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Kaldi Review: Cashback and ultra-cheap investing makes this new app a new favourite

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This is the score our team have awarded the platform based on our own personal experiences and other important factors, such as fees and ease of use.

4.0out of 5

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The Kaldi app launched in early 2025. It is a digital wallet designed to help younger people save and invest, by providing access to extensive and generous cashback offers. Kaldi's aim is to link savings with investing and show that even small amounts can add up when invested over time.

pointLowest cost way to get access to some investment funds
pointJust 0.15% to invest
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By Clare West

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4.0out of 5

point Lowest cost way to get access to some investment funds
point Just 0.15% to invest

Clare's view

The Verdict

Kaldi is a digital wallet with a built-in payment app and investment platform. It's been designed specifically to show younger people that when you get into the savings habit - and when you invest those savings - your long-term financial goals don't have to remain out of reach.

Kaldi does this in a really smart way, by linking two things: cashback rewards on your everyday spending; and investment funds. Kaldi's founders have stated that what they want to prove is that for 'Generation Doom Spend', there are benefits to investing even small amounts. It's a clever approach that is well done overall.

There's an impressive list of linked retailers, including the likes of Amazon, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Aldi, Asda, IKEA, Adidas and Costa, which means you can pretty much assume that wherever you're spending your money, Kaldi is accepted. What's more, unlike with credit cards (which is where you usually find cashback offered as an incentive), there's no need to risk building up debt here to achieve savings.

You will need to pre-load cash (so treat it like a pre-pay card) because it's not a bank account, and the transfers didn't always land in my Kaldi account immediately, which means you need to be prepared in advance. The app can be used to buy in-store or online, and there's mention of a physical card coming in the future too.

You can also activate automated round-ups - which allows you to round your purchases up to the nearest pound and pop the difference into your Kaldi account as savings and add to your investments. A few other providers, including Monzo, Starling and Revolut offer automatic round-ups on spending. However, very few providers (outside of credit cards) also offer cashback on spending. You'll get it on some of the paid-for plans with Revolut, and Chase offers 1% on everyday spending but it's capped at £15 per month. Kaldi is free to open, the account is free to use, and the cashback rates are excellent - 2.5% on all in-store shopping at Tesco, for example, and 1% for shopping on Amazon.

Kaldi is very much driven towards investing those saved pennies and pounds. And the investment services have been well-designed around the needs of a younger client, who is new to investing. There's a choice of either a General investment account (GIA) is an account designed to provide access to investments. You may be liable for tax on any income or capital gains earned within a general investment account but this can be a useful vehicle for anyone who has maxed out their ISA allowanceGeneral Investment Accountinfo, Sometimes called an investment ISA, a stocks and shares ISA is an individual savings account that allows you to invest in shares, unit trusts, investment funds, and bonds. You will not need to pay tax on any income or capital gains earned on investments within an ISAStocks and Shares ISAinfo, and Junior ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) (JISAs) are tax-free savings accounts for children under the age of 18. Only a parent can open a JISA but anyone can contribute. You can choose to save for your children through either a cash Junior ISA where you will earn interest on any cash in the account, or a stocks and shares Junior ISA where you will invest your child’s savings on their behalfJunior ISAinfo. ISAs should always be your first thought when investing as you can put in up to £20,000 per year for a Stocks and Shares ISA (it's £9,000 for Junior ISAs) and all income and gains generated by those investments can be saved and spent without you ever needing to pay any income or capital gains tax. The fact that Kaldi also offers a Junior ISA is excellent, as it's an ideal tax-free vehicle to start saving for your child's future. You can invest from just £1 too, which makes it accessible to everyone. And there's the option for you to gift your cashback savings to others, which means you could benefit from grandparents or other kindly relatives and friends adding to that Junior ISA with their gifted cashback and savings too.

It's a shame there's no Lifetime ISA, as that could be an ideal investment account to link into for those trying to save for a house deposit, as the government adds 25% to everything you save.

When it comes to what to invest in, there are no individual stocks and shares to pick with Kaldi, just a choice of 10 investment funds. But they are popular funds from some of the world's leading asset managers, including Vanguard and Fidelity, and there are choices that will suit different risk appetites as well as HSBC's Islamic fund. There are a couple of Tracker funds are ‘passive’ investments as they simply aim to mirror the performance of a benchmark, such as the FTSE 100. They are run by computer algorithms rather than fund managers, so they're cheaper than actively managed funds, but still ensure you get a diversified portfolio. A tracker can never outperform the market or index it is linked to – it will only ever follow it. An Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is an example of a tracker fund.tracker fundsinfo in there too, which are nice low-cost options that follow the market rather than try to outperform it. Ten funds will be too limiting for experienced investors, but that's not who Kaldi is designed for. And the lack of choice prevents overwhelm which is something we know stops new starters from ever getting into investing.

