FAQs re. Wallet
Explaining auto currencies conversion, exchange rate, etc.
Updated at February 14th, 2025
Multi-currency Trading
Do I need to deposit different currencies to trade in different markets?
No. You can buy stocks in all the markets offered by BOOM with any of the currencies in your account.
The ten currencies that you can deposit and/or keep in your BOOM account are HKD, USD, CNY, SGD, AUD, JPY, GBP, CAD, CHF and EUR.
Trades for Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Korea stocks are settled in USD. For all other markets, settlement currencies are same as the trading currencies.
What is the "Currency" on my Portfolio page for?
The Portfolio page shows your "Total Fund Available" in the currency you selected for viewing only. It does not perform any currency conversion in your account. Besides, the exchange rate(s) used to calculate your "Total Fund Available" is indicative only.
Auto Conversion
How does currencies conversion work for me?
Cash Account
For your cash account, if there is insufficient fund in the settlement currency to cover the executed trades, we will arrange currencies conversion to cover the deficit currencies on the next business day.
When we perform the currencies conversion, BOOM will follow the "Currencies Conversion Sequence" of your BOOM account. BOOM will firstly sell the currencies at the top of the sequence, if exhausted, then move down to the next currency.
Besides, you can simply click "FX Instructions" on the "Currencies Conversion" page to give BOOM any specific instruction to convert a currency to another.
Margin Account
Same as cash account, if your margin account does not have sufficient fund in the settlement currency to cover the executed trades, we will arrange currencies conversion to cover the deficit currencies on the next business day.
When we perform the currencies conversion, BOOM will follow the "Currencies Conversion Sequence" of your BOOM account. BOOM will firstly sell the currencies at the top of the sequence, if exhausted, then move down to the next currency.
However, if you want to borrow HKD or USD so that you can keep the cash balance in other currencies, you can change your "Conversion Preference" to "NOT cover the negative cash balances(s) in HKD/USD". Therefore, BOOM will NOT convert currenc(ies) to cover your HKD or USD deficit in your Margin Account.
Example 1: If you have positive cash balance in AUD but negative in HKD, BOOM will convert your "surplus" AUD to cover your shortage in HKD. However, if you would like to keep the "surplus" AUD for the coming buy orders on Australian stocks, you can change your "Conversion Preference" to "NOT cover the negative cash balances(s) in HKD/USD". Then, BOOM will not change your AUD into HKD, but will lend you margin loan in HKD.
Example 2: If you only have positive cash balance in SGD, but the amount is not enough to cover the negative in JPY, BOOM will convert all your "surplus" balance (i.e. SGD) into JPY. Then, for the remaining balance of JPY in short, BOOM will follow the "Currencies Conversion Sequence" of your account and lend you either HKD or USD to cover the shortage in JPY.
Besides, you can simply click "FX Instructions" on the "Currencies Conversion" page to give BOOM any specific instruction to convert a currency to another.
How do I set the priorities of currencies to be converted?
You can decide the priorities of the currencies to be converted automatically. Please log in to your BOOM account, then go to the "Currencies Conversion Setting" under "Currencies Conversion" of the "Funds & Account" section to change your "Currencies Conversion Sequence".
Exchange Rate
How do I know the exchange rate for currencies conversion?
The exchange rate is based on the rate from banks plus a small handling fee. After the currencies conversion is done, the all-in exchange rate of the will be shown in your "Fund Movement History" under the "Account History" section.
Kindly note that currencies conversion for RMB is based on the banks' offshore rate, which may be deviated from the "official rate" quoted by the People of Bank of China.
Others
What should I know when converting RMB?
Below are the three important points you should know when converting RMB in your BOOM account:
- BOOM will convert RMB for its clients in Hong Kong's RMB Offshore Market, which is not subject to the daily limit of RMB transfer per person.
- Currency conversion for RMB is based on the banks' offshore rate, which may be deviated from the "official rate" quoted by the People of Bank of China.
- If there is lack of market supply of RMB, BOOM might not be able to execute your instruction to buy RMB and as such the respective FX instruction will be cancelled.