iWeb (now Scottish Widows Share Dealing)

The fee structure is refreshingly simple. Verified against the Scottish Widows charges page as of April 2026:

Platform fees:

• Stocks & Shares ISA: £0 per year
• Share Dealing Account (GIA): £0 per year
• SIPP: 0.25% of investment value, capped at £16.50/month (£198/year maximum)

Trading costs:

• UK shares and funds: £5 per online trade
• Regular Investment Plan: Free — zero commission
• International trades: No dealing commission, but 1.5% FX charge applies
• Dividend reinvestment: 2% of dividend, capped at £5
• TradePlans setup: £2 per TradePlan (Share Dealing Account only — deducted from dealing charge when trade executes)

Other fees:

• Transfers in or out: Free
• Paper statements: £12.50
• CHAPS payments: £25 (£30 for SIPP)
• Sell-out dealing commission: £10 (£9.50 for SIPP)
• ISA voiding/repair: £25 per service
• Stamp Duty: 0.5% on UK share purchases (government tax, not a platform fee)
• Spanish Financial Transaction Tax: 0.2% on certain Spanish shares
• Panel on Takeovers and Mergers levy: £1.50 on trades over £10,000

The zero platform fee is genuine — not a promotional offer, not capped at a certain portfolio size, not contingent on making a minimum number of trades. It applies to ISAs and dealing accounts regardless of how much you hold.

The hidden cost: Cash held in your ISA or Share Dealing Account earns 0% interest. For SIPP cash, Scottish Widows retains between 0.70% and 1.20% of interest earned. This is how they subsidise the low trading fees. With the Bank of England base rate at 4.50% as recently as February 2025 and now at 3.75%, that's a meaningful opportunity cost if you hold large cash balances. Keep uninvested cash in a dedicated savings account or cash ISA instead.

The platform offers four account types through Scottish Widows Share Dealing:

• Stocks & Shares ISA — Up to £20,000 per tax year, tax-free gains and income. Opening an ISA automatically creates a Share Dealing Account at no extra cost.
• Share Dealing Account (GIA) — For investing beyond your ISA allowance. No annual fee, no investment limit.
• Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) — 0.25% annual charge capped at £16.50/month. Free setup, free transfers, free drawdown. Instant basic-rate tax relief on contributions.
• Ready-Made Investments — Managed portfolios for hands-off investors. From £50/month or £500 lump sum. Available as ISA, Investment Account, or Pension.

What's missing: no Junior ISA, no Lifetime ISA, no Cash ISA. If you need the LISA's 25% government bonus or want to save for a child with a Junior ISA, you'll need another provider.

The investment range covers UK shares (London Stock Exchange), international shares, over 2,500 funds, ETFs, investment trusts, and bonds including gilts. Scottish Widows recently launched a Fund Select List — a curated range picked by their investment team, designed as a starting point for investors who find 2,500+ funds overwhelming. They've also partnered with iShares by BlackRock for an ETF Quicklist covering 600+ ETFs.

The range is solid but not market-leading. Fidelity offers 5,000+ funds; Hargreaves Lansdown has the widest selection in the UK. But 2,500 funds covers every major index tracker from Vanguard, iShares, and Legal & General — which is all most buy-and-hold investors actually need.

The free Regular Investment Plan is the most underrated feature on this platform — and possibly in the entire UK broker market.

Set up a monthly contribution of £50, £200, or £2,000 into any fund or ETF, and you pay zero commission. Not reduced commission. Zero. Combined with the zero platform fee on ISAs, a disciplined monthly investor pays literally nothing beyond the fund manager's own ongoing charges.

Here's what that looks like over 10 years. Assume you invest £500/month into a global index tracker with a 0.12% ongoing charge:

• Scottish Widows Share Dealing: £0/year platform + £0 dealing = £0 platform cost. You only pay the fund's 0.12% OCF.
• AJ Bell: £150/year platform (0.25% on £60k average) + £18 dealing (£1.50 × 12) = £168/year
• Hargreaves Lansdown: £270/year platform (0.45% on £60k average) + £18 dealing (£1.50 × 12) = £288/year

Over 10 years, the cumulative saving versus Hargreaves Lansdown is roughly £2,880 in platform fees alone — before you even account for the compounding effect of keeping that money invested. That £2,880 invested at 7% annual returns grows to over £3,900.

The Regular Investment Plan works by batching orders. Your money goes in on a set date each month, and the platform executes the trade. You don't choose the exact price — but for long-term investors using pound-cost averaging, the price on any given day barely matters. What matters is the £0 cost of getting your money into the market every month.

The debate between lump-sum investing and drip-feeding is real, but on this platform the maths strongly favour regular monthly contributions. When drip-feeding costs nothing, the behavioural discipline it enforces is pure upside.

The SIPP deserves its own section because the maths gets interesting at scale.

At 0.25% with a £16.50/month cap, the effective percentage fee drops as your pot grows:

• £20,000 pot: 0.25% = £50/year
• £50,000 pot: 0.25% = £125/year
• £79,200 pot: 0.25% = £198/year (you've hit the cap)
• £100,000 pot: effectively 0.198%
• £250,000 pot: effectively 0.079%
• £500,000 pot: effectively 0.040%

Once your SIPP exceeds roughly £79,200, every additional pound you add reduces your effective fee rate. At £250,000, you're paying less than 0.08% — cheaper than Vanguard's 0.15% and a fraction of Hargreaves Lansdown's 0.45%.

All drawdown options are free: flexi-access, capped drawdown, UFPLS lump sums, annuity purchase, converting from capped to flexi-access, and even payments on death or pension sharing on divorce. Transfers in and out cost nothing. This makes it a serious contender for consolidating workplace pensions — read our SIPP guide for more on how pension tax relief works, or see how it compares to AJ Bell's SIPP drawdown costs.

