Online Trading in Switzerland

Online trading in Switzerland is very accessible and easy to get started with, and there are a wealth of platforms and brokers to choose from. All of those listed in the table below accept Swiss clients despite not all having offices in Switzerland or being directly regulated here.

With most of the brokers you can create free demo accounts to get a feel for the platform and the live accounts have low account opening minimums. Use the comparison table below to get started.

🧠 Consider how much of your portfolio is allocated to day trading. It’s a risky business and you need to take care. Read more about my thoughts on risk here and here.

What is the easiest way to start online trading in Switzerland?

As mentioned online trading is quick and easy to get started with for Swiss residents. There are however a few pointers depending on your experience and willingness to learn. For example, Interactive Brokers is by far the market leader and has the lowest fees, followed closely buy DEGIRO. Once you get comfortable with the platform they are great places for your online trading activity.

However, in my experience they are definitely not the easiest options to get started with if you are a beginner.

Here platforms such as eToro, XTB and Trading212 are much easier to use for newcomers interested in regular trading. They have quicker customer onboarding, simpler mobile and desktop trading apps, and remove a lot of the complexity when it comes to online trading. They also offer free demos to get a feel for the platform – so it’s easy to ‘try before you buy’.

What should you look for with an online trading platform?

You need to decide for yourself what’s important for you, and this blog won’t tell you which online trading broker to use specifically. However, a few important areas for me are business reputation, regulation, security and fees. Lets expand on each of those.

1. Business reputation –
There are hundreds of online trading platforms out there, many of which are newly established. I’m a fan of innovation and the start-up culture, however it’s important to look past the fancy marketing. How do they handle customer problems? Do they have an active helpdesk? Are customers satisfied?

Do your research and take a look through Google News for any company updates and developments. Forums are good, however be mindful you’ll always read a lot of negative sentiment, regardless of the many happy customers not making comments. Start small, and make your own tests before you commit larger amounts.

2. Regulation –
There are not many online brokers which are regulated in Switzerland, and those that are (like Swissquote) will carry a heavy price premium compared to the non-Swiss alternatives. It’s perfectly ok to be trading with a broker outside of Switzerland, however its important they have some level of regulation and license where they operate.

All the online trading platforms in the comparison table below are regulated, and I will never review or recommend unlicensed and unregulated platforms – there are too many horror stories and scams in this arena to take a chance.

It’s best to stick with the big name firms, and not the hot new start-up from the Vanuatu islands.

3. Security –
With your hard earned CHF involved, you want to be sure it’s in safe hands. Look for industry standards such as SSL when you login on the desktop, two factor auth, mobile app options (generally safer) and some evidence of how their platform (and company) is audited and security tested.

In addition, as explained above ensure you are working with a licensed platform and your assets are not on the balance sheet of the company.

This ensures in the event of bankruptcy, your assets are viewed separately – and with eToro for example, are insured up to 100K EUR under the CySec licence they hold.

4. Fees –
Fees are very important over the long term as your portfolio grows, and online trading platforms have many different ways to make money. From charging commissions on every trade (e.g. eToro it’s free, Swissquote it’s 25CHF) to deposit, withdrawal and currency conversion mark-up, there are many levels to look at.

Of course these will all vary across platforms, and will change based on how much and how often you are trading.

A general marketing tactic is to offer ‘zero commissions’ on trades – to then charge more somewhere else, such as on the currency conversion or the spread on the asset when you buy & sell. So don’t get dazzled by the marketing spin.

In general, if its the rock bottom fees you are after then Interactive Brokers and DEGIRO are the top choice, however they offer a ‘no thrills’ user experience and are a little more complex to use than the competitor offerings from eToro, XTB and Trading 212.

Hopefully the table below will give you some general guidance on what you can expect to then dig a little deeper.