Currency is the world’s most traded asset class by volume. However, in India, trading currency hasn’t always been as straightforward as in other countries. The Indian rupee is known as a partially convertible currency, which means the amount allowed to be traded on world markets is limited. Now, after an easing of regulations over the last decade, both domestic and foreign investors can trade rupees and many other currencies through licensed Indian forex brokers.
If you want to take try out forex trading in India but don’t know where to begin, this guide is for you. We’ll compare four of the best forex brokers in India and explain everything you need to know to get started with currency trading.
Our Top-rated India Forex Broker
Want to get started with forex trading right away? If we had to pick the overall best forex broker in India,eToro would get our vote. This broker offers commission free forex trades, competitive spreads, and innovative social trading tools. Plus, it takes just a few minutes to open a new account online. Once you fund your account, you’re ready to start trading forex in India.
eToro: Best Indian Forex Broker 2020
- 0% commission and tight spreads
- Wide range of currency pairs
- Social and copy trading
- Accepts PayPal, Neteller, Skrill
- Strictly regulated
What is a Forex Broker?
A forex broker provides you with a platform where you can trade currencies. A broker will either write contracts for you to buy or sell a currency at a preset rate or will match you with another forex trader who is looking to buy or sell the same currency pair.
All currencies trade in pairs. For instance, USD/GBP is a currency pair between the US dollar and the Great British pound. Brokers provide you with a list of currency pairs that you can trade. Generally, all brokers let you invest in popular pairs like the USD/EUR and the USD/GBP.
However, there are some pairs that are not as widely traded and are know as called exotic pairs. You should check the currency pairs available with your broker before opening a trading account. You can currently trade the Indian rupee against four other currencies: INR/USD, INR/GBP, INR/EUR, and INR/JPY.
Most forex brokers offer a range of trading tools for charting and analysis, as well as trading platforms where you can apply technical analysis to identify trading opportunities. Some even enable you to interact with other forex traders through social trading networks.
What Makes a Good Forex Broker?
Choosing a forex broker is a big decision and there are many things to take into account. Here are some of the top factors you should consider when picking a broker:
- Regulation: The safety of your funds is paramount when it comes to forex trading, so you should only ever go with brokers licensed by leading authorities, such as the UK’s FCA or Australia’s ASIC.
- Ease of Account Opening: If you want to get started trading right away, you want to be able to open an account online within a few minutes. Beware that some Indian brokers require you to visit a physical branch to open an account.
- Currency Pairs: The majority of forex brokers offer most major currency pairs, but there’s a lot more variation when it comes to minors and exotics, including the Indian rupee, so be sure to check this before signing up.
- Trading Platform: You’ll use charts to identify trading opportunities and create your own strategy. Take a close look at whether the trading platform is easy to use and what advanced features it supports.
- Trading Fees: There are many excellent commission-free forex brokers in India, and we recommend choosing one of these. Make sure to check the spreads for the forex pairs you plan to trade as well since these can add up over time.
- Asset Classes: Many forex brokers offer more than just forex trading. If you want to build a diversified portfolio, look for cryptocurrency trading, commodity trading, or stock trading options.
The Best Forex Brokers in India
With those considerations in mind, let’s take a closer look at the four best Indian forex brokers you can start trading with today.
1. eToro - Social Forex Trading
eToro stands out as one of the best options for forex trading in India because it’s much more than your average brokerage. This platform includes a full-fledged social trading network that allows you to follow other traders and see what currency pairs they’re betting on. You can start discussions and even copy professional traders’ portfolios to get a leg up in your trading.
Perhaps the best thing about this broker is that all trades are 100% commission free. You just pay the spread when trading currency pairs, and eToro’s spreads are much lower than the industry average. Make sure you keep a close watch on your account, though, or else you can be hit with withdrawal and inactivity fees.
eToro offers a strong range of currency pairs, including a selection of exotics. The platform has a $200 (15138 rupee) minimum deposit and accepts a range of payment methods, including PayPal, Neteller and Skrill. There’s also a $100,000 demo account you can use to try the platform out, as well as a mobile app for trading on the go. eToro holds a number of tier-one trading licenses and is one of the most secure forex brokers available to Indian traders.
- Social Trading: Follow and copy other traders
- Commission Free: Just pay the spread for forex trades
- Easy to Use: Simple, beginner-friendly platform
- Account Fees: Including withdrawal and inactivity fees
2. FXCM - Advanced Forex Charting
FXCM is an excellent choice for more advanced Indian forex traders. The platform doesn’t charge commissions on trades and enables you to trade forex pairs involving the Indian rupee at leverage up to 20:1. On top of that, the platform’s spreads are extremely competitive and you can expand your trading options by taking advantage of spread betting on currency pairs.
