A ZAR account is offered by local FSCA regulated South African forex brokers allowing the RAND to be selected as the forex traders based currency. This helps traders avoid currency exchange costs from their local currency to a major like the USD.
Updated: 12/02/2021
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The following FSCA regulated South African forex brokers offer the best ZAR accounts.
Our team of industry experts at Compare Forex Brokers below showcase the best forex brokers with Rand accounts and FSCA regulated.
Markets.com is an FSCA regulated broker that offers a South African Rand (ZAR) trading account for traders in South Africa. As a market maker broker, Markets.com offers commission-free trading with one single account type.
Although a market maker with a dealing desk, the broker follows a straight-through-processing execution model. By using STP, Markets.com can offer competitive no commission-spreads in line with no dealing desk brokers. For the EUR/USD (Euro vs US Dollar), minimum spreads are as low as 0.6 pips with no commission fees.
Traders can choose between from 2,200 financial instruments for trade including:
After signing up to a Markets.com trading account, you will gain access to two proprietary trading platforms and 2 mainstream platforms, each offering their own benefits and available as desktop trading platforms, webtrader platforms and mobile apps:
As well as access to all trading platforms, after signing up you can utilise a demo account to practise trading forex prior to trading with real money via a live account.
As a forex trader, the broker’s Marketsx trading platform offers an excellent range of tools and features to help you develop robust forex trading strategies. In addition to standard technical and fundamental analysis tools, Marketsx provides unique sentiment tools not available elsewhere.
Marketsx exclusive sentiment tools helps you gain an insight into how a market feels about a financial instrument. Sentiment is measured by whether the majority of market participants are buying or selling, showing the overall attitude to an asset. Six different sentiment tools are available on Marketsx with some designed for analysis of certain asset classes such as Share CFDs:
When conducting technical analysis, you are using historical market data to forecast future price movements of a forex pair or CFD. Marketsx advanced charting package includes over 85 different technical indicators ranging from Fibonacci Retracement to Relative Volatility Index indicators.
As well as the platform’s comprehensive charting package, a unique technical analysis tool available is Markets.com Related Instruments feature.
The Related Instruments tool helps you assess the correlation between financial instruments. Understanding how assets are related to one another can assist with developing diversified trading strategies while gaining an understanding of the different factors are affecting your trades.
Marketsx fundamental analysis tools look at the economic factors and events that may impact the price of financial instruments.
In addition to Marketsx and Marketsi, traders also have the option of MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. These platforms are 2 of the most popular trading platforms worldwide making them a safe choice regardless of your forex trading needs.
One reason to choose either MetaTrader platform over Marketsx and Marketsi is that they allow automated trading with expert advisors. Here you can use robots or algorithmic trading to automate your trading, thus removing emotion from your trading decisions.
Both trading platforms offer a wealth of charting, analysis and order tools to help you with your trading. MetaTrader 4 has all the essential tools one will need and is the most popular trading platform in the world so it a good choice. MetaTrader 5 however offers even more features that are not available with MetaTrader 4.
MetaTrader 5 also has a greater choice of trading CFDs you can trade with.
Overall, Markets.com is a great option for those wanting to establish a trading account with the South African Rand (ZAR) as the base currency. You can utilise a comprehensive selection of forex and CFD trading tools, including unique sentiment features unique to Markets.com.
View Markets.com Review >>Visit Markets.com >>
The overall rating is based on review by our experts
FxPro has one of the best ZAR accounts forex broker based on five key components:
FxPro is regulated in South Africa by the local regulators (FSCA) Financial Sector Conduct Authority with authorisation number 45052. They also have regulation with the FCA (UK), MENA (Dubai) and CSEC (Cyprus). The company overall has a strong reputation founded in 2006.
Award-winning FX broker FxPro has a leading presence in the FX industry, and its financial services are accessible to South African residents. SA traders can open a retail forex account in the local currency Rand. A forex broker ZAR account’s deposits and withdrawals are made through their innovative money and risk management tool FxPro Wallet. Clients of FxPro can open a Forex trading account in a wide range of foreign currencies including:
The multi-currency deposit solution makes it easy for you to manage your money across different currencies and meet your personal trading needs. The required minimum deposit for the FxPro ZAR forex account is Rand 7,000.
FxPro offers the best trading platforms:
As the table below highlights, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) both have no commissions. cTrader does have a commission on forex and metals, but also has lower spreads. MT4 also has the option of fixed spreads, which is ideal for beginner forex traders who want to keep an understanding of their brokerage costs.
