Help and support

Our approach to fees is simple. We believe in:

• Radical transparency: We’ll always be upfront with any associated charges. We also want to ensure that we charge the smallest amount possible fairly, so if you place an order where the fees will account for 5% or more of its total value, you’ll be presented with a pop-up in the Lightyear app for you to confirm this.
• Honest pricing: Our fees are a combination of covering the costs associated with the service plus a small amount on top that we can reinvest to improve the business

See our pricing here.

Applicable taxes

Financial Transaction Tax

A financial transaction tax (FTT) is when a percentage of the asset's value is paid in taxes when traded. FTTs usually apply only to select financial instruments and often have varying tax rates depending on the asset type.

Stamp duty

Stamp duty is the tax governments place on legal documents, usually in the transfer of assets or property.

These taxes apply to anyone who is trading the applicable asset, irrespective of if you are a tax resident of that jurisdiction or not.

See more: here.

NB! The protections mentioned in this article do not cover poor investment performance. It’s important to always remember that markets may go up or down, so you should never invest more than you can afford to lose.

How does Lightyear protect my Cash and Investments?

Trusting us with your investments is not something we take for granted. Lightyear UK Ltd is an FCA-authorised and regulated investment firm and as such is bound by strict regulatory obligations in how we handle and protect your assets:

1. You are always the beneficial owner of your cash. Your uninvested cash is held in ringfenced accounts and deposited with a UK bank and Qualifying Money Market Funds (QMMF) under legally binding agreements that confirm this money belongs to you, not Lightyear. The institutions where we hold uninvested customer funds are NatWest bank in the UK and BlackRock Qualifying Money Market Funds rated AAA/mmf by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch.
2. Lightyear never uses customers' money or investments to cover its own needs, which also means that, unlike banks, for example, we do not lend customers' money out to third parties.
3. You are the beneficial owners of all your investments on Lightyear — your assets are held in separate accounts from Lightyear assets, which you can read more about in our article Who is the owner of the securities I buy?.
4. Therefore, all customers' assets are inaccessible by our creditors and they would be returned to you in the unlikely event of Lightyear's insolvency.
5. The UK bank we use is covered by FSCS and in the event they failed we could claim up to £85,000 on your behalf. Please be aware this is the total you can claim in any banking institution so if you held personal accounts or money with other platforms in the same banking group, this may impact the amount you get back through Lightyear.

Do UK users benefit from Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection?

Yes, all UK customers are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

• This means that if Lightyear goes out of business and there is a shortfall in the funds we are holding for you, you may be able to claim for losses up to the value of £85,000 through FSCS.
• FSCS does not cover losses due to poor investment performance.

What is a Qualifying Money Market Fund

• Qualifying money market funds (QMMFs) are a type of mutual fund that invests only in highly liquid, short-term debt from the likes of governments and financial institutions. These funds offer high liquidity with a very low level of risk and EU/UK regulations allow for brokerages to hold customer money in them.
• A QMMF must meet specified, higher regulatory standards for quality and liquidity than other money market funds. We carefully review and monitor any QMMF we use to ensure that it is stable, liquid and continues to comply with the requirements of a QMMF, and only work with large, reputable fund managers.
• In addition to offering protection via diversification, QMMFs provide a return which we pass on to customers in the form of interest payments on uninvested cash you hold in your Lightyear account. To opt out from keeping your money in a QMMF, you can opt out of interest in the app.
• Deposit guarantee schemes are not relevant to QMMFs. The QMMF depositary will hold assets in a segregated account which should therefore be available in the event of their failure. However, if there is a shortfall in the value of assets, FSCS does not apply and compensation is only available if this shortfall is due to fraud, negligence or failure of the depositary to comply with their regulatory obligations.

You can hold uninvested money on your multi-currency account which can also earn interest.

Like most brokers, Lightyear earns interest on the cash it holds on your behalf in institutional bank accounts that are designed for financial firms to hold their customers’ money, as well as from holding your money in qualifying money market funds.

Earned daily, paid monthly on the 1st business day. To view current interest rates, check the Cash tab in the app or our pricing page. The interest retained by Lightyear is to cover the cost to us of managing the cash and the wider operation of your Lightyear account.

Interest on uninvested cash: how it works

• You’ll start earning interest daily, on the same day as your deposit hits your Lightyear account.
• We calculate the unpaid interest daily on the available uninvested cash balance of your investment account to five decimal places using the latest Lightyear rate. We then sum and round the unpaid interest amounts to two decimal places.
• Interest payments will be credited to your Lightyear account on the first business day of every month, and you can see the interest that you have been paid in the latest version of the Lightyear app and in your statements.
• Money that’s been reserved for orders or other reasons does not accrue interest, and if you close your account before the next interest payment date, it won’t be paid out.

For example, if 1,000 EUR is held for a whole year at the rate of 2%*

• 1,000 * 0.02 per year = 20 EUR per year
• 20 / 12 = 1.6 per month

*the rate may change, which we’ll notify you about. See our pricing page for the current interest rates.

