Category: Forex Brokers

Global Market Index is a forex broker that claims to be one of the most respected names in online leveraged forex trading, they have offices based in the major financial hubs in London and Shangai. They state that they are committed to providing market-leading services and a fair transparent pricing structure. In this review, we will take a closer look at what is being offered to see if they can live up to their claims.

Account Types

There are 4 different accounts on offer from GMI Global Market Index, below wee take a little look at their differences and requirements.

Standard Account: The standard account is the entry-level account from Global Market Index, it has a minimum deposit amount of $2,000 which is quite high for an entry-level account. It has a leverage of between 1:50 and 1:200 and its minimum order size is 0.01 lots. Any orders either buy or sell must be made at least 2.4 pips away from the current market position and there are no restrictions when it comes to trading styles.

Plus Account: The majority of the plus account information on the accounts page is the same as the standard account apart from the change in the minimum deposit which increases up to $5,000. All other information remains the same but there must be some other differences, we will explore each part a bit later in this review to see what the differences actually are.

Pro Account: The pro account increases the minimum deposit up to $30,000 which will price out the majority of retail traders. Its leverage and minimum trade order remain unchanged but now the minimum order distance reduces down to 0 pips.

ECN Account: The ECN account has a huge minimum deposit amount of $100,000. All other parts of this account remain unchanged except for the minimum trade size which no longer states 0.0 lots but instead 1,000 contracts.

Platforms

Plenty of platforms available to sue, however, a number of them are not currently available to all regions, for example, 3 of the platforms were not available to people from the UK, so be sure to check if they are available for you to use.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is one of the world’s most popular trading platforms and for good reason. Released in 2005 by MetaQuotes Software, it has been around a while, it is stable customizable and full of features to help with your trading and analysis. MT4 is compatible with hundreds and thousands of different indicators, expert advisors, signal providers and more.

Millions of people use MT4 for its interactive charts, multiple timeframes, one-click trading, trade copying and more. In terms of accessibility, MT4 is second to none, available as a desktop download, an app for Android and iOS devices and as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser. MetaTrader 4 is a great trading solution to have.

GMI Alpine Trader is one of the platforms that are currently not available to UK clients, it offers intuitive UI, convenient trading from the charts, ability to trade in fixed dollar amounts, top of book view, OCO orders, server-based trailing stops (pip-by-pip) and, a VAT (Visual Algorithm Trading) wizard.

GMI Clear Pro: Not huge amounts of information on the site, but this platform offers full market depth view institutional platform, View Value Weighted Average Pricing (VWAP) for different order sizes, customizable workspace with module docking, 9 order types and up to 72 order combinations, one-click order reversal and, Micro-lots enabledInterbank style daily settlement.

GMI MTF: Another platform that is not available to UK clients, it offers ECN trading venue, MTF venue for multiple asset classes, flexible connectivity with FIX/APIs, low-latency, high-throughput, no “last look”, no trade rejections and, ultra-high order acceptance rate.

GMI Currenex: The final trading platform and another that is not available to UK clients, it offers ECN automatic matchmaking system, a wide variety of order types, ESP quote system and, a deep Liquidity pool

Leverage

Currently leverage is offered between 1:50 and 1:200 which is an appropriate level, however, a lot of modern brokers are looking to push leverage up to around 1:500. Leverage can be selected when opening up an account and can be changed by contacting the customer service team as long as there are no open trades before or during the request being made.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start at 0.1 lots which are also known as a micro lot. The maximum trade sizes are dependant on the asset that you are trading, if we look at the forex markets, the maximum trade size is set at 20 lots which is an appropriate level as it is more than most will trade at one time and any higher can make it harder for the liquidity providers or markets to execute instantly.

Trading Costs

There isn’t much talk or information on the site in regards to any trading costs in relation to commissions. GMI most likely use a spread based structure rather than commissions, however, we can not rule out the possibility of there being spreads. Swap charges are also applied for holding trades overnight, these can be both positive and negative.

Assets

Assets on GMI Global Market Index are broken down into a number of different categories. Forex pairs include the likes of EUR/USD and USD/CHF, offering major pairs, minor pairs and exotic pairs available to trade with leverage up to 1:200. Metals are also available with the usual Gold and Silver and there are also Indices and commodities available to trade however the information regarding which ones or any trading conditions around them is not currently present on the website.

Spreads

Spreads on Global Market Index are stated as being “ultra-tight floating spreads” however there is no indication of what this actually means. Looking around the internet it appears that they are sitting at around 2 pips, which is hardly ultra-low, however as we did not manage to see them ourselves it is hard to put in a full judgment on what they are actually like.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit to open up an account is currently $2,000 which is relatively high for an entry-level account. Usually when there is a higher minimum deposit for accounts, any subsequent deposits after the account is open have a lowered minimum, however, there is no information on whether this happens with Global Market Index or not.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There is no information on the site in regards to what methods of depositing are available and if there are any extra costs so we can not comment on this, it is very strange that there is absolutely no information as this is info that a lot of potential clients will be looking for.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Similarly to the deposit methods, there is no information regarding withdrawals, both deposits or amounts. We feel this is an area that GMI really need to improve on as it will put off a lot of potential clients.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

As expected, due to there being no withdrawal method information, there is also no information in regards to the length of time they will take and how long it takes for requests to be processed.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is no mention of any bonuses or promotions on the site so we do not believe that there are any active at present. This does not, however, mean that there won’t be in the future so if you are interested, be sure to check back regularly to see if any have appeared.

Educational & Trading Tools

There isn’t really anything notable to talk about when it comes to education or trading tools. It states that there is marketing information available but this won’t help you as a trader, the website also mentions a powerful member area but we have no idea what this means and is most likely just a client area similar to any other broker.

Customer Service

The GMI Global Market Index support team is available for your queries 24 hours a day 5 days a week and close at the same time as the markets do. There is an email address available and a few different phone numbers based in different locations such as China, Shanghai, Beijing, Dailan and Aukland.

Demo Account

We could not locate any information in regards to a demo account so it appears that they are not available, there may be a way to open them but we could not locate it.

Countries Accepted

Just like a lot of other things, this information is not available on the site, if you are interested in joining, we would recommend getting in contact with the support team to find out if you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

It is hard to recommend a broker that has such a small amount of information on their site, and the information that they do provide is very obscure and does not answer any questions. Without knowing what deposit and withdrawal methods are available, or if there are any commissions or accurate information on spreads it is very hard to find good reasons to sign up as a potential client.

We hope you like this GMI Global review. If you did, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

FP Markets is an FX and CFD broker that offers leveraged trading of up to 1:500 on Forex, Metals, Commodities, Indices, Equities, Cryptocurrency CFDs. The broker’s head office is located in Sydney, Australia and is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). Five different account types are offered, with three supported trading platforms. Different account types are made up of different price structures, allowing clients to choose different ways of paying costs. Stay with us to find out more about the advantages and disadvantages of choosing this broker.

Account Types

This broker offers five different account types: Standard and Raw accounts on MT4/MT5 and Standard, Platinum, and Premier accounts on the Iress platform. Note that the Standard account conditions are completely separate on the two Standard accounts, so we will refer to the them more specifically as Standard (MT4/MT5) and Standard IRESS throughout this review to avoid confusion.

The broker offers trading on FX, Equities, Metals, Commodities, Indices, and Cryptocurrency CFDs; however, MT4/MT5 based account holders cannot trade Equities or Cryptocurrency CFDs. If you choose to open a Standard MT4/MT5 or Raw account, you’re associated trading costs will come from traditional spreads and commissions. Iress accounts are subject to commissions and financing fees instead, so you’ll definitely want to compare on that bases.

The minimum deposit requirements are also much lower on those traditional accounts and leverage caps are set higher than on the Iress account types. If you’re having trouble making a decision, it may help to know that the broker has tagged the Raw MT4/MT5 account and the Platinum Iress accounts as being popular, so this could help to narrow down the choice to two options. We’ve outlined the aforementioned details below.

Standard Account (MT4/MT5)
Minimum Deposit: $100 AUD
Leverage: Up to 500:1
Spread: From 1.0 pips
Commission: Zero

Raw Account (MT4/MT5)
Minimum Deposit: $100 AUD
Leverage: Up to 500:1
Spread: From 0.0 pips
Commission: $6 USD Round turn

Standard Account (IRESS)
Minimum Deposit: $1,000
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Financing: Base rate + 4.0%
Commission: $10 AUD min per lot, then 0.1%

Platinum Account (IRESS)
Minimum Deposit: $25,000
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Financing: Base rate + 3.5%
Commission: $9 min, then $0.09%

Premier Account (IRESS)
Minimum Deposit: $50,000
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Financing: Base rate + 3.0%
Commission: No min, then 0.08%

This broker requires proof of identity (valid passport, driver’s license, national ID card) and address document (utility bill or bank statement, dated within the last 6 months) for account verification. Support aims to approve accounts within an hour; however, the process can take up to one business day. If you’d like to open an Islamic account, you’ll be limited to choosing one of the MT4/MT5 platform options (Standard or Raw).

Platform

This broker places a lot of importance on the trading platform that is supported for each account type. The Standard and Raw accounts support the well-known MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms. On the other side of things, the Standard Iress, Platinum, and Premier accounts support the Iress platform. We’ll start by taking a look at the more well-known, standard MT4 and MT5 platforms. Both offer user-friendly interfaces, one-click trading, live price streaming, Expert Advisors, pending orders and trailing stop orders, a variety of analytical objects, timeframes, charts, and more.

MT5 builds on its predecessor’s features and adds more pending order types, an improved strategy tester for EAs, a built-in economic calendar, and greater flexibility for different trading styles. Both MT4 and MT5 are highly accessible, available through download on PC, Mac, Android, or through Google Play for iPhone/iPad. These platforms can also be accessed through the browser-based WebTrader. Moving on, we were interested to get more of an in-depth look at the Iress platform, since this broker markets three account types around this trading platform.

Iress is made up of Viewpoint, Trader, Investor, and Mobile options. Viewpoint is also browser-based, markets a user-friendly interface, the ability to manage multiple portfolios, multiple timeframes, real-time price streaming, 59 technical indicators, 50+ drawing tools, and is designed for professionals. Trader is a web-based platform that provides tools to help with advanced trade management and charting. The Investor version seems to have the same idea in mind and introduces strategies like diversification and hedging. Those using the Iress platform may have to pay some fees for doing so if live pricing is chosen. The click and refresh pricing model is available fee-free. You can view more detail about those fees under ‘Trading Costs’.

 

Leverage

The Standard MT4/MT5 and Raw accounts both support flexible leverage options that go up to 1:500, depending on what instrument is being traded and the amount of funds in the client’s account. The maximum leverage cap is available on accounts with an equity of less than $10,000. Other limitations are as follows; 1:400 for equity of up to $25,000, 1:300 for equity of up to $50,000, and 1:200 for equity of up to $100,000. Leverage of 1:100 and lower options are not limited based on the account’s equity.

