Best Forex Brokers In South Africa 2020

FXTM Has The Highest Leverage For South African Traders

Compare Forex Brokers’ top pick for high leverage trading is ForexTime (FXTM). Founded in 2011, FXTM has the know-how expertise to offer South African traders top-notch technological solutions. Additionally, forex traders can benefit trading on the upgraded MetaTrader 5 (MT5) with an online broker that holds trading licenses from the world’s top regulatory agencies, including:

• In South Africa from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) with FSP license No. 46614.
• In Belize from the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) with license numbers IFSC/60/345/TS
• In the UK from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with license No. 777911
• In Cyprus from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) with License No. 185/12

Below our team of industry experts will highlight all FXTM MetaTrader 5 features including functionality, range of markets, total costs and the trade execution speed.

3 Types of Forex Trading Accounts

ForexTime offers South African FX traders the choice to use MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 across three different account types. The diverse selection of trading accounts allows FX traders to opt for an account that suits his trading requirements. Without further ado, SA traders can open three trading accounts as follows:

• ECN Account
• ECN Zero Account
• FXTM Pro Account

Note* FXTM offers the ECN technology across all of its MT5 account offerings.

On the downside, we should note that the Swap-free trading account is not available through the MT5 platform. You can download the MetaTrader 5 for desktop and Mac versions as well as mobile trading (iPhone and Android). Additionally, there is a browser-based trading platform FXTM MT5 WebTrader, which is supported across 6 different browsers.

Low Range of Markets on MetaTrader 5

ForexTime offerings of financial instruments are extremely low when compared to other forex trading platforms. The range of currency pairs (major, minor and exotic) and asset classes offered by FXTM is on the low side. Currency trading can be done on 33 currency pairs and additionally, there are two CFD spot metals (XAUUSD and XAGUSD).

However, on the plus side, South African Forex traders can magnify their returns by having access to whopping maximum leverage of 1,000:1.

Fast Order Execution Speed

ForexTime can offer through its proprietary price engine technology fast execution speeds of 52 milliseconds (according to data compiled in December 2019). FXTM can also access a deep network of liquidity providers that ensures you will benefit from tight spreads. Additionally, the MetaTrader 5 platform can boost the following performances:

• Low re-quote rate of 3.22% (December 2019)
• Positive slippage on 94.64% of TP orders
• Negative slippage on 5.36% of SL orders
• Execution speed of 81 milliseconds for MT5 ECN account
• Execution speed of 88 milliseconds for MT5 ECN zero account

South African residents can explore all MetaTrader 5 features and performances in a risk-free environment by opting for opening a demo account. You can access the forex market and practice your trading skills under live market conditions.

View FXTM Review >>Visit FXTM>>

FXPro – Best cTrader Broker

FxPro headquarters are in the UK and have offices across the world offering no dealing desk allowing fast execution speeds and low brokerage for automated trading. The broker offers MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and the cTrader forex trading platform. In addition to FSB (FSCA) regulation, the broker has a  Financial Conduct Authority (FSA) and Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) regulation. Visit Site…

After evaluating all the features that come with a FxPro live account, we concluded that the best cTrader forex broker is the London-based FX broker FxPro. Below, our team of industry experts will try to outline all the aspects of FxPro’s software solution.

Full Market Depth (DOM)

The FxPro cTrader platform is equipped with full depth of market DOM. This feature lets forex traders visualize the best bid and ask prices coupled with the total amount of available liquidity. Compared to other trading platforms cTrader offers 3 convenient ways to display the data inside the DOM:

• Standard DoM
• Price DoM
• VWAP DoM

Note* FxPro’s order execution engine on the cTrader platform only uses the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) to execute orders.

