Freetrade hops across the Channel as it gears up to launch in France

Freetrade is gearing up to launch in France, marking the fintech’s latest international adventure.

The investment platform has hired its first employees for its new Paris office and French customers can now sign up to Freetrade’s waitlist in the country.

French customers will soon be able to invest in over 5,000 American, British and European stocks and ETFs through the Freetrade app.

Adam Dodds, CEO and founder of Freetrade, said: "This is a key first step in our plans to get everyone in Europe investing.”

“The French market is ripe for disruption as legacy brokers offer high-commission and complex pricing that has traditionally acted to turn more people off investing. Yet we've seen a huge surge in interest amongst French investors, especially in recent months, and we're thrilled to start offering our services there."

French customers will be able to use Freetrade for free or sign up to the fintech’s subscription plans. 

Users can pay €3 per month for a Plan d’Epargne en Actions (PEA), the French equivalent of a stocks and shares ISA, or €9.99 for Freetrade Plus, which allows users to add limit orders to buy a stock only at a certain price, and stop losses to sell when a stock price falls to a certain point.

Freetrade’s French customers will also be subject to a 0.45 per cent FX charge on orders for shares traded in a currency other than Euros.

As well as launching in the country, Freetrade is plotting its next crowdfunding campaign, with plans to open up the latest effort to European investors, including those in France.

Freetrade completed its sixth crowdfunding campaign in May 2020 after attracting more than 8,500 investors and raising over £7m in just five days. 

The investment platform also revealed plans to launch in Australia last week, after initially denying it to AltFi.

As part of its launch Down Under, Freetrade is set to open an office in Brisbane imminently, with Tim Drew, Freetrade’s head of engineering, heading back to his native Australia to set up the new office and launch Freetrade Down Under. 

As well as opening an office in Brisbane, Freetrade is gearing up to launch in the Netherlands and Sweden, with the fintech on the hunt for a country launcher in both Stockholm and the Netherlands.

Back in November 2020, the investment platform confirmed that, as soon as it gained approval from the regulator, that it would be taking the plunge in Sweden, making the Nordic country its first international expansion destination.

With its launches across Europe, Freetrade will be coming head to head with European broker BUX, which recently launched its flagship commission-free product, BUX Zero, in France.