Swissquote

Swissquote (swissquote.com) is an impressive broker, one that has on its slate a variety of good trading conditions, all working together to bring both expert and novice trader a top notch forex experience. Read on to find out.

The broker is much simpler, and does not go heavy on the interface, when compared to Dukascopy, yet it achieves at keeping traders happy by being a simpler broker in terms of accessibility and interface.

Swissquote is part of the Swissquote Group Holding Ltd group, one of the leading financial and trading services providers in Switzerland. The broker is authorized and regulated by FINMA. FINMA requires from all its brokers a minimum capital of 20 million CHF. Furthermore, Swiss brokers must sign the Swiss Banks and Securities Dealers Agreement in order to continue with their application for a legitimate regulation. This agreement protects all customers against brokers’ insolvency of up to 100 000 CHF. As one of the worlds to forex regulators, only equaled by the United States’ NFA/CFTC, FINMA’s hold on the forex industry in Switzerland is tight, without letting anything and anyone slip through its law-bound fingers.

The maxed value of the leverage is 1:100, since Swiss brokers do not have to follow ESMA guidelines.

On the proprietary platform we got a EUR/USD spread of 1.1 pips on average. Note, that this value was taken while using the demo account. On the demo MT4 the EUR/USD spread was 2 pips on average, while on the MT5 it was flickering between 1.8-1.9 pips. These last two are quite high for a broker, and we have to hope that once users register and open a live account, the spreads will lower. Furthermore, clients can choose from a total of 4 different account types, each offering a different cost of trade.

The available markets are Forex Pairs, Commodities, Swiss dots, Warrants, Derivatives Stock Indices, Crypto, ETFs, Options, Futures, and Bonds. A very solid list of markets, probably the biggest yet.

Users can access the website in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic.

SWISSQUOTE LOGIN

Apart from the two MT4/MT5 platforms, Swissquote comes with an outdated proprietary trader ironically named Advanced Trader.

METATRADER 4/5

Metatrader 4 still holds on its own when it comes down to delivering what is necessary. The functionalities are all there including drag and drop charts, user friendly accessibility and pending order types. With MetaTrader 4 you can set automatic trading bot to do your deals for you while you preoccupy your time with different activities.
The Metatrader 5 trading platform has certain advantages over its older brother that, although cannot change the contents of your wallet as much as you would like, can still make a difference. MT5 features more technical indicators, a larger number of graphical objects and increased time frames. As always MetaTrader 5 does not fall short on the important inclusion of Expert Advisors.

As mentioned, both offer slightly different EUR/USD spreads: 2 pips on the MT4, and 1.8-1.9 pips on the MT5. However, readers should be aware of two things: we opened a demo account, and there are 4 live account types in total with different costs of trades. The leverage is capped at 1:100.

Only the Professional Account has a spread pricing, that is determined by the customer.

The MT4/5 are made available in every way possible: via desktop, by mean of browser, and by phone/tablet.

ADVANCED TRADER

Advanced Trader is an old school looking trading platform, that has arguably not aged too well. Users can still trade using the basic functions, but they will sooner or later start noticing the missing links. Yes, there are pending orders, chart indicators and similar customizable options, news feed, but the feel of it isn’t modern. We say stick to the metatrader.

Here the EUR/USD spread is 1.1 pips on average, while the leverage reaches a max value of 1:100.

As mentioned the only commissions are those attached to Professional Account holders. And they depend on the client.

The trader can be accessed as a standalone desktop software, on a web browser, and an Apple/Android devices.

SWISSQUOTE MINIMUM DEPOSIT

There seems to be no limit to the deposit amount, meaning that users can fund their account with as much, or as little, as they want.

Deposing methods are limited to Bank Transfers, Credit cards, Inpayment Slip (ISR), and via Post Office.

The account base currencies are EUR, USD, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD, TRY, PLN, SEK, NOK, SGD, XGD, HUF, CZK.

Processing times have not been mentioned anywhere on the website.

There is a CHF 2 fee for payments within Switzerland and Liechtenstein, while outside these zones the fees are CHF 25. Credit cards deposit are charged with 2.2% to 2.5% depending on the country of residency. Cheques payments are feed with CHF 30. Bank deposits are free of charge.

SWISSQUOTE WITHDRAWAL TIME AND FEE

As one of the most notorious forex regulators, FINMA guarantees that all withdrawals will arrive safely in the hands of their requester.

Unfortunately, the withdrawal information is close to non-existent. That is why we went to the support section and contact one of their agents.

He claimed that the only way to withdraw is via Wire Transfer, and that there are no Withdrawal fees. As to the processing time, he wasn’t helpful. The customer service is the only disappointing aspect of the whole broker, but it shouldn’t divert your attention away from the effectiveness of the broker,

BOTTOM LINE

Swissquote, as one of the very few brokers based in Switzerland, is a definite recommend. Everything here screams professionalism, and add to that the fact that it is regulated by FINMA and that is has been in business for more than a decade, and what you’re left with is a brokerage firm that won’t disappoint.