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Lloyds Bank Investing Review

Item: Lloyds Bank
Rating: 4

Written by Elizabeth Anderson
Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis
Edited by Carolyn Kimball

December 16, 2024

Your capital is at risk.

Lloyds has boosted its investing offering this year to appeal more to beginner investors. If you already bank with Lloyds, then it’s worth checking out the investment options. Lloyds offers ready-made portfolios and the option to choose your own investments through an ISA, general share dealing account, or SIPP. Fees can be low and the investment choices are extensive.

However, I can’t see a compelling reason to open a share dealing account with Lloyds if you’re not already a Lloyds Bank customer. There are likely other platforms that are easier, more comprehensive, and cheaper to use for your investments.

Overall

Minimum Deposit: £0
ISA: Yes
SIPP: Yes

Lloyds Bank Share Dealing pros & cons

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

Offers a wide range of investments, including bonds and mutual funds.
Provides the option to invest through an ISA or SIPP as well as a general taxable investment account.
Flat fee of £40 a year is good value for those with large portfolios.
Trading fees can be cheap. Regular investing is free, and there’s no trading fee for U.S. and other international shares.

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

Difficult and time-consuming to open an account.
One-off share transaction costs are high at £11 per trade for U.K. stocks.
Very limited tools and research.
No interest paid on uninvested cash.

Overall summary

Feature	Lloyds Bank
Overall Rating
Charges & Fees
Investment Choices
Mobile App
Website
Ease of Use
Education

Charges and fees

Investing costs money and Lloyds’ fees can work out low overall, particularly if you have a large investment portfolio. There is a flat management fee of £40 a year, alongside any ongoing fund management costs if you hold funds. If you hold Lloyds’ Ready-Made Investments, funds built by Lloyds’ fund managers for instant portfolio diversification, the cost is £3 a month (£36 a year).

Flat fees: These low flat fees are economical for investors with large holdings. By comparison, Hargreaves Lansdown charges a percentage — 0.45% — custody charge for mutual fund investments below £250,000, which works out at £45 a year for those with investments worth £10,000. Therefore investors with a portfolio worth more than £10,000 may be better with a flat fee charging structure such as Lloyds’. Note that there is no £40 platform fee if you’re aged 18 to 25 and have an Invest Wise account.

Regular dealing: If you commit to regular dealing (where you invest in the same asset monthly) then there are no commission charges. It’s common for trading platforms to offer discounted trades for regular investing, but Lloyds is one of a small handful of brokers offering free regular dealing. Rivals AJ Bell and Fidelity, for example, charge £1.50.

Infrequent investors: However, if you trade infrequently and are only investing small amounts, then Lloyds can end up being expensive. Lloyds charges £11 for buying and selling U.K. shares, investment trusts, bonds, and ETFs. This cost is reduced to £10 if you are a Premier or Private Banking customer, and to £8 if you make more than eight trades per quarter (around three a month).

These costs are among the highest in the industry, in line with a few other brokers including AJ Bell, Barclays, and Fidelity. Other platforms, including Interactive Investor, XTB, and Freetrade, are cheaper for share trades. Lloyds also charges £1.50 for mutual fund trades, which most other platforms offer for free if they offer mutual funds at all.

International shares: Another good feature is that Lloyds does not charge anything on international share trades (although a 1% foreign exchange, or FX, fee applies). You can buy shares in companies listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ in the U.S. as well as those listed in Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam, or Brussels.

Lloyds’ charges are higher than its sister company Halifax, which has the same owner and is very similar in design. Halifax charges £9.50 per trade and annual custody fees of £36.

Scenario pricing: When calculating annual share dealing costs, trading frequency and account balance are the two most important factors to consider. Assuming a £30,000 portfolio in a traditional, taxable share dealing account, here are five scenarios of how much Lloyds Bank would cost based on trade frequency:

5 trades per year = £95
12 trades per year = £40 - £172
36 trades per year = £40 - £328
120 trades per year = £40 / £1,000
3 fund trades per year = £44.50

