Here’s our selection of the 5 Best South Africa Forex brokers for the year 2022:
| Broker |
Reason |
| Pepperstone |
Best for multi-platform environment |
| Blueberry Markets |
Best for most currency pairs offered |
Markets.com
|
Best for intermediate level currency traders |
| AvaTrade |
Best overall option |
| IG |
Best for most currency pairs offered |
The majority of the above brokers possess a financial license from FSCA (Financial Sector Conduct Authority of South Africa). This grants South African forex traders a great layer of protection in the event of any dispute as complaints can be dealt with locally. Other brokers despite not having an FSCA are popular choices amongst South African traders that still count on high tier global financial licenses such as ASIC or FCA.
Each one of these brokers was analysed using our proprietary methodology along with the TTBTrust score (our proprietary safety scoring system) prior to being ranked using our comparison tool.
1. Pepperstone - Best for multi-platform environment
Visit74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Pepperstone is an Australian broker founded in 2010 with the aim of providing a professional trading experience with low fees and tight spreads. Currently Pepperstone counts with 7 financial licenses and operates in almost every country around the world.
| Key data |
| Currency Pairs | 60 |
| EUR/USD Spread | Dynamic - From 0 to 0.77 Pips |
| Commissions |
- For Standard account : All fees included in the spread
- For Razor account: From $7 per Lot round turn
|
| Minimum Deposit | $200 |
| Financial Regulators |
- BaFin (Germany)
- FCA (UK)
- ASIC (Australia)
- DFSA (United Arab Emirates)
- CySec (Cyprus)
- SCB (Bahamas)
- CMA (Kenya)
|
| MT4 | Yes |
| MT5 | Yes |
| cTrader | Yes |
| TradingView | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | No |
Pepperstone is an Australian broker that holds 7 financial licenses from which 4 belong to high tier regulators (BaFin, FCA, ASIC, DFSA). Just like the previous choice, they’re not regulated in South Africa yet they are also a very popular choice amongst South African traders.
| The Good | The Bad |
|---|
- Well regulated on several jurisdictions
- Low latency, fast execution under 30ms
- Competitive spreads and low commissions from 0.0 pips on their Razor account
|
- Avaliable asset offering is not that comprehensive
- No ability to purchase real stocks or cryptocurrencies, only CFDs
|
Pepperstone provides various platforms (MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView) making them one of the best choices for traders looking for platform variety. Their account offering (RAW spreads from $3 per lot) and execution is amongst the best in the industry (under 30ms). If you’re an intermediate to experienced trader, Pepperstone can be a great choice for you.
2. Blueberry Markets - Best for beginners
Visit74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Blueberry Markets is a young Australian broker founded in 2015 offering CFDs on all the basic asset classes with competitive low spreads.
| Key data |
| Currency Pairs | 45 |
| EUR/USD Spread | Dynamic - From 0.1 Pips to 1 Pip |
| Commissions | Yes, depending on account type:
- Standard account has no commissions
- Direct Account has a commission of $3.5 per lot
|
| Minimum Deposit | $, €, £ - 100 |
| Financial Regulators |
- ASIC (Australia)
- SCB (Bahamas)
|
| MT4 | Yes |
| MT5 | Yes |
| cTrader | No |
| TradingView | No |
| Proprietary Platform | No |
Blueberry Markets is a relatively young Australian broker that counts on 2 financial licenses (ASIC and SCB). Despite them not being regulated by FSCA they have gained increased popularity in the South African market leading us to include them in our ranking.
| The Good | The Bad |
|---|
- Allows deposits using cryptocurrency USDT (Tether)
- Leverage of up to 1:500 (for experienced traders)
- Extremely competitive spreads
|
- All instruments are CFDs, you can't buy underlying assets (real stocks or cryptocurrencies)
- Their available asset offering is very low with less than 350 tradable assets
|
Blueberry Markets is definitely a beginner friendly choice. Their asset count is low, their commission structure is simple and they operate on MT4 and MT5. One of the best things about them is the emphasis they put on customer care, account management and educational services to assist new traders.