See also our Tools & Calculators.

Taxes

Please note you’ll be responsible for the appropriate tax reporting and payments, in accordance with your local tax laws. You can opt out from earning interest by navigating to “Earn Interest” under the Settings page, which will cause any unpaid interest to be forfeited.

Protection

Earning interest on your uninvested money does not change the way your money is segregated or safeguarded. We always hold our customers’ uninvested money in segregated client money accounts in Natwest bank and highest-rated* qualifying money market funds which you can read more about in our article How are my assets protected?.

*rated AAA/mmf by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch

Lightyear is a simple and approachable way to invest your money globally without unnecessary barriers or fees. We make investing approachable with a simple and easy to use app.

What problems are you solving?

• Expensive and opaque fee structures: Traditional players often have hidden and high cost fees
• Limited access to markets: Local brokers often offer bad access to global markets
• Limited information and education: Typically lacking or hard to understand

We’re at the beginning of our journey and haven’t solved the entire problem just yet, but believe that we’re already Lightyears ahead of the incumbents.

What do you offer?

We give you access to:

1. A multi-currency account to deposit, hold and convert across three different currencies. Find out more by reading How does my multi-currency account work?
2. Over 3500 mixed fractional and non-fractional stocks from US, UK and EU markets as well as access to international ETFs. This list is continually growing. See our Stock screener and Fund screener

Our mission does not stop there as we also believe in helping you become a better investor. To do this, we’re building bespoke tools that are tailored to your needs, no matter if you’re at the beginning of your investment journey or a seasoned expert.

In the app you’ll find:

• Custom charts
• Instrument fundamentals
• Analyst ratings & price targets
• Financials, news and more

We’re passionate about continuously evolving and ensuring you have the best tools available at your fingertips. Our services vary depending on where you are based. To find out exactly what you’ll have access to, see: What services do you offer and in which country?.

How much does it cost?

Visit our Fees and taxes article for more on the cost of using Lightyear.

You have to be 18+ and an eligible person currently residing in the United Kingdom or select European countries to use our service today. We’re working hard on increasing this eligibility. Read more about what you’ll need to sign up here.

See what instruments we offer in our Stock screener and Fund screener. Products or services available to you vary depending on where you reside, see the below:

We unfortunately can’t offer you our services if you reside outside of the UK or the above listed EU countries but, fear not, we’re working hard on expanding. As well, if you are a citizen or tax resident of the United States, or if certain legal or regulatory restrictions apply in other cases, we can’t offer you our products or services just yet.

At the moment, we don’t offer options, CFDs, futures trading, short-selling, or pre-market and after-hours trading.

We only send your (or your business') funds to a bank account in the name of the Lightyear account holder.

How to withdraw funds in the app?

• If you already have a withdrawal account set up, simply tap on the “Withdraw” button in the Portfolio tab or in the corresponding currency cash balance and place a withdrawal request.
• To withdraw GBP, please note that your withdrawal account is typically available by the end of the same day your initial deposit was credited.
• To withdraw EUR or USD, contact us and send your recent bank statement or another relevant document issued by your bank. The document must show your account details and confirm you as the account owner. We’ll let you know once the account has been added and is ready for a withdrawal.
• • The USD withdrawal will be paid via an international/SWIFT payment which comes with fees by banks that route your funds and takes about 3-5 business days to arrive at your bank. Alternatively, you can convert your funds to another currency (GBP or EUR), which will have an FX fee of 0.35%, before placing a withdrawal request (see Fees and taxes).
• In case you’ve only deposited using Apple/Google Pay or Debit card options, we don’t have your bank account details yet, so keep them at hand and the app will guide you through how to add them.

How long can a withdrawal take?

Once requested, withdrawals may take up to 2 business days to be sent out to your requested bank account. Once sent out, the transfer time depends on the payout method and once initiated cannot be cancelled:

• For GBP, the funds should typically arrive within 0-2 business hours.
• For EUR, your funds should arrive within 0-2 business days.
• For USD, your funds will arrive after 3-5 business days but as it’s a SWIFT payment, it may take longer and we recommend contacting your receiving bank for any estimations.

Why won’t my withdrawal work?

• You don’t have a bank account in the currency you’re trying to withdraw connected to your Lightyear account. You'd need to either convert your funds to a currency you have a withdrawal account for or contact us and send your recent bank statement or another relevant document issued by your bank. The document must show your account details and confirm you as the account owner. We’ll confirm when the account has been added.
• You don’t have any funds in the currency you're attempting to withdraw and need to convert before withdrawing.
• You are not holding uninvested cash but open positions only.
• Promotional/referral rewards can only be withdrawn 30 days after having received them. See Lightyear Sign-up Promotion Terms and Lightyear Refer a Friend Terms.
• If none of the above apply, feel free to reach out to us below.

See also: Everything about deposits and How can I deposit USD?