Your group chat’s buzzing about the US tech rally. Gold is at another record high. The Fed made its call overnight and half your watchlist had already moved before your kop had time to cool down.
For retail traders following more than one market at a time, picking the right CFD platform is worth more than the 5 minutes most people give it. Most sign up based on the welcome bonus or whichever app looks promising and more user-friendly—only to find out the actual costs, tools, and terms later. Here’s what to look out for before choosing to commit.
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1. Does the platform cover the markets you follow?
Having access to 2,000 instruments sounds impressive. It is only useful if the 5 or 10 you trade are in there, priced competitively, with enough liquidity to get in and out cleanly.
The temptation is to sign up for whichever platform offers the most. In practice, trading what you already understand beats exploring a full catalogue one position at a time. Picking up a position on an instrument you never researched, just because it shows up on a list, is one of the faster ways to lose money on a CFD account.
2. Does it fit around your schedule and lifestyle?
Most retail traders are not watching charts all day. They are checking the market during lunch at the kopitiam, on the MRT ride home, or within a few minutes before a major announcement hits. Real-time price alerts, a stable mobile app, and customisable watchlists matter as much as the number of instruments on offer.
Real-time trader sentiment
Some platforms go further with market intelligence built directly in. Plus500's +Insights feature shows you what other traders on the platform are doing in real time: which instruments they are buying, which they are selling, and where sentiment is shifting.
AI-powered market snapshots: +AI Bites
Plus500 has also launched +AI Bites, which takes it a step further. Instead of toggling between news tabs, charting tools, and sentiment trackers before making a call, +AI Bites pulls together the latest news, intraday technical analysis, and platform sentiment, directly inside your chart. It runs in three depth levels so you can choose how much context you want before entering a position:
- Basic: a quick snapshot for a fast context check
- Expanded: adds technical analysis and recent news
- Comprehensive: full market overview including support/resistance levels and sentiment breakdown
CFD Service. Your capital is at risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The above is for marketing and general informational purposes only, and are only projections and should not be taken as investment research, investment advice or a personal recommendation.
3. Are the costs clear enough for your trading frequency?
"Commission-free" does not mean free-of-charge. Every trade has a spread built in, which is the gap between the buy and sell price. That’s how the platform earns on each position you open.
Other fees to check before you fund
Beyond the spread, here are other costs worth checking before you fund an account:
The right fee structure depends on how often you trade and whether you close positions the same day or hold them overnight. There is no one-size-fits-all answer.
4. Is the financial institution regulated where you trade?
Before you look at the interface, the instrument range, or the welcome bonus, check for the financial institution’s MAS capital markets services licence.
Not just a registration. An actual licence that requires the financial institution to meet local capital requirements and hold your money separately from its own operating funds. Plus500SG Pte Ltd (UEN 201422211Z) holds a capital markets services license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore for dealing in capital markets products (License No, CMS100648), with client funds held in segregated bank accounts, separate from the company’s operating funds. Rest assured that your money is secured.
CFDs in Singapore are also classified as unlisted Specified Investment Products, which means every MAS-regulated CFD provider must run a Customer Knowledge Assessment on retail investors before activating a trading account. You qualify automatically if you meet any of the following:
- At least 6 CFD transactions in the past 3 years
- 3 consecutive years of relevant work experience in the financial industry
- A finance-related diploma or above
If you do not meet these criteria, the ABS-SAS e-learning module is the route in. You can verify any provider's licence on the MAS Financial Institutions Directory in under 2 minutes.
5. Is a CFD sign-up bonus as good as it looks?
A bonus that only pays out after you hit a deposit threshold and a trading volume target is not really a reward. It is a condition that may push you to deposit more than planned or trade more than intended.
Gut-check: would you deposit the same amount and trade the same way without it? If it’s a yes, the bonus is genuine upside on a decision you were already going to make. If not, you're not getting a free reward. You are meeting a threshold to unlock one, which is not the same thing.
For active traders, Plus500's rebate programme works on a different basis. Traders accumulate Trader Points each time they open a position. These points, which are credited weekly regardless of how the trade performs, count toward earning the relevant bonus.
Testing a platform before you commit
If you want to see how a platform performs before putting real money in, Plus500's unlimited demo account runs on live market data and stays open for as long as you need, with no deadline to fund a live account.
New account holders who make a qualifying first deposit may receive a bonus credited to their account. Check the current terms and conditions for the deposit threshold and payout details before funding.
CFD Service. Your capital is at risk.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a CFD and buying a stock?
When you buy a share, you own part of the company and can receive dividends and benefit from long-term price growth. When you trade a stock CFD, you are speculating on price movement rather than owning the underlying shares. No ownership, no dividends, and any position held overnight carries a daily funding charge. For a short-term trade, that charge is usually small. Hold it for weeks and it adds up.
Can I trade CFDs in Singapore with no prior experience?
Yes, but you must first pass the Customer Knowledge Assessment required by MAS before your account is activated. If you do not meet the experience or qualification criteria, go through the ABS-SAS e-learning module, a short online course with a quiz at the end. Pass it, submit the certificate to your provider, and your account will be activated.
How do I check whether a CFD platform is legitimate in Singapore?
Look up the provider on the MAS Financial Institutions Directory. A legitimate MAS-regulated CFD provider will have a capital markets services licence number you can verify independently. Confirm it covers dealing in capital markets products specifically, not just another category of financial services registration.
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