Barclays has scrapped its monthly fee for retail investors, a move that will save customers hundreds of pounds a year and reshapes the competitive landscape for DIY investing in the UK.
The bank’s Direct Investing platform — rebranded from Smart Investor in May 2026 — previously charged an annual platform fee of 0.25% on balances up to £200,000 and 0.05% on anything above that threshold. That charge has now been eliminated with immediate effect, meaning it costs nothing to hold investments on the platform.
The savings are substantial for those with larger portfolios. A customer with a £300,000 holding will save £550 a year, while someone with £50,000 will save £125 annually. A £20,000 fund holding inside a stocks and shares ISA will save £50 per year. Over several years the cumulative saving can run into thousands of pounds. Even smaller accounts benefit: an investor with £10,000 in shares making six trades a year will now pay £36 in total, down from £61 — a saving of £25.
Sasha Wiggins, chief executive of Barclays Private Bank and Wealth Management, said the decision was about making investing “more straightforward for people to take the next step and invest with confidence”. Barclays’ own research suggests that 39% of UK adults view fees and charges as the most important factor when choosing an investment service, a statistic the bank used to justify the change. Wiggins also chairs the UK’s new retail investment campaign aimed at boosting participation and closing the “investment gap” – a reference to the large sums held in cash that the bank argues lose value to inflation over time.
Competitive pressure reshapes the market
Barclays’ move comes amid intensifying competition among direct-to-consumer platforms, with several providers having already cut fees this year. Hargreaves Lansdown lowered its annual platform fee from 0.45% to 0.35% earlier in 2026, and interactive investor introduced a new pricing plan in February that reduced flat fees on most accounts, although some charges went up.
According to Holly Mackay, chief executive of consumer advice website Boring Money, Barclays has now leapfrogged Hargreaves Lansdown, interactive investor, AJ Bell and Fidelity to join Freetrade as the cheapest platform in the UK for those holding funds. “This is a very big move which will shake up the direct investing market,” she said. “Barclays is drawing a bold line in the sand which will take the fight to challenger fintechs.”
Mackay noted that because Barclays already charges no fee to trade funds, removing the account fee means “anyone buying funds who banks at Barclays already and has the app will struggle to make a case to buy funds anywhere else”.
How the costs stack up against rivals
The real impact of the fee removal depends on the type and size of a customer’s investments. Boring Money has modelled several scenarios to show where the biggest savings lie.
For a customer contributing the maximum annual £20,000 into a stocks and shares ISA and buying two funds per year, Barclays and Freetrade both cost £0. By contrast, HSBC would charge £50, Santander £70, AJ Bell £53, Hargreaves Lansdown £73.90 and interactive investor £79.86.
For investors trading exchange-traded funds (ETFs) more frequently, the savings are still significant. Based on eight trades per year, Barclays would cost £48 in total — each online trade costs £6 — compared with £82 at AJ Bell and £112 at Halifax.
Boring Money also calculated annual platform fees for a £300,000 portfolio, assuming eight fund trades per year. Barclays and Freetrade come out at £0. The next cheapest are Scottish Widows Share Dealing (£40), Moneyfarm (£76.60), CMC Invest (£83.88) and Halifax (£112). Interactive investor costs £179.88, Vanguard £375, Charles Stanley and Fidelity both £600, AJ Bell £687, Santander £675, HSBC £750, Hargreaves Lansdown £1,015.60, Aviva £1,050 and Bestinvest £1,100.
The fee removal applies only to the platform charge. Investors still pay £6 per online trade for shares, ETFs, bonds and investment trusts. Buying and selling funds remains free, with only the ongoing fund manager’s charge applying. FX charges for international trading and telephone trading fees remain unchanged. There are no exit fees for customers who want to transfer away.
One notable trade-off is the range of investments. Barclays Direct Investing offers access to around 2,500 funds, compared with more than 4,000 available on AJ Bell.
The move also coincides with a regulatory shift. From 6 April, firms have been allowed to offer targeted support to help consumers make more informed financial decisions without needing to give full personalised advice, a change that could complement lower fees in encouraging people to invest.
Mackay said she believed the sector was “entering a new phase of very strong competition” and that she would be “very surprised if other big brand platforms didn’t respond”.
