Robinhood Markets is mulling bringing commission-free UK stock trading to British users of the trading app, according to a report by Bloomberg last week.
The speculation comes around six months after the California-based company launched for a second time in the UK, when it rolled out commission-free trading for more than 6,000 US-listed stocks.
“We are looking ahead to multi-currency wallet support and local execution, including the London Stock Exchange,” Robinhood Chief Executive Officer Vlad Tenev said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Friday.
“There’s been huge demand for options as well — options on US equities — because that’s just hard to come by here in the UK market.”
Robinhood launched in 2013 and currently lets UK investors buy and sell US shares 24 hours a day with as little as $1 through fractional shares.
According to data from May, globally it had 24.1 million funded accounts and $129.6 billion assets under custody for clients.
The company has looked to expand its commission-free model to new markets as trading activity has died down following a surge in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
It faces significant competition in the UK from homegrown low cost incumbents such as Freetrade, which already enables commission-free UK stock trading, and eToro.
“Unlike the US, there hasn’t really been a zero commission revolution,” Tenev said on Friday. “We are hoping to change that here.”
Robinhood must also contend with rival US-based platforms with a UK presence like Interactive Brokers. However, many other overseas apps have tried and failed to launch in the UK, such as Public.com, which left after only a few months, and the French social investing app Shares.io.
As part of its UK growth drive, the firm has been in discussions with UK regulators about securing the necessary permissions for it to be able to offer and manage ISAs alongside general investment accounts.
In the US, the company has also recently expanded its business in areas such as retirement products and credit cards.
These moves have been viewed favourably by its shareholders, helping its stock to rise more than 80% so far this year, as of 7 October.
Robin has more than six years of experience as a financial journalist, most of which were spent at Citywire, and covers the latest developments in the investing, trading and currency transfer space. Outside of work, he enjoys reading literature and philosophy and playing the piano.
You can contact Robin at robin@goodmoneyguide.com
