The Best Forex Brokers in South Africa
The FSCA is the regulatory market in South Africa across financial services including forex brokers. The top forex brokers in South Africa that have applied or are FSCA regulated can be viewed below based on their foreign exchange features and brokerage.
1) AxiTrader – 10/10 Rating – FSP number 45784
AxiTrader acquired One Financial as you can view here in 2018 helping them use the FSCA licence to enter South Africa. The Australian-based forex broker gained market share based on their MetaTrader forex trading platform offering with advanced features, low spreads and commissions and customer service. Read more…
2) Plus500 – 7.5/10 Rating – FSP Number 47546
Plus500 holds the Authorised Financial Services Provider licence with the Financial Service Board of South Africa. The global fx broker is suitable for all investors with strengths in customer service, an easy to use forex trading platform and a range of markets from Shares, Indices, Cryptocurrencies and Forex with an assortment of currency pairs. Read more…
3) AvaTrade – 8/10 Rating – FSP Number 445984
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 and offer both there forex platform and MT4.
4) IG – 4.5/10 Rating – FSP No 41393
As one of the largest global foreign exchange retail broker, IG offers CFD trading on global products including over 8000 international shares using margin. IG was voted as the best South African CFD broker in 2012 and 2013 through the Business Day and Active Day Traders gave it the ‘best Online Broker’ in both 2015 and 2017. Read more…
5) Pepperstone – 10/10 Rating – FSP Pending
5) Pepperstone – 10/10 Rating – FSP PendingPepperstone Group Limited with FSP Number 49497 is in the process of been regulated by FSCA with an application made on the 24/05/2018. This is the most awards forex broker in Australia based on there low spreads, advanced forex platform, award winning market service and leading edge technology leading to fast execution speeds. Read more…
Brokers Regulated By FSB - South Africa Forex Brokers
| SA Forex Broker | Regulation | Min.Deposit | Trading Platform | Leverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AxiTrader | FSB, ASIC | $200 | MT4 | 500:1 |
| FXTM (Forex Time) | FCA, CySec,, IFSC | $5 | MT4, MT5, Web | 1000:1 |
| AvaTrade | FSB, ASIC | $100 | MT4, AvaTrader | 400:1 |
| IG | ASIC, FCA, MAS | $450 | MT4, L2 | 200:1 |
| Khwezi | FSB | ???? | MT4 | 200:1 |
| FXCM | ASIC, FCA | $50 | MT4, NinjaTrader | 400:1 |
| Markets.com | FSB, CySEC | $100 | Sirix Web, Mobile | 300:1 |
| IronFX | CySEC | $100 | MT4, MT5 | 500:1 |
| Saxo Bank | FCA, FSA, ASIC | $10000 | SaxoTrader | 100:1 |
| ACM Gold | FSB | R5000 | MT4 | 500:1 |
| BlackStone Futures | FSB | R5000 | MT4, CloudTrade | 100:1 |
| JP Markets | FSB | R3500 | MT4 | 500:1 |
| Harborx | CySEC | $50 | Harborx Platform | 100:1 |
| ALFA Financials | FSB | $1000 | Alfa Trader | 100:1 |
| FxPro | FSB, FCA, CySEC | $100 | MT4, MT5, FxPro, cTrader | 500:1 |
| XTrade | CySEC | $100 | Xtrader Pro | 400:1 |
| Velocity Trade | FSB | $200 | Protrader | 75:1 |
| Plus500 | FSB | €100 | Plus500 Platform | 300:1 |
| CMC Markets | Yes | $200 | Next Generation | 500:1 |
Customer Service
- Pepperstone – 5 Stars
- IC Markets – 4 Stars
- IG – 4 Stars
- Plus500 – 2.5 Stars
- AvaTrade – 1.5 Stars
Each year Investment Trends surveys retail foreign exchange traders to find out which forex broker they rate the best in specific categories. Customer service is one of these categories and Pepperstone has won this several times as well as the best spreads, execution speeds and forex trading platform. While this doesn’t apply specifically for South African forex trading, traders in SA will experience the same level of customer service as it’s global as is their liquidity offering.
Customer Service is offered 24 hours a day, 5 days a week ensuring customer support is available when currency markets are open. Local SA support may be available once the regulator licence is approved for Pepperstone.
