Swissquote Review 2024

Writer: Marwan Kardoosh
Editor: Adrian Ashley
Checker: Bahaa Khateeb
Last Update: 2024-11-22
swissquote
Swissquote is considered a very unique company, offering traders a state-of-the-art experience. It is noteworthy for being the sponsor for Manchester United FC. The company offers a relatively high spread, the MT4 trading platform, and excellent customer service.
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🏆 Evaluation
7.83
🗺️ Regulations
💳 Minimum Deposit
1000$
⚖️ Islamic Account
Yes
💰 Payment Methods
Bank transfer, credit card, Electronic Banks
🏢 Main Branch
Switzerland
🎮 Demo Account
No
🖥 Trading Platforms
Proprietary Platform, Web platform, mt4, mt5

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 Evaluation 7.83
Regulations
10
Deposits and Withdrawals
6
Commissions
3.5
Assets
7.8
Trading Platform
9
Research and Development
9
Customer Service
9
Mobile App Trading
7
Learning
7
Experience with broker
9
Trading Tools
9.5
Website
7

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.

Swissquote
Rating
Foundation Year
1996
Main Branch
Switzerland
Other Branches
United Arab Emirates,United Kingdom
Languages
10 languages including English
Work Hours
Market Opening Hours

Is Swissquote Safe?

Yes. Swissquote is acknowledged to be low-risk. It is a publicly traded company and operates a regulated bank. Swissquote is authorized by four high trust (tier-1) regulators and one average trust (tier-2) regulator. It is authorized by the following tier-1 regulators: the Securities Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Switzerland’s FINMA, and the UK’s FCA. Swissquote provides negative balance protection and deposit protection up to £85,000 in the case of insolvency.
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.
Trading Account Information
Account Currency
EUR, USD, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD, TRY, PLN, SEK, NOK, SGD, XGD, HUF, CZK
Minimum Deposit
$1,000
Segregated Accounts
Yes
Payment Methods
Bank Transfer, Credit Card, Electronic Banks
America Accepts
No
Available Markets
FOREX, indices, Cryptocurrencies, Commodities, Stocks, Options, Bonds and ETFs
Trial Duration
30 Days

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.
Advantages of Trading
Maximum Leverage
1:100
Minimum Lot Size
0.01 Lot
Available FOREX Pairs
80
Scalping
Yes
Hedging
Yes
Spread
Starting from 1.5 pips with standard account
Trailing Stop
Yes
Islamic Account
Yes
Trading Platforms
Proprietary Platform, Web platform, MT4, MT5
Regulatory Bodies
Broker Type
STP

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

MarketsAvailableNumber of Assets
Currency Pairs80
Stocks18000
Commodities20
Crypto35
Indices200
ETFs20000

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 TypeMinimum DepositSpread CommissionCommissionSwap CommissionDeposit CommissionWithdrawal Commission
Standard account1,000$ Starting from 1.5 pip 0$ Yes0$ except SEPA 1.9%Deferent commision according to the account currency type
Premium account5,000$ Starting from 1 pip 0$ Yes0$ except SEPA 1.9%Deferent commision according to the account currency type
Prime account50,000$ Starting from 0.8 pip 0$ Yes0$ except SEPA 1.9%Deferent commision according to the account currency type

Deposits and Withdrawals

Funds can be deposited into an account via credit cards, bank transfer and China UnionPay. There is no minimum amount for withdrawing funds. Swissquote recommends that traders verify fees charged by other banks involved in the withdrawal process to see if it makes sense to request a withdrawal. There are no deposit or withdrawal fees on the broker’s side, but Swissquote does require a €1,000 (or equivalent) minimum deposit.
The broker lists the relevant SWIFT codes and bank details within the Support section for deposits via wire transfer. Withdrawals must be made from within the ePortal. Processing times are instant for credit cards and one to three working days for wire transfer.

Customer Support

Swissquote maintains a 24-hour trading operation that is available by telephone, or throughout all of its trading platforms when the markets are open, starting from 23:00 CET Sunday to 23:00 CET Friday. Swissquote also offers a callback request form and chat support.
Swissquote's Website is available in multiple languages, including English, Chinese, Arabic, German, French, Russian, Italian and Spanish.

