Here you will find our best South African brokers list according to many hours of broker research, testing, analysis and comparison across hundreds of South African brokers. By having all of the best brokers in South Africa listed in one place, we aim to make it simple for you to quickly identify the best South Africa brokers according to your own individual trading needs.
Top 5 Brokers South Africa
FCA, CFTC, NFA, BaFin, FINMA, ASIC, FMA, MAS, FSA, FSCA, DFSA, JFSA, METI, MAFF
Min $250 Deposit
1974
1:200
We have chosen these as our best brokers in South Africa as they are regulated and have passed our strict broker reviews with flying colours. We have awarded them a top broker rating for the online trading services that they provide to traders located in South Africa.
How did we choose our best brokers in South Africa?
First and foremost, the Trading Brokers review team ensured that the South African broker was regulated and authorised to provide online trading services to traders in South Africa. We then conducted many hours of thorough research and analysis into the brokers services. From there, we were able to collate what we consider to be amongst the most important factors to consider when choosing the best South African brokers and allocated them an unbiased broker rating based on our findings.
In order for an online broker to make it into our best brokers South Africa list, they should be regulated and offer top trading conditions, including tight spreads, low commissions and reliable trade execution speeds.
The broker should also have easy to use trading platforms that are compatible with multiple devices along with trading tools and educational resources to assist traders with their daily trading activities.
Other factors that we consider to be important for a broker to make it on to the best brokers South Africa list include the variety of funding options provided, account types, minimum deposit, customer support and range of trading instruments available to trade online.
Broker Regulation
Any trading broker that is offering services to traders in South Africa should be authorised and regulated. Using a regulated broker can give investors some protection that unregulated brokers cannot.
Trading Platforms
The best South African brokers should have a variety of different trading platforms for multiple devices including desktop, web and mobile trading apps. The brokers trading platforms should be user friendly, with plenty of trading tools and advanced functionality for all types of trading strategies.
Trading Instruments
The brokers should provide South African traders with a wide range of trading instruments across multiple asset classes including Forex, Commodities, Cryptocurrency, Stocks, Shares, Indices, Metals, Energies, Options, Bonds, ETFs, CFDs. The more choice that the broker has, the easier it would be to expand your portfolio in the future, should you wish to do so.
Spreads
When you place a trade position with a broker, you will usually need to pay the spread which is the difference between the bid and ask prices at the time of executing your order. In general, the lower the spreads, the cheaper the trading costs can be and the better the prices you may have your trade executed at. Although, this can also be dependent on other factors such as the brokers liquidity, slippage and execution model.
Commission
Many South African brokers will charge a small commission fee for each trade that you place with them. The lower the commission fee per trade, the lower your overall trading costs can be in the long term. Some trading strategies actually depend on low commissions. Thus, the best South African brokers should have the most competitive commissions.
Fees
In addition to the spreads and commissions that brokers may charge, there can be additional fees. These include overnight swap fees, funding fees, platform fees, trading tool fees, educational resource fees, etc. Any other fees charged by the broker should be competitive and transparent to the trader.
Execution Speeds
The execution speed can determine the price your order will be executed at. Instant execution should mean that the order is placed as close to your desired price as possible. The best South African brokers should have rapid execution speeds with minimal slippage so that traders get the best available prices more often than not. Some trading strategies such as scalping are dependent on reliable execution speeds.
Liquidity Providers
The best brokers South Africa should have top liquidity providers (LPs) with deep liquidity pools so that they can offer competitive bid/ask prices along with reliable trade execution speeds.
Trading Tools
Whilst the trading platforms offered by brokers will usually have more than enough trading tools for the average trader, there are some brokers who offer additional trading tools such as economic calendars, trading calculators, market analysis, trading signals and more. The best brokers in South Africa will usually offer some additional trading tools to support traders with their daily trading activities.
