Is Trading 212 a Scam? The Honest UK Answer
If a UK broker offers free trades, something else is paying the lights. Trading 212 is regulated. The five ways it earns from your account aren't shown on the homepage.
UK broker safety comparison
| Broker | UK regulator | FSCS cover | Client money segregated? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trading 212 | FCA (FRN 609146) | Up to £85,000 | Yes |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | FCA | Up to £85,000 | Yes |
| AJ Bell | FCA | Up to £85,000 | Yes |
| Interactive Investor | FCA | Up to £85,000 | Yes |
| Freetrade | FCA | Up to £85,000 | Yes |
Same regulatory regime as every other major UK retail broker.
Key takeaways
No, Trading 212 is not a scam. It is authorised and regulated by the UK FCA, your assets are held in segregated custody, and the Invest/ISA accounts are covered by FSCS up to £85,000.
Trading 212 makes money mainly from CFD spreads (a separate, risky product), securities lending on shares it custodies, currency conversion fees, interest spreads on uninvested cash, and a paid Plus subscription tier.
It is not selling your personal data, and EU/UK MiFID II rules effectively ban payment for order flow, so that common US suspicion does not apply.
The legitimate things to know: securities lending exposes lent shares to counterparty risk above the FSCS limit, CFDs are genuinely dangerous (around 75-85% of retail CFD traders lose money), and the FX spread on USD stock purchases is the real "fee" most people miss.