The customer service category is one Pepperstone has regularly won and with a 24 hour customer service offering, SA traders will experience this unique strength of the broker.
When a SA forex trader opens account they will have an account manager who will be in touch. High volume forex traders will also be given a dedicated account manager help trade forex through either the MT4, MT5 or cTrader fx platform.
Open a demo account >>Visit Pepperstone >>
Best Forex Platform
- IG Markets – 5 Stars
- Pepperstone – 5 Stars
- Axitrader – 4.5 Stars
- CMC Markets – 4 Stars
- Plus500 – 3.0 Stars
IG offers a plethora of forex platforms for South African forex trading including their own platform, MT4, and advanced forex platforms including L2 dealer. The latter forex platform allows for direct market access allowing IG forex traders to access directly liquidity pools worldwide.
IG has it’s own platform which has the lowest spreads and unique features only available through that fx broker. If you prefer the other platform options such as MT4 the spreads may be higher and features unique to IG may not be available.
Generally most South African traders will choose to trade with IG’s forex platform. The other platforms such as MT4 may have a better offering from other forex brokers in South Africa such as Pepperstone or IC markets.
It’s important to consider that if you use the IG forex trading platform it will be difficult to switch fx brokers in future as you will need to learn a new platform. This is why many brokers prefer to choose MT4 or cTrader brokers making it easier to switch between South Africa fx brokers in future.
Lowest Forex Trading Costs
- Axitrader – 5 Stars
- Pepperstone – 5 Stars
- IG Markets – 3.5 Stars
- CMC Markets – 3.0 Stars
- Plus500 – 2.5 Stars
AxiTrader is an ECN forex broker which means through the ‘True ECN Account’ forex traders can have minimal spreads from 0.0. Below shows how USD spreads against major currencies as low but a commission is also charged on each pairing. This works based on volume but combined with low spreads still leads to lower brokerage. A true ECN also avoids interference when trading. This can improve execution speeds reducing slippage in volatile markets. Many automated trading programs can improve success when using an ECN forex broker account.
There are other fees that can apply when trading such as overnight holding fees. Deposit methods and withdrawals are mostly fee frees but institutions may charge additional fees which should be considered.
The True ECN account is the most popular IC Markets trading account based on lower brokerage and faster execution speeds.
It’s important to always measure brokerage and other fees to understand potential profit and losses when trading. A demo account is an excellent way to do this and simulate past and present market conditions.
Open a demo account >>Visit IC Markets>>
Finding The Right Forex Broker In South Africa
South African forex trading success is partially dictated by the fx broker chosen and five criteria should be considered:
1) Spread and Commission Fees are the forms of brokerage that apply to a forex broker in South Africa. Some brokers will only have a spread while others may have narrower spreads but also charge a commission. Some other fees may apply to advanced features such as guaranteed spreads, overnight holding of a position or licencing fees.
2) Forex Platforms are the way online brokers allow South African forex traders to trade with currency markets. These have different interfaces, features and integrations. On the South African forex broker table above you can view how MetaTrader (MT4) is offered by most brokers giving flexibility to change brokers if you choose this fx platform. Other platforms on the other-hand may have unique features not available on MT4 or MT5.
3) Leverage is critical when currency trading in SA. As currency market movement is modest compared to other markets, leverage makes these more substantial to make real profits or losses. A trader needs to afford to take the high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Therefore, leverage needs to be aligned to a South African forex traders risk profile. Remember, losing your money is a real possibility on currency markets so it’s critical to understand the risks of forex trading.
4) Risk Management features take into account how cfds are complex instruments. They help control risk such as determining when a trader exits a trade (eg a guaranteed stop) or to prevent a trader from not only losing your money but also from going negative through negative balance protection. Even with risk management you can lose money when trading so the amount put into a deposit is critical.
5) Regulatory Bodies: The South African local regulatory body is the FSCA, this is also referred to as the FSB (Financial Service Board). This regulator reviews the financial services industry excluding the banks. This regulator works towards protecting South African investors including forex traders and has powers to enforce there policies. They also work with the Ombudsman to investigate customer concerns in regards to forex trading brokers.
