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Alpari International Review

Alpari International is an established broker that was opened back in 1998, giving them more than 20 years of experience in the Forex world. The company has grown to attract 2 million clients and opened offices in 8 global locations, across three continents. The main office is located in Mauritius and the company is also regulated by the Financial Services Commission of the Republic of Mauritius. We found that this broker offers four different account types and conditions can differ significantly, based on which account has been chosen. If you’re interested in opening an account with this broker, we highly recommend reading over our comprehensive guide to ensure you choose the very best account type for your personal trading style.

Account Types

This broker offers four different account types: Standard, Micro, ECN, and Pro ECN. We found that the accounts share many more differences than similarities, including available trading instruments. Deposit requirements range from $5 to $25,000. When it comes to trading costs, three of the account types are commission-free and spreads start from 0.4 pips on the ECN account types. The ECN account is also the only account that would have the option to trade on the MetaTrader 5 platform, rather than on MetaTrader 4. There’s a lot more to consider, but you can take a look at a quick overview below. Hopefully, this will be enough to give one an idea of which accounts would work best for their personal trading style.

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Standard Account (MT4)
Minimum Deposit: $100
Leverage: Floating From 1:1000
Spread: From 1.2 pips
Commission: Zero
Assets: 61 Majors, Minors, & Exotics/5 Spot Metals/ 14 Spot CFDs

Micro Account (MT4)
Minimum Deposit: $5
Leverage: Fixed 1:400
Spread: From 1.7 pips
Commission: Zero
Assets: 25 Majors & Minors/2 Spot Metals

ECN Account (MT4/MT5)
Minimum Deposit: $500
Leverage: Floating From 1:1000
Spread: From 0.4 pips
Commission: $1.50/Lot per Side
Assets: (MT4) 56 Majors, Minors, & Exotics/3 Spot Metals/14 Spot CFDS/4 Cryptocurrencies (MT5) 33 Majors, Minors, & Exotics/2 Spot Metals

Pro ECN Account (MT4)
Minimum Deposit: $25,000
Leverage: Floating From 1:300
Spread: From 0.4 pips
Commission: Zero
Assets: 54 Majors, Minors, & Exotics/3 Spot Metals

Platform

The Standard, Micro, and ECN Pro accounts are limited to trading on the MetaTrader 4 platform, while ECN account holders will have the option to choose between MT4 and MT5. Both platforms are equally impressive, although some may prefer one over another. For some, MT4 is the superior version, with its user-friendly interface and multitude of built-in trading tools, while others feel that the larger number of timeframes, technical indicators, and other extras on MT5 are more advantageous. Note that the ECN account offers fewer assets when trading on MT5, so MT4 would be a better option if you’re looking to trade spot CFDs and cryptocurrencies. Both platforms are available through four methods; desktop, mobile, tablet, and through the browser-based version, WebTrader.

Leverage

Leverage options are based on the margin requirement for each account type, except on Micro accounts, which come with fixed leverage of 1:400. The highest leverage available is 1:1000 for Forex majors on Standard and ECN accounts and this requires a notional value between 0 and 200,000. The highest leverage on the ECN Pro account goes up to 1:300, but the options can be as low as up to 1:25. Options are lower with higher notational values. Leverage options differ based on the asset type, trading account, notational value, and margin, so it isn’t really possible to list the specifics for everything here. Fortunately, the website provides all of this information under ‘Trading Conditions’ > ‘Leverage & Margin Requirements’.

Trade Sizes

All accounts share the same minimum trade size of one micro lot, while maximum trade sizes differ. One lot is allowed on Micro accounts, 30 lots on Standard accounts, 50 lots on ECN accounts, and the maximum trade size top out at 250 lots on the ECN Pro account. Margin call and stop out levels also differ on each account type and are listed below.

  • Margin Call/Stop Out Levels
  • Standard Account: 60%/40%
  • Micro Account: 50%/30%
  • ECN Account: 100%/80%
  • ECN Pro Account: 120%/100%

Trading Costs

Trading costs are divided into commissions, spreads, rollover fees, and inactivity fees.
Commissions: These costs are only applicable to the ECN account type, so traders will enjoy zero commissions on the Micro, Standard, and ECN Pro accounts. The costs vary based on what type of instrument is being traded and the account’s currency type. Using USD as an example, the commissions are $3.00 on forex, 3.00 on metals, 7.00 on indexes, 4.00 on commodities, and 15.00 on cryptocurrencies (round turn).

