BDSwiss Review 2021

BDSwiss is a CySEC regulated forex broker that offers multiple types of trading accounts. Their trading fees is competitive with the Classic account & quite low with Raw account. But they don't offer ZAR currency accounts. Read our detailed review on BDSwiss for South African traders to find where they shine & lack.

BDSwiss is an international forex and CFD broker that is licensed with CySEC, FSC & FSA regulations. It was launched in 2012 in Zurich but has a physical presence in various countries of the world.

BDSwiss accepts traders from South Africa, but it is not regulated by FSCA and does not have a local office in South Africa currently. They are a reputed broker that allows trading on a wide range of CFD trading instruments including 50 currency pairs & 200+ other CFDs. 1000+ CFDs are offered if you register under FSC regulation.

We liked their responsive customer support services & the variations in types of trading accounts.

Read our honest and unbiased review of BDSwiss that covers all the pros and cons of choosing this Swiss-based broker for traders in South Africa.

BDSwiss South Africa – A quick look

BDSwiss Regulations

BDSwiss is a well-regulated entity but is not regulated by FSCA in South Africa. It was launched in 2012 and claims to have more than 1.5 million regitered trading accounts to date.

BDSwiss broker currently holds regulatory licenses of the following regulatory authorities:

1. CySEC: BDSwiss holds the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission regulatory license. BDSwiss Holding Ltd is authorised and licensed by CYSEC (EU) (License No. 199/13). The CySEC regulatory license allows the broker to provide broking services in European Union in compliance with MiFID regulation.

2. NFA: BDSwiss LLC is the registered entity with the US National Futures Association under NFA ID 0486419 as an introducing broker. NFA is a self-regulatory organization in the United States that regulates various financial firms in the derivatives markets.

3. FSC: BDSwiss is registered and regulated with Financial Services and Commission as BDS Markets in Mauritius under license number (C116016172).
4. FSA: BDS Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles under license number SD047.. The compliance requirements of FSA are more flexible than other regulatory authorities. The global forex and CFD trading services are regulated by FSA.

Multiple regulatory licenses including Tier-2 CySEC makes BDSwiss a low risk broker for traders in South Africa. Although the cross-border regulations are not as safer as domestic regulation.

BDSwiss is not listed on any stock exchange and does not hold a banking license. The client’s funds are kept in a segregated bank account.

BDSwiss has a good track record as we couldn’t find any proven scam or complaint against it. Compared to other brokers in South Africa that are regulated by FSCA, BDSwiss holds a slightly lower safety rating due to them not being regulated locally.

BDSwiss Spread & Fees

For a comprehensive review of the fee structure at BDSwiss, we have divided it into trading and non-trading fees. The incurred charges at BDSwiss differ for the account type chosen by the trader.

BDSwiss Trading Fees
This includes the fees that are incurred while executing trades. BDSwiss offers 4 active trading accounts namely Classic, VIP, Raw & InvestPLUS trading accounts. The classic and VIP account types are commission-free while the Raw spread account is a commission-based account with a very tight spread.

1. Classic Account Trading Fees: It is a spread-only account for all the available trading instruments except CFDs on indices. Trading CFDs on indices with Classic accounts incurs a commission of $2 apart from the floating spread on the concerning index. No commission is charged for forex and CFDs on commodities and cryptocurrencies with the classic account type.

   The spreads are variable and fluctuate depending on the market conditions and liquidity in the market. The average typical spread for EUR/USD for the Classic account type is 1.5 pips per lot.


2. VIP Account Trading Fees: The floating spreads for all the available instruments are much lesser with the VIP trading account with no commission involved. Another additional advantage above the classic account is that the CFDs on indices are also commission-free.

   The average typical spread for EUR/USD with the VIP account is 1.1 pips per lot.

3. Raw Account Type Trading Fees: This is the commission-based account type in which spreads are as low as 0 pips per lot. The average floating spread for EUR/USD with the raw spread account is 0.3 pips per lot.

   The commission for one round trade is $5 for forex and CFDs on commodities and $2 for CFDs on indices with the Raw account type.

4. InvestPLUS Account Type Trading Fees: You can trade 1000+ CFDs on Shares & ETFs with Direct Market Access with this account type. The commission charged is 0.1% per unit.

Trading with CFDs on stocks with any of the account types will incur the same fees. A commission of 0.15% is charged for each round trade of CFDs on all the available stocks with any of the account types.

Compared to other regulated forex and CFD brokers in South Africa, we found BDSwiss to be decently priced as the spreads on the classic account are decent. The VIP account spreads are impressive and no commission makes it an ideal choice. The commission on the Raw spread account is lower than a majority of the commission-based account types with a very tight spread.

