To help Filipino traders choose a broker we compared the 27 best forex brokers. Each broker was compared based on the brokerage, forex trading platform offered and customer support available in the Philippines.
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List Of The Best Forex Brokers For The Philippines
The best forex trading platforms for Filipino traders are:
| Broker | Our Rating | Regulation | Standard EUR/USD Spread |
Standard GBP/USD Spread |
Standard AUD/USD Spread |
Raw EUR/USD Spread |
Raw GBP/USD Spread |
Raw AUD/USD Spread |
Commissions (USD Base) |
MetaTrader 4 | MetaTrader 5 | cTrader | Execution Speed | Minimum Deposit | Currency Pairs | Crypto CFDs | Retail Leverage | Prof. Leverage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
9.33 |
SCG, ASIC FCA, CySEC |
1.10 | 1.40 | 1.20 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.3 | $3.50 |
|
|
|
77ms | $0 | 62+ | 12+ | 30:1 | 500:1 |
|
|
8.50 |
ASIC, FSA-S CySEC |
0.62 | 0.83 | 0.77 | 0.02 | 0.23 | 0.17 | $3.50 |
|
|
|
134ms | $0 | 61+ | 18+ | 30:1 | 500:1 |
|
|
7.17 |
ASIC, CySEC, MFSA FCA, FSA, FINRA GFSC |
1.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | - | - | - | - |
|
|
|
130ms | $200 (Australia), $50-$100 (EU) | 49+ | 46+ | 30:1 | 400:1 |
|
|
8.33 |
ASIC, FSCA CBI, KNF, CIRO ADGM, FSC-BVI |
- | - | - | - | - | - | - |
|
|
|
160ms | $100 | 55+ | 15+ | 30:1 | 400:1 |
|
|
5.42 |
FCA, DFSA, CySEC BaFin, CMNV, KNF |
0.9 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.14 | 0.13 | - |
|
|
|
160ms | $250 | 49+ | 16+ | 30:1 | 500:1 |
|
There’s a long list of forex brokers that offer their services to Filipino traders, with some that are better than others. The team at Compare Forex Brokers has compared each broker based on brokerage fees, the forex trading platform offered and overall product range. Here are our picks for the best forex brokers in the Philippines.
The Best Forex Broker In The Philippines
We awarded Pepperstone the best broker based on their:
Good Reputation With Strong Regulation
Pepperstone is regulated with multiple tier-one brokers. This gives Pepperstone a reputation of trust and integrity with its business offering as they aspire to meet the requirements of the most stringent regulators worldwide. This is an important measure when selecting a broker, as it means your funds are secure from scams and unauthorised activities with the broker. Pepperstone is regulated by the following:
Traders in the Philippines will be signed with Pepperstone Markets Limited, which uses the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) for regulation. While this is not a tier-1 regulator, Pepperstone Markets Limited still offers tier-1 regulatory standards, as their policies align with what ASIC requires. This means you will still have segregated bank accounts, complaints procedures, product disclosure statements, top-level execution speeds and true no-dealing desk practices that ensure you will get the best available spreads.
The central bank of the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), is the local regulatory body governing all foreign exchange transactions. However, international brokers are not required to be registered with the BSP.
Low Trading Costs
The online services the forex brokers offer to their clients come at a cost. For example, if you trade forex, there are three types of trading fees you’re expected to pay:
The fee structure varies between the forex brokers and the account types used. Pepperstone is one of the best brokers in the Philippines because it offers lower trading costs in all three categories (spread, commission, and rollover).
Calculate Your Trading Costs Below
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At Pepperstone, spreads start from 0.0 pips (Razor accounts), round turn commission of USD 3.50 on forex trading and EUR/USD swap rates of USD -6.63 for long, respectively USD 2.74 short swap rate.
Note* Swap rates are sourced from tier-one investment banks and are updated daily.
Based on the forex quotes streamed from Nov – Nov 2020, the average EUR/USD spread is 0.13 pips, respectively 0.18 pips for AUD/USD (Raw spread account). The best forex brokers with low spreads are IC Markets and Pepperstone.
