Swissquote is a Swiss Investment Bank based in Switzerland, and established in 1996. It has two branches, one is situated in Switzerland and provides trade in stock, futures, funds and options. While the other located in the UK deals with CFDs and Forex.
Swissquote holds a banking license & is also listed on the swiss stock exchange. It also discloses its financial details on time which make it safe to consider.
Swissquote Bank Ltd. which is situated in Switzerland, is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
The other entity, Swissquote Ltd. located in the UK is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Here, we will refer to Swissquote located in Switzerland as SwissCH & other of Swissquote forex as SwissUk in whole content. So don’t get confused by terminologies.
Table of Contents
Account Opening
The Swissquote account opening process is fully digital and straightforward. It took some time to open your account. They don’t charge any minimum amount for trading accounts, but have high forex and robo advisory account charges.
SwissUK is available for clients around 150 countries in the world, whereas SwissCH serves 120 countries.
What is the minimum deposit at Swissquote?
There is no minimum deposit for trading accounts at SwissCH. Forex accounts require a minimum of between $1,000 and $50,000, depending on the forex account you choose, while robo-advisory accounts require a minimum of EUR/GBP/USD 5,000.
Account Types:
SwissCH account types along with minimum deposit and more
| Minimum Deposit | Tradable Product | Available Trading Platform | |
| Trading account | No minimum | Equities, ETFs, Funds, Bonds, Futures, Options, Forex, and CFDs | eTrading |
| Forex account | $1,000-50,000 | Forex and CFDs | Advanced Trader, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 |
| Robo-advisory account | $/€/£ 5,000 | Robo-advisor invests in funds | Robo-advisor’s platform |
SwissUK account types along with its minimum deposit
| Minimum Deposit | Spreads | Commission | Maximum Leverage | |
| Premium account | €1,000 | From 1.3 pips | No commission | as per ESMA-regulation |
| Prime account | €5,000 | From 0.6 pips | No commission | as per ESMA-regulation |
| Elite account | €10,000 | From 0.0 pips | €2.5 per lot per trade | as per ESMA-regulation |
| Professional | €10,000 | From 0.0 pips | €2.5 per lot per trade | 1:400 |
To qualify for the professional account, you have to satisfy these three criteria:
- Trade with derivatives, like CFD or forex, in significant size and on average 10 times per quarter over the last four quarters.
- Have a portfolio of at least €500,000.
- You had to work in the financial sector for at least one year.
Fees
Swissquote fee snapshot
| Assets | Fee Terms |
| US stock | Volume-tiered commission ranging between $15 and $190 |
| EURUSD | The fees are built into the spread, 1.6 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours. |
| Mutual fund | $9 per trade from Prime Partners (BlackRock, Fidelity, HSBC, etc.) and $0 per trade for funds under Swissquote’s custody |
| Inactivity fee | No inactivity fee charged |
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Stock & ETF Fees
Swissquote stock and ETF commission of a $2,000 trade
| US stock | $25.0 |
| UK stock | $32.5 |
| German stock | $30.0 |
Swissquote stock and ETF fees on major markets
| Transaction value ($) | Switzerland (CHF/USD/EUR) | US (USD) | UK, Germany, Scandinavia, Spain, Canada (EUR/GBP/CAD) | Australia (AUD) | Hong Kong (HKD) | Singapore (SGD) |
| 0 – 500 | 9 | 15 | 25 | 35 | 250 | 35 |
| 500-2,000 | 20 | 20 | 25 | 35 | 250 | 35 |
| 2,000-10,000 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 50 | 350 | 45 |
| 10,000-15,000 | 49 | 55 | 55 | 80 | 00 | 75 |
| 15,000-25,000 | 80 | 79 | 80 | 120 | 750 | 110 |
| 25,000-50,000 | 135 | 200 | 135 | 200 | 1100 | 190 |
| More than 50,000 | 190 | 200 | 190 | 290 | 1600 | 270 |
Swissquote annual margin rates
| USD margin rate | 4.4% |
| GBP margin rate | 4.3% |
| EUR margin rate | 4.3% |
Swissquote forex benchmark fee of a $20,000 held for one week
| EURUSD benchmark fee | $8.7 |
| GBPUSD benchmark fee | $6.6 |
| AUDUSD benchmark fee | $8.2 |
| EURCHF benchmark fee | $5.7 |
| EURGBP benchmark fee | $8.7 |
Swissquote bond fees on the Swiss market
| Transaction value ($) | Transaction fees (CHF/USD/EUR/AUD/CAD/GBP) |
| 0-500 | 9 |
| 500-2,000 | 20 |
| 2,000-10,000 | 30 |
| 10,000-15,000 | 55 |
| 15,000-25,000 | 80 |
| 25,000-50,000 | 135 |
| More than 50,000 | 190 |
Swissquote options fee
| Trading fee per contract | Minimum | |
| EUREX – stock index options | €/CHF 1.00 | €/CHF 5.00 |
| EUREX – stock options | €/CHF 1.50 | None |
| CME E-mini NASDAQ and E-mini S&P 500 | $1.99 | $5.00 |
| US stock options | $1.49 | None |
| Euronext, LIFFE stock index options | €/£ 2.00 | None |
| Euronext, LIFFE stock options | €/£ 1.50 | None |
Swissquote future fee
| Trading fee per contract | Minimum | |
| EUREX – stock index futures | €/CHF 1.00 | €/CHF 5.00 |
| CME E-mini NASDAQ and E-mini S&P 500 | $1.99 | $5.00 |
| E-micro EUR/USD | $2.50 | $5.00 |
| Other futures currencies | $5.00 | $5.00 |
| E-mini crude oil and WTIGold and silverUS T-bonds & NotesE-mini Dow | $1.99 | $5.00 |
| Euronext, LIFFE* stock index futures | €/£ 2.00 | None |
Crypto fees
Swissquote provides cryptocurrencies for trading. There is a bid-ask spread, plus a commission, which is:
- 1% for trade volume of up to CHF 10,000
- 0.75% for trade volume between CHF 10,000–50,000
- 0.50% above CHF 50,000
Robo advisory
Swissquote robo-advisory fees
| Money invested (CHF) | Total annual fee of the portfolio |
| 10,000 – 200,000 | 1.25% |
| 200,001 – 350,000 | 1.10% |
| 350,000+ | 0.95% |
Deposit & Withdrawal
Deposit at Swissquote is easy and can be done in several ways. You can use credit/debit cards along with bank transfer to deposit funds to Swissquote A/c.
