South Africa is one of the most developed countries in Africa and has long embraced the opportunity of trading in the forex market. What are the best brokers for South African traders?
South Africa is one of the most developed countries in Africa. So, it's not surprising if the country enjoys one of the most reliable and established regulatory bodies in the region for those who want to trade forex (and pursue other economic trading opportunities).
The government of South Africa established the Financial Services Board (FSB) to oversee the South African non-banking financial services industry. The FSB is an independent institution that was established over twenty years ago and has since become a reliable regulatory body for South Africa forex brokers.
The best South African forex brokers will, of course, be obligated to hold a license issued by FSB. However, forex brokers operating in the country without being regulated is not an uncommon sight. We would recommend that to become a successful forex trader in South Africa, you have to choose a broker that is regulated and adheres to industry standards meant to protect traders' funds, such as maintaining segregated client accounts and minimum capital requirements.
Before you begin forex trading in South Africa, consider what type of trading you want to pursue. Do you plan to trade the South African currency, the Rand? Are you looking to trade standard currency pairs such as EUR/USD? No matter what pair (or pairs) you choose, look at the spreads offered by the brokers and make sure you’re getting the best spreads available. Likewise, make sure that your forex broker will allow you to deposit in Rands, if necessary.
What to look for in a South African forex broker?
Despite the general lack of online forex brokers based in South Africa, you can still trade forex through foreign-based online brokers. Generally, an ideal broker will have the following 11 elements:
- Oversight by a reputable financial regulator;
- Excellent reputation among forex traders;
- Allows you to trade in the type of account you prefer;
- Requires an affordable minimum deposit;
- Gives you trading access to all major and minor forex currency pairs and other assets;
- Has a maximum leverage ratio appropriate for your trading strategy and risk tolerance;
- Offers competitive dealing spreads;
- Provides clients with insurance against negative balances;
- Keeps re-quotes and slippage on orders to a minimum;
- Maintains client funds in segregated accounts; and
- Provides withdrawal and deposit options that fit your needs.
Another important factor to consider when choosing a forex broker is platform and trading software. In addition to their own proprietary trading platform, many brokers offer cTrader, NinjaTrader, and the very popular MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms from MetaQuotes that both support automated trading.
Best forex brokers in South Africa
Forex trading has become extremely popular in South Africa, making the country a truly emerging market for forex trading. When something is emerging, it is worth examining carefully. That's why it's important to be extra careful in selecting a forex broker as there will inevitably be a few such brokerages probably not deserving of your trust.
One issue that many South African forex traders have complained of is that the major global forex brokerage houses are neglecting South Africa, abandoning the field to local brokers who do not always offer competitive spreads, commissions, miscellaneous fees, and other important terms for trading.
To find the best forex brokers in South Africa, we present a list of brokers that confirm South Africa as a country that accepts new customers from. Here's the summary of the best forex brokers for South African traders:
FXTM
FXTM was initially launched in 2011 with a unique vision to provide unparalleled superior trading conditions. Opening an account in FXTM would also bring about access to advanced education and sophisticated trading tools in the forex industry.
Now, FXTM is registered under the Financial Conduct Authority of the UK with the number 600475. The company is also regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission with CIF license number 185/12, and is licensed by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa, with FSP No. 46614
FXTM has 1 million registered accounts with more traders joining every day. The company continually tries to improve their performance and have got many awards such as Best Trading Experience 2019 by World Finance Awards, Best Online Forex Trading Company Nigeria 2018 by International Finance Awards, Reputable Investor Education Forex Broker Award 2018 by Hexun.com, Forex Brand Of The Year China 2018 by Fxeye.Com, and many more.
As a responsible broker, they determine leverage (expressed as a ratio of transaction size relative to trader's buying power) according to the trader's level of knowledge and experience in trading, which is evaluated by the Appropriateness Assessment. The company also enables trading with leverage up to 1:1000.
As for spreads, FXTM offers low spreads starting from 0.1 pip, so traders can withdraw profits at the start of trading. The company, which has headquarters in several countries, uses No Dealing Desk (NDD) technology and partners with credible liquidity providers to provide the best bid and ask prices.
For beginners, there is an automatic trading facility called algorithmic trading provided. When trading in FXTM, traders can develop their trading strategy or adopt other traders' strategies. Furthermore, the strategy is applied to automated trading systems, such as Expert Advisors. The purpose of this system is traders do not have to worry about losing opportunities while not observing the market so that profits can still be earned.
