Swissquote Review 2024
Key Takeaways
- Swissquote Bank Ltd. is a well-recognized public bank. It is a member of the Swiss Bankers Association and has offices in multiple locations in Switzerland, as well as in Dubai, London, Malta and Hong Kong. It serves customers in over 120 countries and employs 700 professionals.
- Swissquote Ltd is an online provider of FOREX and contract for differences (CFD) trading, authorized by multiple tier-1 regulators, including Switzerland’s own Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Swissquote traders are among the most protected in the industry.
- Swissquote is considered low-risk. It is a publicly traded company, operates a regulated bank, and is authorized by four high trust (tier-1) regulators and one average trust (tier-2).
- Without regard to a trader's level of experience, Swissquote’s range of services can be suitably recommended for nearly any trader.
- Swissquote provides more than 160 FOREX and CFD instruments, including more than 75 major, minor and emerging currency pairs. Also, it offers 25 stock indices, comprising the FTSE 100 and CAC 40, a selection of commodities and precious metals, in addition to three bonds. Swissquote’s Swiss investment arm offers gold Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF), as well as stocks, themes trading, options, cryptocurrencies, funds and futures.
- Traders may choose from four live accounts: Premium, Prime, Elite and Professional. Also available is a demo account valid for 30 days.
- Funds can be deposited into an account via credit cards, bank transfer and China UnionPay.
- Fees and other charges traders encounter on Swissquote stem from the spreads, which vary primarily between the Swiss accounts and EU accounts, and then between each account tier.
- “Advanced Trader,” Swissquote’s in-house platform, comes with a fully customizable interface and allows trading in synthetic CFD, among other instruments. Also, traders of any level can enjoy automated e-trading capabilities, as well as complimentary plugins, with the award-winning MetaTrader4 (MT4) platform and the newer MetaTrader5 (MT5).
- Although Swissquote provides mostly industry-standard research (streaming news headlines, economic calendar, blog commentary, etc.), the broker goes well beyond in terms of quality, helping to differentiate itself from competitors; and, Swissquote's learning center offers the knowledge every trader should have, as well as directing its educational material to clients of all levels of trading experience.
- Swissquote offers its proprietary Advanced Trader app along with MT4 and MT5 mobile.
Swissquote Evaluate - research result
Overall Summary
Swissquote Bank Ltd is well-recognized as a public bank. A member of the Swiss Bankers Association, Swissquote maintains multiple offices in Switzerland, as well as in Dubai, London, Malta and Hong Kong. It serves customers in over 120 countries and employs 700 finance professionals.
Swissquote Ltd. is an online provider of CFD and FOREX. As a prestigious legacy broker, authorized by multiple tier-1 regulators, including Switzerland’s own FINMA and the UK’s FCA, Swissquote traders are among the most protected in the industry.
Its traders are some of the most successful and can take advantage of a wide range of base currencies on FOREX, advanced charting tools and CFDs on stock indices, commodities and bonds, and even more when using the MT4 or MT5. Swissquote provides more than 160 FOREX and CFD instruments on award-winning platforms to more than 360,000 clients worldwide. The company is also the official partner of Manchester United FC.
With a higher-than-average minimum deposit on its lowest account, Swissquote is also a broker for those who are willing to gain greater exposure to financial markets. The impressive breadth of Swissquote’s platform ensures that traders are given the best tools for the job and educated well. It is important for traders to distinguish among Swissquote's instruments, services and trading conditions offered between Swissquote’s London-based, EU-branded platform, and its Switzerland-based banking ecosystem.
Traders in the EU and UK who want to trade CFDs and FOREX most cost-effectively will prefer the latter. The broker’s other Swiss entity offers FOREX and CFDs as well, alongside a wider range of higher leverage, underlying instruments, funds held in Swiss banks and a Dealing Desk execution model.
Those willing to pay a premium to have their brokerage account held with a Swiss bank choose Swissquote for its competitive, multi-asset offering. At the same time, Swissquote's UK-based offering provides better pricing despite advancing a smaller range of markets.
Is Swissquote Safe?
Other companies are within the Swissquote group. They offer a suite of financial services institutional and retail clients from offices in Malta, Luxembourg, Zürich, Dubai, Hong Kong, Indonesia and South Africa.
