Saxo Bank is a Danish bank specializing in investments and online trading, founded almost three decades ago as a brokerage firm. When they were issued a banking license in 2001, the name changed to Saxo.
Saxo’s offerings include stocks, Forex, futures, bonds, funds, futures spreads, and more. Trade is possible through their online platforms. Traditional banking products aren’t available.
Saxo Bank has its head office in Copenhagen as well as branches in Paris, London, Dubai, Tokyo, India, and Zurich among other global business hubs. Bank data indicates their daily turnover is $12 billion, generated by customers in 180 countries. Clients from across the globe are allowed to trade with the broker with the notable exceptions of the US, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea.
Trading Platforms
Saxo Trader is a platform for trading on international financial markets, where you can choose from over 30,000 financial instruments and trade on the most favorable terms. The platform and real trading accounts are offered in partnership with the leading online broker Saxo Bank A / S.
The main advantages of Saxo Trader are the easy access to your account through any type of device (PC, tablet, phone), the access to over 160 currency pairs, gold and silver, the trading of options on currencies, stock exchanges and commodities, stocks and CFDs. on stocks, indices, commodities from over 20 world exchanges, with nearly 500 futures contracts and more than 1000 exchange-traded funds.
The minimum threshold for initial deposit and account maintenance in the Saxo Trader platform is 2,000 currency units.
The installation version of Saxo Trader is the basic version of the trading platform, which after installation on a PC (Windows or Mac) gives you full access to all functions, trading menus and graphics modules.
Saxo TraderGO is both a web-based and a mobile version of the Trader platform. With it you can manage your account from one place, through all types of devices (PC, tablets, phones) under operating systems iOS, Android, Windows.
Saxo Bank pros and cons
A well designed, intuitive trading platform drives the Saxo trading experience. It features an excellent research service. Users constantly get trade ideas thanks to help from the bank’s research team. Its vast portfolio can meet even the most specific needs.
One downside of this provider is high options and futures trading fees. Depending on where you live, you might have to pay a minimum deposit of as much as $10,000. Support is not available live or 24/7.
Trading Fees
The bank’s trading fees are average overall. The fee structure lets you calculate costs easily. It is transparent and manageable although it can differ from one account type or another. Of the three types of accounts – Classic, VIP, and Platinum – the second two are more favorable.
If you have nothing against paying higher fees to receive a high-quality service, you can’t go wrong with Saxo. On the plus side, they offer low mutual fund fees. The bank doesn’t charge a fee when you’re trading these. The broker does not charge annual maintenance fees. Only the issuer does.
The bank’s mutual funds aren’t available in every country. Clients pay a minimum fee as well as a 0.2% fee based on volume. The former is quite substantial at €80. Their VIP and Platinum account fees are lower at 0.05% and 0.10% resp. minimum fees of €50 and €60.
Options
In general, options fees are high. This broker levies a fee to hold a long position overnight unlike most others. Regardless of the position, they don’t apply holding fees for the first month. The respective Interbank rate and a 1.5% markup form the basis of the funding rate applied for carrying cost calculation for short-listed options.
Opening an Account With Saxo Bank
It’s quick and easy to open an account with Saxo. What’s more, everything is done online. It will take you a maximum of 15 minutes to register. Then, you must wait for the platform to verify your account. On average, this takes two – three business days. The first step to account opening is to apply online. Then, you will be approved if verification runs smoothly. Finally, you proceed to fund the account.
To have your residency and identity verified, you need to upload proof of both. A passport or national ID card serves as proof of identity. For the former, you need to upload a tax or bank statement listing your current address.
To activate your account, you need to fund it. Depending on the method of deposit you select, this can take anywhere from one to five business days. The broker lets you choose from 26 account base currencies. If you’re going to trade in multiple currencies, it’s possible to open a number of sub-accounts in various currencies. You can also have one main account and add numerous base currencies to it.
You won’t pay a fee on currency conversion if the assets you trade are in the same currency as those of your account base. This will also be the case if your bank account is in the same currency as that you use to fund your account. By opening an account in multiple currencies at an online bank, you’re saving on currency conversion fees conveniently.
Online banks have good exchange rates and low-cost (or free) international bank transfers. What’s more, it will take just minutes to open an account.
Deposit and withdrawal methods and fees
Deposit methods include bank transfer, credit card, debit card, and online payment providers. In some countries, withdrawal by debit or credit card is not allowed. The full list of these can be viewed on the broker’s official site. No deposit fees are charged by the bank. Keep in mind it doesn’t make electronic wallets available.
That aside, you can expect your funds to arrive instantaneously if you use online payment providers or pay by credit or debit card. A bank transfer will be slower, usually up to three business days. It’s only possible to make a deposit from an account, where you figure as the official holder. This is done to combat money laundering. It’s free to make a withdrawal from Saxo Bank. However, the only possible method is bank transfer.
