Cheapest Share Trading Platform South Africa 2020

If you want to buy and sell stocks online, you will need to use an online share trading platform. Although there are many platforms for South Africans to choose from, pricing can be a bit ‘hit and miss’.

By this, we mean that some brokers are known to charge excessive fees. This is especially the case if you are planning to invest small amounts – as a lot of platforms charge a flat fee.

With this in mind, this article reveals the cheapest share trading platform in South Africa. We also give you some handy tips on what fees to look out for when choosing a platform yourself.

What are Share Trading Platforms?

Put simply, share trading platforms are online brokers that allow you to buy, sell, and trade stocks from the comfort of your home. In other words, by opening an account with a trusted broker, you will be in possession of a share trading account.

Then, you will have the ability to make investments at the click of a button. In the vast majority of cases, you will be required to pick shares on a do-it-yourself basis. This means that you will be 100% responsible for selecting the companies that you wish to buy stocks in.

If this sounds somewhat daunting, then you might be more suited for a share dealing platform that also offers ETFs or mutual funds. This way, the provider in question will determine which shares to buy on your behalf.

Nevertheless, below we outline a quick example of how a share trading platform works in South Africa.

• You open an account with a share trading platform
• You deposit 8,000 rands with your debit card
• You buy 4,000 rands worth of shares in MTN
• You then buy 4,000 rands worth of shares in Sanlam

Once the above transactions have been made, there is nothing else for you to do until you decide to sell the shares. Once you do, the shares will be converted back to rands. You can then withdraw the funds out of your chosen stock broker, or re-invest the cash into other shares.

Share CFD Trading

In the above example, you bought 8,000 rands worth of shares in MTN and Sanlam. You did so with the view of holding on to the stocks for several years. This is known as a traditional ‘buy and hold’ strategy.

However, some South Africans prefer to engage with an active trading strategy.

• In simple terms, this means that you will be buying and selling shares on a short-term basis.
• You will be targeting smaller gains, but placing a much larger quantity of orders.

For example, some stock traders will place dozens of buy/sell orders throughout the day. In order to do this in a cost-effective manner, you will need to trade share CFDs (contracts for difference).

These are financial products that track the real-world stock price of a company, so you won’t own the underlying asset. However, you will typically benefit from commission-free trading, the ability to short-sell, meaning you can speculate on prices going down, and have access to leverage facilities so that you can make larger trades.

The Cheapest Share Trading Platform in South Africa Revealed 

It is important to note that you should never join a share trading platform just because it offers ‘cheap’ fees and commissions. On the contrary, there are several factors that need to play a part in the decision-making process.

For example, you need to ensure that the platform is regulated and that it supports your preferred payment method. You also need to look at mobile trading features, technical indicators, customer support, and much more.

Taking all of the above into account, here we discuss the cheapest online share trading platforms in South Africa that also meet our strict criteria.

Note: The best online share trading platforms typically have a global presence. This means that they often denominate deposits, withdrawals, and commissions in US dollars. With this in mind, all monetary figures below are based on USD unless otherwise stated.

1. eToro – Cheapest South Africa Share Trading Platform

If you’re looking for the cheapest share trading platform in South Africa, it really doesn’t get much better than eToro. This is because this social trading broker allows you to buy and sell shares without paying any fees whatsoever!

Regarding the former, this means that you can invest in shares and retain full ownership without paying any commissions. This is unprecedented, as virtually every other platform in the online space will charge you a flat fee to buy shares. In the case of eToro, you will have access to over 800+ stocks from 17 international markets, including many of the best shares, on a commission-free basis.

This includes major markets in the US, UK, and Germany, as well as less liquid exchanges found in Sweden, France, and Spain, If you are more interested in CFD trading because you want the option of short-selling or applying leverage, you’ll have to pay the spread and overnight fees like at other platforms, but eToro keeps these costs very competitive.

In other departments, eToro charges a 0.5% currency conversion fee on all deposits. This is because the platform’s proprietary currency is US dollars, and of course, you will be depositing funds with South African rands. There is also a small $5 withdrawal fees to take into account. Although there is an inactivity fee of $10 per month, this only kicks in if your account remains dormant for 12 months. If you do choose eToro, you can deposit funds instantly with a local debit/credit card, bank account, or e-wallet.

eToro fees:

Pros:

Cons:

75% of retail investors lose money trading CFDs at this site

2. Plus500 – CFD Broker with Tight Spreads

Plus500 is an online trading platform that offers CFDs in the form of shares, indices, bonds, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. In the share department, this covers more than 2,000+ stock CFD instruments. As such, you will have access to heaps of international stock markets such as those found in the US, Australia, UK, and New Zealand.

