BEST TRADING APPS
BEST TRADING APPS IN SOUTH AFRICA
You probably went into Google searching for the best online brokers available in SA. You are interested and wish to trade a particular asset class like Forex, International Stocks or Cryptos, or maybe a specific asset like Apple Stocks, Oil instruments or the latest DeFi Cryptocurrency.
Although you already know the asset or asset class you want to trade, Google isn't inside your mind (yet). So, Google couldn't figure out whether you wished to trade Forex, US stocks, or buy investment fund units, and it brought you here. This article is long, but it has the basics of what you need to know about the best investment and trading platforms. So, let's talk about SA's top online trading apps, divided by asset class.
Which Asset Class are you looking for?
Top FX Brokers
The foreign exchange market, or forex for short, is the largest financial market in the world. It involves the buying and selling of currencies from different countries, to make a profit from the fluctuations in their exchange rates.
Many forex brokers are available, each with their own set of features and services. These brokers provide access to the forex market through trading platforms that allow traders to buy and sell currencies and other financial instruments.
To present the top 3 brokers, we will use various criteria such as the quality of their trading platform, the range of available trading instruments, their fees and commissions, their customer support and educational resources, and their regulatory compliance.
FX PLATFORM #3
With over 5,000,000 clients since being founded in 2009, XM has grown into a large and well established international investment firm and has become a true industry leader.
XM is a good choice for traders of all levels, handling the client base with an extensive international team capable of dealing in 30 languages.
In terms of their Forex offering, XM allows traders to deal in +55 pairs, with good spreads and exceptional trade execution. XM grants access to MT4, MT5, and their proprietary XM WebTrader platforms.
FX PLATFORM #2
Pepperstone is an FX Trading Platform founded in 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. The app serves over 300,000 accounts from clients based in more than 150 countries.
Pepperstone processes an average of USD 125.5 billion in Trading orders per day, which implies that it is one of the largest FX brokers globally.
FX PLATFORM #1
AvaTrade is an extraordinary FX online brokerage. With one of the vastest offerings in terms of currency pairs (+50) and the characteristics every good FX Broker should have (Low Spreads and excellent trade execution), it has several unique features that make it an excellent alternative for traders in SA.
First, its account opening and depositing processes are fast, simple, and hustle-free. This is important since some online brokers operating with clients in Africa are painful to deal with in these areas.
Second, it is a multi-regulated company with a South African brokerage license, but also in some of the strictest jurisdictions: Europe, Australia, Japan, British Virgin Islands, and in Dubai.
Third, it offers a unique tool for FX Options trading called AvaOptions, allowing you to approach your FX Trading differently and uniquely, adding Call and Put instruments to your Forex risk management.
Last but not least, AvaTrade offers an insurance service called AvaProtect, which protects your trades against losses for a chosen time frame in exchange for a fee paid at the time of purchase.
Top Crypto Trading Apps in SA
Cryptocurrencies are mined or purchased from exchanges. Their skyrocketing value of them has made them popular as trading instruments. Also, to a limited extent, they are used for cross-border transfers.
Cryptos have taken over (by surprise) the financial world. As a result, everybody is talking about them, both for good and bad reasons. There's an innumerable amount of new cryptos launched every week to tackle or solve a problem in particular (Like cross-border payments, tokens used for purchases in the metaverse, etc.). You even get meme coins launched with the sole objective of making a trading profit (A shady strategy called pump and dump). So, you have to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. This list displays the top crypto trading platforms available in SA. We show here 3 platforms that we have used, deposited money, traded and withdrawn successfully.
Important: Investing in cryptocurrencies, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and other Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) is highly risky and speculative, and the markets can be highly volatile. Consult with a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. This article is not a recommendation by Asinko or the writer to invest in cryptocurrencies, nor can the accuracy or timeliness of the information be guaranteed.
CRYPTO APP #3
StormGain takes a different approach to the other crypto trading platforms. They offer a trading platform via cryptocurrency futures contracts. So, with StormGain, you do not own the crypto tokens, but instead, you aim to make a profit based on the crypto's price volatility.
If your goal is to trade and you do not care about owning cryptocurrencies, this platform might be a good alternative since it is based and quoted in Tether (USDT).
CRYPTO APP #2
Coinbase is a U.S.-regulated cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy, sell, send, receive, and exchange altcoins via a web browser or mobile app. Coinbase is an app designed for beginners with a simple interface and limited transaction types.
Although some competitors offer user-friendly experiences, they are usually never as easy to use as Coinbase is.
CRYPTO APP #1
Binance is the #1 Crypto trading platform globally, with the highest cryptocurrency offering and trading volumes. Although it has a rather steep learning curve, it supports advanced users and provides international traders with hundreds of crypto trading, staking and DeFi alternatives.