Three types of ECN accounts use the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. There are also mobile and Tablet Apps trading platforms. Aside of providing many account variants, FXTM goes above and beyond to ensure that their client receives excellent support that they deserve, making their trading experience optimal and user-friendly.
FXTM also provides a diverse range of products. In addition to over 50 currency pairs, they provide gold, silver, CFD on commodity futures (oil), CFD on ETFs, and indices.
Education about the basic concepts of the forex industry is also accessible in this broker. Traders can read all the concepts provided in the form of e-books, video tutorials, articles, webinars, and forex seminars. There are 17 languages provided on the FXTM website to make it easier for traders to learn about forex.
Traders are also given various choices for payment methods, including Credit Cards (Visa, Mastercard, Maestro) and E-Wallet (Neteller, Skrill, Western Union). For withdrawing funds, traders are not charged a fee with a length of 2 hours to 2 days. Traders can live chat to ask further questions and contact the admin via email. There is also a question and answer page about forex trading on FXTM.
FXTM is considered safe because it is regulated by the top-tier FCA. It accepts clients from many countries, including South Africa. FXTM also offer competitive spreads and affordable initial capital for all types of clients.
Exness
The choice of broker is adjusted to the needs of each trader. If you are a trader who only needs a basic platform and trading features with the best attributes, then Exness can be your best choice.
Exness covers its lack of feature variations with other advantages like low spreads starting from only 0.1 pip. This is very suitable for traders who use scalping strategies (Scalper). Spreads on major pairs in certain account types can also be as low as 0.0 pip, depending on market conditions.
Not only that, but traders can also enjoy other advantages such as automatic fund withdrawals. Exness processes the majority of client withdrawals instantly, without manual checks; however, withdrawals may be subject tos depending on the payment provider or method of choice.
The safety of traders' funds is also guaranteed as Exness is one of the European-based STP/ECN brokers. Exness's ability to become an official partner of the Real Madrid soccer team for 3 years, starting July 2017, also provides evidence that the company has high solidity.
Deposits and withdrawals may be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, it is important to note that the company shall not be liable fors in processing deposits and withdrawals if suchs are caused by the payment system.
Traders do not need to worry about transaction fees when depositing and withdrawing. Exness doesn't charge any transaction fees to traders even though some charges may be incurred depending on the payment provider of choice. A variety of payment methods are provided for traders, including Wire Transfer, Bank Card, Neteller, Skrill, and many others.
The financial reports and metrics on the Exness website are audited quarterly by Deloitte, one of the four largest public accounting firms globally.
Moreover, Exness is one of the mote transparent brokers in the online trading industry. Traders can find out all information about this company on the website, such as trading volume, number of active clients, client deposits, company funds, and many more.
The platforms provided by Exness vary in MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Web, and Mobile platforms. This makes it easy for traders when trading on Exness, as they can also access Exness platforms anywhere and anytime.
Over the years, Exness has developed into a broker that attracts traders. Trader's trust is further enhanced by its compliance with financial regulations like the FCA and CySEC.
One measure of client confidence can be put on the trading volume. By December 2018, their clients' monthly trading volume reached USD348.4 billion and active traders around the world surpassed 50,342.
Through the program offered by Exness, traders also have the opportunity to earn extra income by becoming their partners. From the Introducing Broker (IB) program, partners can earn up to 33% spread commission from every new client that registers with them.
Additional income can also be obtained from Exness Partners. Traders can get a spread commission of up to 25% per transaction made by traders who register through an affiliate link.
When trading with Exness, clients can also make use of its free VPS hosting services. A VPS (Virtual Private Server) offers increased reliability and stability for traders as they can maintain their trades and expert advisors without interruption in the event of unexpected technical issues, such as internet or electricity downtime.
From the review above, it can be concluded that Exness is a favorite broker for traders because of low spreads and flexible account types. This condition is very suitable for traders with limited funds but is in need of more opportunities to get maximum profit. This broker is also well known for its maximum support on both new and existing partners.
Exness is a MetaTrader-only broker regulated in the EU offering multiple account types and forex pairs. Despite the advantages, Exness offering lacks the range of CFDs forex brokers typically offer.
AvaTrade
Avatrade can be called one of the most well-rounded brokers that support almost all trading styles. Not only allowing hedging, scalping, and expert advisor (EA), Avatrade also completes their service with One-cancels-the-other order (OCO) and AutoTrading in many variants of automated trading systems.
AvaTrade was founded in 2006, with the primary mission to empower people to trade with confidence. If traders are still confused about what is the best broker for supporting trader's trading, AvaTrade perchance option of traders, because it has been evaluated and honored for some of the industry's most remarkable financial and technological achievements that it provided to clients.
In 2019, the Dublin-based broker got achievement from Daytrading.com as The Best Forex Broker 2019. Besides, the company is honored as Best Forex Broker, Best Bitcoin CFD Trading Provider of the year, and Best Affiliation Programme in the European area.
Furthermore, for traders who have high mobility, AvaTrade provides many platforms that allow traders to trade using laptops and mobile phones. The availability of the free Autochartist tool in the platforms is the best support for both novice and experienced traders because it makes it easier for them to find trading opportunities without the need to glance at charts all day.
The Autochartist free signal is provided in Gold Account, Platinum Account, and AVA Select. By opening an account in AvaTrade, traders don't have to pay for getting a full Autochartist service. Autochartist itself is a market scanner tool that can detect trading signals from various technical perspectives.
Traders can access AvaTrade in many variants of platforms, such as AvaTradeGO, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Automated Trading, Mac Trading, Web Trading, Mobile Trading, and AvaOptions.
In terms of regulation, AvaTrade is regarded as a superior broker because it has a lot of credible licenses. That way, even with deposits of up to ten thousand dollars, security can be guaranteed. Applying the Segregated Account system, AvaTrade is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland (No.C53877), ASIC Australia (No.406684), JFSA Japan (No.1662), and South Africa (FSP 45984).
Can traders lose more than their deposit abruptly in the event of high volatility? AvaTrade explicitly answers no, as traders have negative balance protection.
With a minimum deposit of USD100, AvaTrade offers various leverage depending on the trading instruments; whether it is forex (starts from 30:1), indices (starts from 20:1), commodities (starts from 5:1), ETFs (starts from 5:1), or cryptocurrencies (starts from 2:1).
AvaTrade has committed to a set of values in relation to customers. Therefore, the company provides the best trading experience, offering multilingual customer service and the most sophisticated and user-friendly trading platform.
New traders can also learn forex trading in the Education tab on AvaTrade's official website. Traders will find a wide collection of articles, video tutorials, and more tools that will assist them every step of the way. It is an important requirement as the forex market might be a bit overwhelming and even scary at times, so traders need to make sure that they are fully prepared to begin trading in the real account.
There are many types of account types provided by AvaTrade. There is also an Islamic Trading Account, which is uniquely provided for Muslim Traders. Islamic account type is similar to a regular one with one key difference; it is not subject to any special fees or interests (swap-free), which sits well with the finance principles of Sharia Law.
If traders have felt confident for forex trading, traders can choose AvaTrade as an ideal choice. The minimum deposit and various platforms offered to make it a suitable destination for even beginners who would like to try forex trading for the first time.
AvaTrade is a leading international forex broker and is a part of the AVA Group of companies. Founded in 2006, AvaTrade is one of the oldest online brokerages. Our review details the trading platforms, mobile app, deposit methods, and MT4 integration. From Bitcoin to vanilla options, whatever you want to trade, see if Avatrade will suit you.
Axi
If traders are looking for brokers with elite class regulations, Axi can be the right choice. Axi is an Australian broker registered under ASIC and FCA. This is the main point because the two regulators are widely recognized to have strict regulations.
"Created by traders, and for traders" is a mission carried by Axi since its foundation in 2007. They continue to strive to accommodate the needs of traders. Axi had the strongest brand association with being "trustworthy" among current FX Traders in December 2014.
In addition, Axi also received other awards, including the most reliable Forex Broker 2017, Highest Overall Client Satisfaction Investment Trend 2017, Commenced back-office operations in Philippines, Cyprus & Singapore 2018, Best MT4 Broker 2018 by the UK Forex Awards, and the Most Trusted Forex Brokers by the 2018 Forex Forex Awards. With the various achievements that have been obtained, Axi seeks to build the confidence of traders from all over the world.
Traders can monitor the movements of spreads on Live Spreads, which are provided by Axi on its official website. These floating spreads are beneficial for traders when price volatility is not high.
In addition to spreads, the difference is also seen in the commission on each account. There is a commission of around USD7 for Pro Accounts, whereas, for Standard Accounts, traders do not need to spend funds for commission.
