Fineco vs Swissquote — which broker is better?

Pros

• FinecoBank is an Italian bank directly supervised by the ECB as a significant institution, listed on Euronext Milan (FBK), with a CET1 ratio of 23.18% at 30 June 2026
• Conto Fineco Trading: no monthly fee and 0.19% per order with a EUR 2.95 minimum and EUR 19 maximum on Italian, German and US shares and ETFs
• Zero purchase commission on more than 700 selected ETFs from Fineco AM, Xtrackers, Amundi and iShares, in single orders and in Replay plans
• Regime amministrato: Fineco calculates and pays the tax on capital gains for Italian tax residents
• A very broad range in one account: shares on 26 markets, more than 4,000 bonds, BOT auctions, funds, ETFs, certificates, IDEM, EUREX and CME futures and options, and CFDs
• No custody fee, no inactivity fee and no minimum deposit; SEPA and instant SEPA transfers are free, and Fineco charges nothing for securities transfers
• Multicurrency service with 20 foreign currencies on One, Classic and Max, so trades in USD or GBP can settle without conversion
• FinecoX browser platform at no extra cost, with a multibook of up to 6 books at 10 levels, one-click orders and Excel DDE export

Cons

• Aimed at Italian residents: the service and documents are in Italian, UK operations ceased after Brexit, and accounts for non-residents can only be finalised at a Fineco Center in Italy, not online
• On One, Classic and Max an occasional investor pays EUR 19 per Italian order (USD 12.95 in the US) once the two-month entry price ends, unless monthly commissions reach EUR 100 or the holder is under 30
• Currency conversion carries a spread of 0.0033 points on EUR/USD, about 0.3%, and the Conto Fineco Trading has no Multicurrency, so every foreign trade is converted
• Fineco One and the Conto Fineco Trading come with e-mail support only for most clients; phone support needs Classic (EUR 3.95 a month unless EUR 50,000 of assets) or Max
• Replay ETF plans cost EUR 2.95 per instalment for one ETF outside the promotion, which is steep for small monthly amounts
• No real crypto coins, and we found no fractional shares or demo account; by Fineco's own disclosure, 65.44% of retail CFD accounts lose money

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