Educational Resources
Educational resources can help traders to improve their trading skills and knowledge. They also encourage informed trading. The best brokers will usually offer clients a range of free educational materials such as tutorial videos, trading guides, eBooks, trading glossary, FAQs, webinars and seminars.
Account Types
Trading brokers can have a variety of different account types that are designed to cater to the differing needs of clients. The accounts can vary according to the minimum deposit required, leverage offered, execution type, spreads, commissions, instruments, additional services and more.
The best South African brokers should have a selection of account types for different experience levels and trading strategies. Demo accounts can be useful to practice trading online with virtual funds whilst Islamic accounts that comply with Sharia law support Muslim traders.
Account Funding Options
In order to trade online, you will need to be able to deposit and withdraw funds to and from your trading broker account. Brokers can offer a range of different account deposit and withdrawal methods. This will often include bank transfers, credit/debit card and online payment processors such as Skrill, Neteller and PayPal. The best brokers in South Africa should have a variety of convenient funding options. It is worth considering the time taken and any fees involved for processing funds.
Customer Support
Most South African brokers can be reached via telephone, email and live chat. It is worth ensuring that the broker can be reached in a way that is convenient for your needs. The brokers customer support team should be prompt, polite and efficient in their responses to all clients general and technical questions. You may wish to consider if there is any different between your time zone and the brokers support hours, as this could have an impact on response times.
Best Forex Brokers South Africa
On this page you will find what we consider to be the best South African forex brokers according to our thousands of hours of detailed research and analysis across hundreds of forex brokers that offer online trading to clients in South Africa and worldwide.
To make it into our list of the best forex brokers South Africa, each broker should be regulated and accept forex traders in South Africa. The broker should also have a good selection of currency pairs for trading, sophisticated trading platforms for multiple devices, competitive fees/spreads, good execution speeds, selection of trading tools, educational resources, flexible account types, convenient funding options and excellent customer support.
With so many forex brokers to choose from, we have compiled a list of our best forex brokers in South Africa below.
Top 5 Forex Brokers South Africa
FCA, CFTC, NFA, BaFin, FINMA, ASIC, FMA, MAS, FSA, FSCA, DFSA, JFSA, METI, MAFF
Min $250 Deposit
1974
1:200
We chose these brokerage firms as our best forex brokers in South Africa due to the fact that they are regulated and have received a top broker rating from us for providing online forex trading to South African clients after being subject to our detailed forex broker reviews.
How did we choose our best forex brokers in South Africa?
The most important factor for the Trading Brokers team to consider when choosing the best South African forex brokers was that the brokers are regulated and authorised to offer forex trading to South African traders. Once the brokers regulation had been confirmed, we then researched and analysed the forex trading services that they provide in great detail and assigned them with an unbiased broker rating based on our findings. During this research, we gave great consideration to what we deem to be amongst the most important factors to consider when choosing an online forex trading broker, including:
- Regulation: The forex broker should be regulated and authorised to offer forex trading in South Africa.
- Trading Platforms: The forex broker must offer a range of the best trading platforms that are user friendly, intuitive and compatible across multiple desktop, web and mobile devices.
- Trading Instruments: They should have a large selection of minor, major and exotic currency pairs for trading.
- Spreads: The forex brokers spreads on currency pairs should be competitive and as low as possible.
- Commission: The commission charged for trading forex currencies should be competitive, the lower the better.
- Fees: Any additional fees such as accounting, inactivity, etc, should be made clear to traders from the get go.
- Execution Speeds: The best forex brokers should have reliable trade execution speeds with minimal slippage.
- Liquidity Providers: Ideally, the forex broker will have a vast pool of liquidity providers (LPs) in order to deliver consistent execution speeds and tight spreads.
- Trading Tools: The forex broker should provide a vast array of trading tools for analysing charts, planning and managing trades, trading signals, social trading, etc.
- Educational Resources: Most beginner traders will need a selection of educational materials on different trading topics to help them improve their trading skills and knowledge. Training tools can include video tutorials, trading guides, webinars, etc.
