BDSwiss Forex Broker Review

Launched in 2012, BDSwiss may not be an industry veteran yet. But over its relatively brief existence, it has registered massive growth, becoming one of Europe’s most trusted, and popular online brokerages.

It has not all been smooth sailing for BDSwiss though…Its growth from some 130,000 processed transactions in 2012, to more than 9 million in 2018, was fraught by missteps and mistakes. Some of these were high-profile ones. To its credit however, the company has always owned up to its mistakes and made amends where possible/needed.

Such was the case of a 2017 run-in with CySEC, which saw the operator pay out a EUR 150,000 settlement to the regulator, for various violations.

While the overall user feedback originating from portals such as Trustpilot is positive, there are a few complaints mixed in as well.

Some of these are about the needlessly tedious nature of withdrawals. Others accuse BDSwiss staff of tinkering with and editing trades. Spread manipulation is also present on the list of complaints.

Some users have decried steep withdrawal fees too. In this regard, it has to be noted that BDSwiss does not in fact charge any fees on withdrawals, as long as they are above a set minimum amount.

The operation was launched by founders from Switzerland. That said, the primary corporate entity behind the BDSwiss brand is BDS Markets Ltd, an investment firm incorporated in Mauritius.

The exact address of the company is 6th Floor, Tower 1, Nexteracom Building 72201 Ebene Mauritius. BDSwiss operates under the regulatory umbrella of the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius. Its license number is C116016172.

BDS Markets Global Services Ltd is the actual payment provider of the operation and the direct operator of the BDSwiss website.

With the above in mind, it is clear that the brokerage has had some kind of fall-out with CySEC. Still, its EU-facing branch, BDSwiss Holding PLC, is licensed and regulated by CySEC. In fact, the group also has a branch in Germany, represented by BDSwiss GmbH, registered with the local authorities under number: HRB160749B.

The cherry on top of the regulatory cake is the fact that BDSwiss LLC is registered with the US National Futures Association as well, under number: 0486419.

What are some of the unique draws of the brokerage, besides its excellent regulatory status? Why would someone find it an attractive alternative to its competitors?

Despite its somewhat troubled history, the broker has picked up a fair share of industry awards. In 2019 for instance, World Finance thought it worthy of the “Best Trading Conditions” Award. If there is anything savvy traders appreciate, it is good trading conditions.

The broker was also awarded for its mobile trading apps twice.

Platform & Tools

BDSwiss supports several trading platforms, such as MT4, MT5 as well as its BDSwiss WebTrader and the mentioned mobile trading apps. Its platform selection truly covers every moderately capable device out there.

MT4 is the gold standard of trading platforms: there is no way around that. MT5 may be its successor, but MT4 is still the more popular one.

As far as the platform versions delivered by BDSwiss are concerned, MT5 does seem to trump MT4 in several regards.

Instead of 30 technical indicators (preinstalled) offered by the latter, it features some 38 indicators. It also supports 6 pending order types, compared to 4 supported by MT4.

In regards to time frames (quite essential for proper technical analysis) MT5 offers no fewer than 21 compared to MT4’s 9. The graphical objects traders can use for analysis are important as well. MT5 has no fewer than 44 of these available, compared to MT4’s 31.

The BDSwiss WebTrader is an in-house creation of the brokerage. It has been developed with users’ needs in mind. Thus, it features a clean and crisp interface, and a selection of cutting edge tools for charting and analysis.

The WebTrader is fully synchronized with the other platforms featured by the broker, such as MT4 and the mobile apps.

Due to its browser-based, no download nature, it offers safe and secure trading, with no requotes, on any device.

BDSwiss mobile apps are available for iOS as well as Android devices. Both apps feature clean and highly functional user interfaces, as well as interactive charts and real time quotes.

Since these apps offer full deposit/withdrawal functionality, traders can use them as their sole trading platform if they so wish.

Again, like the WebTrader, these platforms are synchronized with the MT4 and MT5 platforms of the broker.

Asset Classes

FX pairs make up the bulk of the broker’s tradable asset selection. More than 50 such pair can be traded, from the top majors all the way to exotics.

In addition to them, some 5 commodities, such as gold and oil, are also available for trading.

There are more than 140 equities represented in the tradable asset lineup, as well as some 10 indices.

The broker offers 15 cryptocurrencies for trading through CFDs. What this means is that the price fluctuations of some of the most popular crypto/fiat pairs can be traded. No physical cryptocurrencies can be acquired through the broker however.

All-in-all, the tradable asset lineup earns a big thumbs up through its diversity and the sheer number of tradable assets it comprises.

Commission & Fees

As always, the commissions and fees charged by the broker depend exclusively on the account type for which traders register.

The Basic Account is the most accessible for the public. It does not charge any fees on deposits, or commissions, and it features spreads starting from 1.5 pips on the EUR/USD pair.

The Raw Spread Account does however charge commissions. Its spreads start from just 0.4 pips on the EUR/USD pair.

The Black Account is aimed at high volume traders. It too is a commission-free option, with spreads starting from 1.1 pips on the EUR/USD pair.

None of the above accounts charge any extra fees on deposits.

Research & Education

In regards to education, BDSwiss covers most of the usual angles. It features a Trading Academy, which offers Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced trading courses.

Rounding out the Academy picture are recorded webinars and daily live webinars. As far as the mentioned trading courses are concerned: they feature videos, as well as a quiz-like format which allows traders to put their newly acquired trading knowledge to the test.

Customer Service

BDSwiss’ customer support team can be contacted through an impressive number of channels, such as Live Chat, WhatsApp, Telegram and email. The support email address is support@bdswiss.com. There is an email form at the Contact Us page of the official website. A handy Callback feature is also available.

As far as phone support goes, the broker offers a few local, toll-free numbers which can be called. Some of these are: +44 2036705890 for English speakers, +49 3021446991 for Germans, +34 910756937 for Spanish and +33 975186247 for French.

Mobile Trading

The broker offers award-winning mobile trading apps covering all Android and iOS mobile devices.

Conclusion

BDSwiss is a sturdy and quite reputable presence on the often treacherous stage of online FX/CFD trading.

Its reputation is decent, its trading platforms are great and its trading conditions are what one would expect too.

Its regulatory status may not be spotless, but it is much better than what 99% of its competitors can show in this regard.