Getting Started
With Wombat, you can set up savings or investment accounts from your phone in just a couple of minutes.
Wombat’s investment accounts provide easy access to individual shares and Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). Wombat was founded in 2017 with the goal of making investing easy and accessible to everyone. You can start investing with just £10, set up auto invest to deposit and invest money on a monthly basis, or round up your everyday purchases and invest the spare change into hundreds of global companies. Investments can offer higher returns than savings accounts over the long term, typically for at least 5 years or more. All investments carry varying degrees of risk, and you may get back less than you invest.
With Wombat, you can also open our GB Bank Base Rate Tracker savings account, which gives a competitive interest rate that moves with the Bank of England base rate, less 0.5%. This means if the Bank of England base rate is 5.25%, the interest rate you receive will be 4.75% AER
Investing
Investing might be complex but it doesn’t need to be complicated. Once you’ve opened your investment account, whether that’s a Stocks & Shares ISA, Junior Stocks & Shares ISA, or a General Investment Account (GIA), you can get started with just £10. Browse the themed funds and stocks available in each account to choose your first investment. Tap “Buy” on the app when you’re ready to go. Themed funds allow you to invest in a collection of companies at once, while individual shares allow you to invest in a specific company which helps you build a diverse portfolio. Start building good financial habits by enabling Round Ups and Auto Invest to invest regularly and build a diverse portfolio. Please note, not all features are available across all of our subscription options.
Saving
Our savings account is designed to ensure you get more from your money, effortlessly. Our GB Bank Base Rate Tracker offers a highly competitive interest rate that adjusts automatically with the Bank of England base rate, less 0.5%, the very next day. With our GB Bank Base Rate Tracker, you can be confident that you’re getting a highly competitive interest rate without the hassle of constant switching.
Investing is the process of buying assets such as stocks and funds (ETFs) with the aim of making a financial gain. Investing in the stock market involves using your capital to purchase assets you believe will increase in value over time, thus increasing your return on investment. When investing, your capital is at risk. This is because investments are not guaranteed to increase in value; the value of an asset can fluctuate and there is the potential for your investment to lose value. However, long-term investing also has the potential to outperform traditional savings accounts and generate a significantly higher return.
Wombat Invest Ltd. is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK for the purpose of investment services. The FCA regulate the conduct of firms in the UK to ensure that our financial markets are honest, competitive and fair.
You can get started in minutes. Just download the Wombat app, available on the Play Store for Android devices and on the App Store for iOS devices. After you install the app, you’ll need your National Insurance number to open an account. Once your account is set up, simply top up and you can start saving or investing in the companies that matter to you. Please note, you must be a legal resident of the United Kingdom and at least 18 years old to use Wombat.
As Wombat is a micro-investing platform offering shares and ETFs, you can start investing with as little as £10. No matter your budget, you can invest in the companies that matter to you with Wombat.
For our GB Bank Base Rate Tracker, the minimum opening deposit is £500, and you can make unlimited instant deposits from £50 thereafter.
Investing with Wombat can be done in three simple ways, all of which are completely optional and can be stopped or resumed at any time:
- Auto Invest – invest a fixed monthly amount into Themes or stocks of your choice. Currently, Auto Invest is only available with Standard GIA, ISA and JISA accounts.
- One-off Buy – as it says, make one-off investments whenever you like. One-off investments with our Instant GIA are instant, meaning they are executed immediately, within market open hours. One-off buys via our Standard ISA, JISA or GIA are executed once a day, during work days, around 15:00.
- Round Ups – we round up each transaction you make (from a linked account) to save money towards your investment pot. Currently, Round Ups are only available with Standard GIA, ISA and JISA accounts.
A National Insurance Number is required to open a Wombat Account (we are required by law to collect this information in order to open an account on your behalf).
Wombat is currently only available in the UK. We will provide updates when this changes.
Savings Accounts
Wombat’s GB Bank Base Rate Tracker is a free savings account that adjusts instantly with the Bank of England base rate, less 0.5%, the very next day, eliminating the need for endless switching.
Our Base Rate Tracker also combines the advantages of a savings tracker with the convenience of an easy access account. So not only do you get a competitive interest rate whenever the base rate changes, but you also don’t need to fix your savings for extended periods, you can deposit as many times as you like from £50 (minimum opening balance of £500), and you can withdraw your money easily once per month.
You will receive monthly interest, and you're guaranteed to see your interest increase with any rise in the base rate, so you don’t need to worry about switching for a competitive rate.
Wombat has partnered with GB Bank to bring you our Base Rate Tracker savings account.
GB Bank is an award-winning, fully authorised and regulated UK bank (FRN: 850286), dedicated to providing accessible and competitive savings accounts. Every penny saved with GB Bank contributes towards building better futures for the communities across the UK that need it most.
Any funds you deposit in Wombat's Base Rate Tracker are deposited with GB Bank (prior to depositing the money with GB Bank, money will briefly be held in an eMoney wallet in your name with Bondsmith), and are protected up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Any deposits you hold above the limit are unlikely to be covered. For further information, please view the Information Sheet on their website here.
Yes, Wombat's GB Bank Base Rate Tracker is completely free.
The interest on your balance is calculated each day, and paid monthly. The interest you receive on your savings in Wombat’s GB Bank Base Rate Tracker is determined by the Bank of England base rate, less 0.5%, so if the base rate increases, your interest rate increases too. If it decreases, your interest rate will decrease too.
For example, the base rate increased to 5.25% August 2023, meaning your interest rate with Wombat would be 4.75%. When the base rate changes, with our Base Rate Tracker, your interest automatically updates the very next day, meaning you will always get a competitive rate, without the need for endless account switching. It’s usually up to individual savings providers to decide whether and when to pass on this rate to savers, meaning you may not see any benefit at all with some providers.
With a 4.75% AER (assuming you didn’t deposit, withdraw, or the interest rate didn’t change) if you held £1,000 in your account over 12 months, you’d earn £47.50 in interest, meaning a total balance of £1,047.50 at the end of the year.
Variable interest rate means the internet rate you receive on your savings is not fixed and can change.
