Everything you need to know about top M-Pesa Forex brokers

M-Pesa is a payment solution provider that launched in 2007. This mobile-based money transfer service is owned by the Vodafone Group plc and Safaricom. The latter one is the biggest network operator in Kenya. The system is supported in many countries worldwide, but notably in the African region. At the moment, there are more than 100 million M-Pesa active users globally. In 2010, M-Pesa received the honor of being the most successful payment system in the developing world. The revenue of M-Pesa exceeds half a billion USD at the moment.

The payment solution allows users to use the app as their e-wallet, make deposits, transactions, withdrawals, and various payments through it. The transaction cost is proportional to the transaction size. For transactions below 600 USD, the charge would be 2.8 US dollars. The withdrawal fee applicable to the same amount would be 3.24 US dollars.

M-Pesa holds regulations in each country where the payment system provider operates. The regulators of the company are the Central Banks of its serviced countries or financial services regulators. Furthermore, Vodafone is monitoring each transaction going through M-Pesa to ensure the performance of the bank-grade anti-money laundering system.

M-Pesa is a primary payment method in African countries like Uganda, Ghana, South Africa and Kenya. Thus, the majority of Forex brokers with M-Pesa can be found there. However, the greatest disadvantage of the payment system is that it does not operate in the majority of developed countries. For example, the United States and the companies registered there do not support M-Pesa payments. But the company keeps on expanding slowly but surely getting more streamlined and commonly accepted.

Register with best M-Pesa broker – XM

Forex Brokers that accept M-Pesa

A number of well-regarded international Forex brokerages have started accepting M-Pesa payments. You can easily find international betting sites that accept M-Pesa. The ease of use of the M-Pesa system and the accessibility it provides for its users promises a great opportunity for these companies to expand their operations in the African markets.

XM Group

XM Forex Review

Minimum deposit

5$

Regulation

CySEC, FCA, ASIC

Bonus

30$, 50%+20%

Maximum leverage

1:1000

Year founded

2009

Trading platform

MT4, MT5, WebTrader

AvaTrade

Review of AvaTrade – Broker with over 15 years of experience

Minimum deposit

$100

Regulation

CySEC, CBI, FSA, FFAJ, BVI FSC, FSCA, FSRA

Bonus

Maximum leverage

1:400

Year founded

2006

Trading platform

MT4, MT5, WebTrader, AvaTradeGO

SAXO Bank

SAXO Bank Forex Review

Minimum deposit

USD 5,000

Regulation

FINMA, FCA, ASIC, FSA, MAS, AFM

Bonus

N/A

Maximum leverage

1:30

Year founded

1992

Trading platform

SaxoTraderGo, SaxoTraderPro

HotForex

HotForex Review – Trade 1,000+ of Symbols with this Broker

Minimum deposit

$5

Regulation

SVGFSA, FCA, DFSA, FSCA, FSA

Bonus

From 30% to 100%

Maximum leverage

1:1000

Year founded

2010

Trading platform

MT4, MT5

ForexMart

ForexMart Review – High-class trading experience

Minimum deposit

15

Regulation

CySEC

Bonus

30%

Maximum leverage

1:500

Year founded

2015

Trading platform

MT4, WebTrader

CM Trading

CM Trading FX broker review – Is it legit?

Minimum deposit

$250

Regulation

FSCA

Bonus

Maximum leverage

1:200

Year founded

2012

Trading platform

MT4, WebTrader

Plus500

Plus500 Review

Minimum deposit

100$

Regulation

FCA

Bonus

N/A

Maximum leverage

30:1

Year founded

2008

Trading platform

Custom

Oanda

Oanda review

Minimum deposit

$0

Regulation

Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, UK, US, BVI

Bonus

From $500 to $5,000

Maximum leverage

1:888

Year founded

1996

Trading platform

MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, fxTrade Mobile app

IQ Option

An in-depth IQ Option Review of fees, opportunities and more

Minimum deposit

$10

Regulation

Risk Warning: YOUR CAPITAL MIGHT BE AT RISK

Bonus

N/A

Maximum leverage

1:1000

Year founded

2013

Trading platform

Proprietary

Exness

Exness Broker Review – Should You Trade With It?

Minimum deposit

10 USD

Regulation

FCA, CySEC, FSA

Bonus

N/A

Maximum leverage

1:Unlimited

Year founded

2008

Trading platform

MT4, MT5, WebTerminal

OspreyFX

OspreyFX review – regulations, features and possibility of OspreyFX scam

Minimum deposit

$10

Regulation

N/A

Bonus

N/A

Maximum leverage

1:500

Year founded

2019

Trading platform

MT4, custom

EagleFX

EagleFX review – Start trading with safe and secure broker

Minimum deposit

$10

Regulation

Bonus

Maximum leverage

1:500

Year founded

Trading platform

MT4

Forex.com

Forex.com Review

Minimum deposit

250$

Regulation

FCA, NFA

Bonus

N/A

Maximum leverage

200:1

Year founded

1999

Trading platform

MT4

easyMarkets

Can You Trust easyMarkets? There Are Things You Need To Know

Minimum deposit

$25

Regulation

ASIC, CySEC, FSA, BVI

Bonus

50%

Maximum leverage

1:400

Year founded

2001

Trading platform

WebTrader, MT4, TradingView

HYCM

Can you trust HYCM Forex broker? What you need to know?