Commissions and Fees

Fees and other charges you will encounter on Swissquote largely stem from the spread, which varies primarily between the Swiss accounts and EU accounts, and then between each account tier. All Swiss FOREX accounts have zero commissions, for example, but then levy a higher spread than the equivalent EU account.
For EU accounts, the first two accounts with a €1,000 and €5,000 deposit minimum have small spreads and no commissions. One can opt to deposit at least €10,000 to get the Elite Account with €2.5 commissions and spreads from 0.0 pips. There is no maintenance fee, and competitive deposit and withdrawal fees are based on payment type.
Swissquote offers commission-free trading, beginning from 0.6 pips. More popular pairs, such as the EUR/USD, are about 1.3 pips with the starter account. Both the XAUUSD (gold) and the S&P 500 start from about 0.25 points.
While Premium and Prime account holders are able to trade commission-free, Elite and Professional traders will be subject to a €2.5 commission per side per lot traded. Additional fees include an inactivity fee of 10 account currency units per month after six months of inactivity, plus overnight swap charges that are detailed on the Website.
Traders are able to attain leverage up to 1:30 for FOREX, 1:20 for precious metals and index CFDs, 1:10 for commodity CFDs and 1:5 for bonds. Leverage allows the trader to use borrowed funds to increase their position.
Commissions and spreads from Swissquote's UK entity, Swissquote Ltd., differ substantially from the Switzerland entity, Swissquote Bank Ltd. Between the two, UK-based accounts have lower costs and deposit requirements, despite providing a narrower product offering. Trading costs are not Swissquote's best feature, compared to the best FOREX brokers in this category.
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

Swissquote’s in-house platform, Advanced Trader, has a fully customizable interface and allows trading in synthetic CFDs, among other instruments. Its smart features are designed for automatic pattern detection, making it the ideal tool for traders who are new to chart pattern analysis. Swissquote also offers a robo-advisory service that has received positive customer reviews.
Traders may also access 27 indicators, 17 overlays and eight different timeframes, plus complex order types, including “Order Cancels Other” (OCO) and “If Done.” Hedging capabilities are also available upon request. Advanced Trader is available as a desktop or Web terminal, once you have opened an account.
MT4
Traders of any level can utilize automated e-trading capabilities, as well as complimentary plugins, with the award-winning MT4 platform. They can choose from thousands of EAs or copy trades from hundreds of successful traders. Strategy back-testing is also possible.
MT4’s extensive charting suite also includes 30 built-in indicators, 24 analytical objects, nine timeframes, and a range of order types. The platform is available for download or can be accessed directly from any Internet browser.
MT5
MT5 is the next generation MetaTrader platform. It offers a greater selection of tools and flexibility for the experienced trader. As with MT4, traders using MT5 get unrestricted automated trading capabilities and access to plugins. Further, MT5 users enjoy 80 built-in indicators, 44 analytical objects and highly customizable charts with 21 timeframes. Traders can enjoy full mobility with access to the platform via desktop or Web browser.
Both Swissquote’s Advanced Trader and MetaTrader platforms are securely encrypted with SSL technology. Traders can also enable other layers of security, such as Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and Touch ID.

Mobile Trading

Swissquote offers traders its proprietary Advanced Trader app along with MT4 and MT5 mobile. Generally, the Advanced Trader mobile app is easy to use and is cleanly designed. It lacks in charting features, however, leaving the MetaTrader suite as our recommended choice.
In both the MetaTrader and the Advanced Trader mobile apps, research is restricted to headlines streaming from the Dow Jones Newswire and an economic calendar. A friendly feature of Advanced Trader is nearly 25 educational videos integrated.
Both MT4 and MT5 mobile offer charts with 30 indicators and nine timeframes from which to choose; they support panning and zooming. In the Advanced Trader app, there are six chart types and 11 timeframes from which to choose, but charts do not support landscape mode and they lack indicators; further, there is no ability to zoom into chart data (only scroll), which limits their usability.
Swissquote’s Advanced Trader platform is available for iOS and Android smartphones and supports eight languages. Traders are able to swiftly transition between mobile and desktop versions of the platform, with access to sophisticated charting tools, real-time streaming quotes and complex order types. The app generally receives positive customer ratings online.
Also, both the MT4 and MT5 platforms are available as mobile apps. Thus, traders who prefer automated trading strategies can enjoy all the same algorithmic capabilities and technical analysis tools while away from their PC. Traders also benefit from the community chat feature, mobile push notifications and financial news.