Average Market Execution Speed of 37 Milliseconds

The FxPro cTrader trading platform can boost ultra-fast order execution speeds of:

• 37 milliseconds (average order execution speed)
• 11.06 milliseconds (fastest order execution speed)

While FxPro is not a true ECN forex broker, it runs a No Dealing Desk execution model (NDD). FxPro’s NDD model gives South African traders the chance to execute their orders without any human intervention. The no dealing desk forex brokers have the advantage of offering direct market access and a transparent way to trade. Our team of industry experts has assessed FxPro’s order execution policy and found the following advantages:

• 12.81% of client orders received positive slippage
• 98.60% of client orders received no requotes
• Collocated servers (Equinix LD5 data centre and AM4 in Amsterdam)

Limited Range of Markets

South African traders will have restricted access to the available financial markets. The range of markets available on the cTrader platform includes 4 asset classes:

• Forex currency pairs (70 pairs)
• Metal Trading (7 pairs)
• Stock indices (24 instruments)
• Commodities (3 energies)

Compared to other South African forex brokers, FxPro has a poor selection of financial instruments. The cTrader platform can only give traders access to a total of 104 instruments. However, trading CFDs on shares and futures can be accessed via the FxPro MetaTrader 4 terminal.

Final Words – About the Best cTrader Forex Broker

The award-winning cTrader trading platform offered by FxPro can be downloaded as a Desktop or MAC application. Additionally, SA traders can have direct access to the cTrader account directly from your browser via the cTrader Web Platform. On-the-go trading is also available via mobile trading (iOS and Android). If you’re a high volume trader, the FxPro cTrader platform can be a good fit for your needs.

View FxPro Review >>Visit FxPro >>

Plus500 – Best For South African Beginner Traders

Compare Forex Broker’s top pick for the best South African CFD provider is Plus500. Plus500 is a leading CFD provider that offers a 2000+ range of financial instruments.  Below, our team of experts list some of the essential features that make Plus500 so great:

• Trade wide range of CFD markets including 67+ indices, 60+ Forex current pairs, 17+ commodities, 10 cryptocurrencies, 1816+ shares, options and ETFs.
• Easy-to-use CFD trading platform (web-based intuitive interface)
• Dedicated round the clock customer support service 24/7 (including over the weekend support access)
• State of the art social trading network
• Zero commission trading
• Forex educational webinars for beginners
• ZAR trading account (comes with convenient payment methods including debit cards and credit cards, bank transfer, PayPal and Skrill)
• Risk management tools to minimize risk (guaranteed stop loss). The disadvantage is that the guaranteed SL comes with an additional extra cost in the form of an additional spread charged and it’s only available to certain instruments.

Note* On the negative side, Plus500 doesn’t offer its clients access to a desktop trading platform. Plus500 offers a WebTrader platform and mobile trading via CFD trading apps (iOS and Android).

The Plus500 trading platform offers access to the most traded markets in the world, including shares, indices, Forex, commodities, options, ETFs and cryptocurrencies. Compared to other forex brokers, Plus500 has a wide range of asset classes, but IG Markets and CMC Markets can offer their clients more markets and subsequently more trading opportunities.

Due to the zero-commission policy, Plus500 is not able to offer low spreads. For example, the EUR/USD spread offered by Plus500 is 0.6 pips and the USD/ZAR spread is 85 pips.

Our team of industry experts conducted a deep review of South African forex brokers and their spread offering on the most traded currency pairs and the ZAR crosses. See the table below.

Final Words – Our Best Forex CFD provider for CFD services

Plus500 holds an Authorized Financial Services Provider licence with the Financial Service Board of South Africa. The global CFD Provider is suitable for all investors with strengths in customer service and easy to use Forex trading platform and a range of markets from Shares, Indices, Cryptocurrencies and Forex with an assortment of currency pairs. Plus 500 is also regulated by financial institutions including the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Australian Insurance and Investment Corporation (ASIC).

View Plus500 Review >>Visit Plus500 >>

*Your capital is at risk ‘76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money’

HotForex – Best Deposit Bonus Offer

HotForex is the best broker for those looking for a deposit bonus with:

1. 100% supercharged forex bonus offers
2. Multiple trading account types (5 retail investor accounts)
3. 11 funding methods
4. Maximum leverage of 1000:1
5. The choice of MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5

HotForex Deposit Bonus

HotForex offers the best bonuses for South African traders. There are three offers in 2020 including the super charged bonus which is available for the Premium and Islamic account only. Hotforex will match the the account deposit to a maximum determined amount.

