BDSwiss Broker Review
BDSwiss Group is a multi-asset broker that has been operating since 2012. For ten active years, it has confidently and quickly grown into one of the world’s top CFD trading and investment products providers.
BDSwiss itself was established in Zurich, Switzerland, yet its group of companies operates in several jurisdictions and now serves clients in over 180 countries.
An impressive list of more than 1000 tradable instruments is constantly being updated, which helped grow the number of loyal customers to +1.5 million worldwide. BDSwiss provides traders with access to competitive spreads and an extensive range of assets, including hundreds of CFDs on forex, shares, commodities, cryptos and indices.
Licenses and Regulations
BDSwiss holds licenses to serve clients from different jurisdictions. This includes approvals from the financial services regulators in Mauritius and Seychelles.
Trading with a multi-regulated broker like BDSwiss ensures that customer assets are not co-mingled with corporate funds, and keep them protected in the unlikely event that the broker becomes insolvent.
The above regulators strictly oblige their authorized brokers to follow strict capital ratios and comply with risk management, training, accounting, and audit requirements.
Overall, BDSwiss presents clients with four well-regulated entities.
Country | Regulator/License Number | Entity Name |
Mauritius | Investment Dealer by the Financial Services Commission (License No. C116016172) | BDS Markets |
Seychelles | Seychelles Financial Services Authority (SD047) | BDS Ltd |
Trading Platforms
So talking about trading software, BDSwiss offers traders a broad range of options to access financial markets. Besides the industry-standard platforms, BDSwiss also offers its proprietary mobile app, which enables traders to open accounts, deposit and withdraw money, pass KYC verification and trade on the go.
BDSwiss Mobile App shows excellent performance and allows efficient position management thanks to the following features:
- Real-time Quotes
- Interactive Charts
- In-Built User Tutorials
- Live Chat & Support
- Clean, User-Friendly Interface
- Full Trading & Transactions History
- Deposit and Withdraw Functionalities
- Account Set-Up & KYC Verification
- Pending Orders
- Indexing Tools and In-app Notifications
- Two-factor authentication
The range includes the most popular trading terminal, Metatrader 4, and its newest version, MetaTrader 5. Additionally, you can access third-party applications and add-ons, all available free of charge. BDSwiss’ clients can embed services provided by Autochartist and Trading Central.
On top of that, the company exclusively offers the ‘Trade Companion’ feature, which gives traders a comprehensive overview of their trading history and performance. Fully developed in-house, Trade Companion is exclusively available to clients holding VIP and Raw accounts.
What is also great is the powerful BDSwiss WebTrader with its advanced capabilities and interactive charts. The terminal offers everything you need within a web-based platform that can be accessed directly from any internet browser with almost the same productivity as its desktop version. WebTrader does not require downloading, and it is fully synchronised to the downloadable versions of the MT4, allowing for live price monitoring via an advanced market watch.
Available Products
BDSwiss provides an impressive product catalogue that includes +1000 instruments spanning forex, stocks, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, and ETFs. Unlike some of its competitors, BDSwiss supports major cryptocurrencies and altcoins with spreads that are extremely competitive across the 27 tradable pairs it offers.
Overall, the available product classes/instruments present a balanced mix, offering clients in-depth cross-asset diversification.
- +50 forex pairs – major, minor and exotic currency pairs
- +5 commodities – precious metals and crude oil
- +25 cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ripple & Litecoin
- +10 Indices – FTSE 100, CAC 40, US 500 and ASX 200
- + 900 shares and ETFs – 140 CFDs on the world’s biggest brands, and 80 ETFs CFDs
Leverage
BDSwiss offers various leverage levels depending on the jurisdiction you trade in. Therefore, the leverage available to you is settled according to the regulatory requirement in your region.
Traders through brands incorporated in Mauritius and Seychelles qualify for maximum leverage of up to 1:1000.
Account Types
For the most part, BDSwiss keeps it simple – the broker offers three main account types: Classic, Raw and VIP. Under its FSC regulated entity, BDS Markets, the company also offers two additional account types, the Cent and Premium. From the very beginning, you can sign in for a demo account.
Each account type offers particular possibilities ranging from the trade size, spreads, commissions, asset offerings, and leverage levels.
BDSwiss classic account enables clients to trade on tight spreads with no commission. The Raw account is based on raw spreads and a commission charge per million traded. Designed for traders looking to reduce their trading costs, it presents interbank quotes starting from 0 pips spread, but with a commission of 5€/$/£ per lot.
Clients with high trading volumes are eligible for premium services through BDSwiss’ VIP Account. The range includes $0 commissions on index products, a personal account manager, unlimited access to trading alerts, and exclusive access to BDSwiss’ in-house analytics tool, Trade Companion.
You may see below a detailed discrepancy of account types in order to understand what each is about.