It's a nicely designed app, although not yet quite as slick as the likes of Monzo and Revolut. But it's very early days for Kaldi and some of the annoyances, like needing to leave the app to load cash in, aren't a reason to give up the opportunity for the easy-wins you can gain when it comes to saving.

Kaldi's pricing and excellent cashback offering would have scored them higher if the customer service wasn't so limited at the moment. I know it's often the price we pay for low-cost, but no phone support, no instant in-app-chat, and up to 2 days for the message service to reply could be frustrating. That said, my enquiry was replied to in a matter of hours, and it was a very helpful response, so I wasn't actually left waiting 2 days.

Who will Kaldi suit? Those who are trying to grow their money through good habits and easy wins, those who are at the start of their investing journey, and those who don't have masses of spare cash at their disposal but still want to invest and grow for the future.
quote

Pros

  • Account is free to open
  • Ultra-low fee for investing - just 0.15%
  • Pairs your savings pot with an investment fund
  • Stocks and Shares ISA & Junior ISA available
  • Just 10 investment funds to pick from takes away anxiety that comes with too much choice
  • Savings 'round-ups' helps boost your pot
  • Extensive list of cashback partners includes huge high street names
  • Cashback rates are high
  • 'Refer a friend' bonuses
  • Just £1 to get started
  • Investments funds from some of the world's leading investment managers
  • Tracker funds, Money Market Funds and Islamic fund included
quote

Cons

  • App is easy to use but could be made even more user-friendly
  • Funding your account isn't the easiest - no in-app link to your banking apps
  • Investors have just 10 funds to choose from (and no individual stocks and shares) which could be too limiting for some
  • Not a bank so you need to load funds in from your main bank account
  • Investments don't show up immediately
  • No Lifetime ISA
  • Limited customer support options
  • Verdict4.0
  • Fees5.0
  • Trading Platform4.0
  • Research4.0
  • Safety4.0
  • Education2.0
  • Customer Service2.0
  • Portfolio View

Clare's view

Who do I recommend it for?

quote

Pros

  • Account is free to open
  • Ultra-low fee for investing - just 0.15%
  • Pairs your savings pot with an investment fund
  • Stocks and Shares ISA & Junior ISA available
  • Just 10 investment funds to pick from takes away anxiety that comes with too much choice
  • Savings 'round-ups' helps boost your pot
  • Extensive list of cashback partners includes huge high street names
  • Cashback rates are high
  • 'Refer a friend' bonuses
  • Just £1 to get started
  • Investments funds from some of the world's leading investment managers
  • Tracker funds, Money Market Funds and Islamic fund included
quote

Cons

  • App is easy to use but could be made even more user-friendly
  • Funding your account isn't the easiest - no in-app link to your banking apps
  • Investors have just 10 funds to choose from (and no individual stocks and shares) which could be too limiting for some
  • Not a bank so you need to load funds in from your main bank account
  • Investments don't show up immediately
  • No Lifetime ISA
  • Limited customer support options
  • arrowVerdict
    4.0
  • arrow Fees:
    5.0
    Kaldi is so cheap! And it is particularly good value for those with smaller amounts to invest as there are no monthly minimums.

    There are no fees to join Kaldi, no fees to use the cashback and savings features and just an incredibly low 0.15% fee for investing. (There are also fund fees to pay, but they are standard across all platforms, and come out of your fund holdings - you don't need to pay these upfront.)

    I've done some price comparisons in the expanded 'Kaldi vs competitors' section below, but only Dodl (AJ Bell's pared-back, low-cost app) offers anything as low, and they impose a £1 monthly minimum. There's no such minimum spend with Kaldi. Of course, you aren't getting as much choice of investments as some other platforms, but if you're happy with the 10 funds on offer, I don't believe you can get them cheaper anywhere else.

    There's also no charge for the first 3 withdrawals each month, so no hidden fees there. One thing to be aware of though, is that transfers between your 'spending' pot, 'savings' pot, and 'investment pot' also count towards those 3 free withdrawals so you can burn through them quickly. Having said that, even after those 3 free withdrawals/transfers, the cost is just 20p which is low when compared to eToro's £5 per withdrawal.

