Trade Republic Belgium: BE IBAN, taxes and limits

Trade Republic changed its nature in Belgium on 15 September. An account opened by a Belgian resident now carries an IBAN starting with BE, and the platform withholds Belgian taxes itself instead of leaving you to calculate them. The licence stays German. For the old account with a DE IBAN, a few steps are still yours to take.

Has Trade Republic become a Belgian bank?

No, it has opened a branch. The nuance matters, because it decides who supervises you and who protects you.

The register of the FSMA, Belgium's financial markets regulator, which I checked on 29 September 2026, lists Trade Republic Bank GmbH with Germany as its home country, company number 1026.069.661 and an address at 11 Rue des Colonies, Brussels. Its status as a "branch in Belgium of a credit institution governed by the law of another EEA State" is dated 7 July 2026. Before that, the platform worked here under the freedom to provide services, from Berlin, and that regime is what explained the German IBAN.

A branch is not a subsidiary. It has no licence of its own: the banking licence remains the one issued in Germany, and the difference between a licensed bank and an e-money institution is still read in Berlin. Revolut followed exactly the same path with its Belgian branch, which has issued BE IBANs since 2025 while its licence stayed in Lithuania.

German IBAN versus Belgian IBAN: the table before and after 15 September

The change fits in one column. I added Revolut on the right, because it is the only other mainstream neobank to have made the same switch, and the comparison answers half the questions people ask me.

Sources: FSMA register, Test-Achats of 15 and 29 September 2026, Belga newswire of 15 September 2026. Terms consulted on 29 September 2026.

The row that changes a Belgian investor's life the most is the TOB, the Belgian tax on stock exchange transactions. As long as the account was German, every ETF purchase triggered a monthly return to file with FPS Finance, the federal tax administration, within two months. That is the item the consumer organisation Test-Achats described as the hidden price of very low order fees, and it is the one that disappears.

What does the 3% rate really earn once withholding tax is taken?

It earns 2.10%, not 3%. The advertised rate is gross, and Trade Republic now withholds the 30% Belgian withholding tax on interest (précompte mobilier) itself. This interest-bearing current account is not a regulated savings account under Belgian rules: no tax-free slice of interest applies.

I ran the numbers on three situations, with the rates checked on 29 September 2026.

At constant rates, which no bank guarantees.

Above 50,000 euros, the net return falls back to 1.75%, and that is also what a customer who joined before the branch earns, unless they refer friends: each validated referral opens three months at 3%, up to four. Test-Achats reports that Trade Republic has announced no end date for the new-customer offer, which does not mean it is here forever. The comparison with other interest-bearing accounts is in our article on the best neobank for savings, and the withholding tax mechanics in the one on neobank savings tax in Belgium.

Your cash sits with partner banks, not with Trade Republic

This is the most misunderstood point. According to Trade Republic's help page consulted on 29 September 2026, your cash is placed in trust accounts opened with partner banks, including Citibank Europe, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Continental Europe and J.P. Morgan. Each deposit there is protected up to 100,000 euros per customer, bank by bank, by the guarantee scheme of the partner bank's country. None of these banks is Belgian: the Belgian guarantee fund plays no part in this set-up, just as it plays no part for the branch's current account.

For larger amounts, part of the money can be placed in money market funds. Those units are kept apart from Trade Republic's own assets, like ETFs, but they are not deposits: the 100,000-euro guarantee no longer applies, and a money market fund can in theory lose value. The app shows your exact exposure to each bank, and I suggest you look at it once.

The Visa card runs into Bancontact and Fraudstop

Visa Debit, free virtual card, 5 euros for a physical one. No Bancontact, the Belgian domestic debit network, so the usual refusals in car parks (Bancontact and the neobanks). Apple Pay and Google Pay are supported. Test-Achats notes that Fraudstop, the Belgian card-blocking number launched in June, does not cover Trade Republic. If your card is stolen, only the app and the in-house emergency line can block it.

Should you migrate your old German IBAN account?

Yes, if you want to stop filing tax returns yourself, but the switch does not wipe out the past. Trade Republic announces a gradual migration, at each customer's choice. As long as the German account stays open, it remains a foreign account, with every obligation that comes with it.

I have had a Trade Republic account since 2023, opened with a DE IBAN and reported to the National Bank of Belgium's Central Point of Contact, the register of accounts held by Belgian residents, in the first year. Here is the list I wrote myself for the migration:

• wait for the migration offer in the app rather than opening a second account by hand;
• note the exact closing date of the German account, which you will need for the next two declarations;
• report that closure to the Central Point of Contact online, since the account had been reported there;
• tick the foreign accounts box one more time in the tax return covering the year of closure;
• file the last TOB returns for orders placed from the German account, which in principle remain your responsibility;
• choose between automatic withholding and personal filing for the capital gains tax, before your first sale.

The last point deserves a minute's thought. With automatic withholding, Trade Republic takes 10% on each realised capital gain; without it, the calculation is yours to make in your tax return. The detailed rules are on Wikifin, the FSMA's financial education site.

Can it replace your Belgian current account?

To receive a salary and pay bills, technically yes: the Belgian IBAN ends the direct debit refusals the German IBAN used to cause, a problem covered in our article on foreign IBANs in Belgium. Beyond that, the offer stops quickly. Test-Achats lists no credit card, no personal loan, no mortgage and no insurance, and management on a smartphone only, with no desktop online banking for individuals. A withdrawal under 100 euros costs 1 euro, and an instant top-up by bank card costs 1% of the amount.

I see it as a savings and investment account that can also pay. Not as the bank where you negotiate a loan.

In short

Trade Republic remains a German bank, but its Brussels branch lets it open accounts with a Belgian IBAN and withhold Belgian taxes itself since 15 September 2026. For a new customer, 3% gross becomes 2.10% net, with no box to tick. For a long-standing customer, migrating simplifies the future but leaves two steps on the old German account. The card solves neither the Bancontact question nor the Fraudstop one, and deposit protection runs through foreign partner banks. To set it against Revolut, N26 or bunq, our comparator lines up rates and fees, and our head-to-heads Trade Republic or Revolut and Trade Republic or bunq detail the gaps, bearing in mind they were written before the Belgian branch.

This article compares fees and conditions; it is neither legal advice nor investment advice.

Sources: FSMA register, Trade Republic Bank GmbH entry, consulted on 29 September 2026; Belga newswire in La Libre, "Trade Republic ouvre une succursale en Belgique", 15 September 2026; Test-Achats Invest, "Trade Republic devient vraiment belge", 15 September 2026; Test-Achats, "Trade Republic en Belgique : le compte bancaire vaut-il le coup ?", 29 September 2026; Trade Republic help page "Où mon argent est-il conservé ?", consulted on 29 September 2026; National Bank of Belgium, Central Point of Contact guidance; Wikifin (FSMA), taxes on investments.