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The comparison reads the same evidence fields used by broker profiles, so users can scan scores, regulation, costs, platforms, withdrawals, and caveats side by side.

Broker 1

Broker 2

VS field	Lightyear lightyear.com Stock BrokerETF BrokerBond	DEGIRO degiro.com ETF BrokerMulti Asset BrokerETF
Decision summary
Overall score

Trust score	87	100

Cost score	78	92

Platform score	80	92

Withdrawal score	74	89

Best for	UK and EU retail investors · Cost-conscious ETF and stock investors · Investors wanting EUR/GBP/USD multi-currency support	European self-directed investors seeking low-cost access to stocks and ETFs · Investors who prefer web/mobile platforms and exchange-traded products

Watch out	Needs verification	Needs verification

Trust & regulation
Regulators	Regulated in the EU by EFSA/Finantsinspektsioon and in the UK by the FCA. Source	Primarily supervised by BaFin and Bundesbank in Germany; Dutch branch registered with DNB and supervised by AFM and DNB. Source
License numbers	EFSA licence 4.1-1/31, EFSA crypto-asset services permission 4.1-1/147, FCA FRN 987226. Source	Financial licence number not disclosed in reviewed official sources. Commercial registrations found: flatexDEGIRO Bank SE HRB 141330 on flatexDEGIRO Bank SE imprint; DEGIRO UK footer states HRB 105687; Dutch Branch KvK 82510245. Source
Regulated entities	EU services are provided by Lightyear Europe AS; UK services by Lightyear U.K. Ltd. Source	DEGIRO is operated by flatexDEGIRO Bank Dutch Branch, a branch of flatexDEGIRO Bank SE; flatexDEGIRO Bank SE is a licensed German bank headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. Source
Negative balance protection	No negative balance protection statement found; Lightyear appears to be cash/investment-only without leverage or short-selling. Source	No negative balance protection found. Official account-profile page warns losses can exceed deposit and result in a negative Balance for derivatives, margin and short-selling services; margin profiles are legacy-only. Source
Investor compensation	EU investor protection up to €20,000; US securities held with Alpaca are SIPC protected up to $500,000; UK client money/assets covered by FSCS subject to limitations. Source	Cash in flatexDEGIRO Bank SE Cash Account protected up to €100,000 per customer under German Deposit Guarantee Scheme; investor compensation covers up to 90% of non-returned assets, max €20,000 per customer; UK FSCS does not apply. Source
Restricted countries	Personal accounts are available only in listed UK/EEA countries; unavailable outside the service area and for US tax residents/citizens or where restrictions apply. Source	Available via listed country selector in Europe/UK; US persons are not accepted; UK onboarding for new clients was temporarily unavailable on the reviewed UK page. Source

Trust & regulation

Regulators

Regulated in the EU by EFSA/Finantsinspektsioon and in the UK by the FCA.

Source

Primarily supervised by BaFin and Bundesbank in Germany; Dutch branch registered with DNB and supervised by AFM and DNB.

Source

License numbers

EFSA licence 4.1-1/31, EFSA crypto-asset services permission 4.1-1/147, FCA FRN 987226.

Source

Financial licence number not disclosed in reviewed official sources. Commercial registrations found: flatexDEGIRO Bank SE HRB 141330 on flatexDEGIRO Bank SE imprint; DEGIRO UK footer states HRB 105687; Dutch Branch KvK 82510245.

Source

Regulated entities

EU services are provided by Lightyear Europe AS; UK services by Lightyear U.K. Ltd.

Source

DEGIRO is operated by flatexDEGIRO Bank Dutch Branch, a branch of flatexDEGIRO Bank SE; flatexDEGIRO Bank SE is a licensed German bank headquartered in Frankfurt am Main.

Source

Negative balance protection

No negative balance protection statement found; Lightyear appears to be cash/investment-only without leverage or short-selling.

Source

No negative balance protection found. Official account-profile page warns losses can exceed deposit and result in a negative Balance for derivatives, margin and short-selling services; margin profiles are legacy-only.

Source

Investor compensation

EU investor protection up to €20,000; US securities held with Alpaca are SIPC protected up to $500,000; UK client money/assets covered by FSCS subject to limitations.

