Cheapest Online Brokerages in Singapore 2023 Comparison: IBKR vs moomoo vs Tiger Brokers vs uSmart

When it comes to investing, I think most of us are in it to maximise our profits, regardless of the amount invested or the time frame we have for investing.

These profits come in the form of portfolio returns after fees, so it would make sense to keep your fees as low as possible so you can keep significantly more of your portfolio’s return.

Sure, there’s a case for having your portfolio managed professionally with the right financial advisor or Robo-advisor worth the fees.

Lowering Singapore Brokerage Fees: Which Online Platform is Best in Singapore

But for most of us who are embarking on the do-it-yourself (DIY) path to investing, finding the brokerage with the lowest fees for our needs should be near the top of our list of priorities.

With that in mind, here is a comparison of the cheapest online brokerages in Singapore.

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TL;DR: Best Broker in Singapore / Best Online Broker Singapore (2023): Interactive Brokers vs moomoo vs Tiger Brokers vs uSmart

^Tiered pricing. Interactive Brokers Singapore offers tiered pricing to lower rates even more with more volume. In cases where an exchange provides a rebate, the company will pass some or all of the savings directly back to you.

Broker Comparison Singapore: Click to Teleport

• Safety
• Pricing (Fees)
• Promos
• Trading Options and Features
• UI/UX and Customer Service
• Closing Thoughts

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Trading Platform Singapore Comparison Criteria

For starters, here is how we selected the brokerages for this comparison:

• Charges less than a S$5 minimum fee per trade for the major stock markets that Singaporeans trade-in (i.e. Singapore, U.S., H.K., China, and the U.K.)
  • This has to be the standard fee charged and not the promotional price for long-term sustainability.
• Supports at least three major countries’ stock markets for a variety
• MAS regulated.

This narrows it down to four brokerages:

• Interactive Brokers (Singapore)
• Moomoo (Singapore)
• Tiger Brokers (Singapore)
• uSmart (Singapore)

As such, we will be comparing these brokerages based on six main factors:

1. Safety
2. Pricing & Markets Available
3. Promotions
4. Trading Options and Features
5. UI/UX and Customer Service

Brokerage Account Singapore Safety

Arguably, this should be the number one factor when considering a brokerage.

After all, low fees are inconsequential if something happens to your investments.

Is Interactive Brokers Singapore Safe?

Regarding safety, Interactive Brokers Singapore Pte. Ltd. (IBKR SG) is the most established brokerage on this list.

The Singapore branch of Interactive Brokers is part of Interactive Brokers Limited Liability Company (IBKR LLC): an American multinational brokerage firm that conducts its broker/dealer business in over 135 market destinations worldwide.

FYI: IBKR LLC and its affiliates are owned by the Ineractive Brokers Group LLC.

IBKR LLC

IBKR LLC was actually established 44 years ago and currently has about US$10.6 billion in consolidated equity capital.

In terms of regulation, IB LLC is regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the regulations of other securities exchanges where IB LLC is a member.

In addition to the above-mentioned safeguards, IBKR LLC customers are covered by Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) insurance for up to US$500,000 for securities and cash (including a US$250,000 limit for cash only).

And according to the SIPC:

SIPC was created under the Securities Investor Protection Act as a non-profit membership corporation. SIPC oversees the liquidation of member broker-dealers that close when the broker-dealer is bankrupt or in financial trouble, and customer assets are missing. In a liquidation under the Securities Investor Protection Act, SIPC and the court-appointed Trustee work to return customers’ securities and cash as quickly as possible. Within limits, SIPC expedites the return of missing customer property by protecting each customer up to US$500,000 for securities and cash (including a US$250,000 limit for cash only).

More importantly, the SIPC protects non–residents and non-U.S. citizens with the same protections that all other customers receive.

However, do note that you cannot trade SGX stocks using an IBKR LLC account.

IBKR SG

Also, since you will likely open an account with IBKR SG Pte. Ltd, you’ll want to know this.

IBKR SG is licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as a capital markets services licensee with licence No. CMS100917.

Also, client money is kept safe as according to IBKR:

Client money is segregated in special bank or custody accounts, which are designated for the exclusive benefit of clients of IBKR. This protection (the SEC term is “reserve” and the CFTC term is “segregation”) is a core principle of securities and commodities brokerage.

By properly segregating the client’s assets, if no money or stock is borrowed and no futures positions are held by the client, then the client’s assets are available to be returned to the client in the event of a default by or bankruptcy of the broker.

