Best Investment Brokerage Platform for Forex 2024

Choose from MoneySmart's curated list of best brokerages to invest in Forex and Learn how to maximise returns. Read More
We found 15 Online Brokerages for you!
OANDA

Min. Funding

$0

Min. Funding
MoneySmart Exclusive
CFD Trading only
EUR/USD and USD/JPY
From 0.6 pips*
Commission & Core Spreads
As low as 0.2 pips*
Min. Funding
$0

[FLASH DEAL | MoneySmart Exclusive] 
Get S$180 UPSIZED Cash via PayNow when you open, fund a min. of S$200 within 1 deposit and execute 1 trade with OANDA. T&Cs apply.
 
[OANDA Promotion]
Get a welcome bonus of up to S$988 from OANDA
and stand a chance to win return flights to New York (valued at S$5,000) and S$200 CapitalLand vouchers. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 30 Nov 2024 - See more details below
Apply Now
Tiger Brokers

Min. Funding

$0

Min. Funding
MoneySmart Exclusive
Low Commission Fees
Min. Commission Fee US Stocks
US$0.99*
Min. Commission Fee SG Stocks
0.03% of Trade Value*
Min. Funding
$0

[MoneySmart Exclusive]
Get S$100 via PayNow when you open, fund a min. of USD1,000 within the initial deposit and complete 1 new BUY trade with Tiger Brokers. T&Cs apply.
  
[Tiger Brokers Promotion]
New to Tiger Brokers? Enjoy up to USD1,006* worth of rewards when you fulfill the requirements. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 30 Nov 2024 - See more details below
Apply Now
Saxo

Min. Funding

S$3,000

Min. Funding
MoneySmart Exclusive
EUR/USD
0.5 Min. spread
USD/SGD
0.9 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$3,000

[FLASH DEAL | MoneySmart Exclusive]
Get S$288 Cash via PayNow when you open, fund a min. of S$3,000 within 1 deposit and execute 3 trades with Saxo. T&Cs apply.
 
[Saxo Promotion]
Enjoy $0 commission on 100 most popular US stocks for new clients. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 30 Nov 2024 - See more details below
Apply Now
Interactive Brokers

Min. Funding

$0

Min. Funding
Online Promo
Newest desktop trading platform on IBKR Desktop
Min. Commission Fee US Stocks
US$1
Min. Commission Fee SG Stocks
$2.50
Min. Funding
$0
Online Promo:
Earn USD200 when you refer friends or colleagues to open an account. T&Cs apply.

[The Future of Desktop Trading. Today]
Interactive Brokers is now on IBKR DESKTOP, combining many of the most popular features and tools from our flagship Trader Workstation. - with a growing suite of customizable new tools and original new features like Option Lattice and Screeners with MultiSort.
Valid until 31 Dec 2024 - See more details below
Apply Now
uSMART SG

Min. Funding

S$20

Min. Funding
MoneySmart Exclusive
No minimum commission | Lowest Trading Fees
AUD/USD & EUR/USD
As low as 0.5 pips
Commission Fee for FX CFDs Trading Via uSMART
S$0
Min. Funding
S$20

[MoneySmart Exclusive]
Get S$80 via PayNow when you open and fund a min. of S$1,000 in one single deposit with uSMART. T&Cs apply.
 
[uSMART Promotion]
• Trade US Stocks and ETFs at only US$1/order. T&Cs apply
• Get up to USD$622 when you refer a friend. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 30 Nov 2024 - See more details below
Apply Now
IG

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
MoneySmart Exclusive
EUR/USD
0.6 Min. spread
USD/JPY
0.7 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$0

[MoneySmart Exclusive]
Get S$100 via PayNow when you open, fund a min. of S$1,000 within 1 deposit and execute 1 CFD transaction with IG. T&Cs apply.
 
[IG Promotion]
Enjoy a welcome bonus of up to S$888 when you open a new account,  fund min. S$2,000 and trade CFDs with IG.  T&Cs apply.

Valid until 30 Nov 2024 - See more details below
Apply Now
Phillip MetaTrader 5

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
0.6 Min. spread
USD/JPY
0.7 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$0
Read More
City Index

Min. Funding

S$150

Min. Funding
MoneySmart Exclusive
EUR/USD
0.6 Min. spread
USD/JPY
0.6 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$150

[MoneySmart Exclusive | Limited Time Only! ]
 
Get an Apple AirPods (4th Gen) with Active Noise Cancellation (worth S$249) OR S$200 via PayNow when you open, fund a min. of S$1,000 within 1 deposit and execute 3 trades with City Index. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 30 Nov 2024 - See more details below
Apply Now
Phillip Nova

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
Online Promo
EUR/USD
As low as 0.7 pips
USD/JPY
As low as 0.7 pips
Min. Funding
S$0
Online Promo:
Trade SGX Nikkei 225 Index Futures and Stand to win a pair of flight tickets to Japan*. *T&Cs apply.
Valid until 30 Nov 2024 - See more details below
Read More
PhillipCapital (POEMS)

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
0.6 Min. spread
USD/JPY
0.7 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$0
Read More
CMC Markets

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
0.7 Min. spread
USD/JPY
0.7 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$0
Read More
Plus500.

