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Not too long ago, Singapore investors were forced to pay a minimum brokerage commission of $25 each time we bought or sold our investments. Investing in overseas stocks was also more opaque, as we usually could not lock-in exchange rates beforehand, and typically did not have access to real-time trading information.
Then, since 2020, a slew of low-cost online brokerages disrupted Singapore’s investing landscape.
And, we haven’t looked back since – with newer and innovative fintech platforms offering even more competitive brokerage services.
Meet Longbridge: Offering Zero Commissions1 For Life & One Of The Lowest Platform Fees
Those already familiar with online brokerages will know that there are typically two types of trading fees that we have to pay: 1) the brokerage commission and 2) the platform fee.
Longbridge, an MAS-licenced brokerage firm, is shaking up Singapore’s brokerage scene with an investor-first model that includes offering one of the lowest combined fees for buying and selling stocks.
Longbridge is completely doing away with brokerage commissions. Anyone who opens a Longbridge Account will instantly gain access to lifetime zero brokerage commissions when buying or selling stocks and ETFs in Singapore, Hong Kong and the US.
Underlining its commitment to offer low-cost brokerage service in Singapore, we can see in the screengrab below that Longbridge – besides having lifetime $0 brokerage commissions – also charges one of the lowest Platform Fees in the market.
Source: All screengrabs taken from Longbridge website or brokerage app.
For example, if we buy 100 DBS stocks on Longbridge today, it will cost us around $4,550 – and the Platform Fee will come up to around $1.365, excluding certain fees charged by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and GST.
From now till 31 July, anyone who opens a new Longbridge brokerage account and deposit S$2,000 will also enjoy $02 platform fees trading. In the screengrab below, we can see that we will get platform fee coupons to offset up to S$1,760 (US$450 or S$575 + HK$4,500 or S$735 + S$450) in platform fees. Terms and Conditions apply, and you can read more about this Welcome Reward on the Longbridge website.
Investing Made Simple: One Platform, Over 32,000 Products
Beyond offering one of the lowest brokerage fees in Singapore, the explosion in popularity of digital platforms puts Longbridge in a good position to gain a significant foothold in Singapore’s stock brokerage space.
Longbridge offers diverse exposure to popular global markets for Singapore investors, namely, the Singapore, Hong Kong and US markets.
With Longbridge, we don’t just get to invest in stocks, REITs, ETFs or bonds listed on the global exchanges that it offers. We are able to gain even broader access to the financial markets with over 32,000 products, including equities, funds and derivative instruments available through the platform.
In the various markets that we are interested to invest in, there are all the usual products that we would expect. For example, we can invest in US Stock options and pre-market or post-market trading for US stocks.
On the flipside, we can also access lower-risk products such as money market funds and short-term bonds – where we can stash our cash savings to potentially earn some income. For those who prefer taking on higher risk, we can also invest in other types of funds with exposure to equities, bonds, and commodities.
Investors with funds sitting idle in our accounts can also make use of its “Cash Plus” feature. This automatically sweeps idle funds into money market funds to generate a return, while still being available on-demand if we want to use it for investing in stocks, options or funds.
Within a single app, Longbridge helps us build and manage a diversified global investment portfolio.
A Safe & Secure Way To Invest In Global Markets
While Longbridge may be a relatively new name in Singapore’s brokerage landscape, it has raised US$150 million in funding from established investors, including Phillip Capital and other institutional investors, to accelerate its growth in the region.
On its website, Longbridge explains how it protects its users’ funds. Like all licenced brokerages in Singapore, Longbridge holds a Capital Market Service (CMS) licence, and also has an exempted financial advisor qualification.
In line with local regulations and practices, the brokerage firm safeguards its customers’ cash in custody accounts with DBS, while maintaining custody of customers’ securities. Longbridge also performs periodic checks and audits its counterparties to ensure customers’ funds are kept safe.
Advanced Investing Tools In Your Pocket
Longbridge is a brokerage platform built with the future in mind. Investors typically need information at our fingertips when we invest, and Longbridge provides that with live quotes, company news and filings, as well as an overview of a company’s financial data.
This gives us the ability to make informed decisions to buy and sell the stocks we are researching.
Left: NVIDIA live stock quotes, Middle: NVIDIA’s Financials, Right: News on NVIDIA (and we can also access its “Filing” tab) Source: Longbridge app
If we want to do even more analysis, Longbridge can take us that step further too – with its range of tools that include market news, earnings calendar, heat maps and industry maps, stocklists for investment concepts, stock screeners and more.
Left: Suite of investing tools on Longbridge, Middle: News headlines in the market (we can see that it is AI-curated to the stocks we are likely reviewing too, with NVIDIA featuring heavily in the example), Right: Stock Screener Source: Longbridge app
Longbridge is also pushing the frontier in brokerage services with AI tools for investors. PortAI is a financial GPT that can not only answer our investment questions, but do so using real-time data and content – through its integration with both ChatGPT and Deepseek.
Longbridge allows investors of all levels to trade at their own comfort levels. For beginner investors, making regular buy and sell trades via the Longbridge mobile trading app or its Web Trade could be more than sufficient and convenient.
For more advanced investors, Longbridge also equips you with a professional trading platform, including over 100 technical indicators and 12 multi-dimensional marking tools from Trading View.
With these advanced tools, even casual investors can make an informed decision on Longbridge when we invest.
1 Min Sign-Up Process: A New Standard for Retail Investing in Singapore
Signing up to Longbridge’s app takes just one minute and our mobile number, and we can start previewing the brokerage service.
To start investing on the app, simply sign up using MyInfo via our Singpass to create our brokerage account immediately.
We will get an WhatsApp message from Longbridge outlining the welcome gifts that we can expect to receive when trading with their brokerage service. From the text we received, we stand to get free shares of NVIDIA, Apple and Google and a guaranteed 6% interest on our idle funds for 90 days3 – on top of the lifetime zero brokerage commissions discussed earlier.
There’s really nothing to stop us from first playing around on the Longbridge brokerage app, and if we like what we see, we can sign up to enjoy lifetime free brokerage commissions and low platform fees, advanced investing tools and the welcome gifts worth up to $800 – including one free share of Nvidia, Apple, Google and AMD.
As an exclusive for DollarsAndSense readers, Longbridge is upsizing its welcome gifts with a bonus S$18 cash coupon and additional 6% interest boost on up to S$2,000 in savings.
Longbridge isn’t just another online brokerage service – no, it’s setting a new standard for what Singapore investors can expect from their brokerage service.
1 Other fees apply
2 Terms and conditions apply
3 Terms and conditions apply
Disclaimer:
This article has been prepared for the sole purpose of promoting Longbridge Singapore’s products and services. The information contained herein is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer, solicitation, recommendation, or advice to buy, sell, or otherwise engage with any investment products or financial services. We are not acting as a financial adviser and does not provide any financial advice. Longbridge Singapore makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the information or materials presented. All investments carry risks, may not be suitable for everyone, and you may lose your investment principal. Representations of past performance are not indicative of future results, and such representations have not been verified by Longbridge Singapore. You should seek independent financial advice if you are unsure about any investment decisions. This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
