Plus500

ASIC Regulation: South Africans will be onboarded through Plus500AU Pty Ltd, regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Although it is an Authorised Financial Services Provider (FSP: 47546), it is still awaiting its ODP licence from the South African regulator – the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). As a result, ASIC will oversee Plus500’s operations in South Africa.

Features: Although South Africans may be disappointed by the lack of FSCA oversight, ASIC has a good reputation when it comes to regulating Forex brokers. It ensures that Plus500 segregates client money from its operating capital and that Plus500 offers all traders negative balance protection so that they cannot lose more than their initial deposit. Additionally, in early 2021, ASIC tightened its restrictions on CFD trading to protect traders better. Plus500 clients in South Africa will have a leverage limit of 30:1 for Forex trading.

We found the account-opening process at Plus500 straightforward and our account was ready for trading within one day.

We tested the account opening process, which took approximately 10 minutes to complete, and once our documentation had been submitted, our accounts were ready for trading on the same day. 

How to open an account at Plus500:

1. First, we clicked on the “Start Trading” button.
2. We were then required to fill in our personal details (including name, date of birth, country of residence, and physical address). 
3. Next, we were asked to complete a short form to help Plus500 assess the state of our finances and trading knowledge. While most CFD providers don’t include this step in the account-opening process, it is a responsible move in an industry that is often accused of an irresponsible approach to consumer protection.
4. Plus500 required us to submit a copy of our National ID or Passport with the signature page, as well as a copy of a recent utility bill or bank statement.  For your convenience, you can also use Plus500’s mobile apps to upload your documents. Documents can be scanned or sent through as a high-quality digital camera picture.
5. We advise you to read Plus500’s risk disclosure, customer agreement, and terms of business before you start trading. 

Our application was approved within 24 hours. 

The range and depth of assets available to trade is impressive and it excels in its Forex offering.

Plus500’s account has a minimum deposit requirement of only 1500 ZAR, making it accessible to most traders. Although the CFD trading account is commission-free, spreads start at only 0.8 pips* on the EUR/USD, which is tighter than other similar CFD providers. Most other good CFD providers have an average spread of 0.9 pips (EUR/USD). 

Plus500 only provides its own mobile trading platform, which cannot be customised and does not allow for algorithmic trading, but the platform has a sleek design and is easy to use.

We rigorously tested the trading platform. See below for more details:

Easy to Use: We found that the platform offers a streamlined trading experience, appealing to traders who want to avoid the complexity of third-party platforms.  The platform looks fantastic, is very easy to use, and has a solid reputation in the trading community. 

Platform Features: As you can see below, the simple interface allows users to create watchlists (or favourites), analyze charts, and place and monitor trades.  Additionally, technical analysis charts offer more than 100 technical indicators available in multiple timeframes:

The Plus500 platform is exclusively web-based and is not available as a downloadable desktop app. 

Functionality: We found that like the mobile trading platform, the web-based platform is similarly user-friendly and uncomplicated. It also has the same functionality, including the ability to make deposits and withdrawals, set alerts, view trader sentiment, analyse charts, place and monitor trades, and access over 100 technical indicators:

No Automated Trading: We found that Plus500 provides a superior trading experience compared to other similar CFD providers, but, unlike platforms such as MT4 and MT5, the Plus500 platform is not customisable, and traders who are used to setting up their own charts over a bespoke workspace will be disappointed.  In addition, the platform does not offer the execution speeds of the Metatrader platforms, nor does it offer algorithmic trading.  

Overall, we enjoyed using Plus500’s trading platform because of its intuitive interface and excellent support. However, compared to third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5, it lacks the execution speeds and doesn’t allow for automated trading via expert advisors or other trading algorithms.

A well-regulated CFD provider, Plus500 ensures that all Anti-Money Laundering rules and regulations are followed. As such, all non-profit funds are returned to the original deposit source. 

Trading Account Currencies: When we opened our account, we noticed that the Plus500 client portal allows you to choose from a large range of base currencies, including USD, GBP, EUR, CHF, AUD, JPY, PLN, HUF, CZK, CAD, TRY, SEK, NOK, ZAR, and SGD. Because we were depositing in ZAR from a ZAR bank account, we weren’t charged any currency conversion fees. Plus500’s currency conversion Fee is up to 0.7% of the trade’s realised net profit and loss, which is higher than the currency conversion fees charged by other CFD providers.  

Deposits and Withdrawals: We found that deposits and withdrawals can be made securely at Plus500 using major debit cards and credit cards (including Visa and MasterCard), bank wire transfer, and Skrill.

Plus500’s trading tools include unique risk management tools, some of which come at an extra cost.  However, unlike other similar CFD providers, it does not offer any additional analytics services such as Autochartist or Trading Central, and the proprietary platform also does not integrate with any third-party tools. 

We found that although Plus500’s market research is written by an in-house research team, it is not as comprehensive as what is available at other CFD providers. The materials include a Market Insights blog and an Economic Calendar.  The Market News is updated daily, providing traders with insight into various market events.  The materials are well-written and useful, but the articles are short. However, we liked the fact that Plus500’s Economic Calendar has filters that can select for company or macro-events.

Demo Account

The demo account allows traders to practice trading and get used to the Plus500 platform before depositing real money. The Plus500 platform is different from that of other CFD providers, so we advise that new clients take the time to get comfortable with the platform before committing to a deposit. While we enjoyed the clean design of the Plus500 platform, some traders may prefer a more traditional layout.  Demo accounts do not expire and are loaded with virtual funds that can be topped up by request. 

Overall, we think that the education section could be improved with a greater variety of materials in addition to providing sections for more experienced traders.  Traders would also benefit greatly from being able to attend webinars on CFD trading basics and risk management. 

Plus500 offers 24/7 customer support via email, online chat, and WhatsApp messages in 31 different languages. This is a much higher level of service than we usually find at other CFD providers. The only way we think customer support could be improved is by offering phone support for more complex queries and troubleshooting.

For the purposes of the review, we tested the live chat service. We found the live chat agents were knowledgeable and responsive.  They also provided links and extra reading material where appropriate.