Minimum deposit

100

Regulation

FCA, CySEC, DIFC, CIMA

Bonus

N/A

Maximum leverage

500:1

Year founded

1977

Trading platform

MT4, MT5

FPMarkets

Is FPMarkets reliable broker? Is it licensed to trade?

Minimum deposit

$100 AUD

Regulation

ASIC

Bonus

N/A

Maximum leverage

500:1

Year founded

2005

Trading platform

WebTrader, MT4, MT5, IRESS

Pepperstone

Pepperstone FX Broker – Everything You Need To Know About This Broker?

Minimum deposit

AUD$200

Regulation

ASIC, SCB, CMA, CySEC, FCA, BaFin and DFSA

Bonus

N/A

Maximum leverage

1:400

Year founded

2010

Trading platform

MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView

FXRoad

Review of FXRoad – Broker with Superior Islamic Accounts

Minimum deposit

250 EUR

Regulation

FSA (Seychelles)

Bonus

None

Maximum leverage

1:200

Year founded

2023

Trading platform

FXRoad web & mobile platforms

IMGFX

IMGFX Broker Review – Your Best Trading Experience

Minimum deposit

$50

Regulation

N/A

Bonus

N/A

Maximum leverage

1:500

Year founded

2015

Trading platform

MT4

FXOpen

FXOpen Review – The most experienced broker

Minimum deposit

1 USD

Regulation

ASIC, FCA

Bonus

10 USD

Maximum leverage

1:500

Year founded

2005

Trading platform

MT4, MT5, WebTrader

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

M-Pesa payment system general overview

M-Pesa is an Africa-based payment system that was launched by Vodafone in 2007. Currently, that is the largest mobile transfer network in Kenya and Tanzania. However, as it is continually expanding and growing, it is now available in South Africa, Afghanistan, India, Romania, and Albania, with the exponentially growing number of Forex brokers that accept M-Pesa.
Among the services provided by the company you may find:

  • deposit and withdrawal of funds
  • transfer of funds to other users
  • payment of bills
  • purchase of airtime
  • save of funds in a virtual account called Mshwari
  • transfer of funds between the M-Pesa account and a bank account

forex trading in kenya using mpesaThe platform itself is similar to the Safaricom of Kenya and Vodacom of Tanzania as it was created as a subsidiary of those. However, there are still some minor differences to it.

The system is basically using your mobile device as an e-wallet. Just by tying your SIM card and mobile account to the banking one, you can easily pay for services, products, utilities, as well as charge your Forex trading account with money. With M-Pesa sending money from one account to another is actually as easy as sending text messages, making M-Pesa trade extremely accessible.

One thing to note would be, that the funds kept on M-Pesa accounts are not actually controlled by the company itself, it is stored in Safaricom headquarters. Which are, in turn, managed by the Kenyan government that keeps this money in a vault. And it doesn’t just store this money, no. Those funds are going for the development of the economy as they are spread among different commercial banks and sectors. That is exactly what we mean when we say that the establishment of M-Pesa benefits the whole economy. Therefore, if you are using its services, you become part of the process as well.

Moreover, everything about M-Pesa operations is fully transparent. Meaning that the Kenyan government closely manages the actions of the Safaricom company in order not to allow it to affect the distribution of the funds raised by the M-Pesa payment system in any way.

Transaction fees

forex brokers in kenya with mpesa

The main factor that dictates for much the users of the M-Pesa Forex trading account will be charged depends on whether the user is registered or not. For instance, traders within Kenya will be charged with the 66 Kshs fee for transfer to any unregistered traders in case if the amount of the transfer is between 101-500 Kshs. But if the transfer is going to the registered user, then the fee will be 27 Kshs for the same transfer amount.  Meanwhile, the maximum amount of the transfer can be 35,000 Kshs with a fee of 275 Kshs for unregistered users. Through a number of corporate agreements, however, transaction to a number of platforms was made extremely easy, such as transaction from Skrill to M-Pesa that can be done in microseconds.

Regulations

As M-Pesa seeks to reach a high level of transparency and reliability in operations for its users, it was regulated by a couple of regulators. Those are the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Card Industry (PCI). The company also follows the KYC (Know Your Customer) principle and, thus, requires all of its users to provide them with data that will be kept confidential but will help them to make sure that you are a real person who does not have any bad intentions for Forex trading.