One major advantage to FXCM is that you get access to several different trading platforms. You can use FXCM’s proprietary Trading Station software for advanced charting with built-in technical indicators. If you want to design your own technical studies or automate your trades, you can connect your account to Ninja Trader or MetaTrader 4. You can also integrate with ZuluTrade to bring social forex trading to this brokerage platform.
To help even more, FXCM also offers its own forex trading signals and advanced tools like a market scanner. You can place trades on the go using the mobile apps for any of the integrated platforms as well.
- Leverage: Trade forex pairs at up to 1:30
- Trading Platforms: Integrate with Ninja Trader or MetaTrader 4
- Trading Signals: Automated forex trading
- Advanced Platform: Not easy for beginners to use
3. AvaTrade - MT4 & MT5 Forex Trading
If you want the ability to trade forex on the go, AvaTrade is the Indian forex broker of choice. This broker’s trading platform is available in an easy to use mobile app for iOS and Android. Even on a smartphone, you can take advantage of advanced charting capabilities and technical studies.
Importantly, AvaTrade also gives you access to both MetaTrader 4 and 5. These highly advanced forex trading platforms include trading signals, forex trading robots and an advanced scanner, and they give you the option to backtest and automate your trading strategy.
Forex trading with AvaTrade is commission free, although you will need to pay the spread on every trade. The spreads at this broker are competitive, although not the lowest we’ve seen. The upside is that there are relatively few account fees and the overnight fees for leveraged positions are relatively low. Leverage at AvaTrade limits depend on your level of experience, but professional traders can trade with up to 1:400 leverage on MetaTrader 4 and 5.
- Mobile Apps: Chart and trade on the go
- MetaTrader 4: Develop custom forex trading strategies
- Leverage: Up to 1:400 for professional traders
- Average Spreads: Not the lowest-cost forex broker
4. Forex.com - Low-Cost Forex Trading
Forex.com ranks highly on our list of top Indian forex trading platforms. You can trade using a range of custom strategies or algorithms built into the platform. One major plus to Forex.com is that this brokerage has a competitive cost structure. It provides integrated account management and you can view your active orders, margin, open positions, and historical trades in real time.
Forex.com uses MetaTrader 4, which is an advanced trading platform. In addition, after opening an account you can request for access to its API (Application Programming Interface) and then develop and automate your trading strategy.
Forex.com is registered by several reputable regulators including the National Futures Association (NFA) in the US and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. It provides several technical analysis tools on its platform. You can trade in shares, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.
- Trustworthy: Regulated by several reputable regulators
- Find Setups: Provides good technical analysis tools
- Easy to Use: Good trading platform
- Contract Fees: Charges an overnight fee for trades
How to Choose an Indian Forex Broker
While we’ve picked out the top forex brokers for you, it’s always a good idea to perform your own research before committing to a broker. In addition to the factors we highlighted above, there are a number of other things you should consider when picking a forex broker:
Licensing
It’s essential that your forex broker is trustworthy, since you’ll be placing a fair amount of money in your trading account. Look for brokers that are regulated by top-tier regulators like the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK or the Cypress Securities and Exchange Commission. This ensures your funds are kept secure in separate accounts and that your personal information is protected by encryption technology.
Forex Pairs
The currency pairs you can trade varies a lot from broker to broker. While some offer less than 30 and mostly majors, others offer more than 80 with plenty of minors and exotics to trade. If you’re keen on trading a particular forex pair, we recommend checking it’s available before creating a broker account.
Payment Methods
Many online brokers offer multiple ways to fund your account, including by debit or credit card and bank transfer. If you prefer to use an e-wallet like PayPal, Skrill, or Neteller, make sure that is supported by the broker you choose.
Also keep in mind that some brokers charge currency conversion or deposit fees that can eat into your trading funds.
Spreads
The spread is a charge that is the difference between the buy and sell price of a forex pair. This can vary widely between forex brokers – even for the same currency pair. Make sure that you’re paying as low a spread as possible, since this can add up if you place a lot of forex trades over time.
Commission
Thankfully, trade commissions have begun to disappear from forex brokers, with top platforms like eToro charging 0% commission. That said, they’re not gone entirely and many brokers still charge flat fees for every trade. Whenever possible, use a commission-free Indian forex broker like the ones on our list..
Trading Tools and Research
Trading tools can make a huge difference in your ability to succeed as a forex trader. Make sure that the charting platform your broker provides comes with a range of technical studies.
