Welcoming Robinhood to the UK: The story so far

After making the decision to expand into the UK retail investing space back in early 2024, Robinhood has slowly and steadily been building momentum with its UK offering.

Already a household name in the US, it’s attempting to replicate that breakout success on our shores. Here’s how things have unfolded and where Robinhood might be aiming next.

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Robinhood targets expansion in the UK

After plenty of anticipation and hype around Robinhood’s launch this side of the pond, it finally released its investing platform to UK investors in March 2024 after a successful gradual rollout to early users (myself included) in late 2023.

Shortly after Robinhood got the ball rolling, we sat down with UK president, Jordan Sinclair to find out more about the company’s goals (and some fun insights too), so you can get to know the company a little better:

07:03

What does Robinhood bring to UK investors?

It’s been about a year or so since the full launch, and Robinhood UK has already been making waves – stacking features to offer investors a mobile app and desktop investing experience they won’t find elsewhere.

Here’s a highlight reel of what Robinhood currently offers UK investors (and the platform is continuously adding new features so key your eyes peeled for more):

• Commission-free investing. Breaking down barriers and removing hefty investing commissions is at the heart of everything Robinhood stands for. Similar to the US, you’ll find no trading commissions on Robinhood UK when you’re buying or selling stocks.*
• No foreign exchange (FX) fees. In a UK first, and unlike the majority of brokers, Robinhood doesn’t charge FX fees on international trades. This means you can invest in US stocks without currency conversion fees taking a chunk out of your investment (keep in mind there is a 0.03% third party fee).
• 24-Hour market access. Trading stocks in the US can be a nightmare due to stock market opening hours and the timezone difference. So, Robinhood bridges the gap by letting you trade 24 hours a day, 5 days a week to align your investing schedule with your regular day.**
• Fractional shares. You can buy or sell fractional shares (pieces of stocks) starting from as little as $1, which helps you stay diversified even if you’re investing on a budget with smaller amounts.
• Competitive interest. Robinhood offers a competitive rate of interest on uninvested cash sitting in your account. The rate of interest available largely depends on the base rate (Fed Funds Rate) set by the US Federal Reserve, so it can shift.
• Lend your shares. Securities lending (also known as “stock lending”, or “share lending” if you want to get less formal) involves lending out shares in your portfolio to borrowers (other investors). You can do this on Robinhood to earn some extra passive income.***
• Margin investing. For some investors, margin investing is available on Robinhood, allowing increased buying power by leveraging smaller sums. However, it’s important to note that margin investing carries higher risks, including the potential to lose more than your initial investment.****
• Options trading. An extremely popular feature in the US, we had to wait a little while to get it in the UK, but Robinhood now lets investors trade options with competitive fees. Options trading requires an added level of experience, for those who know their way around options contracts, Robinhood has a cheap offering – all packed into its sleek platform.****

Educating and empowering UK investors

Robinhood isn’t just a trading platform; alongside all the investing features, it also offers plenty of learning and educational resources, including some useful tutorials.

It’s free to access Robinhood’s learning materials, which includes plenty of basic information around investing and diversification along with more in-depth guides like how to trade options.

The commitment to educating UK investors helps ensure that people are better-equipped to make sensible investment decisions, making it easier for people to invest for the long-haul.

What’s next for Robinhood in the UK?

It’s been full-steam ahead since Robinhood landed, and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon.

We’ve seen plenty of useful features added onto the platform as it continues to find its footing here in the UK.

Hopefully, we’ll see new additions like the ability to use a stocks and shares ISA or the option to invest in other assets like exchange-traded funds (ETFs) before too long.

At the moment, Robinhood is still limited to US stocks only, but there are over 6,000 to choose from and the Robinhood UK platform still manages to pack a punch – even with its limitations.

If you want to learn more, you can take a look at our in-depth Robinhood UK review.

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Written by

George Sweeney, DipFA

Deputy editor

George is a deputy editor at Finder. He has previously written for The Motley Fool UK, Nasdaq, Freetrade, Investing in the Web, MoneyMagpie, Online Mortgage Advisor, Wealth, and Compare Forex Brokers. He's focused on making personal finance and investing engaging for everyone. To do this he draws from previous work and his Level 4 Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA), sharing what he’s learnt. When he’s not geeking out about money, you’ll find him playing sports and staying active. See full bio

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