I give it a try – and it isn’t exactly a doddle

BEING told that something is the best thing since sliced bread is one thing. Testing it yourself can prove otherwise.

Last week, I signed up to Dodl as a ‘tester’ – before it goes live to the world this week. Downloading the app was fine and the process of opening an account was straightforward.

All I had to do was confirm that I am aged 18 or over (just!), give my home address, declare I am not a US citizen, provide my National Insurance number and put in my bank account details. My application was successful. Easy-peasy, although it didn’t recognise my bank to begin with. The £300 payment into my new investment account from my debit card went smoothly.

It was when I went to invest £250 from my money in the app that problems began. I opted for a themed fund called iShares Automation and Robotics.

Its objective is to track the performance of an index comprised of companies generating revenues from the development of automatic and robotic technology. Companies such as US phone giant Apple, tech firm Nvidia (US based) and US software company Splunk.

Yet, when I looked at the fund details, I was greeted with a blank purple phone screen (purple is Dodl’s colour). It temporarily turned my face purple as I was stranded in cyberspace.

I sent an SOS through via its chat service. No immediate response. So, I contacted AJ Bell to be told there was an issue with an independent investment research provider which was impacting its investment platform and that of rivals.

Thankfully, the ‘issue’ was soon resolved and I was able to make my fund purchase. Twenty nine shares at just under £8.42 a share.

That glitch aside, the app is easy to use with good signposting.

In time, I imagine I will use it regularly, although not as frequently as I use a rail app to buy my train tickets to visit Mother.

A doddle? Not quite.