If you're weighing up pension versus ISA for retirement savings, the SIPP's tax relief combined with these low fees makes it hard to ignore. A higher-rate taxpayer putting £10,000 into this SIPP gets £2,500 of tax relief at just £198/year maximum — a 12.5x return on fees before any investment growth.

One quirk for legacy customers: if you opened a SIPP with iWeb before 25 October 2024, different charges may apply. Check the Scottish Widows charges page for details.

Why it wins:

Zero ISA platform fee is the headline, but the Regular Investment Plan is the genuine differentiator. Free monthly investing into any fund means a disciplined saver pays nothing to build wealth. Combined with the zero platform fee, the total cost of ownership for a passive investor is just the fund's own OCF — typically 0.06% to 0.23% for index trackers.

Transfers are free both ways — unusual for SIPPs, where exit fees are still common. The platform is FCA-regulated (register entry 183332) and covered by the FSCS up to £85,000 per eligible claim. Being backed by Lloyds Banking Group provides institutional stability that newer fintechs can't match.

The new Fund Select List adds genuine value for investors overwhelmed by 2,500+ fund choices. Rather than analysis paralysis, you get an expert-curated shortlist as a starting point.

Where it falls short:

The 0% interest on ISA and dealing account cash is a genuine cost. With the Bank of England base rate at 3.75%, holding £10,000 in cash inside your account costs you £375/year in foregone interest. Some platforms — Interactive Investor, for instance — pay interest on cash balances. Solution: only hold what you intend to invest and park the rest in a cash ISA or savings account.

The research tools are basic. If you want analyst ratings, detailed fund comparisons, or watchlist alerts, Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell are in a different league. The Scottish Widows Share Dealing app exists but is still maturing — the platform now actively promotes the app and encourages mobile trading, but it's not competing with the likes of Freetrade or Trading 212 on mobile UX.

The 1.5% FX charge on international trades is expensive. No dealing commission sounds good until you realise 1.5% on a £5,000 international trade costs £75 — far more than paying a flat dealing fee plus a smaller FX margin elsewhere. Interactive Brokers charges a fraction of this. If international shares are a significant part of your portfolio, this platform is the wrong choice.

Annual cost on a £30,000 Stocks & Shares ISA making 6 trades per year:

• Trading 212: £0 platform + £0 dealing = £0/year (but limited fund range, newer platform)
• Scottish Widows Share Dealing: £0 platform + £30 dealing = £30/year
• Vanguard Investor: £48 platform (£4/month) + £0 dealing (Vanguard funds) = £48/year (Vanguard funds only)
• AJ Bell: £75 platform (0.25%) + £23.70 dealing = £98.70/year
• Interactive Investor: £143.88 platform + £23.88 dealing = £167.76/year (includes 1 free trade/month)
• Hargreaves Lansdown: £135 platform (0.45%) + £71.70 dealing = £206.70/year

Scottish Widows Share Dealing's own five-year comparison shows a typical customer pays £470 in total charges over five years versus £1,316 at Hargreaves Lansdown — a saving of £846.

The sweet spot is clear: if you want a broad fund range from an established, FCA-regulated platform and you're not trading internationally, Scottish Widows Share Dealing is the cheapest option that isn't a fintech startup. Trading 212 is technically free but offers fewer funds and doesn't have the decades of institutional backing.

For investors comparing Stocks and Shares ISA providers, the gap matters most at scale. On a £100,000 portfolio, the annual saving versus Hargreaves Lansdown grows to £450 — and that's before accounting for compound growth on those saved fees over 20 or 30 years.

With only days left before the 5 April ISA deadline, choosing the cheapest platform now could save you thousands over the life of the account. If you're still deciding between cash ISA safety and equities growth, the zero platform fee on this Stocks & Shares ISA makes the equities case even stronger.

For the full picture on AJ Bell's strengths, read our AJ Bell review — it's the natural step up if you want an app and research tools.

Use Scottish Widows Share Dealing if you:

• Buy index funds and hold them. The zero platform fee plus free regular investing is unbeatable for passive investors building wealth over decades.
• Have a large ISA portfolio. The bigger your pot, the more you save versus percentage-based platforms. At £250,000, you're saving over £1,000/year compared to Hargreaves Lansdown.
• Want to consolidate pensions cheaply. The SIPP's £198/year cap makes it one of the cheapest self-invested pensions for pots above £80,000.
• Value simplicity over features. You don't need 15 research tools you'll never open.
• Use the ISA allowance systematically through monthly contributions.

Look elsewhere if you:

• Trade international shares regularly. The 1.5% FX charge is a deal-breaker for active international investors.
• Want research and education. Hargreaves Lansdown or Fidelity are far better for investors who want guidance.
• Need a LISA or Junior ISA. Not available here.
• Keep large cash balances. The 0% interest means you're subsidising everyone else's cheap trades.
• Want a slick mobile experience. The app is functional but not in the same league as Freetrade or Trading 212.

The rebrand from iWeb to Scottish Widows Share Dealing changed the paint, not the engine. For independent guidance on choosing a platform, see MoneyHelper's investing pages. For the full ISA platform comparison, we've ranked every major provider by fees at different portfolio sizes.

Regulatory note: Scottish Widows Schroder Personal Wealth Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA register 183332). Eligible deposits protected up to £85,000 by the FSCS.

Capital at risk. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Always do your own research or consult a qualified financial adviser before making investment decisions.

With the ISA deadline on 5 April, now is the time to use your £20,000 allowance — iWeb's £0 platform fee means more of it stays invested.