To buy shares in top companies, you often have to spend a lot of money.
If you are a beginner investor or have a tight budget, you might find it difficult to buy such a share.
If you find yourself in this situation, fractional shares may be helpful.
With that in mind, Syfe Trade, Singapore’s first neobroker, allows you to invest in fractional shares regardless of your budget!
Read on to learn more if you’re interested.
Markets Offered by Syfe Trade
Syfe Trade, which was launched recently, currently offers trading only in the US.
The Singapore market will be added soon, and other markets are also in the works.
Next, let’s discuss the order types Syfe Trade offers. The platform currently supports 4 types of orders:
- Market Orders by Dollar
- Market Orders by Shares
- Limit Orders
- Stop Orders
Investment Products Offered by Syfe Trade
As of now, Syfe Trade lets you invest in 10,000+ stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed in any of the US stock exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ.
Syfe intends to introduce more products based on market demand and customer feedback in the near future.
Most remarkably, Syfe Trade allows fractional trading. Using this feature, you can buy a fraction of shares for less than the cost of buying the whole share (minimum $1).
Therefore, even if your budget is limited, you can invest in your favourite companies.
Fees, Charges, and Minimum Investment
Fees and Charges
Fees at Syfe Trade are transparent, simple, and relatively affordable even for beginners.
Let’s have a look.
| Fee Type | Total Applicable Fees |
| Platform Fees | $0 |
| Commission Fees | For new users:
5 free trades for the first 3 months; US$0.99 per trade for your 6th trade onwards for the first 3 calendar months after exhausting the 5 free monthly trades. For existing users: 2 free trades per month; US$1.49 per trade for your 3rd trade onwards once you use up the 2 free monthly trades. |
| Regulatory Fees |
|
*Note that Commission Fees are subject to prevailing GST wherever applicable.
Furthermore, Syfe Trade does not charge any upfront or custody fees, or charges for inactivity or deposits/withdrawals.
However, a foreign exchange fee (SGD to USD) while executing your trades may apply.
Minimum Deposits with Syfe Trade
Beginners can easily afford to trade with Syfe Trade because it requires no minimum deposits and has a minimal investment amount of just US$1!
Sign-Up, Funding, and Withdrawal Options
Syfe Trade Sign-Up
Getting started with Syfe Trade is as easy as following these steps.
- First off, you need to have the Syfe app on your mobile. Syfe Trade uses the same app as Syfe’s robo advisor. Hence, download the app from Google Play Store or App Store.
- Once you are done with the download, verify your identity either with Singpass or do it by manually entering the required details and submitting the necessary documents as well.
- Then, complete your KYC verification.
- Now, complete your investment knowledge assessment.
- At this point, you’ll have to sign the required contracts.
- And you’re done with it. You can now fund your Syfe Trade account and start your trading.
If you are already a Syfe user, you can follow the below steps to get started with Syfe Trade —
- First, log in to your Syfe account.
- Now, switch to Syfe Trade (top left corner of your screen).
- On Syfe Trade, click on the “Complete Now” button.
- Here also, you’ll have to sign the necessary contracts.
- And you’re all done. Fund your account and get started with your trades.
Syfe Trade Funding Options
Syfe Trade supports 3 funding methods as discussed below –
- PayNow – Internet Banking:
- PayNow is available only for SGD transactions.
- This funds transfer service is meant for the clients of 9 Singapore-based participating banks — Bank of China, Citibank, DBS/POSB, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and UOB.
- You can easily use this funding method through your internet or mobile banking app.
- Fast and Secure Transfer (FAST):
- This funding method allows you to transfer SGD funds quickly.
- There is a maximum transfer limit of S$200,000 per transaction.
- Wire transfer:
- Wire transfer is a convenient funding method to make international transfers.
- Although Syfe Trade doesn’t charge any transaction fees, Wire transfers may involve transaction charges imposed by the remitting bank and the beneficiary bank.
You can fund your Syfe Trade account with both SGD and USD.
Funding orders may take longer to process depending on the mode or method of transfer.
For instance, a transfer made from a Singapore-based bank usually gets processed on the same business day.
On the other hand, USD transfers might take some time to be processed if the funds were remitted during a US holiday.
Also, all fund transfers made over the weekend are normally processed the next business day.
Syfe Trade Withdrawal Options
Syfe Trade currently supports only bank transfers for withdrawal.
Both SGD and USD are supported by Syfe Trade as withdrawal currencies.
Note that a withdrawal request to a Singapore local bank is usually executed by the next business day.
Syfe Trade doesn’t charge any withdrawal fees. However, bank charges may apply.
Withdrawals made in USD require a minimum amount of US$100, whereas withdrawals made in SGD do not.
Note that there’s no lock-in period involved. You can withdraw your funds whenever you want to.
Promotional Offers & Rewards
Syfe’s newly launched brokerage platform introduces several promotional offers and rewards for its clients.
- For new Syfe Trade users, a welcome promotion (using the promo code DollarBureau) offers S$10 in cash credits if you fund your Syfe Account with a minimum of S$2,000 and make your first buy trade within 30 days of account creation.
The cash credits earned as part of the promotional offers will be credited to your Syfe Trade account within 7 business days.
This might change so we suggest checking out our page where we update all Syfe Trade referral codes constantly.
Is Syfe Safe?
Reputation
You may feel comfort in the thought that Syfe Trade is offered by the well-known and well-established robo advisory platform Syfe.
Security
First, Syfe is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as a Capital Markets Services (CMS) licence holder.
Thus, they meet all the standards and requirements set by MAS to protect your funds if anything happens to them.
Second, your funds on Syfe Trade are held in trust by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Singapore Branch (HSBC).
They have also introduced Alpaca Securities LLC, a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) as the sub-custodian for your securities account.
In case any unexpected happens, SIPC protects the securities of its members for up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash).
Thus, your funds and assets are held completely separately from that of Syfe and are insured.
Syfe Trade Usability
The user interface of Syfe Trade is quite simple and user-friendly.
In fact, it’s the most user-friendly brokerage we’ve used; and we really like it.
However, Syfe Trade is only available for mobile devices, which may cause some inconvenience to you.
Although the interface is beginner-friendly and quite convenient, we believe it can be improved with the addition of more key data and ratios.
However, the intuitive interface and the simple layout along with its competitive rates make the platform considerably attractive to many.
So if you’re a beginner or someone who just needs a simple app to purchase their stocks, Syfe Trade is perfect for that.
Syfe Trade’s Customer Support
Customer support on Syfe Trade is something you’ll be quite impressed with.
Their customer support is great with prompt responses from the support team.
In case of any urgency, you can contact them through email, phone call, or live chat.
For Syfe Trade, 24 hours of email support is available Monday through Friday. 9 am to 6 pm.
As for the live chat, you can go for that also Monday to Friday, which is available 24 hours.
Conclusion
To recommend a brokerage platform, different perspectives must be considered. It is rarely possible to recommend one particular investment platform to all investors or to all types of investors.
Syfe Trade, too, is not an exception.
Considering its competitive pricing along with its intuitive user interface, the platform is substantially convenient for beginner investors, while experienced investors will also find reasons to like it.
Of course, as you must have noticed, there are certain shortcomings — be it the availability of one single market or limited asset classes.
Syfe Trade will hopefully become a better brokerage for investors over time as more options become available.
Meanwhile, if you’re interested to invest in the US markets and want to purchase fractional shares instead, then Syfe Trade is perfect for you.
Interested in Syfe Trade?
Use our promo code “DollarBureau” and register here to receive $10 cash credits when you deposit $2,000 and make your first trade within 30 days.