Best of all, Plus500 also offers stock CFDs that track South African companies. This is great if you want to gain exposure to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Regardless of what marketplace you decide to trade, Plus500 does not charge any trading commissions. Much like eToro, it’s only the spread and overnight financing fees that you need to factor in.

Regarding the latter, this can be avoided by ensuring that you close your position before the end of the trading day. In fact, this is often common practice for stock day traders anyway. Plus500 gives you the option of going long and short on all of its financial instruments. This allows you to profit from the rise and fall of your chosen share CFD. The trading platform also offers leverage facilities. As a South African resident, this can go as high as 1:300, which is huge.

In terms of funding fees, Plus500 does not charge anything on deposits or withdrawals. You will, however, need to pay a 0.5% currency conversion charge when trading non-South African instruments. This is essentially anything outside for the JSE.

Plus500 fees:

Pros:

Cons:

 CFD Service. Capital at risk.

3. Capital.com – Trade Over 2,000 Share CFDs with Tight Spreads

Capital.com is a trusted online CFD platform that stands out for several reasons. First and foremost, the platform offers a commission-free structure across all of its financial instruments. On top of stocks, this also includes indices, forex, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.

In the share CFD department, you will be able to trade over 2,000 instruments. Although this doesn’t include markets in South Africa, you will have access to heaps of international exchanges. This includes everything from the US, UK, Hong Kong, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Japan.

To complement its commission-free offering, Capital.com is also known for its tight spreads. This can be very competitive when trading major stocks such as those listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ. When it comes to funding your Capital.com account, you will not be charged any fees. This is also the case when cashing your profits out. The platform supports South African debit/credit cards and bank accounts, as well as several e-wallets.

There is an inactivity fee of $10, but this is only charged if your account remains dormant for 1 year. In terms of safety, Capital.com is regulated by several tier-one licensing bodies. This includes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, so your capital is in safe hands at all times. Finally, Capital.com allows you to trade shares via its website or on a native mobile app. The latter can be downloaded free of charge on iOS and Android devices.

Capital.com fees:

Pros:

Cons:

72.6% of retail investors lose money trading CFDs at this site.

4. FXCM – Reputable Share Trading Platform with MetaTrader 4

Forex Capital Market, or simply FXCM, is an online trading platform that is involved in several asset classes. All coming in the form of CFDs, you can trade everything from stocks, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. In the share trading department, this focuses exclusively on US companies.

This means that you will be able to access large-scale firms such as Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix. Regardless of what shares you decide to trade, everything at FXCM is commission-free. You will also benefit from attractive spreads. You will need to meet a $50 minimum deposit at the platform, which you can fund with a debit/credit card, bank account, or e-wallet.

There are no fees to deposit or withdraw funds at FXCM, which is great. The broker charges an inactivity fee of $50 per year. However, this only comes into play if your account is inactive for 12 months. FXCM gives you lots of options when it comes to choosing a trading platform. For example, it supports some of the most popular third-party providers in the trading space – such as MetaTrader 4, NinjaTrader, and ZuluTrade.

Not only does this mean that you will have access to an abundance of drawing tools and technical indicators, but you can also install automated robots. You can also engage with copy trading indirectly at FXCM when using MT4. FXM is also a notable option if you are looking for a platform that offers market insights. This will ensure that you are armed with the required knowledge to trade shares effectively.

FXCM fees:

Pros:

Cons:

73.05% of retail investors lose money when trading CFDs at this site

5. Forex.com – Multi-Asset Trading Site With Low Spreads

Forex.com is a major player in the online trading space. Although the name suggests that the platform is involved exclusively in forex, this isn’t the case at all. On the contrary, the platform supports a range of other asset classes – including shares. With that said, you will be trading share CFDs as opposed to buying the underlying stock.

This does, however, also mean that you will have access to more sophisticated trading tools and features. For example, Forex.com offers leverage on all of its products, and you can also short-sell a share CFD if you think the stocks will go down in value. In terms of fees, Forex.com charges 0.08% when trading stocks. As such, a 10,000 rands position would cost you just 80 rands in fees.

Although this is the first non-commission-free share trading platform on our list, it must be noted that Forex.com is extremely competitive in the spreading department. As such, it is still a very cost-effective platform to consider. Forex.com also allows you to deposit and withdraw funds without commission, and you can this with a debit/credit card or bank transfer. In terms of inactivity fees, this amounts to $15 per month, which kicks in after one year.

