What currency conversion fees do UK brokers charge?
Verdict
- Pepperstone, our top pick for UK traders, publishes no currency conversion percentage on the pages in our data; it lets you sidestep most conversion with GBP, USD, EUR or CHF accounts, and quotes Razor commission in each of those currencies.
- ActivTrades applies a 0.5% conversion fee when a transaction's currency differs from the account currency, and Trading 212 charges a 0.5% FX fee on its CFD account.
- Conversion bites in two places: when money moves in or out in another currency, and when profit, loss and costs on a foreign-currency market are booked to your account.
- Capital.com, our second choice, takes minimum deposits of 20 in GBP, EUR or USD; its conversion fee is not in our data.
Currency conversion is the cost traders tend to notice last: a pound account trading US shares or dollar-quoted CFDs converts every profit, loss and fee. Here is what UK brokers publish, the gap in Pepperstone's disclosures, and how to keep conversion to a minimum.
Pepperstone: avoid conversion with the right base currency
Pepperstone's UK accounts (spread betting, Standard and Razor) can be held in GBP, USD, EUR or CHF, and Razor commission is quoted in each: £2.25, $3.50, €2.60 or CHF 3.30 per lot per side. A trader focused on US markets can hold a USD account funded in dollars, while a sterling spread bettor keeps everything in pounds. What we could not find is a published conversion rate or mark-up for amounts booked in another currency, so ask Pepperstone before trading foreign-currency markets in a GBP account.
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Conversion fees UK brokers publish
Where a cell says 'not stated', the broker's figure is not in our data; it does not mean the conversion is free.
| Broker | Published conversion charge | Account currencies |
|---|---|---|
| Pepperstone | Not stated in our data | GBP, USD, EUR, CHF |
| ActivTrades | 0.5% when the transaction currency differs from the base currency | USD, EUR, GBP, CHF, SEK |
| Trading 212 (CFD account) | 0.5% FX fee | Not in our data |
| Capital.com | Not stated in our data | Deposits from 20 in GBP, EUR or USD |
| IG, CMC Markets | Not stated in our data | Not in our data |
Worked example: what 0.5% costs
Suppose you make $2,000 on a US share CFD in a GBP account at a broker charging 0.5% on conversion. That is $10 on the profit alone, and the same rate applies to commission and overnight fees booked in dollars. If you also fund a USD account from a GBP bank at 0.5%, moving £20,000 in and back out costs £100 each way, £200 in total.
Where conversion happens
- Deposits and withdrawals in a currency different from your account's.
- Profit and loss on markets priced in another currency, such as US shares or dollar-quoted FX pairs.
- Commission and overnight fees charged in the instrument's currency, such as Pepperstone's $0.02 per share on US shares.
- Card payments, where your card issuer may add its own foreign-exchange charge on top of the broker's.
Keeping conversion costs down
- Match the account currency to what you trade most: USD for US shares and indices, GBP for UK shares and spread bets.
- Fund in the account's currency so deposits are not converted.
- Ask how foreign-currency profit and loss is converted and when, and get the mark-up in writing if it is not published.
- Consider a second account in another currency: Pepperstone lets you hold several accounts at once.
Sources
Fee and currency terms as each broker publishes them.
Does Pepperstone charge to convert my deposit?
Pepperstone lists deposits as free, but its pages in our data state no conversion charge. Fund in your account's base currency, GBP, USD, EUR or CHF, and the question does not arise.
Can I hold a GBP and a USD account at Pepperstone?
Yes. Pepperstone says you can hold several accounts at once, and its UK base currencies are GBP, USD, EUR and CHF.
Are spread bets affected by currency conversion?
Pepperstone's spread bets are staked in pounds per point, so a GBP spread betting account avoids converting the stake. Check how results on non-sterling markets are booked if your account is in another currency.
Trading CFDs and spread bets on margin carries a high risk of rapid losses, because leverage magnifies every price move. Currency movements can add to gains or losses on foreign-currency markets. Nothing here is investment advice; fees are as published by each broker at the time of writing and may change.