ones for me.

Is there anyone here who has been a user for a couple of months or years that has any feedback on its suitability for a long-term 'buy-and-hold' strategy?

Mods feel free to nuke this thread if you think there's no value from it.


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## ThirstyLizard (7 May 2017)

jabberwocky said:


> Cons
> - Deposits only guaranteed up to 20k
> - Non-custody (standard) account introduces some small risks



Interested in the 'risk' aspect of Degiro too. 

What would be the recommendation for someone with a significant sum to invest (100k for example)... Would they be advised to invest elsewhere or is Degiro safe to invest such sums?

If not Degiro, where is safer?


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## NewEdition (9 May 2017)

All positive for me so far, but I am a relatively small investor, maybe two trades a year.

One confusing thing though - Maybe its my mistake..
I had €1000 to trade.
The price of the shares were 0.30
So in theory, I should be able to buy 3333.
But take out commission, say I try to buy 3000 shares (€900 worth)
It kept telling me I was trying to buy ,more than my funds would allow.
I reduced the quantity to 2800, 2600 and 2400 I think - It eventually allowed me to proceed with a purchase of about 1500 shares, so for some reason I was only able to invest half of my intended amount.
Why is this??


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## Sparx123 (9 May 2017)

NewEdition said:


> All positive for me so far, but I am a relatively small investor, maybe two trades a year.
> 
> One confusing thing though - Maybe its my mistake..
> I had €1000 to trade.
> ...



I had a similar issue early on and called them to resolve. In my case it occurred when I was entering a market order to buy. Because some instruments can move very quickly Degiro require that you have double the funds in cash for any given market order in case the price jumps up very quickly...in which case they could be left having placed the order to buy with a net cost more than you have available in your account.

The 2x factor is probably over the top, but that's the way they work.

You can avoid the issue altogether by placing a limit order, which means you know exactly how much you'll pay.


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## NewEdition (9 May 2017)

Right.. got it! Thanks for that!


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## LiamF01 (23 May 2017)

I have used them for a year and find them basic but very good for what I want to do which is long term ETFs and equities and their fees are low. 

HOWEVER, there is one other con that you have failed spot here and that is that they do have some hidden fees. One of which is “_setting up trade possibilities_” a wonderfully meaningless title - this is a yearly fee of 0.25% or €2.50 capped per exchange should you buy from that exchange or have holdings on it. Not a large amount but still a fee non the less. Clients were not notified of this fee which has existed in the Netherlands for a few years and just quietly appeared here recently. (It is nowhere to be seen in the fee schedules I printed off a year ago) Again in the Netherlands the cap was removed (without any notification) and that does add up to a not insignificant amount - a Dutch client with €100k on various exchanges can pay up to €250 per year in fees. For similar Irish clients this capped fee is in or around €25.00 or so should they have the same amount invested across 10 exchanges.  Should the cap be removed here (and there is no reason to think it wont at some stage) then that will increase dramatically so one would certainly need to keep an eye on these things. If you Google the topic you will get more detailed information.


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## fistophobia (23 May 2017)

I would not feel comfortable holding assets with de Giro. I am paying e100 per year for a nominee account, with a large well known name, and I feel better for it. I am not making claims, just dont like what I am reading.


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## Sarenco (23 May 2017)

I certainly wouldn't be comfortable with a 0.25% fee being sprung on me - that's hardly immaterial.

It amazes me that regulators in general, and our Central Bank in particular, does not simply insist that financial service providers must be clear and upfront about the charges being applied.  

Imagine supermarkets springing charges out of thin air like that?


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## LiamF01 (24 May 2017)

I don't want to put you guys off. At the end of the day their fee structure is generally pretty transparent and very low. I have had no issues with them at all since joining other than the nark of having this small fee appear. In terms of regulation they are regulated but by the Dutch Central Bank and have to abide by conduct of business rules from the central bank here. As a result of regulation they keep your cash in a separate custodian account which means it is held separately from Degiro and therefore not at risk should it go bust (In theory).  Finally, their fees are extremely low compared to any of the competition here and if you have a reasonably small amount to invest this really matters particularly if you are investing in things like active ETFs with large expense ratios.


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## ThirstyLizard (24 May 2017)

fistophobia said:


> I would not feel comfortable holding assets with de Giro. I am paying e100 per year for a nominee account, with a large well known name, and I feel better for it. I am not making claims, just dont like what I am reading.



Is a nominee account considered safer?

Would you mind sharing which broker this is with?


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## LiamF01 (24 May 2017)

I think all brokers are legally required to keep their client's money in a nominee account.


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## Daddy (23 Jun 2017)

I think if one is buying non euro denominated shares the payment still comes out of your euro account.   They won't accept payment for GBP or USD share purchases from for example a Currency Fair account one has in either of those currencies.   So the benefit of exchanging your Euro's say to Sterling at a very good rate on Currency Fair does'nt help you in acquiring say Sterling denominated shares.  At least I think this is the case which is poor.