No competitor can beat Binance's low cost in the crypto space. Low fees, comprehensive charting options, and hundreds of cryptocurrencies make Binance a must-try alternative.
Top Stock Broker Platforms in SA
US Stocks like Apple, Tesla or even seniors like Ford and McDonalds. UK Stocks like BP, Rolls-Royce or Tesco. European Stocks, Japanese Stocks and Australian Stocks. International Stocks are one of the main gateways to start investing; everyone wants a share of the brands they like and use. Although some investors in SA focus on local stocks (and debt instruments) only, most use a global portfolio. The online stockbrokers and trading platforms have granted access to the international markets to the general public easily and understandably. We bring you three of the best alternatives available locally.
STOCKBROKER #3
XTB offers +2,100 CFDs on global stocks from 17 stock exchanges with 0% Commission.
With over 15 years of experience, XTB is one of the largest stock exchange-listed FX & CFD brokers in the world. XTB as a Group is regulated by the world's biggest supervision authorities including the IFSC, FCA, KNF and CySec.
STOCKBROKER #2
STOCKBROKER #1
An innumerable dose of trading, research and e-learning tools, an easy-to-use web trading tool, low requirements to set up an account, and an unbeatable regulation level make AvaTrade one of the top stock trading apps.
Although it is not the one offering the vastest number of CFDs on stocks, you may trade +600 of the most renowned companies trading at the New York, Nasdaq, London, and European Exchanges.ETFS
XTB allows you to trade over 81 CFDs on the top ETFs by volume: iShares by BlackRock, Amundi, Lyxor, SPDR, VanEck Vectors; every top ETF from the most famous asset managers are available. At XTB, buying and selling ETFs through its trading platform xStation 5 is very straightforward. Moreover, it requires a low minimum investment, making it accessible for beginners.
COMMODITIES
PAYMENT GATEWAYS
Do you need a payment provider to transact in different currencies?
Wise is an online account that facilitates sending money, receiving payments, and moving money across borders. Wise allows you to hold 53 different currencies and make local transfers in 10. It works worldwide and enables you to withdraw cash at ATMs if you have their MasterCard card. In addition to being free, you can check the exchange rate before sending money abroad, and there are no hidden fees. Furthermore, it is a safe app, as the FCA and FinCEN regulate it. Also, if you need to solve payments with your company, it offers a practical solution for companies to pay invoices, suppliers, and employees in 80 countries.
COPYTRADING
We chose AvaTrade as a top CopyTrading broker since it allows you to choose between different platforms: ZuluTrade and DupliTrade.
ZuluTrade is hard to beat if you are looking for an excellent way to set up a copy trading system. You'll get access to over 10,000 traders, and the powerful ZuluTrade search feature lets you narrow that number down based on a large variety of conditions. For example, you could specify that you need traders with a minimum of 1 year with the service who have a maximum drawdown of 30% and who trade their own money. And since you can follow more than one trader, you could use the service to set up your diversified mutual fund of traders that you're following.
DupliTrade is designed to make automated trading as straightforward as possible. As a result, DupliTrade doesn't allow just anyone to become a signal provider. The traders available to copy into the system are all audited and vetted, with many having years, if not decades, of trading experience. Even after the stringent audit process, these traders remain under the close eye of DupliTrade to ensure they continue performing at their best.
Conclusions on our List of Top Trading Brokers
Many websites that write about trading and financial instruments topics will recommend "The Best Online Broker", and it will probably be the platform that pays them the best commissions. Moreover, they will do it in a way that looks professional. But, on the contrary, we remark that there is no "Best Broker" that covers all the needs of a trader because, should there be a "perfect trading platform", it would have to have the following:
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0 commissions,
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0 spreads,
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Outstanding order execution,
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A Great Visual interface,
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Complete access to every financial market.
Unfortunately, no online trading app offers all of these features simultaneously. However, many aspects make them stand out in specific aspects/markets. This article lists 3 Brokers per asset class (Forex, stocks, crypto, etc.) and why it can be recommendable over the others available, specifically for local traders. Why do we present just three options? We believe that when trading instruments of each asset class, there are not 100 infallible brokers available; some stand out above others. Also, you will find that some apps appear more than once because they are the top option on several.
ASINKO receives a commission from specific online platforms for referring clients, but it does not charge a commission to you nor from all the ones we present here. Notwithstanding this, if we consider that a platform has to be in the Top 3, we will do so whether we promote them or not. Please note that the lists presented here are part of our professional opinion: there is a possibility that this does not fit 100% of all traders' needs. In other words, try them before depositing money.