eToro announced today (Thursday) the launch of a stock lending program that will allow its users in the UK and Europe to earn passive income by lending their stocks to borrowers. The Israeli fintech is thus following in the footsteps of its competitors in the online retail trading market, including Robinhood, which has been offering similar solutions for some time.
Passive Income with eToro
The initiative represents a significant expansion of eToro’s existing relationship with BNY, which will act as the custodian for the new offering. Stock lending platform EquiLend will identify potential borrowers and facilitate the lending process.
“Stock lending has traditionally been the preserve of large financial institutions and it’s been much harder for retail investors to earn passive income in this way,” said Yossi Brandes, VP of Execution Services at eToro.
“Leveraging BNY’s Global Clearing services, we want to level the playing field by enabling millions of eToro users across the UK and Europe to engage with stock lending in an easy and transparent way,” he added.
The program will initially be available to higher-tier eToro Club members—those with Platinum, Platinum+, and Diamond status—before being extended to other users at a later date.
eToro has been in the spotlight recently due to its planned IPO on Nasdaq under the ticker ETOR. The latest market disruption caused by Donald Trump’s tariff announcements has led the company to pause its IPO roadshows as it “evaluates market conditions.”
How It Works
Users who choose to participate must opt in, after which their entire portfolio of eligible stock positions will be considered for lending. Only whole unit “real” stock positions qualify. CFDs and fractional shares are excluded.
Participating users will receive monthly statements tracking their income when their stocks are successfully loaned out. Securities with low market liquidity, high volatility , and high demand are more likely to be borrowed and generate higher earnings.
While stocks are on loan, users temporarily transfer ownership to borrowers and forfeit voting rights. However, they continue to receive dividends and retain the ability to sell their stocks or opt out of the program at any time without incurring costs.
How Mach Can You Earn
While not explicitly detailed in the initial announcement, eToro has provided a formula in its help center for calculating potential earnings.
“Participants will receive monthly payments, equivalent to 50% of the net revenue eToro earns and receives from our partners for these lending transactions. The actual income from stock lending will likely vary from month to month depending on the market demand for the stock,” eToro explains in their FAQ.
The final values will depend on which assets are lent, the number of shares, and the variable lending fee, which fluctuates due to market supply and demand.
In eToro’s example, they indicate that the lending fee rate is 1%, the facilitation and maintenance cost is 15%, and eToro’s revenue share is 50% (remember those values are not fixed). The example referenced a relatively substantial investment of 2,000 Tesla shares at a price of $350 each, totaling $700,000. How much does eToro offer for a loan lasting 112 days (nearly 4 months) with this amount? Just over $925.
Is that a lot? Considering that the funds are already tied up in stocks, it’s certainly a nice bonus and additional “dividend” from owning shares. However, for retail investors with typically much smaller portfolios, the profits will likely be rather symbolic.
For comparison, the stock lending program introduced by Swissquote, which has been functioning since 2024, offers an annual interest rate of over 5% for selected, most popular stocks. However, looking at Robinhood’s offering, which implemented a similar solution in 2022, the terms are very comparable. The same applies to the Stock Yield Enhancement Program (SYEP) Derivatives introduced by Interactive Brokers in 2023.
Therefore, it can be concluded that eToro is not deviating from market averages in this regard.
Expanding Financial Access
Through BNY’s Global Clearing platform, eToro’s users can access over 19 exchanges globally, with integrated solutions for clearing, custody, settlement, execution, and financing.
“We are pleased to expand our relationship with eToro, supporting a holistic solution set across clearing, settlement , custody, foreign exchange, cash management,” Victor O’Laughlen, Head of Global Clearing at BNY, commented on the expansion. “This development represents the very best of eToro, Equilend and the heritage and innovation of BNY’s world-class platform.”
eToro is providing educational resources on its platform to help users understand potential income opportunities and risks associated with stock lending.
Dan Dougherty, Managing Director, Global Head of Sales & Account Management at EquiLend, noted that the collaboration “marks a significant advancement in the securities lending market,” enabling eToro to enhance its services with a fully paid lending program.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued guidance noting that while securities lending may generate extra returns, it can also introduce additional risks, including counterparty and collateral shortfall risk. The authority unveiled some measures in 2023 to curb securities lending to retail investors.
