MeDirect vs Saxo Bank in 2025

September 2, 2025
8 minutes

Choosing a broker is an important step when investing. There are many different options available, so picking the right one for you is challenging. We compare investing in ETFs through MeDirect and Saxo, two brokers available to Belgian investors. The goal of this article is to help you find out which broker is best for you for investing in ETFs. We’ll compare the brokers based on their fees, convenience, the ease of setting up an account and importantly the safety of your assets.

The overview

The table shows an overview of how MeDirect compares to Saxo for different criteria. Read on to get the full details!

MeDirect

✅ Pros of MeDirect ❌ Cons of MeDirect
Handles all taxes for you No fractional shares
No commission on ETFs Ill-suited for monthly investing
High-interest savings accounts Expensive to move your investments elsewhere

Story of MeDirect 🇧🇪

MeDirect's website is easy and clear to understand.

MeDirect was originally started back in 2004 and operated under the name "Mediterrean Bank". The current form of MeDirect was created in 2013 and initially offered a new type of savings account specifically for Belgians. They have around 80,000 clients in Belgium and more than 3 billion euros under management. You can do basic investing through ETFs, funds and bonds using their brokerage service.

Fees for ETFs

Since August 2025, MeDirect made all ETFs free of commission. Yes, that's right. Naturally, they make their money elsewhere, like having you trade in individual stocks (which aren't free, resist the temptation!) or their active funds.

Buying €1,000 of the popular IWDA ETF will cost nothing.

Convenience

Savings plan ❌ (only through MeManaged)
Fractional shares ❌ No
Customer Support ✅ FAQ, phone, contact form, email
❌ No chat
TOB ✅ MeDirect handles it
Dividend tax ✅ MeDirect handles it
Reynders tax ✅ MeDirect handles it
Declare account to the NBB ✅ No need

MeDirect, a Belgian-based broker, handles the transaction tax (TOB) and automatically withholds and declares the 30% dividend tax on shares and distributing funds as well as the Reynders tax on ETF profits. They don't offer automated savings plans unless you use MeManaged. MeDirect does not support fractional shares, leading to higher investment costs and potentially necessitating less frequent, larger investment contributions.

Setting up an account

🕰️ Time to open an account ✅ Fast if you use itsme
🙋 itsme ✅ Yes
📱 Mobile app ✅ Yes
💻 Web app ✅ Yes
🙂 Ease of use ⭐ 3/5
🧒 Children accounts ❌ No
💑 Joint accounts ✅ Yes
💼 Business accounts ❌ No

Setting up a new MeDirect account is smooth thanks to itsme, reducing the need for manual form filling and ID verification. MeDirect's recent redesign has improved clarity and user experience, yet the platform still presents complexities and excessive details for average investors, especially those focused on buy-and-hold strategies and ETF investing. While MeDirect allows the creation of joint accounts, it does not offer the option to set up accounts for children, with a possible workaround being the creation of multiple portfolios in the primary account holder's name. You cannot open an account for your business.

Safety

Regulator FSMA
Past issues with the regulator ✅ None
Protection of financial assets €20,000
Cash safeguarded by deposit guarantee €100,000
Securities lending ✅ No
Payment for order flow ✅ No

MeDirect, regulated by the FSMA in Belgium, has no known issues with any regulator. MeDirect does not engage in securities lending or payment for order flow (PFOF), practices which can introduce counterparty risks and conflicts of interest.

The full review

Read our review to get all the details about investing through MeDirect.

Saxo Bank

✅ Pros of Saxo ❌ Cons of Saxo
Handles all taxes for you Built for traders
Monthly saving plans No fractional shares
Low fees

Story of Saxo 🇩🇰

Saxo has a focus on traders.

The story of Saxo begins with its founding in Copenhagen in 1992. The company was established with a vision to make global financial markets more accessible to a wide audience. By 1998, Saxo Group had launched one of the first online trading platforms in Europe, offering professional-grade tools and easy access to global financial markets for anyone interested in investing. They serve over 1m customers and have over €100bn under management. In 2018, they purchased the popular online broker BinckBank for €428m. All BinckBank customers were automatically switched over to the Saxo platform for trading.

Fees for ETFs

Saxo is one of the cheapest brokers in Europe. To buy €1,000 worth of IWDA, the cost is €2 for the transaction fee.