Our proprietary trading cost calculator is designed to help traders better assess the total brokerage fees you pay for your trades. To work out your trading costs, we require three inputs:
Attractive Leverage
Residents of the Philippines can start trading forex with a broker that is not bound by US and EU regulations. The CFTC in the US limits forex leverage to 50:1. At the same time, in the EU, due to the ESMA rules, leverage is limited to 30:1.
With Pepperstone, Filipino traders can gain access to the foreign exchange market using a maximum leverage of 500:1. The leverage for trading CFDs is capped at various levels depending on the financial markets traded:
See below the top list of high-leverage forex brokers operating in the Philippines.
| Forex Broker | Pepperstone | IC Markets | CMC Markets | ThinkMarkets | Plus500 | IG | Oanda |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum Leverage | 500:1 | 500:1 | 500:1 | 500:1 | 300:1 | 200:1 | 50:1 |
Trading on leverage allows Philippines FX traders to maximise their profits. Additionally, high leverage allows traders to control large sums of money with a small trading account.
Our Verdict On Pepperstone
It’s a lot harder to find regulated and credible forex brokers offering high leverage and low trading costs, along with the most popular trading platforms. Pepperstone is the only broker in the Philippines that can bring the best trading features into a single place. The retail investor accounts only require a minimum deposit of USD 200. Make sure you grab your live account today by clicking the button below.
View Pepperstone ReviewVisit Pepperstone
The Best Low Spread Forex Broker
With more than 100,000 active clients across the globe, IC Markets, founded in 2007, is among the largest FX CFD providers in terms of Forex volume. It falls under the regulation of some of the most reputable regulatory bodies worldwide:
Traders in the Philippines receive regulation from the financial services regulator of Seychelles (FSA). This regulator is not considered a tier-1 regulator, which means the regulatory compliance standards IC Markets needs to meet are not as high as regulators like ASIC and CySEC; however, IC Markets Global (the subsidiary registered in Seychelles) apply a standard that exceeds FSA requirements. Clients with IC Markets Global receive regulation consistent with what IC Markets AU uses for ASIC.
Forex Trading With Low Spreads
IC Markets’ diverse and proprietary liquidity mix enables Philippines-based retail clients to trade with the lowest possible spreads 24 hours per day, 5 days a week, on three exceptional trading platforms – MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader.
The broker offers three main account types, with the minimum deposit being USD 200 and the maximum leverage allowed – 1:500. Traders have the opportunity to take advantage of spreads starting from 0.0 pips on the broker’s Raw Spread and cTrader Raw accounts. The average spread on major Forex pairs such as EUR/USD remains 0.1 pips during most of the time – one of the best worldwide.
If you want to compare several forex brokers in the Philippines and analyse their FX spreads, please use the table below. You can view how IC Markets compares to other forex brokers using the ECN pricing model.
|
IC Markets Raw Account Spreads
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
0.02 | 0.17 | 0.27 | 0.30 | 0.25 |
|
0.10 | 0.20 | 0.30 | 0.50 | 0.30 |
|
0.12 | 0.22 | 0.40 | 0.43 | 0.50 |
|
0.20 | 0.20 | 0.40 | N/A | 0.30 |
|
0.17 | 0.30 | 0.54 | 0.68 | N/A |
|
0.20 | 0.40 | 0.50 | 0.70 | 0.70 |
|
0.10 | 0.50 | 0.60 | 0.80 | 1.10 |
|
n/a | 0.50 | 0.60 | 0.40 | 0.30 |
|
0.44 | 0.42 | 0.40 | 0.30 | 0.83 |
Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 01/09/2023
ECN Forex Brokers In The Philippines
Raw pricing coupled with a MetaTrader 4 server located in the Equinix NY4 data centre are two key factors ensuring a true ECN environment for Forex traders – low latency and minimised probability for slippage, no re-quotes and ultra-fast execution of trade orders (less than 40 ms). In other words, perfect conditions for trading styles such as Scalping, Day Trading and Automated Trading.
