Swap-free accounts and the fees that quietly replace swap
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2026 8:33 am
Swap-free accounts get sold as the simple option: no rollover interest, nothing to think about when a scalp drags past the daily cutoff. The catch is that the cost often changes shape instead of disappearing. Some brokers charge a flat admin fee per lot per night after a grace period, some add a markup to the spread on certain symbols, and some set a fee that is bigger than the swap it replaced.
For a scalper this is easy to miss because most trades close in minutes and the fee never appears. Then one position gets held past rollover because price is still working, and a line shows up in the statement that was never budgeted. A flat 5 USD per lot per night on 2 lots is 10 USD, which is half a pip on EURUSD at 20 USD per pip. Against a 3-pip target that is a real slice. Some accounts also charge triple on the Wednesday night, and some give a few days of grace before any fee starts.
Check the contract specification for each symbol, not the marketing page, since fees often differ between FX, metals and indices. One small overnight test position and a look at the statement line settles it.
Has anyone found a swap-free account where the grace period actually covered overnight scalps, or did a fee show up on the first night anyway?
For a scalper this is easy to miss because most trades close in minutes and the fee never appears. Then one position gets held past rollover because price is still working, and a line shows up in the statement that was never budgeted. A flat 5 USD per lot per night on 2 lots is 10 USD, which is half a pip on EURUSD at 20 USD per pip. Against a 3-pip target that is a real slice. Some accounts also charge triple on the Wednesday night, and some give a few days of grace before any fee starts.
Check the contract specification for each symbol, not the marketing page, since fees often differ between FX, metals and indices. One small overnight test position and a look at the statement line settles it.
Has anyone found a swap-free account where the grace period actually covered overnight scalps, or did a fee show up on the first night anyway?