Al Rajhi Capital vs Swissquote — which broker is better?

Pros

• Licensed by Saudi Arabia's CMA since 19 June 2007 (licence 07068-37) and shown on the CMA's list of financial market institutions for dealing, custody, advising, arranging and fund management
• Wholly owned by Al Rajhi Bank, founded in 1957 and listed on the Saudi Exchange under 1120; Al Rajhi Capital's 2025 annual report includes an independent auditors' report
• One app for Saudi shares, international brokerage and Al Rajhi funds from SAR 10, rated 4.6 from 217,057 ratings on the Saudi App Store (read on 2 November 2026)
• Wide foreign reach in the published schedule: the US, seven Gulf and MENA exchanges, 14 European markets and 11 in Asia-Pacific and Turkey, plus sukuk
• US shares via the IBKR route at USD 0.01 per share with a USD 1 minimum per order
• Sharia governance in the provider's own words: a named three-member Shariah Board, a published Sharia list of Saudi Main Market companies, and Murabaha financing for Saudi shares that it describes as complying with Shariah
• Human help on the ground: 16 offices in the Kingdom, walk-in investment centres and a phone trading desk

Cons

• No published commission for Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) trades on the pages we read; the Saudi Exchange page linked for ETF and rights commissions returned an access error, so the home-market price is unknown
• High minimums abroad: EUR 18 per European order at 0.18% plus 0.05% a year in custody, AED 130 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and VAT on top of every commission
• Online opening only with an Al Rajhi Bank ATM card; otherwise, and for international brokerage, a visit to an investment centre in Saudi Arabia
• Aimed at Saudi residents: we found no offer for other countries, and online opening and the international-brokerage FAQ both route through an Al Rajhi Bank account
• No general investor compensation scheme found in Saudi Arabia, and client-asset segregation is not described on the pages we read
• Real-time prices on the international platform cost extra at an unstated fee, and education material is thin

Pros

• FINMA-licensed Swiss bank listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SQN) with published annual results — CHF 88.7 billion in client assets and around 750,000 accounts
• esisuisse depositor protection covers cash up to CHF 100,000, and custodied securities remain client property outside the bank's balance sheet
• Custody fee is capped at CHF 50 per quarter (CHF 200 a year) for private clients, so large portfolios pay a flat rather than percentage cost
• ETF Leaders pricing caps SIX-listed ETF commission at CHF 9 above CHF 1,000, regardless of order size
• Real cryptocurrency custody across 50-plus coins inside a regulated bank, with crypto custody included in the standard fee since 2025
• One login covers trading, Swiss banking, debit cards, payments, savings plans and pillar 3a retirement accounts
• Complimentary eTax statement for Swiss residents, which removes a genuine annual chore
• Four-language Swiss support including German, French, Italian and English, with local offices rather than an offshore call centre

Cons

• Commission is high by international standards — CHF 29 on a CHF 10,000 order and CHF 190 above CHF 50,000, where global discount brokers charge single digits
• Currency conversion costs 0.95% on major currencies, one of the most expensive markups among European brokers and the dominant cost for anyone buying US assets from a CHF or EUR balance
• A custody fee applies from the first franc — CHF 80 a year minimum plus 8.1% VAT — which is proportionally heavy on small portfolios
• Zero interest on cash balances across every currency and tier, at a time when several competitors pay a money-market rate
• Card deposits cost 1.9% in Switzerland and Europe, and SEPA withdrawals cost EUR 2
• The securities platform and the CFD/forex platform (CFXD) sit on separate logins, which fragments the experience for multi-product clients