In other words, if you are an IBKR SG client and your holdings are owned by you, no stock or money is borrowed, or you do not trade futures, the IBKR SG agreement states that your assets will be returned to you if IBKR SG goes bankrupt.

The IB SG client agreement also states that its client’s funds are custodised in this manner:

A portion is deposited primarily with large U.S. banks in special reserve accounts for the exclusive benefit of IBKR’s clients. These deposits are distributed across a number of banks with investment-grade ratings so that we can avoid a concentration risk with any single institution. No single bank holds more than 5% of total client funds held by IBKR. As of June 2022, the following banks held deposits from IBKR (this list is subject to change over time at IBKR’s discretion). Certain banks, which are affiliates or branches of foreign financial institutions, are subject to regulatory oversight by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

• Branch Banking and Trust Company
• Bank of the West
• BMO Harris Bank, N.A.
• Citizens Bank, N.A.
• KeyBank National Association
• Standard Chartered Bank
• US Bank, N.A.
• Valley National Bank

So you can be sure that your money is kept safe and diversified.

IBKR LLC vs IBKR SG

To know which entity your account is created under, you can generate an activity statement for your account.

If your account is with Interactive Brokers LLC, it should reflect at the top that you’re with the U.S. entity or Interactive Brokers Singapore Pte. Ltd. if your account is with the Singapore entity.

Is moomoo Safe?

Next up, we have moomoo, which was started in 2018 by Moomoo Financial Pte. Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Futu Holdings Ltd.

For context, Futu Holdings was established in Hong Kong back in 2011.

The company is listed on the NASDAQ (NASDAQ: FUTU) and is backed by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings (SEHK: 700), renowned U.S. venture capitalist firm Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners.

According to moomoo SG, previously known as Futu SG:

Securities products and services available via moomoo are offered by wholly-owned subsidiaries of Futu Holdings Ltd., including but not limited to Moomoo Financial Inc. and Moomoo Financial Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Moomoo Financial Inc. is also a broker-dealer regulated by the SEC, FINRA and CFTC

But for the Singapore entity Moomoo Financial Singapore Pte. Ltd., the brokerage is regulated by MAS as Moomoo Financial Singapore Pte. Ltd. and is a capital markets services licence holder (Licence No. CMS101000).

In addition to the above-mentioned safeguards, moomoo SG states that moomoo SG customers are covered by SIPC insurance for up to US$500,000 for their U.S. securities.

The company also has a physical office at 1 Raffles Quay (North Tower) #39-02, Singapore 048583.

Is Tiger Brokers Singapore Safe?

Next, we have Tiger Brokers (Singapore).

The company was founded back in Jun 2014 and is backed by Interactive Brokers Group Inc (IBKR), Xiaomi Inc, the ZhenFund, and Wall Street investment guru Jim Rogers.

The company is steadily growing as it was recently listed on the NASDAQ exchange in March 2019 with the ticker symbol (NASDAQ: TIGR).

Tiger Brokers and subsidiaries hold 21 licenses/registrations in the USA, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

It’s subsidiary Tiger Brokers (Singapore) Pte. Ltd (TBSL) runs the Tiger Trade platform in Singapore. You will be glad to know that the company is regulated by MAS, a capital markets services licensee (Reg. No. 201810449W), and is authorised to operate in Singapore.

As such, Tiger Brokers complies with section 104 of the Securities and Futures Act (“SFA”), where ‘Clients’ funds and investments are kept by a segregated bank account and custodian to ensure it does not commingle with other accounts.

Also, according to Tiger’s customer agreement:

All money, approved securities or other property received by TBSPL from you or from any other Person, including but not limited to, any Clearing house, on your behalf, shall be held by TBSPL as trustee or custodian, segregated from its assets and paid into a segregated bank account or a segregated debt securities account (collectively “Client’s Accounts), and all such monies, approved debt securities or other property so held may be commingled with other client’s funds and shall not form part of TBSPL’s assets for the purposes of insolvency or winding-up.

As such, your investments are held by different banks and prime brokers as custodians for the respective market products and asset classes:

• US Markets: Transactions are cleared by Trade Up Securities, Inc., and shares are held in custody by Depository Trust Company (“DTCC”).
• Hong Kong Markets: Transactions are cleared by Interactive Brokers (“IBKJR”) and custodised by Central Clearing and Settlement System (“CCASS”).
• Singapore Markets: Transactions are cleared by TBSPL, and shares are held in custody by the Central Depository in accordance with SGX Rules
• Mutual Funds and Unit Trusts: Assets are custodised by IFAST Financial Pte Ltd and AllFund, Singapore Branch.

