iWeb review

Our verdict

Our verdict

iWeb has everything you typically want from a great share dealing provider, including a huge range of shares across plenty of stock exchanges, lots of investment types and the ability to invest in an ISA.

Our main issue is the high sign-up fee, and it could be massively improved with a great mobile app and a sleek new interface. iWeb is very simple to use and has pretty competitive fees, with a low trading fee of £5 per trade.

Pros

• Low trading fee
• Reduced cost for automated trading
• Great range of exchanges and investment types

Cons

• No mobile app
• Sign-up fee
• Unattractive user interface

★★★★★

Finder score

iWeb is a share dealing platform owned by Lloyds Banking Group and operated by Halifax Share Dealing. It lets you invest in a range of UK and overseas shares, as well as exchange-traded funds and funds. With iWeb, you can invest in a general investment account, an ISA or a pension and you can access its platform in your web browser. We’ve reviewed its fees and features to find out more about what iWeb offers.

iWeb Products

Stocks and shares ISA
Lifetime ISA (LISA)
Pension (SIPP)
Keep in mind	Capital at risk
	More Info

iWeb offers a general investment account, individual savings account (ISA), and a pension. We’ve added some details about each of these products below.

iWeb general investment account

The iWeb general investment account is best suited to you if you’ve already made use of your ISA allowance in the current tax year. This does mean that you might be liable to pay capital gains tax on any profits you make over £6,000 (in the 2023/2024 tax year). Like the ISA allowance, this is refreshed every year and might be increased or reduced at this time.

iWeb ISA

The iWeb ISA lets you make use of your annual ISA allowance, which lets you invest up to £20,000 in the 2023/2024 without paying any tax on your profits. Your annual allowance is renewed in each tax year, and might also be increased or decreased by the government. You can choose this account if you haven’t already paid into a stocks and shares ISA in the current (2023/2024) tax year and if you haven’t already used your full allowance in any ISAs in the current tax year.

Other than the tax benefits, the iWeb ISA works exactly the same as the general investment account — you can invest in the same assets and you’ll pay the same fees.

iWeb pension

The iWeb pension lets you save up for your retirement in a tax efficient account. You can save up to £60,000 in each tax year and £1,073,100 in your lifetime without having to pay any tax on your deposits. You’ll get tax relief on your deposits of 10%, which is claimed by your provider and added into your pension pot, which means that you’ll get an additional 20% added to your pot. If you pay higher rate income tax, you may have to claim the tax relief yourself.

You can’t withdraw from your pension pot until you turn 55.

What stocks can you trade with iWeb?

Exchanges covered score	★★★★★
UK - London Stock Exchange
US - NASDAQ
US - New York Stock Exchange
Canada - Toronto Stock Exchange
Japan - Japan Exchange Group
Euronext
Germany - Deutsche Börse
Keep in mind	Capital at risk
	More Info

There are more than 1,500 shares available on iWeb, including stocks on most of the main stock exchanges, such as the London Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange. If you’d like to trade shares on the Euronext or the Deutsche Börse, you can trade stocks on these exchanges too. This is a pretty good range of investments, giving it 4 stars in the stock exchanges category in our analysis.
What types of investments can you trade with iWeb?

ETFs
Bonds
Funds
Keep in mind	Capital at risk
	More Info

As well as shares, iWeb has a great range of investment types available on its platform, including funds, which are bundles of investments that may be categorised in some way; exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are a type of fund traded on stock exchanges; and bonds, which are like IOUs from companies and governments.

This range of investment types and the number of exchanges available allows you to create a really well diversified portfolio with iWeb, including shares from various countries and sectors, as well as across several investment types.

iWeb fees

iWeb’s fees are pretty good, although its sign-up fee of £100 is pretty steep, and quite unusual — none of the other providers we’ve reviewed charges you to sign up. It costs just £5 to buy shares and there’s a 1.5% foreign exchange fee.

The pension fees are flat fees and charged quarterly. This is similar to the way interactive investor charges its fees.

iWeb set-up and trading fees

iWeb pension fees

iWeb customer satisfaction

Customer help in app
Customer help via email
Customer help over the phone
Community or forums
Keep in mind	Capital at risk
	More Info

If you need any help from iWeb’s customer satisfaction team, you can get in touch on the platform using its chat function, via email and over the phone. There aren’t any forums or social elements to iWeb, which you’d find with platforms like eToro and Freetrade.

iWeb review: What else do I need to know?

Is iWeb safe?

iWeb is as safe as any other UK trading provider — it is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and is covered by Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which means that if iWeb were to go bust, your deposits are covered by up to £85,000.

Does iWeb have a mobile app?

One of the biggest downsides of iWeb is that it has no mobile app for trading. You can access the platform on mobile in the browser, however. This is a major downside of iWeb — most modern trading platforms have mobile apps available with share price notifications, simple charting tools and the ability to top up and buy shares on the app. If the lack of mobile app is a gamechanger for you, take a look at our share trading comparison table to compare platforms.

How to open an account with iWeb

In order to open an account, you’ll need a form of ID, your national insurance number and your bank details.

1. Head to the iWeb website and click “Sign up”
2. Choose your account type. iWeb gives a quick description of each account type at this stage — you can choose between a general investment account, an ISA and a personal pension.
3. Enter your personal information. You’ll need a form of ID.
4. Add funds to your account. Your joining fee will be taken from the bank account you connect to your iWeb account within a few days.
5. Start investing. You may need to wait for iWeb to verify your identity before you can get started.