Advanced traders will also want the ability to develop custom indicators and to backtest strategies. Advanced trading platforms like MetaTrader 4 come with these capabilities as well as forex trading signals and forex trading robots.
Customer Support
While you hope that there’s never a problem with your trading account, it’s important to be able to get help if you need it. Check to see what methods you have to get in touch with your broker – for example, phone and email, email only, or email and live chat. If your broker is based overseas, make sure the customer service team is available during Indian daytime hours.
How to Join an India Forex Broker
Now that you know about the top forex brokers, you’re nearly ready to begin trading currencies in India. Here, we’ll walk you through the process using eToro.
We like eToro because it offers commission-free forex trading, low spreads, and a social network to connect with other traders. If you use another forex broker, the steps for joining and trading will be largely the same.
Step 1: Open an Account
The first thing you need to do is to open a new trading account with your broker. To complete this process, you’ll need to provide some basic personal information such as your name, address, birth date, and contact details. You’ll also need to upload a copy of your passport or driver’s license as proof of your identity and a copy of a utility bill or bank statement as proof of your address.
Step 2: Deposit Funds
Before you can start trading, you need to fund your account. eToro offers a number of different payment methods, including debit and credit card, bank transfer, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, and more. Note that you must meet your broker’s minimum deposit requirement if there is one.
Step 3: Choose a Forex Pair
Now, you’re ready to start trading. Choose a forex pair to start trading by searching for it in the navigation pane at the top of the broker dashboard. Keep in mind that India only allows trading on a select few forex pairs. When the pair you want appears in the drop-down menu, click on ‘Trade’.
Step 4: Place Order
In the order form before you, you need to specify how you want to complete your currency trade. There are a few important parameters to set:
Amount: The amount of money you want to trade.
Set Rate: Either choose the current market rate or specify the maximum rate you’re willing to pay for a forex trade.
Stop Loss: If the currency falls to the price you set, your broker will sell your position. We recommend setting a stop loss to protect yourself from large trading losses.
Leverage: If you want to apply leverage, choose how much. Beginners should be careful with leverage since it can magnify trading losses.
When you’re ready, click on ‘Buy’ or ‘Sell’ to complete your forex trade.
Leverage at India Forex Brokers
When trading forex in India, most brokers give you the option to apply leverage to your trades. For retail traders, this is typically limited to 30:1 for major currency pairs and 20:1 for minors and exotics, although some brokers do offer much higher limits.
The idea behind leverage is that it multiplies the effective size of your position. For example, if you trade a currency pair with 10:1 leverage, you can invest just 1,00o rupees, but your effective position will be 10,000 rupees. This means you can potentially make larger profits from small changes in the price of a currency.
That said, leverage also magnifies your losses. Beginner forex traders should be very careful with leverage.
Conclusion
When to comes to forex trading, Indian traders have a wide variety of top overseas brokers to choose from, though you’ll need to compare different brokers to find the right one for you. You’ll also need to research the market to ensure you have a sound understanding of how forex trading in India works.
Ready to start trading forex? We recommend signing up to our recommended broker, eToro. With 0% commission, a good range of currency pairs and innovative copy trading tools, eToro is the perfect platform for new forex traders. Simply click the link below to register an account today.
eToro: Best Indian Forex Broker 2020
- 0% commission and tight spreads
- Wide range of currency pairs
- Social and copy trading
- Accepts PayPal, Neteller, Skrill
- Strictly regulated
FAQs
Is forex trading legal in India?
Yes, trading in currencies if legal in India. You can open an account with a registered broker and trade approved currency pairs. Many overseas forex brokers also accept Indian traders and offfer a wider variety of currency pairs.
What is SEBI?
SEBI, or the Securities Exchange Board of India, is the governing body for Indian capital markets. It monitors different activities related to the Indian equity markets like trading.
What payments methods do Indian forex brokers accept?
Indian brokers accept payments through bank transfers or cheques. You cannot use wallets like PayPal or credit cards. However, overseas brokers that accept Indian traders offer a wide range of e-wallet payment options.
What is margin in currency trading?
In futures trading, margin is a percentage of the total contract value. The margin requirement would change daily. If your trade goes wrong and the index moves in the opposite direction you would get a margin call from your broker. You have to arrange the additional margin within the stipulated times else the broker might square off your position. The margin requirements can be increased by the exchange if volatility increases.
Can I take delivery of the underlying in currency trading in India?
You are not allowed to take delivery of the currency you purchase through a forex trade in India. You must settle your trades in cash in your trading account.