With some accounts, you might agree to lock your money away for a certain period of time, guaranteeing that you’ll receive a specific interest rate for the duration; these are known as fixed accounts. With a variable interest rate, the interest you receive fluctuates with the Bank of England base rate (so it can decrease or increase).
With our GB Bank Base Rate Tracker, the minimum opening deposit is £500, and thereafter you can make as many deposits as you want, anytime from £50, up to a total balance of £250k. You can deposit money into your accounts via a Faster Deposit (please allow until the next working day for funds to arrive), or a bank transfer (which can take up to 48 hours). All you need to do is link your bank account and select the amount you’d like to transfer.
You can withdraw as much or as little as you like, once a month, with this account. Tap ‘Withdraw’ on the home screen, input the desired amount, and tap ‘Go’.
Opening a savings account with Wombat is quick and simple. First, make sure you’ve downloaded the Wombat app from the Play Store, or App Store. Once you’ve installed the app, enter your details to register for a Wombat account if you haven’t already got an account with us, and select the account you’d like to open.
For our GB Bank Base Rate Tracker, the minimum opening balance is £500. After this, you can deposit anytime from £50.
To transfer your savings from another provider, you must first withdraw all of your money and then deposit it with Wombat.
The Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) is a rate that accounts for compounding (the interest earned on interest) over a given year. AER is an industry standard rate that allows you to easily compare rates from different banks, even if the interest is calculated and paid out differently. Let's take a look at how much interest you could generate with an AER of 4.75% over 12 months.
This is for illustrative purposes and not based on individual circumstances. It assumes that you don’t deposit or withdraw any money, and that there was no change to the interest rate over 12 months.
You must be 18 years old and a resident of the UK to open a Wombat Savings Account. If you want to open an account for a child, we recommend a Wombat JISA account, which can be found here.
You can withdraw the money in your account once per calendar month, with no minimum withdrawal amount.
To do this, open the Wombat app > make sure your savings account is selected > tap ‘Withdraw > input the amount you’d like to withdraw > then tap ‘Go’. After submitting your request, the funds will take up to one working day to appear in your bank.
Wombat, and our carefully selected partners, are regulated and authorised in the UK by the FCA, which means money you deposit into our accounts is covered by the FSCS. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protects you if the financial firm you’ve used has failed and can’t pay your claim. The FSCS covers eligible deposits up to £85,000 per person, per banking group. Read more here
Investing
We do our best to give you the tools you need to make informed investment choices via our how-to guides and articles in our Learning Hub. However, this does not constitute financial advice and you are ultimately responsible for the investments you make. Please make sure that you invest what you can afford, and that you are aware of the potential to receive less back than you initially invested.
Instant GIA
The shares available for our Instant GIA are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) which is open Monday-Friday (excluding US bank holidays) 9:30 am to 4:00 pm New York (NY)/Eastern Time (ET). This is usually 14:30 - 21:00 UK time but is subject to change according to daylight savings time.
View holidays and trading hours for the NYSE here.
If you place your trade outside of market hours, you can expect your pending trades to complete when the NYSE next opens.
Standard Accounts
The majority of shares available for our Standard accounts are traded on the UK market, however, a selection of US stocks are available too. We trade once a day (this allows us to keep your account fees low) shortly after 15:00 each business day (excluding bank holidays). Trades on this account will complete shortly after 15:00 (if placed before the market opens, any trades placed after this will complete on the next working day).
- Themed ETFs (or Exchange-Traded Funds)
With Wombat, you can invest in themed funds (ETFs) in a range of sectors, such as gold, technology and ethical investing from just £10. We work with a number of ETF providers such as BlackRock, Vanguard, Amundi and Rize. Check out our ETFs to see the full range of options. Please note, ETFs are only available with a Wombat Standard GIA or ISA.
- Fractional Shares
You can also choose to invest in 100s of global companies with fractional shares. Sometimes the value of a whole share can be really high, which is why we provide fractional shares; fractional shares allow you to purchase just part of a whole share for as little as £10. No matter your budget, you can own a piece of brands like Tesla, Apple, Amazon or AMC. Please note, some stocks are only available with certain accounts; the selection of individual fractional shares we offer differs on Standard and Instant accounts. Fractional shares are only available in General Investment Accounts, though whole shares are also available in ISAs and Junior ISAs.
When investing in themed funds (or Exchange-Traded Funds/ETFs), you are investing in a fund (which contains a collection of companies, grouped by theme) that aims to mirror the performance of a specific stock index without buying stocks in each company individually. With a stock ETF (which is what Wombat offers), you don’t own shares in the individual companies, instead, you own shares of the ETF. As Wombat is a micro-investing platform, you don’t need to buy a whole share of an ETF, instead, you can own fractions of the ETF for just £10. ETFs are considered one of the best ways to diversify your portfolio and are a simple and powerful way to help you realise your investing goals.
With Wombat’s fractional shares, you can invest, and own a fraction of a whole share from just £10, in individual companies. So no matter your budget, you can own a piece of brands like Tesla, Apple, Amazon or AMC. Fractional shares are only available in General Investment Accounts, though whole shares are also available in ISAs and Junior ISAs.
ETFs can be a more cost-efficient and convenient way to diversify your portfolio (most are exempt from PTM Levy and UK Stamp Duty) because with one single trade you get exposure to multiple assets. However, individual shares, like growth stocks, have the potential to yield greater returns and give you more control to decide exactly which companies to invest in.
It’s important to remember that diversification does not fully protect you from risk and does not guarantee returns or eliminate the potential for loss.
We have packaged investments into carefully curated themed ETFs that provide you with access to a broad range of companies and brands that match a specific theme. We believe we have a themed fund to suit everyone’s interests and beliefs.
For more information regarding the themes, please read the Key Investor Information Documents (KIID) and factsheet for each themed fund. You can view this document by clicking on the individual themed fund in the app.
Fund (ETF) managers provide an information sheet called a KIID (Key Investor Information Document) which includes all the key facts about a fund. It describes what the fund does, the investment risk, charges and performance to help you compare different funds and assess whether that particular investment is right for you. It comes in a standardised format, set out by European regulations.