Research and Development

While Swissquote provides mostly industry-standard research (streaming news headlines, economic calendar and blog commentary, etc.), it goes above and beyond in quality, helping to differentiate itself from competitors.
Swissquote's own quantitative research team helps structure some of its products, such as the exchange-traded certificate for crypto, with its latest added in 2020. The group provides a Daily Market Brief and Morning News series from its strategy desk, in addition to a weekly Live Analysis report. It also publishes a bi-monthly magazine, which we found to be of high-quality, with nearly 80 pages of technology-rich content spanning global markets.
Swissquote provides traders access to Trading Central, which powers its Daily Technical Report with automated chart pattern analysis and analyst commentary.
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

Swissquote's learning center provides fundamental knowledge every trader should have and also gears its educational material to traders at all levels of trading experience. Text-based explanations on a number of topics are available, including such basic FOREX information as Advantages of FOREX Trading, Origins of FOREX Exchanges, Market Participants etc. Further, discussions on more complex issues, such as Margin Trading, Profit and Loss Calculations, and Speculation, are provided. We were surprised that these lessons were not offered in video form as they are with most other brokers.
Also available are discussions on basic topics, such as FOREX technical vs FOREX fundamental analysis and FOREX technical indicators, including Relative Strength Index (RSI), Stochastic Oscillator, Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), Number theory, Waves, Gaps, Trends and Chart formations.

Final Thoughts on Swissquote

Overall, Swissquote is a trusted global brand. Other than being relatively expensive, the Swiss-based FOREX and CFDs offered are a mixed bag due to the vast multi-asset offering, not including FOREX or CFDs trading. At Swissquote, the best all-around FOREX trader experience, which includes lower pricing, is found through the firm's UK entity, using the MetaTrader platform.

Conclusion

Swissquote as a Swiss bank and brokerage firm, maintains a highly-trusted reputation in the world’s financial circles and provides traders and investors with an impressive selection of products and services. All are protected in equal manner with advanced technology and investor compensation rules. EU traders under ESMA won’t have access to the majority of banking and underlying investing services and are instead relegated to FOREX and CFD trading, although at better prices than most. There are many platforms with which to trade within all jurisdictions, and while the platforms offer a range of different advantages, most traders will only need the MT4. Traders who desire to trade from a Swiss bank and use brokerage services offering access to more markets should go for Swissquote’s CH accounts. FOREX and CFD traders will prefer the broker’s EU accounts, which have tighter spreads.

Swissquote in Brief

Swissquote is looked upon as a unique company, offering traders a state-of-the-art experience. It is also the trading sponsor for Manchester United FC. Swissquote offers a relatively high spread, the MT4 trading platform, and excellent customer service.

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.

  1. Other Websites that have ranked FOREX companies.

  2. 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:

  1. Registering with FOREX companies as a secret shopper and/or as Arincen.

  2. 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.

FAQ

Where is Swissquote regulated?

Swissquote is authorized by the following tier-1 regulators: the SFC of Hong Kong, the MAS of Singapore, Switzerland’s FINMA and the UK’s FCA.

In what other ways does Swissquoteprotect me?

Swissquote provides Negative Balance Protection, as well as FSCS deposit protection up to £85,000 in case of broker insolvency.

Which countries does Swissquote serve?

Swissquote Bank Ltd. is available in countries all over the world. Of particular interest to US customers is that they can now open an account with this broker through its Luxembourg affiliate, which is authorized to accept US customers, although this is only for stock trading.

Does Swissquote offer Cryptocurrency trading?

Yes. 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 EOS, Stellar, Tezos, Ethereum Classic, Chainlink, Augur and 0x.

Does Swissquote provide any extra offerings?

Swissquote offers a “Friend Referral” promotion, where traders can get a cash bonus up to CHF800 per referral.

How do I fund my account?

Funds can be deposited into an account via bank transfer, credit cards and China UnionPay.

Which trading platforms does Swissquote offer?

Swissquote’s in-house platform, Advanced Trader, is offered in partnership with industry staples MT4 and MT5.

How can I access customer service?

Swissquote maintains a 24-hour trading operation available by telephone. It also offers a call-back request form and chat support.
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