Stake Review for 2024: Is it a Safe & Legit Trading Platform?

Summary of Stake

Stake is an Australian online share trading platform founded in 2017 that allows users to get access to stocks in Australian and American stock markets. The platform is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and the UK’s FCA.

Stake’s main advantage is that it offers stock and ETF trading on U.S. markets at comparatively low fees. Stake also sells itself as a transparent platform with no hidden fees, and that’s mostly true.

The signup process is fairly simple and fully online. The app is user-friendly and quite intuitive. However, poor customer service, limited trading options, and a long withdrawal process could make traders hesitant to adopt this platform.

I’ve known about Stake since 2021, but never paid much attention to the platform. But after a friend told me about all its features a few months ago, I had to try it out for myself.

This review is a complete rundown of my experience with Stake. If you’re looking for an unbiased review of Stake that isn’t done strictly for promotional purposes, then you’re in the right place.

By the end of the article, you’ll have a clear idea of whether Stake is the right platform for your trading needs.

Let’s dive right in.

Pros and Cons of Stake

Evaluating High Impact Factors

Trade with Stake If:

• You’re looking for a platform with low and transparent fees
• You’re based in Australia, the UK, or New Zealand
• You’re a beginner who just wants to get through the trading basics

Don’t Trade with Stake If:

• You’re an advanced trader with high volumes and more nuanced needs
• You need customer service to walk you through the investing process

Verified Office Addresses

Stake has two verified office locations:

• Australia: According to Craft, Stake is headquartered in Sydney, Level 15/37 York St, Australia
• England: The company’s other office is located at 85 Great Portland St, London, England

Expert Opinion on Stake Review

In 2021 Claire Lehmann, the founder of Quillette, recommended the app to people who wanted to trade on the American stock market after Robinhood blocked searches for AMC, GME, BB, NOK, and NAKD.

On You Tube, Electric Viking called Stake “possibly Australia’s biggest Ponzi Scheme scam.” And says users should be very worried about having a “single cent” on the app. He alleges that the company tried to steal his money. The video has amassed 245 comments, most of them agreeing with him.

Henk Hustle, a prominent financial YouTuber, has a more nuanced take. He says, “Stake is good for investors that would like to do multiple small trades of around $500 or less. But be aware that you can’t use stake for day trading unless you have Stake Black due to the clearance time for sharing your stocks.”

Finally, here’s a regular user’s review of Stake:

iRishi points out that the fees are good for larger trades and that the customer service was fairly prompt (unlike what other users have said).

Expert Review of Stake

I have used Stake for a few months now, and I honestly don’t have any huge problems with the app. It’s intuitive, easy to use, and deposits and withdrawals are easy and stress-free.

It’s certainly not the best brokerage I’ve ever used, but it’s not awful either.

The one standout feature for me isn’t really about the product, though. It’s the company’s messaging.

Stake has four main claims it uses to convince traders to get on the platform, and all four are generally correct.

Claim #1: Invest Without Borders

This is true. Provided you live in one of the three countries it serves, you can certainly invest without borders. The app offers very reliable access to U.S. stock markets.

Unfortunately for Stake, that just isn’t a big deal. Lots of other brokerages offer the same access while serving more markets and more countries.

Claim #2: Simple Pricing

This is also true. A lot of brokerages try to hide how much you’ll eventually pay for any given service. Sometimes, you only get notified of the fees when you’re already in.

Stake doesn’t do this. Before you even sign up, you already know the fee on trades will be no more and no less than $3.

It doesn’t matter what you’re trading with (unless it’s worth more than $30,000, in which case the fee is 0.01%) – the fee is still going to be precisely $3.

Claim #3: CHESS-Sponsored Investing

This means that the shares you purchase will be held in your name. If Stake goes under for whatever reason, you’ll still be able to use your HIN number to access the stocks you bought through the platform.

The stocks belong to you – Stake is merely a middleman. That’s a great feature. But again, Stake isn’t unique in this. There are a lot of other CHESS-sponsored brokerages you could use.

Claim #4: Easy to Use

This is where Stake shines. Very few brokerages are as easy to use as Stake.

However, Stake has also built a reputation as a company with awful customer support, so that’s something to consider.

Is Stake Legit?

My biggest issue with Stake are the credible accusations that litter its Trustpilot page.

Stake did reply to this person, but only two years after she posted her complaint. And sure, you might argue that the complaint isn’t posted to the Stake app itself. But Trustpilot is one of the leading platform review sites in the world. Customer Service representatives should be crawling sites like these monitor and respond to concerns. But apparently, Stake isn’t into that business.

As a result of this, their Trustpilot rating is a mere 2.7 stars, with almost 50% being 1-star reviews.

However, I still believe the company is legit. Stake has been in business since 2017 and survived the crypto bubble and GameStop fiasco without imploding. This means they’re doing something right on the backend.

I don’t think they can be credibly accused of being a scam, despite the claims of some reviewers and customers. I would say these incidents are most likely the result of substandard customer service and software failures, which happen to almost every broker.

No Standout Feature

Where I think Stake fails the most is that there’s no standout reason to choose the platform. I suppose the app does give you more freedom to trade, like it did during the GameStop frenzy. But given what happened after that, I doubt Stake would allow users that kind of freedom again.

So if you already have a brokerage, it’s not worth the withdrawal fees to move to Stake. However, if you’re just starting and don’t need an overactive customer support system to guide you along, then Stake isn’t a bad choice.

But if Stake isn’t the platform you’re looking for, here are lists of other binary traders in Australia, the UK, and New Zealand to help you find the right alternative.