3. Markets.com - Best for intermediate level currency traders
Visit70% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Markets.com is an international broker that offers share dealing and CFD trading accounts through their own proprietary platform or MT4 and MT5.
| Key data |
| Currency Pairs | 67 |
| EUR/USD Spread | Dynamic - From 0.7 Pips |
| Commissions | No comissions on CFDs. For share dealing, the first 3 months are commission free, then the structure is:
- EU Shares = 0.1% (min €10)
- UK Shares = 0.1% (min £8)
- US Shares = 2c (min $15)
- AU Shares = 0.1% (min A$10)
|
| Minimum Deposit | $, €, £ - 100 |
| Financial Regulators |
- CySec (Cyprus)
- FCA (UK)
- ASIC (Australia)
- FSCA (South Africa)
|
| MT4 | Yes |
| MT5 | Yes |
| cTrader | No |
| TradingView | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes |
Markets.com's regulatory framework consists of 4 financial licenses from which 2 belong to high tier regulators (ASIC, FCA) making them a reliable choice. They are also part of a publicly traded company (Playtech) and have been around since 2008.
| The Good | The Bad |
|---|
- Clear separation between investors and Traders by offering share dealing accounts and CFD trading accounts
- Wide range of platforms (Proprietary, MT4, MT5)
- Wide range of stocks and stock CFDs
|
- Minimum trade sizes larger than average
- Spreads above average
|
Markets.com has many interesting features for beginners and intermediate level traders such as having a TradingView integrated platform and a very simple interface to use along with learning or planning resources. If you’re an intermediate trader Markets.com can be a great choice for you.
4. AvaTrade - Best overall option
Visit71% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
AvaTrade is a top-tier multinational broker with more than 7 financial regulators specialising in FX and options trading with their own proprietary platforms.
| Key data |
| Currency Pairs | 55 |
| EUR/USD Spread | Dynamic - From 0.9 Pips |
| Commissions | No |
| Minimum Deposit | $, €, £ - 100 |
| Financial Regulators |
- ASIC (Australia)
- FFAJ (Japan)
- CBI (Ireland)
- IIROC (Canada)
- CySec (Cyprus)
- FSCA (South Africa)
- ADGM (United Arab Emirates)
- ISA (Israel)
|
| MT4 | Yes |
| MT5 | Yes |
| cTrader | No |
| TradingView | No |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes |
AvaTrade's regulatory framework consists of 8 financial licenses from which 6 belong to high tier financial regulators (ASIC, FFAJ, CBI, IIROC, ADGM, ISA) making them one of the strongest and most regulated brokers in the South African market.
| The Good | The Bad |
|---|
- AvaProtect feature for negative trades payback
- Great variety of platforms (proprietary ones, MT4 & MT5)
- Smooth platform experiences and easy account management
- Custom Options trading platform
|
- Lack of variety in stocks, ETFs and bonds
- Expensive inactivity fees
- No multi-chart tools
- High trade minimums in all assets except forex
|
AvaTrade's proprietary platforms are definitely the most interesting part of their offering, especially because they developed their own currency options trading platform. For experienced currency traders looking for currencies and options on currencies, AvaTrade is a great choice.
5. IG - Best for most currency pairs offered
Visit73% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
IG is a global broker established in 1974 that holds 10 reputable financial licenses and provides CFD trading on stocks, commodities, ETFs, indices, cryptocurrencies, bonds, futures, options along with real stocks through their share dealing account.
| Key data |
| Currency Pairs | 210 |
| EUR/USD Spread | Dynamic - From 0.9 Pips |
| Commissions | Yes, they charge depending on the client’s account base currency and exchange location of the shares being traded. For example, for some clients US shares can have a minimum charge of $10 in-and-out. |
| Minimum Deposit | 0 for Bank Transfers, 300 € for Paypal and Debit / Credit cards. |
| Financial Regulators |
- ASIC (Australia)
- FCA (UK)
- NFA (United States)
- ADGM (United Arab Emirates)
- FINMA (Switzerland)
- MAS (Singapore)
- FFAJ (Japan)
- FSCA (South Africa)
|
| MT4 | Yes |
| MT5 | No |
| cTrader | No |
| TradingView | No |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes |
IG is amongst the oldest and most regulated brokers in the world. Their regulatory framework consists of 8 financial licenses from which 7 belong to high tier regulators (ASIC, FCA, UK, NFA, ADGM, FINMA, MAS, FFAJ). It’s also important to note that IG was founded in 1974 and is a publicly traded company at the LSX.
| The Good | The Bad |
|---|
- Broad platform offering with high customisability and integrated news feeds
- Comprehensive asset offering with more than 10,000 + CFDs or real stocks and ETFs
|
- There are too many small costs such as custody, in-and-out-commissions in some cases, management fees, etc
- Their standard contracts can be too large some times for low volume traders
|
IG boasts an overall asset offering of 10,000+ instruments with the possibility to add more. Their currency pair count is 210 different pairs. For professional traders, IG is one of the best choices. On the other hand, for beginners, their pricing structure and order placement language can result intimidating and complicated to use.
