To help you to find the online brokers in Sri Lanka in 2023, we went ahead and did the research for you. We collected all data you need to know about account opening, trading performance and fees of the best investment providers in Sri Lanka.
1. Find an online broker
First, you need to make sure that the broker you're looking at is available in Sri Lanka.
Would you like to speed up your search?
Our broker finder tool will help you narrow down your choices, showing only those brokers that are available in your country and are suitable for your investment goals and habits. And if you want a detailed, side-by-side comparison of these alternatives, check out our broker comparison table.
2. Open your account
Opening an account at an online broker is usually easy and straightforward, and takes place fully online. Most of the time, you just need to provide your name, address and other basic information, and maybe answer some questions about your wealth/income status, financial knowledge or trading experience.
Make sure you have your documents at hand, as
- copies of a photo ID
- some recent bank statements
- or utility bills
are usually required to verify your identity and residency.
3. Fund your account
So your trading account has been verified; the next step is to fund it – in other words, to deposit money that you will then use for investing. Some brokers require a minimum deposit when you open your account, but most brokers do not have such a requirement, allowing you to take your time before committing any funds.
All brokers will allow you to deposit or withdraw funds via bank transfer; an easy, usually free, though not always super-fast method. Withdrawing money to your bank account can take as long as three days.
Many brokers also let you deposit (though not withdraw) funds using credit or debit cards. A few will also accept so-called electronic wallets such as PayPal, Apple Pay, Skrill or Neteller. The biggest benefit of cards and e-wallets is that transactions take place instantly, allowing you to start investing – or reap the proceeds of a successful stock sale – right away.
4. Invest
You may already know which product you want to invest in; if not, it's worth checking out the research section of your broker, which often includes trading ideas and recommendations by in-house experts or third-party analysts.
Once you have settled on a stock, it's easy – just
- select it from the broker's search menu
- enter the amount
- invest
Most trading platforms will offer several order types - such as a "Market" order to invest at the current price, or a "Limit" order to invest later at a specific price. To learn more about various order types, read this article.
