Dabbl review

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Dabbl describes itself as “like Shazam for investing” thanks to its neat feature that lets you identify brands with photos of products that you take within the app. It says its aim is to encourage more people to invest by making investing easy and jargon-free. Find out some features of Dabbl, including the membership tiers and some pros and cons.

What is Dabbl?

Dabbl is an investing app that lets you buy shares in brands that you use day-to-day, such as Coca-Cola, Gap and easyJet. It was originally funded on Seedrs, which is a crowdfunding platform, and seems to have been inspired by the Seedrs approach to lossing a letter in your brand name.

What products are available with Dabbl?

You can only invest in a general investment account with Dabbl. There aren’t any ISA products available, which means that you have to pay tax on any profits over £6,000 in each tax year.

There aren’t any junior or pension products with Dabbl.

How does Dabbl work?

You can start off by watching companies to keep an eye on how they’re doing. The app keeps track of how the share prices move from the date you started watching them.

If you decide to invest then you have two membership options: pay as you go or member.

Pay as you go

Pay as you go has no monthly cost, but you will spend more on each individual investment. The prices are outlined below.

Member

It costs £2 per month to be a member which reduces the costs of individual investments and gives you 3 commission-free trades per month.

Once you’ve decided to invest in a company, the process is quick and easy.

How you’re charged depends on your membership type and when you want the purchase to be finalised – the options are Dabbl Now and Dabbl Later.

Is Dabbl safe?

Dabbl is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). All investments are covered up to £80,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This means that your investments are covered if Dabbl was to go bust.

Investing is always a risk. You could end up with less money than you started with.

Pros and cons of Dabbl

Our verdict: Is Dabbl any good?

Dabbl is a low-cost option for investing and allows you to try it out without much commitment. Its photo feature is a nice touch and allows you to find brands with only a photograph of the product. It outlines important information about the companies which allows you to make a more informed decision. There are potentially some teething issues with the app showing the error message “Cannot connect to server” while you’re using the photo feature or searching for companies, but these are likely to be ironed out in the future.

Prices are relatively low, especially as you are able to “dabble” in investing with pay as you go (PAYG) before committing to a membership fee. Buying UK shares can cost as little as £1 for members and £4 for PAYG users.

The app is bright and minimalist, and is likely to appeal to anyone attracted to the ease of challenger banks offering good functionality without clutter.

If you’re looking for an investment app that gives you a lot of detail then you may want to consider other options such as opening a stocks and shares ISA or you can check out our guide to the best trading apps.

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Frequently asked questions

• How do I withdraw my money?

  You can do this via the in-app chat. It takes 3 to 5 working days to reach you.

• Is a credit check carried out?

  There is a soft credit search carried out when you sign up for an account. This does not affect your credit score.”

• How are dividends paid?

  Dividends are either paid as cash or as shares. Your account is automatically credited on the pay date.

• Will Dabbl tell me which companies to invest in?

  No. Dabbl does not give investment advice.

• Will I have to pay stamp duty and how much will I need to pay?

  There’s a government-imposed Stamp Duty Reserve Tax of 0.5% of the value. Dabbl calculates this for you at the time of the transaction.

• Will I have to pay tax?

  Yes, you may need to pay capital gains tax on any profits that you make. Dabbl can give you a statement with this information. You have a tax-free allowance of £6,000, so you’ll only need to pay tax on any gains above this.
  You can find out more about capital gains tax on the gov.uk website.

• Is Dabbl available on iOS and Android?

  Yes. You can download the Dabbl app on both the App Store and the Google Play store.

• How does Dabbl make money?

  There are three main ways that Dabbl makes money:

  • Membership fees
  • Charges for buying shares
  • Additional fees, such as for priority payments and telephone trades

  Trades are cheaper for members (at a cost of £2 per month). There is an admin charge on all purchases, which is not included in the transaction cost.