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Scottish Widows has taken over iWeb and offers stocks and shares Isas, Sipps and income drawdown.
You need a minimum investment of £20 to get started using Scottish Widows.
Please note that this article is for information purposes only and doesn't constitute advice. Please refer to the particular T&Cs of an investment platform before committing to any financial products.
Does Scottish Widows offer the best stocks and shares Isa?
Recommended Provider
Scottish Widows
Great scores from its customers (78%), and from us for its low fees (78%) and decent asset range (36%) meant Scottish Widows is a Which? Recommended Provider and a Great Value provider.
If you're thinking of using Scottish Widows to take an income from your pension in a drawdown plan, read our comparison of pension drawdown plans and charges.
This applies to each trade of investments denominated in another currency, for example US stocks, on top of fund charges.
1.5%
Scottish Widows pay no interest on uninvested cash in a stocks and shares Isa.
'Cost-effective, especially if you don't trade regularly'
Megan Thomas, Which? investments writer, says:
Scottish Widows (formerly iWeb) is a Which? Recommended Provider and a Great Value pick for 2026-27.
Scottish Widows doesn't charge an annual platform fee, and applies a reasonable trading charge of £5 per trade (though this also applies to funds, which is more than you'd pay elsewhere).
This means that its fees are the same regardless of the value of your investments, which can benefit investors with high-value investments in particular. If you're not planning to make regular purchases, you'll pay nothing.
It's worth watching out for the high foreign exchange fees, though, at 1.5%. It's the highest you'll pay for an international trade on any platform, although Scottish Widows does waive its usual £5 trading fee for these.
Scottish Widows is popular with its customers and picked up two five-star ratings for ease of use and value for money.
What do customers say about Scottish Widows?
Scottish Widows customers scored it 78% – the third-highest score of any platform in our survey.
Comments from Scottish Widows customers who took part in our survey include:
'I can do exactly what I want to do on their website, and it works well. Costs are very small, the information is all there, although the route to get to it can be counterintuitive/difficult. I have not had any serious problems with the site in the six years I have been using it.'
'Low cost. Wide range of investments. Website is not bad, although "research" information a bit limited and it signs you out too quickly, meaning you have to keep signing back in if trying to stay connected for more than a few minutes.'
'It is very easy to use for the purposes I need, very cost-effective finding what I consider good prices for buying and selling, and no flashing adverts everywhere.'
Visit Scottish Widows to find out more about its accounts, services and investment options.
Scottish Widows customer scores in more detail
Aspect of service
Star rating
Customer service
★★★★☆
Ease of use
★★★★★
Information on investments
★★☆☆☆
Value for money
★★★★★
These results are based on a January 2026 online survey of 3,053 adults – members of the Which? Connect panel and members of the public – who told us about 4,146 experiences with stocks and shares Isas. Scottish Widows results based on sample size of 68.
Is Scottish Widows safe?
Scottish Widows is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
If Scottish Widows went bust and its other arrangements to protect your money failed, the FSCS will cover up to £85,000 of investments per person per platform. You can claim for free online at fscs.org.uk – there's no reason to use a claims management company.
Our overall score is based on a combination of customer score, fees score, and assets score.
We don't analyse the performance of investments listed by investment platforms, as different investors will opt for different investments.
Customer score and ratings
We surveyed 3,053 investors – members of the Which? Connect panel and of the public – who gave 4,146 reviews of stocks and shares Isas in January 2026.
Each platform must get at least 30 responses to receive a customer score, which is based on overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend.
The customer score makes up 60% of the overall score.
We also ask investors to rate their current platform for customer service, ease of use, information on investments, and value for money.
Fees score
The fees score uses snapshots of account and transaction fees at £5,000, £10,000, £25,000, £50,000, £100,000, £250,000, and £500,000. The fees assume four purchases and four sales in a year, spaced out in across months.
Fees are weighted higher closer to £50,000 as this is close to the average portfolio size, according to HMRC data.
The scores are assigned relative to the cheapest platform which would receive a score of 100%.
The fees score makes up 30% of the overall score.
Assets score
The assets score adds together all of the assets available within a stocks and shares Isa and assigns a score relative to the maximum out of the providers which receives 100%.
The assets score makes up 10% of the overall score.
To be considered to be a Which? Recommended Provider (WRP), the platform needs to have an overall score of 70% or higher.
Companies that reach this score are excluded if they're among the top 25% of the most expensive platforms across our scenarios, based on our fees analysis. Platforms are not eligible for WRP status if they receive a two-star rating or lower in any of our categories.
We also apply statistical tests that place the platforms into ‘bands’. Only the platforms in the highest two bands – the ones that really stand out – can be a WRP.
We will not give Which? Recommended Provider status to platforms that offer CFD trading.
To be eligible for our Great Value recommendation, platforms must be in our top three customer score bands and among the 25% least expensive in the asset categories they offer (any combination of funds, shares, or ETFs).
This article uses insights from the Which? Connect panel, collected from research activities with our members. Find out how to get involved