Leverage is critical when forex trading or other CFD trading such as commodities to cryptocurrencies. As shown on the right, currency trading leverage is up to 500:1 which internationally is at the higher range. This opens opportunities for traders, especially who use automation but also makes it a high risk leveraged product.
A positive of FxPro as outlined in their disclosure and disclaimer policies, they offer negative balance protection. This means that losses won’t exceed the account balance. With the minimum deposit of 7,000 ZAR, traders should only have a balance active with FxPro that they are willing to lose.
Finally, when trading with higher leverage, other features such as stop/loss orders are recommended. This sets a limit on the amount a trader is willing to gain or lose on an individual trade. This isn’t though guaranteed as high turbulent markets can lead to slippage leading to additional format.
On top of forex trading, FxPro offers CFD trading across over 25o instruments from futures, shares, indices, energies to metals. The newer cryptocurrency offering is one of the most advanced with a <11.06 ms execution time and up to 7,000 executed orders each second.
FxPro was awarded the best forex broker based on its regulation (both in South Africa and other respective regulatory authorities), their choice between the three best forex trading platforms, the low spreads and commissions, choice of 250 instruments to trade and high leverage of up to 500:1.
View FxPro Review >>Visit FxPro >>
Plus500 is a highly rated South African CFD provider with headquarters in Israel, but having an international presence in more than 50 countries, including South Africa. Plus500 is a highly regulated forex broker being licensed by major global regulatory bodies, including FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), ASIC, and CySEC. Last but not least, Plus500 is also authorised and regulated by the domestic regulatory agency Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). The global supervisory bodies, including the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), guarantee a safe and secure environment for your funds.
Plus500 only offers a limited number of account types for South African residents, namely the retail trading account. The Plus500 trading account can be funded using a wide range of deposit methods including:
Plus500 offers accounts in the ZAR currency for South African traders. Our team of industry experts selected Plus500 because of two advantages that make this CFD provider stand out from its competitors:
The demo account offered by Plus500 is the perfect place to start trading forex and CFDs instruments. If you want to benefit from the full range of financial services offered by CFD provider Plus500, make sure you open a demo account by clicking the link below.
View Plus500 Review >>Visit Plus500 >>
*Your capital is at risk ‘76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money’
The best ZAR account for South African traders was HotForex based on three factors:
Our review team granted award-winning Forex and CFD broker HotForex the prize of the best forex broker offering ZAR accounts. SA forex traders can open a HotForex account denominated in the domestic currency Rand. The ZAR accounts are available across all 6 different account types offered by HotForex.
HotForex is a highly regulated forex broker being licensed by major global regulatory bodies, including FCA, CySEC and the local Financial Security Conduct Authority FSCA. The robust regulation guarantees client funds protection and a secure and transparent trading environment for SA traders.
HotForex offers 6 different types of retail investor accounts:
You have the full flexibility to choose between multitudes of account types to suit your needs in terms of the trading strategy used and your minimum deposit. Additionally, HotForex is also tailored for Muslim traders by offering an Islamic trading account.
If you’re looking to open a live trading account HotForex offers 8 funding methods including
What is attractive about HotForex deposit methods is that they don’t charge you any deposit fees. The minimum deposit required by HotForex with the majority of funding options is $50 equivalent to South African Rand.
Additionally, HotForex offers convenient and fast withdrawal methods, providing you with first-class trading services. HF doesn’t charge withdrawal fees, and any withdrawal request is processed under 24 hours. They have local offices 114 West Street Sandton, Johannesburg.
HotForex has award-winning forex trading services due to its quality and client’s funds protection. Extra protective measures include segregated trading accounts, which can give you the peace of mind you need to succeed trading forex. HotForex is also a member of the Investor Compensation Fund and has taken additional measures to protect South African traders with a compensation program that comes in the form of a Civil Liability insurance policy (€5 million), which covers unintentional errors, omissions, negligence, fraud and various other risks that may lead to financial loss.
You can start trading with the South African Broker Khwezi Trade, the only locally based name that made it through our South Africa Brokers with ZAR accounts list. Our team of industry experts compared multiple local names, but the Khwezi Trade ZAR trading account stood out mainly due to its award-winning customer service and the fact that your funds are held in segregated bank accounts with one of the top 10 African banks with tier a 1 capital.
Trading through a local broker has the advantage of having easy and fast access to your funds, which is an extra advantage besides the security that FSCA regulated brokers give. Additionally, bank wire transfers are much cheaper and faster.