HotForex Account Types

South African traders that prefer forex trading via trading accounts that are denominated in ZAR have a plethora of options to satisfy their needs if they opt for opening a live trading account with HotForex. No matter of the trading strategy used and level of risk with HotForex, clients can open a maximum of 5 live accounts and additional 3 demo accounts.

In the table below, our team of experts assessed the main features that come with each different account type.

Note* HotForex Zero Spread Account type comes with raw spreads and 0 markups, but it charges the following commission structure:

• $6 round turn commission on major currency pairs
• $8 round turn commission on minor currency pairs

HotForex Deposit Methods

HotForex offers a wide range of deposit and withdrawal methods catering to the needs of a wide base of clients. The minimum deposit to fund the most basic HotForex account is $50 or equivalent in South African Rand. Opening a live trading account with HotForex is simple and straight forward. Check out below the available payment methods via HotForex:

• Bank wire transfers
• Credit cards and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, and Maestro)
• Electronic Wallets (Neteller, Skrill, and TrustPay)

Note* the only negative point scored by HF Markets is that it doesn’t support PayPal the world’s largest online payment portal.

HotForex 1,000:1 Leverage on Forex Trading

South African residents can speculate on the exchange rates with a maximum leverage of 2000:1 on a total of 49 currency pairs, including:

• 15 major currency pairs
• 34 minor currency pairs
• 4 ZAR crosses (USDZAR, EURZAR, GBPZAR and ZARJPY)

Compared to other forex brokers, only Pepperstone, IC Markets and FxPro can boost decent forex leverage of 500:1. For a full comparison of the leverage offerings among South African forex brokers please study the table below.

Final Words

Like all the best forex brokers operating in South Africa, HotForex abides by the standards imposed by the FSCA and other tier-one financial institutions (CySEC, FCA, DFSA and FSA). Client funds are secured and held in segregated accounts. With HF Markets enforces the negative balance protection policy, which means that SA traders can’t lose more than their account balance. Additionally, HotForex offers free account funding with zero deposit fees and fast transaction times.

Open a demo account >>Visit HotForex >>

FXCM – Best No Commission Forex Broker Account

Based on our proprietary star scoring system, FXCM is the best forex broker offering no commission on FX trading. South African residents can enjoy trading on the foreign exchange market with a proprietary trading platform, spreads as low as 1.2 pips on EUR/USD and 57.6 pips on USD/ZAR and leverage as high as 400:1 (and 200:1 for CFD trading).  The average spreads are calculated from October 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019.

Note* The default forex leverage is 400:1 but for deposits over $20,000 the leverage will be limited to 100:1.

Another aspect which makes FXCM offerings of financial services so attractive is their exclusive bonuses and promotions. Currently, SA traders can enjoy the following bonuses for forex trading:

• Forex welcome bonus of $20 (or Rand 300) available until September 30, 2020
• Forex affiliate program (you can get additional $20 when you refer friends and family to FXCM)
• FXCM Africa monthly trading contest (the winner can get $500 cash prize)

Note: SA traders need to make a minimum deposit of $50 (or Rand 749) to be eligible for FXCM’s bonuses and promotions.

FXCM Range of Trading Platforms

In terms of forex trading platform options, FXCM offers three featured trading platforms:

• MetaTrader 4 (MT4) – the world’s most popular trading platform
• Trading Station – FXCM’s proprietary trading platform
• NinjaTrader – dedicated to developing automated trading strategies via Strategy Builder feature

Note: Additionally to the main trading platforms, FXCM offers third-party platforms that can be fully blended with FXCM’s financial services. There are a total of 7 third-party trading platforms, including QuantConnect, MotiveWave, AgenaTrader, Sierra Chart, SeerTrading, NeuroShell Trader and StrategyQuant.

