Wombat review

How we rated Wombat's investment features

Wombat is a trading app named after the Australian marsupial. It lets you invest in stocks, fractional shares and “themes”, which are collections of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other types of funds that follow a specific, you guessed it, theme. It helps you save in small amounts with its round up feature. Find out what we thought of Wombat, as well as some pros and cons.

What is Wombat?

Wombat aims to give everyone the opportunity to become an investor with its simple and intuitive platform.

Founded in 2017, Wombat is a digital investment platform that lets you invest as little as £10 in individual stocks or funds. The limited “instant” plan has no platform fee and the more comprehensive standard plan offers more but comes with added fees.

Wombat fees

Overall, Wombat provides a cheap place to start investing. There’s no commission for buying or selling investments, but the platform fees and investment options depend on your plan.

The 2 plan types available are Instant or Standard.

Instant

• Platform fee. This plan has no platform fee.
• Commissions. There are no commissions when buying or selling stocks.
• Foreign exchange (FX) fee. When buying US stocks, there’s a 0.65% currency conversion fee.
• Account types. Only a GIA available.
• Investments. You can only invest in US stocks.
• Extras. Trades are put through instantly but no round-up feature.
• Cashback. Each time you invest, you can earn 0.2% back as cash paid into your account.

Standard

• Platform fee. This plan has a £1 per month subscription fee and a 0.1% annual platform fee.
• Commissions. There are no commissions when buying or selling stocks and funds.
• Foreign exchange (FX) fee. When buying international investments, there’s a 0.75% currency conversion fee.
• Account types. You get access to a GIA, stocks and shares ISA and a junior ISA.
• Investments. You can invest in US stocks, UK and EU shares, and themed funds.
• Extras. Option to use the round-up feature. Fractional shares aren’t available to be held in the ISAs and no instant investing.

Wombat investment choice and stocks

Wombat has limitations when it comes to investment choice, but that’s by design. The app’s aim is to make investing straightforward and accessible. So, there’s not an overwhelming choice of investments.

With the instant plan, only US stocks are available. For the standard plan, you can invest in US, UK and EU stocks and shares along with a selection of ETFs and funds.

It’s great that fractional shares are available, but you need at least £10 to invest. And, the fractional shares can only be held in the GIA (not the ISAs).

Wombat ETFs and funds

There are around 32 ETFs, index funds and exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) you can invest in with Wombat. To add a bit of personality, each has a nickname.

For example, the Vanguard Global Corporate Bond Index Fund is called “Bond, Global Bond” and the iShares FTSE 100 UCITS ETF is dubbed “The British Bulldog”. These are all quite cool, although debatably unnecessary.

Wombat claims that these are all themes, but to be honest, the majority are bog-standard funds they’ve jazzed up with a more interesting name.

Although the selection is fairly limited, we still think it’s useful that Wombat offers access to a variety of assets through the different funds.

Is Wombat safe?

Wombat is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection. So your deposits of up to £85,000 are covered in the event that Wombat goes bust. Wombat also uses 256-bit TLS encryption to protect your personal data.

Like any other type of investment, your capital is at risk when you invest using Wombat and you may end up with less than what you originally invested. The performance of investments will vary, and there is no guarantee of return.

Wombat account types and products

Wombat offers a solid range of account options, including:

• General investment account (GIA)
• Stocks and shares ISA
• Junior ISA (JISA)
• Cash savings accounts

Keep on reading to find out more about these products and the main differences between them.

What products does Wombat offer?

Here’s a quick breakdown of each account:

• Stocks and shares individual savings account (ISA). An investment ISA lets you invest up to £20,000 in each tax year without paying any capital gains or dividend tax on your profits.
• General investment account (GIA). This is a regular investment account with no upper investing limit, but it’s not tax-efficient like an ISA, so any gains above your tax-free allowances mean paying dividend or capital gains (CGT) tax.
• Junior ISA (JISA). This tax-efficient account lets you save and invest up to £9,000 each tax year for a child and this allowance is separate to your individual £20,000 ISA allowance.
• Cash savings accounts. Wombat offers a few savings options provided by GB Bank. There’s an easy-access base rate tracker account or notice accounts that are more restrictive. These accounts have a £500 minimum deposit.

Wombat ease of use

Wombat scored pretty well in our ease of use assessment. We like that there are a few ways to get hold of its online customer support team.

On the App Store, Wombat scores 4.6 out of 5, and on Google Play it has a lower 4 out of 5 (as of January 2024). There’s only around 500 reviews from Apple and Android users. There’s no desktop platform and you can invest only with the Wombat app.

Wombat customer reviews

Trustpilot reviewers gave Wombat a 4.1 out of 5 “great” rating (as of January 2024).

Wombat tools, resources and features

With the goal of keeping things simple, Wombat has a limited range of tools and resources, along with some learning materials like articles and guides.

Here are some of the features of Wombat:

• Invest in an ISA. This lets you invest without paying tax on most profits.
• Wombat themes. There’s a variety of funds focusing on various investment themes.
• Fractional shares. You can invest in a fraction of a share with the GIA but not with the ISAs.
• Round ups. You can automatically round up your everyday purchases to the nearest pound.
• Auto invest. You can automate your investments on the standard plan by choosing how much you want to invest and where you want to put the money to work.
• Cashback. On the instant plan, you can get 0.2% cashback on US stock investments.
• Learning hub. This has general investment guides and information.
• Refer a friend. You can get bonuses for recommending friends and family.

How to open a Wombat account

1. Download the Wombat app. It’s on Google Play and the App Store
2. Register. You’ll need your bank details, ID and national insurance number.
3. Choose how much to invest. You can start with as little as £10 and can choose to add money to your account at any time, or set up an auto invest function to automatically add money to your account each month.
4. Pick and account. You can invest in an ISA or a general investment account.
5. You’re good to go. You can explore the app and choose investments in your own time.

Am I eligible for a Wombat account?

You’ll need to meet the following criteria to open a Wombat account:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Be a UK resident
• Have a national insurance number

Frequently asked questions

• Does Wombat offer investment advice?

  Wombat does not offer investment or financial advice, but does provide a number of general informational guides and articles.

• Will I pay tax on my investment profits?

  Yes, you will likely need to pay tax on any profits you make using a general investment account. Any gains you make with your ISA are not subject to capital gains tax.

• Where can I get the Wombat app

  The Wombat app works with both iOS and Android and can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.

• Does Wombat offer ethical investing options?

  Wombat offers a dedicated socially responsible ESG fund that only invests in ethical companies.

• How much do I need to invest with Wombat?

  You can invest as little as £10, with no upper limit. There are small fees for accounts above £1,000.