eToro Review

It offers trading in many types of securities, including more complex products like exchange traded funds and crypto trading, and whilst crypto traders are particularly fond of eToro, other traders are just as well catered for thanks to the sleek and intuitive eToro platform.

The streamlined UI makes it a great choice for beginners, whilst more experienced retail traders will enjoy customizing the easy-to-use eToro platform.

Products available

It is perhaps quicker and better if I simply list the range of products supported on the eToro platform in the US:

• 2,094 stocks
• 263 ETFs
• 24 cryptocurrencies
• Options trading
• Copy Trading
• Cash management through eToro Money
• Portfolio automation through Smart Portfolios
• Fractional share investing for amounts above $10

I must admit that the list may seem a little brief, especially when compared to its many competitors, but even though the list is rather short, it should be more than enough for most traders to get their teeth into.

Accounts available

In line with its narrow product focus, the account types available on eToro are limited to individual brokerage and options accounts. Joint accounts, retirement accounts, trust accounts, custodial accounts, and other accounts are not available. Also, the account minimum for eToro is $50.

You will be asked to upload a passport, or official ID card, during the registration process, as well as provide a proof of address.

To open an account simply click on the “Join Now” or “Trade Now” button. You will then be taken to the registration form where you will be required to enter your personal data. Once you have filled this in and had a chance to review it, you will then be asked what type of account you would like to open and your preferred currency.

After filling in this information you will be required to complete a quick survey, which is used to determine your trading experience. During this survey you will be asked about your finances, but do not worry, this is simply to ascertain your risk and is all part of the process.

Lastly, you will be asked to upload your ID and proof of address, and then eToro will begin the verification process. This should take no more than 24 hours and once your account has been verified you are free to deposit funds into your account and start trading.

That said, it does hide a few nasty surprises and has some fees you need to be aware of, in particular, the relatively high withdrawal fees and inactivity fees which investors should not overlook.

When I compared eToro to similar trading platforms, I found that their pricing model and overall fees were, more or less, in line with the industry standards. That said, for withdrawals, eToro charges a flat fee of $5 with a minimum withdrawal amount of $30.

There is also an inactivity fee of $10 per month once your account has been dormant for 12 months. This does not fare well when compared to other low-cost providers, such as Acorns, who do not have an inactivity fee and let users make withdrawals for free.

eToro even offers demo accounts, which are great for trading veterans who want to try things, as well as novices who are wanting to dip their toes and practice trading. I will now run through some of the services offered by eToro.

eToro Demo Account

The eToro demo account gives investors the opportunity to trade with $100,000 of demo money. Given the relative lack of what I would consider meaningful educational resources on the platform, this is a handy tool to help get to grips with all the products and features of the platform. That said, it can also be used by more experienced traders who may be keen to test out some trading strategies. In any case, the value of having such an account and safe space cannot be overstated.

eToro CopyTrader

eToro’s CopyTrader is arguably the brokers best known service and what helped the company gain a cult following soon after launch. As the name implies, CopyTrader allows you to copy the portfolio and trades of more experienced or successful eToro users. Though in the US, this is currently limited to trade cryptocurrency, it is still a great way of trading, since success tends to breed success.

eToro Popular Investor Program

eToro’s Popular Investor program is designed as a thank you to the traders who allow other investors to copy their strategy. There are four tiers, ranging from Cadet to Elite and, depending on the level you are at, account holders become eligible for various different perks. To qualify for the Cadet tier, you must have more than $1,000 in account equity, attract $500 in customer assets that copy your strategy, and maintain a risk score below seven for at least two months.

VIP accounts

eToro offers a VIP club (called eToro Club) with five tiers of membership that range from Silver to Diamond. These tiers are for traders who maintain balances between $5,000-$250,000 and, once again, benefits are tiered depending on the level of membership.

eToro Money

eToro Money is a separate app that is designed to complement the eToro investment platform. With eToro Money, available for free, you can maximize the way you deposit, withdraw, and manage your money on eToro and crucially save yourself both time and money on the eToro platforms.

