Swissquote review

Spread from

0.0 pips

EUR/USD spread

Approx. 1.0 pip, Prime

GBP/USD spread

Approx. 1.0 pip, Prime

Commission

€2.50 per side / €5 round turn, Elite

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.5 pips, Elite minimum

Spread type

Variable

Overnight swap

Both: positive swaps credited and negative swaps debited

Inactivity fee

10 account-currency units/month on applicable international forex accounts

Deposit fee

None for bank transfer; method-dependent otherwise

Withdrawal fee

Method/entity-dependent; bank transfer fees can apply

Currency conversion

From 0.95% on Swiss banking accounts; entity/account dependent

Cost is where brokers in the same regulatory bracket actually differ.

A quoted spread from 0.0 pips is a raw-spread figure, which almost always means a separate commission per lot. Compare the two together - a "zero spread" account with a high commission can cost more than a wider spread with none.

Quoted spreads are best-case figures on the most liquid pair, in normal conditions. What you actually pay widens around news and at the session open.

Swissquote lists a minimum deposit of $1,000. Treat it as the cost of opening an account, not the cost of trading one - position sizing on a small balance is what tends to cause damage.

Markets

Forex, Stocks, ETFs, Funds, Bonds, Options, Futures, CFDs, Cryptocurrencies, Structured Products, Precious Metals

Currency pairs

130+

Total instruments

3,000,000+

Crypto CFDs

Yes

Maximum leverage

1:30

Execution model

Bank / principal with aggregated liquidity and market routing

Execution speed

14ms

Order types

Market, limit, stop, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop

Servers

LD4 London; institutional infrastructure also includes NY4 and TY3

Leverage is capped at 1:30, which is the retail limit under tier-one regulation. It is a protection rather than a restriction: it caps how quickly a position can move against your balance.

Swissquote covers forex, stocks, etfs, funds, bonds, options, futures, cfds, cryptocurrencies, structured products, precious metals. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.

Funding options: bank transfer, credit/debit card, apple pay, google pay and internal swissquote account transfer. Check withdrawal routes as well as deposit ones - they are often not the same, and the difference only becomes apparent when you try to take money out.

Platforms

CFXD, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, TradingView

Own platform

Yes, CFXD

Mobile app

Both proprietary and third-party

Browser trading

Yes

Automated trading

Yes; MT4/MT5 Expert Advisors and automated trading

Copy trading

No

Indicators

30+ MT4; 38+ MT5; 100+ through TradingView

Third-party tools

TradingView, Autochartist, MetaTrader Master Edition

API access

Yes, REST/FIX and institutional API connectivity

MetaTrader 4 remains the most widely supported platform for expert advisors. If you rely on an existing EA, this is usually the deciding factor.

MetaTrader 5 handles more asset classes and order types than MT4, but expert advisors are not compatible between the two - an MT4 EA will not run on it.

TradingView integration lets you trade from charts you may already use, removing the need to run a second platform for analysis.

Regulated by

FINMA; FCA (562170); CySEC (422/22); DFSA (F001438); MAS; SFC Hong Kong; MFSA

Regulator tier

Tier 1

Register entry

FINMA authorised institutions register

Client money segregated

Yes

Held at

Swissquote Bank Ltd / regulated banking and custodian infrastructure

Negative balance protection

Yes for eligible retail leveraged-trading clients

Compensation scheme

Swiss esisuisse deposit protection up to CHF 100,000; eligible EU CFD clients protected up to €20,000

Audited by

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Not available to

United States and jurisdictions subject to applicable sanctions or where Swissquote does not provide its services

Across a hundred brokers, the licence is what separates the field fastest.

Swissquote holds tier-one authorisations from FCA, CySEC, MAS and FINMA. That matters more than any headline spread: it determines your leverage cap, whether losses can exceed your deposit, and what happens to your money if the firm fails.

The FCA caps retail leverage at 1:30, mandates negative balance protection, and covers eligible clients under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

CySEC licences passport across the EU and follow the 1:30 retail leverage cap, with the Investor Compensation Fund covering eligible claims.

The DFSA regulates from the Dubai International Financial Centre, a separate legal jurisdiction from the wider UAE.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at Swissquote Bank Ltd / regulated banking and custodian infrastructure. That separation is what makes your balance recoverable if the company fails, rather than part of the pool its creditors divide up.

Negative balance protection applies, so a losing position cannot take the account below zero and leave you owing the broker money.