- Account Types: There should be flexible account options to suit different trading styles and budgets.
- Account Funding Options: The forex broker should offer a choice of convenient account deposit and withdrawal methods.
- Customer Support: The forex brokerage should have a prompt, polite and knowledgeable customer support team on hand to answer traders general and technical questions.
South African forex broker regulation
Forex trading is the speculating on the price of one currency against another currency, commonly known within the trading community as a currency pair. Online forex trading has increased in popularity over the years with many online brokerages opening which has given traders a vast choice of brokers who are all competing for their business. This can make it difficult to choose the best forex brokers in South Africa.
We believe that it is of upmost importance that a forex broker providing services to traders in South Africa is authorised and regulated to offer forex trading in South Africa. Using a regulated broker helps to give traders peace of mind that they are using a brokerage firm which is subject to strict rules and regulations put in place to help protect investors. It is worth mentioning that there are some non-South African forex brokers that still solicit clients located within South Africa. There are also South African forex brokers who offer online forex trading services to clients located in some countries outside of the South Africa. In this instance, it would be a considered a wise idea to ensure that the broker has the relevant regulation within the jurisdiction that they are operating from.
Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA)
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is the market conduct regulator, responsible for the regulation of financial institutions in South Africa that provide financial products and financial services, financial institutions that are licensed in terms of a financial sector law, including banks, insurers, retirement funds and administrators, and market infrastructures.
The FSCA aims to enhance and support the efficiency and integrity of financial markets and to protect financial customers by promoting their fair treatment by financial institutions, as well as providing financial customers with financial education. They aim to ensure there is an efficient and stable financial sector where customers are informed, protected and treated fairly.
Verifying the regulation of forex brokers in South Africa
If a forex broker has been licensed by a regulator, they should be provided with a registration number as proof that they are registered. This number is usually located on the brokers website, near the footer where they state who they are regulated by. You should check on the relevant regulators website to validate the current status of the broker registration to ensure that it is valid and up to date. It has been known for some scam brokers to fake regulation, some even going as far to clone another brokers website. When you are looking up the registration number, you should find details of the regulated brokerage firm including their website, contact details and if they have any cases brought against them.
Best Stock Brokers South Africa
Here you find will our best South African stock brokers based on our unbiased stock broker reviews and ratings. The Trading Brokers expert research team have researched and analysed hundreds of online stock brokers to save you time when choosing from the best stock brokers in the South Africa.
In order to make it into our best stock brokers South Africa list, the online stock brokerage firm should provide traders with a large selection of global stocks for trading on the best trading platforms and have competitive fees. They should offer a selection of trading tools for analysing the stock markets and educational resources to help traders to increase their knowledge of the stock markets and improve their trading skills.
In addition to this, the stock broker should have a choice of flexible account types to cater for different investment sizes and experience levels. Most importantly, a South African stock broker should be authorised and regulated to accept stock traders in South Africa.
With there being so many South African stock brokers for traders to choose from, we have compiled a list of our best stock brokers in South Africa below.
Top 5 Stock Brokers South Africa
FCA, CFTC, NFA, BaFin, FINMA, ASIC, FMA, MAS, FSA, FSCA, DFSA, JFSA, METI, MAFF
Min $250 Deposit
1974
1:200
We have selected these as our best South African stock brokers primarily due to their strict regulation and established reputation within the online stock brokerage industry. They have passed our stringent stock broker reviews with flying colours and been awarded a top stock broker rating according to our findings that have considered a number of important factors for trading stocks online in South Africa.
How did we choose our best stock brokers in South Africa?
The most important factor for us to consider when choosing who are the best stock brokers in South Africa is that they are regulated and authorised to offer stock trading to South African traders. Once the brokers regulation had been confirmed, we then researched and analysed the stock trading service thet provide in great detail and assigned them with an unbiased broker rating based on our findings. During this research, we gave great consideration to what we deem to be amongst the most important factors to consider when choosing the best stock brokers, including:
- Regulation: The stock broker should be regulated and authorised to offer stock trading in South Africa.