When trading Bitcoin, leverage is limited to 1:5 and the cap on Precious Metals is 1:500. When trading Forex pairs on any of the Iress accounts, the maximum leverage cap is set at 1:200. For Stocks, the leverage is based on characteristics of the stock in question. The broker mentions that it is too risky to allow traders to use leverage on certain instruments, but does not explain which instruments require leverage of 1:1.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is one micro lot. On Forex instruments, the maximum trade size is 50 lots. Otherwise, the maximum trade size will depend on which asset type is being traded. For the Standard and Raw accounts, margin call level is set at 100% and stop out occurs at 50% margin level. Meeting the stop loss level would result in trades being automatically closed by the system, starting with the trade that is incurring the largest loss. Stop out is not an automated process on the Iress system. Instead, the risk management team will reach out to clients if there is an issue with the amount of funds needed to maintain positions within their account.

Trading Costs

The charges you pay with this broker depend on the account type that has been opened. All clients, aside from Islamic account holders, are subject to swaps. If you’ve opened a Standard or Raw MT4/MT5 account, you’ll pay traditional commissions, if applicable, and you’ll also pay charges through spreads. For any Iress account holders, commissions and financing charges are applicable. It’s also possible that you’ll be paying Iress trading platform fees. We’ve broken down these fees below.

Commissions: Commissions are not charged on Standard MT4/MT5 accounts and are charged at a rate of $6 round turn on Raw accounts. The Standard Iress, Platinum, and Premier accounts are sorted into three sizes; $1-$25,000, $25,000 to $50,000, and $50,000 plus. Commissions correspond to 0.10% with a $10 minimum, 0.09% with a $9 minimum, and 0.08% with no minimum.

Spreads (Standard + Raw Accounts): Spreads start from 0.0 pips on Raw accounts and are from 1.0 pips on Standard MT4/MT5 accounts.

Financing Charges (Iress Accounts): Financing charges on Iress accounts are charged at the base rate + 4.0% on Standard Iress, base rate + 3.5% on Platinum, and base rate + 3.0% on Premier. The broker doesn’t go into further detail.

Swap Fees: Swap is a form of interest that is applied to overnight trades and can either be positive negative. Right-click in the Market Watch window on the symbol you wish to know the rates for, and select ‘Specifications’. You will then see the long and short swap rates if you scroll down. Note, the rates for Forex are displayed in points. Swap-free status does not apply on the following instruments; USDTRY and EURTRY, so be sure that all open positions are closed before 00:00 platform time to avoid being charged swaps on an Islamic account.

IRESS Platform Fees: In addition to standard trading costs, there also seem to be some fees associated with using an account that trades through the Iress platform. Note that it is free to use the click and refresh version of the platform, while fees are associated with live pricing. For live pricing, there is a $55 GST + $22 live data fee for Standard Iress and Platinum account holders. These fees are waived on Premier accounts. GST fees are also waived for traders that generate more than $150 in commissions per month and live data fees are waived for clients that generate more than $50 per month in commissions.

Assets

Available markets include Forex, Equities, Metals, Commodities, Indices, and Cryptocurrency CFDs. All options are available on Iress accounts, while both MT4/MT5 centered accounts limit the options to FX pairs, Metals, Indices, and Commodities. The broker advertises 70 currency pairs as being available; however, we only counted 52 available instruments ourselves, all of which were made up of majors, minors, and exotics. Trading Metals is available with leverage of up to 500:1 on XAUUSD, XAUUAD, XAGUSD, and XAGUAD.

According to the website, Commodities are made up of energy, metals, and agricultural products; however, there are only 3 listed oil products for the category. The twenty total available Indices are made up of DMA and CFD Indices. Note that this would be the extent of the options within accounts that support MT4/MT5. Moving on, we see a large number of available Equities, including; 2,165 Australian options, 1,674 UK options, 1,674 USA NASDAQ choices, 1,885 USD NYSE options, 2,149 Hong-Kong options, and 781 Singapore options. Cryptocurrency options are made up of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ripple, and Ethereum.

Spreads

Spreads are only applicable on Standard and Raw MT4/MT5 accounts. Those spreads start from 0.0 pips on Forex for the Raw account type and are from 1.0 pips on Forex for the Standard account. Since spreads are floating, the actual minimum spreads you’ll see will differ, based on the instrument that is being traded. Comparing these options shows that minimum spreads tend to be significantly lower on Raw accounts, for example, the minimum spread on AUDCAD is at 1.2 pips on Standard accounts and starts from 0.4 pips on the Raw account type. However, the typical spreads can climb higher. Looking at the same instrument, we see typical spreads of 1.93 pips on the Standard account and 1.16 pips on the Raw account. If you’d like to compare some of the spreads for yourself, you can do so under ‘Trading’ > ‘Pricing’ > ‘Spreads’.

Minimum Deposit

Both of the MT4/MT5 accounts are on the more affordable side, with a minimum deposit requirement of $100 AUD, or equivalent, on both the Standard and Raw account types. If you’re set on one of the Iress accounts, the cheapest option would be the Iress Standard account, which requires a minimum deposit of $1,000 AUD, or equivalent. From there, prices are significantly higher, with a $25,000 amount for Platinum accounts and a $50,000 requirement to open one of the exclusive Premier accounts. Since some of these amounts are obviously large, traders may be limited to choosing between two or three account types, based on affordability.

Deposit Methods & Costs

This broker offers a variety of funding methods, including: Visa, MasterCard, Domestic or International Bank Wire, Neteller, Skrill, POLI Pay, BPAY, Fasapay, Paytrust88, Ngan Luong, PayPal, and Bank of China Online Pay. Broker to Broker transfer is also supported. The broker separates Visa/MasterCard deposits into two categories, with one being for the MT4/MT5 supported accounts, and the other being for the Iress support accounts. The difference would be that there are no fees charged on deposits for the Standard or Raw MT4/MT5 accounts, but there is a domestic fee of 1.6% and an international fee of 3.18% when funding an Iress supported account through Visa/MasterCard. PayPal charges in the same way, with no fees charged on MT4/MT5 accounts and a 2% fee for Iress accounts.

There is a fee of 12.5 AUD on International Bank Wires and a charge of 25 AUD for Broker to Broker transfers. All of the remaining methods are fee free. The majority of these methods are funded instantly, with a one day waiting period on some methods. Note that the broker is typically slower to credit Iress based accounts and can take 1 business day to credit funds sent through PayPal and POLI Pay, where these methods are funded instantly for MT4/MT5 based accounts.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Due to the company’s regulation guidelines, traders are required to withdraw the same amount that was deposited back through the same method. Once that amount has been withdrawn, any profits can be withdrawn through another method. All deposit options are available for withdrawals. We see various fees charged on most methods, with no fees charged on Visa, MasterCard, or Domestic Bank Wire withdrawals. PayPal withdrawals are also fee-free for MT4/MT5 account holders. All applicable fees for the remaining methods have been listed below.

• International Bank Wire: 10 AUD
• Neteller: 2% (max 30 USD) 1% + country fees (if applicable)
• FasaPay: 0.50%
• Paytrust88: 1.5%
• Ngan Luong: 1,000 VND + 1%
• PayPal: 2% for Iress accounts (fee free for MT4/MT5 accounts)
• Bank of China Online Pay: 18 USD
• Broker to Broker Transfer: 25 AUD for International transfers (fee free for Domestic transfers)

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals through all methods are processed within one business day. For Domestic and International Bank Wires, the company mentions that the 1 day waiting period is applicable as long as the correct documents are received, otherwise, there could be some delays. If you haven’t received a Bank Wire within 5 business days, the company will then provide some information to help track that deposit.

Bonuses & Promotions

Unfortunately, the broker doesn’t seem to be offering any bonuses or promotions right now. This isn’t something that you should always expect to see offered from brokers, although bonuses do provide a nice incentive to join, so long as the terms and conditions are actually realistic. If you do decide to sign-up, there’s always a possibility that this broker could add some type of options in the future, so keep a look out for any updates.

Educational & Trading Tools

Traders will find a few options under the ‘Resources’ section on the broker’s website. Educational resources are made up of eBooks, video tutorials, trading courses, and a glossary. The eBooks section tends to focus more on trading strategies and the video tutorials section only offers three videos that cover installing and logging into the MT4 platform. The MT4 tutorial could be helpful for anyone struggling to figure out how to install the platform, although we wish those sections were more in-depth. The trading courses section is made up of three categories; Forex, Stocks, and CFDs, and the category is actually made up of an eBook on each subject. The broker also provides company news, newsletters, daily market news, news for the week ahead, and an economic calendar.

Demo Account

Free demo accounts are available through this broker for any potential or existing clients that would like the advantage of practicing on one. Signing up for a demo takes as little as 30 seconds and simply requires one to enter their name, email, country, and phone number. As long as a demo account is logged into regularly, it will never expire. Support is also willing to top up demo accounts for any clients that reach out and ask them to do so. Demo accounts can be opened for the Raw or Standard account types and can be accessed through MT4, MT5, or the Iress platform. Conditions on demo accounts mimic real market conditions, aside from the fact that virtual currency is used. Also, placed trades on demo accounts are not sent to the market for execution, therefore, you may receive faster fills or less slippage when trading from a demo account.

Customer Service

Support is available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week and can be contacted through LiveChat directly on the website, phone, email, or via callback request. If you’re looking for the fastest, most convenient option, we would definitely recommend hopping on LiveChat. When we tested the company’s response time, we were overjoyed to find that support was available to respond to our inquiry immediately on this contact option. All provided contact info is for the company’s primary headquarters in Australia.

Phone:
General: 61 (0)2 8252 6800
Toll-Free: 1 300 376 233
Fax: +61 (0)2 8252 6899

Email:
New Enquiries: [email protected]
Account Opening: [email protected]
Withdrawals: [email protected]
Funding: [email protected]
Trades: [email protected]
Support: [email protected]

Countries Accepted

The broker states that residents from the Unites States, Japan, New Zealand, or any other location where local laws would be violated by participating will not be allowed to open a trading account. In some cases, brokers will still allow clients from supposedly restricted locations sign-up, so we attempted to open a live account from our US based offices to be sure. Sadly, all three of these countries are in fact missing from the sign-up list, so there’s no way around this restriction. If you also find your country is missing from the list, it is very likely that your location is also restricted, based on the information we found on the broker’s FAQ.

Conclusion

Fpmarkets is a regulated broker that provides traders with several options, including; 5 different account types, three separate platforms, and accounts that offer the ability to pay costs in different ways. The broker offers leveraged trading of up to 1:500 on some account types on a variety of assets, including cryptocurrencies, and a significant number of Equities. The MT4/MT5 based accounts are affordable, while minimum deposit requirements climb much higher on some of the Iress based accounts, with the largest requirement being $50,000. Spreads are only applicable on the MT4/MT5 accounts and are floating, starting from 0 and 1 pips.

