Anyone who placed an order via Gettex or Xetra at Scalable Capital this week probably did a double take: since September 1, 2026, a trade on these venues suddenly costs 1.99 euros instead of the previous 0.99 euros (Gettex) or as much as 3.99 euros (Xetra). What looks at first glance like just another isolated price change from one broker is actually the first visible consequence of a much bigger regulatory shift: the EU-wide ban on Payment for Order Flow (PFOF), which has applied without exception since July 1, 2026. Two months after that deadline, what many observers feared is now becoming visible - the era of free or near-free trading, as we knew it, is coming to an end.
What was Payment for Order Flow, exactly?
Payment for Order Flow described a model in which neobrokers such as Scalable Capital or Trade Republic did not necessarily route customers' buy and sell orders to the venue offering the best price, but instead to specific market makers - and received a rebate for doing so. For years, these rebates were the actual reason many apps could offer trades for under a euro, or even for free. Consumer advocates and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) had long criticized the model: it created a conflict of interest, since the broker was not necessarily acting in the customer's best interest, but routing orders to wherever the rebate was highest. Under the revised EU Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR), this practice is now banned across the entire EU - a step that Germany's financial regulator BaFin and the Bundesbank have explicitly welcomed.
What is actually changing at Scalable Capital
In very practical terms, this means: customers on the free "Free Broker" tier now pay a uniform 1.99 euros per order via Gettex and Xetra - previously it was 0.99 euros on Gettex and as much as 3.99 euros on Xetra, so prices were partly harmonized and partly significantly increased. Anyone ordering through the in-house EIX trading venue instead still pays only 0.99 euros. Under the paid "Prime+" subscription at 4.99 euros a month, orders of 250 euros or more via EIX remain free of commission, but the 1.99-euro fee still applies on Gettex and Xetra even with the subscription. Anyone who regularly invests smaller amounts through the "classic" exchanges is therefore paying noticeably more than they were in August.
Other neobrokers are also on the move: justTRADE overhauled its entire price list back on July 1, and now charges a base fee of 2.90 euros instead of an effective rate of roughly one euro before. Trade Republic has not yet announced a comparably drastic change to its base fee, but says it is looking at acting more as its own market maker going forward - which in practice can mean that costs no longer show up as a visible order fee, but are instead baked into the spread between the buy and sell price. That is trickier for investors, because it never appears in any fee schedule.
Why this is more than a footnote for small investors
At first glance, one extra euro per order sounds like loose change. But anyone investing via a monthly savings plan, or topping up smaller amounts more frequently, will feel the difference quickly: across twelve trades a year, the increase from 0.99 to 1.99 euros per order adds up to twelve euros in extra costs - a noticeable share of returns on small order volumes. And that was precisely the point of the free-trading promise many neobrokers made: making it easier for people with smaller budgets to get started with investing. If that calculation now has to be redone, it is worth taking a closer look at the total cost picture for many people - not just the raw order fee, but also custody charges, third-party cost flat fees, and, indeed, possible spreads.
What this means for your savings and cash deposits
The development also matters for anyone who does not put their money into securities at all, but into classic interest-bearing products instead. Many neobrokers, including both Scalable Capital and Trade Republic, have used attractive interest rates on uninvested cash balances as a way to attract customers in the first place over the past few years. If the order-flow business becomes less profitable because of the PFOF ban, it cannot be ruled out that providers will adjust elsewhere - for instance on the interest paid on settlement accounts. Anyone currently keeping money with a neobroker mainly for the interest should therefore compare terms regularly, rather than relying on a rate that looked best once and never checking again. A look at current offers for savings accounts or classic fixed-term and instant-access deposits at established banks often shows that the interest-rate landscape shifts faster than people expect - and that a neobroker's settlement account is not automatically the best home for a cash reserve.
The same applies to anyone who has deliberately bundled their securities account with a free current account at the same provider to save on fees. As trading costs rise, it is worth independently comparing the actual account itself - for example via an overview of current personal account offers - to check whether the combined package of account and brokerage is still the cheapest option, or whether separating everyday banking from securities trading now makes more sense.
Three practical steps to take now
- Choose your trading venue deliberately: at Scalable Capital, the in-house EIX venue at 0.99 euros remains noticeably cheaper than Gettex or Xetra - for most liquid ETFs and standard shares, that is no real limitation.
- Review your savings-plan frequency: if you invest small amounts monthly, work out whether switching to a larger, less frequent contribution lowers the new fixed costs as a percentage of your investment.
- Don't forget your cash balance: interest on a settlement account is not a law of nature - a regular comparison is worthwhile right now, as brokers' revenue models are shifting underneath it.
Bottom line
The PFOF ban was overdue - it removes a structural conflict of interest between brokers and their customers. But the flip side is now showing up very concretely in people's wallets: Scalable Capital is one of the first big names to noticeably raise its order fees, and other providers will either follow suit over time or quietly raise costs through spreads instead. For savers and investors, that means now is a good moment to re-sort your entire banking and brokerage setup from scratch - order fees, account charges, and interest on idle cash need to be looked at together, not in isolation. Use an independent comparison to find out whether your current mix of brokerage, current account, and cash reserves still fits you - or whether a switch is worth it after this round of price changes.