For the Longest time, Indonesia has struggled with creating a clear regulation for the money market. However, significant improvement has been noted over the years, so much so that it attracts many investors, both locally and internationally. Today, Indonesia is one of the fastest growing Forex markets in the South East Asia region with many traders seeing its potential of becoming a future Forex market leader.
As a result, this market has gotten a lot of attention from brokers across the globe looking to take advantage of its high growing speed. Unfortunately, this only makes it harder for traders to find a reliable and trustworthy Forex broker to work with. That is why a criterion is required to help you choose the best Forex broker that meets your trading needs.
Criteria for the best FX broker in Indonesia
Regulation
Appropriately regulated Forex brokers assure traders that they adhere to fair trading practices and keep their funds secure. It also shows that a broker is adequately funded and that their investors can trade in all events, even during losses. Ideally, a reliable Forex broker in Indonesia should have at least one trading license from a trusted regulatory body such as BAPPEBTI.
BAPPEBTI was founded in 2005 and is the current regulator of the local financial market in Indonesia. Regulation is crucial to the trustworthiness of a broker as it protects the traders’ rights by ensuring the broker is operating under the local and international Forex trading rules. In this case, we highly recommend dealing with international Forex brokers that are regulated by well known and trusted agencies such as CySec, FCA, FSA, FSB among others.
Trading platform and software
Since the Forex market is open 24 hours, 5 days a week, there is no point for traders to limit themselves to a 9 to 5 job. With Forex trading, they have the option to work day and night or skip a few days and only trade for a few hours or minutes per day.
Regardless of how you choose to trade, it is important that you work with a broker that has a fast and reliable trading platform. The MetaTrader 4 platform is the most popular amongst Indonesian brokers. This platform is preferred to others for being user-friendly and has all the necessary features that can be adjusted for a trader with limited computer skills.
Types of account
Different brokers offer different types of trading accounts to attract clients of different incomes. Some of the accounts include;
Micro account: This has the smallest lot size of 1K, which is offered at just 10cents per pip. Traders with only $100 can get trading with this account.
Mini Account: This account is for traders who are able to trade a minimum of 1K but no more than 5K. The smallest lot size of the mini account in 10,000 pips.
Standard account: This is for the traders looking to trade lot sizes of 100K. For this account, traders are advised to invest over $20,000. However, a $10,000 investment will still do.
Islamic Account: This is specifically set for Muslim traders. Since the majority of Indonesians are Islam, they can open a swap free Islamic account to trade with. With this account, traders are not charged interest nor are they paid based on overnight lending rates.
Demo accounts
We highly recommend choosing a broker that offers a free demo account. A demo account lets you test the broker and their platform with virtual money, prior to using any real cash.
Low trading costs
Just like any trader, you want to save as much as you can from trading costs. This is especially important seeing as trading costs can quickly add up, costing you a lot of money in the long term. Therefore, before choosing a Forex broker to trade with, you need to pay attention to their trading fees. Forex brokers earn their income through spreads and commissions. Consider working with a broker with low spreads and commissions.
Customer support
The Forex market is a broad and complex subject. Therefore, traders, especially newbies, need all the help and support they can get. Ideally, choose a broker that offers support in multilingualism, especially Indonesian, if you are from Indonesia. If possible, they should also offer a local office within your area where you can have face to face meetings.
Trading currencies provide an excellent opportunity for you to take advantage of Indonesia’s growing Forex market. However, it also comes with a host of risks. Therefore, you want to make sure you conduct thorough research to choose the best broker to trade with. Use the criterion above to help you sift through the list of brokers to choose the perfect one for your needs.