Best Binary Options Brokers in South Africa
Trading platform of the month
- Payouts: up to 95%*
- Minimum deposit: 180 ZAR or 10 USD
- Demo: Yes, free $10 000 demo money
Risk warning: Your Capital is at risk
*Amount to be credited to account in case of successful trade
How do we select brokers featured on this page?
Finding a reliable and trustworthy binary options broker is not an easy task. We know that. That's why have conducted research on various binary options brokers operating in South Africa, scanned their reputation and trading conditions and listed for your convenience brands we consider to be one of the best binary options brokers in South Africa. Here are some of the aspects we have taken into consideration when creating the list.
TOP Binary Options Brokers in South Africa
IQ Option
Payouts: Up to 95%*
Min. deposit: 180 ZAR, Min. investment: 10 ZAR
Special features: VIP Account, Tournaments
IQ Option has been founded in 2013, since then they have gathered over 91 million traders worldwide and became one of the biggest companies in the industry. The broker provides access to binary and digital options and CFDs.
IQ Option offers some of the highest returns in the market. If the trade goes your way, you can make up to a 95%* profit on a single trade. Besides the standard account, IQ option has a VIP account which comes with increased payouts of up to 3%.
South African traders can also join trading tournaments that are usually held twice a week with prize pools often reaching up to $50 000.
Your capital is at risk.
Binomo
Payouts: Up to 85%*
Min. deposit: 10 $, Min. investment: 1$
Special features: Deposit bonuses
Binomo is a company registered in St. Vincent and has been operating for eight years. The binary options brokerage firm offers over 40 financial instruments.
Binomo has 3 different real account types which differ in min. deposit, payouts and special perks.
The standard account is from $10 and has payouts ranging up to 85%*. The gold account is from $500 and has payouts ranging up to 90%*. The same payouts also has the VIP account, which starts from $ 1 000, but in addition it also offers deposit bonuses up to 200%.
Your capital is at risk.
Olymp Trade
Payouts: Up to 80%*
Min. deposit: 10 $, Min. investment: 1$
Special features: Deposit bonuses
Olymp Trade has been founded in 2014 and uses its own in-house built trading platform where South African traders can speculate on binary options.
Olymp Trade offers to its traders two account types. A standard account and a VIP account.
The standard account can be opened with as little as 10 USD, the VIP account, on the other hand requires a minimum deposit of at least $2 000. VIP account holders get access to online webinars and a dedicated account manager. In addition, Olymp Trade offers deposit bonuses.
Your capital is at risk.
*Amount to be credited to account in case of successful trade
Payouts: Up to 85%*, Min. deposit: 50 $, Minimum investment: 1$
Special features: 50 deposit methods, social features
Pocket Option provides access to roughly 100 binary assets on which you can speculate with up to 85%* payouts. One of the unique features of Pocket Option is that you can engage other traders via chat, thanks to the social trading feature that connects traders globally.
Payouts: Up to 85%*, Min. deposit: 10 $, Minimum investment: 1$
Special features: Different account types
ExpertOption features on its platform roughly 100 assets. The company has 6 different account types, all accounts above the deposit of $2 500 have increased payouts (up to 2-4%). ExpertOption also has 20 payment systems which you can use for deposits and withdrawals.
*Amount to be credited to account in case of successful trade
How to find the best binary options broker in South Africa
If you are looking for a new binary options broker you need to think about what aspects are important for you. It can be high payouts, transparent operation of the broker, easy-to-use platform, great customer support, number of assets you can trade as well as the availability of deposit and withdrawal methods that are the most convenient for you.
TIPS & TRICKS
Deposit bonuses, special account types and other marketing endeavours that many binary options brokers advertise are not crucial. What really matters is broker's transparent operation, superior payouts and a user-friendly platform.
