BKFX

BKFX is an online Forex and CFD broker based offshore in St Vincent and the Grenadines, which does not regulate Forex trading.

Because St Vincent and the Grenadines is not a competent regulator, we consider BKFX a high-risk broker for South Africans to trade with.   

BKFX’s account opening process is hassle-free compared to other brokers

All South African residents are eligible to open an account at BKFX, but will need to meet all the minimum deposit requirements to open an account:

• Cent Account: 5 USD
• Standard account: 100 USD
• Premium Account: 1,000 USD
• Tailor Made account: 10,000 USD

Responsible brokers require a minimum deposit to reduce a trader’s risk of losing their entire account balance in a stop out following a margin call on a losing position. 

South Africans will also be required to go through BKFX’s Know Your Customer (KYC) process:

1. BKFX’s intake form requires clients to fill in their email address, name, telephone number, country of residence, and date of birth. A confirmation pin will be sent to the listed email address.   
2. BKFX requires individuals to submit a copy of their National ID or Passport with the signature page, and a copy of a recent utility bill or bank statement displaying the customer’s name and address that is not older than three months.
3. For a client to deposit funds at BKFX via credit/debit card, a copy of the back and front of the credit/debit card used to make the deposit is required. For bank transfers, a copy of a bank statement will be needed.
4. All documents should be submitted to BKFX within seven days of the first deposit to avoid delays in processing the transactions. Should BKFX not receive the required documents on file, a client’s pending withdrawals will be cancelled and credited back to the trading account.
5. Documents can be scanned or sent through as a high-quality digital camera picture and uploaded into the relevant section of the Client Login Area.

According to customer service, once the documents have been received by BKFX, accounts will be ready within 1 business day.  Compared to other South African brokers, BKFX’s account opening process is fast, easy, and fully digital.

BKFX offers a range of financial instruments for CFD trading, including Forex, cryptocurrencies, shares, commodities, and indices.  BKFX generally offers fewer instruments to trade compared to many international brokers, but it does offer a wider range of cryptocurrency pairs than is generally available at other South African brokers:

BKFX offers several account types with different fees. Unlike most ECN brokers, it only uses a single liquidity provider, resulting in less competitive spreads. 

All BKFX’s account types were tested to compare the costs, and then these costs were compared to those of other brokers. 

The costs were evaluated based on the trading fees on one lot (100 000 USD) of EUR/USD, including the spreads and commissions. 

As per the table above, the lowest cost account is the Premium Account, however, the minimum deposit requirement is 1,000 USD, making it inaccessible to most traders, and especially beginners. 

If you hold a position overnight with BKFX, a swap fee will also be charged, which is the interest paid on a leveraged position.  A leveraged position is the money borrowed from the broker to trade.  Interest is paid (or received) when a position is held overnight.  For example, at BKFX, clients will pay interest of 4.32 USD when holding a long position on one lot of EUR/USD overnight and will receive 0.85 USD in interest when holding a short position (one lot of EUR/USD) overnight.  

Based on the low minimum deposit requirement of the Cent Account, and the fact that traders can trade in micro-lots, this would probably be the best option for beginner traders who do not want to risk trading large amounts of money. 

Compared to other STP/ECN brokers, BKFX’s fees are high.  Most ECN brokers offer raw spread pricing and charge a commission per trade, which brings down the trading costs.  BKFX only offers raw spread pricing on its Tailor Made account, which has a minimum deposit requirement of 10,000 USD/EUR, making it inaccessible to most traders.

BKFX offers four market execution accounts all with leverage of up to 500:1, and hedging, scalping and algorithmic trading are available. 

• Cent Account: With a minimum deposit of 5 USD/EUR, clients can trade in micro-lots. Spreads start at 1.8 pips on the EUR/USD, which is wider than other similar brokers, but no commissions are charged.
• Standard account: The minimum deposit is 100 USD on this account. Spreads are also wide, starting at 1.5 pips on the EUR/USD, with no commissions.
• Premium Account: Spreads tighten to 1 pip on the EUR/USD on this account, in exchange for a minimum deposit of 1,000 USD. This spread is still relatively wide compared to other brokers with commission-free accounts. 
• Tailor Made Account: Designed for more experienced traders, the Tailor Made Account requires a minimum deposit of 10,000 USD, raw spreads start at 0 pips on the EUR/USD, and a variable commission is charged.

