Margin Loans

At DEGIRO, we offer Margin Loans (Debit Money service), which allow you to finance your investments using your portfolio as collateral.

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Investing with Margin Loans

A Margin Loan allows you to borrow money against the securities you already hold in your DEGIRO account. You can activate a Margin Loan in your account after reviewing the precontractual information, passing the appropriateness test and accepting the terms and conditions to show you understand the product and the risks involved. If you fulfill the requirements, you can use the borrowed money from the Margin Loan to invest in securities. The amount you can borrow depends on the types and value of securities in your portfolio. Keep in mind that the more you borrow, the more risk you take on.

Risk of investing with a Margin Loan

Using Margin Loans leverages your investment, so profits and losses are amplified. Therefore, this service is generally not recommended for less experienced investors and those with a low risk tolerance.

If the collateral in your portfolio isn’t sufficient to cover the debit balance, you may receive a margin call. This means that our Risk Department will ask you to increase the collateral or decrease the debit balance. If you don’t resolve the limit breach before the given deadline, our Risk Department will close some of your positions to rectify it. If we need to intervene, additional fees can be charged.

Please make sure to always read our Client Agreement, Debit Money (Margin Loan) Conditions, Investment Services Information document about security value and risk and our Fee Schedule.

What is a Margin Loan?

A Margin Loan allows you to invest more than the money you’ve deposited into your account. It’s a loan that can only be used for investing. The amount you can borrow depends on the value and types of securities you already hold in your portfolio, which will serve as collateral. DEGIRO’s Margin Loan services take place under the conditions specified in the Debit Money (Margin Loan) Conditions.

How do Margin Loans work?

With a Margin Loan, you borrow money to invest. To better understand how Margin Loans work, let’s look at a hypothetical example showing both gain and loss scenarios, with and without margin.

In this example, you buy 100 shares of Company X at €10 and an additional 100 shares on margin. The portfolio is now worth €2000.

If you buy at €10 and the price increases to €12, your profit is amplified with a Margin Loan.

Profit

+€200

+€400

Profit without
Margin Loan

Profit with
Margin Loan

Loss

-€200

-€400

Loss without
Margin Loan

Loss with
Margin Loan

If you buy at €10 and the price decreases to €8, your loss is amplified with a Margin Loan.

4.0%

per annum, CHF

2.5%

per annum with allocation, CHF

6.25%

per annum, EUR

4.75%

per annum with allocation, EUR

Margin Loan rates

Borrowing money costs money. If you already know the amount of Margin Loan you plan to use in the coming month, you can inform us in advance by adding an allocation. In return, you will receive a reduced interest rate on the amount you have allocated. Please note that interest will be charged on the full amount allocated, whether it is used or not. Learn more about allocation in our FAQ.

Allocating funds beforehand allows you to borrow at a reduced fixed interest rate of 2.5% per annum CHF, (4.75%, EUR) instead of the normal fixed interest rate of 4.0% per annum CHF, (6.25%, EUR). Allocation is available to clients with an Active or Trader account who pass the necessary Appropriateness Test. We offer this service for multiple currencies, which can be found in the Fee Schedule under ‘Debit rates’.

Four representative sample calculations of the total cost of debit money based on different credit limits.

The interest per month calculations in this example are based on the month of January. The monthly calculations for the following months will vary with 1) the number of days in each month and 2) the amount of accrued interest of previous months added to the capital owed by the client (compound effect).

Total amount of the loan	Annual interest rate	Interest per month	Interest per year	Total amount of loan after one year
CHF 10,000	4.13%	CHF 34.50	CHF 413	CHF 10,413
CHF 25,000	4.13%	CHF 86.25	CHF 1,032	CHF 26,032
CHF 50,000	4.13%	CHF 172.51	CHF 2,064	CHF 52,064
CHF 100,000	4.13%	CHF 345	CHF 4,127	CHF 104,127

Total amount of the loan	Annual interest rate	Interest per month	Interest per year	Total amount of loan after one year
€ 10,000	6.52%	€ 53.96	€ 652	€ 10,652
€ 25,000	6.52%	€ 134.90	€ 1,631	€ 26,631
€ 50,000	6.52%	€ 269.80	€ 3,261	€ 53,261
€ 100,000	6.52%	€ 539.60	€ 6,523	€ 106,523

How much money can I borrow?

The amount you can borrow with a Margin Loan depends on the value and composition of your portfolio. Active accounts can receive a Margin Loan up to 33% of the portfolio value. Basic accounts are prohibited from access to derivatives and other product categories that involve more risk and can therefore receive a Margin Loan up to 70% of the portfolio value. Trader accounts can also receive a Margin Loan up to 70% of the portfolio value because clients with this account type have shown that they are more experienced by fulfilling the respective knowledge and experience requirements.

The general margin calculation is:

Margin = value of portfolio + cash balance – portfolio risk

With a Trader account, we will consider your portfolio risk to be lower, and the amount of margin available will be higher. See our Investment Portfolio Risk Handbook to find more about our risk calculation.

70% margin

on Basic account

Derivatives

are NOT available

33% margin

on Active account

Derivatives

are available

70% margin

on Trader account

Derivatives

are available

Go to ‘Settings’ in your account and select ‘Allocation’.

Click ‘Add allocation’.

A window will appear where you can select the currency and the amount you wish to borrow. Fill in the boxes accordingly.

Click ‘Confirm’.

How can I allocate funds beforehand?

Please note that allocating funds is only offered to clients with an Active or Trader account who have completed the Appropriateness Test. See the FAQ for more information.

Please note: when investing with borrowed money, the leverage effect is applicable and profits and losses are therefore amplified. This means that you can end up losing more money than what you initially invested. Therefore, we advise you to only invest in those products if they match your risk tolerance and your financial situation.

Note: Investing involves risks of loss and currency fluctuations. If you invest with this product, you may lose some or all of the money you invest. You can lose (a part of) your invested funds. This is not investment advice. We advise you to only invest in financial products that match your knowledge and experience. Indirect costs may apply (e.g., spreads, fund charges). The value of your investment may go down as well as up. The information contained on this page does not take into account the customer's individual financial and/or tax needs. A margin loan is binding on you and must be repaid. Make sure you are able to repay the credit in case of security value fluctuations.

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