BDSwiss Non-Trading Fees
This includes all the fees that may apply to the fitting trader without executing trade orders. The account opening is free while the deposit and withdrawals with credit cards are also free of cost. Traders might have to pay the following non-trading fees.

1. BDSwiss Withdrawal Fees: For withdrawals equivalent to 20 EUR or less via any method other than Credit card refund, 10 EUR will be charged for all the available methods. The withdrawal of 100 EUR or less with the bank wire transfer will also incur an additional commission of 10 EUR. Withdrawals above 100 EUR or equivalent are free of additional charges.

2. Currency Conversion Fee: BDSwiss also charges currency conversion fees with standard rates if the deposit currency is different from the base currency of the account. This can be an additional charge for South African traders transacting in ZAR as BDSwiss does not offer ZAR based account.
3. Inactivity Fee: Many regulated brokers in South Africa charge inactivity fees if no trades are executed for a prolonged period. If no trades are executed for 90 consecutive days, BDSwiss will deduct 10% from the account each month until a trade order has been executed. The minimum amount for inactivity fees is $25 and the maximum amount is $49.90. This fee will be charged every month after 90 days of inactivity until the account balance reaches $0.

Compared to other regulated forex and CFD brokers in South Africa, the non-trading fees at BDSwiss are marginally higher than many of them. The inactivity fees can be very ineffective for the traders who trade occasionally.

The restrictions and fees on withdrawals don’t make it an ideal choice for small-scale traders. Although, no non-trading fees will apply to the traders who trade regularly and transact with a significant amount of the base currency.

BDSwiss Trading Platforms

BDSwiss provides the most widely used MetaTrader trading application that is available for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS devices. Traders can choose between MT4 and MT5 trading platforms according to their own convenience and ease of use. The MT4 and MT5 are the most chosen trading platform for forex and CFD trading, so Metatrader is supported by a large number of forex brokers.

Apart from MT4 and MT5, BDSwiss also has its WebTrader platform designed by itself. This web trader application provides various technical and analytical features in a user-friendly manner.

Overall, their trading platforms are good & supported across all devices.

BDSwiss Customer Support

The customer support executives at BDSwiss can be reached out for assistance at any step in the trading process. Following is the review of all the available methods to connect with the support staff at BDSwiss.

1. Live Chat: The live chat window is available 24*5 except for the weekends. The chat is first connected with a chatbot but can also be connected to a Real agent upon request. The responses and behavior of the support agents was really helpful and user-friendly, but they nearly took 2-3 minutes on average for each response during peak hours. The time to connect and response time was much lesser during sluggish trading hours.

2. Email Support: Traders can also avail the email support services by filling out the contact form. The query can also be raised directly through [email protected] They generally revert on the same day in 3-6 hours.
3. No Local Phone Support: BDSwiss does not offer local phone number for traders in South Africa. However, traders can reach out to the support staff at +44-2036705890 but this will incur international calling charges for South African traders.

The customer support services at BDSwiss are decent, as their live chat agents were supportive and resourceful during our research. The lack of local phone support in SA or any other official social media platform support limits its ratings in the customer support segment.

BDSwiss Accounts

BDSwiss Demo Account

BDSwiss offers Free demo trading account for traders in South Africa. Traders can open a demo account at BDSwiss & download MT4 in few minutes from their website. We found the process to be quick & simple.

BDSwiss Live Accounts

BDSwiss allows traders to choose from 4 different Live account types according to your own preference & suitability. The minimum deposit at BDSwiss is $100 for SA traders with Classic Account.

South African traders must note that all the account types can only be opened with USD, EUR, or GBP as the base currency. BDSwiss does not provide a ZAR-based trading account.

Our below detailed review of the account types will assist South African traders in identifying the best-suited account type at BDSwiss.

1. Classic Account
   This account can be opened with a minimum deposit of $100 and is ideal for small volume traders and beginners. The spreads are highest with the classic account but no commission is involved for all the available trading instruments except CFDs on indices.

   The classic account type allows trading on all the available instruments but grants limited access to features like autochartist and trading alerts. With a deposit of more than $500 or equivalent, traders can gain access to the autochartist and with $1000+ deposit you get access to personal account manager features.

2. VIP Account
   This is also a commission-free account type in which spreads are lower than the classic account. The CFDs on indices are also commission-free with the VIP account. The minimum deposit requirement for the VIP account type is $3000 which makes it less suitable for small-scale traders.

   Apart from lower spreads and 0 commission on all the available trading instruments, clients with VIP account can avail various other features over the classic account. The VIP account grants access to various features like trend analytical tools, autochartist, personal account manager, VIP trading alerts, etc.

