Directa SIM vs Swissquote — which broker is better?

Pros

• No custody, platform or market-access fee on the standard account, free transfers, and Directa pays the stamp duty on cash itself
• Italian shares and ETFs from EUR 5 per order (Semplice), down to EUR 1.50 per order for active traders (Dinamico), or 1.9 per mille with a EUR 1.50 minimum (Variabile)
• PAC in ETF savings plan free on every order, with more than 900 ETFs and ETCs and up to four dates a month
• Real-time quotes free for private clients on Borsa Italiana, NYSE, Nasdaq and AMEX
• Withholding agent under the regime amministrato: the 26% substitute tax is calculated and paid for you, and losses carry forward for 4 years
• Broad range: shares from Italy, the US, Germany, Switzerland and via Cboe Europe, ETFs on Euronext Milan, Paris and Amsterdam, bonds, certificates, options, futures on IDEM, Eurex and CME, and CFDs via LMAX
• Four in-house platforms (dLite, Libera, Darwin, Classic) plus an app, all free, and a free 15-day demo with EUR 100,000 of virtual money
• Listed on Euronext Growth Milan, audited by KPMG, with half-year reports that include client numbers: 166,261 active accounts at 30 June 2026

Cons

• Directa is a SIM, not a bank: cash held directly is covered by the Fondo Nazionale di Garanzia only up to EUR 20,000 (a EUR 100,000 bank deposit guarantee applies only to indirect accounts via partner banks)
• Several CONSOB and Banca d'Italia sanction procedures since 2024, and a pending criminal trial in Turin involving the company under d.lgs. 231/2001 and some of its officers
• Foreign markets at ordinary prices: USD 9 per US order, 0.025% with a EUR 9.50 minimum on Xetra, 0.03% with a CHF 20 minimum on SIX
• No interest on cash in the account
• Fractional shares not documented (we found no mention of them), and funding only by bank transfer from your own accounts in the SEPA area
• Built for residents of Italy: onboarding requires SPID, CIE or SelfID with a codice fiscale, and the website and tax service are Italian

Pros

• FINMA-licensed Swiss bank listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SQN) with published annual results — CHF 88.7 billion in client assets and around 750,000 accounts
• esisuisse depositor protection covers cash up to CHF 100,000, and custodied securities remain client property outside the bank's balance sheet
• Custody fee is capped at CHF 50 per quarter (CHF 200 a year) for private clients, so large portfolios pay a flat rather than percentage cost
• ETF Leaders pricing caps SIX-listed ETF commission at CHF 9 above CHF 1,000, regardless of order size
• Real cryptocurrency custody across 50-plus coins inside a regulated bank, with crypto custody included in the standard fee since 2025
• One login covers trading, Swiss banking, debit cards, payments, savings plans and pillar 3a retirement accounts
• Complimentary eTax statement for Swiss residents, which removes a genuine annual chore
• Four-language Swiss support including German, French, Italian and English, with local offices rather than an offshore call centre

Cons

• Commission is high by international standards — CHF 29 on a CHF 10,000 order and CHF 190 above CHF 50,000, where global discount brokers charge single digits
• Currency conversion costs 0.95% on major currencies, one of the most expensive markups among European brokers and the dominant cost for anyone buying US assets from a CHF or EUR balance
• A custody fee applies from the first franc — CHF 80 a year minimum plus 8.1% VAT — which is proportionally heavy on small portfolios
• Zero interest on cash balances across every currency and tier, at a time when several competitors pay a money-market rate
• Card deposits cost 1.9% in Switzerland and Europe, and SEPA withdrawals cost EUR 2
• The securities platform and the CFD/forex platform (CFXD) sit on separate logins, which fragments the experience for multi-product clients