Here’s how the new Trading 212 card works and if it’s any good

Investment app Trading 212 has released a debit card to accompany its app that offers 0.5% cashback on your spending. But why does an investment app need a card, and how does it work? We tell you everything you need to know about the Trading 212 card, including better alternatives. 

Update 8 May 2024: Trading 212 has upped the cashback rate for all customers to 1.5% until 1 October 2024. You can still only earn £20 per month, but you only need to spend ~£1,333 to get this. After 1 October this will be reverted back to 0.5%.

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What is the Trading 212 card?

The Trading 212 card is a debit card that’s linked to your investment account. You can spend with it as you would any other debit card, with the money being taken from your uninvested cash. 

What does the Trading 212 card get you?

So, why would you want to drop your typical bank’s debit card for the Trading 212 one? Here’s what you can get with it.

• Earn 0.5% cashback on your spending: This gets you up to £20 back per month. 
• Exchange currencies at a 0.15% foreign exchange (FX) fee: There’s also no rate markup or additional fees at weekends.

Trading 212 is also advertising the following as benefits for the card, though you can get these with just a Trading 212 account:

• Earn 5% APY on your pounds. More on this here.
• Deposit and withdraw in 13 currencies to avoid your bank’s conversion fees

How does the Trading 212 card work?

The card is a Mastercard and works like your banking debit and credit cards – it’ll have a PIN for you to use it in-store, and it’s contactless. Plus, Trading 212 says that you’ll be able to link it to Google Pay and Apple Pay soon.

Here’s where it gets a little odd. The card isn’t linked to a traditional bank account. Instead, the money is taken from your uninvested cash in your Trading 212 Invest account.

However, since you can’t use your card to spend money that you’ve invested that includes any cash earning the much hyped 5.2% interest. Nor can you use the card for money held in an T212 ISA.

There’s a daily spending limit of £9,000, and £54,000 over a month. You can also withdraw from ATMs.

You’ll obviously need to add this money (it’s not a credit card), and that cash is protected by FSCS. So if you’re using Trading 212 for investing too, you’ll need to load both your planned investments and spending money onto your account each month. 

How does Trading 212 cashback work?

You’ll earn 0.5% cashback on your spending, up to £20 per month. This means that you need to spend £4,000 per month with the card to max out your cashback allowance. Cashback is paid daily into your general investment account.

However, as with most cashback cards, there are restrictions. So you won’t earn money back on things like paying credit card bills, money transfers or gambling. You can see the full list of exclusions here.

Spending abroad with the Trading 212 card

Trading 212 is a multi-currency account with 13 currencies currently supported. However, when you convert currency you’ll be charged a 0.15% fee. However once it’s in your account you can spend abroad with it for free if you have cash in that currency.

You can still spend in other currencies but it will be converted. This also comes with that same 0.15% fee. Unlike some other cards you won’t be charged additional fees at weekends. 

Trading 212 uses the interbank rate which is “live” and often considered to be slightly better than the Mastercard rate which is a fixed point each day, So it’s hard to say which is better. Possibly Interbank could edge it, even with the 0.15% fee, but not by much.

So overall, it’s not a bad option, but we think you’d be probably be better off using a different card abroad, as there are lots of free options.

We say it all the time, but we’ll reiterate that you want to pay in the local currency if you’re asked, and you should avoid cash machines that charge. 

Trading 212 card costs

While Trading 212 says the card is free, it’s really only referring to the lack of a subscription plan — it will cost you £4.95 to get the actual card if you opt for a physical one.

You can instead get a Trading 212 virtual card for free, though at the moment you can’t add this to a digital wallet so you’re restricted to typing in the card numbers for online purchases.

How to get the Trading 212 card

To get the Trading 212 card, you’ll first need a Trading 212 account with an investment account which you can sign up for here. 

Once you’ve got an account, you’ll be able to order a card using the Trading 212 app. You’ll need to make sure you’re not in your ISA account and a little card icon will be on the bottom bar.

It first asks you to verify your identity with a form of ID, then you need to take a selfie. Once it’s verified your identity, you can choose between a virtual or a physical card. I chose a virtual card — I can’t claim to be clever with my cash by spending a fiver on a card that I’ll just load to Google Pay anyway!

If you choose a physical card, it’s posted out to you and you can use it virtually immediately. If you opt for the virtual card, you can use it immediately. You’ll see a card icon in the bottom menu where you can see your card, your cash balance, your recent transactions and any cashback earned. 