Benefits of Forex brokers accepting M-Pesa

forex brokers with mpesa

The popularity of the payment method in countries like Kenya might be explained by the fact that Forex brokerage accepting M-Pesa receives a number of benefits provided by the local payment system rather than paying larger fees for using foreign ones.

Low costs and reliability

Meanwhile, M-Pesa is truly a convenient tool for low-cost, fast, and safe payment, transfer, and storage of money. Moreover, everyone knows how tough and depressing is the economic situation in African countries, especially in the countrysides. Thus, there is a common thing that relatives living in urban centers are often sending money to other family members who live in villages. And as it might be simply complicated and time-consuming to send money via post or in any other way, the M-Pesa transfers of money come in handy. The transaction and administration fees are not as high as with other global payment systems.

No minimum and maximum transfer amounts

Yet another bright side is that there is no minimum transfer amount. That means that everyone can use the service. All in all, M-Pesa provides not only benefits for the ones who are into Forex trading, but to all citizens. Cause the creation of such a financial platform leads to the development of the whole financial market as a result.

Fighting against corruption

Moreover, we would like to notice how the establishment of M-Pesa leads to a decrease in corruption levels in such countries as South Africa and Afghanistan. As all transactions become transparent and traceable, that is easier for governmental institutions to control money laundering and find the scams easily.

Deposit using M-Pesa with cheapest fees at XM

Limitations of M-Pesa payment method

Even though the company is spending enormous resources to grow as one of the leading payment solution providers it still has several limitations. Several years ago M-Pesa was not considered a reliable payment method due to inexperience in the industry and lack of partner companies. Nowadays, the number of M-Pesa partners has grown significantly reaching hundreds of businesses cooperating with the company. There are several issues left that M-Pesa has to solve to become one of the dominant payment services providers worldwide.

Geographic restrictions

One of the main drawbacks of the M-Pesa payment platform is the fact that it is not available in numerous countries globally. M-Pesa is one of the main payment methods on the African continent covering 70% of the countries within the region. However, outside Africa, there are only a few countries where M-Pesa operates. It presents a huge problem for the users of the payment method if they plan to use the services of international companies through M-Pesa payment methods.

Lack of M-Pesa brokers

Since M-Pesa does not cover a significant proportion of Forex traders, not many Forex brokers are interested in establishing partnerships with the company. Frequently, they will go for international payment methods like PayPal, Skrill, and Neteller despite the fact that those providers offer more expensive services.

Step-by-step guide on how to register with M-Pesa and make a deposit with your broker

Even though M-Pesa is famous for its simplicity of the platform and user-centric approach of the company, some people may still find it confusing to deposit their funds to their trading accounts using M-Pesa. That is why we demonstrate a step-by-step process on how to register with M-Pesa, fund your wallet, and deposit using M-Pesa with your Forex broker. We will go through the process with an example of XM Forex broker.

  1. Download M-Pesa app from your Google Play Store or Apple App Store. After installation launch the app and proceed with the registration.
  2. Make sure that you have a Safaricom sim card inserted in order to connect your M-Pesa account with your card. Afterward, your profile is activated at M-Pesa and you can proceed with funding your M-Pesa account
  3. Login to your trading account with your broker and go to the ‘deposits’ page. Find M-Pesa within the available payment options’ list and login with your M-Pesa account after you enter the desired deposit amount.
    MPesa Forex brokers

Meanwhile, have a look at the services, conditions, and assets that one of the best Forex brokers – XM Group offers. XM is a leading broker with an M-Pesa partnership.

FAQ on M-Pesa Forex brokers

Can I Trade Forex in Kenya?

Yes, it is perfectly possible to trade Forex in Kenya, as online trading is fully legal and regulated by the Capital Markets Authority of Kenya (also known as CMA). The number of traders in Kenya is around 100000 and the number is growing daily – If you are someone who is located in Kenya and thinks of starting the trading journey, you can easily do that via licensed FX Brokers that are available around the internet nowadays.

Does Forex pay through MPesa?

Forex does pay through MPesa, meaning that it is possible to make deposits and withdrawals using this payment method. However, it is important to note that there are not many brokers that offer MPesa as one of their payment options. We advise traders from Kenya to only choose highly reputable brokers that are fully licensed and regulated, accepting MPesa payments.

How much do Forex traders make a day?

It is true that a lot of traders around the world use Forex to generate money and have a stable revenue. A lot of people wonder how much can one make a day using Forex, however, it depends on how much time and money you invest in trading. To give you a general idea, let’s look at the example. If you open a $3000 account, on average you can make $50+ a day, depending on how much you risk on a trade (no more than 1% of your account).