BKFX offers MT4 on a mobile trading platform. It is available for both Android and iOS. As with the web trading platform, traders can choose from multiple languages. Although there is limited functionality compared to the desktop version of the platform, with reduced timeframes and fewer charting options, traders will still have access to analytics with technical indicators, graphical objects, and a full set of trading orders.

BKFX only offers trading on the Metatrader 4 (MT4) platform, whereas other brokers offer multiple platforms, including MT5, cTrader or a proprietary platform. 

Although MT4 is now showing its age, it is still considered one of the best CFD trading platforms in the world. It is especially prized for its algorithmic trading abilities, allowing traders to install automated trading robots and indicators downloaded from the MetaTrader Market.

MT4 is also widely recognised for its trade execution speeds, charting tools and customisability and it is available in many languages. The benefit of using a third-party platform such as MT4 is that traders can use the same platform should they choose to migrate to another broker. That said, many brokers offer support for several trading platforms, including their own proprietary platforms, MT5, or cTrader.  MT5, the newer version of Metatrader, offers additional functionality and a more sophisticated programming language than MT4.  cTrader is also frequently available at other ECN brokers and has a cleaner user interface, offers more advanced charting options, and is more user-friendly than MT4.

An FSCA-regulated broker, BKFX ensures that all Anti-Money Laundering rules and regulations are followed, and as such, all non-profit withdrawals are returned to the deposit source. No matter your deposit method, the withdrawal of all profits must be made by bank transfer to a bank account in your name. BKFX does not charge a fee for deposits or withdrawals.  See the following list of payment options:

• Credit/Debit Card
• Local Bank Transfer
• Neteller
• Skrill
• Sticpay
• LetKnow
• Zotapay
• Dragonpay
• Payguru

The deposit and withdrawal process at BKFX is fully automated, which means that deposits are processed instantly, and withdrawals take 30 minutes, which is much more efficient than other South African brokers.

Note that a bank transfer can take several days to be processed depending on the bank processing time. 

BKFX offers a few additional trading tools, including an Economic Calendar, a VPS service, and PAMM Investor.  However, unlike other similar brokers, it does not offer any additional sentiment indicators or analytics services such as Autochartist or Trading Central.  See below for more details on the various tools:

• Economic Calendar: BKFX offers an economic calendar highlighting various events that will impact market movements. An economic calendar is also available through MT4.
• VPS: The VPS service available at BKFX is offered by a third-party provider, TradingFXVPS. The VPS service ensures that trades are never affected by power cuts (such as load-shedding) and provides a secure low latency connection that is always stable.  TradeFXVPS’ servers are located in major financial cities around the world and connect seamlessly with the MT4 platform.  An annual subscription to the VPS service costs 250 USD but is also available with a monthly payment of 25 USD. 
• PAMM Investor: PAMM stands for Percentage Allocation Management Module and is a form of trading whereby an investor’s money is managed by strategy providers who trade on their behalf in exchange for a portion of the profits generated. PAMM services are great for beginner traders who do not yet feel able to create a profitable trading strategy.

Overall, the tools on offer at BKFX are not as substantial as those offered by other brokers, and while it offers a VPS service, this comes at an extra cost to the trader.

BKFX offers a selection of video tutorials, audiobooks, ebooks, and a forex glossary.  These materials are neither in-depth nor comprehensive.  On a positive note, BKFX offers an unlimited demo account that is available for all account types.  See below for more details:

• Video Tutorials: BKFX offers an Introduction to Forex comprised of 16 lessons, totaling 43 minutes, and a 36-minute introduction to the Metatrader platform.
• Audiobooks: The same materials as available in the video section are available as audiobooks.
• Ebooks: BKFX offers one downloadable ebook that covers the Metatrader platform.
• Forex Glossary: BKFX offers a basic trading glossary covering all trading terms.
• Demo Account: Unlike many other brokers, BKFX’s demo account is unlimited, which means it will never expire. The demo account is available for all account types on the MT4 platform and is a great way for traders to practice trading without risking real money.

Overall, the education section could be improved with a greater variety of materials in addition to providing sections for beginner and more experienced traders.  Beginner traders would also benefit greatly from being able to attend webinars on CFD trading basics and risk management.

Customer service at BKFX is available Monday to Friday 10am – 6pm SAST, but will be initiating a 24/5 support line in the near future which will bring it in line with most other brokers. Support is available via online chat, telephone, and email, and several languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean. 

We found the customer service responsive and polite, but unable to answer some basic questions, such as what commissions are charged on the Tailor Made Account and what restrictions are applied to the Cent Account.