Best Online Brokers in Belgium in 2024

An exceptional trading platform in Belgium is Interactive Brokers. Founded in 1978 and publicly listed in NASDAQ (ticker: IBKR), Interactive Brokers is a global online broker that surpassed major financial crises, showing resilience and a rigorous risk management process.

Interactive Brokers offers an advanced investment platform that includes a wide range of products (stocks, options, mutual funds, ETFs, futures, bonds, and currencies) from +135 markets, solid trade execution (IB SmartRouting), and a set of technical and fundamental tools to help you in your investment decisions.

Beginners and intermediate investors have educational tools to explore, but the learning curve will be steep. Besides, customer service gives crystal clear answers to your doubts, so there is no need to go back and forth.

On the downside, Interactive Brokers’ fee structure is quite complex, the registration process is lengthy (but fully online), and the broker doesn’t offer commission-free trading. However, when considering FX fees, narrower spreads, and the stock loan program, Interactive Brokers’ clients still get significant savings compared to most brokers.

Interactive Brokers also launched IBKR GlobalTrader, a modern mobile trading app to trade stocks, ETFs, and options, ideal for beginner investors. Some of the features of IBKR GlobalTrader include automatic currency conversions, fractional shares, and a demo account.

Want to know more about Interactive Brokers? Check our Interactive Brokers Review.

Launched in 1992, Saxo Bank is one of the most solid financial entities in the brokerage industry, with a proven track record of success. It lets you trade over 70,000 financial instruments through their trading platforms: SaxoTraderPRO (for PC) and SaxoTraderGO (on mobile).

The wide range of cash and margin trading products across global markets includes stocks, ETFs, bonds, mutual funds, cryptos, options, futures, CFDs, forex, and more! Saxo Bank presents its advanced research tools for “Buy and hold or trade on leverage”. 

The Saxo Bank account tiers are the following:

• Classic: A minimum €2,000 deposit is required (depending on the country of residency), giving you access to tight spreads and customer and technical support 24/5.
• Platinum: A minimum €200,000 deposit is required. In addition to Classic features, it also lowers trading prices by up to 30% and prioritizes local-language customer support.
• VIP: A minimum €1,000,000 deposit is required. Here, you will find the best prices, access to trading experts, and exclusive event invitations.

The pricing structure will vary according to your account tier. For instance, a US stock order will be 0.08% of the trade value, with a minimum of $1 in Classic. However, within the VIP tier, the same trade would be 0.03% of the trade value with the same minimum of $1. Plus, for accounts with stocks, ETFs/ETCs, or bond positions, a custody fee of up to 0.15% p.a. will apply.

The listed prices are approximate and will differ based on the resident country. For precise pricing details, refer to the platform’s trade tickets for a comprehensive overview.

Saxo Bank A/S is a fully licensed European bank under the supervision of the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA). Saxo Bank is a member of the Danish Guarantee Fund, which protects client cash deposits up to €100,000 and financial securities (stocks, ETFs,…) up to €20,000 per client.

Founded in 2013, DEGIRO is a low-cost brokerage firm that has become very popular due to its low rates! With over 2.5 million users, the innovative platform has become widely known for its “do-it-yourself” philosophy in the sense that you have everything at your disposal to start investing on your own. It offers a wide range of financial assets to trade, including stocks, ETFs, bonds, options, futures contracts, warrants, investment funds, and some leveraged products (not quite the same as CFDs. More info here).

For instance, you can trade some ETFs for free (a €1.00 flat handling fee – external costs – still apply) with no minimum amount required. The web trading platform is basic, but it is efficient and straightforward to use. In a matter of minutes, you get used to it. The same applies to its mobile app. On the downside, there is an absence of significant fundamental research, a €1.00 commission for US stocks, a €2.50 connectivity fee applies, and pricing alerts are missing.

Regarding security, DEGIRO is the Dutch branch of flatexDEGIRO Bank AG (a German-regulated bank). In the unlikely event that the segregated assets cannot be returned to clients, DEGIRO falls under the German Investor Compensation Scheme, which compensates any losses from non-returned assets up to 90% (with a maximum of €20,000), so do bear this in mind if you are planning to invest much larger volumes. Furthermore, any money deposited on a DEGIRO Cash Account with flatexDEGIRO Bank AG will be guaranteed up to €100,000 under the German Deposit Guarantee Scheme.