In exchange for these conditions, traders will have to pay a small commission:
The broker offers low spreads even on its Standard Account – as low as 1.0 pip on EUR/USD, which is quite competitive compared to other leading brokers’ offers.
Filipino clients can choose from more than 60 Forex pairs. The following table compares the minimum and the average spreads on the most popular currency pairs, which can be traded on IC Markets’ Raw Spread and Standard accounts:
Philippine-based clients can also open a free Demo Account to test the broker’s trading platforms and experiment with various strategies before they start trading Forex with real money.
IC Markets – Best Brokers To Trade Crypto CFDs
When it comes to trading CFDs with Cryptocurrencies, IC Markets’ offer in terms of spreads is also very competitive. A total of 10 digital currencies can be traded with no commissions, a maximum leverage of 1:5 and spreads of as low as 4.0 points on Ethereum and 5.0 points on Bitcoin.
Our Verdict On IC Markets
IC Markets offers the most favourable trading conditions among the brokers we reviewed. The spreads on the live trading account can even drop to 0.0 pips during peak market hours. IC Markets ECN pricing model handles over USD 15 billion in daily FX volume. In this regard, you can safely trade with low spreads even if you’re a high-volume trader. Claim your free demo account by clicking the button below.
The Best Broker For Social And Copy Trading
eToro was chosen as the best social trading broker in the Philippines. eToro’s copy trading platform grants you access to view and copy in real-time professional traders. eToro is a leading Forex and CFD provider recognised internationally for its social trading platform. The broker is authorised to operate in a number of jurisdictions, including:
eToro’s CopyTrader Platform
CopyTrader is a unique feature that enables beginners or traders with insufficient experience to monitor what real traders are doing and instantly replicate their trading activity. To help you find traders to follow and copy, eToro has a number of filters and rankings to help you find the signal provider to your liking.
At the same time, traders whose portfolios are copied have the opportunity to earn an extra income each month by participating in eToro’s Popular Investor Program. The popular investors who get copied will benefit from the following advantages:
No Management Fees
When copy trading, clients do not have to pay any management fees or other hidden costs. All they have to do is allocate a part of their available account balance to copy the portfolio of a top-performing trader.
Trading Community
What eToro offers Filipino clients is not simply a copy trading platform but an opportunity to join a leading collaborative community of traders and investors – a place to connect, exchange trading ideas and benefit from other people’s knowledge.
How To Copy A Trade
It is quite a simple process. Once a top-performing trader is found, clients need to click on his/her icon, type in the total amount for the copy and click the “Copy” button. To copy trade, clients need to ensure a minimum deposit of $200, while the minimum amount for every copied position is $1.
eToro’s CopyTrade technology allows clients to:
CopyPortfolios
Last but not least, copy trading is taken to the next level with eToro’s CopyPortfolios, an investment product that bundles together a collection of financial assets. CopyPortfolios operate like numerous traders, all working for a client at the same time, with many underlying positions being opened on his/her behalf.
The minimum amount required to invest in CopyPortfolios is $5,000.
Once a client invests in a CopyPortfolio, his/her capital will be professionally managed by eToro’s investment committee. The performance of each CopyPortfolio is analysed in depth and rebalanced automatically so that its gain potential is maximised.
CopyPortfolios are structured as a medium to long-term investment vehicles and require longer investment periods. No management fees will be charged. Since they are meant to minimise long-term risk, CopyPortfolios aim to offer a client up to double-digit annual returns.
Verdict On Copy Trading With eToro
We made a full copy trading platform analysis and found that for both novice and professional Filipino traders, eToro was the best option. The broker accepts residents from the Philippines who can connect with hundreds of thousands of traders and copy trading automatically across more than 2,000 financial markets. For as low as USD 200, anyone can copy specific strategies within your own risk parameters.