On top of these features the eToro platform also offers a host of advanced features both on the web portal and, of course, on the mobile app. The browser experience boasts a clean design and great functionality. The user interface on the browser is near perfect, with menus in just the right place, and navigating screens and features a breeze. Also, managing your portfolio is extremely easy as it takes just seconds to set up customized portfolio reports.

The mobile app offers the same great functionality and ease of use as the browser experience, just in a mobile package that means you can trade safely and swiftly no matter where you are. Crucially, for a mobile experience, the app manages to provide you with all the information you need without cluttering the screen. Charts, graphs, and other important information is easily accessed and can usually be done with just a simple swipe. It’s obvious that eToro, unlike certain other brokers, has put a lot of thought and attention into its mobile experience.

Deposit & Withdrawal process

Depositing funds

If you wish to deposit money into your eToro account, it’s a simple 4 step process:

1. Log in to your account.
2. Click on “Deposit Funds”
3. Enter the amount.
4. Select your preferred deposit method.

Once you have decided on the amount you are going to deposit in your account you can choose from a number of different means to do so. You can use either a debit or credit card to make the deposit, but if you want you can also use Apple Pay or Google Pay to transfer the funds. For those who prefer to do things the old-fashioned way, you can, of course, use a bank transfer to make the deposit. That said, bank transfers may take a few business days to appear on your account in contrast to debit or credit card, where transactions are instant.

Withdrawing funds

Withdrawing funds and any earnings from your portfolio is also relatively simple and is just a question of following the 5 simple steps:

1. Log in to your account
2. Click on “Withdraw Funds”
3. Enter the amount.
4. Check the default payment method is correct.
5. Click ‘Submit’.

In my review there are two things that I should warn you about. First of all, eToro may be happy to showcase its zero management fees and other low prices, but when it comes to withdrawals, the fees on eToro are actually quite steep at $5.00. Obviously for smaller amounts this can really bite, furthermore your minimum withdrawal amount is $30, which really does come across as slightly restrictive.

Secondly, I should mention that withdrawals may take up to seven working days to appear in your bank, a significant difference to the speed with which it happily accepts and processes deposits.

Which in this day and age is a bit of a letdown and something I think that they should work on.

To be succinct, the eToro customer service is below average. The main way of contacting a customer support agent with any issue or question you may have is by raising a web-based ticket. In my test, I have to say I was reasonably satisfied with their speed as we managed to resolve the ticket within 48 hours. But be warned, you do not have to look too hard to find scores of angry customers who have been waiting 14 days or more to have their problems resolved.

Also, I should mention that I have a slight caveat to add to this, of the 21 languages eToro claims to offer customer support in, I was only able to test them in English. That said, I think it is safe to say that the experience is most likely the same, no matter the language.

If you are an eToro Club member then you can also get in touch with customer support by means of the Live Chat feature. The lowest tier of the eToro Club is Silver, which requires your account to have over $5,000 in equity. So, let’s be honest, this is a feature not available to most members. Again, I am not quite sure what the logic is here, as it comes across as somewhat mean of eToro at best, and at worst, as being a little snobbish to most of its ordinary customers.

If neither of these options are appealing then you can also try contacting them by email. But be warned, the email response time is slower than if you raise a ticket.

Lastly, if you wish, you can also try the global 1-888-271-8365 number, which offers support 24/7. Again that said, the process can take a bit of time, as navigating the various menus is a bit of a drag and, for most issues, the ticket system will be less of an exhausting time sink.

I have to say, I do not understand what the thinking is here as, in this day and age and with so many competing brokers to choose from, it seems strange to treat customer service as an afterthought.

This is a solid tool kit, which I think can be of use even for experienced investors. The various instruments on ProCharts let customers perform in-depth technical analyses of their chosen markets.

The ProCharts tool is quite advanced and offers insightful data quickly, after all, time is money! With ProCharts, eToro users can look at data, such as the Relative Strength Index, Moving Average Convergence Divergence, and Ichimoku Clouds. And without wanting to get too technical and waste your time by explaining the relative strengths and weakness of certain data filters, lets just say that the data helps you accurately forecast stock, commodity, crypto, and ETF movements; ideal for those wanting to ensure they are getting maximum leverage with their smart portfolios.

