BUX ZERO MOBILE TRADING APP REVIEW 2022

  • By: Walter Dunphy ACCA
  • Date: October 3, 2022
  • Time to read: 6 min.

Dutch-based BUX Zero are one of the new kids on the block in retail investing in Europe. If you are looking for a low-cost broker to trade stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrencies all in one mobile trading app then they might be a decent choice for you.

In this blog post, we will take a deeper look at just how good BUX Zero really is as well as point out any negative points you need to be aware of before taking the next step and signing up for an account.

AT A HIGH LEVEL

BUX Zero is a no-frills, mobile-only, broker that does not overcomplicate things for its users, therefore it is very suitable for someone who is new to investing and does not want to be overwhelmed. On the downside, there is no demo account for beginners to try before they buy. Setting up an account is a simple process, with the usual KYC procedures processed quickly.

Get a free share worth up to €200 when you sign up with Bux Zero and make a deposit using our affiliate link (SIGN UP HERE!).

BUX Zero is available to customers in Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, and Austria.

Deposits and Withdrawals: first of all there are no fees charged by BUX Zero on deposits or withdrawals and there is also no minimum deposit amount when funding your account. You have two options when it comes to depositing funds to your account. You can go with a bank transfer which will take roughly 1-2 working days to land in your account. This can be inconvenient as to have to go into your bank account and set up a bank transfer every time you want to fund your account. You can link your bank account to BUX Zero to reduce this process down to a click of a button.

The fees are minimal with a €1,000 investment in a US stock setting you back roughly €3.07. Another plus for BUX Zero is that it offers fractional share investing, as well as an auto investment plan for investing in ETFs.

There are three different order types on BUX Zero, the usual market and limit orders and their own specific order type called the ‘Zero Order’. The Zero order will have less fees and will be executed as a batch order with numerous other trades from other customers at the end of the trading day.

If you are looking for more complex financial instruments like options, futures, ETPs and bonds you currently won’t find these on BUX Zero who stick to the basics. The company behind BUX Zero also have a separate app called BUX X where you can trade CFDs.

Before we get into some more meaty stuff, here are some good and bad points about the BUX Zero trading platform from our perspective.

Good PointsBad Points
Fractional share trading Limited in types of financial instruments
Low fees Not suitable for high rollers – Max order size – €25,000
Great user experience No Demo account for beginners
No minimum deposit No desktop or webtrader
Great educational content Basic charting
Auto Investment plans for ETFs
Pros and Cons

Fractional Shares

Fractional share investing was recently added as a new much needed feature on BUX Zero. This allows you to buy small fractions of whole shares in companies who have high ticket share prices. For example, at the time of writing here are the share prices of some popular companies:

  • Google $2,869
  • Amazon $3,198
  • Tesla $933

These high share prices exclude many retail investors from investing in these companies, but with fractional share investing you can now get exposure to these companies as you are allowed to buy 0.1 of a share of Google (or any other fraction) with $287 which is much more affordable. The minimum order value for a fractional share on BUX Zero is €10 and you can only trade fractional shares with market orders.

ETF – AUTO Investing Plans

Another nice feature of the BUX Zero trading platform is the ability to set up auto investing plans for investing in ETFs. Long term investors who regularly invest in ETFs are not concerned with checking their portfolios every day, they just want a safe place for their savings to grow. With this feature, you can take more work out of investing by setting up a schedule and a budget to invest at whatever time interval you desire.

The cost of this feature will be just €1 no matter how many ETFs you are splitting your budget between. ETFs trackers covering all of the major world indices are available to be added to your plan. This list continues to grow as BUX Zero keep adding more.

BUX Zero Auto Invest Feature

Trading Fees, FX Charges and Spreads

There are three different costs to you when trading on BUX Zero, which are the trading fees, market orders and limit orders. Let’s not look at what each works out to individually.

Trading Fees: whether you will pay trading fees or not will depend on your order type and the type of instrument you are trading.

Order Type EU Shares US SharesETFsCrypto
Zero Order €0 €0 €0 €0
Market Orders €1 €0 €1 €0
Limit Orders €1 €0 €1 €0
BUX Zero Trading Fees

As you can see from the table above all Zero orders have no transaction fees whatsoever. US Shares and Crypto can also be traded freely no matter what order type you use. There are however fees for ETFs and EU Shares when you use market and limit orders.

Bid/Ask Spread: as BUX Zero is an execution-only broker a third party determines the spread on trades. We can give you a good estimate on what to expect based on the historical spread for US and EU stocks on the trading platform. Historically the spread has been 0.06% on US stocks and 0.08% on EU stocks.

FX Markup: if you are trading US stocks then you will have further costs due to currency exchange fees. BUX Zero add a 0.25% markup when you buy, sell or receive a US dividend.

You will be able to find an estimation of costs and charges calculator to help you assess the total cost for each different transaction type and value on the getbux.com website.

For example a €1,000 investment in EU stocks will cost you roughly €0.80. Whereas, the same investment in US stocks will cost you €3.07.

Is the App Good For Getting Market News and Stock Analysis?

When you are investing it can be annoying having to go to one place for your stock news, another place to look at detailed charts and another place for detailed financial analysis. BUX Zero has made some progress on these offerings but there is a long way to go compare to some of their competitors on this front.

One thing they do well is their calendars, they have a useful calendar for upcoming dividends and earnings calls. They also have a general news feed, that can be tailored for stocks you invest in.

BUX Zero Earnings Calendar

If you are looking for financial information on the stock you are investing in this information is very limited. The most detail you will get is the P/E Ratio and EPS. The charting is also very basic if you are someone who likes to do some technical analysis, you will not be able to interact with the charts and add trend lines, moving averages etc.

How Safe is BUX Zero for Investors?

If the worst were to happen and BUX Zero was to go bankrupt and was not able to give you the value of your investments held on the trading platform you as an investor are still protected up to a a max value of €20,000.

When you open up a BUX Zero account you also are simultaneously opening a ABN AMRO Cash Trading Account. Any uninvested cash will be held in this Cash Trading Account will be protected under a Deposit Guarantee Scheme of up to €100,000.

In terms of securing your account, BUX Zero is lacking when it comes to additional security features such as two-factor authentication.

Other Things to Note

Transferring a portfolio: If you currently have a portfolio with another brokerage and want to transfer this to BUX Zero this is possible and you are encouraged to contact BUX Zero support to arrange this.

Support and Education: There is a customer support live chat which is always accessible and a bank of general knowledge for new investors as well as BUX Zero specific material.

Taxes: For ease of financial reporting, BUX Zero will provide you with a annual report to help you file your taxes every year.

Disclaimer: this blog post is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice.

Discover more from IRISH FINANCIAL

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading