When it comes to looking for services and companies online it is certain that little care is taken. After all, it’s our money we’re talking about, isn’t it? The internet is full of scams and it is from them that we try to escape when it comes to finding a Forex broker online.
For that, it is necessary that you take precautions and pay attention to some steps before considering hiring a service like this. Characteristics such as general reputation, specific services and quality of customer service are generally very important indicators that can separate the wheat from the chaff, that is, legitimate companies from those that are not.
In addition to teaching you how to recognize a good broker among the others, we also separate a list of the most popular companies, as well as the most reliable platforms that operate in the South African market. In this way, you will be able to choose among them which one best meets your investment needs.
What are Forex Brokers?
Forex is the financial market that moves contracts the most in the world, reaching up to 5 trillion dollars a day. This market works differently in relation to stock exchanges, as there are no trading sessions. It is a single trading session 24 hours a day, from Monday to Friday.
For retail investors – or retail investors as they are also known – to invest their money in the forex market, it is necessary to have the help of specialized companies, which are responsible for analyzing orders and sending them to the market. Such companies are what we know as Brokers.
By correctly creating and configuring an account with an online brokerage service, like some that we will discuss later, the investor is able to analyze graphs, trends and send their buy or sell orders for any available currency pair.
How do you know if a broker is trustworthy?
Although it may not seem like it, choosing a good broker is a task that requires attention to some important details, since lately there is a lot of misleading advertising on the internet. Therefore, we have selected for you some unmissable tips on how to choose a reliable broker and get the best results.
There are some basic parameters that you can observe to get a sense of how the company’s internal policies work, whether they are reliable or not. In addition to the quality of the service itself, you should also pay attention to the way it is served, how withdrawals and deposits are made, as well as considering the opinions of former users of these platforms.
In all of this, the most important thing is to know if the company has operating records with legal basis in its country of origin and is really interested in offering possibilities to its customers to generate real profits, with honest tools and accurate quotations.
Observe the company’s overall reputation
This is a more obvious observation, however, perhaps the most important one. Before even considering choosing a particular broker to be a customer, analyze in detail how the company’s reputation is on the internet.
What old and current users have to say about it and what were their experiences, positive and negative when contracting the service. Many of those who have been poorly served or suffered a blow go to the internet to report their case.
So, do this first. In this sense, just be aware of the fact that some companies do not use complaint sites as a channel of contact with their customers. Therefore, if any of them does not respond to their users through these media, that is the reason.
Therefore, look for more than one whistleblowing website or even contact the company directly to get better answers to your questions.
Find out if it is Regulated
Although the majority of forex brokers are located in countries other than South Africa, the relevant reliability meter for these online services is in relation to the category’s regulation. With the proper operating license, companies in the financial sector have much more credibility among their potential customers, in addition to their own employees.
There are various brokers who have the most diverse partnerships with agencies spread across all five continents. However, we believe that the most reliable are those from European countries. Since the euro zone has stricter laws for online financial services, in a sense, companies based in that region are managed under more secure and transparent parameters.
Then, you can access the website of the broker you want to know more about and look for any seal or certificate guaranteed by a regulatory institution of these companies focused on investment services in the financial market. If not, there is also the option to go directly to the agency’s website and search for the platform name. It’s a little more complicated, but you can do it.
Research the service’s negotiation conditions
Brokers have different rates, different rules of operation, which can offer trading opportunities to their clients very different from each other. Spreads, for example, are the fee charged by the company to execute its orders and it is the company’s total responsibility to decide whether that amount charged will be variable or fixed. This variable can be quoted at levels between 0.1 and 2 pips or even more.
In addition, each platform also has its own policies regarding its updates, connection, layout, tools, available periods and quotes delay. So it is important that you know precisely all the conditions offered to you as a customer.
Not paying attention to these details can lead to a bad experience for not knowing the service as you should. Which can even lead to serious losses of your capital. On the other hand, if you know the rules of the game and how to use the available options well, your results will tend to be better and more consistent.
Test the trading platform
As with any online service, it is interesting that you can test brokers before making your first deposit. This must be done by the user so that he has the possibility to familiarize himself with the tools he will use without having to put his investment capital at risk. We recommend that you do all types of operations possible with as many options as you think necessary.
For this purpose, most brokerages offer the demo account option for their new users. This type of account has a virtual cash balance that can be used indefinitely. You only need to access the website or download the app, create an account and select the trial version.
Thus, you will have access to a complete and risk-free investment area to learn how it works, what spreads are charged and rates applied in practice.
Know the broker’s offers and bonuses
Promotions for new and old customers are a major market differentiator for brokers. After all, the more benefits a company’s customers have by investing their own money, the better. For this reason, this conduct is part of a marketing strategy that ends up benefiting both parties: both the website and its users.
Because it is a very common practice lately, you have more freedom of choice in relation to the differentials of each service. Precisely because they offer exclusive opportunities. Some offer better welcome bonuses, others offer bonuses and discounts over the long term or both for the same type of account.
So, it’s up to you to select the one that best suits your interest. Ideally, your decision is based on a set of observations and bonuses are currently of great importance in this process.
The more payment methods the better
As it concerns withdrawal and deposit movements with your money, it is essential that the company has very secure payment methods and legal support, to avoid financial schemes and scams involving the platform.
It is from this perspective that international regulatory agencies assist the broker and money transfer systems to maintain client security throughout the process.
So, before you even hire the service, carefully analyze what methods are available for both deposits and withdrawals. In this way, you will create the most economical path between your bank and the broker.
Effective Customer Service
In any relationship between the customer and a company, the quality of service is an important measure. So, as with other services on the internet, with brokers it couldn’t be different.
Many of them promise support service in a few moments, but the ideal is that you prioritize those that offer this type of tool 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are several options with this advantage and the benefits are numerous, because regardless of the time of day, your problem can be solved faster.
There are even some companies that do this type of service also to answer non-customers’ questions. That is, it is not necessary to register before you can talk to a real operator and ask questions about the service.
Top-List Most Used Brokers in South Africa
We now present to you three of the main brokers available in South Africa. To make this selection, we used the criteria mentioned above, such as good service, a well-structured platform, a large number of tools and good reviews by customers, in addition to bonuses and exclusive offers for accounts from the Standard or Basic category. See below for more details on each of them in relation to their characteristics and advantages.
IQ Option
One of the largest forex brokers in the world, IQ Option currently has around 25,580,000 users. It is undoubtedly one of the most active customers at the moment.
In the company, you can trade various assets such as Shares of the main companies in the world, Currency Pairs in Forex, Raw materials (other, silver, oil and wheat), Cryptocurrencies and ETF trading securities.
In addition to this great variety, the interested user can also use his knowledge in negotiations to participate in tournaments and competitions. In which the more positive transactions the user can accumulate, the more he moves towards the top of the list and the final prize.
Olymp Trade
As with the IQ Option, with values starting at $ 1 USD you can now invest in any asset available also at Olymp Trade. To do this, simply deposit an amount starting at $ 10 USD and start investing.
If you are a beginner in the investment world it is possible to create a demo account with $ 10,000 USD for you to train your knowledge as well.
That way you learn in practice how the platform works without having to risk a penny out of your pocket for it. Remember that you can earn up to 92% of the amount invested in each successful operation.
Binary.com
This platform offers beginning users the possibility to start investing with a minimum deposit of up to $ 5 USD and, in addition to traditional deposit methods, it also has the option of Cryptocurrencies. This is a very practical advantage for those who already trade with this type of asset in some digital portfolio.
But the real big difference for Binary.com is the fact that it has an education center, which helps new investors to improve their knowledge and become more familiar with the markets available on the platform.
Thus, you can learn through webinars and texts how to develop your investment potential.
Other popular Forex Brokers in South Africa
Services with a good reputation and positive performance are the main reason for searching the internet for investment platforms. Then, find out more about some trusted brokers who offer investments to South African clients and fulfill all the requirements for a good broker. Compare the services each offers and the benefits for new users.
Finmax
In relation to the first three services already mentioned, Finmax is at a disadvantage due to the fact that it only accepts amounts above $ 250 USD for each deposit. However, you can invest equally with just $ 1 USD per transaction.