A dividend is a reward paid to shareholders for their investment in the company, and it usually originates from the company's net profits. When a company chooses to give a dividend, they are choosing to distribute a company’s earnings to its shareholders. The company will fix a certain amount of money to be distributed per share, so the amount that you ultimately get will depend on how many shares you have.
We do have many shares that historically pay out dividends. They are as follows: Burberry, JD Sports, Associated British Foods Unilever, Greggs, Domino's Pizza Group, Diageo, Vodafone Group, Moneysupermarket.com Group, Games Workshop Group, AVIVA, Barclays, HSBC Holdings, Morrisons, Tesco, GlaxoSmithKline, J D Wetherspoon, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Disney, Nike, Manchester United, Adidas, AB InBev, and Ferrari.
Please note that while a company has paid out dividends in the past on their shares, this may not be the case in future. There are many factors that may cause a company to choose not to pay out dividends. This is something beyond Wombat’s control.
If you are invested in a company that chooses to pay dividends, the dividends will be added to your account in one of two ways: either paid out to your Wombat cash account, or if it’s an accumulation dividend, profits from the stock’s gains will be reinvested into the stock (increasing their value, as opposed to being paid out in cash).
Accounts
Investing accounts:
Our Instant plan provides you with a General Investment Account (GIA), and our Standard plan offers you a choice between a General Investment Account (GIA), Stocks & Shares ISA (ISA) and a Junior Stocks & Shares ISA. View our pricing for more information on each account type.
Saving account:
Our GB Bank Base Rate Tracker savings account offers you a competitive interest rate (Bank of England base rate less 0.5%) with once a month withdrawals.
An ISA is an “Individual Savings Account”. If you have an ISA, you can invest up to £20,000 per year completely tax-free. There are many types of ISAs, such as Cash ISAs, Stocks & Shares ISAs, Innovative Finance ISAs, and you can even save up to £9,000 per tax year tax-free in a Junior ISA. You can have multiple accounts in each type, but you can only open, and fund, one account per ISA type each year. Wombat offers a Stocks & Shares ISA. Please note, tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future.
A General Investment Account is a standard investing account which is NOT tax-free. This means that you are liable to pay taxes on any realised capital gains. However, there is no limit to how much you can invest, or how many GIAs you can have. Wombat offers two GIAs: Instant GIA & Standard GIA. You can view more information on both of these account types here. Please note, tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future.
A Junior Stocks & Shares ISA is an ISA for children. Our JISA works in the same way as our Stocks & Shares ISA, except your child's tax-free allowance is £9,000 per tax year and the money cannot be withdrawn until they're 18. Any gains are free of income-tax or capital gains tax, and it's completely separate to your ISA allowance. A Wombat JISA can be opened by parents or guardians of children under 16 who live in the UK.
Opening an investment account with Wombat is quick and easy. You’ll need to download the Wombat app, available on the Play Store (for Android devices) or the App Store (for iOS devices). Once you’ve installed the app, enter your details to register for a Wombat account, and then after you have successfully registered you will be presented with the account selection screen. Read the information on each account type, and then simply tap on the account you want to open to start the ID verification process.
Yes, you can open multiple accounts (one of each account type). With Wombat, it’s easy to monitor the performance of all of your accounts. Once you’re in the app, you can easily switch between your accounts by selecting the account name in the top left of the screen, and tapping the account you want to change to.
If you already have an account open with Wombat, and would like to open an additional account, open the Wombat app and tap the name of your existing account in the top left of the home screen. Then tap “Create new account” and use the account selection screen to open a new account of your choice.
You can trade as often as you like, as long as you are not day trading. A day trade constitutes buying and selling the same asset within the same day. Your account will be frozen for 90 days if you day trade 3 times or more within 5 days. More information about day trading can be found here.
The shares available for our Instant GIA are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) which is open Monday-Friday (excluding US bank holidays) 9:30 am to 4:00 pm New York (NY)/Eastern Time (ET). This is usually 14:30 - 21:00 UK time but is subject to change according to daylight savings time. If you place your trade outside of market hours, you can expect your pending trades to complete when the NYSE next opens.
You can make as many trades as you like, but the trades will only complete when the stock market is open.
The majority of shares available for our Standard accounts are traded on the UK market, however, a selection of US stocks are available too. We trade once a day (this allows us to keep the account fees low) shortly after 15:00 each business day. Trades on this account will complete shortly after 15:00 (if placed before the market opens, any trades placed after this will complete on the next working day).
Please note, trades placed on ‘The Adventurer’, ‘Fly the Flag,’ “Bond, Global Bond”, “Slow and Steady” or 'The Balanced' need to be placed before 11am in order to execute that day. If placed after 11am, the trade will complete on the next working day.
Generally, we would recommend using an ISA if you are able to. You can open multiple ISAs each year, as long as they are different types of ISA. e.g. you can open a Cash ISA and a Stocks & Shares ISA within the same tax year, but you cannot open two Stocks & Shares ISAs within the same year. In addition, the combined limit for all ISAs you own is £20,000 each year. This means you can only deposit £20,000 across all of your ISAs combined in any one year. However, you can easily transfer an existing Stocks and Shares ISA from a different provider to Wombat. If this is something you are interested in, please contact our customer support team at support@wombatinvest.com to assist you with the process. A GIA is a great choice if you have already opened or funded an ISA, or if you've reached your £20,000 ISA limit. Please note, tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future.
To transfer your current ISA to a Wombat Stocks & Shares ISA, please email support@wombatinvest.com and request an ISA transfer form. Transferring to a Wombat ISA is completely free. However, please check if your current provider charges fees.
You can transfer your savings to a different type of ISA or to the same type of ISA at any time. To switch providers, contact the ISA provider you want to move to and fill out an ISA transfer form to move your account.
If you want to transfer money you’ve invested in an ISA during the current year, you must transfer all of it. For money you invested in previous years, you can choose to transfer all or part of your savings. You must use the online transfer process to transfer an ISA because you may lose tax benefits if you try to transfer the money yourself.