 

Is uSmart Singapore Safe?

Last but not least, we have uSmart SG.

uSmart group was founded back in December 2018 and backed by the Chow Tai Fook group, one of the largest conglomerates based in Hong Kong.

It has headquarters not only in Singapore but in Hong Kong, China and New Zealand as well.

uSmart SG is regulated by MAS as uSMART Securities (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., and holds a capital markets services license.

According to uSmart, the Client’s moneys will be held by USPL on the client’s behalf in a trust account, either:

• With a bank that holds a licence under section 7 or 79 of the Banking Act 1970 of Singapore
• A merchant bank that holds a merchant bank licence or is treated as having been granted a merchant bank licence under the Banking Act 1970 of Singapore;
• A finance company licensed under the Finance Companies Act 1967 of Singapore; or
• A custodian outside Singapore which is licensed, registered or authorised to conduct banking business in the country or territory where the account is maintained.
  • uSmart SG Custodians
  • Singapore: iFAST Financial Pte. Ltd.
  • Hong Kong: uSMART Securities Limited
  • US: uSMART Securities Limited.

However, uSmart users should take note that:

The Client’s moneys and assets will be deposited into a trust account or custody account and commingled with the other clients of USPL. The Client’s assets will be deposited into a custody account and commingled with the other clients of USPL.

This means that there will be some additional risks compared to segregated accounts.

You can tell that these are not some fly-by-night brokerages as they are heavily regulated.

But, if I were to rank them, Interactive Brokers would be the safest, followed closely by Tiger Brokers, moomoo and uSmart.

Now, let’s move on to the pricing comparison of the more popular markets that Singaporeans trade in.

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Brokerage Fees Comparison: What Is the Cheapest Stock Broker in Singapore?

We will compare the basic tier of these brokerages in terms of pricing.

^Lowest tier (Tier 1) Interactive Brokers offers tiered pricing to lower rates even more. In cases where an exchange provides a rebate, the company will pass some or all of the savings directly back to you.
*Inclusive of GST.

However, with IBKR SG’s fixed tier, these exchange and regulatory fees are included in your commission fees.

Additional Exchange Fees

In addition, you will need to pay additional exchange and regulatory fees, as seen in the table below.

SGX Exchange Fees

• Trading Fee: 0.0075% * Trade Value 
• Clearing Fee” 0.0325% * Trade Value 

US Exchange Fees

• Settlement Fees: US$0.003/share (capped at 7% for Tiger & no cap for moomoo)
• Trading Activity Fees (Sells Only): US$0.00013/share (Min. US$0.01/order; capped at US$6.49/order

The Singapore government will levy the prevailing Goods and Services Tax (GST) at a rate of 8% on these fees as well.

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Promotions For New Users

Now let’s talk bout the new user promos.

Although this should not be the main reason why you choose a brokerage, this is important nonetheless.

Interactive Brokers Singapore Sign-Up Promo

Interactive Brokers actually has a referral program.

For new users that are invited by existing Interactive Brokers Singapore customers, you will get to enjoy these rewards:

• Referrer Reward: US$200 for each referred client when the referred client opens an individual, joint, trust or retirement account, funds and maintains a balance of at least US$10,000 for one year.
• Referred Reward (New User): New users will receive $1 in IBKR shares for every $100 of value (cash or other assets) added to their account for up to US$1,000 worth of IBKR shares.
  Do note that the average balance must be maintained for at least one year for the shares to vest and be accessible.

moomoo Sign-Up Promo

Up till 31 May 2023, new users who open a moomoo SG account will receive the following:

• Lifetime commission-free trading in the U.S stock market
• Free access to Lvl 2 U.S stock market data
• Free access to Lvl SG stock market data
• Free access to Lvl 1 China A-share market data
• S$2 cash coupon every day for 10 days when you deposit at least S$100 before 31 May 2023 and maintain at least S$100 in your account for 10 days
• One free Coca-Cola (KO) share worth around S$80 when you deposit a cumulative amount of at least S$2,000 before 31 May 2023 and complete at least two buy trades before 7 June 2023 while maintaining their assets for 30 days
• One S$108 cash coupon when you deposit a cumulative amount of at least S$10,000 before 31 May 2023 and make at least seven buy trades before 7 June 2023. subscribe to moomoo Cash Plus of S$100 and above and maintain at least S$100 for 10 days can get S$2 cash reward every day
• One chance to spin and get one free stock worth about S$35 to S$200 from the likes of Zoom, Apple, Coca-Cola, and Intel when you deposit at least S$2,700.

