South Africa is a key place for online trading with many active traders based in the country. It also means that there is a wide selection of online forex and CFD brokers to choose from.
That’s why in this review we’ll be taking a look in more detail at IQ Option, which is a leading broker globally, including South Africa. They are also fully regulated to operate as a broker service and hold regulation licences from various financial authorities.
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Regulations: FSA (Seychelles Financial Services Authority)
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Platforms: WebTrader, Desktop & Mobile Trading App
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Leverage: Up to 1:400
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Minimum Deposit: $10 / in ZAR is R 150
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Can you deposit in ZAR? Yes
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Binary Options: yes
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Headquarters: Cyprus and St Vincent & Grenadines
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Support: 24/7 telephone support and LiveChat service
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Instruments Available: Options, Forex, ETF’s, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies
*Your capital is at risk
One of the reasons that the broker is so popular, is because they offer one of the lowest minimum deposits in the broker market. To start trading, you need to deposit just $10 to your account. This is an incredibly low amount especially when some of the minimum deposits start from $100 and up.
In this review, besides the minimum deposit, you’ll learn all you need to know about the broker including how to open an IQ Option account plus the main platform features. We’ll also take a look at the IQ Option account and the trading app functions.
Besides that we’ll also see what financial instruments are available to trade as CFD’s, including the crypto and forex assets.
Let’s get started!
IQ Option South Africa: Broker Background
IQ Option was founded in 2013 by a Russian man named Dmitry Zaretsky. They platform started by offering binary options as trading products, but now they are known for forex and CFD trading as well, with many assets listed.
The broker is available to traders in more than 30 countries worldwide, including South Africa. They are also a regulated broker which means that IQ Option is allowed to legally operate in South Africa.
Further regulation licences are held from various authorities. Regulation also ensures that the broker must follow strict financial rules put in place for the trader’s protection.
Is IQ Option legit?
In South Africa, the broker operates as IQ Option Ltd, and they are regulated by the FSA. In Europe the broker is also regulated by CySEC (licence no.247/14).
Regulation means that the broker must verify your identity and account info to protect against fraud. It also means that they must segregate the funds in client’s accounts from the company business accounts. These steps are all designed for the trader’s security and protection.
You can be reassured that IQ Option is secure to trade with and not a scam.
How to Open an Account
It’s easy to open a trading account with IQ Option. It takes a few minutes and you’ll need to provide some personal details such as your name and email address to create your account. You will also need to set a secure password which you can use to log in and out of your account. After this has been completed you’ll be able to log in to the platform.
*Your capital is at risk
Besides opening a trading account, there is also the option to sign up for the free IQ Option demo account. The demo account is free to use and comes with $10,000 of virtual funds for you to practice trading with.
It has all the same features as the actual platform, and it’s a great way to see how the platform works and if trading is right for you. It’s possible to switch between the demo and real accounts at anytime through the ‘switch’ account button on the platform.
IQ Option South Africa Platform
The broker is well known for having a self developed platform which simple to use and well-designed. Although they don’t offer the MT4 or MT5 platforms which some brokers do, the IQ Option trading platform features all the tools that you could need.
It is also fully customizable so you can adjust the platform layout to suit your needs, this includes the customization of chart types for analysis. For technical analysis, there are more than 16 analysis instruments available plus economic calendars.
The platform also features many free education tools including a video tutorial library. The videos cover all the trading topics you should know about and there is something to suit all levels- from beginners to more advanced traders.
To find the right option for you, the IQ Option platform is available in 3 formats:
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online WebTrader
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mobile trading App for iOS and Android devices
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desktop version for Windows and Mac
All 3 formats have all the same features as each other and are fully in sync with each other. The trading App is also a great way to have access to your trading account from any location at anytime. More importantly the App is lightweight and will not take up too much of your smartphone’s internal storage.
In fact the App has been praised and awarded by various industry experts. In 2017, the IQ Option Trading App won the award for excellence during The Communicator Awards, very impressive!
IQ Option South Africa Forex and Binary Options
IQ Option has 7 Contract for Difference instruments listed with 300+ assets ready to trade on the platform.
The instruments include: Forex, Binary Options, ETF’s, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies and Indices, which are all available as CFD’s.
Their crypto selection is impressive – especially because they were one of the first brokers to offer crypto trading in 2017. Currently they have 12 cryptocurrencies listed including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and EOS. There are also some more unknown cryptos like Qtum and ZCash as well.
When you start trading, the minimum trade starts from $1, which is a good way to start trading without risking too much capital.
*Your capital is at risk
IQ Option South Africa Deposit
It’s very easy to make a deposit with IQ Option, plus there are many payments methods available for you to use.
IQ Option doesn’t charge any fees for making a deposit, and because the broker accepts ZAR as a currency, there are no currency conversion charges either,
To get started with trading, you’ll need to make a deposit of funds to your account which you can spend on the platform. The minimum deposit with IQ Option is just $10, or R150 in ZAR.
If you wish to make the deposit in ZAR, just select this as your currency of choice when you create your account.
The payment methods which you can use to make the deposit include:
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credit/debit card (MasterCard or Visa)
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bank/wire transfer
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electronic wallets (PayPal, Skrill and Neteller)
If you wish to use your local bank to transfer the money, South African banks such as ABSA, Standard Bank and FNB are now accepted by the broker.
The whole deposit process is simple to follow and if you’ve used an electronic wallet or credit card to make the deposit then the funds should be showing instantly in your account. Bank transfer can take a few days.
Please note that for the deposit process to go smoothly, you should make sure that your account has been verified by the customer support team already. The verification will help to show the broker that the payment method and the account really belongs to you and helps to protect against fraud.
*Your capital is at risk
IQ Option Withdrawal
It’s very simple to withdraw money from your trading account at anytime. IQ Option doesn’t charge any withdrawal fees either!
However, the money will have to be returned to the original payment method that was used to make the deposit to your account. For example if you used a credit card to make the deposit, you will be able to make the withdrawal to the same credit card.
The minimum withdrawal amount starts from $2 and up, (or the same equivalent in ZAR). If you wish to withdraw less than $2 you will need to contact the customer support team.
For security reasons, your trading account must be verified for the withdrawal to be confirmed. To be verified you should have provided a proof of identity and a proof of address to the customer support team at some point after the account creation.
This is legally required by the broker and regulation, so they can protect account against fraud and misuse.
Generally though IQ Option is quite fast at processing withdrawals. When you have requested the withdrawal, the customer support team will check and confirm the request. This normally takes 1 working day. They will get in touch if there are any issues at all and you’ll receive a notification when it’s approved.
It then depends on your payment method used for the withdrawal how long it takes for the money to be showing. Electronic wallets and credit cards are fairly fast, and bank transfers can take from 3-5 working days.
Conclusion
IQ Option has a vast range of products, and it is considered one of the best brokers in South Africa. The main ones are Forex&CFDs and Binary Options.
The big advantage of the broker is the possibility to start with a minimum deposit of only $10 for both products.
Thanks to the user-friendly interface and well-developed App allow every trader to access his trading account and place an order without problems.
We really recommend this platform, mainly for beginners who don’t have a lot of experience in trading.
*Your capital is at risk