Capital Gains Tax is what you will pay on any gains above your tax-free allowance (called the Annual Exempt Amount/AEA).
Your Capital Gains Tax allowance includes all the realised gains you make across any investments you’ve sold that year (i.e. stocks and themed funds, but also rental properties or art). If your total net capital gain for the year is within the government allowance (£6,000 for individuals in the 2023/24 tax year), it’s tax-free and there’s no need to report it.
Significantly, any capital losses you’ve realised that year (i.e. investments you’ve sold at a loss) count against your gains, which could keep you under the allowance. For instance, if in a tax year, you sell one investment at a £10,000 gain and another at a £5,000 loss, your net capital gain is £5,000 and under the allowance.
Capital Gains Tax is calculated on the gain from the original date of purchase, not the growth of your portfolio year-to-year. If you’re planning to invest for the long term, compounding means £6,000 becomes an achievable gain on comparatively small initial investments.
Any gains over the Capital Gains Tax allowance of £6,000 should be declared on your annual HMRC self-assessment tax return.
Please note, tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future.Please note, it’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest guidance from HMRC as these amounts are subject to change by the government. You can view the latest information on Capital Gains Tax on the HMRC website.
Junior ISA
Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) aren’t just for grown-ups: kids can get in on the action too! Junior ISAs, or JISAs for short, are similar to normal ISAs, but you can start saving sooner.
A JISA is essentially a long-term, tax-efficient way to save up to £9,000 per year for each of your children, so long as they live in the UK and are under 18. With a Stocks & Shares JISA, you can invest up to £9,000 each tax year, and this isn't shared with your personal adult ISA allowance of £20,000. Once the child turns 18, the account matures into a Standard Stocks & Shares ISA which they can then access and manage.
A JISA is opened and managed by a parent or guardian (the Registered Contact) but only the child can access the money (when they turn 18). It cannot be withdrawn before this time (though you have a 30 day cooling off period to change your mind, during which time you can withdraw the funds if you decide it isn’t right for you).
1. Junior Cash ISA – A Cash JISA is like a bank or building society savings account, but neither you nor your child will pay tax on any interest they earn on their savings. Unlike a regular savings account, you cannot withdraw money from a Junior Cash ISA and the child will only be able to access the money held in a Junior Cash ISA when they turn 18.
2. Junior Stocks and Shares ISA – Contributions made on behalf of your child into a Stocks and Shares JISA can be used to invest and aren't subject to tax on any capital growth, interest or dividends received, and so can potentially offer better returns than Cash ISAs. With a Wombat JISA, you can invest in stocks and ETFs in a tax-efficient wrapper for your child (which they can only access at 18). However, remember when investing your capital is at risk and you may get back less than what you put in.
Your child can have either type, or both types of JISA, but only a maximum of one of each and their £9,000 tax-free allowance is shared across both accounts.
There also used to be a third type, called a Child Trust Fund (CTF). CTFs are no longer available for creation, though if you already have a CTF for your child, you can keep paying into it, or convert it into a JISA. You can easily transfer an existing JISA or CTF to Wombat. Simply download the app available on the Play Store or the App Store and open a JISA to start the process.
With a Wombat JISA, you can invest in themed funds (ETFs) in a range of sectors, such as gold, technology and ethical investing - from just £10. We work with a number of ETF providers such as BlackRock, Vanguard, Amundi and Rize. Check out our ETFs to see the full range of options.
You can also choose to invest directly in global companies with shares. Shares have the potential to yield greater returns and give you the control to decide exactly what companies you want to invest in.
The flexibility of our JISA means that you can choose to make a one-off deposit or set up a monthly Direct Debit, as long as you don’t exceed the annual allowance of £9,000.
- Tax-free gains – The main benefit of a Junior Investment ISA is undoubtedly the tax-free shelter it provides. Long term capital growth could see the money invested into Junior Investment ISA appreciate over the lifetime of the account which can run to 18 years, without having to sacrifice any of these profits to tax.
- Money when they need it most – a JISA is specifically designed to allow Parents/Guardians to save money for a time in their children’s life when they may need a lump sum: perhaps to help towards university tuition fees; to fund driving lessons, the purchase of the car, or even help with the deposit of their first house. The funds invested grow inside the tax-free shelter and can’t be accessed until the child’s 18th birthday and remain beyond temptation until then.
- Potentially better returns – Wombat’s stocks and shares JISA provides more flexibility than its savings counterpart, and allows the funds to be invested per the guardian’s wishes. This means the funds invested in the JISA can be optimised for long-term capital growth, and aren’t capped at a very low savings percentage that you might usually see attached to a Cash JISA. Please remember, when investing your capital is at risk and you may get back less than what you put in.
- Automation - Our JISA will offer the same features as our Stocks and Shares ISA - the option to enable Fortnightly Round Ups, that round up the spare change from any purchases. Auto-investment features, so you can “set it and forget it”, with an automatic monthly payment and investment into the funds of your choice.
- Themes - Our investments are packaged as “Themes”, making it much easier to understand what you’re investing in. Forget the complicated stock names, and instead, invest in what you believe in. A greener future, the foods you love, the companies you believe in. All without the complicated lingo.
- 7 day support - Our customer support team are here to help - always! We’re here 7 days a week, and even on Christmas. You can have peace of mind knowing that if you ever need help, we’re just an email away.
You do not need to be an existing Wombat customer in order to open a JISA account with us. You can open a JISA as your very first Wombat account.
At the moment, only the ‘Registered Contact’ can make contributions to the Wombat Junior ISA, however, we hope to offer the functionality for family and friends to contribute to your child’s Junior ISA in the future.
Please note that any contributions into a Junior ISA will be considered a gift and, as such, cannot be withdrawn once added to the account.
There is a £1 per month fixed subscription fee covering all transaction and investing costs, and grants you access to our Themes and Stocks, daily trades, Round Ups, Auto Invest, and Learning Hub.
There is also an annual platform fee of 0.10% of your portfolio value, e.g. £9 per £9,000 per year, which is charged monthly (so in this example, a fee of £9 per year would be charged as £0.75 per month).
