Have you heard about Gotrade? If you're active in local investment communities online, you probably already have. If not, Gotrade is a mobile application that allows users to invest as low as $1 in U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETF). If this is something new and you'd like to know more, learn with me.
Gotrade Sample Live Portfolio
Gotrade Introduction and FAQs
So, back to Gotrade. Let me spare a little bit of your time researching through this mini-FAQ.
What is Gotrade?
Gotrade is a mobile app that lets users invest in U.S. stocks for as low as $1 in fractional shares. So if a specific stock costs $100 per share, your $1 investment can be able to buy 1/100th of that stock's share. You own the stocks as they are held under Gotrade's broker and custodian, Alpaca Securities in the U.S.
Gotrade is available in over 150 countries around the world. As of this post, they now have over 500,000 investors worldwide.
Is Gotrade legit and safe to use?
Fractional shares are regulated, and so is Gotrade. It's licensed under the Labuan Financial Services Authority of Malaysia.
While they seem new to the market (established in 2019), they are backed up by over 20 known investors with $22.7 million in funding as per Crunchbase.
Your Gotrade account is also protected by up to $500,000 under the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) of the U.S.
How does Gotrade make money?
Gotrade doesn't charge commissions for trading, dividends, or even inactivity.
Their fees include foreign exchange rates (0.5% up to 1.2%) when you deposit funds to your account using your local currency. They support local bank deposit options in over 70 countries.
The Forex fees is where the app earns money from along with premium services to unlock more information about stocks.
How do I join Gotrade?
Download the Gotrade app through Google Play or the App Store.
Who can join Gotrade?
Anyone can register as long as your country is among the supported 150 countries listed. You also need to prepare a government-issued ID for verification.
If you need a referral code, you can use mine:
https://heygotrade.com/referral?code=511055
You can get up to $100 of free stock (terms and conditions apply).
How much is the initial capital?
Once the account is set up, you can start investing for as low as $10 of initial funds.
For all other account-specific questions, feel free to read Gotrade's Help Center section. There are also brief answers to some investment-related terminologies found in that section.
You can also contact their support via email, or send a message through their social media channels.
Contact Gotrade
Here are some of their pages:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/heygotrade
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heygotrade
Twitter - https://twitter.com/realheygotrade
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/heygotrade
Telegram - https://t.me/heygotrade or @heygotrade
Gotrade: Easy to Use Investment Platform
Gotrade is the easiest platform I've ever joined.
Application Process
True to their promise, you can indeed complete the application process fast.
I did encounter a setback related to the identification I submitted. I uploaded a picture of my passport but something must have caused the system to auto-reject it. I emailed support and received a very speedy response. The issue was resolved fast and I recorded the timeline so I can remember how easy it was.
6:21 PM - Welcome email message from Gotrade
6:48 PM - Deposit request
6:54 PM - Application error
7:23 PM - I emailed support via support@heygotrade.com
7:48 PM - Gotrade support replied
7:55 PM - Funds added
7:55 PM - Account approved with a free $2 reward
Adding Funds
Funding your account is simple. I used a local bank for the initial funding and more deposits after.
User Interface / User Experience
The user interface/user experience (UI/UX) of the app is also good. It's very easy to use and beginner-friendly. Navigation is a breeze.
Anyone can easily figure out the buttons and features when you open the app.
Logging in is also effortless. Once you're logged in, you can set up a pin to enter whenever you need to view your account. Just close the app without logging out when you exit. Update: Now I need to login to the app each time with a link sent to my registered email address.
Other Investment Platforms
I also use other investment platforms, Etoro and Interactive Brokers (my referral link is included). I can't say the same for any other platforms but compared with the other two, Gotrade is hands down the easiest to use.
However, there is no PC or web interface version, unlike other brokers. All transactions are processed on the Gotrade app. Their website is only for FAQs and other company-related information.
As for their customer service, it was great, although I only had one interaction with them. This was the email exchange when I encountered an error while signing up.
Gotrade Reviews
But since it's just me, you may want to hear other people's experiences as well. For starters, there are YouTube videos to watch. The most detailed one I've seen so far is this vid from YouTuber Charm de Leon, see https://youtu.be/QYDcM7kyMoc
If you're not into visuals and prefer to read, Reddit is the place to be. There are gems you'll find that shares both positive and negative sides of the platform. The posts are user-generated so do take everything with a grain of salt.
Gotrade Pros and Cons
So in a nutshell, what I like about Gotrade and why I can recommend it are the following reasons:
✔️Fast account creation
✔️Speedy email support response
✔️User-friendly app
✔️Depositing funds is easy
✔️No fees for most transactions (buy/sell, withdrawal, dividend payouts, and more)
However, some limitations may not sit well with everyone. Some of which include:
❌ Not all stocks are available. The app does continue to add more stocks and ETFs regularly.
❌ There is no free stock analysis. Other platforms offer stock news updates at least, through email or their website and social media pages.
❌ Some features are premium locked, like candlesticks on the charts. So in the absence of that, you can use other resources online for market analysis, historical data analysis, and more.
❌ Conditional orders are not available for fractional shares. That is understandable though. You need to at least own one share/unit to set a specific buy/sell order price. Update: I saw the a conditional order option now. You can set a limit price for buy or sell orders.
❌ High withdrawal fees. It started as high as $12 but has been reduced to $4 now at least.
Is Gotrade worth using?
With the pros and cons weighed, the Gotrade app is still a good choice for investing in U.S. stocks in my opinion.
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