By choosing Forex.com for your online share trading needs, you will benefit from one of the heaviest regulated platforms in the space. This includes regulators in the UK, Japan, Canada, the US, and more. The platform is also popular with South Africans share traders because it supports MT4. Once again, this means that you can choose from over 50 drawing tools and 70 technical indicators.

FXCM fees:

Pros:

Cons:

73% of retail investors lose money when trading CFDs at this site

6. IG – Trusted Share Trading Platform With Competitive-Fees

IG is an online share dealing platform that also offers CFD and spread betting facilities. Launched back in the early-1970s, the broker is highly trusted in the investment scene. This is evident in the fact it now hosts over 239,000 traders across most corners of the world – including that of South Africa. One of the most appealing aspects of IG is the sheer size of its share library.

For example, you will have access to over 10,000 companies when buying and selling shares in the traditional sense. You can do this at a flat rate of £8 per trade – which amounts to approximately 180 rands. If you buy or sell shares more than three times in the prior month, this is reduced to £3 per trade – or 70 rands. If you are more interested in trading shares, the CFD and spread betting facility covers over 13,000 stock CFDs.

Much like in the case of the share dealing suite, this covers dozens of stock exchanges. Best of all, this also includes the JSE – so you can buy and sell South African shares at the click of a button. If opting for the CFD option, your fees will depend on the specific exchange that you are trading. If it’s South African firms you are interested in, then this stands at 0.20% per trade. With that said, you will need to meet a 100 rands minimum.

Most European exchanges can be traded at 0.10%. US-listed shares – such as those based on the NYSE or NASDAQ, can be traded at $0.02 per stock, at a minimum commission of $15 minimum.  You will need to meet as £250 minimum deposit at IG -which is about 5,700 rands. You can fund your account with a South African debit/credit card or bank account. Take note, credit card transactions attract a fee of 0.5% (MasterCard) or 1% (Visa)

IG fees:

Pros:

Cons:

How to Choose the Cheapest Share Trading Platform

Although we have discussed the cheapest share trading platforms currently in the South African marketplace, it is crucial that you have the required tools to find a broker yourself. This will ensure that you avoid paying hidden fees that you were otherwise unaware of.

To help you along the way, below we have listed the most common fees that you will come across when choosing the cheapest online share trading platform.

Commissions

The most important fee that you need to take into account is that of your trading commission. Crucially, this is a fee that you will pay every time you place a buy or sell order.

As such, this will have a direct impact on your profit margins. In other words, it’s all good and well if you are able to consistently make gains, but you don’t want to be in a position where your profits are being eaten away at by excessive commissions.

So, there are typically two manners in which you will be charged a commission by the broker – a variable fee or a flat fee.

Variable Commission

In most cases, your chosen stock trading platform will charge you a variable commission that is calculated against the size of your position.

For example:

• Popular stock trading platform Forex.com charges a commission of 0.08%
• Let’s suppose that you place a $1,000 buy position on Facebook stocks
• This means that you will pay a commission of $8

However, you will also need to pay a commission when you exit your position. In this case, this will be charged again when you place a sell order on your Facebook stocks.

• Your Facebook trade is now worth 10% more
• This means that your $1,000 buy position is worth $1,100
• You decide to cash out your gains, so you place a sell order
• You need to pay a 0.08% commission on the value of the order
• This means that you paid the broker $8.80

In terms of calculating your profit – you first need to work out the difference between the buy and sell value, which is $100 ($1,100 – $1,100). Then, you need to subtract the two commissions that you paid, which leaves you with $83.20 ($100 – $8 – $8.80).

As such, your net profit on the above Facebook trade amounts to 8.32%.

Flat Commission

If your chosen broker doesn’t offer a variable commission, then it’s likely that you will need to pay a flat commission. This simply means that the fee remains the same irrespective of how much you trade. In particular, this is highly condusive for trading large volumes, as your commission will remain low.

One such stock trading platform that charges a flat fee is that of IG. As we covered earlier, this starts at £8 and reduces to £3 when you trade at least three times in a 30-day period.

Nevertheless, here’s how it works:

• Let’s suppose that you want to buy £2,000 worth of British American Tobacco shares
• You will pay an £8 flat commission to IG when you place your order
• A few months later, your British American Tobacco shares are now worth £3,000
• You decide to cash in your profits so you sell the shares
• Once again, you pay a flat commission of £8

As you can see from the above, the fact that your shares had increased in value from £2,000 to £3,000 was irrelevant with respect to your commissions. This is because you paid £8 at both ends of the order.

In terms of your net profits, you simply need to subtract £16 from your gains of £1,000 – which leaves you with £984. In percentage terms, this works out at net gains of 49.2%.

0% Commission

Although most share trading platforms charge either a flat or variable commission, some actually allow you to trade without paying any commissions at all.