You can view the fees you will pay per month for your Standard accounts by opening the Wombat app >” Account” >” Fees & Charges”. These low fees make Wombat one of the cheapest providers out there!
A 0.75% FX fee will be applied to trades on foreign shares only. An ETF provider fee between 0.07% and 0.75%(depending on the fund) will be charged annually. This is charged by the ETF provider and isn’t deducted from your account but is instead reflected in the value of your fund.
View our pricing here.
Opening a JISA investment account with Wombat is quick and easy. You’ll need to download the Wombat app, available on the Play Store (for Android devices) or the App Store (for iOS devices). Once you’ve installed the app, enter your details to register for a Wombat account, and then after you have successfully registered you will be presented with the account selection screen. Read the information on each account type, and then simply tap on the account you want to open to start the ID verification process.
Any child who is resident within the UK and under the age of 16 can hold a Junior ISA Account. You must be over 18 and hold legal parental responsibility over the child in order to open an account for them.
If you already have a Standard ISA or GIA, or an Instant GIA, and would like to open a JISA as an additional account, open the Wombat app and tap the name of your existing account in the top left of the home screen. Then tap “Create new account” and use the account selection screen to open a JISA.
Transferring to a Wombat JISA is completely free. However, please check if your current provider charges fees.
If you already have a Wombat account:
Open the Wombat app and tap the name of your existing account in the top left of the home screen. Tap ‘Create new account’ and then choose 'Junior Individual Savings Account (JISA)' from the account selection carousel to begin creating the account. You will need to select ‘Yes’ when asked if you would like to transfer an existing JISA or Child Trust Fund, specify which, and then tap ‘Continue.’ Complete the details for your child, and then complete the transfer form which has been emailed to the email address you entered when you registered, and we will email you once the transfer is complete.
If you don’t currently hold an account with Wombat:
To transfer your current JISA or Child Trust Fund to a Wombat Stocks & Shares JISA, please download the Wombat app, available on the Play Store (for Android devices) or the App Store (for iOS devices). Once you’ve installed the app, enter your registration details, and then after you have successfully registered you will be presented with the account selection screen. Simply choose 'Junior Individual Savings Account (JISA)' from the account selection carousel to begin creating the account. You will need to select ‘Yes’ when asked if you would like to transfer an existing JISA or Child Trust Fund, specify which, and then tap ‘Continue.’ Complete the details for your child, and then complete the transfer form which has been emailed to the email address you entered when you registered, and we will email you once the transfer is complete.
You cannot withdraw funds from a Junior ISA. Money paid into a Junior ISA is considered a gift to your child, which means withdrawal from a Junior ISA can only occur on the instruction of your child, after the child reaches 18 years of age.
If your child becomes terminally ill, you can request to access money in the Junior ISA by completing the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) terminal illness early access form. If your child passes away, the Junior ISA will be paid to whoever inherits their estate (usually a parent or legal guardian). More information can be found here.
Please note that if you’re within 30 days of your first contribution into a Junior ISA, you can cancel the account within the cancellation period by getting in touch with our support team by emailing support@wombatinvest.com.
When your child reaches 18, their Junior ISA will automatically convert into an adult Stocks & Shares ISA with Wombat.
We’ll get in touch with you a few weeks before your child’s birthday to confirm their details, then will reach out to them to help set up their new Wombat account. Once your child’s 18th birthday has passed, their JISA balance will be transferred across to a Stocks & Shares ISA in their name, which they can access via their own Wombat account. They can then continue investing, or withdraw the funds as needed.
Round Ups
Round Ups allow you to easily build up a pot of money via rounding up spare change from your everyday purchases. So, if you use your linked account to buy a coffee for £2.30, we’ll automatically round it up and add £0.70 to your Wombat account. Twice a month, we’ll invest the spare change directly into a themed fund or fractional share of your choice, or into your Wombat cash account ready for you to invest. Please note that if the spare change totals less than £10 at the time of the scheduled direct debit, the funds will not be debited from your bank and will instead carry over into the next scheduled date your Round Ups pot is due to be debited. The minimum investment value whether through Round Ups, Auto Invest or One-off Buy is £10. Round Ups will also never take you into your overdraft and you can pause or resume Round Ups at any time. Please note, Round Ups are currently only available with a Wombat Standard ISA, GIA or JISA.
Fractional shares are only available in General Investment Accounts, though whole shares are also available in ISAs and Junior ISAs.
Open the Wombat app and make sure you have a Wombat Standard GIA, ISA or JISA selected. Tap “Round Ups” from the home screen or through the “Auto Invest” tab. Please note, if you haven't done so before, you will need to set up a direct debit mandate first before you can enable the Round Ups feature.
The amount you can save with Round Ups is entirely dependent on the number of transactions you make with your linked bank account. On average our customers invest around £28 per month through Round Ups. This is based on Round Up transactions and values made between January and June 2022.
No, Round Ups are disabled by default and you don't have to enable it. If you do decide to use it and change your mind, you can turn Round Ups on and off at any time.
Open the Wombat app and go to “Account”, then tap “Round Ups”, and simply move the slider to “on” or “off”.
You can add more Round Up accounts from the Account section of the app, but all deposits will be collected in bulk from your nominated Direct Debit account.
For Round Ups to work, we need to connect with your bank in order to create a secure connection with your financial institution on a strictly read-only basis. The technology that makes Round Ups possible is called Open Banking. Open Banking allows you to share certain financial information that only you and your bank can see, such as your balance and transaction history, with other authorised financial providers or services of your choosing (all providers have to comply with data protection rules, including GDPR). The financial data that you share with authorised providers, grants read-only access to things like your spending transactions and regular payments. Granting access to this allows Wombat to securely access your transaction history and perform the calculations to enable the Round Up feature.
This creates a connection for 90 days only and you can withdraw this permission at any time. If you have Round Ups enabled, Wombat will email you 10 days in advance of the connection expiring to request re-authentication of the connection between Wombat and your bank account.
