Smartbroker review

The securities account carries an account fee of €0, so holding it costs nothing per year. There is no entry threshold either, with a minimum deposit of €0. Trading costs and spread still apply on the day you buy or sell, and any crypto dealing carries its own cost.

The account spans stocks, etfs and crypto. Crypto is part of that list, and that side of the business runs under its own MiCA registration, MiCA CASP 391200N0BYCZF2F43264. Trading and account work happen on Web and App, so the same holdings sit in one place rather than across separate apps.

The firm is regulated by BaFin and Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), and the legal entity behind the account is Smartbroker AG. Investor protection is listed at EU ICS up to EUR 20,000, which is the level of compensation stated for the account. Portfolios built up well beyond that figure hold more than the stated protection covers.

The daily deposit account pays 2.25%. Weigh that against the wider market before settling: the site median headline rate is 3% and the upper quartile is 4.15%. On that comparison the cash rate sits below the middle of the range rather than above it.

Support runs on email, phone and help centre, and those are the routes listed for customer service, so questions about an account can be raised by phone as well as in writing. The account itself is usable on Web and App, which means the same holdings and orders are visible on a desktop and on the app.

It suits savers who want several asset classes in one regulated account, since the offering spans stocks, etfs and crypto, and who are put off by entry costs, given an account fee of €0 and a minimum deposit of €0. The pricing model is built around low fees: low fees.

Low fees do not remove market risk. Across the brokers on the site, the median share of retail accounts that lose money is 72.03%, and across investing it is 70.15%. Investor protection of EU ICS up to EUR 20,000 is a separate matter and does not move either figure.