MIDF Invest account can be funded via local bank transfer via FPX. The money transferred in RM will then be converted into US dollars in MIDF Invest. This USD value will can then be used to trade. Therefore, timing of transferring money into MIDF Invest is also important and forex rates has to be taken into account.
There's no minimum deposit amount for starting an account but the minimum trade is USD 50. The brokerage rates are still not clear yet the app is still in beta phase, MIDF mentioned that the costs will be announce after July 2021 as there is a promotion period where brokerage fees is waived.
Do note that the stocks/equities purchased will be under a nominees account. This means the stocks will be purchase on your behalf by MIDF but will be registered with MIDF nominees instead of your name. MIDF has a collaboration with Saxo Bank to do the transactions.
All signups to MIDF Invest are done online. I've registered my account but yet to be able to start trading as it is still awaiting MIDF backend to approve the account. So for now I can only use their demo trading account to play.
In the past, Malaysians who want to buy US stocks will sign up with a foreign broker that accepts Malaysian registration like Interactive Brokers, Tiger Brokers, Ameritrade. These brokers do not have presence in Malaysia and moving money in and out these brokers are very cumbersome.
Following this launch, MIDF has a slight upper hand now but word on the street is many other stock broking companies and Rakuten Trade/FSMOne is planning to launch US stock trading platforms on top of their existing stock trading platform. (update 20221128 - Rakuten and FSMOne now offers US stock trading)
Finally Malaysians have easy access to purchase US equities of the likes of Tesla, Microsoft, Google, Intel.
MIDF Invest's fees are as follows :
0% trade below USD1,000
0.4% for trade above RM1,000 (RM5 minimum)
RM1 for each RM1,000 value stamp duty
All stock purchases needs to be in whole units/lots. Say, if Apple's share price is USD160, you need a minimum of USD160+ to buy 1 unit, you can't buy fractional shares , say 0.5 units. Some US brokers do support fractional share trading already but this is not available in MIDF Invest.
Updates 20210719
My account has yet to be approved by the backend team at MIDF Invest, they require additional documents.
- Income Tax Declaration Form (Borang BE)
- EA form
- Salary Slip
- Bank statement
- Other additional documents as proof of wealth
It's quite odd that they also still ask for photocopy IC considering that the same document has been uploaded via the app's eKYC (know your customer aka registration) system. All the documents required for is almost like applying for a bank housing loan. Once I've furnished these documents my account will probably be approved.
The User Interface of the app seems good but in the trading section it looks more like it calls another 3rd party site for the stock trading features and functions (price feeds, buy and sell etc).
MIDF Invest has got a dedicated US timezone helpdesk for customers, from the MIDF Invest app, can contact the helpdesk team which MIDF refers to as Customer Happiness Agents.
Updates 20210720
I've submitted the documents required, let's see how fast my account can be opened then I can test this app out.
Updates 20210728
My account just got approved at night. After my MIDF Invest account got activated, I had to deposit in RM1 which will be refunded within an hour to proof funding account from bank is valid.
Updates 20210803
MIDF Invest monthly email statements (e statements) came to my mailbox, it's password protected with the last 4 digits of IC number.
Updates 20221028
I finally bought my 1st stock on MIDF Invest app, it's Google's share. I bought it after the stock split as it was within my monetary means to purchase. Transaction cost was USD8. Currently US dollar is quite high compared to Malaysian Ringgit so I'm also exposed to currency risk if the US dollar's strength eases as I'm exchanging at a higher rate. Anyway, I've seen how the business of Google especially Youtube growing exponentially so I decided to take shot at Google.
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