Best of all, thanks to the customizable interface on both the mobile trading app and desktop browser, implementing the data and turning it into actionable data is a breeze.

Education

Whilst the research tools on eToro are pretty decent, I have to say that I find the educational resources available to be somewhat lacking. Yes, there is the eToro Academy, which offers a wide range of courses, guides, trading 101’s, and even a dictionary of important terms, and whilst I am sure that even Wall St. veterans may make use of them to help brush up on some terms, I found the overall experience bordering more on style than substance.

That said, the Academy does cover a lot of topics and navigating them is easy thanks to a filter that lets you quickly toggle the educational library between beginner and advanced resources. Once browsing, you’ll discover there is actually a wide variety of materials to choose from, including long-form articles, videos, and webinars. Other topics include products, such as the Smart Portfolio, but you will also find trading strategies, and the importance of technical indicators.

A lot of emphasis is put on cryptocurrency trading, which is understandable as the eToro platform is focused on crypto trading and I am sure crypto traders will find genuine insight here, but other traders should look elsewhere. It does feel like the recent addition of stock and ETF trading to the eToro platform in 2022 has created a slight backlog in the topics covered. The Academy has definite room for growth, in my opinion.

Overall, I feel that the educational tools provided by eToro, whilst not bad, are trailing quite far behind the likes of Charles Schwab, and others. It feels like they are cutting corners a bit here, and overall, the Academy comes across a bit too much like a discount airline trying to upsell you a product, which is a bit jarring for such a major broker.

Recently the company merged with FinTech Acquisition Corp. V to become a publicly traded company. Which means that once the merger is finalized, the new company will be listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, and subject to even greater corporate oversight.

US investors can rest easy knowing that the company they will be doing business with, eToro USA LLC, is licensed by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Money Services Business (MSB), and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

I should also mention that eToro is only an intermediary that deposits your ETFs, shares and other financial products. As with most other brokers, they do not actually keep your money; instead, clients’ assets are kept in a segregated bank account with a custodian bank. What this means is that in the unlikely event of your broker going bankrupt, creditors are not able to lay claim to investor assets, as not only do they belong to investors and not the broker, but also they are kept entirely separate from the broker.

As well as being fully compliant with US laws and regulations, eToro is very serious when it comes to your account security and protection. For example, anytime a transaction of any sort happens on your app you will get a notification ensuring that, in the unlikely event of an unauthorized transaction, you can instantly lock your account and raise the alarm. And don’t worry, you do not need to contact customer service to do so; it can be done directly from your account. eToro also has a number of automated and manual fraud prevention measures in place, designed to ensure that you and your account are kept safe.

Furthermore, any personal data you submit to the site is fully encrypted using military level SSL encryption. This complex encryption helps ensure that, in the case of any hack attack, important customer data is not compromised.

On top of this, eToro also enables customers to make use of 2-factor authentication for an extra level of security. And though customers do not have to activate it, I would recommend you make use of it as it’s a great way of making your money and personal data that bit safer.

Of course, no system is foolproof but the measures put in place by eToro are as robust as can be. For these reasons I have no concerns when it comes to the safety of your money and information on the eToro platform.

Useful information about eToro

You might find the following information useful in my eToro Review.

How to contact eToro

The easiest way to contact eToro is by raising a ticket, either in app or on the browser.

It is also possible for account holders to chat to a customer service representative on Live Chat.

Lastly, you can try contacting them by telephone at 1-888-271-8365.

How to withdraw from eToro

You can withdraw money from your eToro account by submitting a withdrawal request. Once the request has been submitted, funds will be transferred to your linked account. You should be aware that it can, in some cases, take anywhere up to 7 days for funds to clear and be issued into your account.

Also be aware that the withdrawal minimum is $30 and no matter the sum you are withdrawing eToro will charge you $5.