Introducing Robinhood in the United Kingdom
Trade your favourite US stocks anytime, day or night – join the waitlist at robinhood.com
Starting today, we’re rolling out brokerage services in the United Kingdom. UK customers will have access to commission-free trading* of more than 6,000 US-listed stocks and ADRs including TSLA, AMZN, and AAPL. Our expansion to the UK marks an important milestone in our journey to democratise finance around the globe and increase access to the markets for all.
At launch, we’ll offer trading without foreign exchange (FX) fees, trading outside of market hours with Robinhood 24 Hour Market**, and no account minimums. Customers can build a portfolio for as little as $1 and grow their uninvested cash as they work out their investment strategy, earning 5% AER.
We’ll grant access to our app on a rolling basis over the following weeks, reaching full availability in early 2024. UK residents can join the waitlist today and will be notified when they can sign-up for early access. After joining the waitlist, people will get a unique referral link to share with friends and family to move up the queue.
We pioneered the commission-free, no-account-minimums investing model in the United States, improving access to the stock market for tens of millions of retail investors and saving them billions of dollars*** in fees in the process. From our founding in 2013 to 2022, the U.S. experienced a 27% increase in the average amount of financial assets each household holds in equities. During this same period, the UK experienced a less than 1% increase.**** We see an opportunity to spark a similar shift, just like we did in the U.S. for our more than 23 million customers.
“Since we launched Robinhood a decade ago, it’s always been our vision to expand internationally. As a hub for innovation, global finance and top tech talent, the United Kingdom is an ideal place for us to launch our first international brokerage product,” said Vlad Tenev, CEO and Co-Founder of Robinhood. “We look forward to continuing to engage with customers and policymakers as we expand our offerings in the UK.”
“Our Global Investment Summit showed the world how we are rapidly becoming a Science & Tech Superpower and I’m therefore delighted that Robinhood have chosen the UK as its first international brokerage market,” said Minister for Investment Lord Johnson. “Financial services and FinTech are thriving in the UK, and are magnets for huge levels of investment and venture capital on to our shores which create jobs and spur innovation in our world leading tech sector.”
“For too long, UK investors have incurred high fees to invest in the US markets and earned low returns on their uninvested cash. We’re excited to give UK customers access to the Robinhood experience, remove unnecessary fees, and join our more than 23 million investors,” said Jordan Sinclair, President of Robinhood UK. “Ahead of our general availability early next year, we’ll listen to feedback from customers and enhance the localised offering. This is just the beginning for Robinhood UK and our global ambitions.”
Participation is Power
Over the last year, we’ve conducted extensive user research and incorporated these findings into our product design. At launch, we’ll offer a number of key brokerage features that are tailored to UK investors’ financial needs, including:
- Commission-free trading: With no commissions and no account minimums, start building a portfolio with just $1.*
- Access to more than 6,000 US-listed stocks and ADRs: Invest in and trade thousands of publicly-listed stocks using fractional or whole shares.
- High-yield interest: With our brokerage cash sweep program, earn 5% AER on uninvested cash. Cash is converted from GBP to USD and FDIC insured up to a total maximum of $2.25 million.
- Robinhood 24 Hour Market: With Robinhood 24 Hour Market, place limit orders to buy whole shares of more than 150 of the most traded individual stocks– including TSLA, AMZN and AAPL– 24 hours a day, five days a week. Trading hours run from 1AM GMT on Monday to 1AM GMT on Saturday.**
- Trade with no FX fees: Robinhood charges no FX fees on trades. Customers can convert between GBP and USD when they deposit or withdraw money, and are only charged an implicit third-party cost of just 0.03%. This results in fewer FX transactions and lower overall costs.
- Advanced Charts and Market Data: Get access to real-time data and advanced investment tools in-app to visualise research and analyse stock prices.
Commitment to Financial Education
We pair self-directed investing with easy-to-understand financial education resources developed with the modern investor in mind. We provide a variety of tools in-app to help customers–from beginners to active traders–make informed investment decisions:
- With Robinhood Learn, access in-app tutorials with modules like “Investing mythbusters, Why invest?,” “What can you invest in?,” “What is risk?,” “What’s inflation?,” and more.
- Our weekly column Investor’s Guild, authored by Robinhood’s head of investment strategy Stephanie Guild, CFA, covers the state of the stock market and translates complex financial topics into understandable, actional information for readers.
- Real-time market news can provide critical insights into companies that customers have invested in, keeping them up to date on the markets, and helping them make informed investment decisions.
Putting Safety First
We want customers to feel confident and secure throughout their investing journey, and to be there when they need us the most. People can connect with our team of dedicated customer service agents 24/7. We also use a number of security tools to protect customers’ accounts including two-factor authentication, encryption, BCrypt hashing algorithm for password storage, and more.
This is just the beginning. We wilI continue to add exciting new products and features for UK customers over the coming months. Join the waitlist, refer friends and family, and receive updates by visiting robinhood.com.
Disclosures
*Other costs apply.
**There are additional, unique risks with trading outside of regular market hours you should be aware of before making an investment decision, including the risk of lower liquidity, increased volatility, greater spreads, and pricing uncertainty.
***A 2021 study by Professors Kothari, Johnson, and So commissioned by Robinhood found: “Since the industry adopted Robinhood’s zero commission model in late 2019, retail investors have saved tens of billions in [equities] trading commissions, with Robinhood customers alone saving $11.9 billion during 2020–2021.” The same study also found: “During 2020–2021, Robinhood customers benefited from more than $8 billion in price improvement compared to the national best bid and offer prices.” Kothari, S.P., Travis L. Johnson, and Eric C. So, Commission Savings and Execution Quality for Retail Trades (Dec. 2, 2021), at 1, available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=3976300 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3976300.
****OECD Data from January 10, 2023: Household Financial Assets https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-financial-assets.htm
All investments involve risk and loss of principal is possible.
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