Do CFD brokers charge overnight fees?
Verdict
- Yes: CFD brokers, including Pepperstone, our pick, apply an overnight financing charge (or sometimes a credit) to positions held past the daily rollover; positions you close the same day avoid it.
- Swap-free accounts do not make holding free; they replace swap with fees, such as IC Markets' flat holding fee of $11 per lot a night on EUR/USD once its grace period ends.
- Pepperstone's swap-free account is limited to residents of 23 listed countries and Australia is not one of them.
- Pepperstone's perpetual CFDs use a funding rate instead, set weekly in advance and applied daily at 5 pm New York time.
Almost always, yes. A leveraged CFD position is financed by the broker, so holding it overnight carries a cost (or, on some forex positions, a small credit). How much depends on the instrument, the direction and how long you hold. For short-term traders it barely matters; for anyone holding for weeks it can cost more than the spread.
How Pepperstone handles overnight costs
At Pepperstone, standard CFDs carry a swap on positions still open at the daily rollover. It can be a charge or a credit and differs between long and short positions, so check the current rate in your platform's symbol information; we found no single published figure. Day traders who close before the rollover pay only the spread and any commission: on Razor, about $8 per round-turn EUR/USD lot on MT5 at the published 0.1-pip average. Pepperstone charges no inactivity or account-keeping fee, so an idle funded account costs nothing.
Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Ways brokers charge for holding a position
Swap-free terms above are as each broker publishes them; check whether the account is open to Australian residents before relying on it.
| Model | Example | How it is charged |
|---|---|---|
| Swap or overnight financing | Pepperstone standard CFDs | Daily charge or credit per lot, shown in the platform |
| Funding rate | Pepperstone perpetual CFDs | Set weekly in advance, applied daily at 5 pm New York time |
| Swap-free holding fee | IC Markets swap-free account | Flat fee per lot (EUR/USD $11) after a grace period of up to 5 days |
| Swap-free admin fee | Pepperstone swap-free (23 countries) | USD 100 per lot on FX and precious metals once a trade is held 5 days |
| Swap-free admin fee | FP Markets, Vantage | Administration fee instead of swap; amounts not published |
When overnight costs outweigh the spread
On Pepperstone Standard, the spread on a round-turn EUR/USD lot costs about $11. That is a one-off cost, while swap repeats every night. A swing trade held for two weeks pays swap on every rollover in that time, so on pairs or indices with a large negative swap, financing can easily overtake the entry cost. Rules of thumb:
- Intraday trading: overnight fees do not apply if you close before the rollover.
- Holding a few days: check the swap rate and include it in the trade plan.
- Holding weeks or months: compare total financing with the expected move; a CFD may be the wrong product for a long-term view.
How to check the fee before you hold
- Open the symbol's specification in MT4 or MT5, or the symbol information in cTrader, and read the long and short swap.
- Note which weekday carries the weekend charge.
- Multiply by your size and the number of nights you expect to hold.
- Compare with the spread and commission you already paid to enter.
Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Sources
Terms as each broker publishes them on its own site.
Can Australians open a swap-free account at Pepperstone?
No. Pepperstone lists 23 eligible countries for its swap-free account, and Australia is not among them.
Do I pay overnight fees on a day trade?
No, if the position is closed before the daily rollover. You pay only the spread and any commission.
Are overnight fees charged on weekends?
Brokers usually apply the weekend's financing on one weekday, so one night can count three times; your platform shows which day.
CFDs are leveraged and carry a high risk of losing money rapidly; holding costs add to that risk on longer trades. Read the PDS and TMD for details of financing charges. This page is general information, not investment advice.