The broker offers several quick funding methods. Some fees do apply, although Domestic Bank Wire, Visa/MasterCard, and withdrawals through a couple of other methods are fee free. There are no ongoing bonuses and while there seem to be some useful categories related to education, these options could be more in-depth. Support is readily available on weekdays and be contacted through a variety of methods, including LiveChat. This broker restricts residents of the US, Japan, and New Zealand, so some traders may have problems based on those rules. If you’re in an accepted location and these terms seem advantageous, then this broker could be a worthy choice.

BlueMax Capital is an offshore, unregulated ECN type broker without anything distinguishable in their services except the PAMM. Their HQ is in Belize but the location in the footer of their website states another, familiar address, in Saint Vincent And Grenadines. The same address is used for many unregulated brokers without a physical registered location. BlueMax Capital was found in 2014 and has only achieved a mixed reputation since then. Recently they had a setback with the PAMM accounts that are popular among the users, which hit their reliability.

According to the website, they also have offices in Hong Kong and London which are claimed not to be real. Most of the website is blanked with common marketing phrases like best the execution times and an industry leader with top tier banks for liquidity. The content does not showcase any figures or specifics that could make the website more useful for an experienced trader. Some of the information is inconsistent in different parts of the BlueMax Capital website, such as for spreads and the commission. Still, this broker managed to attract 12.000 traders mostly from India, primarily interested in their PAMM service. We will evaluate their services by sections so traders can understand the risks and advantages.

Account Types

Blumax Capital is offering 4 types of trading accounts, Explorer, Lite, Standard and Prime. They all feature 5 digits and technical reports, although most brokers are 5 digits. The Explorer Account has the smallest deposit requirement and the main advantages are the leverage, micro-lot trade sizes, and no commission.

Lite Account has increased deposit requirement and it is different from the Explorer Account by tighter spreads and the included commission. As we go to the next tier, Standard Account has further increased deposit requirement, lower commission but the spread is the same. The leverage is reduced and also the trading sizes are bigger. The final, Prime Account has a very big deposit requirement and the smallest commission of them all. Trade sizes are increased and the leverage is further reduced.

BlueMax Capital states in their FAQ that the broker does not charge any commissions and the broker is only compensated for their services by the spread. This said it could be possible that there are no other account types except for the Explorer. This information could not be confirmed with the BlueMax Capital, we could not reach them by any means.
Note that there is another pdf document in the User Guide section about account types that is different than what is published on the web site. As registrations seem to be closed at the moment of writing this review for cyber attack reasons, we could not check this information.

Automated trading is not restricted and also all trading styles are allowed. Scalper type traders are also allowed although the FAQ states “unethical” and close end scalping are not allowed by banks and are prohibited. There is no information about Swap-free accounts.

Platforms

BlueMax Capital is a MetaTrader 4 platform only broker. The MT4 platform is usually available in multiple versions depending on the OS. There are links to PC and Mac versions as well as for mobile devices running on Android and iOS. An additional version for PAMM managers is available and features multiple subaccounts management from a single instance. The platform is updated to the latest version and quickly finds the BLuemax Capital servers, showing a ping of 133ms.

The location of the broker is presented to be in Belize according to the MT4 About window. Everything is set to defaults, showing the usual four major currency pairs charts, with one-click trading buttons visible. Trading instruments are a bit overcategorized as Forex is split into 4 groups and mixed with the other asset categories. The execution times are always below 200ms with great consistency, 180ms which is competitive. The commission column does not show any figures and the specification window is also devoid of any commission information. Swaps are displayed correctly though.

Leverage

The leverage will depend on the account type. The Explorer account features a maximum of 1:400 leverage, as well as the Lite type. The Standard account has a maximum of 1:200, and Prime has the leverage reduced to 1:50 considering the high minimum deposit requirement. The maximum leverage is kept for all currency pairs, even for exotics, while all Oil assets are 1:80. Precious metals still have the maximum leverage and Cryptocurrency is fixed to 1:4 regardless of the account type.

Trade Sizes

According to the account types specifications, micro-lot trade sizes are available only for the Explorer and Lite packages. For these, the minimum trade volume size is 0.01 lots as well as the additional volume steps. The maximum volume for a single trade is 10,000 lots as per the MT4 specifications. Standard Account has the minimum trade volume set to 0.1 lots while keeping the increments volume to 0.01 lots. The Prime account is set to work only with full lots for all orders.

Cryptocurrency trade sizes are a bit extreme to the point they are not all tradeable for the minimum deposit according to the Explorer account. The minimum trade volume is 1 lot, also the additional steps have to be 1 lot. The maximum trade size for cryptos is 10 lots. For Oil, the minimum trade size and steps volume are 0.1 lots. Indexes’ minimum trade volume is 1 lot and 100 lots maximum.

There is conflicting information about the maximum volume size on the BlueMax Capital’s website and within the MT4 platform, what we have encountered on the website is 50 lots maximum for all account types.

BlueMax Capital does not have Stops levels, which means Stop Loss and Take Profit orders do not have a margin from the current price. This is true for all trading instruments according to the MT4 specifications. Stop Out level is not disclosed on the website. Legal documents are also not available.

Trading Costs

According to the described account types, BlueMax Capital charges commissions for the Lite, Standard, and Prime accounts. While Explorer Account is commission-free, Lite Account has $7 commission per lot traded. The Standard account has $6 and the Prime account $4. Note that the commissions do not show up in the MT4 so we can only confirm what is published form the website. The FAQ also states there is no commission charged by BlueMax Capital.

Swaps that are presented in the MT4 specifications are under normal levels, without a single case of extreme figures and calculated in points except for the cryptocurrencies. Whatsmore, the swaps were consistently low for all currency pairs with common positive numbers. The most traded pair, EUR/USD has -7.21 long and 3.6 points for short. Non USD pairs like EUR/JPY has -2.29 long and -1.01 short swap, GBP/CHF 0.64 long and -3.36 short, AUD/NZD -0.65 long and -0.4 short and so on.

From the exotics we could mention USD/CHN with -13.8 points for long and -1.8 for short, USD/MXN -180 long and 50 short, USD/RUB -770 long and 140 short, and USD/PLN with -7.2 points long and -4.8 points for short position swap. Precious metals swaps follow low swaps like with Forex, so XAU/USD has -10.88 long swap and a positive 3.58 for short. XPT/USD has -11.36 long and -1.41 short. Oil assets have very low swaps and cryptocurrencies are all -20% on both positions.

BlueMax does not have any account maintenance or inactivity fees.

Assets

The full list if not published on the broker’s website, only a TradingView feedback window unrelated to BlueMax Capital. What is offered could be described as modest and mostly focused on Forex trading. This category has a total of 40 currency pairs. All the majors are present although some crosses are missing. In the exotic domain, we have encountered USD/RUB, USD/PLN, USD/MXN, USD/ZAR, USD/CHN and some non-USD like the GBP/SGD. Enough pairs for a common trader.

Precious metals are not minimal and traders can trade Platinum in addition to spot Gold and Silver. The list does not feature other quoted currencies except for the USD so a total of 3 instruments are found in this category.

Indexes are present but very limited. The MT4 showed only 6 of them, SPX 500, US 30, UK 100, NASDAQ, Nikkei 225, and CAC 40. In the Cryptocurrencies category, the range is similar to the Indices. All quoted in USD, we found Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Dash.
Energies have both Oil types, Brent and WTI. BlueMax Capital offer ends with Natural Gas.

Spreads

The spreads are a floating type and are scaled to account types. For the Explorer account, the spread is stated to be from 1.2 pips. What we have encountered in MT4 was much lower. For the Standard account and up, the spread is reduced to 0.2 pips. What we have observed in the MT4 is 5 to 20 points for the EUR/USD pair, nothing close to from 0.2 pips nor 1.2 pips stated for the Explorer account.

The spread for the other majors in wider, almost triple the EUR/USD. Less liquid currency pairs had spreads that are not so attractive compared with other brokers, for example, GBP/NZD – 8 pips, EUR/CAD – 4 pips, or EUR/CHF – 4 pips. Exotics like the USD/CHN had 20 pips.

Spot Gold has a tighter spread with 25 pips and Platinum 85. Silver is also competitive with 19 pips. Brent and WTI showed 10 pips spread while some will be disappointed to see Bitcoin with 100 pips difference we have noticed.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit is $1000 for the starting Explorer and Lite account. For the Standard, it is increased to $10,000 and Prime requires no less than $100,000. Note that the minimum trading sizes are increased for the last two account types. Also, the minimum of $1000 may not be enough even for Bitcoin/USD trade as cryptocurrencies have 1 lot minimum trade size.

Deposit Methods & Costs

BlueMax has a few deposit methods, one of which is via Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bank Transfer fees depend on the depositor’s bank, the deposit process will take 3 to 5 days. Card deposits will induce a 3% transaction fee and will take 1 to 2 days to be completed. Netteler deposits should be faster but the broker will need 1 day to process the funds. A fee of 2.5% will apply. Skrill is similar to Netteler but with an increased fee to 2.8%.

Now crypto deposits have some special requirements, Bitcoin minimum deposit is 0.2 BTC and for Ethereum 4 ETH. The fee is 0.2 to 1% and will require 1 day to complete. Note that we could not test these as registrations are closed at the moment and you may see some options missing in the Client’s Area. Currencies available for the deposit are GBP, EUR, and USD.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

BlueMax Capital state that if you fund via credit/ debit card or any e-wallet, withdrawal of funds will be made only on the same channel. For crypto, withdrawals know that BlueMax Capital can decide if the withdrawal will be approved in cryptocurrency or the USD. The costs are not disclosed but trades should expect the same costs as with deposits.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The minimum withdrawal amount is 100 USD. For PAMM Investor withdrawals will be processed only on weekends when markets are closed. The withdrawal time is 3 to 5 days for Bank Transfers, and 1 day for cryptocurrency, Netteler and Skrill. The request is made within the Client’s Area.

Bonuses & Promotions

BlueMax Capital does not have any bonuses offered. Promotions are associated with the PAMM and the special benefits for Promoters who bring clients to the PAMM program.

Educational & Trading Tools

BlueMax has a minor, in-house educational material that contains seven articles. These are not long, up to 3 pages and do not have any special qualities, mostly are elementary subjects that are very common on the internet. Some of the topics are “Forex Trading Market Strategies”, “Introduction to Forex Trading Charts”, “Forex Trading Money Management”, etc.

The User Guide is an addition on how to use the MT4 platform, PAMM features and guides, IB program introduction, how to deposit and withdraw and some other articles that are mostly marketing content.

The Blog section of BlueMax Capital is outdated, the staff has stopped producing new content since the end of 2018. The articles posted are much broader with educational content than the actual Education section of the website. The topics are more advanced and interesting like “How To Choose a Good Forex Broker?”, “Best Investment Plan with Consistent Returns and Controlled Risk”, “Cryptocurrency- Creation | Mining | Wallet | Trading” and so on. The content quality is better than the basics with some honest statements about the regulation being one of the factors for selecting a broker, even though BlueMax Capital does not have any.

