Best Brokerage Account Malaysia 2026: moomoo vs Tiger vs Rakuten vs Maybank

Four platforms come up every time Malaysians talk about stock trading. Two of them — moomoo and Rakuten Trade — are SC-licensed and actively competing for your account. One — Maybank Kim Eng — is the established incumbent. And one — Tiger Brokers — is a name you've probably seen everywhere on social media, but cannot actually use if you're a Malaysian resident.

Quick answer: For most Malaysians starting out or trading US stocks, moomoo is the pick — zero commission across five markets, SC-licensed, no minimum deposit. For dedicated Bursa traders who want a longer-established local platform, Rakuten Trade is a solid alternative with a 9-year local track record. Maybank Kim Eng suits investors already embedded in the Maybank ecosystem. Tiger Brokers is not SC-licensed and does not allow Malaysian residents to open accounts — skip it.

Four Platforms, One Table

Sources: moomoo.com/my, rakutentrade.my/fees, SC Malaysia public register. Verified April 2026. Tiger Brokers: no SC Malaysia licence; cannot open accounts for Malaysian residents.

moomoo Malaysia: Zero Commission Across Five Markets

Moomoo Securities Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (company reg: 202101039212) launched locally and now counts over one million users — the most downloaded trading app in Malaysia by its own account. The SC Capital Markets Services licence (eCMSL/A0397/2024) covers dealing in securities, and moomoo is a full Participating Organisation of Bursa Malaysia.

The core pitch: zero commission on Bursa, US, Singapore, Hong Kong and China A-shares. No platform fee. No minimum deposit. For any investor who previously paid RM2.88 on a RM500 Bursa trade under the old Rakuten structure, that difference compounds meaningfully over time.

Beyond the zero-commission headline, moomoo differentiates on data quality. You get real-time Level 2 market depth — up to 60 bid/ask price levels — which most platforms charge extra for or don't offer to retail investors at all. The stock screener covers over 100 indicators. There's a built-in paper trading mode for practising without real money, and Shariah-compliant stock filtering for investors who need it.

One feature worth noting separately: Cash Plus pays 6% p.a. on uninvested funds (up to RM30,000, 30-day term). It is not a deposit product and is not PIDM-protected, but as a way to put idle cash to work while you decide where to invest, it beats leaving funds in a standard savings account. For context on deposit alternatives, see our best high-yield savings accounts roundup — GXBank and AEON Bank are currently the strongest purely deposit-insured options.

moomoo IPO Access and CDS Accounts

For Bursa IPO subscriptions, moomoo requires a separate CDS Account-IPO (free, takes up to 2 business days to process). The main Universal Account — which covers all five markets — can be opened and funded on the same day. Malaysian residents aged 18+ with a valid local address are eligible to apply.

Rakuten Trade: Malaysia's First Fully Digital Broker

Rakuten Trade is a joint venture between Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd and Japan's Rakuten Securities Inc., licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia since April 2017. It was Malaysia's first completely digital equities broker — no physical branches, no paper forms from day one. Its listed CMSL is restricted, covering dealing in listed securities and investment advice on Bursa-listed instruments primarily.

Commission structure for Bursa trades (tiered by contract value):

• Below RM100: RM1 flat
• RM100.01 – RM9,999.99: RM2.88 flat
• RM10,000 – RM99,999.99: 0.10%
• Above RM100,000: RM100 flat cap

US stocks: 0.10% commission, minimum USD0.88, maximum USD25 per transaction. HK stocks: 0.10%, minimum HKD35. CDS account opening is free. Margin facility (RakuMargin): 5.5% p.a. plus 0.5% rollover fee on 3-month rollovers.

To put cost in perspective: on a RM5,000 Bursa trade, Rakuten charges RM5 (0.10%) while moomoo charges RM0. On a RM100,000 trade, Rakuten charges RM100 (0.10%, capped) and moomoo charges RM0. The cost advantage of moomoo is consistent at every trade size — but Rakuten's 9-year track record in Malaysia and its Kenanga institutional parent offer a different type of credibility for investors who weight operational history highly.

Current new-account offers: free US shares on signup, RM1 flat brokerage on US stocks for the first 3 months. Rakuten also runs an RT Points reward system — 1 point per RM1 spent in brokerage, redeemable for trading credits.

If you're primarily a Bursa investor but also considering passive diversification, read our best robo-advisors Malaysia comparison — platforms like StashAway and Wahed Invest handle allocation automatically and are often a better fit than stock-picking for long-term wealth building.

Tiger Brokers Malaysia: Why It Won't Work for You

Tiger Brokers generates substantial search traffic from Malaysians — the brand is heavily marketed in Singapore and the ads bleed over to Malaysian social media and YouTube. The direct answer: Tiger Brokers does not hold a Securities Commission Malaysia licence and does not allow Malaysian residents to open accounts.