Source

Cash in flatexDEGIRO Bank SE Cash Account protected up to €100,000 per customer under German Deposit Guarantee Scheme; investor compensation covers up to 90% of non-returned assets, max €20,000 per customer; UK FSCS does not apply.

Source

Restricted countries

Personal accounts are available only in listed UK/EEA countries; unavailable outside the service area and for US tax residents/citizens or where restrictions apply.

Source

Available via listed country selector in Europe/UK; US persons are not accepted; UK onboarding for new clients was temporarily unavailable on the reviewed UK page.

Source

Costs & account conditions
Minimum deposit	No general minimum deposit was disclosed. Savings/Vaults states no minimums/no maximums and 'From 1€ to infinity'. Source	No fixed minimum deposit identified; DEGIRO homepage says users can add any amount of money to the account for free. Bank-account verification search result states minimum EUR 0.01 for linking a new bank account. Source
Spread from	Lightyear does not disclose a spread-from trading model for stocks/ETFs; pricing lists fixed/percentage order fees and 0.35% FX conversion fee. Source	Not a quoted-spread CFD/FX broker field. DEGIRO discloses that bid-ask spreads are implicit market costs and not direct broker costs. Source
Commission	ETFs free; US shares 0.10% ($0.10 min/$1 max); UK shares £1; EUR-denominated stocks/bonds/ETNs/ETCs €1; other European shares 0.10% with local minimums; crypto 0.45%; MMFs 0.10%-0.15% annual Lightyear fee. Source	Examples from UK fee page: US stocks €1 + €1 handling; LSE £1.75 + £1 handling; selected ETFs €0 + €1 handling; global ETFs €2 + €1 handling; options €0.75 commission. Currency, connectivity, external product and spread costs may apply. Source
Maximum leverage	Lightyear does not offer leveraged CFD/futures/options trading; no maximum leverage applies. Source	DEGIRO currently does not allow new changes to margin-trading profiles; legacy Active/Trader/Day Trader accounts may have Debit Money / derivatives risk but maximum leverage was not disclosed in reviewed sources. Source
Deposit fee	Local bank deposits are generally free; fast card/Apple Pay/Google Pay deposits cost 0.6%; USD FedWire and USD SWIFT receiving fee is $6.11. Source	No deposit fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; deposits listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees. Source
Withdrawal fee	Local withdrawals are free from Lightyear; SWIFT withdrawals have no Lightyear fee but intermediary fees may apply. Source	No withdrawal fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; withdrawals listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees. Source
Inactivity fee	No monthly/account/custody fee; no inactivity fee found in official pricing/help pages reviewed. Source	No inactivity fee; UK fee page lists inactivity fee as €0. Source

Costs & account conditions

Minimum deposit

No general minimum deposit was disclosed. Savings/Vaults states no minimums/no maximums and 'From 1€ to infinity'.

Source

No fixed minimum deposit identified; DEGIRO homepage says users can add any amount of money to the account for free. Bank-account verification search result states minimum EUR 0.01 for linking a new bank account.

Source

Spread from

Lightyear does not disclose a spread-from trading model for stocks/ETFs; pricing lists fixed/percentage order fees and 0.35% FX conversion fee.

Source

Not a quoted-spread CFD/FX broker field. DEGIRO discloses that bid-ask spreads are implicit market costs and not direct broker costs.

Source

Commission

ETFs free; US shares 0.10% ($0.10 min/$1 max); UK shares £1; EUR-denominated stocks/bonds/ETNs/ETCs €1; other European shares 0.10% with local minimums; crypto 0.45%; MMFs 0.10%-0.15% annual Lightyear fee.

Source

Examples from UK fee page: US stocks €1 + €1 handling; LSE £1.75 + £1 handling; selected ETFs €0 + €1 handling; global ETFs €2 + €1 handling; options €0.75 commission. Currency, connectivity, external product and spread costs may apply.

Source

Maximum leverage

Lightyear does not offer leveraged CFD/futures/options trading; no maximum leverage applies.

