Founded by ex-Wise duo Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer, Lightyear launched in September 2021 and offers a fully-featured investment app and desktop software with no minimum deposit. They offer a wide range of international shares and ETFs (including fractional investing) as well as the ability to deposit in multiple currencies. However, there is no stocks and shares ISA or self-invested personal pension (SIPP) accounts available at the moment.

Lightyear Platform Review, simply provide your name, mobile phone number and address. Once you’ve done this, Lightyear will ask you to take a photo of your driving licence or passport and a selfie (to verify your identity).

Lightyear Platform Review: A Modern Approach to Investing

Once you’ve verified your identity, you can deposit funds via your bank account, debit card or even by cash at participating stores. There are no inactivity fees, withdrawal fees or opening account fee. Lightyear will then pay you interest on any uninvested cash balance, which is a great feature not seen on many other trading apps.

Other notable features of the platform include the ability to view company ratings, which are the professional opinions of equity research firms on a stock, as well as key financial metrics. Lightyear also allows users to share their portfolios and follow friends. It also boasts a robust security policy with protections up to EUR20k for non-US assets and cash, and USD $500k for US securities through SIPC. It is authorised and regulated by the FCA in the UK, as well as the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority.