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Eligibility and fees for our Investment Platform
Eligibility and fees for our Investment Platform

All you need to know about your eligibility for the Chip Investment Platform and how much it costs to access.

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Written by James
Updated over a week ago

In this article, we look at the eligibility and costs of Chip Investments.

​Please note: Chip can't provide financial advice so you may want to seek guidance from a qualified professional if you are unsure or have detailed questions around investing. Your capital is at risk.


Who can access Chip Investments?

Subject to our usual eligibility criteria (see more at getchip.uk/terms) the investment funds will be available to all Chip customers on the Chip and ChipX plans.

You need to have fully connected your bank to Chip using Open Banking permissions before you can open an investment account and move money into an investment fund.


​What do I need to open an investment account?

You can start investing with as little as £1. The only thing you’ll need to hand is your National Insurance number.

You won’t need to enter any other details, as you will have already fully connected your bank to Chip and entered your address and other details we need to pre-approve you for investing before we make Chip investment funds available to you.


Why do I need to enter my National Insurance Number?

If you want to open an investment account, your National Insurance number is required by HMRC for tax purposes to open an ISA, and we also need it to fulfil our regulatory obligations to identify you. We reserve the right to request additional information to verify your identity.

Should I open a stocks and shares ISA or a GIA (General Investment Account)? What’s the difference?

It’s up to you which type of Investment Account you want to open.

Stocks and Shares ISAs are tax efficient, which means you don’t need to pay tax on any interest, dividends or capital gains on money invested into an ISA. Currently, you can only put £20,000 into an ISA in any given tax year (which generally runs from April to April). The Government determines ISA allowances and that allowance may change in future. Please note there are eligibility criteria to open an ISA. We explain more about ISAs here.

GIAs do not offer any tax-free allowances and you can put as much money as you like into a GIA. They are generally used by individuals who have already maxed out their ISA allowance for the year.


What’s the platform fee?

The platform fee is what you pay to Chip so we can bring investment funds to you in an accessible and easy-to-manage account.

Platform fees are a standard charge across the industry, and most retail investment platforms and banks will have them. They take the form of an annual percentage on the value of your investments including any growth, but are charged on a monthly basis.

It’s called a platform fee because it’s what we charge to use our ‘platform’. Provided your balance in any investment fund is above £1 and you're on the free Chip plan, we will charge a platform fee.

You will be able to see when a platform fee has been taken in your contract notes and will have full visibility on the amount paid in your Quarterly Valuation Report.

If you’re on the free standard plan, you will be charged a platform fee of 0.25% (£1 monthly minimum) for the Stocks and Shares ISA and General Investment Account.

Please note that the platform fee is per investment account and is charged directly from your funds. If you hold both a Stocks and Shares ISA and a GIA, you will be charged a separate fee for each account.

Please also note that annual management fees still apply regardless of the plan you are on. The annual management fees can be found on the fund’s Key Investor Information Document.

What’s the total cost of using Chip Investments?

You can find a full breakdown of our fees here.

You can access the platform on our free Chip plan or ChipX (£5.99/28 days or £4.99/28 days if paid annually). To read about the benefits of each membership plan, please see our pricing page here.

Platform fees you will need to pay to invest on the free Chip plan:

  • 0.25% annual platform fee collected monthly (£1 minimum monthly).


Platform fees you will need to pay to invest on the ChipX plan:

  • 0% annual platform fee.

We reserve the right to amend these fees with two months’ notice. Please note additional fund management charges apply, charged directly by the relevant fund manager, but these will vary from fund to fund.

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