Degiro Question

I am by no means a sophisticated investor but I have recently starting investing with Degiro. I'm a little bit confused by a negative balance in my account overview. I have not purchased anything on margin yet I am showing a negative balance of -€904.71. When I click the help button to view what it pertains to I get this.

"This number refers to the net amount to be converted into participation in the EUR Money Market Fund/cash to be transferred to or from your Cash Account at flatexDEGIRO Bank"

I have also seen small interest charges in my transactions over the last while which have confused again. Again - no margin trading. Just a few ETFs and stocks that I plan on holding. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? TIA

Not sure what you mean by "my account overview"?

Are we talking of mobile app, web site, paper statement or something else?

Some of your positions could be at a loss?

Sorry for the lack of clarity - the account overview showing the total balance, porfolio value etc. When you login to Degiro portal/website it's basically a snapshot of your account holdings etc.

Could you give a screenshot with details redacted?

Sure - see attached. The second attachment is what shows when I click the information icon next to the negative balance. Thanks.

I believe you are using margin and have that amount taken. I understand you said you aren't but you may be without realising.
Check how much you deposited vs how much you have current + your P/L.

The small interest being taken monthly is margin payment.
Is your Balance 900 less than your Portfolio amount ?

It looks like you are trading on margin. You have to take a short test before you can enable a margin account on Degiro though, did you do that?

Bear in mind your "Available to trade" is your cash + margin available so you may have spent that amount instead of your cash balance.

To me, it sounds as if you should not be trading on margin - margin trading is high risk and you need to know what you are doing

Tomalong said:

The small interest being taken monthly is margin payment.
Is your Balance 900 less than your Portfolio amount ?

Click to expand...

No - my Portfolio amount is several thousand more.

Corola said:

It looks like you are trading on margin. You have to take a short test before you can enable a margin account on Degiro though, did you do that?

Bear in mind your "Available to trade" is your cash + margin available so you may have spent that amount instead of your cash balance.

Click to expand...

I remember the test but had no intention of margin trading. I purchased everything in the same manner so I don't know how I messed up.

jpd said:

To me, it sounds as if you should not be trading on margin - margin trading is high risk and you need to know what you are doing

Click to expand...

As stated above it wasn't my intention to trade on margin - I know what it is but definitely not enough to execute. I just wanted to pick a few stocks and etfs to hold long term, investing every month but I think the only thing I can do is try and figure out which I am trading on margin and close the position. Failing that I will close all my positions and start over and be more careful!

Thank you everyone who replied until now. I have it figured out now. I thought the "available to trade" as money that I had already deposited previously and worked away. I only just realised that Degiro simply give you the credit based on the value of your portfolio. I should have paid closer attention. I sold off what needed to be to bring my account back to what was deposited. No real damage done thankfully. Onwards and every upwards.