In addition, the platform has applications with support for Android, Apple and Windows systems on any device.
The minimum spread is 3 pips and operates with a leverage of 1: 200, in addition to having the exclusive option to protect negative balance for basic accounts.
This means that, even if you do a wrong operation in which you are liable to risk amounts greater than your deposit, the losses are stopped at zero. This ends up canceling losses beyond its initial risk capacity.
ExpertOption
At this broker the minimum deposit is $ 50 USD and the value for each investment must be equal to or greater than $ 1 USD per transaction.
In general, the company has equally advantageous offers as the previous ones, but it also has a tool created by Expert Option to further facilitate the routine of new customers with little experience. It is about Social Negotiation.
The program consists of allowing any user to copy the behavior of other investors in the market. That means, you can follow others who are performing well and copy the same results to your account.
With just one click, whenever a transaction is successful in the primary user’s account, your account will receive the same percentage in proportion to the amount available in your wallet.
Binomo
Make an initial deposit over $ 10 USD and get access to the best that the financial market has to offer from Forex, Stocks, Commodities and Cryptocurrencies. In less than a minute you can create your real Binomo account and make a contribution. It really is very fast.
If you want to practice your market skills or even know the platform in more detail and in practice, just select the Demo Account option when opening an account. In this version you can invest up to $ 1,000 USD in fictional chips for an unlimited time.
HotForex
The initial investment indicated for Hot Forex is only $ 5 USD per deposit and at least $ 1 USD per investment. Companies with this low initial application profile are ideal for investors who want to practice and experience a new service in practice, or have little money to deposit initially.
On the other hand, if you already have some experience or a higher value available for negotiations, it can be a great choice to become a customer of the service already using a Premium or VIP account. In these modalities, you have exclusive benefits such as bigger bonuses and specific trading tools that can help you make the best deals.
XM Trade
Another excellent option for less experienced investors who want to start with little investment is XM Trade. As a customer you can make a small initial deposit like $ 5 USD and investments starting at $ 1 USD.
In addition, you also have access to a personal account manager to assist you in using the platform and its applications without any additional cost for the extra service.
There is also the advantage of acquiring free access to studies on the forex market, as well as contacting the support center 24 hours a day, from Monday to Friday.
AvaTrade
The most interesting thing about Ava Trade is the quality of the platform, which, although quite complete and professional, is also very light and runs on almost any device.
Whether through the website or through the application, you can access hundreds of video classes and e-books that will certainly help you to know even more about the financial market. Regardless of your level of knowledge, there is always something more to learn.
In addition, you can also choose between a demo account and a real account upon registration. If you choose a real account, the initial deposit required is even reasonable, it can be made in amounts above $ 100 USD. If you select the demo version, the fictitious credit is an impressive $ 100,000 USD.
FxPro
This company is a brokerage firm that has a considerably high minimum deposit compared to the others already mentioned. However, if you already have some knowledge about the market, it may be a good choice.
This is because it is a very high quality service, offering specialized support to more than 150 countries via phone and email, in addition to having versions for various types of accounts and different platforms such as MetaTrader4 and cTrader, for example.
FBS Forex
Launched in 2009, FBS Forex has one of the best conditions for initial deposit in the market. The platform receives as a minimum deposit the impressive value of up to $ 1 USD, with investment in trades of only $ 0.01 USD each. All without any built-in fees or unannounced charges.
In addition, it is possible to earn bonus deposits through some specific payment methods like Neteller and earn money back on positive deals, for example.
InstaForex
Like the previous broker, Insta Forex offers the same deposit benefits as FBS, as well as several promotions and bonuses for new users. Bonuses of 30% to 100% of the initial deposit are the main ones.
And by making a transfer of more than $ 3,000 USD to your portfolio at the company, you will be able to compete for a weekly cash prize of $ 1000 USD. It’s a great promotional action that can almost double your capital if you get drawn.
Conclusion
From this complete assessment of the best forex brokers in South Africa, you will certainly have several options to test and will be more aware of fraud on the internet starting today. We suggest you use and test on as many platforms as you like. The creation of live or demo accounts is free and, even after the first deposit, there is no additional fee for this.