In fact, the likes of eToro, Plus500, Capital.com, and FXCM all allow you to trade shares on a commission-free basis. This is why they each made our list of the cheapest share trading platforms in South Africa!

Spreads

Newbie stock traders in South Africa often make the cardinal mistake of forgetting to include the spread within their costs. This is understandable, as the spread isn’t a fee charged directly by the broker. On the contrary, it represents the gap in pricing between the buy and sell price of a share. This is how stock trading sites ensure they always make money.

In most cases, seasoned traders will calculate the spread in ‘pips’. For those unaware, pips represent the number of units that an asset moves by.

For example:

• If Ford shares go from $5.50 to $5.51, then this would amount to 1 pip
• If Nike shares went from $85.50 to $85.60, then this would amount to 10 pips

With that being said, it might be best to calculate the spread in percentage terms if you’re a beginner, as this will give you a much clearer picture of what you are paying.

• Let’s suppose that you are using eToro to trade Disney shares online
• At the time of writing, Disney has a buy price of $128.88
• It has a sell price of $128.74
• In percentage terms, this means that you are paying a spread of 0.10% – which is very competitive

Once you know what spread you are paying, you then know how much money you need to make just to get to the break-even price. That is to say, because you are paying a spread of 0.10%, this means that you need your Disney trade to make gains of over 0.10% to get into the green.

Overnight Fees

Things start to get a bit more complex in the case of overnight financing fees – so let us break down the fundamentals in Layman’s terms. In its most basic form, you will pay overnight financing fees when you keep a ‘leveraged’ position open overnight.

All share CFDs are classed as leverage positions – even you don’t apply leverage. As a result, any share CFD trade that you don’t exit before the respective market closes will attract an overnight financing fee.

This is why stock CFD trading is more conducive for short-term positions.

• The fee itself is based on interest, as you are effectively borrowing money from the broker.
• The specific interest rate will not only vary depending on the asset class, but also current market conditions.
• The fee will be amplified if you apply additional leverage to your trade.
• That is to say, fees on a trade with 10x leverage will be higher than a trade with 2x leverage.

The good news for you is that share trading platforms will typically display your funding rates when you open the position. eToro goes one step further by listing the rate in dollars and cents, so it’s clear to see exactly what you are paying.

Nevertheless, if you want to avoid paying overnight financing fees, you only have two options at your disposal:

• Buy shares in the traditional sense from a commission-free broker like eToro. In order to achieve this goal, you must not apply leverage or short-sell your chosen share
• Close your CFD position before the markets closes. Of course, the time that you need to close the position by will depend on what exchange you are trading. For example, standard operating hours on the JSE are 09:15 am – 16:40 pm Monday to Friday.

Inactivity Fees

Inactivity fees are charged by most online brokers, so it’s important that you understand how they work. As the name suggests, share trading platforms will charge you a fee if your account becomes ‘inactive’. There are two metrics in particular that you need to look out for – the size of the fee and when it kicks in.

• On average, inactivity fees come in to play when your trading account has not been used for 12 months
• Most platforms will then charge you a fee for each month that your account remains inactive
• For example, you might pay $10 per month after 12 months of inactivity

It is important to note that your share trading account will continue to be deducted until you place an order, or your balance goes to zero. You will also avoid paying an inactivity fee if you have a position open with the broker.

For example, if you are planning to take a long-term ‘buy and hold’ approach at eToro, you can keep hold of the stocks for as long as you wish without needing to worry about inactivity fees.

Deposit/Withdrawal Fees

Some, but not all, share trading platforms in South Africa will charge you a fee when you attempt to deposit or withdraw funds. This might vary depending on your choice of payment method, and can be either a flat or variable fee.

• For example, IG charges a transaction fee of 0.5% when using a MasterCard and 1% on Visa.
• This is only the case when using a credit card, and not a debit card.

In the case of eToro, the platform charges a small fee of $5 when you make a withdrawal. This is the case irrespective of which payment method you are using or the size of your withdrawal. This will simply be deducted from the amount you wish to cash out. For example, if you withdraw $1,000 from eToro, you will actually receive $995.

Currency Conversion Fees

Some online share trading platforms will charge a currency conversion fee. This is charged when the currency associated with your debit/credit card, bank account, or e-wallet is different from the platform’s proprietary currency.

Of course, if you are using a domestic platform that exclusively serves South Africans, then everything will be denominated in rands. As such, you will not need to pay a currency conversion fee as long as you only trade South African stocks.

However, you will find that domestic platforms are often overly expensive in the commission and spread departments – so even though you are avoiding a conversion fee, you will still find that you are paying more in comparison to the international brokers we have discussed.