Covered by Swiss esisuisse deposit protection up to CHF 100,000; eligible EU CFD clients protected up to €20,000, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

Check the licence yourself: the FCA Register, the CySEC register of investment firms, the DFSA public register, the MAS Financial Institutions Directory, the SFC public register.

Minimum deposit

$1,000

Account types

Standard, Premium, Prime, Elite, Professional, Corporate, Demo

Account currencies

EUR, USD, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD, TRY, PLN, SEK, NOK, SGD, XGD, HUF, CZK

Islamic account

No

Demo account

Yes

Professional account

Yes

Minimum trade size

0.01 lots / 1,000 currency units

Time to open

Typically same day following digital verification

Swissquote runs 7 account types. More choice is not automatically better: the tightest headline spread almost always sits on the account that also charges a commission, so the comparison that matters is the two added together.

Base currencies: EUR, USD, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD, TRY, PLN, SEK, NOK, SGD, XGD, HUF, CZK. Holding the account in the currency you fund it with avoids a conversion charge on every deposit and withdrawal - a cost that never shows up in a spread comparison.

The smallest position is 0.01 lots / 1,000 currency units. For anyone starting carefully this matters more than the minimum deposit, because it sets the least you can put at risk on a single trade.

A demo account is available. Worth using for the platform rather than the results: fills are simulated, so it tells you how the software behaves but very little about execution.

Deposit methods

Bank transfer, credit/debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and internal Swissquote account transfer

Withdrawal methods

Bank transfer and internal Swissquote account transfer

Deposit time

Cards generally instant; bank transfers typically 1-3 business days

Withdrawal time

Typically 1-3 business days

Minimum withdrawal

No general minimum

Local payment methods

SEPA; Swiss bank transfer and jurisdiction-specific local banking methods

Withdrawals are stated at Typically 1-3 business days, against Cards generally instant; bank transfers typically 1-3 business days for deposits. A gap between the two is normal and not in itself a warning sign - identity checks are a legal obligation, not obstruction. What is worth noticing is a withdrawal that keeps meeting new conditions after those checks are done.

Withdrawal routes: bank transfer and internal swissquote account transfer. Money is usually returned by the route it arrived on, so the deposit method you pick is in effect the withdrawal method you are picking too.

The minimum withdrawal is No general minimum - relevant if you intend to fund the account lightly, since it sets the smallest amount you can take out at a time.

Support hours

24/5 for forex trading support

Contact channels

Phone, email, contact form, live chat

Languages

Multilingual

Telephone

+41 44 825 88 88

Email

forex.support@swissquote.ch

Live chat response

Typically under 5 minutes

Education

Extensive: webinars, ebooks, trading courses, videos, tutorials and forex education

Research

Extensive: Morning News, market analysis, technical/fundamental research, Trading Central, analyst commentary and investment themes

Support runs 24/5 for forex trading support. Round-the-clock cover matters more than it sounds: a position held over a weekend or through an unexpected halt is exactly when you need somebody to answer.

Reachable by phone, email, contact form, live chat. A published telephone number is the one channel that is hard to fake and hard to ignore, so whether there is one says more than the number of channels does.

Languages: Multilingual. Being able to raise a complaint in your own language is worth more than it appears, because complaints are where precision matters most.

Education: extensive: webinars, ebooks, trading courses, videos, tutorials and forex education. Treat broker-published material as an introduction rather than as advice - it is produced by a firm whose revenue rises when you trade more.

Legal entity

Swissquote Bank Ltd

Company number

CHE-106.274.193

Headquarters

Gland, Switzerland

Founded

1996

Publicly listed

Yes, SIX Swiss Exchange (SQN)

Parent company

Swissquote Group Holding Ltd

Employees

1,200+

Also trades as

Swissquote; Swissquote Bank

Swissquote has been trading for around 30 years, through at least one full market cycle. Longevity guarantees nothing on its own, but a firm that came through 2008 and 2015 has been tested in a way a recent entrant has not.

It is publicly listed, which brings audited accounts and disclosure duties a private broker does not carry. That is real transparency about the company - though it says nothing about the trading conditions.

The contracting entity is Swissquote Bank Ltd. This is the company you would actually have a relationship with, and it is worth checking that it is the same one named on the licence you are relying on: large brokers commonly operate several, and they are not equally protected.

Part of Swissquote Group Holding Ltd. A parent adds resources, but the protections that apply to you are the ones attached to the entity that holds your account, not to the group.