*Your capital is at risk ‘68% of retail CFD accounts lose money’
A Broker With The Best Forex Trading Platform For Beginners
AvaTrade was handpicked as the best broker for beginner traders. New investors need to have access to an easy-to-use platform, an in-depth learning centre and proper market research to help you with your trading journey.
AvaTrade is one of the globally recognised Forex brokers, regulated on five continents by tier-one reputable regulatory bodies such as:
Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South AfricaTraders from the Philippines will get BVI FSC regulation by default but can choose a preferred regulator if they wish.
Since AvaTrade offers one of the lowest fixed spreads on the market, we recommend this broker to novice traders or traders with little experience. The broker grants access to the Forex market through its MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms, available as desktop, web-based (Web Trader) and mobile versions.
AvaTrade also has no restrictions on scalping and hedging, as it aims to ensure the ultimate trading environment for its clientele.
AvaTrade Learning Center
In addition, AvaTrade clients can access a comprehensive library of informative educational materials and useful Forex trading resources (economic calendar, daily news, and market analysis update in fundamental, technical and sentimental aspects).
The role of the broker’s education centre is to teach clients more about the trading products offered. The AvaTrade Education Center will teach novice traders how online trading works and much more. Here is a list of resources you’ll find with AvaTrade:
Risk-Free Trading
Last but not least, AvaTrade offers a new feature available exclusively on the AvaTradeGO app – known as AvaProtect. For a small fee, clients can get 100% security for their trades against any adverse price movement for a specified period of time. Or, the broker will reimburse clients for losing trades at the end of the protected period directly into their trading account. In other words, with AvaProtect, Philippine-based novice traders can open positions in the global markets with zero risks.
Final Words – Best Forex Brokers For Beginners
Our team of experts examined all the best forex brokers for beginners, and AvaTrade makes trading more accessible to novice traders. All in all, AvaTrade has an excellent trading environment for inexperienced traders. Open a demo account by clicking the button below and fine-tune your trading skills.
Avatrade ReviewVisit Avatrade
A Broker That Has A Great Range Of CFDs
In our reviewing process, we have taken into account the range of trading markets. XTB allows traders to speculate on the price movement in different asset classes, average spreads of 0.28 pips, and commissions from GBP 3.0 per lot.
XTB is a stock exchange-listed, award-winning CFD and Forex broker with over 15 years of business history and offices in more than 13 countries across Europe. Based in London, XTB Ltd is authorised and regulated by the UK’s FCA. XTB also has European-based subsidiaries, such as XTB Europe, which CySEC regulates. The Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores regulate XTB Spain.
Traders from the Philippines are registered with XTB International, which is regulated by the Belize International Financial Services Commission (IFSC). While the IFSC does apply a lighter touch to regulation than tier-1 regulators, XTB is a reputable forex company, regulated by multiple tier-1 brokers and XTB applies this standard to all clients.
Range Of Financial Markets
XTB offers Philippines-based traders access to over 1,500 financial instruments across a range of six markets. Those include:
Due to XTB’s negative balance protection policy, retail investor accounts cannot lose greater amounts than the initial deposit.
Before trading complex instruments (CFDs) on a live trading account, Philippine-based retail customers have the option to test these high-risk products on XTB’s demo account for four weeks by using GBP 100,000 in virtual funds.
Final Words – Best CFD Broker
Out of all the online brokers we reviewed, XTB is the most exclusive in terms of the available financial instruments on its platform. If you like to combine trading the forex market along with stocks, indices, commodities, ETFs or cryptocurrencies, TB is the best in the industry.
The Broker That Has The Best CFD Trading Tools
Operating as a market maker broker since 2008, Markets.com is one of the best CFD brokers accepting Philippine retail traders. The broker is seen as trusted thanks to global regulation by tier-1 financial authorities such as the FCA (UK), CySEC (Europe), FSCA (South Africa) and ASIC (Australia). Additionally, the broker’s parent company, Playtech, is a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange and a component of the FTSE 250 index, adding another level of transparency and security.
