M-pesa is a very popular African mobile payment system. We gathered four of the most notable and popular Forex brokers that offer M-pesa payment as a deposit option. These brokers are available in Africa and offer cutting-edge trading platforms with competitive spreads and commissions. M-pesa payments are critical for Africans, as many of them are solely using mobile payment systems and don’t have a bank account. In this regard, brokers that offer the M-pesa option have an advantage over brokers that don't allow it when offering their services on the African continent.
A quick comparison table of top brokers accepting M-pesa
The Capital Markets Authority or CMA is a regulation entity overseeing stock trading within Kenya. It is not critical for brokers to be registered at the CMA if they are regulated by the likes of FCA, but still a nice bonus for Kenyan traders. The FSCA of South Africa is the second regulatory body from Africa that is noteworthy, and the brokers we have selected for this list all hold at least one, if not both of these licenses.
Exness
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Visit broker 8.4 6.97 CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
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Pepperstone
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Visit broker 8.2 7.75 Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74.7% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
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XM
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Visit broker 8.4 8.34 CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73.03% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
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| CMA regulated | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FSCA regulated | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Fees on deposits | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fees on withdrawals | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Inactivity fee | $0 | $0 | 5 USD/m | 5 USD/m |
| Minimum deposit | $10 | $200 | $100 | $5 |
| Maximum leverage | 1:400 | 1:400 | 1:1000 | 1:1000 |
| Minimum lot size | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| Account currency | USD | GBP, USD, EUR, CHF | USD, EUR, GBP | USD, EUR, GBP |
Exness and XM offer the smallest initial deposit possible. While the minimum deposit for Pepperstone is $200, traders can deposit any amount of money on their balance.
Exness
Exness is a regulated, legit broker that offers a vast number of trading assets worldwide.
The minimum deposit depends on the payment system being used, and it starts from just $10 when using the M-pesa payment method.
The broker is registered with the CMA and is regulated by the FSCA. Exness offers negative balance protection and high leverage to all traders, coupled with a low initial deposit of just $10. Leverage goes up to 1:400 for Kenyans and other traders from Africa. The 256 instruments offered by the broker fall under the asset classes of Forex, CFDs on stocks, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.
The broker also offers the following trading platforms: MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), and the Exness Terminal. The total number of available trading instruments is fairly moderate when compared to other brokers in this review, but they make up for it with a host of account types, which include Standard, Standard Cent, Raw Spread, Zero, and Pro accounts.
The Standard account comes with a 1 pip spread and no commissions. The Zero account comes with a minimum deposit of 200 AUD, spreads start from 0.0 pips for major pairs, and there is a commission of $0.4 per lot traded round-turn. It should be noted that zero spreads are specifically good for scalpers, and other traders with strategies that rely on making many small profits during the trading day.
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8.4
6.97
Pepperstone
Pepperstone is a well-established and well-regulated broker that is trusted by many. While the broker is not regulated by the FSCA; it is registered at the CMA of Kenya and is regulated by the FCA and other heavy-weight overseeing bodies.
Pepperstone is a legit, reliable broker that also provides price data to TradingView, which is not a small feat for any broker. Where Pepperstone really stands out is with the trading platforms it provides, offering the likes of MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and TradingView to clients.
In total there are over 1,200 instruments offered in various markets, including Forex, cryptocurrencies, shares, ETFs, indices, commodities, and currency indices. The broker offers two main account types, namely Razor and Standard accounts. Standard accounts come with zero commissions and a 1 pip on major pairs, while the Razor account offers spreads from 0.03 pips and a $7 commission round turn per 100k traded.
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8.2
7.75
HFM
HF Markets or HFM is a regulated Forex broker operating on the African trading scene and is equipped with licenses from the CMA and FSCA. This enables the broker to offer competitive service to African traders with 1:1000 leverage. HFM has over 3 million accounts opened since its establishment in 2010.
The broker allows deposits through M-pesa and offers the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 trading platforms allowing traders to trade FX, stocks, stocks as CFDs, ETFs, commodities, and indices. The total number of assets offered by HFM is 3,138+ which is huge.
The minimum deposit starts from 5 USD, which is pretty low and attractive as it allows beginners to start with a relatively small budget. Account types offered include Micro, Premium, Zero Spread, PAMM (Premium), and HFCOPY accounts. The broker also adds value to its platform by offering copy trading and PAMM accounts. Spreads on standard accounts start from 1 pip and there are no trading commissions to speak of.
XM
XM does not need any introduction as it is one of the best-established Forex brokers in the world. With competitive leverage, spreads, and minimum deposit requirements, this broker has done well to make a name for itself. It is heavily regulated by several reputable authorities including the CMA and the FSCA offers traders a minimum deposit of just $5. The withdrawal process is also top-notch and can be done within a single day.
Deposits via M-pesa are processed in under 30 minutes. XM is offering pretty low-budget beginning opportunities to new traders and the trading assets that are available are decent, with over 1,471 to choose from, covering Forex, cryptocurrencies, stock CFDs, commodities, equity indices, metals, energies, and shares. All these assets are available on the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 trading platforms.
The account types offered are Micro, Standard, XM Ultra Low, and Shares account. The standard account comes with spreads starting from 1 pip and no commissions and is recommended for beginners as other accounts focus on specific things like low spreads and commissions. Micro accounts are best for traders with ultra-low budgets.
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8.4
8.34
Best M-pesa Forex Broker per category
When deciding on the best Forex brokers that offer the M-pesa payment method, there are a number of things to consider. First, it’s important to make sure that your broker offers the trading instruments that you are looking for. In addition, low trading fees are also critical. Spreads higher than 1 pip on major pairs like EUR/USD are considered to be expensive, as they can eat up most of your profits, especially if you are scalping.
Lowest spread M-pesa brokers
| Exness | Pepperstone | HFM | XM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spreads on EUR/USD | From 1 pip | From 1 pip | From 1 pip | From 1 pip |
| Commissions | No | No | No | No |
All four Forex brokers offer the same standard account spreads for EUR/USD, starting from 1 pip. There are no commissions associated with Forex trading unless it is a specific account type that lowers spreads for commissions. Any broker from these will do a sufficient job for traders to offer competitive spreads and no commissions. However, these brokers do differ in the number of trading instruments they offer their traders.
Multi-asset M-pesa Forex brokers
| Exness | Pepperstone | HFM | XM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forex pairs | 98 | 62 | 53 | 57 |
| Shares CFDs | 100 | 1,000 | 891 | 1,261 |
| Cryptos | 35 | 23 | 0 | 31 |
| Commodities | 13 | 32 | 13 | 8 |
| Indices | 10 | 23 | 11 | 14 |
When it comes to available assets, there is a significant difference between brokers. Exness offers the highest number of Forex pairs, while XM has the highest number of share CFDs. Exness is also a leader in offering cryptos, with 35 cryptos available. For commodities and indices, Pepperstone is a champion.
All M-pesa Forex broker reviews
We just mentioned four of the best M-pesa brokers in this list, but there are many more good brokers out there that allow funding via this payment method, and you can find detailed reviews of many of them on our site. M-pesa is a very popular payment system, and brokers that offer it to their African clients will make it easy for African traders to operate a trading account. In our reviews, the main focus is on safety and transparency. We discuss critical things like fees, withdrawal policies, and overall trading experience in much detail, and also guide traders step-by-step and show them how to open live trading accounts if they so choose.
