Is Halifax Share Dealing good for investing?
Independent review by Boring Money
Written by Boring Money
2 Mar, 2026
Investment expert's opinion
Halifax is a long-standing low-cost platform missing any bells and whistles. With a fixed admin fee of just £36 a year, it might suit existing Halifax banking customers, who know their way around a share portfolio and want somewhere convenient to hold their investments. It used to be worth a mention for its low fees, but there are other competitors now with low fixed costs (or £0 admin fees) with much better sites and apps.
*This is the view of investment expert Holly Mackay based on her first-hand customer experience as a test account holder. This does not constitute regulated advice. You can read more about Holly's investments here.
Who is Halifax Share Dealing?
Halifax Share Dealing belongs to Halifax, one of the UK’s most well-known and recognised financial service providers. It operates as a trading division of Bank of Scotland which itself is an owned subsidiary of Lloyds Bank Group.
Originally founded as a building society in the 19th century, today Halifax provides personal banking, stockbroking, insurance and investment services to millions of customers across the UK. At the heart of Halifax’s mission is “people” and doing what it can to “help and support” its customers through life’s financial challenges.
Its Share Dealing service offers two types of investment ISA, a personal pension, and a range of funds and other products to invest in which can help you grow your money.
Who is Halifax Share Dealing good for?
Halifax Share Dealing is a good choice for a confident investor who values a low-cost service above fancy functionality. It’s typically proportionately cheap for larger ISA portfolios. There are some ready-made options for the less confident investor, but the choice is limited to just three and supporting guidance and learning resources are thin.
Pros and cons
Still not quite sure if Halifax is right for you? We’ve broken down the main pros and cons in the table below. Take a look for a bird’s eye view of the key takeaways.
Investments
With Halifax, users can access to a range of investment options, including:
Shares |
Funds |
Investment trusts |
ETFs |
Bonds |
Gilts |
Ready-made investments |
Shares |
Funds |
Investment trusts |
ETFs |
Bonds |
Gilts |
Ready-made investments |
Halifax’s Investment ISA lets you invest in 3 ready-made investments. These are funds made up of a mix of assets, including shares and bonds, in different proportions.
They’re managed for you and can be a good choice for people new to investing, short on time and who don’t feel comfortable making all the decisions by themselves.
Halifax’s ready-made investments – Cautious, Balanced and Progressive - are lower, medium and medium-high risk accordingly. You can decide which fund is best for you and how much you want to invest.
The annual management charge for running the funds is 0.10%.
Accounts
Stocks & Shares ISA | Pension (SIPP) | General Investment Account (GIA) | Lifetime ISA | Junior ISA |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
Halifax Share Dealing has a Stocks & Shares ISA, and invest up to £20,000 each year completely tax-free.
With this account, you can invest in shares, funds, ETFs, investment trusts and bonds. This ISA is not managed for you by experts so will appeal to those who feel happy and confident managing their own investments.
When you open a Stocks & Shares ISA, a separate Share Dealing Account will automatically be opened for you. This will allow you to continue investing if you have reached your ISA allowance. You can continue to choose from the list of available investment options.
There is a single charge of £36 a year to hold an ISA and Share Dealing Account. For anyone aged between 18 and 25, this fee is waived. You can get started with a minimum lump sum of £2,000 or invest monthly at a minimum of £100 a month.
The Investment ISA is similar to the Stocks & Shares ISA but allows users to select from the three ready-made investment funds – Cautious, Balanced and Adventurous. It has the same annual limits as the regular Stocks & Shares ISA but is designed to be a simple, straightforward choice for investors who are short on time and happy to let the experts manage their portfolio for them.
Halifax Share Dealing service offers a personal pension (SIPP), which is administered by Scottish Widows. You can invest up to £60,000 every tax year to put towards your retirement savings in this account.
Like the ISA option, there is a large range of investments to choose from, including shares, funds, ETFs and investment trusts. For those who are unsure of what to put in their SIPP, Halifax has teamed up with Scottish Widows to offer the Ready-Made Pension, a ready-made fund “designed to get you started to meet your retirement goals if you are unsure where to invest.” It aims for steady growth over the long-term.
Investing in a SIPP through Halifax Share Dealing will cost 0.30% of the value of your pot per year, or a minimum of £5 a month. There is also a 0.10% monthly management charge.
The Halifax Share Dealing Account is a type of General Investment Account (GIA), where you can invest as much money as you want – although it is not shielded from tax.
Like the Stocks & Shares ISA, you can use the Share Dealing Account to invest in a range of options, from shares and funds to investment trusts and bonds. This account can be opened alongside a Stocks & Shares ISA for an all-in account fee of £36 per year (essentially at no extra cost).
If you’re yet to use up your £20,000 annual ISA allowance, it’s generally a good idea to focus on the regular Stocks & Shares ISA instead of the Share Dealing Account – especially seeing as you get access to the same investments either way, just one of them happens to be tax-free.
