Stake

Hi all

Is anyone using Stake? Stake - Trade 3,500+ US listed stocks and ETFs

As I see it, the reoccurring cost is 70 cents per $1000 of transferred cash to/from US dollars and then transactions are free. Also Stake auto-fills and submits the W8BEN for a once-of fee of $5

I baulk at the MER and spread fees of the Australian domiciled ETFs I want to invest in (e.g. NDQ, IOO, IXJ etc) and think that Stake may be a cost effective platform to access low fee US ETFs like VOO, QQQ, VUG etc

Thoughts? Insights from Stake users would also be much appreciated too

 

Hi, I use stake.

I’m very much set and forget, so it works for me.

I love that it is very simple to work and view. I also like that there are no ongoing fees.

so my portfolio can sit there, ticking over and it costs me nothing - this was different to other places like IB.

also, if you sign up, I can give you a referral code and they will give us 1 share for free in a company

 

I use stake. Very happy with it and the profitable opportunities it makes available There are plenty of ETF's . It is quick and simple to set up and use. You dont need to use ETF's though as the trading is free and you can buy fractional shares. The minimum trade is $10. The minimum transfer is $50.00. You can start building a portfolio with less than $100 by buying 1 share or less at a time. You can get much bigger gains in the USA and get much better results from DCA. Buy a little more when in front so that you remain well in front, buying on dips can quickly recover loses. It is easy to transfer funds and available same day.

 

I'm all signed up already but just have not pulled the trigger on any stocks yet. I intend to throw some more serious amounts in there however, not just small change - probably DCAing $1000 weekly

 

Hi @DoggaPP listened to a podcast with Selfwealth CEO discussing how they were soon to be launching US trading might be one to watch

 

Hi mate,
Just curious if you have gone down that route and how you are finding it?
Are you concerned at all regarding the ownership structure?

 

I have just registered for it and you can only deposit with Poli or get charged extra to deposit via card.
Poli is such an unsafe way to go about it since you have to supply your banking login details! Definitely unwilling to do that.
I cannot believe they don’t have a BPAY or direct deposit option, quite ridiculous really.

 

Your mistaken, STAKE have BPay biller code is 667022. It is safe. The whole point of digital ,payments is that it is safer. Large commodity contract seltlements have moved that way. They do have direct deposit, Not sure how having more options make it more unsafe. Do you have any evidence of any-one being scammed using STAKE ?. Plenty have using credit cards, the rate is 7c in $100.. What I could find for POLi was 0c. Banks are liable for any loss anyway. you can select your securuty and settings for STAKE mines a pain in the arse and dont know how to change it, because I need to put in PIN before opening than a expiring emailed security code is sent before before processing after which all records on POLi disappear.

 

Well, looks like I'll have to reach out to support as it's not an option here on the account as per below:



You must have misread me, I am not saying I don't trust Stake, but I definitely do not trust Poli. Poli is a payment system built by Austpost (lol) where you have to input your Netbank login details. Now, people can trust Poli to not store, securely handle and do not get your Netbank details hacked, but I personally definitely do not want to hand over my online banking details to any third party.
I have also heard of someone getting hacked through a POLi payment, hence why I personally will never use this service. Plus, the above of not inputing your personal banking details into a third party platform is just commonsense - to me at least.

And your statement regarding banks covering Poli is incorrect:

Should I make a NetBank payment via POLi?

POLi Payments - Wikipedia

But anyway, hopefully there is a just a Bpay option somewhere or direct deposit and that would just make it a viable option for me - I'll have to contact them.

 

Actually the support page is pretty clear about this:

Ways to fund
You can transfer AUD into USD on Stake using:

• Bank Transfers (with POLi)
• Debit or Credit Card (there is a 60 day hold before you can withdraw funding made by card for security reasons).

(...)
For non-individual accounts (such as SMSF and Company accounts), we provide you with a linked Macquarie Cash Management account which is also available to fund with.


Source: Trade US shares from Australia

I have asked support but unlikely there is an option other than POLi for individual investors.
Why would they do that, no idea.

The BPay code mentioned above is actually for the Macquarie Cash Management Account.

That just sucks.
Might have to create a new bank account funded just for POLi transfers if I want to use the platform, a hassle.
Still somehow hoping they have another option but surely they would have listed it in their FAQ page.

 

No not yet - I have been watching the $A against the $US since posting here last .....up, up and up.

 

After falling for the last couple of years back up to 77c

 

So turns out you can only deposit USD into their I
USD account, not AUD, so you’ll loose out to the bank FX rate.

They don’t have a Bpay option, but they are trialling a direct deposit method which they have supplied details for. However, the AUD direct deposit method auto converts your balance to USD at a 1% FX rate charge, instead of the 0.7% charged normally.

This aspect feels half baked, so I have opened a separate account with a separate bank and will fund through there, hereby insulating it from any potential issues.

Apart from that, the platform looks pretty good.

 

SelfWealth offers US trading now.

Selfwealth:
- ASX and US trading
- separate AUD and USD trading account
- CHESS sponsored
- 7500+ US stocks
- does not allow fractional stock trading
- free market and limit orders
- BPAY and direct deposit
- $9.50 brokerage per trade
- 0.6% FX fee on USD trades only
- instant settlement on executed sell orders

Stake:
- US trading only
- 3500+ US stocks
- allows fractional stock trading
- free market orders and $9 monthly fee for limit orders
- POLi and credit card
- $0 brokerage per trade
- 0.7% FX fee
- T+2 settlement on executed sell orders

I use a combination of CommSec (better research and live prices) and SelfWealth (cheaper trades).

 

I've been doing bank transfers with POLi while the AUD is high and had no issues but Stake let me down 2 days ago when I was trying to buy and it crashed. I got this email from them..

Hi,

This week the market has seen unprecedented trade activity that is causing extreme strain on the global market infrastructure. This is causing unpredictable widespread market outages.

We know this isn’t an ideal experience, it’s not the one we want to provide. Today our team has worked tirelessly to reduce the impact of this systemic disruption to our platform. You can read more about the work performed on the platform here.

We expect further disruptions to occur this week due to historic market conditions worldwide.

Regards,
The Stake Team

 

Stake's platform has crashed again.

Platform Update - 29 Jan

 

Yeah what a bloody joke!!
Are you kidding me? seriously reconsidering right now.
Shame I have some funds sent already.

 

Yikes. SelfWealth (SFW) share price up 6.40% today.

 

To be fair, it is just a result of their business model.
There has to be some compromises at some point to enable the free trading model.
But definitely not a good look.

 

I am trying to test Stake first time. Am I losing USD 7-9 per transaction?