Tiger Brokers Sign-Up Promo

Tiger Brokers is currently running a welcome promotion until 30 March 2023. New Tiger Brokers users will receive:

• 180 days of unlimited trades for U.S. stocks, and 365 days of unlimited commission-free trades for HK, SG, and China A stocks
• One free GoPro share (NASDAQ: GPRO) when you open a new account for the first time
• Five commission-free trades for options within 30 days
• 3-day, 20% yield coupon
• One month Ryde subscription
• Receive 0.88 HP fractional shares (NYSE: HPQ) and a chance to win a free stock worth between S$12 to S$320 when you fund at least S$1,000 into your account and make a minimum of five buy trades within the promotion period
• You’ll also receive a free Apple share (NASDAQ: APPL) when you fund your newly-approved account with at least S$10,000 and execute 10 new buy trades during the promotion period. Note that this is valid for the first 888 eligible customers only

On top of this, you’ll also earn additional rewards if you sign up for an account with our sister company, SingSaver:

uSmart Sign-Up Promo

uSMART is currently running its interest reward promotion where you can earn up to 4.8% p.a. on your idle cash. All you need to do is maintain your account’s indicated cash balance based on the currency (SGD or USD).

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Trading Options And Features

Interactive Brokers

Undoubtedly, Interactive Brokers is the brokerage with the most trading options as you can trade:

• Stocks (long or short)
• ETFs
• REITs
• Penny Stocks
• Mutual Funds
• Options
• Futures and  Futures Options
• Currencies
• Bonds

As for data and features, users will receive free delayed market data for the available exchanges by default.

As the cherry on top, IBKR also allows for fractional shares trading!

moomoo

With moomoo, you can trade the following investment products on the platform:

• Singapore Market: Stocks, ETFs, REITs, Structured Warrants and DLCs
• US Market: Stocks, ETFs, Futures, ADRs and Options
• HK Market: Stocks, ETFs, REITs, Futures, Warrants and Callable bull/bear contracts (CBBCs)

In addition, you get access to free level 2 market data.

Tiger Brokers

As for Tiger Brokers, you can trade the following investment products on the platform:

• US/HK/SG/CN/AU stocks (long or short)
• US stock options and HK Warrants/CBBCs
• US stock ETFs / SG stock ETFs and REITs
• Index/metal/treasury/energy futures & more

You also get access to access to multiple trading features such as real-time stock quotes, one-click trading, profit and loss analysis, stock options trading, in-depth analytics, screeners and candlestick charts.

Not to mention that Tiger Brokers also allows for fractional shares trading!

uSmart

With uSmart, you can trade these investment products:

• US/HK/SG stocks
• US stock options and HK Warrants/CBBCs

While uSmart lacks variety and does not offer free real-time stock quotes, it does have a leg up over Tiger Brokers and Moomoo (at the moment) thanks to its fractional shares trading feature.

Moreover, uSmart stands out with its educational features, making learning easier for beginner investors.

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UI/UX and Customer Service: Which Brokerage Account Is Best for Beginners Singapore?

In terms of these brokerages, you can check out our real user reviews of these brokerages that discuss the user experience and their customer service experience.

As a bonus, we have many experienced users on Seedly who can answer any queries you might have when comparing online brokerages:

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Best Online Brokerage Singapore: Which Brokerage Is Best in Singapore?

Which Online Broking Company Is Best? The Case for Interactive Brokers

I would choose Interactive Brokers simply because of its low costs, especially after its removed monthly maintenance fees.

The wide range of access to markets is a plus point too. Especially for those who are looking to access the Ireland domiciled ETFs on the London Stock Exchange.

Is moomoo or Tiger Better? What About uSmart?

If you are choosing between Tiger Brokers and moomoo, you might want to go with moomoo if you are cost conscious.

For example, if you were trading a US share, you would be charged a minimum of US$0.99 on moomoo per trade and US$1.99 on Tiger per trade after adding up the commission fees and platform fees.

In terms of features, Tiger is also more mature, and reliable and offers fractional share trading.

But regardless, isn’t it great that we have these affordable options?

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