Market Research section has more recent material, but we have noticed a sudden stop after September 2019. The research featured Forex Daily Forecasts that are based on Price Action, Support and Resistance, and Channels, with the short notice on Economic Events.

Forex News section is also discontinued since September 2019. The news content had almost no useable information for traders, mostly half baked rumors and statements from the officials mixed with some price levels.

Customer Service

The BlueMax Capital promotes outstanding 24/5 customer support. We were met with closed doors on all channels, phone lines, email, and chat that was always in the offline status. This is probably because of the latest cyber-attack.

Demo Account

The Damo account can be easily opened within the MT4 platform, no need for registration that is currently closed. There is no information if there are time limits, and we cannot claim that the demo will reflect a live trading environment. We were unable to asses the reason for the spread difference in MT4 and what is presented on the broker’s website.

Countries Accepted

There is no information on what countries are denied service. Taking into account the Cryptocurrency deposits and the lack of regulation we can assume there are no restrictions.

Conclusion

BlueMax Capital’s main issue now is to resolve the alleged cyber attack. In their popular PAMM service, we have noticed that almost all of their promoted PAMM managers have a negative performance, which is not intended and proves the display shows actual figures. The users that have invested in PAMM are showing their dissatisfaction and the ratings of this broker plummeted. Some of the hacked funds were returned to the investors which shows BlueMax Capital’s genuine intention.

If we set this aside, the broker does not show great trading conditions but average, in terms of instruments range, spreads, and security of funds. The main selling point – PAMM service, is now compromised leaving the only one specialty of BlueMax Capital remaining – cryptocurrency deposits. Of course, this kind of deposits brings other risks and advantages but remains popular.

Prior Capital is a forex broker based in Cyprus and established in 2016. Prior Capital vows to offer step-by-step support, direct access to the markets, instant execution, unique analytical information, algorithmic trading software. In this review, we will be looking into the services being offered to see if they live up to these statements and so you can see if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are 3 account types on offer, however only 2 of them would be relevant to 99% of retail traders, we will look at them in a little bit of detail.

ECN Account: The ECN account requires a minimum deposit of $100 or of your selected base currency which can be in USD, EUR, GBP or CHF. It has access to both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 as trading platforms and leverage can be anywhere up to 1:30. Spreads are floating and start as low as 0.6 pips with a margin call of 100% and a stop out level at 50%.

Access to all available assets from Prior Capital and the minimum trade volume is 0.01 lots and goes up in increments of 0.01 lots. It states that there is a commission of $25 per but does not specify what the per is for, there is an asterisk indicating that this is explained somewhere else on the page but there is not. We will explore the commissions later in this review.

Pro Account: The pro account requires a much larger initial deposit of $10,000 or the same amount in your base currency which remains the same. Leverage remains at a maximum of 1:30 but the spread has slightly reduced down to 0.5 pips as a starting position. The majority of other features remain unchanged including stop out and margin levels along with trade sizes and available assets. The commission has reduced down to $20 per but again we are unsure what the per means and will explore this later in the review.

Fix API: This account is more intended for people who have a development background and can use the API from Prior Capital. This account requires a minimum investment of $20,000 or base currency equivalent, all other features remain the same as the pro account.

All accounts can be used as a swap-free account if you are not able to pay or receive interest charges for holding trades overnight.

Platforms

Prior Capital currently offers 2 different trading platforms, both from MetaQuotes software, we outline their features below.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is one of the world’s most popular trading platforms and for good reason. Released in 2005 by MetaQuotes Software, it has been around a while, it is stable customizable and full of features to help with your trading and analysis. MT4 is compatible with hundreds and thousands of different indicators, expert advisors, signal providers and more. Millions of people use MT4 for its interactive charts, multiple timeframes, one-click trading, trade copying and more. In terms of accessibility, MT4 is second to none, available as a desktop download, an app for Android and iOS devices and as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser. MetaTrader 4 is a great trading solution to have.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5): MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is the younger brother of MetaTrader 4 (MT4)m developed by MetaQuotes Software and released in 2010, MT5 is used by millions and for good reason. Offering plenty of trading and analysis features to ain in your trading. Additional services expand the functionality of the platform making its capabilities almost limitless. MetaTrader 5 offers the built-in Market of trading robots, the Freelance database of strategy developers, Copy Trading and the Virtual Hosting service (Forex VPS). Use all these services from one place, and access new trading opportunities. MetaTrader 5 is also highly accessible with it being available as a desktop download, application for iOS and Android devices and even as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser.

Leverage

Leverage can be selected when opening up an account and can be anywhere between 1:1 and 1:30, due to regulations Prior Capital does not offer higher leverage than 1:30. Leverage can often be changed on an account by getting in touch with customer services but will only be changed if there are no active trades on the account.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start at 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot, sizes then increase in increments of 0.01 lot so the next available trade will be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. The maximum trade size is 100 lots but we would not recommend trading over 50 lots so the liquidity providers and markets and execute the trade quicker. There is a maximum amount of 500 orders that can be open at one time. Non-forex or metals have a minimum trade size of 0.1 lots and a maximum trade size of 20 lots.

Trading Costs

The account types page states that there is a commission of $25 per for the ECN account and $20 per for the Pro account but does not specify what the per is for. Looking through the various documentation does not make this any clearer and our only assumptions would be that this is the commission per lot traded, which would put it at a very high level when compared to the competition.

There are also swap fees charged for holding accounts overnight, these can be both positive and negative and these can be viewed from within the trading platform of choice. There are swap-free accounts available should you not be able to receive or pay swap fees based on your beliefs and so these charges will be paid as administration costs rather than interest.

Assets

When it comes to tradable assets, they are broken down into a number of different categories. There are forex currencies in which there are over 50 different major, minor and exotic pairs to trade. There are 6 indices including Dow 30, Nasdaq 100 and Nikkei 225. Energies are present and broken down further into spot contracts, commodity contracts and future contracts for assets such as Berent and crude oils. Metals are present in the form of gold and silver and finally, there are 5 cryptocurrencies available to trade including the popular Bitcoin and others such as Ripple and Litecoin.

Spreads

Dependant on the account type that you have spreads will be starting as low as 0.5 pips or 0.6 pips. It is important to note that all spreads are variable which is also known as floating so they will not always remain the same and the more volatile the markets, the higher they will be. Also, the 0.5 pips and 0.6 pips are absolute minimums, so will often be seen higher and certain pairs will have a higher natural spread meaning they will never be as low as that.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit to open an account is $100, however, once an account has been opened the minimum deposit for further top-ups reduces. There is not a mention of the absolute minimum but this will depend on the processor you are using to make the deposit.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There aren’t a whole host of ways to deposit with Prior Capital, in fact, there are just two methods available.

Credit / Debit Card (Visa and MasterCard): Deposits over $100 there will be a fee of 2% + EUR 0.24 (or equivalent) and for international cards there will be a fee of 2.5% + EUR 0.24 (or equivalent). For deposits under $100, there will be an additional service charge of $10 (or equivalent). The maximum daily deposit limit is $15,000 (or equivalent).

Skrill: Deposits can only be made in EUR or USD. There is a fee of 2.9% + EUR 0.25 (or USD), there may also be a surcharge of 0.5% – 1% depending on the country you reside in. Deposits under $100 (or equivalent ) will receive an additional charge of $10 (or equivalent).

Bank Transfers: Deposits can be made in CHF, EUR, USD, AED, AUD, CAD, CZK, DKK, GBP, HKD, HUF, ILS, ISK, JPY, MXN, NOK, NZD, PLN, RUB, SEK, SGD, THB, TRY, or ZAR. There are no added fees for deposits via bank transfer however your own bank may charge transfer fees so it is important to check.

It is a shame to see such high fees for withdrawals and this is an aspect of brokers that can really put off any potential clients.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawing is done via the same methods as depositing and there are a few things to note with each method.

Credit / Debit Card (Visa and MasterCard): You can only withdraw with a card if you have deposited using one and it must be the same card. For a card refund (up to the amount of depositing) there is a fee of USD 0.30 for each transaction, for full withdrawals over the deposit amount there is a 1.3% +EUR 3.50 (or equivalent) for each withdrawal. The maximum payout per transaction is EUR 2,000.

Skrill: For Skrill withdrawals, there is a fee of 1% for all withdrawals, for refunds, there is a fee of EUR 0.49 (or equivalent) for any amounts until the deposit amount has been withdrawn.

Bank Transfer: While there are no fees for depositing via bank transfer, there are for withdrawing, depending on the bank being used there are two types of fees. Swissquote charge 2 EUR / CHF within the EEA and 10 when outside the EEA. Withdrawals under $10 have an additional 5 fee charged. Deutsche Kontor charges a 0.35 EUR for each transaction, transactions up to EUR 2,500 have a fee of EUR 5.50, 2,500 – 12,500 have a fee of EUR 12.50 and withdrawals over 12,500 have a fee of 0.15% or at least EUR 20.00 and a maximum 100.00 EUR.

Similarly to the deposits, it is a shame to see withdrawal fees present as this is a practice that a lot of modern brokers are getting rid of and so would be nice to see Prior Capital follow suit.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal times are not specifically specified on the site, however Prior Capital will aim to process any withdrawals within 48 hours, once the withdrawal has been processed, Skrill withdrawals should take just 15 minutes to arrive which bank card will take 1 to 5 business days and bank transfers normally take around 3 to 5 business days to arrive in your bank account.

Bonuses & Promotions

There does not seem to be any promotions or bonuses happening at the time of writing this review, that does not, however, mean there never will be so if you are interested in joining Prior Capital with a promotion be sure to check back regularly to see if one has come up.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few basic tools on offer to help with your trading, there is some market analysis that is very basic showing a chart of various currencies but not much more information than that. You can contact Prior Capital though to help create a personalized report. Market data is also available but this much the same thing as the market analysis. The economic calendar on offer gives you information about any upcoming news events that may affect the pairs you are trading ut there are more detailed ones available for free on the internet. Finally, there is a forex calculator allowing you to calculate things like lots and pips

There is also an education center, this contains things like ebooks and webinars however the site states that it will be active soon and so at the moment you can not access any of the resources.

Customer Service

The contact section of the Prior Capital site is what you would expect, it has an online web form where you can submit your query and can expect to get a reply via email. There are also email addresses and phone numbers for a number of different departments including the support desk, the affiliate departments, human resources, client relations, the back office, and PR inquiries. These departments are open between 08:00 and 16:00 GMT so it is disappointing to not see them open 24 hours a day. In terms of the time frame for a reply, Prior Capital simply states that you will get a reply in a “timely” manner.

Demo Account

There is no mention on the website in regards to demo accounts so we are unsure if they are being offered or not, there may be a way to access them from within the client portal though.

Countries Accepted

The following notice is present on the Prior Capital site: “Prior Capital CY Ltd does not offer its services to residents of certain jurisdictions such as the USA, Canada, Japan, Iran, Cuba, Sudan, Syria, and North Korea.” If you are unsure if you are eligible for an account, please make sure to get in contact with the support department for confirmation.

