BD Swiss Review

BDSwiss was established in 2012 and was quick to cement itself as one of the leading online trading platforms on the web.

They offer a proprietary trading platform, along with MetaTrader4 and MetaTrader5, and offer commission-free trading, raw spreads and a good selection of investment/trading options.

In this BDSwiss review, I’m going to give you a comprehensive look at the site.

I’ll cover everything, from more about the company to the account opening process.

I’ll also show you the commissions/fees, investment options and platforms available.

BDSwiss review was last updated in May 2020. Author – Jonathan Mann.

About BDSwiss

Launched in 2012, BDSwiss is based in Zurich.

The trading platform is one of the biggest around, boasting an impressive trading volume – latest figures show they have more than $20bn in forex trades every single month.

With licences from CYSEC in the EU, the National Futures Associated in the USA and the FSC, BDSwiss accept traders from all corners of the globe.

They’re part of a large and well-respected group of companies, which further helps to solidify the site’s trustworthiness.

Opening an Account

One of the first indications that BDSwiss is geared more towards experienced traders rather than beginners is the minimum amounts required to actually open an account.

I’ll talk more about this in just a moment. First, let’s take a look at the three different types of accounts BDSwiss offers.

Classic Account: The Classic Account is designed for those new to trading, who want to get started without spending too much.

The account offers spreads from 1.5 and has no FX commission.

VIP Account: The VIP Account is designed for those who already have some experience trading.

It offers spreads from 1.1 and again, has no FX commission.

Raw Account: The Raw Account is the top-tier account at BDSwiss.

It’s designed for expert traders (or those with a lot of cash to spend) and offers spreads from 0.0. The FX commission on the Raw Account is $5.

You’ll be able to view details about the three account types from the main sign-up page at BDSwiss’ website.

You will then see an “Open” button below each account type, allowing you to open that specific account.

For the purpose of this review, I chose to open a Classic Account.

The main registration page is simple and easy to complete, and you’ll need to enter your first and last name, country of residence, phone number and email, as well as create a password.

You’ll also be asked to select a regulator – FSC or CYSEC. You will then need to accept the site’s terms and conditions and confirm your phone number (with a 4-digit security code that is texted to your device).

It’s then time to complete the identity verification process, which I’ll talk about NEXT IN THIS BDSwiss review.

How Long Does the Account Creation Process Take?

BDSwiss aim to have all new accounts up and running within 24 hours – although if you create an account over the weekend, you will usually have to wait until the following Monday until your verification documents can be checked and approved.

What’s the Minimum Deposit?

The minimum deposit depends on which account type you open at BDSwiss and they’re quite a bit higher than I see at most other trading platforms today.

The Classic Account has a minimum deposit of $100, the VIP Account $3,000 and the Raw Account $5,000.

Identity and Verification

It’s a legal requirement for BDSwiss to verify your identity.

This means you’ll need to upload various documents before your account can be fully opened.

They require proof of address and proof of name, so you’ll need to upload one form of ID for your name, which is usually a driving license or passport, as well as proof of address, which will usually be a recent bill of some type, which displays both your name and address.

Can BDSwiss Be Trusted?

I’m always honest about whether or not a trading platform can be trusted – and I believe BDSwiss go above and beyond what’s required from a platform to act responsibly.

They’re a fully regulated CYSEC broker, operating under the license number 199/13.

They’re also regulated in the United States by the US National Futures Association.

They also have been authorised as an approved investment dealer by the FSC and have regulatory approval to operate in Germany.

I was pleased to see the trading platform is also registered with the investor compensation fund – adding yet another level of trustworthiness.

With more than one million active traders at any one time, it’s clear BDSwiss are being taken seriously by traders – and I have no qualms in recommending them to both new and experienced traders.

However, as I mentioned earlier, the site does lend itself more towards already competent traders, as opposed to complete beginners.

Research and Assistance

Like many leading trading platforms, BDSwiss have an entire section of their website dedicated to research and education.

This is found in what’s known as the BDSwiss Trading Academy.

It’s designed to take new traders from beginner to competent trader, plus there are also some more advanced trading strategies and analysis to appeal to the more experienced traders.

The Trading Academy offers a wide variety of resources including long-form blog posts, beginner, intermediate and advanced video courses and more.

I especially like their “Forex Glossary” which is basically an A-Z of all forex-related terminology you’ll come across when trading forex.

All research and assistance tools are free.

Sometimes, the site will run webinars and seminars too, plus VIP account holders can also benefit from one-to-one VIP sessions, although these are usually reserved for those who’re willing to fund their accounts with at least $3,000 from the start.

