Tiger Brokers has been in Singapore for about a year but until very recently, I had no real impetus to sign up for an account.
One of the highlights of their previous welcome bundle was a 10% discount voucher on a Tesla stock. Honestly, it was mehhh……
Not only is Tesla’s current valuation “rich”, it is also a very volatile stock that easily moves 5% in a day. So if you are a bit unlucky and bought at a high, you could be not much better off with that discount voucher.
It seems like I was not the only one thinking this way because in an attempt to attract new clients, about two weeks ago, Tiger Brokers launched a very attractive promotion for new sign-ups.
Basically, a new customer only had to make an initial deposit of SGD 2,001 to qualify for a free Disney share that is easily worth USD180.
That definitely caught my attention and I signed up for an account one week ago. Unfortunately, this was also the beginning of an unhappy experience with Tiger Brokers.
No Disney Share For Me & The Mrs
Loyal readers of this blog would know that I am a user of another online brokerage Moomoo. But hey, it is a free market and I really wanted to compare the two platforms before sticking with one.
But now, it is increasingly likely that I would leave the Tiger Brokers platform without even making a single trade. Yes, not even selling my Disney share because well, I did not receive it.
The problem was that I made a “test” deposit of SGD100 before depositing another SGD2000, which violated the T&Cs and did not comply with the word “Initial”.
As this was my first time trying out a (Direct Debit Authentication) DDA deposit on a mobile app, I wanted to ensure that I have downloaded a legitimate app and that my first deposit was transferred to the correct account.
I even advised the Mrs to do the same thing and not surprisingly, I was unceremoniously chided by her when I had to inform her of this unfortunate turn of events.
To provide even better context, I did a similar set of transactions for my Moomoo account and I received my free Apple share without a hitch.
Therefore, even though I accept personal responsibility for not doing enough due diligence, I also firmly believe that denying customers like me the Disney share is not in “the right spirit” of the promotion.
A quick check with friends and relatives also revealed that we are not the only ones caught in this situation.
I might be exaggerating slightly, but this sure feels like getting “mauled”
Lack Of Service Recovery
I wrote a lengthy email to Tiger Brokers stating our case and even told them I was willing to put up with additional terms and conditions to signal that I was a potential long-term customer who wanted to test our their app and services.
For example:
- make 3 trades and/or
- keep the initial deposit for a period of 3 months to qualify for the free Disney share promotion.
This is because I find it absurd that someone who made SGD2001 in their first deposit, got the share, sold it and then withdrew all the cash and close the account is “more deserving” of the welcome bundle than me.
It has been almost a week and definitely more than 3 working days since I sent my email. Yet, I am still awaiting a reply from them. More than a tad disappointing.
No More Disney Shares For Others
This whole campaign was supposed to last all the way till June 2021. However, due to overwhelming response, Tiger Brokers ended this promotion in about a week, on 21 April 2021 at 12p.m.
The notice period was rather short so I guess some customers who signed up, downloaded the app, but decided to wait for a few days to a week before funding their account might be in for a rude shock.
It is quite obvious that they were unable to sustain this promotion and thus, my confidence in Tiger Brokers as a brokerage is further undermined.
All this effort for just a one week promotion?
Demanding Requirements For Starbucks Share
Tiger Brokers has since replaced the free Disney share with a free Starbucks share in their new promotion.
Barring any price shocks to Disney or Starbucks, it is almost certain that the value of a Starbucks share is way lower than Disney. In fact, a Starbucks share is already likely to be of lower value than the Apple share I received from Moomoo.
So this new promotion is less attractive for a new customer.
Furthermore, a further digging of the T&Cs revealed that one would need to the first 5000 users to make 10 trades to receive the Starbucks share. Yes, plenty of possible scenarios that could lead to anguish and disappointment.
For a largely buy-and-hold investor like me, I have only made 7 trades on Moomoo for the past two months. Therefore, I find it almost impossible to recommend this promotion to any of my relatives, friends and readers.