Source

DEGIRO currently does not allow new changes to margin-trading profiles; legacy Active/Trader/Day Trader accounts may have Debit Money / derivatives risk but maximum leverage was not disclosed in reviewed sources.

Source

Deposit fee

Local bank deposits are generally free; fast card/Apple Pay/Google Pay deposits cost 0.6%; USD FedWire and USD SWIFT receiving fee is $6.11.

Source

No deposit fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; deposits listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees.

Source

Withdrawal fee

Local withdrawals are free from Lightyear; SWIFT withdrawals have no Lightyear fee but intermediary fees may apply.

Source

No withdrawal fee disclosed on UK fee page and homepage; withdrawals listed as FEE €0 / no deposit-withdrawal fees.

Source

Inactivity fee

No monthly/account/custody fee; no inactivity fee found in official pricing/help pages reviewed.

Source

No inactivity fee; UK fee page lists inactivity fee as €0.

Source

Markets, platforms & payments
Tradable assets	6,000+ stocks/funds including US, European and UK stocks, ETFs, money market funds, Baltic stocks, Baltic bonds and EU crypto assets. Source	Shares, ETFs, bonds and derivatives such as options and futures; DEGIRO product pages also describe investment funds availability. Source
Trading platforms	Available on Android and iOS mobile apps and Lightyear web application; no API offered. Source	DEGIRO provides a web/desktop trading platform (Webtrader) and mobile apps for iOS and Android. Source
Account types	Personal and business accounts; UK GIA, Cash ISA and Stocks & Shares ISA; local tax-advantaged Estonian Investeerimiskonto and Hungarian TBSZ. Source	DEGIRO account/profile types include Basic, Active, Trader, Day Trader and Custody. Active, Trader and Day Trader are legacy-only and new margin profiles are no longer available. Source
Deposit methods	EUR SEPA and cards/wallets; GBP FPS/CHAPS/BACS/cards/wallets/SWIFT; USD ACH/FedWire/SWIFT; HUF local bank transfers. Source	Manual bank transfer from a verified linked/reference bank account; deposits must use the account base currency. Source
Withdrawal methods	Local withdrawals for EUR/GBP/USD subject to prior bank details; GBP and USD SWIFT withdrawals may be available after bank statement verification. Source	Withdrawals go back to the primary registered/linked bank account; only uninvested cash in the Cash Account can be withdrawn. Source
Withdrawal processing time	Most withdrawals paid out within 2 business days; arrival depends on method/currency. Source	Withdrawals may take up to 2-4 working days; transfers can take up to 2-3 working days to complete. Source

Markets, platforms & payments

Tradable assets

6,000+ stocks/funds including US, European and UK stocks, ETFs, money market funds, Baltic stocks, Baltic bonds and EU crypto assets.

Source

Shares, ETFs, bonds and derivatives such as options and futures; DEGIRO product pages also describe investment funds availability.

Source

Trading platforms

Available on Android and iOS mobile apps and Lightyear web application; no API offered.

Source

DEGIRO provides a web/desktop trading platform (Webtrader) and mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Source

Account types

Personal and business accounts; UK GIA, Cash ISA and Stocks & Shares ISA; local tax-advantaged Estonian Investeerimiskonto and Hungarian TBSZ.

Source

DEGIRO account/profile types include Basic, Active, Trader, Day Trader and Custody. Active, Trader and Day Trader are legacy-only and new margin profiles are no longer available.

Source

Deposit methods

EUR SEPA and cards/wallets; GBP FPS/CHAPS/BACS/cards/wallets/SWIFT; USD ACH/FedWire/SWIFT; HUF local bank transfers.

Source

Manual bank transfer from a verified linked/reference bank account; deposits must use the account base currency.

Source

Withdrawal methods

Local withdrawals for EUR/GBP/USD subject to prior bank details; GBP and USD SWIFT withdrawals may be available after bank statement verification.

Source

Withdrawals go back to the primary registered/linked bank account; only uninvested cash in the Cash Account can be withdrawn.

Source

Withdrawal processing time

Most withdrawals paid out within 2 business days; arrival depends on method/currency.

Source

Withdrawals may take up to 2-4 working days; transfers can take up to 2-3 working days to complete.

Source

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