Spreads: Spreads are floating from 0.4 pips on both ECN account types, and start from 1.3 pips on the Standard account and 1.7 pips on the Micro account.

Swap Fees: Swaps, or rollover interest charges, apply on positions that are held overnight. The long and short swap differ based on the specific instrument that is being traded and can be viewed under ‘Contract Specifications’. Note that swap-free accounts are available for those of the Muslim faith.

Inactivity Fees: If there has been no trading activity for 6 months, the company will charge an inactivity fee of $5 EUR/USD/GBP. If you request to withdraw funds with no trading activity, the company reserves the right to charge a 3% fee on the withdrawal amount.

Assets

This broker advertises 250 plus instruments as being available for trading, but the number and type of available assets actually depend on the account type one is using. We mentioned this earlier, but allow us to provide a quick recap below.

  • Standard Account: 61 Majors, Minors, & Exotics, 5 Spot Metals, 14 Spot CFDs
  • Micro Account: 25 Majors and Minors, 2 Spot Metals
  • ECN Account: (MT4) 56 Majors, Minors, & Exotics, 3 Spot Metals, 14 Spot CFDS, 4
  • Cryptocurrencies (MT5) 33 Majors, Minors, & Exotics, 2 Spot Metals
  • ECN Pro Account: 54 Majors, Minors, & Exotics, 3 spot metals

As you’ll notice, the ECN account offers the largest variety of assets and is the only account type to offer cryptocurrencies when trading from the MetaTrader 4 platform. Options are much more limited on the MT5 platform. Standard accounts offer the largest number of currency pairs and the largest variety of spot metals, but lack crypto options. Options on the Micro and ECN Pro accounts are limited to currency pairs and spot metals. Exotics are not featured on Micro accounts. For some, the offers on the majority of the accounts will be more than enough, but some may want to put the ECN account higher on their list if they are looking for the opportunity to trade with a larger variety of assets.

Spreads

The best spreads are floating from 0.4 pips and are available on both ECN account types. Options are still slightly lower than average and start from 1.2 pips on the Standard account type. The highest spreads start from 1.7 pips on the Micro account, although one would want to keep in mind that all of these accounts are commission-free, aside from the ECN account type, so some of the trading costs are built into the spreads. An account balance of $25,000 needs to be maintained on the ECN Pro account, otherwise spreads may revert back to retail value.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit requirements with this broker can differ significantly. Fortunately, one can open a Micro account with as little as $5 and a Standard account can be opened with just $100. Both of these options should be low enough for any potential clients, making this an affordable broker. The ECN account requires a larger deposit of $500, although this could still be a realistic deposit for many traders. Opening an ECN Pro account requires a larger deposit of $25,000 and the broker also expects clients to keep this balance while trading, so we would recommend depositing more if you’re planning on opening a Pro account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Deposits can be made through a variety of methods, including Bank Wire Transfer, Cards, E-wallets, and several other methods. All available deposit options include: Bank Wire Transfer, Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, Neteller, Skrill, TC Pay Wallet, VLoad, WebMoney, PerfectMoney, Bitcoin, FasaPay, Palestinian Local Transfers, South East Asia Online Banking, Local Exchange House, Indonesian Local Transfer, TC Payment, Pakistani Local Transfer, Latin American Solutions via Skrill, Afghan Local Transfer, Nigerian Local Bank Wire Transfer, Online Banking Malaysia, Online Banking Indonesia, Nganluong, GlobePay, Iraq Local Transfers, Online Banking Vietnam, Online Banking Thailand, and China Online Banking. The broker does not charge any commission on any of these methods and the majority are credited to the client’s account immediately. Bank Wire Transfer would be the biggest exception, with a 3-5 day waiting period.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

All of the available funding methods are also available for withdrawals. Several E-wallets and a few other methods are fee-free, but there are varying fees on some of the other methods, including Credit/Debit Cards. Below, we’ve listed all of the methods that charge fees, along with the charge amount. If you do not see a method listed below, then no commissions are charged on that method.

