Wealthyhood opens Cyprus market to retail investors

Bank of Cyprus official praises innovative digital investment expansion The Bank of Cyprus on Tuesday announced that Wealthyhood x BoC has launched trading in Cypriot and Greek stocks, allowing retail investors across Cyprus, Greece and Europe to invest in companies listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) and Euronext Athens through a single mobile application. The company said the expansion enables users to invest in Cypriot and Greek shares from as little as €1, while offering what it described as the lowest fees in the market. According to the announcement, the platform gives everyday investors direct access to leading Cypriot and Greek blue-chip companies, banking institutions and other domestic businesses from their mobile phones through fractional investing. The launch also represents an expansion of the strategic partnership between the Bank of Cyprus and Wealthyhood, with the local lender integrating access to the Cyprus Stock Exchange and the Athens market into the Wealthyhood x BoC investment platform. The company said retail participation in the Cypriot and Greek stock markets has historically been limited by high minimum investment thresholds, complicated trading platforms and substantial transaction and clearing fees charged by traditional brokers. It added that Wealthyhood x BoC aims to remove those barriers by combining fractional share technology with what it described as market-leading trade execution. “For too long, investing in leading Cypriot and Greek companies has felt unnecessarily expensive and beyond the reach of a younger generation of investors,” said Wealthyhood co-founder and chief executive Alexandros Christodoulakis. “High minimum investment limits and burdensome exchange fees created an artificial barrier between everyday people and our domestic economy,” he said. “Wealthyhood x BoC democratises investing, and bringing the Cyprus Stock Exchange and Euronext Athens to our platform on equal terms is a defining milestone,” Christodoulakis said. “By introducing fractional shares from €1 and absorbing stock exchange fees through Smart Execution, we are giving young Cypriots, Greeks and Europeans the easiest and most accessible way to invest in the local companies they know, trust and use every day,” he added. “Our users have been asking for it, and we were determined to deliver,” Christodoulakis said. “We are really excited to offer easy and affordable access to local markets through our strategic partnership with the Bank of Cyprus,” he added. Wealthyhood co-founder and chief technology officer Konstantinos Faliagkas said the new feature would broaden investment opportunities for users. “We are very excited that, through the Wealthyhood x BoC app, users can now add Cypriot and Greek stocks to their portfolios with the lowest fees in the market and the option of fractional investing,” Faliagkas said. Head of the Bank of Cyprus Private & Affluent Banking Christos M. Ioannou described the launch as another important step in the partnership between the two organisations. “The launch of trading in Greek and Cypriot equities through the Wealthyhood x BoC platform, with the addition of the Athens Exchange and Cyprus Stock Exchange markets, marks a vital expansion in the strategic partnership between the Bank of Cyprus and Wealthyhood,” Ioannou said. “We are confident that the Bank’s clients, as well as any client, will welcome this innovative offering, which provides access to the Athens Exchange and Cyprus Stock Exchange, among other major exchanges, through a digital investment platform, further expanding their investment choices,” he added. The company said investors in Greece and Cyprus will now be able to purchase fractional holdings in Cypriot and Greek shares from €1, removing the need to spend hundreds of euros to buy higher-priced stocks listed on either exchange. It also highlighted its Smart Execution feature, under which users can eliminate stock exchange clearing fees. According to the company, orders submitted through Smart Execution are processed at 3.00 pm every weekday, with Wealthyhood x BoC absorbing 100 per cent of the underlying stock exchange costs. The platform also said it offers the most competitive and transparent fee structure available for trading Cypriot and Greek stocks. In addition, users can access curated investment collections focused on Cypriot and Greek companies, alongside thematic portfolios covering areas such as high-dividend stocks, artificial intelligence and biotechnology, helping investors discover opportunities more easily. Wealthyhood x BoC describes itself as a wealth-building application designed to help younger investors learn, save, invest and build wealth, regardless of their investment knowledge, experience or available capital. The platform combines automated investment tools, financial education, commission-free investing in more than 5,000 stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and institutional-grade security within a single digital environment. Operating across the United Kingdom and Europe, Wealthyhood said it has already attracted more than 30,000 users in Greece and Cyprus within a few months of launching its application.