Still any doubts? Go through our DEGIRO Review!

Founded in 2006, Trading 212 is a fintech based in London that aims to democratize the entire investment process through a simple mobile application. The company aims to do this by allowing anyone to invest in over 10,000 stocks and ETFs, Forex, commodities, CFDs, and cryptocurrencies. Over 15 million people have already downloaded the app.

In Trading 212, you will find commission-free stocks and ETFs trading, fractional shares, and even an automatic investment system (Robo-advisor). Opening an account is extremely quick and easy. On the downside, it shows limitations regarding available products, such as the lack of bonds and options. It charges a 0.15% currency conversion fee when buying assets in a currency different from your base account.

Within the app, you will notice two distinct sub-platforms: Trading 212 Invest, where you can trade a range of assets free of charge, and Trading 212 CFD, where you may trade leveraged financial products (CFDs).

On Trading 212 CFD, the currency conversion fee (FX fee) is higher (0.50%) than on Trading 212 Invest (0.15%).

The minimum deposit and withdrawal amounts are both €10. There are no deposit fees if you use bank transfer (other options include cards and Google/Apple Pay). For withdrawals, there is no fee, regardless of the method used.

In terms of safety, every Trading 212 is regulated by the following regulators: the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), and the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC).

If you want to learn more, check our Trading 212 Review.

Lightyear is a European investment app that operates via the entity Lightyear Europe AS, authorized and regulated by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority (EFSA – license number 4.1-1/31), with clients’ assets covered up to €20,000.

There are no Lightyear execution fees to trade ETFs. For stocks, commissions do not go over €/$/£1 per order, and there is a flat 0.35% fee for currency conversion (this fee can be minimized by their multi-currency account in EUR, GBP & USD). Lightyear offers one of the highest interest in uninvested cash: 4.50% in USD, 3.25% in EUR, and 4.50% in GBP (As of April 2024).

The investment platform is suitable for beginners and intermediate investors who can safely invest in fractional shares. With an easy-to-use app and more than 3,500 stocks available from the US, UK, European, and Asian markets, Lightyear is an excellent way to get exposure to the stock market.

There are, however, some downsides to Lightyear’s investing app: the product offering is limited (there are no options, commodities, and Forex) and there is no demo account.

Disclaimer: Capital at risk. The provider of investment services is Lightyear Financial Ltd for the UK and Lightyear Europe AS for the EU. Terms apply: lightyear.com/terms. Seek qualified advice if necessary.

It allows users to trade US and EU stocks (Dutch, German, Belgian, French, and Austrian) and 30+ ETFs. New users will also benefit from one free share worth up to €200 (terms available on page 31 of the BUX Client Agreement). You also have access to fractional investing, making it easy to invest in companies with big share prices (Amazon, Tesla, Alphabet,…) starting for as little as €10.

In addition, crypto trading is also available for free! Investors can trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, among other cryptocurrencies.

BUX is very transparent in its pricing structure: it charges no commission for zero orders for EU stocks and ETFs, but it will cost you €1.99 per market or limit Order in EU stocks and ETFs. US stocks charge €0.99 for market and limit orders. Besides, it also earns money through an FX markup (currency conversion fee) of 0.25% and a monthly service fee of €2.99.

On the downside, the only place to trade is its mobile app (no desktop or web trading platform available), the products available are limited, and it has no demo account.

BUX is regulated by the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten – AFM). If you want to learn more, check out our BUX Review.

Founded in 2019, Revolut Trading is part of the Revolut app (existing since 2015) and provides its users with an efficient way to invest (all in one place). It only allows investment in American stocks (+1,000 companies) free of charge for up to 1 transaction per month, cryptocurrencies with a charge of 1.99% or EUR 0.99 per trade (whichever is higher), and gold and silver with a spread of 0.25% when the market is open. On the other hand, there are no inactivity or withdrawal fees.

The app is super intuitive, and the account opening process is 100% digital, fast, and secure. Unfortunately, it still has a very low offer of financial products, and the account can only be denominated in dollars. Some of the non-accessible assets are the following ones: ETFs, CFDs, Forex, bonds, and options. Furthermore, it does not have any educational or market research material, and it charges an annual custody fee of 0.12%.

Learn more in our in-depth Revolut Trading Review.