Digital equity broker Rakuten Trade said that it is revamping its brokerage fees for trades done in Malaysian ringgit (MYR), with the minimum rate to be reduced from RM7 to just RM1. Set to take effect starting from 17 April 2023, the new fee structure is applicable to all the markets that Rakuten Trade has access to, including Bursa Malaysia, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASDAQ, as well as the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX).

In a statement, Rakuten Trade said that its fees will now range between a minimum of RM1 to a maximum of RM100 (unchanged) customers who conduct their trades in MYR. The new fee structure is as follows:

Alongside this development, Rakuten Trade is also making a slight update to its rewards programme, which was just revamped in July 2022. As of 17 April, investors will also be able to earn 1 Rakuten Trade (RT) Point for every RM1 spent on brokerage fees, in comparison to the existing earning rate of 1 RT Point for every RM2 spent.

With regard to the new pricing structure, chief executive officer of Rakuten Trade, Kazumasa Mise said that the move was made in a bid to stimulate retail participation and further democratise digital equity broking in Malaysia. This is also in line with Rakuten Trade’s mission to empower investors to build their wealth via portfolio diversification.

“In May 2017, Rakuten Trade successfully lowered the barriers to entry and soon, will be crossing another industry milestone of further lowering the barriers to trade. By making investing more affordable and providing opportunity to many more, digital investing will now be more accessible to investors keen to grow their wealth,” said Kazumasa.

Kazumasa also noted the increasing importance of retail investors to many brokers, especially as the number of retail investors continue to grow. “In the last 12 months, we have recorded a steady stream of account openings of almost 2,000 per month with trading strategies remained unchanged, relying on identical trigger points month on month. This tells us that retail investors are attracted to the convenience and accessibility of online trading platforms,” he stated.

Finally, Kazumasa revealed that Rakuten Trade investors can look forward to the introduction of a new fractional share trading feature for US stocks by the end of this month. This is another initiative taken by the digital broker to better support the needs of retail investors, adding to existing facilities such as the foreign currency facility, he said.

• TAGS:
• Brokerage Fees
• Digital Brokers
• Kazumasa Mise
• Rakuten Trade
• Rakuten Trade Fractional Share Trading
• Rakuten Trade Points
• Rakuten Trade Rewards Programme
• Stock Market
• Stock Trading