  • Bank Wire Transfer: 30 EUR
  • Visa/MasterCard/Maestro: 2 EUR/3 USD/ 2 GBP
  • PerfectMoney, FasaPay: 0.5%
  • Nganluong: 1.1% + 0.05 USD
  • Bitcoin: 1%
  • Southeast Asia Online Banking: 1.4%
  • WebMoney, Online Banking Malaysia, Online Banking Indonesia, Online Banking Vietnam: 2%

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

All back-office transfers are processed during standard business hours, i.e. 03:00-19:00 GMT +2 (GMT+3 during DST), Mon-Fri. The majority of methods are processed within 24 hours, while Bitcoin has a processing time of 24-48 hours and China Online Banking has a processing time of 48 hours.

Bonuses & Promotions

Refer A Friend: Through the broker’s refer a friend program, traders can earn $50 per referral. The broker also pays out the same $50 reward to the person signing up, so this could be an incentive on their behalf as well. The maximum amount that can be earned through this program is capped at $10,000 and terms and conditions apply. One of those terms would be the need to make the minimum deposit for the account type and to trade at least 8 standard lots. Traders will want to view all of the conditions before taking part in the promotion.

Educational & Trading Tools

The ‘Learn to Trade’ section of the website is divided into two sections; ‘Beginners Guide to Trading’ and ‘Forex Trading Strategies’. Under the first section, the broker offers some basic information about currency pairs and Forex charts. The second section gives an overview of some more technical information. These sections would not provide enough information for a beginner alone but could be helpful to one that already has some general knowledge. The broker doesn’t really offer any tools, although they do offer CopyTrader, which is a program that allows one to copy the trading positions of a strategy manager. It requires a deposit of at least $128 USD to use this program.

Demo Account

Opening a demo account with this broker is convenient and only requires a few personal details, including name, phone number, email, and country. Demo accounts come loaded with a balance of 1,000,000. The company doesn’t offer further information, so it’s unclear whether these accounts expire or if they can be topped up. Still, using one of these free practice accounts is a great opportunity for any trader that needs to brush up on their skills.

Customer Service

Support can be reached through LiveChat directly on the website, or via phone and email. Although the company has 8 different offices, the head office is located in Mauritius and is where all contact information is listed for. There seem to be three different departments; Account Opening, Deposits/Withdrawals, and Client Support. Support is in the office to assist with account opening 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, with more limited hours on the weekend, but times vary with the other departments. The company lists one phone number for all departments, but email addresses differ, so be sure to direct any emails to the relevant department. Also, note that the company is active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We’ve listed all contact methods and hours below for convenience.

Phone: +442 080 896 850

Account Opening: (24 hours Mon – Fri/12:00 am – 20:00 pm Saturday & Sunday GMT+2) [email protected]

Client Support: (24 hours Mon – Fri/11:00 – 16:00 Saturday/12:00 – 20:00 Sunday GMT+2) [email protected]

Deposits/Withdrawals: (02:00 – 20:00 Mon – Friday/13:00 – 17:00 Sunday GMT+2) [email protected]

Address: Exinity Limited, 5th Floor, NEX Tower, Rue du Savoir, Cybercity, Ebene 72201, Mauritius

Countries Accepted

The company does not offer service to residents of the United States, Mauritius, Japan, British Columbia, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Haiti, Suriname, the Democratic Republic of Korea, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine. Just to double-check, we checked out the website’s sign-up page, to see if any of these options were actually available. Sadly, the US is completely out of options when it comes to signing up. It seems that all of the other previously mentioned countries are excluded from the list as well, so this broker is reinforcing their country restrictions.

Conclusion

Alpari International is an established broker that offers four very different account types. Deposit requirements range from just $5 on a Micro account and go up to $25,000 on their Pro account. The highest leverage option goes up to 1:000 but the caps can be much more limited, based on margin and other criteria. The ECN account type offers a large variety of asset types, including cryptocurrencies, while some of the other accounts offer more limited options. The lowest spreads start from 0.4 pips and three of the account types are commission-free.

The company offers a huge variety of funding methods, including several e-wallets. Several withdrawal methods are fee-free and almost all withdrawals are processed within 24 hours. Another plus would be the readily available customer support team, but we weren’t completely satisfied with the small number of educational resources and trading tools on the website. Advantages come down to which account type has been chosen in particular, since conditions vary. Fortunately, one does not need to make the largest deposit required to access some of the better trading costs and asset selections with this broker.

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