Conclusion

Prior Capital started us off on a confusing note with the commissions not being completely clear, it seems like it is $20+ per lot traded which is excessive and enough to make the majority of people steer well clear. Plenty of ways to get in contact but with so few support opening hours it could be more difficult to get through. All of this along with the fees being charged for both deposits and withdrawals can make Prior Capital a very expensive broker to trade with.

We hope you like this Prior Capital review. If you did, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

ICM Capital is an online FX and CFD broker that was established in 2011. During their 8 years in operation, the company has managed to complete their regulation with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under registration number 520965. The company’s primary office is located in the UK, with secondary offices located in Dubai and China. The fact that this is a regulated broker that accepts US clients may be enough to gain some attention, although there’s a lot more to look into before choosing this broker based on those facts alone. Keep reading to find out more important details.

Account Types

This broker offers two account types; ICM Direct and ICM Zero. The Direct account offers trading on Forex, Metals, Futures, Shares, and Cash CFDs with a leverage of up to 1:30. This account type requires a deposit of $200 USD and makes up for the lack of commission charges by executing higher spreads. The Zero account takes a different approach, with a price model that centers on providing lower spreads in return for charging commission fees of $7/Round lot. Tradable instruments are limited to Forex, Energy, and Metals on this account type and the leverage cap is also set at 1:30.

This broker will also upgrade clients to Pro status if two of three conditions are met; You must have carried out significantly large transactions, on the relevant market, at an average frequency of 10 per quarter over the previous four quarters; the size of your financial instrument portfolio must exceed $500,000 EUR, and/or you must have experience working in the financial sector for at least a year in a professional position.

If you qualify, then you’ll have access to slightly reduced spreads, leverage options of up to 1:200, and negative balance protection that will cover your account of up to $1,000,000. We’ve provided a quick overview of the two main account types below.

ICM Direct
Minimum Deposit: $200 USD
Leverage: Up to 1:30
Spreads: From 1.3 pips
Commissions: Zero
Assets: Forex, Metals, Futures, Shares, and Cash CFDs

ICM Zero
Minimum Deposit:
Leverage: Up to 1:30
Spreads: From 0 pips
Commissions: $7 Round lot
Assets: Forex, Energy, and Metals

Swap-free versions of both account types are available for clients of Muslim faith. If you’re interested in opening one of these account types, you’ll need to reach out to a member of the broker’s client services team.

Platform

Both account types exclusively support the world-famous MetaTrader 4 trading platform. MT4 is highly accessible and available for download on PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android. MT4 provides a multilingual interface, contains a complete technical analysis package, a wide range of built-in technical indicators and charting tools, the ability to create various custom indicators, different time periods, and more. Even with the release of MT5, MetaTrader 4 remains the most popular and most commonly offered trading platform on the market to this day. We certainly don’t have any complaints regarding this broker’s choice.

Leverage

The available leverage caps for your account can vary depending on the price volatility of the underlying instrument. The leverage cap is set at 30:1 on major Indices, 10:1 on Commodities other than Gold and non-major Equity Indices, and 5:1 on individual Equities and other reference values. On another note, the broker offers a slight advantage in this category for Pro account holders by setting the maximum leverage cap at 1:200, a significantly higher option.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is set at one micro lot for both account types on the majority of instruments, aside from Cash CFDs, which have a minimum trade size of 1 lot. Maximum trade sizes depend on the type of instrument being traded. The maximum trade size is set at 500 lots on FX pairs, 50 lots on Precious Metals, and 5,000 lots on Cash CFDs. The contract size is set at 100 shares on US stocks. The formula for calculating the margin requirement with this broker is as follows; Required Margin = (Trade Size (lot size) / leverage) * account currency exchange rate (if different from the base currency in the pair being traded). The broker’s stop loss level is set at 50% and the broker reserves the right to initiate an automatic stop-out on all positons if this limit is reached.

Trading Costs

This broker profits through commissions, spreads, and swaps. Traders will not pay commissions on Direct accounts and commission charges of $7/Round lot are applied on Zero accounts. Spreads on the Zero account start from 0 pips, while spreads on the Direct account start from around 1.3 pips. Commissions are not applicable on Energy or Index Futures. Forex and Precious Metal positions that are left open overnight or over the weekend are subject to swap charges.

The swap rate varies for both Long and Short positions and can be viewed for each instrument through the MT4 platform on ‘Specification’. Daily market rollover occurs around 22:00 server time (UK time). In the event that the open position was kept open after midnight on Wednesday, 3 days of swap will be calculated. Even if you’re operating a swap-free account, swaps will apply to the USDTRY and EURTRY currency pairs.

Assets

The Direct account offers access to Forex, Metals, Futures, Shares, and Cash CFDs and would be the best choice if you’re looking for more variety. The Zero account limits tradable instruments to Forex, Energies, and Metals. FX options are made up of majors and minors and include 34 options. Precious Metals include Gold and Silver. Energies include Light Sweet Crude Oil, Brent Crude Oil, and Natural Gas. Note that this would be the extent of what is offered on the Zero account type. There are 45 total options available under US stocks and major brands like Apple, Citigroup Inc., Google, Microsoft, Disney, and more are available. The broker also lists 6 Index Futures and 11 Cash CFDs.

Spreads

On the Account Type Table, we see spreads on the Zero account listed as starting from 0 pips. However, reading the fine print reveals that this is only on the EUR/USD pair. The broker is vague when it comes to describing the spreads on the Direct account type and suggests potential clients check out the Contract Specifications for themselves in order to view them. Upon checking the spreads for ourselves, we weren’t exactly surprised that the broker wasn’t boasting about their offers.

The lowest spread we saw was listed at 1.3 pips on USDJPY, however, spreads climbed to 2.8 pips on AUDCAD, 3 pips on AUDJPY, and so on. All of the options weren’t too bad, although we’re assuming that the broker is making up for the lack of commissions charged on this account type with these spreads. If you are a Pro account holder, then the average spreads are lowered slightly.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit requirement for both accounts is $200 USD, or the equivalent in other currencies. This limit is not only set for initial deposits, but the broker requires also deposits of no less than this amount on future deposits as well. We’ve definitely seen lower offers out there, although this amount is fairly standard. It would be nice if the broker would allow follow up deposits to be made for lesser amounts, especially considering that traders may not want to make larger deposits each time.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded via Wire Transfer, Visa/MasterCard, Skrill, China UnionPay, Neteller, or through the company’s own ICM Capital Prepaid MasterCard. Some international transfers will incur a fee from the bank’s side, which will be deducted from the total funded amount. The broker will cover any transfer fees on deposits above $500 USD incurred through intermediary and beneficiary banks. Wire Transfers should be credited to the account within 2-5 working days.

Deposits by Visa/MasterCard can be made for amounts up to $10,000 USD and the company requires the address on the card to match the client’s registered address, otherwise, there can be delays. There are also some restrictions related to which countries can fund with cards. There is a charge of 1.75% on all card deposits, including the company’s prepaid card.

Skrill charges a 0.32 transaction fee + a 1.9% fee + a 1% country fee on incoming deposits. Neteller charges a 2.5% deposit fee + a 0.29% transaction fee + a 1% country surcharge fee. Deposits via China UnionPay are subject to a 1.50% fee. Earlier, we mentioned that the broker offers a prepaid card. In order to receive one of these, the client would need to apply and pay a $40 fee.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

ICM Capital will only return funds to clients in the same manner in which they were received. For example, if you made a $200 deposit via Visa/MasterCard, the company will refund $200 back to the same card that was used to deposit. The broker doesn’t mention which method profits would be returned to, although brokers typically return profits via Wire Transfer. Various fees are charged on some withdrawal methods and others are fee-free. We have outlined those fees below. Also, keep in mind that these fees would not apply to Professional status clients.

• Wire Transfer: 15 GBP
• Visa/MasterCard: No Fees
• ICM Capital Prepaid Card: $1.95
• Skrill: 1% Transaction Fee (max $10)
• Neteller: No Fees
• China UnionPay: $5

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The broker typically processes withdrawals within the same business day; however, it can take 3-5 business days for the funds to be credited back to your account. If you still haven’t received your funds after this period, the broker recommends clients contact their customer service team.

Bonuses & Promotions

Currently, the broker does not seem to be offering any special promotions. Do keep in mind, as previously mentioned, that the broker will upgrade status levels on accounts that hold at least $50,000 worth of currency. If your account qualifies, you would be rewarded in the form of rebates, lower spreads, returns on funding fees, etc. This could be considered a special advantage, although many traders simply won’t have the funds to qualify.

Educational & Trading Tools

Under the ‘Education’ section of their website, this broker provides some brief explanations about forex, mentions some of the key features related to forex trading, briefly mentions some information on technical analysis, provides a few trading examples, includes a trading glossary, and offers a forex FAQ that answers a couple of questions. At first glance, it would seem that the broker is offering several helpful pieces of information; however, each section is fairly short and does not contain enough information to get traders started. The broker does have a section dedicated to listing live seminars, although the upcoming list was empty when we checked. Aside from offering market news, there are no tools offered on the website.

Demo Account

Free demo accounts are available to any client or potential client of this company. Demo accounts do expire after 30 days; however, the broker will allow traders to create a new demo account at any time. Demo accounts must be created from within the MT4 platform by clicking ‘Select File’ > ‘Open MT4 Account’ > and selecting the server as ‘ICM Capital – DEMO – New Account’. Leverage can be changed by contacting customer service and the maximum leverage is limited to 1:30, as with real accounts. Pro versions of the demo account are also available. The broker requires the trader to contact a services team member in order to open one of these account types due to the fact that they must be configured separately. Demo accounts reflect the same environment as real accounts, although demo account servers may differ from the live environment from time to time.

Customer Service

Client Services support is available from 6 am to 6 pm GMT, Monday through Friday. Support can be contacted via LiveChat, email, phone, or by filling out a contact form on the website. Alternatively, if you’re experiencing technical difficulties, you’ll want to contact Technical Support via their direct phone number. This department operates 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday. The main phone lines are linked to the UK location, but this broker also lists separate phone numbers for offices located in Dubai and China. The broker is also active on LinkedIn, YouTube, Google Plus, Facebook, and Twitter. All contact information can be viewed below.

Email: Client Services: [email protected]

UK Office
Phone: +44 207 634 9770 (Client Services) (6 am – 6pm GMT, Mon – Fri)
Technical Support: +44 207 634 9777 (24/5)
Fax: +44 207 516 9137
Address: ICM Capital Limited, New Broad Street House, 35 New Broad At, London, EC2M 1NH, United Kingdom

Dubai Office
Phone: +971 4 429 4500
Fax: +971 4 457 9207
Address: Dubai (Rep Office) P08, building 3, Bay Square, Business Bay, Dubai, P.O. Box 113058

China Office
Phone: 0431-88880936
Address: Honghui International Plaza, No. 3299 Renmin Avenue, Chaoyang District, Changchun, Jilin, China

Countries Accepted

Considering their regulation with the FCA, we would expect to see some type of restrictions set in place. We couldn’t find a list on the website, so we visited the account registration page to see if any important options were missing. We confirmed that the United States, Japan, India, and many other commonly restricted countries are able to sign-up for accounts with no issue. We did notice that North and South Korea were missing from the list of available countries. It’s possible that we may have overlooked a few more restricted countries, although you can search for your country on the account registration page.

