We gave Saxo Bank an overall score of 4.8 / 5 as it is one of the best forex brokers in the world. Additionally, Saxo clients can trade all the other important asset types. The high minimum deposit requirement of $500-$2.000 may prove a limiting factor for beginners and those on a tighter budget.
Saxo Bank’s forex and mutual fund fees are low, other fees are average to high. Saxo is not recommended for buy and hold investing because it charges inactivity and custody fees.
Interactive Brokers is available in Pakistan
 Products offered | Stock, ETF, Forex, Fund, Bond, Options, Futures, CFD, Crypto, SaxoSelect |
 Saxo Bank EURUSD spread | 0.7 |
| Saxo Bank withdrawal fee charged | 0$ |
| Saxo Bank inactivity fee charged | Yes |
| Saxo Bank minimum deposit | $2,000 |
 Saxo Bank ECN account available | Yes |
 Saxo Bank swap-free/Islamic account available | No |
 Deposit methods | Bank transfer, Credit/debit cards |
 Country of regulation | Denmark, UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia |
 Platforms provided | Advanced Trading Platform, MT4, MT5 |
 Saxo Bank demo account provided | Yes |
Our overall Interactive Brokers rating
Is it safe to use Saxo Bank?
Yes, Saxo Bank is a reliable and safe service provider. Our main reasons for assigning a high safety score to Saxo are its banking license, regulation by top-tier authorities and regularly disclosed financial data.
How does Saxo Bank protect my investments?
Saxo Bank operates globally through different entities. This matters because the regulator and the amount of investor protection you’re eligible for differs from entity to entity.
| Country of clients | Protection amount | Regulator | Legal entity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most European countries | €100,000 for cash, €20,000 for securities | Danish FSA | Saxo Bank A/S |
| UK | £85,000 | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | Saxo Capital Markets UK Limited |
| France | €100,000 | ACPR (Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution) and AMF (Autorité des marchés financiers) | Saxo Banque |
| Switzerland | CHF 100,000 | Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) | Saxo Bank Schweiz AG |
| Italy | €100,000 | Danish FSA | BG Saxo |
| Netherlands | €20,000 | Danish FSA | Saxo Bank A/S Netherlands |
| Czechia | €100,000 for cash | Danish FSA | Saxo Bank A/S Czech Republic |
| United Arab Emirates | No protection | Central Bank of the UAE | Saxo Bank A/S |
| Singapore | No protection | Monetary Authority of Singapore | Saxo Capital Markets Pte Ltd Singapore |
| Japan | No protection | Japanese Financial Services Agency | Saxo Bank Securities Ltd |
| Hong Kong | No protection | Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong | Saxo Capital Markets Hong Kong Ltd. |
| Australia | No protection | Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) | Saxo Capital Markets (Australia) Limited |
Can I open a Saxo Bank account from my country?
Is it difficult to open an account at Saxo?
The account opening is simple and Saxo usually activates newly opened accounts in 1 day. Saxo’s account opening is fully digital, user-friendly and the broker is available in most countries. However, the minimum deposit is high in certain countries ($500-$2,000).
Read more on Saxo Bank account opening here.
Is it cheap or expensive to use Saxo Bank?
Saxo is cheap for trading forex and mutual funds, expensive for bonds, options and futures while stock and ETF trading have average fees. Non-trading fees such as the custody and inactivity fee make Saxo expensive for buy and hold investors.
Deposit and withdrawal is free at Saxo Bank.
| Assets | Fee level | Fee terms |
|---|---|---|
| EURUSD fee | Low | Classic account: the fees are built into the spread, 0.7 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours. Using VIP pricing the spread can be as low as 0.4 pips. |
| Mutual fund | Low | Mutual funds are available only in certain countries. The broker doesn’t charge any fee for mutual fund trading. |
| US stock fee | Average | $0.02/share; min $10, but using VIP pricing the minimum can be as low as $3 |
| Inactivity fee | High | In the UK, £25 after one quarter of inactivity. SIPP and ISA accounts are exempt from this fee. In non-UK countries, up to $150 after 6 months of inactivity |
You can find more detailed infos about Saxo Bank’s fees here.