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## Daddy Ireland (6 Jan 2018)

Does anyone know what exchange rates are like if purchasing UK shares with Degiro as they exchange Euros to GBP and as I say the best rates are from Currency Fair so I guess I will lose on the exchange that they would strike.   Is there any other broker with reasonable transaction charges I wonder that would accept a transfer in of sterling from Currency Fair in order to purchase UK shares ?


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## joe sod (6 Jan 2018)

I have a small holding in degiro now and they are shares quoted In £ , I have to say they do not cream off margins in terms of exchange rates like other brokers do, I would say you get the proper exchange rate. The one main disadvantage for me is that they dont do dividend reinvestment, but their fees are so low that you can just do it manually. My idea is to just let dividend hit a certain cash amount and then just reinvest in the share of your choice.


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## fistophobia (23 Apr 2019)

BB,

Yes, I do have an annual e100 custody account fee for my nominee account. Its execution only.
I negotiated this, after they tried to hit me for either e100 or 0.25% fee based on assets.
Its one of the 3 big brokers, but I am trading in size, so they get fees this way.


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## smalltimetrader (20 Nov 2020)

Hi all, looking for some help with DeGiro. Can someone please explain to me how I can get the details of dividends paid to my account. I can see the details on future dividends but not on the already paid out ones. I will need this information for tax returns reasons. Pulling out what little hair I have left trying to get this.


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## shades25 (20 Nov 2020)

On 'Account Statement' (under Activity) , search for 'Dividend' with the dates set for whatever you need. This will show up Dividends received and Dividend tax paid.


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## Decision Tree (20 Nov 2020)

Also under activity see 'reports', there should be a downloadable 2019 tax report PDF which summarises everything including dividends and any WHT, useful to save this for the record.


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## joe sod (30 Nov 2020)

Just noticed you also have to take a test if you want to trade some stocks like investment trusts and ETFs on degiro now, its not particularly difficult but not easy either you actually do need to do a little research in order to answer some of them.
 Its actually a great idea imagine if the banks introduced such a test in order to qualify for a mortgage lots of people would fail it if it was at the standard of the degiro test and there would be uproar.
Because degiro are dutch there is a certain amount of rigour associated with them absent from much of the irish financial services landscape


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## losttheplot (30 Nov 2020)

Also have to do the test to buy certain airline shares


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## horusd (3 Dec 2020)

I had a problem sending a copy of my passport card to open the account. Gave up eventually. Did anyone else have a problem registering ID?


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## mc-BigE (16 Dec 2020)

i setup an degiro account to transfer existing shares from II (Ireland back in may) to degiro, waited in the queue at the time, the after joining told they are not accepting existing shares from other traders. was told they might in the future. still waiting for an answer.

meanwhile II (UK) have managed to take 13.98 sterling off me for the last 7 months for pretty much doing nothing. 

i don't do a lot of monthly trading.

can anyone suggest a trader with less fees than II (UK) that wont run off with my shares or be effected by brexit as an irish resident


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## Zebedee (16 Dec 2020)

You could try Interactive Brokers (not the same as II). I’m considering them given that IG have dumped me. They are moving to Lux so they’ll be brexit proof.


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## horusd (16 Dec 2020)

Zebedee said:


> You could try Interactive Brokers (not the same as II). I’m considering them given that IG have dumped me. They are moving to Lux so they’ll be brexit proof.


Likewise I'm with ii.co,uk and they charge 9.99 STG and a charge for being outside the UK which bumps it up to 13.98. I tried DeGiro, but cannot get past the ID documentation clearance. Anyhow, from  what I see above,  they aren't taking transfers in. I'll have a look at interactive brokers so.


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## horusd (21 Dec 2020)

... as a by the by, I emailed DeGiro as I couldn't get the app to accept my passport card as ID. They just replied saying they no longer accept passport cards as ID . This didn't flag when I tried it, so I'm posting this for information purposes.


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## MG Midget (27 Dec 2020)

horusd said:


> ... as a by the by, I emailed DeGiro as I couldn't get the app to accept my passport card as ID. They just replied saying they no longer accept passport cards as ID . This didn't flag when I tried it, so I'm posting this for information purposes.


I opened account with DEGIRO earlier this summer, took a while but in process of transferring over II portfolio, hopefully it will go smoothly


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## horusd (28 Dec 2020)

MG Midget said:


> I opened account with DEGIRO earlier this summer, took a while but in process of transferring over II portfolio, hopefully it will go smoothly


I'm hoping to do the same. ii are okay, but 14 STG a month for not a lot isn't great.   I'd be interested to hear  what you make of the platform?


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