Banxso Review 2023

Trust

Banxso Regulation

In our trust category, we place the most importance on how a broker is regulated. This section covers how Banxso is regulated and how this impacts you as a trader. We rate regulators on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 reflecting the highest level of trust.

• Banxso Proprietary Limited is authorized and regulated by the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) FSP number 37699. We rate FSCA as a Tier 2 regulator.

Why is it important to know where your broker is regulated?

Due to the different requirements of each regulator, brokers guarantee varying degrees of client protection. Brokers governed by top-tier regulators may guarantee a compensation fund, negative balance protection, and that client funds are segregated. By contrast, brokers governed by offshore regulators may provide none of these benefits.

The table below breaks down the protections and benefits provided to clients of Banxso.

* Banxso’s execution model is designed to stop out all trading activity so client losses cannot exceed the total deposited amount.

Regulatory requirements are subject to change. We gathered the data listed above in May 2022.

Stability and Transparency

In our tests for the Trust category, we also cover factors relating to stability and transparency. Here, we focus on how long the broker has been in business, the size of the company, and how transparent they are in terms of information being readily available.

Banxso has a short operating history of one year, making it a newcomer among forex and CFD brokers. The company is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, and has 51-200 employees, according to its LinkedIn page.

In our research, Banxso showed sufficient transparency in its regulatory status, listing its registration with the FSCA in the website’s footer.

Spreads and swap fees are covered in the Fee Schedule. The Terms and Conditions legal document is in the footer of the website.

Banxso could improve by adding more information on the company’s background and its management.

Is it Safe to Trade With Banxso?

Banxso is an FSCA regulated broker, which keeps client funds segregated from the company’s operating funds and provides negative balance protection. We judged Banxso to be a relatively safe broker.

Fees

Spreads were especially competitive in Apple stock and gold. Spreads were least competitive in GBP/JPY.

Swap Fees

Swap fees (the cost of holding a position overnight) were somewhat high at Banxso.

In the table below, you can see the Swap Long (the cost/credit of holding a buy position overnight) and the Swap Short (the cost/credit of maintaining a sell position overnight) for one full-sized contract. A full-sized contract is 100,000 units of the base currency (the first currency quoted in the pair). We recorded the data on May 10th.

Non-Trading Fees

Unlike most brokers, Banxso does not charge an inactivity fee.

Are Fees at Banxso Competitive?

Banxso has no fees for opening or closing an account and no inactivity fee. Spreads are roughly average for the industry, and swap fees were higher than average. Overall, we rate Banxso’s fees as about average for the industry.

Platforms and Tools

The Banxso X platform is intuitive and has a clean, minimalistic interface. The search feature is good, making it easy to pull up your desired trading instruments quickly. In terms of layout, customization options are limited. Users can easily toggle back and forth between light and dark mode, different accounts, and to the section covering copy trading.

The watchlist feature makes it easy for clients to stay on top of the price movement of their favorite instruments.

Banxso X provides all the basic order types, such as market orders, limit orders, and stop-loss orders. Advanced order types such as trailing stops are available in MetaTrader. Support notified us that one-click trading will be added in the next platform update.

The Banxso X platform provides robust charting with six chart types, nine time frames, forty-eight technical indicators, and over a dozen drawing tools.

Copy-trading capabilities are built into the Banxso X platform. Clients can easily browse providers’ performance and start copying their trades with a single click.

MetaTrader 5 Desktop

Banxso provides clients with MetaTrader 5 for desktop, which includes advanced functions such as copy trading and automated trading. MetaTrader 5 is available in 31 languages.

The platform provides popular features such as:

• Alerts. This feature allows traders to be updated when an instrument reaches a specific price level. Alerts can be delivered via audio, email, or push notification to a mobile device.
• Watchlists. Traders can set up a list of their favorite instruments and follow live quotes in a Market Watch panel.
• One-click trading. This feature allows traders to execute orders with a single click and no secondary confirmation. Placing a trade with a single click saves time and is especially useful for short-term traders.
• Trading from the chart. MT5 also allows users the convenience of trading directly from the chart.

Order Types

MetaTrader also delivers when it comes to the range of available order types. The following order types are available:

• Market Order. This is an order to buy or sell an instrument at the best available price.
• Limit Orders. This is an order to buy or sell an instrument at a specified price or better.
• Stop Loss Order. This is an order to buy or sell an instrument that is triggered when the price reaches a specified level.
• Trailing Stop Order. This is a stop-loss order that can be set at a defined percentage or dollar amount away from an instrument’s current market price. It is used to secure profits when you are in a winning trade while not having to exit the position.

Time in force conditions such as Good ‘Til Canceled (GTC) can be applied to pending orders.

Charting

Charting features are robust. MetaTrader 5 desktop offers:

• 38 technical indicators. These include classic trend indicators, volume indicators, and oscillators.
• 44 analytical objects. These include lines, channels, Gann, and Fibonacci tools.
• 21 time frames Each instrument can be displayed in nine time frames, from one minute to one month.
• 3 chart types. Traders can choose between Bar Charts, Japanese Candlestick Charts, and Line Charts.

Advanced Features

MetaTrader is also popular due to its copy trading and automated trading features.

• Trading Signals. Signals in MetaTrader 5 allow users to automatically copy the activity of other traders in real-time.
• Automated trading. MetaTrader 5 allows users to develop, test, and apply Expert Advisors (EAs). EAs are programs that monitor and trade markets using algorithms. They find opportunities according to set parameters and then either create a notification or automatically open a trade.

To conclude, the MetaTrader 5 desktop platform is one of the most feature-rich and popular trading platforms globally. It does not have the most beautiful interface, and it does require some time and effort to learn, but that is typical of advanced platforms.