Min. Funding

S$200

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
0.01%
USD/JPY
0.01%
Min. Funding
S$200
Read More
UOB Kay Hian

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
1.8 Min. spread
USD/JPY
1.5 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$0
Read More
OCBC Securities

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
5% Initial Margin
USD/JPY
5% Initial Margin
Min. Funding
S$0
Read More
CGS International

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
0.36 Min. spread
USD/JPY
0.41 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$0
Apply Now

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Forex trading guide for beginners

What is it?

Forex is short for foreign exchange and it is also known as FX and currency. Forex trading is buying and selling of currencies to make a profit by taking advantage of price movements between different currencies.

How does forex trading work?

People usually trade forex in currency pairs such USD/EUR. Take note that the base currency is the first currency symbol in the pair while the second is the quote currency. For USD/SGD, the base currency is USD while quote currency is SGD. Price of the base currency is calculated in units of the quote currency.

How are returns earned?

For example, you buy 1,000 units of USD. Assuming the exchange rate is SG$1.40 to US$1. So to buy 1,000 units of USD, this trade costs SG$1,400. A few days later, the SGD weakens against USD and the exchange rate becomes SG$1.55 to US$1. By selling the 1,000 units of USD you have, you would have made a profit of SG$0.15 x 1,000 = SG$150.

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Why invest in forex?

Liquidity

Forex market has the largest daily trade volume. Hence, in terms of liquidity, forex offers the highest liquidity. This allows forex traders to enter and exit any of their positions in the currencies easily and quickly in most situations.

24 hours

The forex market is traded 24 hours a day for five days a week. It starts the day in Australia and ends in New York. Major centers for forex trading are in Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, London, Tokyo, Paris and New York.

Low transaction cost

As opposed to trading stocks where you have to pay both commission and the spread, forex trading requires you to cover only the spread. Hence, forex trading has lower transaction cost as compared to trading of stocks. The spread is the difference between the bid price (or selling price) and offer price (or buy price).

Top currency pairs traded

Currency pairBase currencyQuote currency
EUR/USDEuroUS dollar
USD/JPYUS dollarJapanese yen
GBP/USD British poundUS dollar
USD/CHF US dollarSwiss franc
AUD/USD Australian dollarUS dollar
USD/CAD US dollarCanadian dollar
NZD/USD US dollarNew Zealand dollar
GBP/EUR British poundeuro
EUR/CHF EuroSwiss franc
EUR/JPY EuroJapanese yen

Risks involved for forex investments

Leverage

When you borrow money from the broker to trade, this is called leverage. This allows you to trade with more than just your own capital. However, this is a huge risk as you are essentially betting that you will make more money from your forex trade to offset the amount you have borrowed from the broker. Leverage is often used by forex traders and in huge sums, which results in a high risk of making huge losses.

Zero sum game

While forex and stock trading are similar in terms of liquidity, they are not the same. Unlike the stock market, currency trading is a zero sum game. This means that for someone to gain, someone else has to lose. However, in the case of stocks, there can be a situation where there is overall gain.

High volatility

Stock markets are generally considered high risk. However, the fluctuations in the forex market are generally way more violent. Many big forex players make use of huge sums of leverage which allows them to move from a strong position to a weak position in a very short amount of time. Hence, it is highly not advisable for you to trade forex unless you can commit to long hours to frequently monitor the forex market. of the big forex players use enormous amounts of leverage.

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How to start investing in forex

Step 1

Choose your desired trading brokerage

Before you can officially start forex trading, you have to have an account with a brokerage that allows for forex trading. Only after you have created an account, you would then be able to execute forex trades on the platform provided by the brokerage.

Step 2

Stimulate your trade

When deciding what currencies you would like to trade in, it is ideal to have a forex trading plan. This plan will detail all the things you plan to do when you trade such as how you will conduct market analysis and steps to implement your trading strategy. It would be helpful to execute your plan on a demo account first.

Step 3

Execute the trade

After creating your forex trading plan and testing the plan out on a demo account, you are ready to make your trade if there are no issues. Do note that forex trading has high risks and it may not be for everyone. Do do your own research and ensure that you are able to uptake the risk before you start trading on forex.