Stake launches $3 ASX stock trades – is it the cheapest trading app?
The platform has the lowest fees for US and ASX share trading, but it depends how much you invest.
Investors will soon be able to trade Australian (CHESS-sponsored) stocks for just $3 per trade.
Aussie trading app Stake has announced it will be making ASX shares available on its platform from October alongside US stocks.
Stake was the first share trading platform to offer US shares at $0 brokerage in Australia back in 2017, making it then the cheapest on the market.
It was also the first to offer fractional share trading, meaning you can invest in portions of shares for a few dollars.
How does it work?
Stake has confirmed that stocks will be CHESS-sponsored. This is the registration system used by the Australian Securities Exchange to register stock ownership.
With the alternative "custody" model, ownership is recorded by the broker.
We reached out to Stake to get a few more details. Here's what it said:
- Each investor will be assigned their own Holder Identification Number (HIN) on CHESS.
- The $3 brokerage is a flat fee, regardless of how much you invest or how often you trade.
- Fractional share trading will not be available at this stage for ASX shares.
- You can trade from $10, but you must have at least $500 invested in ASX-listed companies.
Stake also told Finder that customers won't need to switch between accounts to access ASX or US stocks as with some brokers. You can trade both from the one platform.
Is it the cheapest trading app?
With a $0 brokerage model for US stocks, $3 for ASX trades and no ongoing monthly fees for the standard account, Stake is among the cheapest trading apps out there.
As a comparison, CommSec, by far Australia's biggest online broker, charges from $10 per trade for ASX shares and US$19.95 for US stocks.
Here's a comparison of the cheapest brokers on the market, according to Finder's record:
| Share trading platform | CHESS-sponsored? | Brokerage fee for a $500 ASX trade | Brokerage fee for a $1,000 ASX trade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharesies | No | $2.50 | $5 |
| Stake | Yes | $3 | $3 |
| Superhero | No | $5 | $5 |
| Interactive Brokers | No | $5 | $5 |
| OpenTrader | Yes | $5 | $5 |
| IG | No | $5 - $8 depending on trade frequency | $5 - $8 depending on trade frequency |
| Saxo Capital Markets | No | $6.99 | $6.99 |
| ThinkMarkets | Yes | $8 | $8 |
| Tiger Brokers | Yes | $8.80 | $8.80 |
| Selfwealth | Yes | $9.50 | $9.50 |
| Pearler | Yes | $9.50 | $9.50 |
| Sequoia Direct | Yes | $9.50 | $9.50 |
Although Sharesies has the lowest brokerage fee for smaller trade amounts, it goes up the more you invest. For example, a trade of $1,000 is $5 and at $10,000 it's $22.
Meanwhile, Stake's $3 fee remains the same regardless of trade volume or frequency. Sharesies also charges a fee of (0.5% - 0.1% of trade size) for US stocks, while Stake and others do not.
Among the brokers listed above, Stake, Superhero and IG charge $0 brokerage to buy and sell US stocks.
According to Finder's brokerage calculator, which takes into account various trade frequencies and trade sizes, Stake will have the lowest brokerage for ASX stock trades in our system.
When it comes to ETF investing, Superhero takes the cake with its $0 brokerage ASX ETF deal on buy orders.
To sign up to ASX trading with Stake, you'll need to join the waitlist. Beta intakes start from early October and if you make it to the top of the list, Stake is offering $0 brokerage until 2022.
Looking for a low-cost online broker to invest in the stock market? Compare share trading platforms to start investing in stocks and ETFs.