Meanwhile, the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots and leverage is up to 1:400. Traders can choose their deposit amount because Axi does not specify a minimum amount. Instead, traders have the opportunity to profit when trading on Axi with a 20% deposit bonus. Opportunities to open positions thus increase, accompanied by deposit bonuses that can be withdrawal easily and quickly.
There are around 80 currencies and CFDs traded on Axi. Besides, the company also offers traders looking for diversified investments in other assets like gold, silver, oil, and 11 indices. To attract the attention of traders from various countries, Axi also provides a variety of currencies that can be used by traders as base currency, including AUD, CAD, CHF, EUR, GBP, HKD, JPY, NZD, SGD, and USD.
Traders at Axi can enjoy free VPS provided by third parties by depositing a certain amount. The Virtual Hosting Service uses an external server to ensure the platform stays running 24 hours a day and prevents Downtime. Of course, this service is very useful for those who use Expert Advisors.
When trading forex, chart analysis becomes an unavoidable activity. Traders do not need to worry about that when trading with Axi. Because one of the advantages of the Axi broker is Autochartist signals. This facility is useful for following market movements precisely. For traders who use MT4 Standard Account and MT4 Pro Account, they will get Autochartist signals for free.
Besides being able to easily understand the pattern of price movements through Autochartist, Axi also provides easy access to sophisticated trading tools under the name of MT4 NexGen. The advantage of this platform is to find out trading sentiments, Market Insights, Correlation Traders, and Alarm Managers. With this technology, traders can easily access super-fast networks and can handle any high-frequency inflows to scalping.
Traders can also add knowledge about forex trading with the Webinar facility, which is provided by Axi for free. Professional traders and experienced analysts will provide traders with a variety of new trading knowledge in this education program.
Not only that, opening an account in Axi can lead to other experiences such as copying trading strategies from professional traders, with tools like as DupliTrade, Myfxbook, and ZuluTrade. Traders are free to copy trading strategies from professional traders and apply them to their own trade.
If there are still other questions, traders can contact Axi support that is active 24/5. Their staff comes from all over the world, so they got a global team that speaks traders' language from various countries in the world.
Axi was founded in 2007 and is an Australian forex broker. It is regulated by multiple financial authorities worldwide, such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
To easily compare the abovementioned brokers, here is the table of comparison:
Compare | FXTM | Exness |
General Rating |
3.73/5 |
4.25/5 |
||
Trustpilot |
3.1/5 704 users |
3.8/5 579 users |
||
💼 Regulation | ||||
❗Information | Testimonials (36), News (12), Bonus (2), Promotions (3) | Testimonials (155), News (62), Promotions (3) | Testimonials (13), News (7), Bonus (4) | Testimonials (4), News (1) |
⌛ Established | 2011 | 2008 | ||
💲 Min Deposit | $10 | $1 | ||
⚖ Max Leverage | 1:2000 | 1:2000 | ||
🔢 Spread | Variable | Variable | ||
💸 Commissions | $2 | $3.50 | ||
💡 Min Position | 0.01 lot | 0.01 lot |
💳 Payment | WebMoney, Skrill, Wire transfer, Credit/debit cards, YooMoney, Neteller, UnionPay, QIWI, Perfect Money, DIXIPAY, FasaPay, Crypto and Google Pay | WebMoney, Skrill, Wire transfer, Credit/debit cards, Neteller, Perfect Money, Crypto, Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) |
🏢 Office(s) |
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🧩 Demo Account | ||
📁 Segregated Account | ||
🕋 Islamic Account | ||
👨💻 PAMM Account | ||
📈 Managed Account |
💱 Hedging | ||
🇺🇸 US traders | ||
🕛 Swaps |
🏆 Trading contests | ||
⚡ Automated trading | ||
💰 Bonus offers | ||
📖 Free education |
1️⃣ One-click trading | ||
⏱ Trailing stop | ||
⏳ Pending orders |
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🗣 Website Languages | Arabic, Czech, English, Spanish, Persian, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Malay, Polish, Russian, Thai, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, Chinese | Arabic, Bengali/Bangla, German, English, Spanish, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Thai, Urdu, Vietnamese, Chinese |
🚪 Trade Now | Open FXTM | Open Exness |
For the opportunity of trading in other regions, you may want to check Top Forex Brokers in Australia.