As FinanceMagnates.com informed this week, Shir Shalom, who led various projects related to risk management at eToro, has announced her departure from the financial trading platform after serving nearly four years in various leadership roles. “Forever an eTorian,” she wrote on her socials.
eToro announced today (Thursday) the launch of a stock lending program that will allow its users in the UK and Europe to earn passive income by lending their stocks to borrowers. The Israeli fintech is thus following in the footsteps of its competitors in the online retail trading market, including Robinhood, which has been offering similar solutions for some time.
Passive Income with eToro
The initiative represents a significant expansion of eToro’s existing relationship with BNY, which will act as the custodian for the new offering. Stock lending platform EquiLend will identify potential borrowers and facilitate the lending process.
“Stock lending has traditionally been the preserve of large financial institutions and it’s been much harder for retail investors to earn passive income in this way,” said Yossi Brandes, VP of Execution Services at eToro.
“Leveraging BNY’s Global Clearing services, we want to level the playing field by enabling millions of eToro users across the UK and Europe to engage with stock lending in an easy and transparent way,” he added.
The program will initially be available to higher-tier eToro Club members—those with Platinum, Platinum+, and Diamond status—before being extended to other users at a later date.
eToro has been in the spotlight recently due to its planned IPO on Nasdaq under the ticker ETOR. The latest market disruption caused by Donald Trump’s tariff announcements has led the company to pause its IPO roadshows as it “evaluates market conditions.”
How It Works
Users who choose to participate must opt in, after which their entire portfolio of eligible stock positions will be considered for lending. Only whole unit “real” stock positions qualify. CFDs and fractional shares are excluded.
Participating users will receive monthly statements tracking their income when their stocks are successfully loaned out. Securities with low market liquidity, high volatility , and high demand are more likely to be borrowed and generate higher earnings.
While stocks are on loan, users temporarily transfer ownership to borrowers and forfeit voting rights. However, they continue to receive dividends and retain the ability to sell their stocks or opt out of the program at any time without incurring costs.
How Mach Can You Earn
While not explicitly detailed in the initial announcement, eToro has provided a formula in its help center for calculating potential earnings.
“Participants will receive monthly payments, equivalent to 50% of the net revenue eToro earns and receives from our partners for these lending transactions. The actual income from stock lending will likely vary from month to month depending on the market demand for the stock,” eToro explains in their FAQ.
The final values will depend on which assets are lent, the number of shares, and the variable lending fee, which fluctuates due to market supply and demand.
In eToro’s example, they indicate that the lending fee rate is 1%, the facilitation and maintenance cost is 15%, and eToro’s revenue share is 50% (remember those values are not fixed). The example referenced a relatively substantial investment of 2,000 Tesla shares at a price of $350 each, totaling $700,000. How much does eToro offer for a loan lasting 112 days (nearly 4 months) with this amount? Just over $925.
Is that a lot? Considering that the funds are already tied up in stocks, it’s certainly a nice bonus and additional “dividend” from owning shares. However, for retail investors with typically much smaller portfolios, the profits will likely be rather symbolic.
For comparison, the stock lending program introduced by Swissquote, which has been functioning since 2024, offers an annual interest rate of over 5% for selected, most popular stocks. However, looking at Robinhood’s offering, which implemented a similar solution in 2022, the terms are very comparable. The same applies to the Stock Yield Enhancement Program (SYEP) Derivatives introduced by Interactive Brokers in 2023.
Therefore, it can be concluded that eToro is not deviating from market averages in this regard.
Expanding Financial Access
Through BNY’s Global Clearing platform, eToro’s users can access over 19 exchanges globally, with integrated solutions for clearing, custody, settlement, execution, and financing.
“We are pleased to expand our relationship with eToro, supporting a holistic solution set across clearing, settlement , custody, foreign exchange, cash management,” Victor O’Laughlen, Head of Global Clearing at BNY, commented on the expansion. “This development represents the very best of eToro, Equilend and the heritage and innovation of BNY’s world-class platform.”
eToro is providing educational resources on its platform to help users understand potential income opportunities and risks associated with stock lending.
Dan Dougherty, Managing Director, Global Head of Sales & Account Management at EquiLend, noted that the collaboration “marks a significant advancement in the securities lending market,” enabling eToro to enhance its services with a fully paid lending program.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued guidance noting that while securities lending may generate extra returns, it can also introduce additional risks, including counterparty and collateral shortfall risk. The authority unveiled some measures in 2023 to curb securities lending to retail investors.
As FinanceMagnates.com informed this week, Shir Shalom, who led various projects related to risk management at eToro, has announced her departure from the financial trading platform after serving nearly four years in various leadership roles. “Forever an eTorian,” she wrote on her socials.