Conclusion

ICM Capital is a regulated broker that offers leveraged trading of up to 1:30 for their regular clients on more than 100 assets that are made up of FX, Metals, Shares, Futures, and Cash CFD options. Traders can open a commission-free Direct account and pay no commissions, or a Zero account, which provides tighter spreads in exchange for commission charges. The broker supports the world-famous MetaTrader 4 trading platform and a $200 deposit is required to open an account. Several funding options are available and withdrawals are processed somewhat quickly; however, fees are charged on deposits and when withdrawing through certain methods.

One can trade with a leverage of up to 1:200 and avoid any funding fees if they have a Professional status with this broker, although an account balance of at least $50,000 is needed to qualify for these perks. Education and tools are slim to none and the broker is not really offering any bonuses or promotions at this time. Support is available on weekdays and can be contacted through LiveChat, phone, email, or buy filling out a form on the website.

TitanFX is an online ECN FX and CFD broker that offers leveraged trading of up to 500:1 on 70+ FX, Precious Metals, Index CFDs, and Energies. The company is regulated by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC), with offices located in Vanuatu, New Zealand, India, London, and even the United States. This broker certainly seems to have been thriving since its launch in 2014, although we were curious to find out whether this broker will manage to stand out from the crowd. Stay with us and you’ll be able to judge for yourself.

Account Types

TitanFX provides two main account types, in addition to corporate and demo accounts. The broker offers a Zero Standard STP account and a Zero Blade ECN account as their regular trading account types. The Zero Standard account is an Institutional Grade STP account that offers access to interbank spreads on MT4 & MT5. The account is a commission-free option, with starting spreads as low as 1 pip. The Zero Blade account is an ECN account that offers the tightest available spreads and is ideal for day traders, scalpers, and EA traders. Accounts share the same trade sizes, leverage caps, and minimum deposit requirements, so there will be no need to compare on that basis. We’ve outlined the aforementioned details below.

Zero Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: $200
Leverage: Up to 500:1
Spreads: From 1 pip
Commission: None

Zero Blade Account
Minimum Deposit: $200
Leverage: Up to 500:1
Spreads: From 0.0 pips
Commission: $3.5 per lot (See “Trading Costs”)

In order to register for an account, potential clients must be able to provide a proof of ID (Passport, Driver’s License, National ID) document and a proof of residence document issued within the last 3 months. It is also possible that the broker may require a previous bank statement and/or reference later, both dated within the last 3 months as well.

Platform

This broker offers both the MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms for download on PC, Mac, Android, and iOS devices. Alternatively, MT4 can be accessed through the WebTrader. Chances are, many of our readers have already heard about MetaTrader 4, which is the world’s most popular trading platform. MT4 contains all of the tools that a trade of any skill level could need, including live quotes, real-time charts, in-depth news, multiple order types, analysis tools, secure trading, and more.

MT5 was released more recently and while this platform is modeled after its predecessor, MT5 was developed to provide faster performance, an improved strategy tester for EAs, more pending order types and analysis tools, etc. Many still prefer the earlier version, while others have switched to the newest version of the platform. Fortunately, this broker will allow traders to decide which platform is their favorite, instead of limiting to traders to one option or the other.

Leverage

Available leverage options range from 1:1, which would be the same as trading with the exact amount of funds in the account, up to 1:500, allowing one to trade with 500 times the amount of available funds. Many other brokers set even lower caps than their initial offer, based on the equity in the account, or when trading certain instruments. TitanFX does not seem to place any restrictions on their leverage limits, meaning all traders will have access to the advertised leverage cap. We do want to offer a word of warning to any traders that may be lacking experience, since trading with leverage as high as the one offered here may result in significant losses due to the risk that is involved. If you’re not sure where to start, we recommend testing out different leverages on the demo account.

Trade Sizes

The broker’s technology allows clients to trade without restrictions, with minimum trade sizes starting as low as one micro lot. The maximum trading volume for the majority of assets is set at 100 lots. When trading Precious Metals, such as Gold, Silver, Platinum, or Pallidum, the maximum trade size is 50 lots. An automated stop-out will be triggered when the account’s margin reaches a level of 20% or below.

Trading Costs

Clients of this company will pay trading costs through commissions (if applicable), spreads, and swaps. There do not appear to be any inactivity fees associated with trading through this broker. The Zero Standard account offers a commission-free experience, with spreads that start from 1 pip. On the Zero Blade account type, the tightest spreads, from 0.0 pips, are offered with commission charges of $3.50 per Standard Lot. Taking a closer look, we do see some differences in the commission cost based on the currency or asset type being traded.

For example, that cost is $4 when trading one Standard Lot using the AUD currency, while the cost is only 30 cents when trading Energies, Metals, or Index CFDs in USD. The exact fees can be viewed on the account type’s main page under “See Our Commissions”. Swap rates are determined by the overnight interest rate differential between two currencies involved in the pair and whether the buying position is a long or short swap. Rollover period goes from 23:59 to 00:01 server time.

Assets

This broker’s instrument portfolio is made up of FX, CFDs, Precious Metals, and Energies. FX options are made up of 70+ currency pairs, including majors, minors, and several exotics. Nine options make up the list of CFDs and Precious Metals and include Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Pallidum. Energy options are made up of XTI/USD (West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil) and XBR/USD (Brent Crude Oil). Altogether, this makes up a total number of 76+ tradable instruments. Sadly, we don’t see any Shares or Cryptocurrency options available through this broker.

Spreads

TitanFX maintains a relationship with more than 50 liquidity providers in order to provide the tightest spreads without delays, intervention, or re-quotes. Both accounts offer starting spreads that start lower than the industry average, although spreads are floating and can climb higher in some circumstances. The tightest spreads start from 0.0 pips on the Titan Zero Blade account, while spreads start from just 1 pip on the Zero Standard account. Around rollover time, spreads can widen and may spike due to the low liquidity, so the broker does warn clients to be very careful when trading around that time.

Minimum Deposit

It costs a minimum of $200 USD, or equivalent in another base currency, in order to open a trading account with this broker. For a Standard account, this is slightly above the $100 requirement we’re used to seeing; however, the amount could be considered very reasonable for the Zero Blade account type. The requirement should be realistic for most traders, although some beginners may have been looking for a lower starting amount.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded through Visa, MasterCard, Neteller, Skrill, or Bank Wire Transfer. Note that there are some restrictions based on the client’s location that may limit the ability to fund via Neteller or Skrill. In order to fund via card, the compliance team must be able to verify that the name on the card matches the account, that the last 4 digits of the card are visible, and that the expiry date has not passed through a provided photo. Note that the credit card number should be covered in the photo, aside from those last 4 digits that are needed. It takes 30 minutes – 1 hour for funds sent via Japanese banks to clear. A fee of AUD15 is applied to deposits of less than $50,001 made from Japanese banking instructions, while other banking institutions may charge international fees from their end. Aside from Bank Wire, all deposit methods are fee-free.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

There are some conditions that will affect which withdrawal methods can be chosen. If the client has funded via Bank Wire, then any amount can be withdrawn via Bank Wire, Neteller, or Skrill (if applicable in the client’s location). If the account was funded by Visa/MasterCard, Neteller, or Skrill, then the amount of the deposit must be withdrawn back to the original source. Any profits can then be withdrawn via Bank Wire, Neteller, or Skrill. There are associated fees with Bank Wire, Neteller, and Skrill, meaning that withdrawal fees cannot be avoided when withdrawing profits. The only time fees could be avoided would be when withdrawing funded amounts by card. All associated fees for each method are listed below.

Visa/MasterCard: No fees
Bank Wire Transfer: Bank Fees (Typically AUD 20)
Neteller & Skrill: 3.75%

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Depending on the withdrawal method, it can take between 4 days to 4 weeks to receive funds. Credit card withdrawals are subject to the client’s card provider processing times. Neteller and Skrill withdrawals will be processed and deposited into the client’s account within one business day. Overall, the processing times for e-wallets are quick, although waiting times of up to 4 weeks for some of the other methods are not exactly advantageous. If you are planning to withdraw through a method aside from Neteller or Skrill, it would be wise to plan out the withdrawal ahead of time.

Bonuses & Promotions

Currently, this broker isn’t offering any type of special opportunities. It’s always beneficial to see a broker with a welcome bonus or some type of rebate program, although this should never be enough of a reason to choose a broker alone. However, this broker does provide personalized service for clients that trade high volumes, including perks like a dedicated relationship manager and VPS. Many clients will not qualify for these extra options; however, this could be an advantage if you are one of the high-volume traders we mentioned. The broker doesn’t mention exactly how much one would need to trade to qualify, so you’ll want to reach out to support if you think you may qualify.

Educational & Trading Tools

This broker primarily focuses on providing news updates centered around research and market insight. Sadly, we just don’t see educational resources available on the website, aside from demo accounts. There is a small section on the website that is titled “Learn Forex”; however, further investigation reveals that this section is very short and does not provide enough information to be helpful to beginners. On the bright side, the broker does an excellent job with research tools, including Market Analysis, Forex Monthly articles, Economic News, and articles centered around the Forex Lifestyle. VPS is also available for lease from the website.

Demo Account

If interested, any current or potential applicant can open a free paper trading demo account in order to test out the trading conditions on the MetaTrader 4 platform. Demo accounts use the same price feed as the live servers and trading from one provides an experience that mimics the conditions on a live account as closely as possible. From the demo, traders can test an Expert Advisor (EA) with realtime prices, test out new strategies, become more familiarized with the MT4 platform, and try placing trades without using real money.

The default amount of virtual currency is set at $50,000; however, traders can reach out to support to request a different amount. If you’re looking for a more realistic experience, it may be worth asking for an amount that falls within a lower range. Demo accounts expire after 30 days; however, non-expiring demo accounts are available for clients holding live accounts.

Customer Service

Support is available 24 hours a day, from Monday through Friday. Sadly, this means that it won’t be possible to contact an agent during weekend hours, when many traders may be looking to sign-up. Traders can contact a member of support instantly through LiveChat, by calling into one of the companies’ hotlines, by filling out a contact form on the website, or through email. Multiple phone numbers and email addresses are provided, so you’ll want to be sure that you’re reaching out through the correct one.