Khwezi Trade minimum deposit ranges from Rand 2,000 up to Rand 50,000 depending on the account type you opt for. Khwezi Trade offers four account types that are outlined below, including their main features:
Hedging and scalping are available through all four ZAR account types. However, the trading conditions differ depending on your ZAR account type. The new deposit bonus from Khwezi Trade is a stimulating opportunity to start forex trading. To be eligible for the deposit bonus program, you only need to make a minimum deposit of Rand 1,000. This can be a very practical method to boost your initial deposit if you’re not well-capitalised to tackle the high risk that comes with trading currency pairs and other leveraged CFDs instruments.
FSCA regulated forex brokers have an extra layer of trustworthiness because you can have access to independent dispute resolution systems to solve any conflict between SA traders and the FX broker. The Financial Security Conduct Authority FSCA will also issue risk warnings if South African forex brokers go rogue and don’t comply with the South African laws that govern the financial system.
You can trade forex on an Electronic Communication Network (ECN) environment with SuperForex a reputable and well-regulated trading firm. At Compare Forex Brokers we examined the top forex brokers with ZAR accounts, and SuperForex is exclusive in offering ECN ZAR account type. SuperForex is regulated and governed by the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) which ensures the safety of your funds and a secure trading environment.
You have the option to choose from a diversity of account types to match your trading style and forex capital size. In total, there are 8 different ZAR trading account types, which are highlighted below:
SuperForex has a competitive advantage in the foreign exchange market, providing beginner forex traders and professional traders with innovative online financial services. The top 3 SuperForex strengths are outlined below:
The list of available deposit and withdrawal methods includes over 24 payment methods. You can deposit South African Rand using your preferred payment method with zero transaction fees. SuperForex Deposit Protection Program enables SA traders to have insurance cover of their funds if they experience a loss.
SuperForex offers the highest deposit bonuses in the Forex industry, including 6 different types of bonuses that accommodate both beginner traders and professional traders. South African residents can also take advantage of trading Forex with the brokers’ money. SuperForex offers newbie traders $50 from their pocket to try forex trading without risking their hard-earned money.
SuperForex stands out with its wide range of flexible ZAR ECN trading accounts. The forex accounts denominated in the local currency Rand can enjoy maximum leverage of 1000:1. The spreads are as low as 0.0 due to many liquidity providers that compete to offer the best bid and ask prices. SuperForex offers access to Tier-1 forex liquidity providers, including BNP Paribas, Natixis, CitiBank, and UBS.
Risk Warning: Trading Forex and CFDs on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all types of investors.
For a complete review guide of the top South Africa forex brokers and their main features please visit South Africa Forex Trading Brokers.
FXCM is best for the selection of professional trading platforms, which have features designed to accommodate both beginner traders and more sophisticated traders. Out of all the forex brokers with ZAR accounts, FXCM is the top choice for SA traders who want to enjoy:
FXCM is considered a safe forex broker with regulations in two tier-1 jurisdictions (UK’s FCA and Australia’s ASIC) while its parent company, Jefferies Financial Group, is publicly traded on the NYSE. Additionally, FXCM South Africa (PTY) LTD with an office in Johannesburg is licensed by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) with FSP No 46534, which allows it to provide online trading service to South African residents.
South African-based clients can choose between MT4’s user-friendly interface and proprietary trading platform Trading Station with advanced charting package or NinjaTrader’s automation capabilities. FXCM has a good selection of tradable instruments, including:
FXCM’s extra features combine fast execution speed of 28ms, API trading including premium bid/ask prices, add-ons tools, standalone Apps, advance trading courses, economic calendar, market scanner, newsletter and spread betting to offer the ultimate trading solution for SA forex traders.
The in-house trading platform, Trading Station is a powerful piece of software that combines multiple custom indicators, robust charting package, customised time frames, price overlays, price alert, and backtesting and strategy optimization capabilities. Their powerful platform stands out for its exclusive Real Volume indicator and the Speculative Sentiment Index (SSI).
FXCM’s primary platforms for beginners, the MetaTrader 4 and TradingView, are of the highest quality across the board.
Advanced day traders will benefit from NinjaTrader’s features. This platform has an advantage when it comes to supplying advanced analytics, hundreds of technical indicators, load multiple timeframes at once, advanced trade management system, point-and-click strategy builder, customizable workspace, lightning-quick order execution with multiple order types and so much more.
One of the things that set the NinjaTrader platform off is the steep learning curve.
All FXCM trading platforms are fairly accessible through multiple devices including PC Windows, Mac and Linux and from any browser. Trading on the go can be done with FXCM’s mobile trading apps available for iPhone iOS and Android devices.