While on the other hand, it allows withdrawals only through bank transfer and that too at chargeable cost. Swissquote withdrawal fees depend on where you trade, which country you transfer to and the currency of the transaction.
Withdrawals at SwissUK are free of charge, while SwissCH charges €2 for euro withdrawals and $10 for US dollar withdrawals.
SwissCH is available in 21 languages, and SwissUK is available in 9 languages.
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Trading Platform
Swissquote provides three types of trading platform:
- Web Trading Platform
The SwissCH e-trading platform has a lot of options which sometimes make it difficult to use. Although it has good customizability and provides a clear report.
Swissquote trading platforms
| Trading Platform | Tradable Product | Swissquote entity |
| eTrading | Equities, ETFs, Funds, Bonds, Futures, Options | Switzerland(Swissquote Bank Ltd) |
| Advanced TraderMetaTrader 4MetaTrader 5 | Forex and CFDs | Switzerland, UK(Swissquote Bank Ltd, Swissquote Ltd) |
- Mobile Trading Platform
Swissquotes’ e trading mobile platform is simple to use and is user friendly. But like the web platform the organization of options here is also a little bit fizzy.
Swissquote provides mobile trading platforms for all of its web trading platforms:
- eTrading
- MetaTrader 4
- MetaTrader 5
- Advanced Trader
- Desktop Trading Platform
Swissquotes’ desktop trading platform is provided by MetaTrader. It does not have its own desktop platform. Desktop platform is not available for forex, shares and bonds trading.
If you want to trade in CFD & forex you have to choose among the following to trade: MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5 and Advanced Trader.
MetaTrader4 platform is available in 41 different languages.
Products Offered
At SwissCH you can trade in many assets, while with SwissUK you can trade only in CFD & forex,
Swissquote Product Selection
| Stock markets (#) | 60 |
| ETFs (#) | 1400 |
| Fund providers (#) | 340 |
| Bonds (#) | 53,400 |
| Options markets (#) | 6 |
| Futures markets (#) | 6 |
Cryptos
- 0x
- Augur
- Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Chainlink
- EOS
- Ether
- Ethereum Classic
- Litecoin
- Ripple
- Stellar
- Tezos
Research & Education
Research tools provided by Swissquote are average, they charge fees for using some advanced level tools. It provides trading ideas in the form of themes. You can pick themes from available and can trade accordingly.
Swissquote offers ebooks, video lectures, tutorials and PDFs for easy learning. It also provides demo accounts to learn trading and even robo advisory services.
Very few or might be no one else provides a demo account to check robo advisory services.
Safety
- Swissquote Bank Ltd is based in Switzerland and is regulated by FINMA. If you are a client here, you get CHF 100,000 investor protection per account.
- Swissquote Ltd is based in the UK and regulated by the FCA. Clients are covered by £85,000 in investor protection per account.
Swissquote investor protection
| Country of Client | Protection Amount | Regulator | Legal Entity |
| 120 countries | CHF 100,000 for cash | Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) | Swissquote Bank Ltd |
| 150 countries | £85,000 | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | Swissquote Ltd |
| Residents in the Middle East | CHF 100,000 for cash | Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) | Swissquote MEA Ltd |
| China and the region | No protection | Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) | Swissquote Asia Ltd |
| Singapore | No protection | Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) | Swissquote Pte Ltd |
Customer Service
You can contact Swissquote via:
- Live Chat
- Phone
No 24/7 service available
| Pros | Cons |
| Rock-solid background | High trading fees |
| Access to many markets and products | Some research tools are not free |
| No inactivity fee | High bond fees |
| Credit/Debit card available | Forex and robo-advisor accounts have high minimum |
| Two-step (safer) login | Recommendations are not structured |
FAQ’s
How do I get my tax statement?
If you require a detailed tax statement for the past year, you can order it for CHF 100 from 1 January in your account via «Documents > Request statement».
An earnings report (KPMG statement) for foreign tax authorities (e.g. under German tax law) can be ordered by telephone. Charges on request.
What investor protection does Swissquote provide?
Swissquote Bank Ltd holds a banking licence and is therefore subject to the supervision of FINMA . Swissquote Bank Ltd is a member of the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) and a signatory of the Depositor Protection Agreement. This agreement provides each bank creditor (Depositor) with immediate protection of up to an equivalent of CHF 100,000 for cash savings should a bank become insolvent. Should Swissquote Bank Ltd become insolvent, securities are fully guaranteed if they are held by the respective custodians in your name.
Change of name; what do I have to do?
When you change your name, send them a copy of your new identification document/passport in your new name as well as the certificate for the change of name (marriage certificate/divorce certificate). One of these documents has to be certified.
Which markets can I place trades on?
Our mobile apps for Android and iOS enable you to trade directly on most markets. However, on some markets, technical constraints mean that the mobile apps will redirect you to the Swissquote website. Currently, you may access directly on SIX, US, Swiss DOTS and Options & Futures.
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Pros
- No inactivity fee
- Two-step (safer) login
Cons
- High bond fees
- High trading fees