If you have Round Ups (or Auto Invest) enabled, you will receive an email from our payment partner, GoCardless. GoCardless is an FCA-regulated financial services provider. This email is simply to notify you that your fortnightly Round Up (or monthly Auto Deposit) payment will be transferred to your Wombat account and includes details of when the money will be debited from your bank.
Auto Invest
With Auto Invest, you can specify a fixed monthly amount to invest in a particular themed fund or stock. It’s a convenient and consistent way to make regular investments and build your portfolio. Auto Invest is also a great way to utilise pound-cost averaging, which means regularly investing the same amount, into the same asset, at regular intervals. This means you will own assets for varying purchase prices and therefore can reduce the overall impact of price fluctuations, as over time the cost per share will average out. Please note, Auto Invest is currently only available with Wombat Standard ISA, JISA or GIA.
Open the Wombat app and make sure you have a Wombat Standard GIA, ISA or JISA selected. Tap “Portfolio”, and then tap “Auto Invest”. Here, you can decide how much you would like to Auto Deposit each month. You can choose to simply deposit this amount into your Wombat cash account, or you can choose to Auto Invest it into one, or multiple, themed funds or individual shares. To do this, enter your Auto Deposit amount , and then scroll down to “My Auto Investments” and use the + or - buttons to control how much you want to invest in each themed fund or stock. Please note, the asset must be in your watchlist or portfolio (previously invested) to appear as a choice. Once you are ready, tap “Confirm Changes” (you may need to set up a direct debit mandate first if you haven’t done so before).
The minimum amount you can Auto Invest is £10. There is no maximum.
Yes, you can choose to Auto Invest either on the 7th, 14th, 21st, or 28th of each month. Please note if the date you have selected falls on a weekend or bank holiday at any point, your funds will be taken on the closest available working day. If you want to change the date you have selected, go to “Account”, and then tap “Auto Invest.”
The Auto Deposit amount will be withdrawn from your bank on the date you have selected from the options above. It will then take two working days to reach your Wombat account. We also notify users 3-5 working days in advance of the transfer to give you time to cancel if you wish.
To cancel Auto Invest, please open the app and go to “Account” > “Auto Invest” > Toggle Auto Invest to “off” (this will stop any cash from automatically investing in selected assets; however, the amount will still be transferred from your bank to your Wombat cash account). To stop your Auto Deposit, go to “Account” > “Auto Deposits” > toggle Freeze Auto Deposits to “on”.
To adjust your Auto Invest amount, please open the app and go to “Portfolio” > “Auto Invest” and adjust the invested amount to the new amount you would like deposited each month.
Please note, if you have a direct debit set up, and add a new monthly Auto Invest through the “Invest” tab, it will add to your overall Auto Deposit amount (e.g. if you already have a £100 Auto Invest set up, then add £20 to a stock or ETF via the “Invest” tab, the overall value of your Auto Deposit will increase to £120). Also, if you remove a monthly investment, the overall Auto Deposit value will stay the same, however, the money will be debited into your Wombat cash account rather than an asset. To change the overall value of your Auto Deposit, go to “Portfolio” and then “Auto Invest” and amend your Auto Deposit here.
Yes, you can use both features simultaneously. You can set both of these up by going to the app home screen > “Portfolio” > “Auto Invest”.
Privacy & Security
Wombat is helping over 300k individuals across the UK to make the most of their money. Here are just some of the reasons why they’ve chosen to trust us:
- Wombat Invest is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK for the purpose of investment services. The FCA regulate the conduct of firms in the UK to ensure that our financial markets are honest, competitive and fair. This requires us to have robust procedures to ensure we run our business appropriately and have the best interests of our customers at heart.
- We take your data security extremely seriously and adhere to the most rigorous industry standards, including 256-bit, bank-level encryption for the transmission of sensitive financial and personal data. We regularly engage information security specialists to test our systems.
- We have been recognised for numerous esteemed financial awards, including Investment Tech of the Year 2022 at UK Fintech Awards. UK FinTech Awards is brought to you by FinTech Intel, the global market intelligence platform for financial services technology.
- Most recently, Wombat closed its Series A funding round. Backed by Fuel Ventures, one of the country’s leading VC firms, Wombat raised £4.2m with the help of people who trust and believe in our mission to make investing accessible. The funding supports our ambitious growth plans, forthcoming product launches and plans for international expansion.
If you'd like to know anything else about us, please don't hesitate to get in touch at support@wombatinvest.com. We'll happily chat with you and help you get to know our company better in any way we can. We want to help people like you save and invest for a better future.
Wombat is covered by the government’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to a limit of £85,000. Please be aware that this does not cover any decline in the value of your investments. You can find more information about FSCS protection here.
Your information is stored securely on our servers and processed in accordance with local laws and regulations. Read our Privacy Policy for more details.
Your data is stored in our encryption-protected system. Customer details can only be accessed by a limited number of Wombat staff in order to provide you with Wombat products and services. This access is carefully managed under our strict Privacy Policy. The necessary staff are also up-to-date with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and regularly undergo training.
To fully comply with UK, EU and global regulations, Wombat requires your National Insurance number to open an investment account.
To fully comply with UK, EU and global regulations, Wombat may require photo ID to enable us to verify the identity of all users.
As a financial company regulated by the FCA, Wombat is required by law to verify the identity of all its customers. Identity verification is an authorisation process that compares the details provided by a user with documentation that proves it. This also ensures that any mistakes made during the sign-up process can be rectified quickly.
- Valid UK or overseas passport
- Valid UK driving licence
- Valid EEA/EU photocard licence
- EU Identity card• EEA or Switzerland national identity card
- Other national identity cards (non-UK identification card)
- Northern Ireland voter's card
- Residence permit issued by Home Office to EU Nationals
If you believe someone has gained access to your Wombat account, please contact our support team at support@wombatinvest.com as soon as possible. You may also wish to consider cancelling any linked banking activities.
To change your pin or password, open the Wombat app, select “Account”, and then tap on either “Password” or “Pin” to change it.