How can I take money out of my Saxo account?
We appreciated that withdrawal is free of charge at Saxo Bank. You should too, as this is not standard practice among brokers. You can only use bank transfers for withdrawals, but this is similar to most competitors.
We tested withdrawal via bank transfer and it took 1 business day. You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.
| Saxo Bank | Swissquote | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/debit card | Yes | Yes | No |
| Electronic wallets | No | No | No |
| Withdrawal fee with bank transfer | $0 | $10 | $0 |
You can find more detailed infos about Saxo Bank withdrawal infos here.
How do I start using Saxo Bank?
Saxo’s account opening process consists of three steps:
1. Apply for a broker account online
Saxo’s account opening process is fast and fully digital. Online registration takes only 10-15 minutes.
To verify your identity and residency, you have to upload the following documents:
- Proof of identity: national ID card or passport
- Proof of residency: tax or bank statement
2. Wait until your new account is approved by Saxo
It takes about 1 business day for Saxo to approve new accounts.
3. Fund your Saxo trading account
After approval, you have to fund your account to have it activated even though Saxo doesn’t clearly communicate this requirement. Funding can take 1 to 5 business days depending on the deposit method.
Once you have money in your account, you can start using their mobile app , web platform or desktop platform all of which are high quality and make great sense.
If you are not ready yet to open a live account, you can start by experimenting with their demo account. Read more on Saxo Bank account opening here.
Start developing your trading skills. Read more on the education available at Saxo Bank here.
How do I deposit money at Saxo Bank?
To deposit funds, you can make a bank transfer or use credit/debit cards. Electronic wallets are not available. Saxo Bank charges no deposit fees.
| Saxo Bank | Swissquote | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/debit card | Yes | Yes | No |
| Electronic wallets | No | No | No |
Depositing by credit/debit card is not available in some countries; check Saxo Bank’s website for a complete list.
- To test the deposit process, we sent money from our Revolut account and it arrived instantly.
- Credit/debit card deposits should be instant too
- Bank transfers can take several business days.
You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.
You can find more Saxo deposit infos in this article.
Is Saxo Bank good for FX trading?
Saxo Bank is highly recommended for forex trading as it offers a great variety of currency pairs, low spreads and direct access to the interbank FX market.
Saxo Bank is an ECN or Direct Market Access broker that connects traders to the largest liquidity providers and a global liquidity pool, and thus it provides a secure and best cost option for forex trading as well as ample liquidity.
If you want ot dig deep into Saxo’s fees , you can check them in this article.
The practical side of FX is strong at Saxo: There are well-developed tools for both fundamental and technical analysis at Saxo Bank and their web trading platform is one of the best on the market. The SaxoTraderGO and SaxoTraderPRO platforms are easy to use, and provide features tailored for professionals, such as an advanced order panel.
Is Saxo Bank good for equity trading?
Trading stocks at Saxo is rather expensive. You can buy and sell stocks cheaper and equally safe at alternative equity brokers. Stock and ETF fees are average and they charge an inactivity and a custody fee, which is not ideal for buy and hold investors.
If you hold stocks, ETFs or bonds in your account, Saxo will charge an annual custody fee of:
- 0.12% of open positions with a minimum of €10/month for UK residents. Fees are calculated daily but debited on a monthly basis.
- 0.25% of open positions with a minimum of €5/month for most other countries. For Platinum and VIP customers, the custody fee is reduced to 0.20% and 0.12%, respectively.
You may also be charged for currency conversion if you trade assets that are denominated in a different currency than your account currency.
Check our collection of Saxo Bank’s fees here.
If you decide to trade equities with Saxo: There are well-developed tools for both fundamental and technical analysis at Saxo Bank and their web trading platform is one of the best on the market. The SaxoTraderGO and SaxoTraderPRO platforms are easy to use, and provide features tailored for professionals, such as an advanced order panel.
