Pepperstones South Africa - Is It a Good Broker in 2024?
Today, traders can make high profits by trading dozens of financial instruments. It is important to note, however, that not every trade is profitable. CFDs on commodities, indices, and forex currency pairs are among the high-value financial instruments that attract millions of traders. There are many brokers out there that offer optimal trading conditions for such markets. Traders in South Africa can benefit from investor protection and competitive advantages through Pepperstone's forex trading platform.
So, is Pepperstone a good broker to use in South Africa? Let’s find out.
Pepperstone South Africa: General Information
Pepperstone's goal when it was launched was to offer lower spreads, fast execution, and high quality service. The same service is still offered by Pepperstone to customers in 65 countries around the globe today.
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💰 Account currency:
AUD, USD, JPY, GBP, EUR, CAD, CHF, NZD, SGD and HKD
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🚀 Minimum deposit:
US$200
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⚖️ Leverage:
Up to US$400:1 retail, 500:1 Pro
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💱 Spread:
from 0.0 pips
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🔧 Instruments:
CFDs on Forex, Index, Stocks, Currency Indices, Commodities, ETFs
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💹 Margin Call / Stop Out:
90% / 20%
Pepperstone South Africa Pros and Cons
👍 Pros:
• Knowledge of trader requirements
• Global style of trading
• Implements latest technologies
• Excellent customer support
• Offers wide trading plaforms including the latest MT5, and the cTrader
• Average spread is competitive for most majors (e.g. around 1.0 – 1.3 pips for EUR/USD with their standard accounts)
👎 Cons:
• Users only trade cryptocurrencies but don’t own them
• No promotions and bonuses
Pepperstone South Africa Review
Pepperstone is a private Australian company that provides forex and CFD trading. To better serve European clients, the company opened a London office in 2015 in addition to its Melbourne office.
Pepperstone is regulated in Australia, Bahamas, Cyprus, Dubai, Germany, Kenya, UK and has offices in the United States, United Kingdom, China, and Thailand. On average, the broker processed $12.55 billion in trades a day by October 2019.
With its foresight and high-speed technology, Pepperstone was able to avoid losses during the Swiss National Bank-related forex crisis in 2015.
By enforcing position caps and limiting leverage on affected accounts, they discouraged clients from taking excessively leveraged positions on the Franc.
The systems at Pepperstone liquidated any positions of clients who knew the news and allowed them to close any positions before their balances went negative.
Among the most popular third-party trading platforms offered by Pepperstone are MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), and cTrader.
Pepperstone offers more than 100 trading instruments, including forex, CFDs, and cryptocurrencies.
In terms of forex, Pepperstone has a great selection, while in terms of CFDs, it's average. Cryptocurrencies you can trade against the USD include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Dash. Over 70 currency pairs are available on Pepperstone.
As with other brokers, Pepperstone offers a wide range of instruments, including Forex pairs. Due to Pepperstone's Kenyan-based entity's CMA regulation, leverage on major Forex pairs has increased from 30:1 through ASIC regulation to 400:1. Also, crypto trading is not available to South African traders.
Is Pepperstone South Africa Regulated? Is it Safe?
Traders in South Africa can trade safely with Pepperstone. In spite of Pepperstone's lack of regulatory oversight by the South African FSCA, the company has a long history of responsible behavior and strong international regulation. ASIC, BaFin, CMA, CySEC, DFSA, FCA, SCB, and DFSA are the regulators of the broker.
The UK investor protection fund protects Pepperstone clients based in the EU up to £85,000, and Pepperstone is also regulated in Australia, the Bahamas, Cyprus, Dubai, Germany, Kenya, and the UK. Pepperstone onboards South Africans through its Kenyan entity, which is regulated by the CMA.
According to ASIC, South Africans were still onboarded through ASIC as of June 2021. In spite of this, South Africans will not be as well protected by the CMA as they will be by the FSCA or ASIC. It should be noted that Pepperstone Group Limited has applied for regulation with the FSCA under FSP no. 49497 as of 24/05/2018. The status of their application is currently pending.
Additionally, Pepperstone strives to keep client funds secure. Retail client funds are held at a number of main banks across the UK in segregated bank accounts. This ensures that money remains easily identifiable as 'client money' and that Pepperstone and its creditors do not have any charge over it.
In spite of the fact that the online broker is not licensed by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), South African traders can still consider it to be reliable since it is licensed in two reputable jurisdictions.
Pepperstone South Africa: Fees
There are no withdrawal fees at Pepperstone; they only charge inactivity fees and do not charge deposit fees.
In addition to their low forex and equity index fees, they charge no inactivity fees or account maintenance fees. They charge high financing rates for holding CFD positions overnight.
Commissions and spreads are charged on Pepperstone's Standard and Razor accounts differently. Depending on the trading platform, commissions vary.
Besides the GBP/USD, Pepperstone offers tight spreads on the USD/JPY, AUD/USD, and USD/CHF.
All credit/debit cards and electronic wallet withdrawals except Skrill and Neteller are free of charge. Additionally, withdrawals by bank transfer are free for EU and Australian clients, but quite costly for others.
Pepperstone Fees and Spread ExplainedFAQs
Does Pepperstone work in South Africa?
Yes, Pepperstone accepts South African clients.
Is Pepperstone regulated in South Africa?
No. However, Pepperstone is an ASIC and FCA-regulated forex broker that accepts South African traders. In addition to offering competitive spreads and a wide range of platforms, they offer good customer service as well.
Can I trust Pepperstone?
Seven national regulators regulate Pepperstone, including three top-tier financial authorities: the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Germany's BaFin, and Australia's Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
What is Pepperstone minimum deposit?
Pepperstone has no minimum deposit. In other words, it's an ideal broker for small traders or investors. As you become more experienced in managing your investments, you can add more funds to your account.
Team that worked on the article
Mikhail Vnuchkov joined Traders Union as an author in 2020. He began his professional career as a journalist-observer at a small online financial publication, where he covered global economic events and discussed their impact on the segment of financial investment, including investor income. With five years of experience in finance, Mikhail joined Traders Union team, where he is in charge of forming the pool of latest news for traders, who trade stocks, cryptocurrencies, Forex instruments and fixed income.
The area of responsibility of Mikhail includes covering the news of currency and stock markets, fact checking, updating and editing the content published on the Traders Union website. He successfully analyzes complex financial issues and explains their meaning in simple and understandable language for ordinary people. Mikhail generates content that provides full contact with the readers.
Mikhail’s motto: Learn something new and share your experience – never stop!