Account Type | Cent | Classic | Premium | VIP | Raw |
Avg. Spread | 1.5 (EUR/USD) | 1.5 (EUR/USD) | 1.1 (EUR/USD) | 1.1 (EUR/USD) | 0.3 (EUR/USD) |
Available for | BDS Markets (FSC) BDS Ltd (FSA) | All Jurisdictions | BDS Markets (FSC) BDS Ltd (FSA) | All Jurisdictions | All Jurisdictions |
Leverage | up to 1:500 | up to 1:500 (FSC/FSA) | Up to 1:1000 | up to 1:500 (FSC/FSA) | up to 1:500 (FSC/FSA) |
Instruments | 70+ | 250+ | 70+ | 250+ | 250+ |
Available CFD Assets | Forex Commodities | Forex Stocks Indices Commodities Cryptos (only under FSC/FSA) | Forex Commodities | Forex Stocks Indices Commodities Cryptos (only under FSC/FSA) | Forex Stocks Indices Commodities Cryptos (only under FSC/FSA) |
Commissions (per round lot) | $0 on all pairs | $0 on pairs $2 on indices 0.15% on shares | $0 on all pairs | $0 on pairs $0 on indices 0.15% on shares | $5 on pairs $2 on indices 0.15% on shares |
Margin Call at | 50% | 50% (FSC/FSA) | 50% | 50% (FSC/FSA) | 50% (FSC/FSA) |
Stop out at | 20% | 20% (FSC/FSA) | 20% | 20% (FSC/FSA) | 20% (FSC/FSA) |
Platforms | WebTrader Mobile App MetaTrader 4 MetaTrader 5 | WebTrader Mobile App MetaTrader 4 MetaTrader 5 | WebTrader Mobile App MetaTrader 4 MetaTrader 5 | WebTrader Mobile App MetaTrader 4 MetaTrader 5 | WebTrader Mobile App MetaTrader 4 MetaTrader 5 |
Trading Alerts | Limited Access | Limited Access | Limited Access | VIP Access | VIP Access |
Autochartist Performance Stats | [+] $500 min deposit | [+] $500 min deposit | [+] $500 min deposit | ✅ | ✅ |
Personal Account Manager | [+] $1000 min deposit | [+] $1000 min deposit | [+] $1000 min deposit | ✅ | ✅ |
Priority Services | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
Autochartist Standard Tools | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Trading Central | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Trading Academy & Live Webinars | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Trade Companion | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
Islamic Account | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
24/5 Support | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Minimum Deposit | 10€/$/£ | 100€/$/£ | 100€/$/£ | 3,000€/$/£ | 5,000€/$/£ |
Research and Education
BDSwiss offers quality research through in-house resources with each of them featuring different capabilities. A healthy roster of market insights, offered through renowned technical analyst Frank Walbaum and veteran fundamentalist Marshall Gittler, fills the need for advanced topics.
Marshall Gittler, the head of investment research at BDSwiss Group, is a professional fundamental analyst with 30 years of experience in the financial industry. BDSwiss market analyst Frank Walbaum is a seasoned trader and portfolio manager who has single-handedly managed a €450 million forex fund.
Overall, market coverage resources are impressive. You will also get access to technical analysis performed by Trading Central, and pattern recognition for real-time insights by Autochartist.
BDSwiss also shines when it comes to education. The official website features a trading academy that delivers free e-books, video tutorials and daily webinars in multiple languages. BDSwiss clients are able to choose from a wide array of free educational webinars, live trading sessions, expert interviews, market commentary and real-time strategy webinars.
Novice traders are very much welcomed at BDSwiss. They will get the necessary education support that enables them to have their questions answered live by true industry professionals.
What’s more, BDSwiss gives traders direct access to the setups of its professional traders along with their insights on current market trends via Telegram. The trading alert service features an exclusive version to the VIP and Raw account holders.
Customer Support
BDSwiss provides multilingual customer support in 20+ languages 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday. The bulk of customer support at BDSwiss consists of its client portal, FAQ section, and Telegram channels. In case the need arises, BDSwiss ensures easy access to live chat, E-mail, and a toll-free phone line.
Bonuses and Promotions
Bonuses and promotions at BDSwiss are available in select jurisdictions. Where available, BDSwiss presents traders with a deposit bonus and referral promotions if the eligibility criteria are met.
Opening an Account
Opening a trading account at BDSwiss is as user-friendly and straight as submitting some personal information and a valid email address. But as a regulated broker, account verification at BDSwiss is a mandatory final step to comply with AML/KYC regulations. Most traders will satisfy verification requirements by sending copies of documents supporting their ID and residency.
Deposits and Withdrawals
In terms of funding methods, BDSwiss supports numerous payment options that are mostly offered with no charges on the part of the broker. Yet, you need to check the availability and actual cost depending on the jurisdiction and payment method as some may be restricted for a particular region and third-party fees might be applicable.
BDSwiss also offers instant withdrawals for up to 2,000€/$/£ and charges $0 fees on all credit card withdrawals. However, the broker charges a fixed fee of 10 EUR for bank wire withdrawals below 100 EUR.
In total, BDSwiss clients have a choice of 150+ international and local payment methods, including commonly used ones, such as bank cards and e-wallets.
To simplify the funding of accounts, BDSwiss lists the following methods to deposit or withdraw money.
Payment Method | Commission | Processing Time |
Visa/Mastercard | 0% | Immediate |
Maestro | 0% | Immediate |
Giropay | 0% | Immediate |
Sofort | 0% | Immediate |
EPS | 0% | Immediate |
iDEAL | 0% | Immediate |
Dotpay | 0% | Immediate |
Skrill | 0% | Immediate |
NETELLER | 0% | Immediate |
Bank Wire | 0% | Immediate* |
Online Banking | 0% | Immediate |
Verdict
With extensive educational resources, a product catalogue that spans a multitude of asset classes, a plethora of research and market insights, and an emphasis on customer service, BDSwiss offers an excellent fit for all types of traders.
In terms of trading costs, there are no unwieldy fees, and although the spreads aren’t the lowest, they are very competitive.
BDSwiss also provides a variety of account options with five different types. The range also includes the Islamic account, which is suitable for traders from the MENA region or beyond.