If you've forgotten your password, you can request a reset link by selecting ‘Log in with email’ on the home screen and clicking the forgot password option. If you have tried this and are still having issues with resetting your password, please contact support@wombatinvest.com for assistance.
Please contact Wombat at support@wombatinvest.com as soon as possible.
Deposits & Withdrawals
You can deposit money into your accounts via an Instant deposit (this usually only takes a couple of minutes), or a Bank transfer (which can take up to 48 hours). All you need to do is link your bank account and select the amount you’d like to transfer. To do this open the app, tap “Add Money”, and follow the step for your preferred transfer method. If you've opened a Standard ISA, JISA or GIA with us, you can also use our Auto Invest and Round Up features to deposit and invest money automatically.
With a bank transfer, you need to log in to your bank account and manually enter a sort code and account number to deposit money into your Wombat account. You can view this information by going to the app > “Add Money” > “Make a Bank Transfer”.
An Instant deposit is much faster and can be accessed from within the Wombat app via TrueLayer (which is also regulated by the FCA). You just need to specify how much you want to deposit, select your bank, authorise the deposit to Wombat, and TrueLayer will complete the transaction.
Bank transfers are processed between 9am-5pm Monday – Friday (excluding bank holidays) and may take up to 48 hours to land in your account.
Instant deposits are much faster and should land in your account within minutes, but sometimes this can take up to two hours.
Please note, if it’s your first time depositing into your Instant GIA (or your first deposit after changing your bank details), this can take up to one working day to reach you; this is due to some additional compliance checks required for all users’ first deposits.
You can withdraw either some or all of your money at any time, as long as that amount has fully settled (i.e. there are no pending investments). To make a withdrawal, please go to the “Account” section of the Wombat app, then tap “Transfer to Bank”. Here, you can specify the amount that you would like to withdraw from your Wombat Cash Balance to your linked bank account. If you want to withdraw money that is currently invested, you will need to sell these assets first.
To sell an asset, go to your “Portfolio” in the Wombat app, and tap on the asset you would like to sell. Tap “Sell” and decide how much you want to sell: you can enter a specific amount, or use the “Sell all” feature if you want to sell your whole investment in that asset.
For Standard Accounts (as long as trades are placed before 14:30) this will be processed at 15:00 each day; we only trade once a day on our Standard Accounts (this allows us to keep the account fees low).
The shares available for our Instant GIA are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) which is open Monday-Friday (excluding US bank holidays) 9:30 am to 4:00 pm New York (NY)/Eastern Time (ET). This is usually 14:30 - 21:00 UK time but is subject to change according to daylight savings time. If you place your trade outside of market hours, you can expect your pending trades to complete when the NYSE next opens.
Withdrawals usually take 3-5 working days to be transferred to your linked bank account.
Pricing & Fees
You can open an Instant GIA for free. However, like all online investment platforms, Wombat charges various fees. View our pricing table for more information on our fees here.
Our savings account is completely free.
You can open a Wombat Instant GIA for free. There is no subscription fee, or annual platform fee, for this account.
We do charge a 0.65% Foreign Exchange (FX) fee on each individual buy and sell, which is simply to cover the costs of exchanging currencies from GBP to USD.
Did you know that you also get 0.2% cashback on every buy you make with an Instant GIA? You just need to place a buy, and weekly, the cashback will automatically be applied to your Wombat cash account. See the full T&Cs here.
View our pricing here.
There is a £1 per month fixed subscription fee covering all transaction and investing costs, and grants you access to the Learning Hub, Round Ups and Auto Invest.
There is also a platform fee of 0.10% of your portfolio value, e.g. £10 per £10,000 per year which is charged monthly. At any time, you can view the fees you will pay per month for your Standard accounts by opening the Wombat app >” Account” > “Fees & Charges”. These low fees make Wombat one of the cheapest providers out there!
On some occasions, a 0.75% FX fee will be applied to trades on foreign shares only.
Plus, where applicable, an ETF provider fee (0.07% and 0.75% variable based on the fund) will be charged annually, and billed monthly, depending on which themed fund you select. This isn’t deducted from your account but rather is reflected in the value of your fund.
View our pricing here.
Here’s an example using the 0.65% FX fee with our Instant GIA.
We charge 0.65% of the amount bought or sold in USD.
For example, placing a buy of £10 incurs a 7p charge (this is 0.65% of £10 rounded up to the nearest penny).However, we also give users 0.2% cashback on buys placed with our Instant GIA. Which means on a buy of £1000, we would give you £2 back in the form of cashback. T&Cs apply.
We charge £1 per calendar month for our Standard Stocks & Shares ISA, Junior Stocks & Shares ISA (JISA) and for our Standard General Investment Account (GIA).
We will attempt to take a £1 subscription fee from your cash balance first, however, if funds are unavailable in your cash balance, we will sell down a small portion of your largest holding to cover the fee. If both your cash balance and portfolio are £0, you will not be charged a fee as no additional funds will ever be taken by direct debit.
On Standard accounts, there is a 0.1% annual platform fee which is calculated daily (we calculate 0.1% of your total portfolio value at market close each day), charged monthly (we request payment for the previous calendar month on the 10th), and billed annually (the fee is 0.1% of your total portfolio over the year, just calculated on a daily basis).
For example, if you had £2,000 in your portfolio on 1st May, this would mean 0.005p in fees (rounded up) for that day. Hypothetically, if your portfolio stayed at exactly £2,000 every day for the whole of May, you would pay a total of 0.17p (rounded up) in platform fees on the 10th June.
My Account
You can update your address in the app under “Account” > “My Account Details” > and then tap on “Address”.
You can edit your direct debit in the app. Open the Wombat app, tap “Account”, and then tap “Auto Deposits”. Here, you can freeze your Auto Deposits, change your payment date, or cancel your direct debit.
You can update your linked bank account in the app under “Account” > “Bank Account”.
Please note, if you have an Instant GIA, your first deposit after you change your linked bank account can take up to one working day to reach you; this is due to some additional compliance checks required for all users’ first deposits.
Please get in touch with us at support@wombatinvest.com.