Convenience

Savings plan ❌ No
Fractional shares ❌ No
Customer support ✅ FAQ, email, phone
🇮🇹 Taxes ✅ Adminstered regime
🇧🇪 TOB ✅ Saxo handles it
🇧🇪 Dividend tax ✅ Saxo handles it
🇧🇪 Reynders tax ✅ Saxo handles it
🇧🇪 Declare your account to the NBB ✅ No need

Saxo Bank, catering to experienced traders, supports a wide array of complex order types. Unfortunately it doesn't handle fractional shares making regular investing less practical although they have recently introduced saving plans. Depending on where you're registered in Europe, Saxo Bank assists investors. For example, in Belgium, it helps with transaction taxes, dividend taxes, and the Reynders tax on ETF profits, and due to its direct presence in Belgium, customers don't need to declare their accounts to the Belgian National Bank.

Curvo's monthly auto-invest may be a better option than Saxo's AutoInvest (saving plans) if you want to fully automate your investments. We support fractional shares, meaning all your money is invested. You don't have to worry about the price of the ETF and you never leave cash on the side doing nothing. Secondly, we work with direct debit, meaning we automatically debit the amount from your bank account every first of the month.

Setting up an account

🕰️ Time to open an account ✅ Within a few days
📱 Mobile app ✅ Yes
💻 Web app ✅ Yes
🙂 Ease of use ⭐ 2/5
🧒 Children accounts ❌ No
💑 Joint accounts ✅ Yes
💼 Business accounts ✅ Yes

Setting up an account with Saxo is streamlined though approval may take a few days. While Saxo does not provide children accounts, it does offer the option to set up joint and business accounts.

Safety

Regulator DFSA (Denmark)
Past issues with the regulator ❌ Yes
Protection of financial assets €20,000
Cash safeguarded by deposit guarantee €100,000
Securities lending ❌ Yes (opt-in)
Payment for order flow ✅ No

Saxo, with its primary regulator being the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (DFSA), continues to operate under a Dutch banking license after acquiring BinckBank. Saxo participates in securities lending with an opt-in policy for transparency, and does not engage in payment for order flow (PFOF).

The full review

Learn more about the pros and cons of investing through Saxo in our review.

Curvo: easier than a broker

Brokers push you to trade and to pick individual companies to invest in. Rather than picking individual stocks such as Amazon or Tesla, index funds are a way to buy the whole market, across all sectors and regions of the world. Essentially, you own a small portion of thousands of companies throughout the world. Instead of betting on a particular company, you are placing a bet on the global economy.

Rather than having to pick the right stocks or ETFs among the thousands available through Bolero or MeDirect, you invest in a portfolio that is tailored to you and your goals. These portfolios are composed of globally diversified index funds, meaning you earn a piece of the growth of the global economy, and they're best suited to make the most of your savings long term. And they're secure as they fall under the supervision of the regulator in the Netherlands (AFM).

How Curvo works
Investing through Curvo is an easy way to invest well in Belgium.

We believe that investing is an important tool for our generation to improve our financial well-being and to prepare for our future. We are building Curvo to fulfil that vision, by making good investing easy and accessible to all:

  • Diversified portfolio set up for you: The best portfolio for you is built based on your time horizon and financial goals. Simply answer a short questionnaire and you’ll get everything set up for you.
  • Automated savings plans: Through Curvo’s app you can set up a monthly contribution from €50. That means that money is automatically invested for you in your portfolio. Put your savings on autopilot!
  • Fractional shares: All the money you send towards your portfolio is fully invested. No cash is left on the side.
  • No TOB 🇧🇪 : Significant savings as the portfolios aren’t liable for the Belgian transaction tax (or "TOB"). This saves you between 0.12% and 1.32% for every time you buy or sell!
  • Sustainable investments: Your investments focus on one guiding principle: don’t invest in companies that are considered destructive to the planet. This means that sectors like non-renewable energy, vice products, weapons and controversial companies are all excluded.
  • Project yourself into the future: Through Curvo you can see how much your portfolio is expected to be worth in the future. You can answer questions like “how will increasing my monthly contribution by €50, €100 or €200 affect my long-term savings?” to give a concrete idea for the “future you”.

Learn more on how it compares to investing through a broker.

Summary

In this article we highlighted the key differences between MeDirect and Saxo, two brokers accessible to Belgians. MeDirect is clearly the most cost-effective way of investing your savings as it's free for ETF investing. But cost is not the only factor to take in consideration when you’re putting your savings to work. We built Curvo to make good investing easy and accessible to all Belgians, and we explained its benefits. Feel free to explore Curvo's app if you wish to learn more.