Lightyear Fees: What You Pay on a UK Account and on an EU Account
Lightyear charges no account fee, no custody fee and no inactivity fee, and ETFs trade without an execution fee on every account. What you pay depends on where your account is. UK accounts, including the Stocks and Shares ISA, trade UK, US and European shares free and pay 0.10% on currency conversion. EU accounts pay a small fee per share order (€1 on euro-denominated shares, 0.1% on US shares capped at $1) and 0.35% on currency conversion.
Reviewed by Yaniv Barshaf, CPA · Fees verified 21 September 2026 · Our methodology
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UK accounts: GIA and Stocks and Shares ISA
On a UK account, UK, US and European shares and ETFs all trade with no execution fee. The main cost is currency conversion at 0.10% on the live interbank rate, among the lowest available to UK investors: buying £1,000 of US shares costs about £1 in conversion. Bank transfers in and out are free. Deposits by debit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay cost 0.6%, and incoming USD wire payments are charged up to $8.50. There is no account fee and no ISA fee. UK customers can also open a Cash ISA, which Lightyear lists at 3.75% AER, tax-free and with flexible access.
EU accounts
EU accounts pay execution fees that UK accounts do not. ETFs remain free to trade. Shares cost €1 per order when they are euro-denominated (the same applies to euro bonds, ETNs and ETCs), 0.1% per order on other European shares, £1 per order on UK shares and 0.1% on US shares, with a minimum of $0.10 and a maximum of $1. Currency conversion costs 0.35% on the live interbank rate, more than three times the UK rate. Bank transfers in and out are free, card deposits cost 0.6%, and incoming USD wires cost $6.11. As a worked example, buying €1,000 of US shares from a euro account costs about €3.50 in conversion plus an execution fee of at most $1.
Interest on cash: Vaults, not an automatic rate
Lightyear does not pay interest automatically on cash left in your account. To earn a yield you move money into a Vault, which is an investment in a money market fund rather than a bank deposit. Lightyear charges 0.15% a year or less for it on top of the fund's own costs, the rates it shows are after its fee, and they vary. Because a Vault is a fund investment, it is not covered by deposit-guarantee schemes the way a bank deposit is. UK customers have the separate Cash ISA as an alternative.
How Lightyear compares
For UK investors buying overseas shares, Lightyear's 0.10% conversion fee undercuts Trading 212's 0.15% and is far below Freetrade's 0.99% on its free Basic plan. (InvestEngine charges no conversion fee at all, but it offers only GBP-denominated ETFs, so it is not a like-for-like alternative for buying US shares.) For EU investors the picture is different. The 0.35% conversion fee is more than double Trading 212's 0.15%, and euro shares cost €1 per order where Trading 212 charges nothing, although ETFs are free at both. Against eToro, which charges $1 to $2 per side on shares and about 0.75% on conversion from euro or sterling accounts, Lightyear is cheaper on both counts.
The bottom line
On a UK account Lightyear is one of the cheapest ways to hold global shares, with free trading and a 0.10% conversion fee. On an EU account it is a strong choice for ETF investors, who pay no execution fee, and a more expensive one for frequent share buyers. In both cases, idle cash earns nothing unless you choose to move it into a Vault.
Lightyear
Best low-FX investing app for the UK and EU
Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Lightyear charge fees?
There is no account, custody or inactivity fee, and ETFs trade free. UK accounts also trade UK, US and European shares free and pay 0.10% on currency conversion. EU accounts pay €1 per euro-share order, 0.1% on US shares (capped at $1) and 0.35% on conversion. Card deposits cost 0.6%.
What is Lightyear's FX fee?
0.10% on UK accounts, including the Stocks and Shares ISA, and 0.35% on EU accounts, both on the live interbank exchange rate.
Does Lightyear pay interest on cash?
Not automatically. Cash earns a yield only if you move it into a Vault, a money market fund investment that Lightyear prices at 0.15% a year or less, and which is not a protected bank deposit. UK customers can also use Lightyear's Cash ISA.
Is Lightyear cheaper than Trading 212?
On a UK account, slightly: 0.10% conversion against 0.15%, with share trading free at both. On an EU account, no: Lightyear charges 0.35% conversion and €1 per euro-share order, while Trading 212 charges 0.15% and nothing per order. ETFs are free at both.