According to FCA regulations, all client money is held in segregated accounts at one or more approved banks. Swissquote Group Holding Ltd also must provide annual reports relative to corporate governance and financial audits. Because Swissquote is a tier-1 institution, traders should be confident it is safe and trustworthy. Note that US citizens or persons are not able to open an online account with this broker.
Who Is Swissquote Recommended For?
Swissquote’s extensive range of services safely can be recommended for nearly any trader, without regard to their experience level. Traders are able to support complex trading strategies in riskier trading conditions if desired, but also stay in safer arenas with low leverage, Expert Advisors (EA), and basic trading tutorial videos in regular markets, such as FOREX or shares.
A barrier to entry is Swissquote’s higher-than-average minimum deposit: €1,000 for the Premium Account (EU). FOREX traders based in the EU will also prefer Swissquote for its zero-commission accounts and low spreads, even if unable to access the wider variety of markets and instruments on the Swiss platform.
Traders who desire their deposits and funds to be held in a Swiss bank account and have access to a wider range of financial services and instruments, however, are ideal candidates for the broker’s Swiss accounts.
Swissquote offers competitive spreads on all account types. EU FOREX traders with the Elite Account (i.e., Professional traders) are options to pay from 0.0 pips. There are zero commissions on the two lowest EU accounts, and on all Swiss FOREX accounts. The spreads are generally lower on EU accounts. Further, order sizes for all instruments are very flexible.
Swiss accounts gain from the deep liquidity of a tier-1 network of banks; and the EU and UK entity uses this Swissquote Bank as a liquidity provider. Swissquote is also supported by a larger network of regional non-bank liquidity providers, which ensures quicker and more accurate execution pricing, along with helping with strategy analysis and benchmarking.
Using the MT4 platform, traders can replicate trades using the EA service. It lists traders who log their performance and trading habits for others to copy with a single click, even high-frequency traders. Further, they can define their own strategies with greater depth using the Autochartist tool.
Because of regulation by both the FCA and FINMA, eligible Swissquote traders with either a UK or a Swiss account have their funds covered. As noted, the UK’s FCA requires accounts under its authority to be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000, and the Swiss accounts are bound by the Agreement by Swiss Banks and Securities Dealers on Deposit Insurance for up to ₣100,000.
Primarily for the Swiss traders, additional platforms are available via plugin, including Themes Trading (for sectors and trends trading), the proprietary eTrading Platform and access to third-party investing services via the FIX API. Relative to both jurisdictions, however, are the Advanced Trader platforms, both MT4 and MT5, MetaTrader Master Edition, and Autochartist.
Pros
- Swiss accounts receive the benefit of funds held in Swiss tier-1 bank accounts, with an IBAN for seamless international trading.
- Many platform types, including Autochartist, allow members access to more market opportunities.
- Assorted plugins help give traders new functionality for charting, order types, technical analysis and indicators.
- Zero-commission and from 0.0 spreads accounts options are cost-effective for trading.
- Great educational resources are a comfort for novices.
Cons
- Large, somewhat confusing array of services might confuse beginners.
- Average spreads are somewhat higher in Swiss accounts than in EU accounts.
- Somewhat high minimum deposit amounts, even on the lowest account type.
Offering of Investments
Swissquote provides flexible transaction sizes throughout all of its trading platforms, as well as a clear table with all the essential information; and, traders can call the trading desk to place orders during all market hours.
As noted, Swissquote provides more than 160 FOREX and CFD instruments, including over 75 major, minor, and emerging currency pairs. It also makes available more than 25 stock indices, comprising the FTSE 100 and CAC 40, a selection of commodities and precious metals, plus three bonds. Its Swiss investment arm also offers gold ETFs and themes trading, stocks, options, cryptocurrencies, futures and funds.
Swissquote recently unveiled a new feature, the “Swissquote Sqore,” the first free portal to bring institutional-quality trade ideas to the retail market. This revolutionary trade idea generator is packed with innovative features, geared to traders looking to increase their stakes by accessing advanced investment algorithms, which previously were only available to institutions, while remaining simple and transparent.
It is worth noting that Swissquote was the first bank in the world to add the trading of underlying cryptocurrencies (non-CFDs). Seven new cryptocurrencies were made available in 2020, including Stellar, EOS, Ethereum Classic, Tezos, Augur, Chainlink and 0x.
