Trade Republic Review – Is TradeRepublic.Com a Legit Firm?

Trade Republic is definitely legitimate. What speaks in their favor is the license by tier one regulator – German BaFin. Also regulated by the German Bank, Trade Republic is a Germany-based broker and online securities trading service. 

Since its first appearance, back in 2015, Trade Republic has started a revolutionary mission to bring customers a productive trading environment. Our Trade Republic review explains in detail what this company has to offer. 

From investing in the derivatives market to creating a savings plan, Trade Republic offers just about everything beginners and professional traders look for. 

Before we go any further, we suggest reading our brokerage reviews on XTB Broker, Orbex, and Trade Nation.

Trade Republic Pros and Cons

Trade Republic is not just a brokerage corporation. They’re also an online banking service, which is confirmed by the German Bank license. In that sense, the firm is safe and strictly has their business under the loop of a world-class regulator – BaFin. 

No minimum deposit requirement is very convenient for beginners and indecisive traders as far as money spending goes. Also note that only the first transfer is free and every other deposit has a 0.7 fee. But at least you can open a live trading account immediately. However, it would be expected of a company with such a reputation to provide a Demo account. Unfortunately, Trade Republic doesn’t.

Our research further shows that until 2021, Trade Republic didn’t have a web or desktop platform, only a dedicated mobile app. Still, there’s no desktop version of the software, only web and mobile. In addition to that, the only way of contacting the customer service is via email, which is a strong disadvantage. 

Is Trade Republic Safe? License and Safety of Funds

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, otherwise known as BaFin is the financial regulatory authority for Germany. As an independent federal authority, BaFin has offices in Bonn and Frankfurt and is under direct supervision of the German ministry of finance. 

This implies that BaFin has big responsibilities and authority to monitor and license the financial market, securities trading and monetary transaction activities. 

As a part of the EEA regulators, BaFin is one of the tier-one regulatory entities that imposes some of the highest security standards in the world. Expecting nothing less than perfection, safety, and transparency from brokers, BaFin requires them to first invest no less than 730.000 EUR.

The building block of safe trading is the security of funds through segregated bank accounts. In this case, the deposits are kept in one of the partner banks – Solarisbank SE, Citibank Europe plc, and Deutsche Bank. 

The leverage cap at 1:30, along with negative balance protection is how the brokers ensure their clients are at lower risk of losing. Transparency considering the company background info as well as transactions reporting is additionally enhanced by ESMA and MiFID. In that aspect, customers can trade safely, knowing their broker cannot misuse their funds or purposely steal from them.

Account Types Offered

Trade Republic has a single account type available for all traders. There are, however, several conditions that new clients have to meet before being able to register a live trading account:

• Investors have to be more than 18 years old
• They have to have a phone number and a bank account opened in their country of residence 
• Traders interested to join have to be residing in one of the 17 EU countries where Trade Republic offers their services.

Account opening takes just a short time, usually not more than 5 or 10 minutes. Of course, traders have to provide basic personal info and complete the fully automated verification procedure. 

The one account type at Trade Republic is the individual account, so there’s no possibility of having joint accounts with this broker. The biggest downside to Trade Republic is the fact that they do not allow opening a Demo account. 

Trading Platforms Overview

Choosing the right platform provider when it comes to securities trading could be especially hard. However, Trade Republic offers its ultimate web and mobile app for fast access and speedy investing. Trading on this app undoubtedly brings security, speed, and reliability that not many other mobile platforms can be proud of. 

With a comprehensive interface and a vast offer of products to instantly access, Trade Republic software is among the fastest and most authentic apps. If you are interested in downloading the mobile app, you can do so completely free from the Apple or Google store. Easily set up, the terminal is available on both Android and iOS phones. 

It still remains a question if just offering a web trader and a mobile app is enough. Most other brokers of this level of quality offer the possibility of downloading the desktop version. 

Trading Instrument Available

Trade Republic surely has one of the biggest offers on the market when it’s to the number of instruments available. Over ten thousand shares and ETFs, as well as crypto and derivatives, are instantly at your fingertips. You can buy and sell the most popular financial instruments starting with just €1. 

Some examples of the most commonly traded assets within each group are:

• Stocks (Amazon, Apple, Alphabet (A), Tesla, Allianz, Realty Income, Coca-Cola, Meta Platforms, Alibaba, Johnson & Johnson)
• Crypto ( Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Fantom, Polygon, XRP, Litecoin, Algorand, Audius)
• ETFs (Core MSCI World USD, Core DAX EUR, S&P 500 EUR, MSCI World Energy USD)
• Derivatives (AT&T, SAP, ASML, Visa, 3M, Walt Disney, Danaher, Bayer, Siemens)

Deposits and Withdrawal Methods 

Payment methods available at the Trade Republic are the safest and most commonly used:

• Bank Wire Transfers 
• Credit and Debit Cards

Besides these, you can also use Apple or Google Play to store funds to your live trading account. This only works if you’ve previously linked your credit or debit cards to these services.

Please do not forget that only your first deposit is fee-free. After that Trade Republic applies a 0.7 fee to every next deposit. For example, if you deposit €100 for a second time, a total of €100.7 will be deducted from your card. 

As mentioned, Trade Republic doesn’t have a minimum deposit requirement so you can deposit just €1. On the other hand, funding your account with cards has to include at least €10. Any sum lower than that will not process. 

Withdrawals don’t have fees or any charges, nor is there a minimum withdrawal amount threshold. Trade Republic does state that since they’re not a payment service, they have to work with partners to process the withdrawals. That’s why the withdrawal time may be up to 3 banking days. 

Trade Republic Customer Support 

As already pointed out in the pros and cons section of this Trade Republic review, the biggest flaw we found on this brokerage site is poor customer support.

If you’re facing a problem while trading, investing or transferring funds or you’re unfamiliar with certain concepts, you can access the help center at: support.traderepublic.com

Since it may happen that the help section doesn’t provide you with a working answer, you can contact customer support via email:  [email protected]

Without phone numbers, live chat features, and other communication channels, Trade Republic just cannot compete with world-class brokers. Quality service means keeping customers fully satisfied, which is hardly possible without an appropriate connection.

Trade Republic Overall Summary

Regulated by two major financial authorities in Germany, Trade Republic is a well-known broker, present in 17 EU countries. As good as their services might be, they’re only available for these EU countries only. The rest of the world just has to find another broker with a similar product range but a wider audience. 

Although only available as a web and mobile app, Trade Republic software is known to be superbly fast and responsive. This circumstance makes things easier for traders that aren’t in for downloads and installing new software on their machines. 

Another two major flaws in the Trade Republic’s offer are the missing Demo account and customer support available only through email. However, if you’re fine with these aspects, you could trade safely, fast, and with access to a rich palette of tradable assets. 

FAQs About Trade Republic Broker