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Best Forex Brokers with ZAR Account 2023

For this list, we have searched and tested several forex brokers offering ZAR accounts.

We opened real accounts and deposited real money each of the brokers. We placed real trades in each popular market to get the real spreads.

We also reached out to customer support to solve issues that we hd encountered. Finally, we withdrew our funds to see if there is any issue with the withdrawal process.

We handpick the best forex brokers offering accounts based on our trading data and experience as a trader.

What is a ZAR Account?

ZAR account enables forex traders to trade with the South African local currency, rand, as the base currency.

South African rand, with ISO code ZAR, is the national currency of South Africa. Rand was adopted as the country’s currency in 1961 after the replacement of the South African pound. ZAR is also recognized as a legal tender in Namibia, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.

Forex brokers operating in South Africa need to provide forex traders trading account with ZAR as the base currency.

The use of a local currency, instead of a USD or EUR account, protects the traders’ profits from the risk of currency fluctuation when they are converted into local fiat. Additionally, traders can avoid unnecessary forex conversion fees.

Benefits of using local fiat as the base currency:

  • No forex conversion charges
  • Faster deposits and withdrawals
  • Traders can avoid slippage
  • Calculation of net profit is easy

South African forex brokers are regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), formerly known as the Financial Services Board (FSB). All forex brokers offering services with an FSCA license need to provide ZAR trading accounts. However, many well-reputed foreign brokers also offer ZAR accounts.

The FSCA-regulated brokers can offer leverage up to 500:1. However, the regulator does not offer any negative balance protection or any compensation scheme.

ZAR Account Forex Brokers

To select the best forex brokers offering ZAR accounts, we tested and reviewed several forex brokers. We opened live accounts and depositing real money with each broker. We also placed real trades in popular markets to get the real picture of the spread and commission, trading platform, deposits and withdrawals conditions, education, and customer service.

  • ThinkMarkets – Best Overall Broker Offering ZAR Account
  • XM – Best Forex Broker Offering ZAR Account for Beginners
  • Markets.com – Best Forex Trading Platform Offering ZAR Account
  •  ETX Capital – Best MT4 Forex Broker Offering ZAR Account
  • HotForex – Best High Leverage Forex Broker Offering ZAR Account

Best Overall Broker Offering ZAR Account

We have picked ThinkMarkets as the best overall broker offering ZAR account.

ThinkMarkets is an Australian broker operating in South Africa with an FSCA license. The broker also holds licenses from the regulators of Australia, the United Kingdom, and Seychelles.

ThinkMarkets offers trading services with forex, indices, stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. It lists over 1,600 trading instruments on MT4, MT5, and ThinkTrader trading platforms. The broker also offers very attractive spreads for all asset classes (based on our tests) and has some of the lowest non-trading fees.

Best Forex Broker Offering ZAR Account for Beginners

We have picked XM as the best forex broker offering ZAR account for beginners.

XM is not regulated in South Africa but offers a ZAR account. It is regulated in the UK, Cyprus, Australia, UAE, and Belize. For beginner traders, XM is the perfect broker because of its wide range of educational resources. Traders on XM can learn about the forex market and trading strategies and then trade using the ZAR demo account without risking real money.

XM offers a total of 1,336 trading instruments that include currency pairs and CFDs. It also offers real stock trading services under the Belize-regulated entity.

Best Forex Trading Platform Offering ZAR Account

We have picked Markets.com as the best forex trading platform offering ZAR account.

Markets.com operates in South Africa using a license obtained from the FSCA. It is an excellent option for trading forex. It offers 120 currency pairs, along with several CFDs instruments of commodities, indices, and stocks.

The broker offers trading services on MT4 and MT5 platforms without any limitations on trading strategies. Traders hedge their positions and run scalping as well. It is a good broker if traders want to run EAs.

Best MT4 Forex Broker Offering ZAR Account

We have picked Markets.com as the best MT4 forex broker offering ZAR account.

ETX Capital, which is headquartered in London, offers trading services using MT4 and its proprietary platform, ETX TraderPro. MT4, being an extremely popular platform, is widely used and preferred by traders. It offers some excellent indicators and market analysis tools on the MT4 platform.

Though ETX offered a ZAR account for a while now, it recently gained an FSCA license for smooth operations in South Africa.

Best High Leverage Forex Broker Offering ZAR Account

We have picked HotForex as the best high leverage forex broker offering ZAR account.

FSCA allows forex brokers to offer leverage up to 500:1, HotForex offers even higher leverage levels. The broker, under its Seychelles branch, offers leverage of up to 1000:1 on major currency pairs. It also offers a ZAR account, which is perfect for South African traders.

The broker offers trading with currency pairs and CFDs. It recently added direct market access for stocks and offers trading on MT4 and MT5 platforms.

Account Forex Brokers with ZAR Base Currency List

Apart from the shortlisted brokers, here is a complete list of forex brokers that offers ZAR accounts and ZAR as a base currency:

Forex BrokerZAR AccountBroker Review
Plus500YesVisit Plus500
XMYesVisit XM
PepperstoneYesVisit Pepperstone
FxProYesVisit FxPro
Markets.comYesVisit Markets.com
Amana CapitalYesVisit Amana Capital
ThinkMarketsYesVisit ThinkMarkets
BlackBull MarketsYesVisit BlackBull Markets
DukascopyYesVisit Dukascopy
ETX CapitalYesVisit ETX Capital
Saxo BankYesVisit Saxo Markets
Fineco BankYesVisit Fineco Bank
Trade NationYesVisit Trade Nation
IG MarketsYesVisit IG Markets
HotForexYesVisit HotForex
ExnessYesVisit Exness

FAQ and More on Brokers offering ZAR Account

Traders usually have many questions related to generic trading-related queries. We tried to pick and answer some of the most important queries related to forex brokers offering ZAR accounts.

FSCA-Regulated Forex Brokers offering ZAR Account

FSCA regulates the forex brokers operating in South Africa. Some of the FSCA-regulated forex brokers offering ZAR accounts are:

  • Plus500
  • IG Markets
  • Markets.com
  • FxPro

MT4 Forex Brokers offering ZAR Account

MetaQuotes Software-developed MT4 is a very popular platform for trading forex and CFDs. It has a vast community of traders offering EAs and supports the creation of trading scripts and robots using MLQ4 language.

Some of the best MT4 forex trading platforms offering ZAR account are:

  • ThinkMarkets
  • Dukascopy
  • BlackBull Markets

Low Spread Forex Brokers offering ZAR Accounts

Spread is a business-making or breaking factor for forex brokers. With the rising competition, many forex brokers started offering very low spreads to attract traders on their platforms. Some of the low spread forex brokers offering ZAR account are:

  • Pepperstone
  • IG Markets
  • Plus500