Is Saxo Bank good for long-term saving?
We do not recommend Saxo Bank for long-term saving because they charge non-trading fees. If you are looking to save long term, you will need a broker with low or no inactivity fee, no custody fee and low stock, bond and ETF commissions. Saxo doesn’t meet any of these criteria. On the other hand, they are a bank which makes them a very safe choice if you don’t mind the higher fees.
We recommend choosing an alternative broker for long-term saving.
Take a minute to check out Saxo’s best alternatives in this article.
| Saxo Bank | Swissquote | Interactive Brokers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.9 |
| Fees score | 3.0 | 1.8 | 4.5 |
| Account opening score | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.2 |
| Deposit and withdrawal score | 4.8 | 4.6 | 3.0 |
| Web platform score | 5.0 | 4.3 | 3.8 |
| Markets and products score | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Is Saxo Bank good for retirement saving?
No, our base case is that Saxo Bank is not a good option for saving for retirement because of its high non-trading fees. However, pension plans are a special type of long-term saving as tax benefits are a very important aspect and these differ from country to country.
Mutual funds are one of the top favorites of investors saving for retirement. As a Saxo client, you can invest in mutual funds with no commission and this may counterbalance the negative impact of the custody fee charged by the broker.
Check our collection of Saxo Bank’s fees here.
How can I reach Saxo Bank customer support?
You can contact Saxo Bank via
- phone,
- and email.
Customer service at Saxo is available in an impressive number of languages. We found that even minor languages like Hungarian are supported.
You can also use a chatbot, which is like an intelligent FAQ section. It gives relevant answers to basic questions like “what is the inactivity fee?”, but can’t answer more complex queries. The ability to chat with a real person would solve this problem. They have a Support portal as well, which works quite similarly.
Overall, we found Saxo’s customer support fine. We received relevant answers on the phone, but reaching a customer support representative took time. Email responses arrived within one day but were not always accurate.
Saxo’s phone customer service is available only from Monday to Friday between 9:00 am and 5:30 pm local time in 16 offices worldwide.
Learn more about Saxo’s customer service.
Saxo Bank – Customer service
Glossary
Trading fees: these are charged when you trade; for instance, in the form of a commission, spreads, financing rates, margin rates or a conversion fee. In our article on brokerage fees, you can learn what these fees mean and what they entail.
Spread: The spread is the difference between the buy and the sell price, or in other words, the bid and the ask price.
Overnight fee: overnight rate (financing rate or swap fee) is a brokerage fee charged when you hold a leveraged position for more than a day. If the broker provides Islamic/swap-free account, then you don’t pay overnight fee, but usually you pay higher spread fees.
Non-trading fees: charges not directly related to trading, such as deposit/withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.
Deposit fee: this is charged when you send money to your trading account at a broker. The fee may differ depending on the method of transfer (i.e. bank card, bank transfer, e-wallets, etc.).
Withdrawal fee: an amount you need to pay when you withdraw money from your trading account, e.g. to your bank account.
Regulators: these are established by governments or other organizations to oversee the functioning and fairness of financial markets, including markets, exchanges and firms. They also oversee that investors are not fooled by scams, and in case of wrongdoing, they try to provide some level of financial and legal backing.
Investor protection: this means that up to a certain limit, you get your money back if the broker goes into bankruptcy or commits fraud. You can find out more about investor protection in our dedicated article.
Table of Contents
- Is it safe to use Saxo Bank?
- Is it difficult to open an account at Saxo?
- Is it cheap or expensive to use Saxo Bank?
- How can I take money out of my Saxo account?
- How do I start using Saxo Bank?
- How do I deposit money at Saxo Bank?
- Is Saxo Bank good for FX trading?
- Is Saxo Bank good for equity trading?
- Is Saxo Bank good for long-term saving?
- How can I reach Saxo Bank customer support?
- Glossary