Signing Up with Stake

Signing up with Stake is fairly easy. If you’re in an area where the app is available, all you need to do is log into the app store and download the it. Then you sign up and go through the extensive KYC process to get an account.

First, you’re asked to provide the basics and to confirm that you’re a resident of New Zealand, the UK, or Australia. You also have the option to use a referral code.

When you get an account, you’ll be given a referral code that you can use to enter a sort of raffle draw where you can win loads of very valuable stocks.

However, most reviewers (many of whom have had hundreds of people use their referral code) say it’s all a scam and most of the time you’ll just get a $6-8 GoPro stock. So if you’re hoping to win something amazing like a Microsoft or Tesla stock, that’s probably not going to happen.

Alright, back to the signup. The KYC process is really thorough. You’ve got to submit a National Insurance Number (NINO) if you reside in the UK. I’d expect that you’d have to submit corresponding documents if you’re logging in from New Zealand or Australia.

Here are some of the questions you’ll need to answer:

After that, if the system isn’t satisfied, you’ll also have to submit a government-issued ID.

This entire process took me around ten minutes to complete, which is fairly typical.

The Stake Dashboard

Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be able to access the dashboard. It will look something like this:

Compared to other dashboards, Stake is one of the easiest I’ve ever used. You feel like you’re operating a regular bank account, not juggling ten thousand different balls.

That’s why I recommend it for beginners who think trading is extremely complex. It can be, but Stake makes it easy on the eyes.

Deposits and Withdrawals on Stake

Stake has a pretty straightforward deposit and withdrawal system.

They don’t charge a fee for depositing or withdrawing funds (if you’re using bank transfers), but they do charge what they call a “conversion fee” at the point of deposit and withdrawal if you’re trading US stocks. Now, you might say, well, isn’t that the same thing? And maybe it is (okay, it most likely is). But that’s the way the company states it.

The fee to trade US stocks (0.7%) is a bit lower what other brokers charge. Robinhood, for instance, charges 1.5% for withdrawals, so if you deposit and withdraw $1,000, you would be charged $15.

Stake charges the conversion fee (FX fee) for both deposits and withdrawals. So if you deposit $1,000, you will be charged $7, and when you withdraw $1,000, you will be charged $7 again.

So if you want to pay slightly lower withdrawal fees (because that’s what they are, right?), choose Stake. It’s worth noting that some of my withdrawals did take longer than two business days, but the funds did go through for me.

If you want to switch brokers, you probably shouldn’t do so just because because Stake promises zero deposit and withdrawal fees. It’s mostly a marketing gimmick. But if a small difference in fees is a big deal for you, then by all means set up a Stake account.

Trading Conditions on Stake

Stake makes trading very intuitive. You can sort the best-performing stocks and try to ride the bull – or you can check the worst-performing ones and buy the dip. You can sort by the most traded, most viewed, and most watched stocks. That way, you’re never left behind by other traders as you can always know what’s going on, even if you’re not tuned into the news.

For example, if thousands of people start watching GoPro stocks, then you should probably look up GoPro and figure out if the company has a subsidiary that just developed a cure for cancer.

If you’re a trader who makes decisions with a lot of data, then Stake is the right brokerage for you. Despite having a very simple interface, it provides in-depth data that gives you the highest quality information.

There’s also a watchlist on the dashboard where you can add stocks that you’d like to watch for future investment opportunities.

There’s no inactivity fee on Stake, but your un-invested USD doesn’t earn interest. And as I mentioned earlier, Stake only charges $3 for executing a trade.

How to Start Trading with Stake

To start trading with Stake, all you need to do is:

• Download the app
• Sign up and create an account
• Complete the registration process
• Deposit the minimum funds required (or more if you want)
• Start trading

Stake doesn’t have a walkthrough guide to help you navigate the platform, so you’ll have to click around and figure out the controls for yourself.

Thankfully, they’re not too complicated. Let’s say you want to purchase Nike stocks, all you have to do is go to the search bar, type in the name, click on the right result, and make your purchase. It’s really that simple.

Stake charges $3 for trades up to $30,000. For trades of US shares above $30,000, you’re charged only 0.01% per trade. Up until a few months ago, Stake charged absolutely nothing for trades, but I suppose that pricing was never sustainable.

Stake has a robust offering of 3,500 US stocks and ETFs, including mega stocks like Tesla, Amazon, Google, and GoPro. Okay, that last one was a joke – but Stake loves giving out GoPro stocks like it’s candy.

Useful Tools for Traders on Stake

Like many other brokerages, Stake allows fractional trading, stock lending (where you lend your stocks to institutional investors for a fee), and extended trading hours so you can trade 5.5 hours before and 4 hours after marketing opening times.

For $20 a month, there’s also a premium Stake Black account. This gives additional functionalities, like immediate access to your funds before they clear (allowing you to day trade) and deeper insights through analyst ratings and more financial data.

Those are decent features, but I didn’t think they were necessary for my investment needs so I didn’t purchase it.

Investing Opportunities with Stake

Stake doesn’t allow copytrading. However, you can sort assets by how popular they are with Stake users. That way, you have a rough idea of which assets are hot at the moment. If your trading strategy is to ride the bull, this is a great tool for you.

Stake Affiliate Program

Stake gives you a referral code (UNLOCKSTAKE as of March 2024) to share, which provides you with the chance to win stocks. This referral program will decidedly not make you a millionaire. But it could make you one of the most significant shareholders of GoPro if that’ something you aspire to be.