Editor’s note: This article was first published in April 2011. The conditions are from 2011, including trades from 9.95 euros on foreign markets and 2.95 euros in Spain, no custody fee above two trades a month, more than 1,500 funds and a free Trader Pro 8.02 trial until 30 June. Self Bank’s ownership and branding have changed since.
Online banking keeps gaining ground. In this case we’re looking at Self Bank, where you can invest in investment funds, money market funds and more.
Self Bank is an online bank born from a partnership between La Caixa and Boursorama, which belongs to the Société Générale group, one of the three biggest financial powers in Spain.
This allows it to offer low fees for opening accounts, transactions and so on, and it is a good option as an online broker: you can trade on foreign markets such as the Nasdaq from 9.95 euros, and on the Spanish market from 2.95 euros per trade. On top of that, they don’t charge a custody fee if you make more than two trades a month. So for those of you who asked us how to invest in the US stock market, Self Bank is a good option, as it is for trading on the IBEX.
We’d also highlight its short-term fixed-term deposits, ranging from 15 days and 30 days to 6 months and more, which let savers earn a return on their money in the short term without any risk.
As for investment funds, since it has no fund manager of its own, it won’t try to push a product on you, and it lets you choose from more than 1,500 Spanish funds.
Until 30 June you can try trading on the Trader Pro 8.02 platform for free.
According to a study by TNS, Self Bank has been chosen as the cheapest bank.
Online banking is expected to end up being the future, since it can offer customers better terms thanks to the minimal costs of running it.
Featured image: Artem Beliaikin, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
