Invest in US stocks with £0 commission

Take a look at our helpful how-to guide on ‘Buying your first share’. This explains how to buy shares in the app in 7 simple steps. Just scroll down on the home screen in the app and tap ‘Get started’ to see our how-to guides.

We apply an additional FX fee spread of 0.50% to the current conversion rate at the time of execution. Here’s an example of how we calculate the CMC Invest FX fee for a conversion from GBP to USD:

We take the current exchange rate of 1.321 and multiply it by 0.005 (0.50%) to get our CMC Invest fee rate = 0.00660. We always round this number to 5 decimal points.

This rate is then applied to the money you want to convert to get the actual fee amount taken by us.

£100 (GBP) x 0.0066 = $0.66 (USD)

So, you'll get $132.10 (USD) from the simple FX conversion, minus our fee of $0.66 (USD), which is $131.44 (USD).

Buy limit orders allow you to take advantage of downward moves in a stock price.

To set one up:

- Tap 'Buy' when viewing the stock

- Tap the order type dropdown menu at the top and select limit order by quantity or by value, depending on whether you want to buy a number of shares or invest a cash amount

- Enter the number of shares or cash amount

- Set the target price you want your limit order to be triggered at

- Choose an expiry timeframe

- Tap ‘Review order’. If you’re happy, tap ‘Place buy limit order’

You’ll find details of your pending limit order by going to the account you used to place the order, then selecting the ‘Pending orders’ tab.

Just navigate to your profile in the app by tapping on the icon in the top-left of the home screen. Then select ‘Your plan’, swipe right to the plan you want to switch to tap on the switch button and follow the instructions. You’ll see the details relating to your new plan, including information about any fees. Once you’ve confirmed you’d like to go ahead, we’ll send you a confirmation in the message centre. It’s as simple as that.

If you want to hold US shares, and you’re not a US citizen, you need to complete a
W-8 BEN form. If you haven't completed this form before you try to buy US shares for the first time, you’ll be taken through our online form within our app.

If you’re a US citizen, you’ll need to complete a W-9 form (see below).

US dividends are paid net of a 30% US 'withholding tax' (in the same way that UK dividends will have tax deducted at source). Because of tax agreements between the UK and the US, completing a W-8 BEN form will reduce the tax deducted from US dividends to 15% in a general investment account and stocks & shares ISA, and 0% in a SIPP.

Settlement is the operational process that takes place when the buyer makes payment to the seller and the seller delivers the investment to the buyer.

To be able to withdraw money to your bank account following the sale of an investment, the cash must be settled. Settlements will be made to or from your Account. Different types of Investments have different settlement timescales. Dealings in Mutual Funds will be carried out in accordance with the terms and timescales determined by the relevant Mutual Funds manager. Transactions in securities will usually settle with the stock exchange two (2) Business Days after an Order is executed, which is known as “T+2”.

Effective 28 May 2024, transactions in US securities will settle with the stock exchange one (1) Business Day after an order is executed, which is known as “T+1”.