MetaTrader 5 Mobile App

For mobile trading, Banxso offers the MetaTrader 5 mobile app, which is available for Android and iOS. The app offers popular features such as alerts, 1-click trading, and trading from the chart.

The MetaTrader 5 mobile app also provides a broad range of order types, including pending and stop-orders. However, trailing stop-loss orders are only available from the desktop. As with desktop, the interface is not the most intuitive available, but the MT5 app offers an above-average range of features.

Order Execution

Banxso is a Straight Through Processing (STP) broker. STP is a forex brokerage model that routes client orders directly to the market without passing them through a dealing desk.

Tradable Instruments

What are CFDs?

CFDs (Contract for Differences) are financial derivative products that allow traders to speculate in various markets without owning the underlying assets. Tradable instruments at Banxso include the following assets:

• 49 Currency Pairs. A currency pair combines two different currencies, with the value of one currency quoted against the other. For example, EUR/USD, which reflects the value of the euro measured in dollars.
• 26 Index CFDs. An index is a basket of trading instruments used to gauge a market sector, stocks within an exchange, or a country’s economy.
• 414 Stock CFDs. A stock is a security that represents partial ownership of a corporation. Keep in mind that when trading stock CFDs, you speculate on the price of a stock without actually taking ownership of the underlying company.
• 20 Commodity CFDs. Commodities are raw products, such as gold, oil, and metals.

In the tables below, you can see a selection highlighting the variety of instruments available at Banxso:

Note: Banxso customer support stated that they plan to add CFDs on cryptocurrencies and ETFs to their range of tradable instruments.

Customer Support

We tested customer support with a wide variety of queries, ranging from whether Banxso charges an inactivity fee to the order execution model. Chat support responded within seconds, and emails were typically responded to the same day. Via phone, we also received good support. Agents mostly knew the answers to questions, and they followed up with the information if they did not.

Chat support is advertised as 24/5 on the website, but we could only receive help during office hours in our tests. Nevertheless, we were impressed by the quality of customer support at Banxso. Customer support is currently available in three languages.

Deposits & Withdrawals

The tables below break down the fees and processing times for each deposit and withdrawal method.

Deposits

Banxso offers a good range of deposit methods and the processing times are relatively fast.

Withdrawals

Processing times for withdrawals at Banxso are faster than average for the industry. While many brokers charge a fee for withdrawals via bank wire, they are free at Banxso. Clients must make withdrawals to the same card or bank account used to make the initial deposit.

Note: Clients who have deposited via Ozow and AstroPay need to provide a bank statement to withdraw funds.

Account Types and Terms

Account Application

To open an individual account at the Banxso, prospective clients must provide their name, email, and phone number. Banxso requires clients to prove their identity using a photo ID, passport, or driver’s licence and to verify their residence with a utility bill or bank statement. Banxso has only one account type for live trading.

Demo Accounts

Banxso offers demo accounts for the Banxso X platform and MetaTrader 5. Demo accounts are especially important for beginners as they allow them to practice their strategies and get comfortable with the trading platform without risking any real money.

The demo account features live quotes and simulates live market conditions in assets such as forex and CFDs on commodities, indices, and stocks. Once users have gotten up to speed on a demo account, they can easily switch to a live account.

Islamic Accounts

Banxso does not currently offer a swap-free Islamic account that adheres to the principles of Sharia law.

Leverage

One of the reasons traders are attracted to the forex and CFD markets is the high degree of available leverage. Leverage is the use of borrowed funds to increase the size of your trading positions beyond what would be possible using only the cash in your account.

Banxso offers clients leverage of up to 1:400. This menas that with an account of $1,000, you can control up to $400,000 worth of positions in the market. Leverage is often described as a ‘double-edged sword’ as it can hurt you as much as it helps you. Traders must remember that it can amplify both their profits and their losses.

Supported Countries

At the time of this writing, Banxso only provides services to South African clients.

Research

In their daily reports, Banxso covers the top stories in the markets, from geopolitical news to economic releases. Technical insights are included in the analysis. Banxso covers multiple markets, from forex to commodities and cryptocurrencies. The video reports are about two minutes long and are well written and produced.

The daily ratings tool within the Banxso X platform draws from the daily stock ratings of over 7,500 Wall Street analysts. The individual analyst, firm, stock rating, and price target are shown in an easy-to-read format.

The trending stocks tool shows the stocks that three or more analysts have rated recently. The stock and the distribution of buy, sell and hold ratings are broken down in an easy-to-digest format. Users can filter the results by period, market cap, and sector. Data for trending stocks and daily ratings is drawn from third-party provider TipRanks.

Education

Banxso has made education a priority. Clients can meet with trading specialists in face-to-face meetings or via streaming services. Banxso’s personal coaches are available to answer queries and help develop a plan for trading.

Banxso Academy videos cover topics such as Fibonacci, Japanese Candlesticks, and how to use the MetaTrader platform. Lessons are brief and easy to understand. The videos are well-produced, with a live presenter illustrating the concepts on charts. Some areas of Banxso educational offerings are still under development, such as weekly webinars for clients.

The Bottom Line

South Africa based Banxso is a new and up-and-coming forex and CFD broker with a well-rounded product offering. Regulated by the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and providing segregated funds and negative balance protection, we rate them as a relatively safe broker. They are progressive in their attitude towards fees, with no inactivity fee and no fee for deposits and withdrawals. However, there is room to make some spreads and swap fees more competitive. Banxso can cater to both beginners and advanced traders with their variety of available trading platforms. We liked the diverse range of tradable instruments in assets such as commodities and indices.

FAQ