Each of FXCM’s trading platforms has unique trading features and providing market access for all types of traders. Regardless, of your preferred trading platform, FXCM can boost the following advantages*:

• 59.92% of client orders got executed with no slippage
• 28.48% of client orders received positive slippage
• 26 milliseconds average execution speed
• 98.84% better Forex pricing compared to the interbank pricing

As per the July 2020 Slippage Statistic Report

Final Words – Best Forex Broker with No Commission*

Overall, FXCM has the best no commission forex trading accounts dedicated to South African traders. Pepperstone came in second place in the same category. One thing to mention is that the FXCM trading accounts offer variable spreads plus mark-up pricing. The zero-commission trading feature couple with a solid range of trading platforms and enhanced execution speed makes FXCM the best forex broker with no commission.

Compare Forex Brokers noted that FXCM lack diversity when it comes to the currency pairs for trading. In total, FXCM offers only 39 forex currency pairs (major, minor and exotic pairs). Some traders may consider this a negative.

*FXCM receives compensated for their spread only products by adding a mark-up to the spreads that have been provided from liquidity providers and in some circumstances, adding a mark-up to rollover etc. Commissions will be applied to Active Trader account types.

View FXCM Review >>Visit FXCM >>

AvaTrade – Best Fixed Spread CFD Broker

Compare Forex Broker’s top pick for the best CFD broker with the lowest spreads is international broker AvaTrade. Regulated across five continents, including on the African continent by the local watchdog FSCA, AvaTrade gives SA traders access to over 784 financial instruments, including:

• Forex currency pairs (55+ major, minor and exotic pairs). Competitive spreads starting from 0.9 pips on EUR/USD and 85 pips on USD/ZAR.
• CFDs on global stocks (627 individual stocks like Amazon, Facebook or Google). The CFD stock spread starts from 0.13%.
• CFDs on commodities (17 soft and hard commodities, including metals). Gold spread starts from $0.34 and WTI Oil spread of $0.03.
• CFDs on indices (20 global indices). The spread on the DJ30 is 3.00 points and MSCI spread is 0.10 points.
• CFDs on FX Options (44 FX options contracts)
• ETFs (5 ETF contracts). The spread are as low as 0.13%
• Bonds (2 bond contracts)
• CFDs on cryptocurrency (14 digital coins). The bitcoin spread is 0.5% over-market.

It’s important to note that AvaTrade offers different levels of leverage conditions as follows:

• Gold leverage is 20:1 and the rest of commodities is 10:1
• Stock leverage of 5:1
• Indices leverage 10:1 (and 20:1 on the most traded indices)
• Cryptocurrency leverage of 2:1

AvaTrade has access to a deep pool of liquidity providers which promises CFD trading with competitive spreads. AvaTrade ZA also has numerous trading platforms, including the iconic MT4 and MT5 platforms, a browser-based trading platform and proprietary trading platforms AvaTradeGO and AvaOptions. Across all trading platforms, AvaTrade offers fixed spreads.

Fixed Spread Forex Trading Broker

AvaTrade offers competitive fixed spreads across its range of financial instruments. Unlike variable spreads, fixed spreads remain constant and aren’t impacted by the changes in the market conditions. However, it’s important to note that AvaTrade fix spreads are over the market. This means that the spread will fluctuate as per the market price, and they stop moving, once the position is open.

Below you can overview the fix spreads offered by AvaTrade under normal trading conditions on some of the most traded currency pairs:

Additionally, AvaTrade may offer spreads as a  percentage of the position for some CFD instruments as follow:

• CFD stock spreads as low as 0.13%
• CFD commodity spreads as low as 0.03 points
• CFD index spread as low as 0.25 over-market
• CFD FX Options spread as low as 0.9 points
• CFD ETF spread as low as 0.13%
• CFD Bonds spread as low as 0.03 over-market
• CFD cryptocurrencies spread as low as 0.35% over-market

Final Words – Low Fixed Spread CFD Broker

Like Plus500, AvaTrade is a global Forex broker that also has a SA subsidiary (Ava Capital Markets Pty) meaning it is regulated by the South African Financial Services Board. They have over 200,000 Forex traders using the fx broker and have won the ‘best customer service award’ in past years. They offer a web trader, MT4, MT5 or the proprietary platform AvaTrade Go as a mobile trading app.