3. Raw Account
   The raw account is ideal for professional and large volume traders as it is a commission-based account in which spreads are much narrower than the Classic or VIP account. The minimum deposit requirement is $5000. This account grants access to all the features available with the VIP account.
4. InvestPLUS Account
   This account is suited for traders looking to trade CFDs on Shares & ETFs with DMA (Direct Market Access). 1000+ CFDs on Shares & ETFs are available with this account type at 0.1% commission per unit. The minimum deposit with this account type is $5000.

The Classic, VIP & Raw account types at BDSwiss can be opened with either MT4 or MT5 trading platforms and the number of available trading instruments is nearly the same. 250+ ​CFDs on Shares, Indices, Forex, Commodities and Cryptos are available with these 3 account types. Some of the CFD instruments are not available to trade with VIP and Raw account types.

InvestPLUS is only available on MT5 & you can trade 1000+ CFDs on Shares & ETFs with this account type & you get direct market access.

BDSwiss offers different account types to match the suitability of all types of traders. We liked the variations in the account types offered. Although, the unavailability of ZAR-based trading account can be an obstacle for those seeking to trade with ZAR base currency account in South Africa.

BDSwiss Trading Instruments

BDSwiss offers forex and CFD trading services across wide range of financial trading instruments. The product offering can be grouped into 5 categories:

1. Forex: A total of 50 currency pairs are available to trade with the standard lots at BDSwiss. These currency pairs can be traded with a maximum leverage ratio of 1:500.

2. Commodities CFD: BDSwiss offers CFD trading on 5 commodities pair including USOIL, NGAS, Silver, Platinum, etc. with a maximum leverage ratio of 1:10.
3. Stock CFDs: Traders in South Africa can also trade through CFDs on stocks from major American and European markets. More than 120 stock CFDs are available to trade with a maximum leverage ratio of 1:5.
4. Index CFDs: BDSwiss offers CFDs on 10 major indices of American and European markets with max leverage of 1:20.
5. Cryptocurrency CFDs: BDSwiss also allows trading on 20 cryptocurrency pairs with a leverage of 1:5.

   Traders must understand that by trading through CFDs, they do not physically own any of the assets but are only speculating on the price movement of the underlying instrument in the concerned financial market.

6. ETFs: BDSwiss offerss trading on 80 ETFs with direct market access with their InvestPLUS Account at a commission of 0.1%.

Compared to other regulated forex and CFD brokers in South Africa, the number of available trading instruments is decent as several regulated brokers offer more trading instruments.

BDSwiss Withdrawals & Deposits

BDSwiss offers multiple methods of funding & withdrawal for traders in South Africa. But they don’t have local Bank deposit option currently.

The credit card is the most convenient method for South African traders at BDSwiaa. They also accept bank wire transfers and e-wallets like Skrill, Neteller, and many more. Traders can also transact through 3 cryptocurrencies namely BTC, BCH, and ETH.

The lower cap on deposit is $100 for all the available methods.

With the the withdrawal fees at BDSwiss?
For wire withdrawals, 10 EUR is charged if the withdrawal amount is less than 100 EUR. This withdrawal fees is also charged when 20 EUR or lower withdrawal is made via any method other than credit card. But there is no withdrawal fees when you request a withdrawal higher than these limits.

Many regulated brokers in South Africa allow local bank transfers which are not accepted by BDSwiss. If the deposit currency ZAR, traders also need to pay a currency conversion fee at BDSwiss. Some limitations on deposits and withdrawal methods & fees for South African traders limits us to give lower ratings in this segment.

BDSwiss Bonus

BDSwiss has an ongoing bonus offer currently that is also available for South African traders till 23rd of December 2021.

First time depositors can select an option to claim an initial deposit bonus while opening the Classic account. An initial deposit bonus of 30% can be claimed which is capped at 500 units of the base currency i.e. $500 if your base currency is USD.

You should read their full ‘First Deposit Bonus Campaign T&Cs’ for complete terms & checking your eligibility. You can also talk to their Live Chat support if you have any doubts on this.

Do we Recommend BDSWiss?

Yes, BDSwiss is a CySEC regulated forex broker that offers wide range of trading instruments & multiple account types to facilitate multiple types of traders.

For lower volume traders and beginners, it is slightly lesser cost-effective compared to a few regulated brokers in South Africa. Large volume traders can take advantage of the lower spreads and commission with Raw account type. Plus, traders can trade a wider range of CFD instruments at BDSwiss compared to other CFD brokers in SA.

BDSwiss offers useful analytical features to assist the traders. The lack of FSCA regulation, ZAR-based account, local phone number, and local office is a major drawdown for traders in South Africa.

BDSwiss FAQs

"Do you have experience with BDSwiss? Please consider sharing your experience with a review below – good or bad – doesn’t really matter as long as it’s helpful to other traders!"