We did quickly test out LiveChat, which allows one to either sign-in using social media, or by filling in a few quick details. We were connected instantly to a live person and options about our question could be selected from a predetermined list, or we could type anything in the chat box. Our agent was extremely helpful and quick, so we have to give this company full stars for the customer service experience. Keep in mind that this broker also provides an FAQ that may eliminate the need to actually contact an agent. In addition to these contact options, you’ll also find TitanFX on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. All contact information is provided below.

Email
Support: [email protected]
Back Office: [email protected]
Partnerships: [email protected]
Marketing: [email protected]
Phone
Asia: +64 9 950 8902
Europe/Americas: +1 214 2388 269

Countries Accepted

Currently, the broker does not accept residents from New Zealand or Australia, although the website claims that the broker will soon be overcoming restrictions that will allow them to welcome clients from these locations. Although the broker does have an office located in the US, CTFX regulations seemingly ban this broker from offering service to clients located there. Fortunately, we found it to be extremely easy to sign-up for an account from the United States, as the option is included on the registration list with absolutely no bans. This would make the broker more attractive for those located in the US, considering that these traders are often banned from opening accounts with forex brokers.

Conclusion

TitanFX is a regulated online broker that offers leveraged trading of up to 1:500 with no hidden restrictions, on 76+ total assets, primarily made up of FX options, in addition to CFDs, Precious Metals, and Energies. The broker has several office locations, including one in the US, and offers 2 account types; one with a commission-based pricing model that has starting spreads from 0.0 pips, while the other is commission-free with spreads starting from just 1 pip. A $200 USD deposit is required to open either account. Traders can also choose between the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 trading platforms, rather than being limited to one option or the other.

Accounts can be funded through Visa/MasterCard, Bank Wire, Neteller, or Skrill and deposit fees are not charged from the broker’s side. It is impossible to withdraw profits without paying some type of withdrawal fee and processing times can take longer than we’d like to see for a couple of methods. Aside from providing a few perks for high-volume traders, bonus opportunities are non-existent.

Educational resources are also missing, although the broker does provide VPS and helpful articles that revolve around news and research. Support is available 24/5 and the broker’s customer support team exceeded our expectations on LiveChat. Overall, the broker does seem to be lacking in some of the extra categories, although the trading conditions available through this broker offer the ability to trade in a competitive environment.

Trademax is a broker that is committed to providing a highly professional and independent platform with a team that offers optimal devotion and efficiency. This is what is stated on the Trademax website and so in this review, we will be diving deep into the service being offered to see if they live up to the expectations they have put upon themselves.

It is important to note that there are different versions of the TradeMax website, for the purpose of this review we will be looking at the global site, if any of the information is different, this would be due to your viewing a different version of the site as the one we are reviewing may not be available to you based on your country of residence.

Account Types

There are 4 accounts on offer from Trademax, each with their own requirements and trading conditions, we will take a little look at them to see what is on offer:

Standard Account: The standard account requires a minimum deposit of $1,000 in order to open the account, this account comes with a maximum leverage up to 1:400 and does not charge any commission. You get a dedicated account manager but no access to the VIP desk, no free VPS and no MAMM services.

Premium Account: The premium account ups the, minimum deposit to a much larger $50,000 which will price out a lot of regular retail clients. It would appear that all other aspects of the account remain the same, however, we do not believe this and so during this review, we will look at other aspects to see where the differences lie.

Pro Account: The pro account increases the minimum deposit further to $100,000 and due to this increased value, the maximum leverage reduces down to 1:200. This account comes with a dedicated account manager, access to the VIP desk, a free VPS and access to the MAMM services.

Raw Spread Account: The raw spread account works a little differently, it also has a minimum deposit of $100,000 and leverage of 1:200, however, this account now charges a commission of $7 per lot traded and so the spreads will be far lower than the other accounts. This account also comes with all the perks that the pro account does.

Platforms

Just one platform is available when trading with Trademax and that is MetaTrader 4 (MT4):

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is one of the world’s most popular trading platforms and for good reason. Released in 2005 by MetaQuotes Software, it has been around a while, it is stable customizable and full of features to help with your trading and analysis. MT4 is compatible with hundreds and thousands of different indicators, expert advisors, signal providers and more. Millions of people use MT4 for its interactive charts, multiple timeframes, one-click trading, trade copying and more. In terms of accessibility, MT4 is second to none, available as a desktop download, an app for Android and iOS devices and as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser. MetaTrader 4 is a great trading solution to have.

Leverage

The maximum leverage available depends on the type of account that you have, the standard and premium accounts come with a maximum leverage of 1:4090 while the pro and raw spread accounts come with a maximum leverage of 1:200. The minimum is usually 1:1 however this is not explicitly stated on the site, you can also change your leverage by selecting new leverage in your account section and then notifying your account manager.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start at 0.01 lots which are also known as micro-lots, trades then increase in increments of 0.0 lots so the next available trade is 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. The maximum trade size is currently set at 80 lots however, we do not recommend trading at more than 50 lots as it increasingly becomes harder for liquidity providers and the market to execute bigger trades instantly.

Trading Costs

The standard, premium and pro accounts work on a spread based structure so we will look at them later in this review. The raw spread account adds a commission to each trade, currently, the charge is $7 per lot traded which is around the standard ($6 per lot) for the industry at this point in time. There are also swap charges that are either paid or received for holding trades overnight, these charges can be viewed from directly within the trading platform being used.

Assets

There are 3 types of assets and instruments available with Trademax and combined they make up over 100 different tradable instruments. The assets are broke down into three categories, forex currency pairs including majors, minors and exotic pairs. There are also commodities that include popular ones such as Gold, Silver and natural gasses, as well as oil. Finally, there are indices, which include the likes of the FTSE 100 Index and the S&P 500. It is a shame not to see cryptocurrencies being available as these are quickly becoming a major trading asset for both new and experienced traders.

Spreads

While spreads are not specifically mentioned on the site, they can be seen from 1.6 pips, however these are floating spreads, so this means that they will regularly rise higher than this especially when the markets are volatile. It should also be noted that some pairs naturally have higher spreads and so will always be seen much higher than the 1.6 pip figure. The spreads on the raw spread account can be as low as 0 pips, but there is the added commission to make up for this.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount in order to open up an account is $1,000 which will get you the standard account, in order to have a lower spread account you will need a deposit of $100,000 which prices out 99.9% of all retail traders. Usually, when there is a high opening deposit needed, any subsequent top-ups are lower than the initial amount but there is not any information regarding such a scheme here.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a few methods that you can use to deposit with Trademax including bank wire transfers, credit and debit cards (both Visa and MasterCard) as well as some e-wallets such as PayPal, UnionPay, POLi, and FasaPay. The documentation states that there are no additional fees when depositing with Trademax.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available for withdrawing as they are for depositing, while Trademax will not add any fees, the individual processors may which can be small but they add up over time.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Processing times are not made obvious but it is stated that Trademax will process your withdrawals within 48 hours. Once the withdrawal is processed the amount of time that it will take depends on the method being used. E-wallets will generally take around 15 minutes to arrive after being processed which bank transfers and card withdrawals can take an additional 1 to 5 working days to arrive in your account.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is currently one promotion taking place which ends on 31/12/19 so there may be a different one at the time you are reading this. The current promotion offers you a 10% trading bonus up to $10,000 on new deposits (not internal transfers). It states that terms and conditions apply, but there are none posted on the site so we can not comment on what they may be.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few small learning opportunities being offered by Trademax, these include in-house classes for beginners, intermediate and advanced traders. In order to access these, you must be a client of Trademax and then apply to take part. There are also 1 on 1 VIP classes where you can sit with an expert and learn more advanced techniques to help improve yourself as a trader. Finally, there are online tutorials that are more of a forex based FAQ.

Finally, there is also an economic calendar which gives basic information about upcoming news events and which Paris they may effect, there is also a news section to get up to date in what is happening in the world, both of which can be found elsewhere on the internet in more detail.

Customer Service

There are a few ways to get in touch with Trademax however they are not the most appealing and not as direct as we would like. You can use the online contact form to send your query and get a response via email, there is also an email address to use.

Finally, there is an online chat system that we tested out, unfortunately, the person on the other end was not able to help with any of our basic queries around spreads or countries that are accepted so we gave up with no extra information being obtained.

Demo Account

Plenty of buttons to open a live account, however noting to open a demo account so we are unsure if they are available with Trademax, if they are, it may only be from the client area and not from directly on the website.

Countries Accepted

While the website only states “Products and Services offered on this website is not intended for residents of the United States.” When signing up to an account a number of regularly excluded countries were not present such as Iran. So in order to be sure, if you are eligible or not, we would recommend getting in contact with the support team.

Conclusion

With so much information being missing or hard to find, along with the atrocious customer support team, it is hard for us to recommend using Trademax at all. Trademax really needs to up their game in regards to providing the right information for potential clients and do not instill much confidence at all.

We hope you like this TradeMax review. If you did, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

ValueTrades is an FX and CFD broker that is located in the United Kingdom and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The company describes its mission as leveling the playing field, in order to give all clients complete access to the real financial markets. We certainly see the broker providing one advantage for the underdog, by allowing clients to open an account with no required deposit amount. If you’re located in London, it’s even possible to arrange an in-person meeting, something that many of the broker’s competitors would never consider offering. Stay with us to find out more.

Account Types

This broker offers two account types; Standard and ECN. Both accounts are extremely affordable, with no minimum deposit requirements. On Standard accounts, commissions are applied in the spread, meaning there are no separate commission entries. This setup type is ideal for beginners and long-term position takers. The ECN account offers the lowest spreads and is designed for active traders, EA’s, scalping, and news trading. Leverage options are based on the exact instrument that is being traded, in addition to the equity in the account. Platforms, trade sizes, and tradable instruments are also shared by both account types. We’ve provided a quick overview below.

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: None
Leverage: Up to 1:500 on FX
Spread: From 1 pip
Commissions: None

ECN Account
Minimum Deposit: None
Leverage: Up to 1:500 on FX
Spread: From 0 pips
Commissions: $3 (Forex & CFD) (per Side)

Platform

This broker offers three separate trading platforms; MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and Fix API. Chances are, many traders have already heard of the award-winning MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. Due to its wide range of trading resources, MT4 is preferred by all types of traders, including novices and investors. MT5 intends to build upon the success of MT4 and offers more pending order types and tools while providing a more powerful experience.

Both platforms can be downloaded on PC (Windows operating system 7 or better), Mac, or Mobile devices. The browser-based version, WebTrader, is also available for those that do not wish to download the program. Fix API is also offered as an alternative to the more traditional platforms and claims to focus on providing total control to traders. This platform provides direct market access and is applicable on all tradable instruments. The broker does not specify about device compatibility.

Leverage

Leverage options seem to be based on the equity within the account. All FX options offer a maximum leverage of either 1:125 or 1:500 on accounts that are funded with less than $20,000. The options are divided about half and half, so you’ll want to check the “Products” page to see which leverage is applicable on certain currency pairs.