Visit the Portfolio section of the Wombat app to view the value of your current investments. If you have any questions, please contact our support team at support@wombatinvest.com
The price of assets at the exact moment you request to sell may change in value when the sale is actually processed and traded (which is when the value of your asset is finally determined).
For example, if you request to sell your assets on Monday after markets have closed based on £x value, on Tuesday when the market opens and the asset units are sold, the value might have increased or decreased in value because the asset value fluctuates frequently throughout the day.
You can view your payment history at any time by opening the Wombat app > “Account” > and then tapping “Transaction History”.
You will receive contract notes for each transaction and you can view these using the app at any time. “Contract Notes & Statements” can be viewed in the Account tab of the Wombat app.
The ability to cancel an order is dependent on your account type. You are able to cancel any pending orders on an Instant GIA. However, once an order has been completed, then you are unable to cancel or make any amendments to the order.
With a Standard GIA, ISA or JISA, all orders are submitted in bulk to complete in our trade window so once an order has been created, it cannot be cancelled.
In order to close your account, you first need to make sure that you have sold all of your assets and have either withdrawn all of your funds or transferred them to another provider.
To sell an asset, go to your “Portfolio” in the Wombat app, and tap on the asset you would like to sell. Tap “Sell” and decide how much you want to sell: you can enter a specific amount, or use the “Sell all” feature if you want to sell your whole investment in that asset.
Then, please get in touch with us at support@wombatinvest.com and we'll close your account. This will close your investment account, cancel your direct debit mandate, and disconnect any features like Round Ups or Auto Invest if you have a Standard account.
Refer a Friend
If you refer a friend to Wombat, and they open their first investment account with us, we will reward them with £10 cash straight into their Wombat cash account to help them get started with investing.
We will also reward you with £10 cash straight into your Wombat cash account.
Please note, the referred friend must be a new user and open an investment account with Wombat for you both to be eligible for a reward. Once your referral code has been used by a friend, this cannot be reversed.
View the full T&Cs here.
Please note, our savings accounts are not eligible for the refer a friend bonus.
Referral bonuses are paid out after you open an investment account with Wombat. Our Instant plan provides you with a General Investment Account (GIA), and our Standard plan offers you a choice between a General Investment Account (GIA), Stocks & Shares ISA and Junior Stocks & Shares ISA (JISA). You will receive a £10 Refer a Friend bonus within two working days of account creation. You can then use this referral bonus towards your first investment on the Wombat app. Please note, all bonuses must remain in the account they were allocated to for a minimum of 90 days before they can be withdrawn.
You will receive a £10 Refer a Friend bonus after the person you referred has created an investment account with Wombat. The referral bonus is paid out within 48 hours during the working week. You can then invest this money.
You can refer up to three friends to Wombat. Please note, once your referral code has been used by a friend, this cannot be reversed.
All Refer a Friend bonuses from Wombat must remain in the account they were allocated to for a minimum of 90 days and must be invested before they can be withdrawn. You can view the full T&Cs for Wombat’s Refer a Friend program here.
My Cashback
Every time you invest in a share with our Instant GIA, you’ll get 0.20% cashback straight into your cash account. Cashback is uncapped so the more you trade; the more you earn. Exclusively with Wombat. You can view the full cashback T&Cs here.
Wombat will give you 0.20% cashback on all buys you place on our Instant GIA account. For example, for every £500 traded you'll get £1 cashback on us.
Cashback is paid the next Wednesday following the completion of your buy order and deposited straight to your Wombat cash account.
Cashback can only be earned on all buy trades (therefore this does not include sell trades) made with a Wombat Instant GIA.
No, cashback is unlimited. The more you invest; the more you earn.
Cashback is exclusive to the Instant GIA account.
Welcome Bonus
Wombat Invest is offering new users the chance to receive £10 to be used towards their first investment via the Wombat app available on the Play Store for Android and the App Store for iOS. View our full T&Cs here.
Please note, our savings accounts are not eligible for the welcome bonus.
For new customers to Wombat, the welcome bonus will be valid upon any app install followed by the successful opening of an investment account, whether that’s a Stocks & Shares ISA (ISA), Junior Stocks & Shares JISA, or a General Investment Account (GIA). This offer can only be claimed once per user. Please note, you must be a legal resident of the United Kingdom and at least 18 years old to use the Wombat app.
The Welcome Bonus is paid out within two working days of account creation during the working week.
Please note, any promotional bonuses received must stay within the account they were allocated to for a minimum of 90 days and have been invested in that period in order to be eligible for withdrawal.
If you have met all of the requirements for the Welcome Bonus (you can check out the full T&Cs here), and have not received your bonus within five working days, please contact support@wombatinvest.com and our dedicated Customer Support team would be more than happy to help.
Affiliates
The Wombat Affiliate Program offers monetary payment for qualified traffic and users directed to the Wombat App (available on iOS and Android) from the affiliate’s sources (social media, blogs, websites etc). The Wombat Affiliate Program is an effective way to monetise your audience. Get started here. T&Cs apply.
It’s easy, stress-free and quick to become an affiliate for Wombat. Get started by completing the sign up form on this page.
It’s our mission is to inspire and empower the next generation of investors to shape the future they want to see. How do we do this? We put the tools of building wealth purposefully and consciously in users’ hands, and make the experience more personalised, insightful, imaginative and innovative than ever. We want to be the world’s simplest, most reliable, engaging, informative lifestyle investing experience for new and experienced investors alike and want you to be a part of our exciting journey.
Once you have completed the sign up form and have been accepted on to the Wombat Affiliate Program, you will be able to access the offers we have available. All you have to do is send qualified traffic our way via your unique tracking link. The Wombat Affiliate Program tracks your referred traffic and then pays you accordingly. T&Cs apply.
Our program operates on a 30-day lookback window with a last click attribution model, so you never miss a beat.
Wombat offers a variety of marketing tools, including images, videos, banners, text etc. You can begin marketing Wombat as soon as you’ve been accepted on to the program.
Still have questions?
Contact support@wombatinvest.com and our dedicated Customer Support team will be more than happy to help.