If you’ve exceeded your annual ISA allowance, however, but still want to invest, this is where the Share Dealing Account becomes a good addition to your portfolio for most investors.
Fees and charges
The cost of investing with Halifax differs depending on which account you have, what you invest in and whether or not you have a regular investment plan set up. The table below breaks it down into more detail.
Stocks & Shares ISA and Share Dealing Account Charges | |
CHARGE | AMOUNT |
Customer administration fee | £36 per year Free for 18–25 Accounts/ISAs |
Other admin charges Cash withdrawal by cheque, ad hoc statement/valuation, voiding of ISA or repair of ISA | £12.50 each |
CHAPS/Same day payment | £25.00 |
International trading Commission-free | 0% |
Foreign exchange (FX) charge | 1.25% |
Interest paid on Share Dealing/ISA cash balances | 0% |
Stocks & Shares ISA and Share Dealing Account Charges | |
CHARGE | AMOUNT |
Customer administration fee | £36 per year Free for 18–25 Accounts/ISAs |
Other admin charges Cash withdrawal by cheque, ad hoc statement/valuation, voiding of ISA or repair of ISA | £12.50 each |
CHAPS/Same day payment | £25.00 |
International trading Commission-free | 0% |
Foreign exchange (FX) charge | 1.25% |
Interest paid on Share Dealing/ISA cash balances | 0% |
SIPP Charges | |
CHARGE | AMOUNT |
Annual SIPP administration charge | 0.25%of SIPP investments, capped at £16.50/month (£198/year) |
Transfer in of another pension scheme | None |
Foreign exchange (FX) charge | 1.25% |
SIPP Charges | |
CHARGE | AMOUNT |
Annual SIPP administration charge | 0.25%of SIPP investments, capped at £16.50/month (£198/year) |
Transfer in of another pension scheme | None |
Foreign exchange (FX) charge | 1.25% |
Note that there are additional fund management charges for any funds, Investment Trusts, ETFs, and/or Halifax ready-made investments within your account(s). If you’re investing in one of Halifax’s three ready-made funds, see the section below to find out the annual charge.
Customer reviews
Customers generally find the services provided by Halifax to be of a high standard. The fees charged are thought to be reasonable and managing accounts online and using the app are easy and straightforward. However, some negative feedback says that the app and website could be updated and that there’s a limited variety of products on offer compared to other providers.
Your opinion matters!
Leave a review for Halifax
If your doing the shared Ealing account - it's good for starters and it's basic. Pros: international trades are cheap eith no fee - HOWEVER when buying the lower the exchange rate so you end up paying more per share. And when selling they inflate the exchange rate so you end up getting less per share - so they get their pound of flesh buying or selling international shares. Also prices are often incorrect with a 15 minute delay time - however the price if the stock is NEVER accurate unless you check via the buy button to see the actual price per share. There's a £36.00 annual fee to pay (they say no commission but they get their cut buy manipulating the fx rate when buying or selling). Very basic site for a new trader. But you will need to move to something better for pre & post market trading. Keep an eye on.your shares as sometimes their systems doesn't update. Also it's glitch sometimes showing current valuation short by 100's of pounds, then you have to refresh the page a few times to display current valuation (albeit 15 minutes delayed)
Read More >I don�t think they help new people joining. They just want your money so they can earn the fee
Read More >Most asked questions
Is Halifax Share Dealing safe?
Cash savings with Halifax Share Dealing are covered by the UK government’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which guarantees reimbursement up to the value of £85,000 for accounts held with Halifax. Investments by their very nature can and will go up or down in value and you can get back less than you invest.
How to close a Halifax ISA?
If you decide that you want to close your Halifax Investment ISA or Stocks & Shares ISA account, you can do so by using the online closure form if your account is empty, is completely in cash, or you have £250 or less currently invested. You can find the closure form by clicking on ‘Account Management’ and then ‘Close Account’.
If your account has more than £250 worth of investments, you must sign in to sell your investments in order to withdraw the money from your account. Once this process is complete, you can close the account in the same manner as above.
How do I check my Halifax Stocks & Shares ISA?
If you have a Stocks & Shares ISA with Halifax Share Dealing, you can view it and make changes by logging into the Halifax Online Banking website or app. Once you have done this, you should scroll past any Halifax current accounts you have until you see ‘Your investments and pensions’ and then click on this. You should now be able to see all your Halifax Share Dealing accounts and view your investments.
How easy is the Halifax website to use?
Navigating this site can be a bit frustrating. Researching shares and funds is not intuitive and the fund information, supplied by Morningstar, is factual without offering much help about what to actually pick and why. It’s difficult to zip through the website, as everything is cluttered and the content is extremely text-heavy.
Visit the Halifax Share Dealing website for more information
Glossary
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Historically, money invested for more than five years grows more than cash savings. Remember that investments can also fall, so you might not get all of your money back. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change.
