New App Lets Aussies Trade On the US Stock Exchange

Australian fintech startup Stake is launching their share trading app. Unlike many of the other apps on the market, Stake is all about trading on the US stock exchange. That gives Aussies access to more than 3,000 shares to invest in some of the world’s biggest companies with $0 brokerage, right from the palm of their hands.

The local app launch comes as Stake announces more than $50 million (US$38 million) has been transacted on the site, with more than 39,000 trades and 12,000 users taking advantage of direct access to the US market. Their mobile app is new – iOS is currently supported with an Android version coming to the Play Store “soon” the company says.

I installed the app following the launch. The sign-on process is quite long. Once you create an account with your email address and a password – it would be nice if you used Apple’s password creation tool – you need to provide a bunch of other information such as your address and other contact details as well as answering questions about your tax status and providing further identification such as a driver’s license number.

This is fairly standard for financial services accounts but worth understanding given the attention recently given to information security and privacy.

You can transfer funds into Stake using the POLi system. Your Aussie dollars are converted into US funds. If I’d shifted U$1000 into Stake this morning, I’d have US$731.10 to trade with once the funds cleared on Monday. XE.com had the exchange rate delivering an extra US$7 on that exchange.

Once you’ve got some funds into Stake you can start trading. The company says there are no brokerage fees and the charge 0.7% on all foreign exchanges (FX). However, the FX charges only apply when you transfer cash in or out of your account, not on each trade. There are also regulatory fees that the company says are passed on to relevant authorities such as the SEC and TAF.

The app provides you with data on which stocks are moving up and down and lets you get a stake in some. of the biggest companies in the world.


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