Demo Accounts

BDSwiss offers demo accounts to all new customers and it’s easy to undergo the setup process.

However, one thing I wasn’t keen on is that you do need to talk directly with a member of the customer support team in order for your demo account to be activated.

However, once your account is open, you’ll have full access to all the forex and CFD markets you’d have access to were you to have a real money account.

Desktop Experience

BDSwiss offers a number of different trading platforms – there are three to choose from in total, and I’m going to be giving you an overview of each of these below.

BDSwiss Web Trader: BDSwiss Web Trader is the brokerage’s proprietary trading platform, and I was pleasantly surprised by the number of features packed inside it.

Many trading platforms rely almost exclusively on MetaTrader4, so building their own platform is something that isn’t always done as well as possible.

That’s simply not the case with BDSwiss though, and their Web Trader platform is incredibly well-made and versatile.

It features a very intuitive order window, and the developers have made it available in more than 20 different languages.

I found the user interface to be incredibly clean and easy to navigate, and it’s also very simple to use.

I feel like BDSwiss have included all the important features, without overdoing things and making the platform unnecessarily complex.

Web Trader is also fully synced with the BDSwiss app and MetaTrader4, so you don’t need to worry about any lag while switching between apps/devices.

MetaTrader4: MetaTrader4 is, by far, the industry standard when it comes to online forex trading.

It features an incredibly easy to use user interface and is packed full of features.

It gives you the chance to overlay a number of analytical studies and provides you with daily account statements too, so you’re always in the loop regarding how you’re getting on.

It’s also fully compatible with the BDSwiss Web Trader platform and mobile apps.

MetaTrader5: MetaTrader5 is the updated version of MetaTrader4 – although it’s fair to say that it never quite caught on.

Still, it does offer some improvements on its predecessor, and it offers multi-asset trading on more than 250 different CFDs.

You can also set stop loss and take profit levels – something I recommend all traders learn about before diving into the world of online trading.

Mobile Experience

If you’ve read any of my other reviews, you’ll know I’m a big proponent of mobile apps.

In this day and age, I don’t think there’s any excuse for a trading platform not to offer a mobile app and I’m pleased to say BDSwiss do.

Their mobile app is free to download and is available on most iOS and Android devices.

When I was writing this review, I downloaded the app for myself – I wanted to try it out and see it working first-hand.

I found that I was able to trade directly from my phone, view real-time prices of multiple different asset classes, and I could even gain instant access to some of the technical trading indicators.

One of my favourite facets of the app however (and something that some of the other bigger trading platforms are yet to implement) is the ability to view real-time news through the app.

This is particularly useful when you’re looking to make trades based on real-time news events.

Now, I should clear something up: you actually have two choices when it comes to downloading BDSwiss’ mobile app.

You can either use their own mobile app, or you can trade on the MetaTrader4/5 apps – both are pretty much the same, although the BDSwiss app also allows for cryptocurrency trading.

I think one of the only downsides to BDSwiss’ app is the lack of customisation.

As a trader myself, I like to be able to set things up in a way that suits me.

There are some customisation options, but nowhere near as many as I’d like, and the more experienced traders may see this as a significant negative point.

In terms of speed and usability, the BDSwiss app is fantastic.

I found it easy to swipe between different charts, and the real-time quotes were indeed real-time.

There’s also a mobile-optimised version of their website, although I would only consider this as a last resort – it’s nowhere near as comprehensive as their mobile app, and it definitely lacks many of the features you’ll benefit from in the app itself.

Investment Options

I was really happy with the variety of asset classes I found at BDSwiss.

They offer everything from forex and commodities to indices, shares and even cryptocurrencies.

As you’d imagine from a site specializing in forex, they offer all major currency pair CFDs, a great selection of what are known as minor pairs, and the site also boasts a selection of exotic pairs too.

In total you’ll find yourself faced with more than 50 different currency pairs to choose from, so there’s no shortage of options here.

When it comes to commodity CFDs, BDSwiss offer a total of five.

These includes gold, natural gas and oil. I was also happy to find more than 140 different equity pairs, and these are from four of the world’s leading international stock exchanges.

One thing I do really like is that BDSwiss are continually updating the number of assets and investment options they offer.

For example, cryptocurrencies are their latest offering, allowing you to trade a number of the world’s most popular cryptos.

I think both beginner and experienced traders will be more than satisfied with the investment options offered at BDSwiss.

If you’re interested in learning about the full range of assets they offer, they have a comprehensive page on their website that gives you a full overview.

