What are the best forex brokers in Saudi Arabia?
Selecting the best forex broker that guarantees a lower cost of trading, quality services, and diverse assets can be tough, especially for new traders. Fortunately, many international brokers accept customers from the country.
Furthermore, unlike in some countries like the UK and Australia, international brokers do not need to be regulated by the Saudi Arabia Capital Market Authority (CMA) to onboard customers. Still, finding a good broker that is under CMA’s regulation can be an added advantage.
Introduction
The forex trading industry has been growing in the past few years, helped by the rising awareness, expansion of the middle class, and the shift to working from home. Globally, the forex industry’s total daily volume has grown to more than $6.6 trillion, making it the most popular asset class.
This growth has attracted many forex and Contracts for Difference (CFD) brokers from Asia, Europe, and other countries. Some of them have also been listed in popular exchanges like the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Hong Kong.
Forex trading has become a popular part-time and even full-time activity among many Saudi Arabian youths. Indeed, many brokers spend a substantial amount of money on adverts targeting the population. Furthermore, at $53,000, Saudi has one of the biggest GDP per capita, making it an attractive brokers’ market.
However, the trend has not been without victims, as many people have lost money to forex scams. According to the CMA, Saudis lost more than $10 billion to “unauthorized forex dealers.”
This article will highlight some of the best forex brokers you should use to trade forex in Saudi Arabia. In summary, we will look at companies with proven experience in the industry and those that offer better value to the customers.
How to choose to start trading with the best Broker
Many forex beginners face a similar challenge when finding a broker. They are not sure about what to look at in a broker.
Reputation
Reputation is an important thing to consider when looking for a good broker. Ideally, you want a company that its customers love. In other words, you should opt for a forex broker you can trust.
Several things can help you know whether a broker has a good reputation. First, you should do a quick Google search of the broker and determine its past and current customers’ ratings. You can use other popular review websites to learn more about the broker.
Second, we recommend that you use a broker that has been in operations for at least three years. While there are some good new brokers, the reality is that you can’t tell whether they are stable or not. Therefore, using a broker that has been in business for a long time will give you peace of mind. Moreso, traditional brokers, tend to offer more features than the relatively new ones.
Third, check a broker’s social media platforms. Today, most people turn to social media to praise and express frustrations with their brokers. Ideally, it would help if you read comments from past customers and how the company responds.
Most importantly, it would be best to opt for a broker who is regulated by one of the reputable agencies. Companies that are regulated are usually answerable to the respective regulators. They can face fines or be deregistered if they don’t follow the law. Therefore, having an account with a regulated broker can give you peace of mind.
Before you use a broker, we recommend that you check out their regulatory status. You can do that by simply conducting a broker search on the regulator’s website.
Deposit and withdrawal time
A good forex broker in Saudi Arabia should have several options for depositing and withdrawing money. At its core, the company should have basic money transfer options like wire transfer and credit and debit card options. Still, having additional options like PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, and cryptocurrencies is an added advantage.
Further, it would be best to opt for a broker that processes deposits and withdrawals within the shortest time possible. Ideally, depending on your payment option, you should go for a broker that processes funds within a day or two.
International presence
The forex industry is global in nature. Indeed, most brokers serve customers in more than one country. Having a broker with a global presence is recommended for several reasons. For example, they tend to have lower costs because of their critical mass. Also, the fact that more than one regulator regulates them is an added advantage.
Islamic accounts
Saudi Arabia is an Islamic country. Therefore, most people are usually comfortable using brokers that offer Islamic accounts. Fortunately, many reputable brokers offer these types of accounts. Some of the extra features that these brokers offer are that they charge an extra commission for overnight trades. In other non-Islamic accounts, they charge a swap, which is a type of interest that is not allowed in Islamic law.
Support in local language
Arabic is the main language used in Saudi Arabia. While most people are fluent in English, using a forex broker that supports the Arabic language is an added advantage. Indeed, many prominent international brokers have platforms in Arabic.
Best forex brokers in Saudi Arabia
How we analyzed and chose the best Forex Brokers in Saudi Arabia
We undertook a long process of identifying the best forex brokers in Saudi Arabia.
Analyzed brokers’ reputation
We started with a large pool of forex brokers. For each of them, we used all the available tools to assess their overall reputation. To do this, we spent hours looking at their social media accounts and identified the common queries and how they answered them. We also used the popular online rating platforms, including Android’s PlayStore and Apple’s iOS, to find patterns. We eliminated many brokers in this stage.
Regulation
We then assessed the regulatory status of these companies. We did this by looking at whether a company’s name and number are approved by some of the leading regulators like CySEC, FCA, ASIC, SCB, and BaFin. We also verified that they had not been fined recently for policy violations. We eliminated more companies in this stage.
Tested deposits and withdrawals
We then created accounts with the remaining brokers and tested their deposits and withdrawal options. We wanted to check the companies that have faster withdrawal and deposit options.
Their features
In the next stages, we compared the popular features that they offer. As experienced forex traders, we believe that a good forex broker should have various features to add value to their customers. Among the features we looked at were:
- Demo accounts – All brokers featured here offer an unlimited free demo account.
- Trading platform – All these brokers offer the popular MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms. Some of them offer other types of trading platforms like cTrade and their inbuilt platforms.
- Mobile platforms – All these brokers offer Android and iOS mobile trading platforms.
Other features we looked at were copy trading, news and analysis platforms, additional assets like commodities, cryptocurrencies, indices, and equities, and robust education platforms.
Effective customer service
Finally, we reviewed the quality of their customer service. To do this, we first checked the speed at which they respond to their social media queries. We then phoned the numbers they have provided on their platforms and noted their response time. Finally, we sent them written messages and observed their response time.
Forex broker in Saudi Arabia FAQs
Is forex trading legal in Saudi Arabia?
Yes. In fact, many people in Saudi Arabia have been trading forex for many years.
Do forex traders pay tax in Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia does not charge income tax. However, if you trade as an entity, you will be required to pay a corporate tax on your trading income.
Who regulates forex trading in Saudi Arabia?
The main financial regulator in Saudi Arabia is the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) also has a role in financial regulations in the country.
How many forex traders are there in Saudi Arabia?
The exact number of Saudi Arabians who trade forex is not known. However, a look at the public forex trading companies’ financial results shows that their income from the country is growing.
Can Saudi Arabians sign up with a forex broker from abroad?
Yes. Indeed, many Saudi Arabians use foreign forex brokers such as those we have mentioned above.
What is the cost of forex trading in Saudi Arabia?
All brokers we have mentioned don’t charge a commission. Instead, they make money through a spread, which is the difference between ask and bid prices. This spread ranges from broker to broker.
Conclusion
Finding a good forex broker is an important part of your trading journey. Indeed, many people have given up on their trading careers because of a bad experience with a forex broker. Others have seen their money disappear by using unregulated brokers. This article has looked at some of the best forex brokers you can use in Saudi Arabia.