Feature	Lloyds Bank
Minimum Deposit info	£0
Share Trading: 0-9 Deals/ Month info	£8, £10, £11
Share Trading: 10-19 Deals/ Month info	£8
Share Trading: 20+ Deals/ Month info	£8
Annual Custody Fee: £0 - £250,000 info	£40
Annual Custody Fee: £250K-£500K info	£40
Annual Custody Fee: £500,000 - £1m info	£40
Annual Custody Fee: £1m and over info	£40
Bonds - Corporate - Fee info	£8 - £11
Bonds - Government (Gilts) - Fee info	£8 - £11
ETFs - Fee info
Investment Trusts - Fee info
Telephone Dealing Fee info	£35

Mobile trading apps

The Lloyds trading app is very basic. Like with Halifax, you need to have registered for online banking before logging into the share dealing mobile app for the first time. You access your share dealing account through the main Lloyds app, where you’ll find your share dealing account on the main home screen. Tap on your share dealing account to open your investments.

It’s not easy to search for funds or investment ideas. Ideally, you’ll already know what you want to invest in, likely by having done research elsewhere. There is a prominent link to Lloyds’ ETF Quicklist for ETF inspiration, but this takes you away from the mobile app and directs you to the website via a browser.

Educational guides and tools for investing have increased in the past year to encourage more of its current account holders to invest. For example, Lloyds now offers a Save & Invest calculator, where you can see projections of how much your investments could be worth in the future. It also offers in-app written guides which aim to teach the basics about investing.

Tap for a demo of Lloyds Bank's U.K. trading app.

Assortment of investing tools on the Lloyds mobile app.

Educational articles on the Lloyds mobile app.

currency_pound Are you new to investing?

We thoroughly tested 17 top U.K. brokerages to find the best choices for beginner investors. Read more in our guide.

Website

When logged in to your share dealing account through the website, the layout feels quite old-fashioned and is quite similar to the banking home page. It’s difficult to get investment inspiration or guidance, although counter-intuitively there is plenty more material on the main Lloyds’ website when you’re not logged in.

There are limited charting options if you like to use charts to analyse historical trends and events. You cannot show corporate events on a stock chart such as dividends or earnings dates — a feature offered by many other online investment platforms.

The website also lacks drawing tools or indicators, and you cannot overlay charts over each other to compare different stocks or indices. It would be great if Lloyds could improve the customer experience by adding these features, which newer platforms all offer. Traders who wish to extensively trade using a web app would be better served by a broker like Interactive Brokers or IG.

Ways to Invest page on the Lloyds website.

Lloyds Share Dealing no trade commission overseas stock purchase.

Feature	Lloyds Bank
Web Platform info	Yes
iPhone App info	Yes
Android App info	Yes
Stock Alerts info	Yes
Charting - Indicators / Studies info	0
Charting - Drawing Tools info	0
Charting - Notes info	No
Charting - Display Corporate Events info	No
Charting - Stock Overlays info	No
Charting - Index Overlays info	No

Investment choices

Lloyds offers a great range of investments across seven world markets, including U.K. bonds and gilts, almost 700 ETFs, more than 3,000 funds, and almost 5,000 company shares. That said, other platforms such as eToro, Saxo, and Interactive Brokers offer more extensive overseas investment options covering other parts of the world, especially Asia.

Funds and ready-made investments: With an impressive 3,143 funds available, investors who prefer handpicking their mutual funds have a wealth of options. Lloyds also offers a ready-made investment portfolio, incorporating stocks, bonds, and property, but you must pay in at least £50 a month. If you don’t like the idea of committing this amount, other platforms such as Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell offer ready-made portfolios for those looking to save £25 a month.

ISAs and SIPPs: You can invest through an ISA, Junior ISA, SIPP, or general dealing account. Lloyds does not offer Lifetime ISAs.

For ready-made investment ISAs and investment accounts, Lloyds charges a flat rate of £3 per month, plus ongoing charges of up to 0.24% and transaction costs up to 0.12%. These are relatively low cost fees in return for getting access to a diversified portfolio created on your behalf.

TradePlan: You have the option of several trade types by setting up a TradePlan through the dealing section of the website when logged in. This includes a stop loss or price lock, where an order is triggered when a share price hits a specified target price.

Financial planning: Lloyds has partnered with financial planning firm Schroders Personal Wealth if you would like to pay for advice from their wealth management team. To take advantage of this program, you must earn at least £100,000 a year or have £100,000 in savings and pensions.