The Swissquote eTrading account offering allows clients to trade cryptocurrency alongside endless products across 60 global market exchanges, although eTrading accounts do not support FOREX and CFDs. To trade FOREX and CFDs, along with forwards and options, traders must use the eForex account offering, which offers only 130 tradable symbols.
Available assets
| Markets | Available | Number of Assets |
| Currency Pairs | 80 | |
| Stocks | 18000 | |
| Commodities | 20 | |
| Crypto | 35 | |
| Indices | 200 | |
| ETFs | 20000 |
Account Types
Traders are able to choose from four live accounts: Premium, Prime, Elite and Professional. Traders should note that the minimum deposit with the starter account (Premium) is 1,000 in the chosen currency, which is much higher than competitors.
Apart from minimum deposits, commissions and spreads, the other account features in the Premium, Prime and Elite accounts are identical. Minimum transaction size for FOREX and CFD forwards is 0.01 lots. The maintenance margin is 100% and the stop-out level is 50%. Minimum trade for FOREX is $1,000.
Swissquote caps leverage at 1:100, unlike many brokers. It offers traders, however, the options of increasing or reducing their leverage with a simple request.
Account holders are authorized to trade mini-step lots, which begins at 0.1 lot and permits increments of 0.1, 0.11, 0.12 etc. They can also trade mini-lots, of which the minimum amount is 0.1 lot (10,000 of the base currency).
A Demo Account is available. Note that all demo accounts automatically expire after 30 days and are not extendable.
| Account Type | Minimum Deposit | Spread Commission | Commission | Swap Commission | Deposit Commission | Withdrawal Commission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard account | 1,000$ | Starting from 1.5 pip | 0$ | Yes | 0$ except SEPA 1.9% | Deferent commision according to the account currency type |
| Premium account | 5,000$ | Starting from 1 pip | 0$ | Yes | 0$ except SEPA 1.9% | Deferent commision according to the account currency type |
| Prime account | 50,000$ | Starting from 0.8 pip | 0$ | Yes | 0$ except SEPA 1.9% | Deferent commision according to the account currency type |
Deposits and Withdrawals
Customer Support
Commissions and Fees
Swissquote's eTrading account charges begin at 1% of the cryptocurrency trade value and decrease to 0.75% for trades above ₣10,000 and 0.5% for those worth more than ₣50,000. While there are no cryptocurrency custody fees, a $10 fee applies to deposits below $500, while larger amounts only pay a deposit fee for the same amount.
Platforms and Tools
MT4
Mobile Trading
Research and Development
Further, Autochartist, a similar service, is also available as a plugin for MetaTrader. Across all Swissquote platforms, headlines stream from the Dow Jones Newswire.
It is worth noting that Swissquote has a Daily Market Analysis series on its YouTube channel, although it had not been updated in two months around the time of our review. The firm's Swiss branch uploads daily videos under its recent Morning Bull (French) and Borsentalk (German) series, as well as NY to Zurich Daily (German). Unfortunately, none are available in English.
Education
Final Thoughts on Swissquote
Conclusion
Swissquote in Brief
Review Methodology
The team at Arincen collected more than 120 pieces of data covering in excess of 100 licensed FOREX companies. Data collection was done in three ways:
Companies’ Websites.
Other Websites that have ranked FOREX companies.
A survey questionnaire (referred to here as Survey “1”) we had sent to the companies invited to participate in the exercise.
We have identified 12 criteria for our assessment, each containing several aspects and carrying its own relative weight. These include licensing, deposits and withdrawals, number of assets etc.
Afterward we validated the data by:
Registering with FOREX companies as a secret shopper and/or as Arincen.
Survey number “2,” in which we asked these companies’ customers for important feedback and past experience.
The next step saw us evaluate and rank each company, relying on the hard work of 15 Arincen employees. We were very careful in ensuring the most accurate assessment possible, including taking into account different languages, as well as the various mobile-app operating systems, e.g., Apple, Samsung etc.
To add credibility to our research project, we sent a final and third survey (referred to here as Survey “3”) to enable participating FOREX companies evaluate our own research and whether it accurately reflects the realities on the ground. We were fortunate enough to receive a mark of 9.9 out of 10! We have kept to a minimum the margin of error, which stood at a measly 1%. To learn more on how we came up with the evaluation, please click here.