- Trading Platforms: The stock broker should have a range of the best stock trading platforms with user friendly interfaces and trading tools for analysing the stock markets. The platforms should be compatible on desktop, web and mobile devices for trading stocks whilst on the move.
- Trading Instruments: The stock broker should offer a large selection of global stocks in different markets for trading online.
- Spreads: The stock brokers spreads should be competitive, the tighter the better.
- Commission: The commission charged for trading stocks should be priced low.
- Fees: Other fees such as those charged for deposits, withdrawals, account inactivity, holding positions overnight, etc, should all be made clear.
- Execution Speeds: Traders buy or sell stock positions should be entered with minimal slippage.
- Liquidity Providers: The stock broker should incorporate top tier liquidity providers (LPs) in order to offer a deep liquidity pool to traders.
- Trading Tools: There should be a good selection of trading tools for analysing the stock markets, planning/managing stock positions, stock trading signals, social trading, etc.
- Educational Materials: The stock broker should offer traders a range of educational resources on various stock trading topics to help them improve their trading skills and knowledge. Training tools can include video tutorials, stock trading guides, webinars, etc.
- Trading Accounts: The stock broker should offer a choice of flexible trading accounts to cater for different levels of investment and experience levels.
- Account Deposit & Withdrawal Options: There should be a choice of convenient account funding methods, including online payment processors for fast and easy account funding.
- Client Support: The online stock brokerage should offer efficient and well-educated client support in order to respond in a prompt and efficient manner to all general and technical questions that traders may have.
South African stock brokers regulation
Stock trading is a popular form of online trading that enables the trader to speculate on the rising or falling prices of a particular company or basket of selected stocks known as Indices. An online stock broker acts as the intermediary between you the trader and the exchange where the stocks are traded. Anyone can open a trading account with an online brokerage and use their online stock trading platform to buy and sell stocks. In recent years, online stock trading has continued to increase in popularity and with so many South African online stock brokers to choose from, it can make it difficult for traders to choose the best stock broker in South Africa for them.
At Trading Brokers, we believe that it is of upmost importance that a stock broker providing services to traders in South Africa is authorised and regulated to offer stock trading in South Africa. Using a regulated stock broker can help to give traders the peace of mind that they are using a stock brokerage firm which is subject to strict rules and regulations put in place to help protect investors. It is worth mentioning that there are some non-South African stock brokers that will still solicit clients located within South Africa. There are also South African stock brokers who offer online stock trading services to clients located in some countries outside of the South Africa. In this instance, it would be a considered a wise idea to ensure that the broker has the relevant regulation within the jurisdiction that they are operating from.
Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA)
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is the market conduct regulator, responsible for the regulation of financial institutions in South Africa that provide financial products and financial services, financial institutions that are licensed in terms of a financial sector law, including banks, insurers, retirement funds and administrators, and market infrastructures.
The FSCA aims to enhance and support the efficiency and integrity of financial markets and to protect financial customers by promoting their fair treatment by financial institutions, as well as providing financial customers with financial education. They aim to ensure there is an efficient and stable financial sector where customers are informed, protected and treated fairly.
Verifying a South African stock brokers regulation
If a stock broker has been licensed by regulator, they should be provided with a registration number as proof that they are registered. This number will usually be located on the brokers website. You will often find it near the footer where they state who they are regulated by. You should check on the relevant regulators website to validate the current status of the stock broker registration to ensure that it is valid and up to date. It has been known for some scam brokers to fake regulation, some even going as far to clone another brokers website. When you are looking up the registration number, you should find details of the regulated brokerage firm including their website, contact details and if they have any cases brought against them.
Best South African Brokers Summary
Whilst these are what we consider to be amongst the most important things to consider when choosing a South African broker, it can differ depending on individual needs. Thus, it is important that you choose a broker that meets your needs and use the above information only for educational purposes and not as advice.