Maybank Stock Brokerage Fees for Malaysian and US Stocks

This article will share with you my experience buying Malaysian & US stocks via the Maybank trading platform.

To read the Bahasa Malaysia version of this article, click here:

Why I Choose Maybank as my Broker

I have to be honest here; I did not do any comparison research. Despite knowing that online brokers exist, I went with Maybank anyway. Why?:

• I trust Maybank as I’ve been their customer since I was a kid.
• If I have any issues, I can always call someone or head down to a local branch and meet a physical person.
• It’s nice to consolidate everything, my bank account, and investment portfolio in 1 app and website.

Your broker of choice will depend on what type of investor you are. For me, I buy and keep stocks as long as I can. So it makes sense for me to get a broker from a local bank that I trust, and I know they will be around for a long time.

If you’re an international trader, it will make sense to go for online trading platforms as you’ll be buying and selling more frequently, so you’d need the cheaper fees.

Maybank Brokerage Fees for Buying Malaysian Stocks

I will use a real personal example of when I purchased AirAsia (KLSE: AIRASIA) stocks. The highlighted red box are the fees to buy Malaysian stocks:

The costs to buy Malaysian stocks through Maybank are:

1. Brokerage Fee (0.1%, min RM 8).
2. Contract Stamp (0.1%, min RM 1).
3. Clearing Fees (0.03%).

Let’s go through them one by one:

Malaysian Stock Maybank Brokerage Amount

Here’s how Maybank brokerage fee is calculated for Malaysian stocks:

1. RM 8 flat fee for stock purchases below RM 8,000.
2. 0.1% of the transaction value for stock purchases above RM 8,000.

My transaction is RM 972. Therefore, my brokerage fee is RM 8.

Malaysian Stock Contract Stamp

M2U Contract Stamp fee is charged at the following rate:

1. above RM 1,000 will be charged at 0.1%
2. below RM 1,000 will be charged a flat fee of RM 1

My traded amount is below RM 1,000, my Contract Stamp costs me RM 1.

Malaysian Stock Clearing Fees

The clearing fee is charged at 0.03% of the traded amount. For my example of RM 972;

Clearing fees = RM 972 x 0.03% = RM 0.3.

How to Pay for Malaysian Stocks Through M2U

When you open a trading account for Malaysian stocks, Maybank will automatically open up a Premier-1 account and is visible when you log in to M2U.

This Premier-1 is an account that is strictly for purchasing Malaysian stocks. There are special procedures to withdraw money from this account to your regular savings account.

Your broker will automatically deduct money from this account approx 1-3 business days after sending out your stock purchase order.

Now we got the Malaysian stocks out of the way, let’s continue with buying US stocks:

Maybank Brokerage Fees for Buying US Stocks

From my US stock buying experience:

1. Brokerage Fee (0.4%, or min USD 25).
2. No Contract Stamp.
3. No Clearing Fees.

I will use a real-life example of when I bought Coca Cola (NYSE: KO) stocks from the US.

Being my first stock purchase, I bought them without thinking much of it (guilty).

When I submitted an order, I did not have to pay it right away. A few days later, my stockbroker agent sent me the invoice for my purchase, and that’s when I learned their fee breakdown:

The cost for me to buy these stocks are highlighted in the red box above.

Stock Price

The stock price is the price that I managed to bid for 1 unit, which was USD 40.06 at that point in time.

M2U Brokerage Fee

The M2U brokerage fee for US stocks are:

• 0.4% of the total stock purchase (above USD 6,250)
• A flat fee of USD 25 (for total purchases below USD 6,250)

For my Coca Cola (KO) example, I only bought 6 stocks with a value of 6 x USD 40.06 = USD 240.36. So my trading fee is USD 25 for this not so smart transaction.

Total Cost for Me to Buy This US Stock

The total cost for me to own 6 units of KO stock was USD 240.36 + USD 25 = USD 265.36.

It was not a smart decision to only buy 6 stocks in 1 order. The brokerage fee for me to acquire 6 units of KO stocks or 1000, is the same at USD 25 per transaction.

In hindsight, if I waited until I had more cash, I’d purchase at least 30 stocks in 1 shot to save on the brokerage fees.

But then again, if I need to wait until I have enough money for that, or I’ll never own any US stocks. Legit chicken and egg situation.

The MYR 1,193.53 is the MYR equivalent to this US stock purchase. This is the amount I have to pay to Maybank Investment within 24 hours of them issuing me this invoice :

How to Pay for US Stocks on M2U

Payment for US stocks in MYR equivalent has to be done manually on M2U to the ‘Maybank Investment Banking‘ account.

My stockbroker agent sent me the bank account details for me to transfer and I saved it as my favorites:

I then need to send the receipt of the transfer to my broker to prove that I made the payment.

Key Takeaway

• US Brokerage fees are significantly more expensive than Malaysian stocks.
• It does not make financial sense to buy shares in small quantities.
• If you’re starting out, chances are you won’t have much money to invest in foreign currencies, so starting with cheaper Malaysian stocks make a lot of sense.

Share if this article has been helpful. I have compiled my favorite stock investment blog in my ‘recommended blogs‘ section.