A Better Alternative With Moomoo
You would only need to fulfil one simple condition to qualify for an attractive welcome bundle worth SGD200 (1 Apple Share and SGD 30) for new users. :
- Deposit SGD 2,700 within 45 days from the date of account set-up
So if you decide to open a Moomoo account, you can refer to my earlier post for a detailed guide or just sign up using this referral link.
Thanks for reading!
They didn’t return my request for enquires either 🙁
Hi Ingel,
That’s upsetting to hear.
Different experience from you, signed up for Moomoo account and only funded after 2 weeks. Didn’t get $30 or Apple share 🙁 However, Tiger was pretty fast in verifying my fund transfer so i guess i’ll stick to it for now.
Hi Suyi,
I am glad that you had a positive experience with Tiger Brokers.
I also did not receive the $30 cash coupon as I signed up using an earlier promotion from Moomoo. But I am indeed surprised that you did not receive your Apple share. Did you deposit SGD 2,700 or an equivalent amount within 45 days?
Tried both Moomoo and Tiger. Got both Apple and Disney shares. Traded on both platform. Which ever gives a lower commission wins. Tiger is merely trying to gain some lost ground when MooMoo surfaced in Feb/Mar. many “first timers” to trading are apprehensive and hence take careful steps and I don’t blame them. However T&C are stated during sign up and there are always caveats in the fine print. Unfortunately for many by checking the box “ I Agree” they have deemed to have read, understood, acknowledge and accepted them.
Hi AK73,
Thanks for providing a good summary of the price war between the two online brokerages.
I have a feeling the commissions will be similar as a big difference would mean that clients will switch eventually.
Understand about the T&Cs and that the company will also reserve the right to make any changes. Therefore, I also acknowledge that there is nothing else I can do besides the email and this post.
Happy for you that you have received the two welcome bundles from both Moomoo and Tiger.
Hello! I’m new to trading and I always read your blog for these interesting and knowledgeable facts. Would like to know other than those you recommend, where else is good to trade?
Hi Phoebe,
Thanks for the kind comments! Appreciate it.
I am not exactly a trader and besides the Moomoo platform, other brokerages I use include iOCBC and DBS Vickers.
Hope the above helps!
Hi, I having bad experience by using tiger brokers too. I have received the Starbucks share and sold it, but not able to withdraw the money I sold for the Starbucks share, between I deposited 2010 SGD and only allow to withdraw 1866. This was totally not acceptable
Hi Seong,
For your case, I am not sure if performing 10 quick trades will help. By right, you should be able to withdraw your balances and the value of the Starbucks share after that.
Really hoping Tiger will be able to resolve your issue. #Fingerscrossed
Hi
I have a similar bad experience as Seong above.
I received the “free” Starbucks share but I didn’t sell it. But the value of the share was deducted from my initial deposit. I deposited 2001SGD and the withdrawable amount was only 1,852SGD of which the difference is approximately the value of the Starbucks share.
And yes this is totally unacceptable. The share is not free if my own funds is being withheld. Have mailed Tiger but not sure if they will be responding.
Hi P,
Indeed, I find your experience even more ridiculous than mine.
I have finally received an email yesterday from them saying there is nothing they can do and that I will not receive my share.
For your case, I am not sure if performing 10 quick trades will help. By right, you should be able to withdraw your balances and the value of the Starbucks share after that.
Really hoping Tiger will be able to resolve your issue. #Fingerscrossed
Yes I also think the promotion fine print is in really bad faith. Like who the hell directly deposits 2k into a completely new account without testing first? I think we can put it on social media, especially their fb and insta pages to really get their attention.
Omg same tiger sucks. I wanted to withdraw my cash but cannot. Waited three days already. Still cannot. I really hope after a week I can withdraw everything and close the account. Moomoo is so much better in terms of withdrawing money. I deposited $2701 for the free apple share, still pending, but i was able to withdraw the full amount without any problems. Anyone who wants to trade should go for moomoo instead of tiger brokers. And really hope I get my $800+ back or else wtf