Visit AvaTrade >>

ThinkMarkets – Best No Deposit FSCA Forex Account

ThinkMarkets has ranked as the best forex broker with no minimum deposit requirements that offers FX and CFD trading. This South African-based forex broker has only recently opened up (May 2019) its business in the African continent. The legal entity under which ThinkMarkets offers its financial services to South African traders is TF Global Markets (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd. ThinkMarkets is regulated by the local financial watchdog  Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and is an Authorized Financial Services Provider with FSP No 49835.

Offering financial services to forex traders in South Africa has become extremely competitive for the brokerage trading firms. However, ThinkMarkets has managed in a relatively short period of time to make a name for oneself.

Below, our team of experts will outline the main factors that weighted the most into our proprietary scoring system.

5 Types of Trading Forex Accounts

ThinkMarkets offer a variety of trading account types suitable for all types of traders. Setting up an account with this FSCA regulated FX broker requires no initial deposits (exception is the ThinkZero account). The types of forex accounts offered by ThinkMarkets are listed below:

• Standard account offers average spreads of 1.2 pips and access to 3 different trading platforms (ThinkTrader, MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5)
• ThinkZero account offers raw spreads +$3.5 commission per 1 standard lot (requires a minimum operating balance of $500)
• Islamic accounts come with swap-free charges. However, ThinkMarkets charges a weekly administrative fee of $5 for major pairs and $10 for minor pairs for trades that are held more than 7 days.
• Demo account gives access to over 1200 tradable instruments (Forex and CFDs on shares, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies and metals)
• Joint Account which can be owned by two account holders

See below a quick comparison between the two most popular ThinkMarkets accounts:

Note* The maximum leverage offered by ThinkMarkets is 500:1 if you qualify as a professional trader. Retail traders can only get maximum leverage of 30:1.

$1 Million Insurance Protection

South African traders can safely deposit money with ThinkMarkets. The additional $1 million client fund insurance offered by ThinkMarkets aims to safeguard your fund in an unlikely event of insolvency. Forex insurance coverage has the following advantages:

• Transparent protection with no additional fees
• Market-leading fund protection with segregated forex accounts
• Top-tier insurance partner (Lloyd’s of London)

Additionally, ThinkMarkets offer several payment options for deposits and withdrawals, including:

• Bank wire and bank transfers (international bank wire transfer costs $25)
• Credit and debit cards (Visa and Mastercards)
• Visa Checkout
• Sid Secure EFT
• Masterpass
• Payment Asia / UnionPay
• Skrill
• Zotapay Africa
• PayPal

Note* ThinkMarkets clients can manage the deposits and withdrawals through the secure client area ThinkPortal. SA traders can fund their account using the most popular currencies (ZAR, USD, EUR, CHF, GBP, JPY, AUD and more).

Final Words – Best SA Broker with No Deposit Requirement

Overall, ThinkMarkets is among the best South African Forex brokers due to their no minimum deposit requirements, a wide range of payment methods and fund protection. Following our extensive review process, we concluded that it’s safe to trade with ThinkMarkets.

View Trader’s Way >>Visit Trader’s Way >>

IG – Lowest Forex Trading Standard Spreads

IG.com ranks as the lowest spread forex broker in South Africa for the standard account. Established in the UK in 1974, IG is the world’s biggest CFD provider. IG Markets South Africa Limited is part of IG Group Holdings Plc and regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) FSP No. 41393. We assessed all aspects of IG trading spreads along with evaluating all its trading features and found the following advantages:

• The average spread of 0.75 pips on EUR/USD
• Access to +17,000 global markets through CFD contracts
• Direct Market Access (DMA)
• ProRealTime charting software and trading platform for only Rand 300 per month
• Stockbroking services with over 12,000 global shares like Facebook, Apple, Alphabet, etc.
• First-class customer support
• Fund protection through segregated accounts at tier-one banks and negative balance protection
• Fast average order execution speed of 14 milliseconds

Discover below the CFD spreads charged by IG South Africa.