• For example, the likes of eToro charge a currency conversion fee of 0.5% when you make a deposit
• This means that a 10,000 rands deposit would cost you 50 rands in fees
• However, you will then benefit from commission-free stock trading facilities

Crucially, this is why you need to consider multiple fees in your search for the cheapest share trading platforms.

Account Opening/Maintenance Fees

In some cases, online share trading sites will charge you an account opening fee. Although this is somewhat of a rarity, you still need to look out for this. Additionally, you might find that your chosen share trading platform charges a maintenance fee.

Otherwise referred to a management fee or platform fee, you will need to pay this simply for having an account with the broker. In other words, maintenance fees are payable even if you do not trade.

Here’s an example of how it might work:

• You join a share trading platform that charges a monthly maintenance fee of $20
• Upon opening your account, you invest $1,000 into Apple shares
• You hold on to the shares for 2 years, subsequently selling them at a 50% profit
• This means that your $1,000 investment is now worth $1,500
• However, you also have 24 months worth of maintenance fees to take into account
• At $20 per month, this works out to a total of $480

As you can see from the above example, your 50% gains no longer look as impressive. On the contrary, your $500 gross profit now translates into just $20 – as you paid a total of $480 in maintenance fees!

To clarify, none of the cheapest share trading platforms that we have discussed on this page charges a monthly maintenance fee.

Get Started with the Cheapest Share Trading Platform in South Africa

So now that you have a 360-degree overview of each and every fee that you are likely to come across when trading online, we are now going to show you how to get started with an account today. We are going to show you the process with eToro, as it ranks number one for the cheapest share trading platform that supports South Africans in 2020.

Step 1: Open a Share Trading Account

First and foremost, you’ll need to head over to the eToro homepage and open an account.

All you need to do here is enter some personal information so that the broker knows who you are.

• Full name
• Home address
• Nationality
• Date of birth
• South Africa tax identification number
• Email address
• Mobile number

Make sure you confirm your email address and mobile phone number before proceeding to the next step.

Step 2: Identity Verification

In order to remain compliant with its licensing bodies, eToro will ask you to upload a copy of your South Africa passport or driver’s license. It always requires proof of residency. This can be a utility bill or bank account statement that was issued in the past 3 months.

Step 3: Deposit Funds

Now you will be asked to deposit some funds into your share trading account. As noted earlier, you will need to factor in a 0.5% fee, and minimum deposits start at $200.

Supported payment methods include:

• Debit card
• Credit card
• Paypal
• Skrill
• Neteller
• Bank transfer

Your deposit will be credited instantly when using a debit/credit card or e-wallet, but bank transfers can take several days.

Step 4: Trade Shares

As soon as you have funded your account, you can begin trading stocks. The easiest way to get started is to search for the company that you wish to trade.

In our example, we are looking to trade South African multi-national mining firm Anglo American. As such, we enter ‘Anglo American’ into the search box and click on the result that pops up.

Then, we need to click on the ‘Trade’ button.

You will now see an order box like the image below. This is where you need to set your trade specifics.

• Choose from a buy or sell order
• Enter the size of your stake in US dollars
• Apply leverage, if applicable
• Set up take-profit/stop-loss orders, if applicable

Finally, click on the ‘Open Trade’ button to place your order!

Conclusion

With hundreds of share trading platforms to choose from, finding a broker can be time-consuming. On top of looking at metrics like regulation, payment methods, and customer support – you also need to have a firm understanding of what the broker charges in fees, commissions, and other trading costs.

With this in mind, we have discussed the cheapest share trading platforms currently servicing South African traders. As per our findings, not only did eToro come out as the most competitively-priced online broker, but it excels in most of the other areas that we look out for.

If you want to trade shares commission-free at eToro, simply click the link below to get started!

eToro – Trade Over 800 Shares With Zero Commission

75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

FAQs

About Kane Pepi

Kane Pepi is a British researcher and writer that specializes in finance, financial crime, and blockchain technology. Now based in Malta, Kane writes for a number of platforms in the online domain. In particular, Kane is skilled at explaining complex financial subjects in a user-friendly manner. Academically, Kane holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, a Master’s Degree in Financial Crime, and he is currently engaged in a Doctorate Degree researching the money laundering threats of the blockchain economy. Kane is also behind peer-reviewed publications - which includes an in-depth study into the relationship between money laundering and UK bookmakers. You will also find Kane’s material at websites such as MoneyCheck, the Motley Fool, InsideBitcoins, Blockonomi, Learnbonds, and the Malta Association of Compliance Officers.

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