    The one downside with Kaldi is that you won't earn any interest on your cash savings. In comparison, some other investment apps will offer interest on uninvested cash (4.32% AER for example, with Dodl). However, Kaldi is very much designed to get you investing and exposed to growth through the markets. Investing is generally only suitable for those who can afford to put their money away for at least 5 years. But, Kaldi offers access to Money Market Funds, which are very low risk investment funds, that offer better returns that traditional savings funds and are suitable for those only able to lock money away for 2 years or more.
    arrow-down-orangeRead More
    quote

    Pros

    • Kaldi is the cheapest way to get access to the 10 funds offered
    • Investment fee is very low - 0.15%
    • 3 x free withdrawals per month
    • Withdrawal fee (after first 3 per month that are free) is just 20p
    • No fees for joining or using the saving and cashback features
    quote

    Cons

    • No interest is paid on cash savings
  • arrowTrading Platform:
    4.0
    The app is designed for absolute beginners to investing, and it does a good job of making things very simple, friendly and straightforward to use.

    There are no advanced trading tools and complicated charts, as they are not needed to invest in the funds offered. It's simplicity, done well.
    quote

    Pros

    • Suitable for absolute beginners
    • Makes it very easy to get started with investing
    quote

    Cons

    • Will be too simple for those wanting to really get into investing
  • arrowResearch:
    4.0
    As there are just 10 investment funds to choose from, you won't find your phone screen flashing with stock price tickers, complicated charts or news feeds. There's no need. Instead, Kaldi tailors the research materials to the needs of new starters in the investing world, with a well-designed interface that allows you to view the fund objectives, information on its historical returns over 1 and 5 years, its risk rating, and the fees you'll need to pay to invest in that fund.

    It's on-point for beginners, providing just what you'll need to know.
    quote

    Pros

    • Well tailored to the needs of beginners
    • Fund Factsheets are easy to find
    • Data on fund fees, risk rating and past performance is clear and easy to understand
    quote

    Cons

    • Not an advanced platform so no advanced research tools as you might get on the larger platforms offering individual stocks and shares
  • arrowSafety:
    4.0
    For the investment services, Kaldi is an appointed representative of RiskSave Technologies Limited, which means it is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority through this company. FCA authorisation and regulation means that it will comply with regulations that are designed to protect consumers and keep your money safe. Whilst Electronic Money products are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), your funds will be held in a segregated account and safeguarded. That means, in the event that Kaldi should go out of business, your funds cannot be used to pay back Kaldi's creditors.

    It should be noted, however, that other features of the app, outside of the investment products, are not regulated by the FCA.
    quote

    Pros

    • Authorised and regulated by the FCA
    • Funds are separately from Kaldi's own funds to protect them in the event of bankruptcy
    quote

    Cons

    • No FSCS protection
    • Non-investment services are not covered by the FCA regulation
  • arrowEducation:
    2.0
    There are a series of screens that will take you through some investment basics when you get started. And there are some nice articles and explainers on the website on various money topics that will be of interest to younger investors. Kaldi uses a really nice, approachable and friendly tone to explain investment concepts which is very welcome.

    If you are wanting to understand investing on a deeper level, you'll probably need to top up your education elsewhere, however.
    quote

    Pros

    • Basic introduction to investing and who it is right for
    • Articles on various money matters and tips on investing and saving
    • Series of videos
    quote

    Cons

    • No detailed investment education or courses offered
  • arrowCustomer Service:
    2.0
    You don't have many options where customer services is concerned - there's an in-app messaging service, and email... and that's it. I tested the messaging service and it took around 3 hours for the agent to reply, which isn't bad. However, the guidance is that it can take up to 2 working days as standard for a reply. If you're stuck with an immediate issue, that's going to feel very frustrating.
    quote

    Pros

    • In-app messaging service
    • Email support
    quote

    Cons

    • No phone support
    • No AI chatbot
    • No instant messaging
    • In-app messaging service can take up to 2 working days to respond
  • arrowPortfolio View

update-icon

Updates

Who do I recommend Kaldi for?


Those who want a simple, low-sacrifice way to build up a savings pot, with access to ultra-low cost, easy, tax-free, uncomplicated investing.

It’s not a complex investment platform and there’s no access to individual stocks and shares, so it won’t be right for investors wanting masses of choice and advanced trading tools.

But it is a good option for beginners wanting a cheap entry into investing.

Kaldi vs competitors


FAQs

No, Kaldi is not a bank. It is an electronic money institution (EMI).

Kaldi is an Authorised Representative of RiskSave Technologies Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). So it is obliged to comply to FCA regulations. These regulations are designed to keep consumers protected. However, these regulations only apply to Kaldi’s investment products. Other services are not covered. Kaldi is also not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which guarantees protection of your funds up to £85,000 in the event that a business goes bust. However, Kaldi does keep funds in segregated accounts to protect them from creditors in this eventuality.

Kaldi is great for investing if you are happy with the limited choice of just 10 investment funds. Fees are ultra-low, making this a cheap place to get into investing.

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Have a question about Kaldi that we haven’t covered? Ask it here and we will get back to you as soon as possible!

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