EasyEquities’ competitors are lining up for a shot at the throne

Global fintech giant Capital.com has received dual regulatory approval from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) to operate in South Africa.

This will allow the group to compete with established retail investment platforms in the country, such as EasyEquities, albeit in different ways.

Founded in Cyprus in 2016, Capital.com now operates in more than 10 countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, the Bahamas, and the UAE.

Under its dual FSCA license, Capital.com can now provide South African investors with access to over 5,000 markets, specifically through Contract for Difference (CFD) trading.

A CFD is a financial agreement that allows investors to speculate on price fluctuations of an underlying asset without actually owning said asset.

With a CFD, a buyer agrees to pay the seller the difference between the asset’s current value and its value at the time the agreement was initiated.

This means that if the asset’s value increased during that time, the seller would have to compensate the buyer for the price increase, and vice versa if the value declined.

As an Over-the-Counter Derivatives Provider, Capital.com is authorised to offer crypto CFDs alongside its retail CFD options, under strict FSCA supervision.

The dual license also classifies it as a Category 1 financial services provider, allowing it to provide services for FSCA-approved financial products.

Capital.com appointed Travis Robson as CEO of its South African operations. Robson has an extensive career in the retail investing space.

Most notably, he is the former CEO for the Middle East operations of UK-based CFD broker IG Group, which shuttered its South African branch earlier this year.

Robson said the approval from the FSCA, which closely follows similar approval for Capital.com from Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority, was highly important for the company.

“Our role is to ensure clients engage with markets within a framework that is governed, supervised, and designed to prioritise clarity around risk,” Robson said.

“By operating under FSCA oversight, we are focused on providing access to markets in a way that supports informed decision-making.”

A new player in South Africa’s retail investor market

The entry of Capital.com into South Africa introduces new competition for the country’s retail investment giants, even though their offerings differ slightly.

EasyEquities is currently the most popular retail investment platform in the country, and is seen as an ideal entry point for beginner investors.

The platform’s low cost and barrier to entry allow almost any South African to begin investing in both local and international equities within minutes.

As of February 2026, EasyEquities had over 1.2 million active clients and managed nearly R95 billion in client assets.

Before last year, the company had also faced virtually no direct competition from traditional players within the retail investment space.

That changed with the launch of Investec’s Clarity trading platform in February 2025, followed a month later by an expansion of Standard Bank’s Shyft to allow trading on the JSE.

Despite new entrants to the market, EasyEquities remains the more viable option due to its offering of fractional share rights (FSR) alongside traditional whole shares.

These FSRs allowed EasyEquities users to invest as little as R5 to own a fraction of a larger, more expensive share such as Berkshire Hathaway, Apple, or Naspers.

While Shyft said it would offer FSRs at a later date, these are still not available on the platform, and investors are only able to purchase whole shares.

Clarity, on the other hand, does offer fractional share rights, but only through a CFD trading system similar to Capital.com’s.

While CFDs have the potential for much higher profits, their complex nature means the potential for losses is equally magnified, making them a much riskier investment.

According to Capital.com’s own website, between 74% and 89% of retail investor accounts trading CFDs on the platform lose money due to the leverage involved.

As such, EasyEquities will likely remain the popular choice for beginner investors looking for safer, long-term investments due to its affordable model, ease of access, and lower risk.

However, new entrants such as Capital.com may appeal to more experienced investors and could drive the competitiveness of the retail investment sector in the coming years.