Competitive Standard Spreads

At, IG the average standard spreads are considered to be the lowest among all forex brokers operating in South Africa. IG pricing technology streams its quotes from a wide pool of liquidity providers, which reduces the spreads charged to SA traders. IG’s average trade spreads can go as low as:

• 0.75 pips on EUR/USD
• 1 point on FTSE 100
• 0.3 points minimum spread on spot Gold
• $40 minimum spread on Bitcoin

Note* IG charges the spreads across all its markets with the exception of share trading which is commission-based (USD 25 on the US share trading).

The typical average standard spreads for the most traded currency pairs can be studied below:

Additionally, the IG’s order management software comes with the following advantages:

• No re-quotes – less than 0.36% (according to data compiled through October 2019) of trading orders are rejected due to liquidity constraints
• Price improved technology ensures positive slippage – more than 183,000 orders received positive slippage (according to data compiled through October 2019)
• Good for handling large order trading sizes
• A high rate of 98.3% order fill

Final Words – IG Lowest Spread Forex Broker in South Africa

Our FX expertise revealed that IG has the lowest forex trading standard spreads among South African FX brokers. IG forex spreads oscillate in accordance with the market liquidity while CFD spreads remain unchanged excluding stock spreads. South African residents can open a live trading account with IG with a minimum deposit of Rand 4,000.

View IG Markets Review >>Visit IG Markets >>

eToro – Best South Africa Broker for Social Trading

Used by millions of traders worldwide, eToro is the world’s largest social trading broker that is favoured among South African residents due to its copy trading feature. Our team of experts assessed all social trading networks, but eToro came at the top of our proprietary scoring system due to the following reasons:

• Copy-trading on multiple assets all from one proprietary trading platform
• A diverse range of trading strategies, portfolios and trade signals to follow
• Low minimum deposit requirements of $200
• CopyPortfolios a unique premium feature designed for sophisticated investors

Note* the minimum deposit required to invest in CopyPortfolio is higher. SA traders need to put down $5,000 to access eToro’s premium products.  

73% Success Rate on Copied Trades

Based on the data compiled since inception and ended in January 2018, eToro generates 73% success rate on over 124 million copied trades. In other words, 73% of the 124 million trades copied on the social trading platform closed in profit. The most popular social trading markets available on eToro include Forex, stock, indices, commodities, ETFs and cryptocurrencies.

eToro Investors can Earn 2% Annual Fees

eToro Popular Investor program is dedicated towards the skilled traders that have a profitable trading strategy and want to earn an additional income. If you become a Popular Investor on eToro copy trading platforms you can earn up to 2% in annual fees.

For example, if the total funds under management (funds that follow you) are $1 million, you’ll earn an additional $20,000 regardless of your success rate.

Note* The 2% annual fee is credited to your eToro account every month (by the 10^th of the month) and the funds will be available for withdrawal right away.

The eToro’s Popular Investor program is structured into 4 levels (Cadet, Rising Star, Champion and Elite) that come with their own requirements and different levels of assets under management. In conclusion, the more assets under management you manage to attract, the bigger your payment will be. The table below will highlight the 4 levels of the Popular Investor program.

Final Words – eToro Best South African Copy Trading Network

Overall, eToro came ahead of its competitors due to its large clients base of over 6 million traders. South African residents that lack the trading experience to generate a profit have a chance to use eToro copy trading feature and start earning a passive income. The financial services offered by eToro comply with the standard and rules imposed by the top financial institution including:

• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) holding AFSL number 491139
• In the US, eToro USA LLC is registered with FinCEN as a Money Services Business (on the downside it doesn’t hold a CFTC license)
• Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) holding license number 109/10
• Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) holding registration number 7973792
• On the downside, eToro is not regulated by the FSCA formerly known as the FSB

Note* while your funds are safe and secure, eToro will charge you a withdrawal fee of $25. The second negative point is eToro’s high spreads (typical EUR/USD spread of 3 pips and USD/ZAR spread of 50 pips) and the high overnight rollover fees.