Tiger Brokers holds brokerage licences in Singapore (MAS), the US (FINRA), New Zealand (FMA) and Australia (ASIC). Malaysia is not on that list. The platform explicitly does not support account opening, trading services, or tailored promotions for Malaysian investors. There is no Bursa Malaysia access.

What Tiger Brokers does offer in its licensed markets: USD0.01 per share for US stocks (minimum USD1.99, maximum 1% of trade value), with access to US, Singapore, HK and Australian markets. None of this is accessible to you as a Malaysian resident through a legitimately opened account.

The practical concern beyond the access issue: if you were to use Tiger Brokers via a workaround (e.g., a Singapore address), you would have no recourse under Malaysian law if something goes wrong. The SC cannot intervene on disputes involving unlicensed foreign brokers.

Our take: Skip Tiger Brokers. moomoo covers the same US and HK markets at zero commission, is fully SC-licensed in Malaysia, and has a physical experience centre in KL. There is no trade-off that makes Tiger Brokers the right choice for a Malaysian investor.

Maybank Kim Eng: The Full-Service Option

Maybank Kim Eng is a wholly owned subsidiary of Malayan Banking Berhad and one of Malaysia's longest-established stockbrokers, operating as a full Participating Organisation of Bursa Malaysia. The eInvest platform handles online retail trading, covering Bursa Malaysia, US, Hong Kong, Singapore and other international markets through its regional network.

Commission rates are negotiable based on trading volume. Standard published rates for retail Bursa trades sit around 0.42% with a minimum charge of approximately RM28 per transaction — significantly higher than moomoo (RM0) and Rakuten (RM1–RM100 cap). For high-volume or priority banking clients, rates are negotiated individually. Check the official Maybank fee schedule for current retail rates, as they are subject to change.

Where Maybank Kim Eng is genuinely useful: if you're already a Maybank Private Wealth or Priority Banking client, the integrated banking-plus-investments relationship simplifies portfolio management within a single app. Maybank also provides equity research and analyst coverage — useful if you want institutional-grade analysis beyond technical indicators. For investors trading RM500,000+ positions, the cost difference vs moomoo starts to matter less than execution quality and research depth.

For cost-conscious retail investors, Maybank Kim Eng is the most expensive of the three SC-licensed options. It's a trade-off between price and relationship banking — not a gap in quality or regulation.

Buying US Stocks From Malaysia: The Practical Guide

Both moomoo and Rakuten Trade give Malaysian residents direct NYSE and NASDAQ access without a US brokerage account. You fund in MYR; the platform converts at point of purchase. US stocks settle T+2. Your holdings are held in a custodian account segregated from the broker's own assets.

The 30% US Dividend Withholding Tax

Malaysia does not have a comprehensive tax treaty with the United States covering individual retail investor dividends. When a US company declares a dividend, 30% is withheld before it reaches your brokerage account. On a USD1,000 dividend, you receive USD700. This 30% deduction is permanent — you cannot recover it and do not need to file a US tax return to settle it.

Capital gains on US stocks are not taxed in Malaysia (no capital gains tax as of April 2026). The only Malaysian tax consideration is dividend income — and even here, US dividends received by a Malaysian resident are not subject to Malaysian income tax under current rules. You lose the 30% at US source, but what arrives in your account is yours.

If your US stock strategy is dividend-focused, the 30% withholding changes your effective yield materially. A stock yielding 4% US-side delivers an effective 2.8% to a Malaysian investor. Factor this before building a high-dividend US portfolio.

SC Licence and Safety: What It Actually Means

The Securities Commission Malaysia requires all stockbrokers serving Malaysian investors to hold a Capital Markets Services Licence. Platforms on the SC public register must segregate client assets from company assets, submit to regular audits, and maintain minimum capital adequacy ratios. Your Bursa holdings are recorded in your own CDS account — they belong to you, not the broker. US and HK holdings are held in a segregated custodian structure.

All three recommended platforms — moomoo (eCMSL/A0397/2024), Rakuten Trade (restricted CMSL since 2017), and Maybank Kim Eng — are SC-licensed and Bursa Participating Organisations or affiliated entities. Tiger Brokers is not. If a non-SC-licensed platform fails or disputes arise, Malaysian investors have limited legal recourse under local law.

Our Verdict

Last updated: April 2026. Commission rates verified from moomoo.com/my and rakutentrade.my/fees. SC licence status verified from Securities Commission Malaysia public register. Tiger Brokers Malaysia status confirmed via SC register and platform statement, April 2026. Maybank Kim Eng fees sourced from published rate schedule — verify current rates at Maybank official fee page before trading.