6 Things You Need to Know Before Using Investment Apps

Do you invest as a student? How many investment apps do you use? Do you know the risks of using investment apps? Investing will help you ensure financial independence. When you have your personal finances in order you can start investing to create a new income stream. This will help you accumulate wealth over time. But first, you must do your own research on what to invest in, and also, where to invest. There are many investment apps that you can use in the Netherlands such as: Revolut, eToro, Trading 212, Binance, Peaks, Bux, DEGIRO, etc. However, it can get quite confusing which investment app you should use. How do you know which investment app is the best for you? There are a few key points you can use to measure if an investment app is good or not. Here are 6 things you need to know before using investment apps.

When you start using an investment app, you must have some sort of guarantee that your money is going to be safe on the chosen investing platform. Make sure the investment app is approved and registered with a financial authority such as the AFM (NL), FCA (UK) or SEC and FIRNA (US). This ensures that the platform must comply with regulations of the financial authority, making it safer to use.

Hidden fees are always annoying when you start using a new app. Good investment apps are transparent about their fee structure. Find out what fees they charge and how much to determine if it’s a good investment app. Watch out for high fees, they will ruin your investments in the long run because it will also compound over time. The lower the fees the better it is for your investments.

Minimum deposits and withdrawals are inconvenient when you want to invest a smaller amount. There are good investment apps with no minimum deposit, and no withdrawal fees. Don’t let high costs eat away your returns.

Educational tutorials, videos, charts and data about financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, ETF's, etc. provided by the app are great tools to help you make better investment decisions. User-friendly investment apps make it accessible, simple and easy to use.

5. Customer Service
If there’s a problem with the app you have someone to contact. Good investment apps have 24/7 support, live chat and answers for frequently asked questions.

6. Overall Ratings & Reviews
Read customer reviews about investment apps before using. Search for the pros and cons of each app to determine if it’s the right one for you. Compare apps to each other to see which one scored the highest based on safety, lowest fees, no minimum deposits and good customer service.

As an international student living in the Netherlands, my personal favorite investment apps are DeGiro and Revolut. They both have a good overall rating and low fees. I use Revolut for stock trading in the U.S. market, and also for cryptocurrencies. Revolut is an online bank, meaning you have all the perks of online banking and you also get a debit card to pay for everything (you can also withdraw money from an ATM). They have a few membership plans to choose from. I use DEGIRO mostly for buying exchange-traded funds (ETFs). DEGIRO offers a broad selection of low-cost ETFs to choose from, as well as individual stocks and bonds from different stock exchanges. Up to this point I'm satisfied with both investment apps and will keep on using them in the long run. Which investment app do you recommend?