Feature	Lloyds Bank
Share Trading info	Yes
CFD Trading info	No
ETFs info	Yes
Funds info	Yes
Bonds - Corporate info	Yes
Bonds - Government (Gilts) info	Yes
Investment Trusts info	Yes
Spread Betting info	No
Crypto Trading info	No
Advisor Services info	Yes

Education

Educational and research material is limited on the Lloyds share dealing platform. There are a few guides on how to get started, such as investing for beginners and how to understand risk, but these do not go into extensive detail.

The investing hub of the main Lloyds website offers more, including news articles, top-searched companies, and insights on the economy or a particular company. This is a section of the Lloyds investing platform that is growing. However, there are no webinars or videos for investors looking for further investment guidance and inspiration.

Lloyds does not offer real-time market data — prices are delayed by 15 minutes.

Feature	Lloyds Bank
Education (Share Trading) info	No
Education (Funds) info	No
Education (Retirement) info	No
Client Webinars info	No
Client Webinars (Archived) info	No

query_stats What type of trader are you?

New to the world of investing? See my picks for the best UK trading platforms for beginners. More experienced traders should check out my guide to the best UK Trading Platforms for Active Traders. If you're looking to trade shares on the go, read my guide to the best UK stock trading apps.

Final thoughts

Lloyds Share Dealing may be worth it if you are already a Lloyds Bank customer and like the idea of managing your current account, savings, and investments all in one place. If you are a new customer of Lloyds, then consider that there may be other platforms that are easier to open, offer more features, and are likely cheaper.

About Lloyds Bank Share Dealing

Lloyds Share Dealing is operated by Lloyds Banking Group, which traces its roots back to 1765 when Taylors & Lloyds opened as a private bank in Birmingham. Lloyds Banking Group owns Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Bank, Halifax, and Scottish Widows.

Is Lloyds safe to invest with?

Yes, the Lloyds Bank investment account is a safe option as it’s operated by a bank that has been around for centuries. Keep in mind, however, that all investment platforms in the U.K. must be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and in that respect Lloyds is no safer than any other regulated platform.

How much does Lloyds charge for selling shares?

Lloyds charges £11 for buying and selling U.K. shares, although it’s free to buy shares in companies listed overseas. Dealing costs are reduced to £8 per transaction if you make more than eight trades per quarter (around three a month). Additionally, regular investing is free so it's possible to not pay any trading charges at all if you only take advantage of that offering.

How does a Lloyds share ISA work?

You can pay in up to £20,000 a year into ISAs. This £20,000 cap applies to any ISA you own — including cash, stocks and shares, and Lifetime ISAs.

How do I contact Lloyds Bank by phone?

You can call the Lloyds share dealing service at 0345 606 0560. Lines are open Monday to Friday from 8am to 9pm. If you have a ready-made ISA or general account, call 0345 835 5728. Lines are open Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm at this number.

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Methodology

For the UK.StockBrokers.com Annual Review, we assessed, rated, and ranked 17 U.K. share dealing platforms over a 10-week time period. Each broker’s platforms and features were exhaustively tested by hand and graded on 53 different variables. In total, over 25,000 words of research were produced.

We thoroughly tested and compared features of prime interest to everyday investors, including but not limited to:

Investment choices, such as whether the broker offers trading of shares, ETFs, funds, bonds, and CFDs; and offers SIPP and ISA accounts.
The broker’s charges and fees for investing.
Functionality and design of mobile apps and website platform, and a fluid experience moving between app and web.
Usability of tools such as charting and watch lists.
Market research, such as screening, news and analysis.
Educational resources including tutorials, online courses, videos, webinars and articles.

Our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .001% each year, providing site visitors with quality data they can trust. Our lead researcher and writer, Elizabeth Anderson, has more than a decade’s experience as a financial journalist and market researcher. Elizabeth’s expertise is backed by a team of veteran fellow traders, data auditors, editors and project managers who work to ensure that UK.StockBrokers.com reviews and guides are the most unbiased and complete in the industry. Read more about our team.

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About the Editorial Team

Elizabeth Anderson, lead writer and researcher, has been a financial journalist for more than a decade. In addition to her work with UK.StockBrokers.com, she has written extensively for major publications including BBC, The Times and Bloomberg. A keen investor herself, she is passionate about helping people understand finance and investing.

Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for UK.StockBrokers.com and ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.

Carolyn Kimball is a former managing editor for Reink Media and former lead editor for the StockBrokers.com Annual Review. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.