Trade Republic

Is Trade Republic safe?

For investing and a cash buffer, yes. Trade Republic Bank GmbH is a German bank with a full licence since December 2023, supervised by BaFin and the Bundesbank, and it is very liquid because it hardly lends. The catch is where your cash actually sits. It is not a deposit at Trade Republic. The bank holds it in trust accounts at partner banks, where each bank's own deposit guaranteeDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary covers up to €100,000 per person, and moves part of larger balances into money market funds that no deposit guarantee covers. We score Trade Republic 66/100, level with Revolut and above N26 at 58.

Where your cash and shares sit

What you hold	Where it is	Protection
Cash, smaller balances	Trust accounts at up to two partner banks	That bank's scheme, €100,000 per person per bank
Cash, part of larger balances	Qualified money market fund (BlackRock at first)	None from deposit guaranteeDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary; fund units held in your name
Shares, ETFs, bonds	Held in custody by Trade Republic, German securities at Clearstream	Not Trade Republic's assets; investor compensation up to €20,000
Cash Trade Republic holds itself	Trade Republic Bank GmbH	German statutory scheme, €100,000

Trade Republic's 2023/24 group accounts show the arrangement plainly. Of €36.6 billion in total assets, €35.8 billion was customer money held in trust at partner banks. Its own liabilities to customers were just €20.6 million. Money placed in money market funds does not appear on the balance sheet at all, because the bank treats it like securities in custody.

According to Finanztip in June 2026, the partner banks are Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan (German scheme), SEB (Swedish), and Crédit Agricole, HSBC Continental Europe and Natixis (French). You cannot pick the bank. If you already have money at one of them, the two balances share one €100,000 limit.

The money market fund question

Trade Republic says it has split cash between partner banks and money market funds since May 2024, and that the app shows each customer's allocation. A manager magazin spot check, reported in February 2025, found some users with two-thirds of their balance at partner banks and others with only about 10%. BaFin was quoted as saying customers were not adequately told where their money lay. Advertising has drawn a fine elsewhere: in June 2026 Italy's competition and consumer authority, the AGCM, fined Trade Republic €2.5 million because its "1%" card campaign left out or misstated how Saveback works, a bonus paid into an investment savings plan rather than cashback.

A money market fund that invests in short-term, high-quality debt is low risk, and its units are ring-fenced from Trade Republic's creditors. But it is not a deposit. If Trade Republic failed, you would get fund units back, worth whatever the fund is worth that day, rather than a fixed euro sum. The Verbraucherzentrale Baden-Württemberg sued Trade Republic at the Landgericht Berlin II in February 2025, arguing that its interest advertising did not make this clear. We found no ruling by October 2026.

A bank that barely lends

From a depositor's point of view, Trade Republic's own balance sheet is unusually safe. At 30 September 2024 its liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary was 916% and its net stable funding ratioNet stable funding ratioA bank's stable funding, such as capital and retail deposits, compared with the stable funding its assets need over one year. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary 534%, many times the 100% minimum, and loans to customers were only €28 million. Equity was €566.5 million, and the group made €34.8 million after tax. The flip side is a short record: the bank has had its full licence for under three years, and its earnings depend on trading commissions and interest rates. We could not find a published CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary or any credit rating for Trade Republic, which keeps the capital score in the middle.

Is Trade Republic safe as a broker?

The brokerage runs in the same company as the bank, Trade Republic Bank GmbH, so we cover it on this page rather than a separate broker page. Shares and ETFs are not deposits. Under the September 2026 customer agreement, German securities sit in collective custody at Clearstream Banking in Frankfurt and foreign ones usually in their home market, and Trade Republic must keep clients' securities apart from its own holdings. Under German law they are special assets that clients can reclaim in an insolvency, so the €100,000 deposit guaranteeDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary is not what protects them. If securities went missing, the statutory investor compensation scheme pays 90% of the claim, at most €20,000, the same thin cover as at DEGIRO or Trading 212 in the EU.

Two smaller points. Fractional shares from savings plans are held as a co-ownership share and cannot be transferred to another broker; they are sold instead. And the agreement contains no securities lending clause, so your shares are not lent out.

Execution changed in 2026. Until June, orders went to LS Exchange, run under Börse Hamburg, which paid Trade Republic for the order flow. The EU ban on payment for order flow took full effect in Germany on 30 June 2026. On 2 July Trade Republic switched to a "Best Price" default for €1, where it often trades against you itself as a systematic internaliser, or "Direct Price" at a chosen exchange among 30 for €2. That ends the payments but not the conflict of interest, since Trade Republic can earn a margin on internalised trades. We found no brokerage fine from BaFin; the Italian ad fine above concerned the card and Saveback.

How to keep money safe at Trade Republic

1. Open the balance details in the app to see which partner banks and how much money market fund hold your cash.
2. Keep cash below €100,000, and lower if you already bank with one of the partner banks.
3. Treat the account as a settlement and short-term account, not the only home for large savings.
4. Turn on biometric login and never share the app PIN or confirmation codes; Trade Republic support does not ask for them.

How we scored it

Liquidity (85) is the strongest factor: a bank that barely lends and keeps customer cash at large banks. Deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary (58) is the weakest, because the cover depends on partner banks you cannot choose and does not reach the money market fund share. Capital (65) reflects solid equity for a small balance sheet but no published CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary or rating, and stability history (60) a bank licensed only since 2023.