Who can get the new Trading 212 card?

UK residents can get the Trading 212 card. You’ve also got to be 18 or over with a valid NI number and ID (such as a driving licence or passport) in order to sign up for a Trading 212 account. 

How to add money to the Trading 212 card

Your Trading 212 card is linked to “free cash” (uninvested money) in your Invest account. To load money, you’ll just need to add money to your account. You need to send money from your personal bank account, not a third party or business account. 

You can do this in several ways:

• Instant bank transfer. This is where you link your bank account to make an instant deposit
• Bank transfer. With this option, you are given a set of bank details to send money to, as well as a reference number. 
• Card. With this option, you enter your card details and the money is taken as a payment.
• Google/Apple Pay. Like the card option, this is taken as a payment from your account. 

Personal IBANs aren’t available yet, but it’s something Trading 212 plans to add later. 

If you deposit using a card payment, Google Pay, Apple Pay, iDeal, OnlineBankingPL, GiroPay or Sofort then you can deposit up to £2,000 for free, after this it’ll cost you a 0.7% fee. This is a total limit, not a monthly, weekly or daily one. 

Trading 212 customer reviews: 4.75/5

While the Trading 212 card is too new to get customer opinions, over at Smart Money People, customers rate Trading 212 an average score of 4.75/5. Customers like the UI and app and feel like support is available and helpful. You can read their reviews here.

Alternatives to Trading 212’s cashback

There are a number of different ways to earn cashback on spending, but here are our favourites.

Trading 212 vs Chase

Trading 212’s card is not the best offer available at the moment, with Chase offering 1% on your spending. Though that is capped at £15 cashback a month, that’s still a spend of £1,500 every month that’s eligible.

Trading 212 vs American Express

There are also credit cards from American Express paying the same rate or better, and these have advantages over Trading 212’s cards as you get section 75 protection on spending over £100 and access to other offers such as the annual Shop Small promo. 

Pros and cons of the Trading 212 card

Pros

• 0.5% cashback up to £20 per month – though this can be beaten
• Free virtual card
• FSCS protected if you don’t get interest

Cons

• Inconvenience of loading your investment account with spending money
• Transfers aren’t direct to your account
• Somewhat unfinished — Trading 212 hasn’t finished integrating Apple Pay yet
• Fees for the physical card

Is the Trading 212 card worth it?

Probably not. While the cashback is nice, you can get a better rate with Chase, which has a free bank account, proper banking features and fee-free spending abroad. Or you can look at American Express credit cards which offer extra consumer protection and similar rates. If you want better cashback on your spending, check out our guide on the best cashback debit and credit cards. 

Meanwhile, Trading 212 offers similar currency exchange rates to Revolut, but Revolut can be used to send money abroad and receive money from abroad, while Trading 212 can’t, so it’s only really good for spending abroad, and could still be more expensive than a lot of other options. Trading 212 hasn’t carved out a real reason to choose its product over competitors. 

In addition, remember that Trading 212 is an investment product. While you can opt to not use the investment features, it can be a little daunting for anyone not interested in investing. It also can’t replace your typical bank account. 

Trading 212 FAQs

Is Trading 212 a bank?

No, Trading 212 isn’t a bank, and as far as we can tell so far, it isn’t trying to become one. It doesn’t have a banking licence but is licensed to offer financial products through its partnership with Paynetics.

How does the Trading 212 card differ from a bank?

The Trading 212 card is just that, a card. You can’t make transfers to third parties — there’s no splitting bills or paying people back using the account. 

In addition, you don’t get your own personal IBAN or bank details, so you also can’t receive deposits from third parties — you pay into your account using a reference number and Trading 212 cross references the name on the account it’s sent from. 

To compare, even Revolut, which isn’t a bank either, gives you your own details for others to send you money. 

Is the Trading 212 card safe?

The Trading 212 card is safe to use. It’s a legitimate Mastercard issued by Paynetics.

Is the Trading 212 card FSCS protected?

Yes, your deposits are protected by FSCS. 

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme protects up to £85,000 of your deposits if Trading 212 were to go bust. Trading 212 is a member of this scheme, so all your deposits — both invested and uninvested money — is protected. 

However, if you opt to earn 5.2% APY interest on your uninvited cash, it no longer has this protection. So it’s a bit cheeky to advertise these features together as it’s either one or the other.