Traders from the Philippines receive regulation from the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVI FSC). While this regulator doesn’t require as high a level of compliance as the tier-1 regulators mentioned above, Markets.com practices exceed the minimum requirements of the regulator. For example, Markets.com keeps your funds safe in segregated bank accounts.
A major benefit to trading with Markets.com is the collection of unique trading tools you can access. While most brokers and trading platforms offer technical and fundamental analysis, Markets.com also offers a sophisticated selection of sentiment trading tools.
Below are key reasons why Markets.com is viewed as one of the best brokers in the Philippines:
Commission-Free Spreads
As a market maker that uses a dealing desk, the broker only offers no commission spreads, where all compensation is included in the spread. Commission-free minimum spreads are tight, starting from 0.4 pips for major forex pairs such as the EUR/USD. The table below shows the minimum average spreads for frequently traded currency pairs.
Markets.com Trading Platforms
Marketsx For CFD And Forex Trading
The Marketsx trading platform is the broker’s most popular proprietary trading platform and is available as a web trader platform or mobile trading app. When using Markesx to trade, you can access the broker’s full CFD product range, which includes thousands of financial instruments:
In addition to the ability to trade a diverse range of CFDs, the Marketsx account also comes with a range of advanced trading tools to help you improve your trading experience and performance.
1. Sentiment Tools help you to analyse and measure overall trading attitude towards financial assets, giving you an indication of buying or selling activity (e.g. Trading Analyst Recommendations, Insider Trades, Signals)
2. Technical Analysis Tools help you to use charting patterns, indicators, and oscillators to model trading data and visualise how various financial assets can be correlated (e.g. Related Instruments, Advanced Charting)
3. Fundamental Analysis Tools financial newsfeeds and updates about significant events to help you keep up to date with changing market conditions and potential trading opportunities (e.g. Financial Commentary, Advanced Alerts)
MetaTrader 4 And MetaTrader 5
As well as proprietary platforms, clients can also choose MetaTrader 4 (MT4) or MetaTrader 5 (MT5). Although the broker’s unique trading tools and full product range are not available on MT4 or MT5, you are able to design automated trading strategies using Expert Advisors, a necessity for many experienced traders.
MT4 and MT5 are well known for their algorithmic and analytical trading tools, including:
Why Choose Markets.com?
Markets.com is the ideal broker for traders in the Philippines due to the vast range of advanced trading tools on spread-only accounts. The wide range of available CFDs and the options of various trading platforms make Markets.com a sound choice. You can test your trading skills with a demo account with Markets.com before progressing to a live account.
View Market.com--all-tables ReviewVisit Markets.com
*Your capital is at risk ‘70% of retail CFD accounts lose money’
Forex brokers in the Philippines fall under the regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a government agency responsible for the supervision of the domestic securities industry. This regulatory body safeguards the stability and integrity of local financial markets and also aims to improve transparency and confidence in local markets.
Locally regulated Forex brokers do offer a certain level of protection for retail investors. Still, the latter is free to choose any other brokerage, including those regulated by reputable Forex authorities elsewhere.
At the same time, the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is responsible for monitoring the country’s economy and ensuring its financial system’s stability. Despite the fact that the central bank is not directly responsible for regulating Forex market participants, it plays an essential role in Forex trading since it determines the exchange rate policy for the Philippine Peso against currencies worldwide and manages domestic currency reserves.
Disclaimer: We should note that similar to other countries with developing financial systems, the Philippines Forex industry has also seen numerous cases of scams – unethical behaviour by online brokers resulting in huge losses for retail traders.
Trading the financial markets will always carry a risk, especially when dealing in foreign currencies, so make sure that you are trading with a broker that holds a regulatory licence.
There are a lot of financial regulatory bodies around the world, all with different requirements for brokers to comply with protecting consumers. Some of these include:
Due to the Philippines not having its own regulatory body for traders in the markets, a lot of the brokers have to use their international licences. There are other brokers that are not included on this list that hold similar international licences, for example, FXTM, HotForex, and OANDA.