It’s also worth joining their mailing list and following them on their social media channels, as they often announce new assets coming soon, which lets you see what new investment options may be added in the near future.

Commissions and Fees

BDSwiss are pretty reasonable with their fees, which lower than I’ve seen at many other trading platforms.

Small commissions of 0.1% are charged for stock CFD trades, and you’ll also be charged a fee when you decide to roll a trade over to the following day.

BDSwiss also charge an inactivity account fee, however this doesn’t kick in until 6 months of no activity.

This means making no deposits, withdrawals or trades within that time-frame.

This fee is capped at around $78, which is a bit high.

Deposits & Withdrawals

BDSwiss offers one of the largest selections of payment methods I’ve seen at a reputable online trading platform.

These payment methods currently include debit and credit cards, online banking, QR code payments, Skrill, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Neteller, wire transfer and online banking.

All payments are processed securely, and aside from wire transfers, are all credited to your account almost instantly.

All deposits are processed completely fee-free.

I was also really happy to find that they process free withdrawals to credit cards.

However, if you choose to make a withdrawal below €20 you will be charged a fixed fee of €10.

Those making a withdrawal under €100 using bank wire will also incur a withdrawal fee of €10. There are no other fees attached to deposits or withdrawals.

The finance team at BDSwiss also aim to process withdrawals in under 48 hours.

However, in my experience, as well as from what I’ve gathered from other traders who use the platform, it’s not uncommon to see withdrawals processed on a same-day basis.

However, the time it takes for your funds to actually reach your bank/eWallet account after they’ve been processed varies and could take up to five days.

This is out of the BDSwiss’ control.

Customer Support

BDSwiss offers some of the best customer support I’ve come across and really I can’t reiterate just how good it is.

You can get in touch with the customer support team 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday.

The support team does not work at weekends, although the technical team is on hand in case of any site outages or problems.

One of the things I was most impressed with was the way in which BDSwiss aims to connect with users in today’s modern day and age.

For example, you’ll find conventional customer support methods like live chat, email and phone available, but they also offer support through WhatsApp and Telegram – ideal for those like me who spend their lives glued to their phones and want to be able to get help and support without going through the process of logging into our accounts using a desktop.

I also want to talk for a moment about the phone support offered.

I was really impressed to see BDSwiss offering phone support in no less than 13 different languages and each language has its own phone number.

Currently, they offer customer support in English, German, French, Greek, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and more.

If you’re logged into your desktop, I’d say the easiest way of contacting the customer support team is to use the live chat facility.

This will connect you with an operator in just a couple of seconds. However, I should point out that you do need to enter a few details before you’re connected to an operator, specifically your personal details and a brief summary of your question/problem.

The BDSwiss team are also very active on social media and it’s possible to reach out to them via Twitter.

However, they will not be able to provide any account-specific help through social media channels.

They can answer general questions about their platform and service though.

On the whole, I’m really impressed with BDSwiss’ customer support.

It’s clear they’ve trained their customer support team well, and they went out of their way to help me when I had some basic questions about setting up my new account.

I also love the fact that customer support is offered in so many languages, ensuring that users from around the world get any help they need.

Conclusion

With more than 250 different CFDs to choose from, it’s clear BDSwiss knows a thing or two about what to offer investors.

I love the fact that they offer such a broad variety of forex pairs too, with there not being much you won’t find at their site.

Their educational section is excellent and contains a plethora of up-to-date and well-made resources and tools.

There are two criticisms I have though.

Firstly, the high minimum account opening cost will be a turnoff to new traders, particularly those who are wanting to try out forex trading without spending large sums of cash.

The second downside I found is that they do charge quite a high withdrawal fee on bank transfers under €100, although withdrawals of over €20 made using debit and credit cards are free, which is rare to see today.

Overall, BDSwiss is a great trading platform.

They have a solid reputation and deliver an outstanding trading experience to their users. Just be prepared for the high account setup minimums.

8.4Expert Score

Excellent

BDSwiss review result is: Excellent This forex broker has a great variety of deposit and withdrawal methods, great trading tools and good spreads. Trading desk, mobile options, tools, customer service, everything suits any broker.

Spreads

9.5

Trading Tools

8

Customer Support

7.5

Instruments

8

Reliable

8.5

PROS

• Low spreads
• Trading tools
• Reliable forex broker
• Fast account opening
• Good for Pros
• Good for beginners

CONS

• Customer Support could be 24/7
• Offer of tradable instruments could be better
• Some fees are a bit high