High Payouts
In case your binary broker offers 70% payouts, it's not going to cut it. Such low payouts mean you have to be right with 70% of your trades just to break even, let alone to make money. For that reason, it's important to trade with a company that has high payouts. I believe 80% is the minimum to have any chance of succeeding in the market.
To get additional payouts, you can also request from your binary broker a VIP account that can give you an additional 2-4%, depending on the broker. This is a great way to get the numbers even more on your side. However, the VIP account is not for everyone as brokers often require a higher deposit to your trading account. So if this is not something for you, do not worry about it, the first rule of investing is to never invest more money than you can afford to lose.
Low Fees
Just like you want your payouts to be high you want to have a broker with low fees. While binary options brokers make most of their money already on the trades you open (since no broker offers 100% payouts), they often also charge some additional fees.So it's good to familiarise yourself with all the fees you might encounter when trading, here are the two most common ones that binary traders might encounter.
Deposit and withdrawal fees
Deposit and withdrawal fees can a binary broker charge you whenever you make a deposit or withdrawal. While a lot of brokers do not have these charges, make sure this is the case with your broker. The fees also frequently differ on what payment method you use. For instance, e-wallet payments are often free of charge, but bank transfers are only rarely free.
Inactivity fee
In case you plan on taking a longer break, you should withdraw your money from the broker as some binary brokers charge an inactivity fee. The time period after which they charge the fee and the charged amount differ from broker to broker. What I advise is that if you plan on taking a break longer than 3 months either withdraw your money or check the broker's terms and conditions.
Before you select a broker you need to know you can trust it. After all, unless you trade on a practice demo account, you are likely going to deposit to the broker your money. You need to be sure it's safe and that it will stay that way. For that reason, go only for brokers who operate transparently and that are operating on the market for quite some time and that have a good reputation among traders.
To find out whether a broker is transparent check the broker's homepage, particularly its footer where can be found information about who operates the company. More information about a given broker can also be often found on the "about us" page. And of course, do not forget about reading their terms and conditions. If something seems off to you, think about a different company.
Moreover, If you notice that the broker advertises you can make thousands of dollars in a matter of hours or displays luxurious houses and cars it's a pretty strong indication it might be a scam and it is just after your money.
Are Binary Options Legal in South Africa?
There are no laws or regulations that prohibit binary options. Therefore, trading binary options is not illegal in South Africa. That said, you should choose a firm with a good reputation and transparent operation.
Regulation
Because there are no laws on binary options in South Africa currently in place, binary brokers are not regulated by the local financial regulator FSCA. However, many brokers are often regulated in other countries and by different financial institutions. The most recognisable is probably the CySEC in Cyprus, the FCA in the UK or FCA SVG FSA in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Nevertheless, non of these regulations and their customer protection apply to South Africans as they only protect the customers of the country where the regulator is based. Furthermore, even if a broker is, for instance, regulated by the CySEC, they are not operating under the same entity in South Africa (or any other African country for that matter). This is a popular misconception that binary option review sites often promote in the attempt to get new customers to the platforms they promote. We don't do such practices nor ever plan on doing them!
Deposits to brokers are usually very smooth, but withdrawals might not be if traded with a shady company. However, sometimes even when you trade with a good binary broker your withdrawal request might be paused.
The most common reason why a broker might pause your withdrawal request is because you haven't verified your identity. Yes, most binary brokers will ask you to go thru the KYC process. This is a standard industry practice that companies are ordered to follow by the law. The KYC procedure helps prevent identity theft, money laundering, financial fraud, terrorism financing, and other financial crimes.
If your identity is already verified and your withdrawal gets paused, the second most common reason might be you have used a different withdrawal method from the deposit method. Brokers often want you to use the same method so they would be sure they are sending money to the same person that made the deposit. Nevertheless, an exception should not be a problem if you ask your account manager.
If your identity has been verified and you have used the same payment method for your withdrawal you can expect the payment to be processed usually within 3 business days, tho some brokers are even faster, especially with e-wallet withdrawals.