Overall, FXCM offers an excellent selection of trading platforms, which makes it the best choice for technical traders. While FXCM’s trading costs might not be on par with other brokers, their software solution is impressive.
View FXCM Review >>Visit FXCM >>
XM is best for their research and learning centre. XM’s educational resources vary from educational videos, forex webinars, platform tutorials, daily news, markets overview, XM live and so much more. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Cyprus, XM is a brand name of Trading Point Holding, a company serving over 3.5 million traders from over 196 countries.
The brokerage trading firm doesn’t hold an FSCA license from South Africa’s financial regulator but it holds tier-1 licenses from Australia’s ASIC, Cyprus’ CySEC, UK’s FCA and Dubai’s DFSA.
XM offers competitive pricing on over 1,000 financial instruments, 16 trading platforms, 3 account types that support ZAR as the base currency, and multiple deposit and withdrawal methods.
XM has a great all-round offering in terms of educational resources. XM’s comprehensive free resources are available for beginners and professional traders alike. The educational FX course can help you how to start forex trading from the basic concepts to the most advanced trading concepts.
XM online education resources focus more on educational videos for teaching and learning including:
XM research tools include daily and weekly updates on the latest market trends, numerous daily briefings, trading podcast, trade ideas powered by Autochartist and so much more. For more detailed technical and fundamental analysis, XM Research section is rich with market insights. XM incorporates market commentary from over 20 in-house FX experts.
Additionally, XM offers a great mix of proprietary research and market analysis via:
Overall, the XM website is a leader when it comes to providing reliable market research and educational material. XM’s exclusive library of video tutorials is the highlights of this broker.
View XM Review >>Visit XM >>
South African Traders with IQ Options are open to open a Zar denominated account with a minimum deposit of 150 ZAR. This allows IQ Options clients to save, as it means there will be no conversion fees when you deposit or withdraw funds with the broker.
IQ Option is a good choice if you need a broker that offers a good range of forex options or CFDs. With this broker, you can choose from:
When trading with IQ Options, commission costs are included in the spread. This means you don’t need to worry about paying commission fees in addition to the spread.
IQ Options offer a large collection for forex currency pair for digital and binary options trading.
Digital options trading allows you to speculate on price movements of forex pairs. If movements of the underlying currency pair reach the threshold set by the trader, then payouts can be as high as 900%.
Binary options allow you to gain a return up to 95% for correctly guessing the price movement of the underlying instrument. IQ Options allow you to choose between forex pairs, stocks and gold.
IQ Options offer 41 forex pairs, including all the major currency pairs such as EUR/USD, AUD/USD and GBP/USD. With this account, you will need to pay overnight swaps. Leverage can be as high as 500:1.
IQ Options allow you to trade 181 stock CFD. IQ Options helpfully break these down into sectors so you can find the best companies in your desired industry. Sectors include:
IQ Options gives you a choice of 19 different cryptocurrencies CFD to trade with. Most cryptos have custodial fees of 0.25% to 2.50%. Cryptocurrency options include:
IQ Options allows you to trade Gold, Silver, Crude Oil Brent and Crude Oil WTI. These options can be a good option for diversification as they are not influenced by market fluctuations like other assets.
South African Rand is the official domestic currency of Africa’s second-largest economy since 1961, when it replaced the South African Pound. The currency ISO code for SA Rand is ZAR and is issued by the South African Reserve Bank.
Rand is also recognised by law as a legal tender in the following countries Namibia, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.
ZAR is one of the top emerging market currencies being part of the BRICS bloc and actively traded on the Forex market. According to a survey by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), South African Rand is the 18th most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, making up 1.1% or $60 billion of the average daily turnover.
South African residents looking to boost their forex trading profits should open a ZAR trading account. The benefit of having a ZAR forex account eliminates unnecessary foreign exchange conversions between your local bank and your FX broker. Additionally, the wire bank transfers between South African residents and Forex brokers are fast and cheaper if they come from local bank accounts. You can also get rid of the foreign exchange fees when you trade through forex brokers with ZAR accounts. If this isn’t a critical factor, then you can view our South Africa best forex broker comparison page.
Justin Grossbard has been investing for the past 20 years and writing for the past 10. He co-founded Compare Forex Brokers in 2014 after working with the foreign exchange trading industry for several years. He also founded a number of FinTech and digital startups including Innovate Online and SMS Comparison. Justin holds a Masters Degree and an Honours in Commerce from Monash University. He and his wife Paula live in Melbourne, Australia with his son and Siberian cat. In his spare time, he watches Australian Rules Football and invests on global markets.
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