Lloyds Bank vs Capital.com 2024

It's easy for current Lloyds Bank customers to open a Lloyds Bank Share Dealing investment account. But there are other platforms that are easier, more comprehensive and cheaper to use, including Halifax, which is also owned by Lloyds Banking Group.

Capital.com is a U.K. broker primarily known for CFDs (contracts for difference) and spread betting. While it previously offered the chance to buy and sell shares commission-free, you can no longer buy shares directly through Capital.com. Trading is limited to an unleveraged CFD account.

Alongside the cost per trade, most UK online brokers also charge a monthly, quarterly, or annual management fee, which varies based on the account type and balance. Based on our thorough review, Capital.com offers better pricing than Lloyds Bank for share dealing.

Assuming a £30,000 portfolio size, here are the total annual costs for share dealing with both brokers, given different monthly activity scenarios.

5 trades per year - Lloyds Bank would cost £40 - £95 per year, while Capital.com would cost N/A per year.

12 trades per year - Lloyds Bank would cost £40 - £172 per year, while Capital.com would cost N/A per year.

36 trades per year - Lloyds Bank would cost £40 - £412 per year, while Capital.com would cost N/A per year.

120 trades per year - Lloyds Bank would cost £40 - £1084 per year, while Capital.com would cost N/A per year.

3 fund trades per year - Lloyds Bank would cost £0 per year, while Capital.com would cost £20 per year.

Lloyds Bank requires a minimum deposit of £0, while Capital.com requires a minimum deposit of £20. From our testing we found for accounts between £0 - £250,000 Lloyds Bank charges annual custody fees of £40, while Capital.com charges annual custody fees of £0.

Lloyds Bank offers investors access to ISA, Share Trading, Funds, ETFs, Bonds - Corporate, Bonds - Government (Gilts) and Investment Trusts, while Capital.com offers investors access to Share Trading, CFD Trading and Spread Betting. Neither have SIPP, Crypto Trading and Advisor Services. Investing encompasses a wide variety of asset classes, so finding a broker that offers every investment type you are interested in is important.

Self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) and individual savings accounts (ISAs) are tax-advantaged savings accounts that are an important tool for many individual investors. You can read more about how these accounts operate at Gov.UK: Click here for SIPP information and here for ISA information. Our analysis finds that Lloyds Bank offers traders access to ISA accounts, while Capital.com offers traders access to neither of these accounts. Neither have SIPP.

In our analysis of top brokers for share dealing in the U.K., we research whether each broker offers the ability to trade cash cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin and ethereum, which is still a somewhat rare offering amongst major U.K. brokers. Our review finds that neither Lloyds Bank nor Capital.com offer crypto investing.

Our testing concluded that the website of Capital.com is better than the website of Lloyds Bank. Capital.com offers more functionality, is cleanly designed, and is, overall, easier to use for beginners and casual investors.

To compare the trading platforms of both Lloyds Bank and Capital.com, we tested each broker's stock trading app. All features compared, our analysis finds that Capital.com offers a better mobile app. Dive deeper: Best Stock Trading Apps UK.

Educational offerings are of particular importance to those who are newer to investing, and we examine the availability of several different types of educational materials in our analysis. Our research finds that unfortunately, neither Lloyds Bank nor Capital.com offers educational resources. Neither have Education (Retirement).