For accounts that have equity between $20k – $100k, the broker also offers a mixture of leverages of either 1:50 or 1:200. Accounts with balances over $100,000 offer leverage up to 1:25 or 1:100 on FX options. On CFDs, the broker offers a leverage cap of 1:100 for all options.

Looking at Commodities, we see maximum leverage of 1:100 on US and UK Oil options, regardless of the account balance. The four remaining options offer a leverage cap of 1:500 for equities less than $20,000, a cap of 1:200 is offered for balances between $20k – $100k, and a cap of 1:100 is available for accounts holding more than $100k.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is one micro lot across both account types. Maximum trade sizes differ based on the asset that is being traded. The maximum trade size on Forex options ranges from 10 to 50 lots, aside from on EURCZK, which has a higher maximum of 100 lots. The maximum trade size is 10 lots on all CFDs, with one exception, being a limit of 100 lots on AUS200. The maximum trade size is 30 lots on most Commodities, with a limit of 10 lots on Oil.

Trading Costs

Traders will pay charges through commissions, swaps, and spreads. If you’re a Standard account holder, you’ll be able to avoid commission charges altogether, since this account type applies commissions to the spread. For ECN account holders, both commissions and spreads will apply, although spreads start from 0 pips. Commissions charged on this account type are $3 per Standard Lot per side, or $6 round turn. Any positions that are left open overnight will be subject to swaps and an interest rate that is credit or debit will be applied to swaps.

On FX, the value of the credit or debit is based on the difference between the interest rates of both currency pairs. Three times the swap is applied on Friday nights for CFDs. Oil behaves like a futures contract, where the settlement is a fixed date each month. You can find further information about swaps on the FAQ page and swap rates for any given day are published on the website daily; however, these rates can only be accessed by logging in through the client portal.

Assets

This broker advertises 100+ instruments, including FX, Precious Metals, Oils, and Indices. If you’re looking for Cryptocurrencies, you won’t find those options available with this broker. FX options are made up of 80 total products, including majors, minors, and exotics. In total, 11 CFDs and 7 Commodities are available. Taking everything into account, we can say that this broker is offering an excellent selection of currency pairs; however, the broker also seems to be focused on providing the most basic products. Some may feel satisfied with these options, while others may be looking for a larger variety.

Spreads

Spreads with this broker are floating and start from 0 pips on ECN account types. On Standard accounts, the spreads start from 1 pip, which is significantly lower than the industry’s average 1.5 pips, especially considering this is not a more expensive account type. On the “Products” page, the broker offers complete transparency and lists live spreads for each instrument, so there is no need to worry whether spreads will appear much higher than advertised. Some brokers require deposits in the thousands of dollars to access these types of spreads, so we’re overly happy with the numbers here.

Minimum Deposit

One of the advantages of signing up for an account with this broker would seem to be the lack of minimum deposit requirements. Many other brokers tend to ask for deposits in the hundreds for Standard accounts, or in the thousands on other account types, which can often limit the account types one could realistically open. Fortunately, affordability will not be an issue with this broker and traders will be able to open either account of their choosing.

We do recommend making a deposit that is large enough to handle some trading activity, otherwise, you may find yourself making frequent deposits. However, we do want to point out one discrepancy. On the homepage, the broker mentions a $50 deposit requirement, although support assured us that there are no minimum deposit requirements set in place. We typically tend to listen to support, but we’d like to point this out, just in case this comes up when making a deposit.

Deposit Methods & Costs

This broker accepts the following payment methods: Bank Wire Transfer, Visa, MasterCard, Neteller, Skrill, China UnionPay, Advanced Corretora, Boleto, and Remessa. This broker does not charge any fees on incoming deposits and credits the exact funded amount to the client’s trading account. The broker fails to mention how long it can take to see funds posted once sent.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The broker doesn’t offer much information when it comes to withdrawals. We can hopefully assume that all available deposit methods can be used for withdrawals, although we can’t say for sure. Many brokers often have some type of policy in place that forces withdrawals to be treated as refunds and returned back to the payment source, so it is likely that there will be requirements with ValueTrades as well. We tried to reach out to support for more clarity on this policy; however, we did not receive a response.

We do know that withdrawals are marketed as being fee-free. A condition of the fee-free withdrawal policy would be that the broker doesn’t charge fees on the first three withdrawals each month; therefore, it would be in your interest to try to limit the number of outgoing withdrawals. The lack of clarity on information related to this section made us feel disappointed in this broker’s transparency, for the first time so far.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

As we mentioned earlier, this broker is very vague about withdrawals, including the amount of time it can take to process them. This is very important for many traders to know since it would be crucial to know the timeframes in case a problem causes a delayed withdrawal. Sadly, the broker just doesn’t give us anything to go on here. From experience, we can definitely say that Bank Wire Transfer would likely take the longest to be received.

Bonuses & Promotions

Currently, the broker is not offering any special promotions or bonuses. Traders should never choose a broker based on special opportunities alone, although it’s always nice to have an opportunity to earn extra money. It’s possible that the broker could add some type of promotion in the future, so be sure to check from time to time if you sign-up.

Educational & Trading Tools

Most of the broker’s educational resources are located under the “Blog” > “Resources” section of the website. This section includes webinars related to operating MT4 and MT5, trading harmonic patterns, reading economic calendars, etc. Ebooks are also available and cover topics like effective forex trading strategies, risk management, and more. You’ll also find trading news, live quotes, an economic calendar, forex glossary, trading indicators, sentiment, and a FAQ.

Demo Account

This broker labels their practice accounts as “Simulation Accounts”, although the concept is exactly the same as a demo account. Traders are able to sign-up for one of these accounts free of charge. In order to open a simulation account, you’ll need to fill in your name, country, phone number, email, and choose an account currency. The broker also offers the ability to choose between the two account types and MT4/MT5 trading platforms.

Another advantage would be the fact that the broker allows traders to type in any amount for their initial deposit, where many others choose a predetermined amount that may be unrealistic. Also, note that the US is missing from the country list, although there would be no reason one couldn’t select a different country for a training account. In addition, the broker offers simulation accounts, which are basically demo accounts.

Customer Service

Support can be contacted via LiveChat, phone, email, or by filling out an online contact form. The broker is not clear about their working hours, although we did hear from support at a late hour. As usual, we made it a priority to test out the website’s LiveChat feature. Upon connecting in the chat, the broker displays a message stating that support typically replies within a few minutes. Not long after we joined the chat, the broker automatically asked for our email address and stated support would be in touch as soon as possible.

Hours later, support responded on the chat with an apology and an answer to our question. We were happy to receive a response, although we do feel that a support agent should have been online at the time we initially sent our message. On further attempts, support did not manage to respond at all. The contact form can be filled out on the website and all other listed contact information is included below.

Phone: +44 (0) 20 3141 0888
Email: [email protected]
Address: 51 Eastcheap, London EC3M, 1JP, United Kingdom

Countries Accepted

The broker claims that the website is not intended for residents of the United States or any country where distribution would be contrary to local law or regulation. We still decided to attempt opening an account from our US-based offices, to see whether this restriction is upheld. Sadly, the US and all similar options are missing from the sign-up list, so there will be no way around this restriction. On the bright side, we did see that many other options that are often restricted are available.

Conclusion

ValueTrades is a regulated FX and CFD broker that offers several advantages, alongside a few disadvantages. There are no minimum deposit requirements for either of the available account types, spreads start from 0.0 or 1 pip, three trading platforms are offered, and leverage options go up to 1:500 for accounts that have equity of less than $20,000. Commission charges are only applicable on ECN accounts, so traders can choose between the lowest spreads with some commission charges, or having the commissions built-into the spread.

Some of the drawbacks would be lack of bonus opportunities, the fact that US residents cannot open accounts, and a limited variety of trading instruments, aside from currency pairs. Accounts can be funded through a variety of methods and there are no fees on deposits. The website is extremely vague when it comes to withdrawals, although we do know that the first three withdrawals each month are free.

We did find support to be available through a variety of methods, although it took a few hours for support to respond on LiveChat on our first attempt, and we received no response on further attempts. The website also provides a few educational resources in the form of eBooks and webinars. The conditions this broker offers can be advantageous; however, one must decide whether they can get past the vague information about withdrawals and other drawbacks before opening an account.

The First thing one must realize is that although Scope Markets Ltd is regulated by the International Financial Services Commission of Belize (IFSC), this is not a legitimate regulation body but instead a service offered to brokers to investigate client trade issues that may occur. This is a cheaper alternative to regulation (for the operators of the broker) but is not a legal/legitimate regulating body. Having said that, this is an added peace of mind for clients and the safeguarding of their funds.

On the whole, ScopeMarkets appear to offer a good range of trading services to their clients; MT4 and 5 trading platforms, a wide range of assets to trade and the freedom to trade with leverage of up to 1:500.

Account Types

ScopeMarkets offer two types of account to choose from:

• Variable Spreads (no commission)
• Raw Spreads + Commission

The two account types offer slightly, and the titles do what they say on the tin, essentially; the Variable Spreads account has a minimum deposit requirement of $500 while the Raw Spreads + Commission account requires a minimum deposit amount of $5,000 but the spreads start from 0 as opposed to 0.5 pips. Both account types offer 1:500 leverage maximum and over 250 tradable assets.

Platforms

ScopeMarkets offer the trading platform SCOPE MetaTrader 4 and SCOPE MetaTrader 5. Desktop and mobile versions are also available. Offering both MetaTrader 4 as well as 5 adds to the appeal for many traders, as some prefer to migrate to the newer version, while others may wish to stick with what they are familiar with. For those that wish to make use of additional technical indicators, 22 analytical objects, and 46 graphical objects as well as improved strategy tester for EAs, with agent manager for remote optimization, you have the option of trading with the MT5 platform.

Leverage

As stated earlier, the maximum leverage allowed is 1:500 which is more than generous, not to mention highly competitive among other brokers. According to the live chat representative, it is confirmed that the client can use this maximum leverage of 1:500 on ALL tradable assets offered.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size for Forex pairs is 0.01 but for other tradable assets, it is different, although this is not stated on the website. A live chat agent confirmed that for Metals it is 0.01, Indices is 1 and for Energies, it is 0.01 lot.

Trading Costs

The website does not state any trade commissions being charged despite the account type comparison table stating that there is a commission charge on one type of account. A live chat agent confirmed that there is in fact 0 trade commission fee, and that profit is made via the spread, which answers why their spreads are not so competitive, which we will go into very shortly.

For swap fees, one must calculate them according to assets traded and also volume:

Forex= Pip value x Swap Rate x Number of Nights
Indices and Shares: Number of Indices or Shares x Swap Rate x Number of Nights
All other Instruments: Lot Size x swap rate x number of nights

Assets

With ScopeMarkets, you can trade over 250 tradable assets: Forex, Indices, Shares, Energies, and Metals. You can also find a complete list of all assets available directly on the website. There is a fair amount of pairs to choose from, although for our crypto traders, you may be disappointed to find that this broker does not offer any crypto CFD pairs to trade.

Spreads

All spreads are set out on the website, showing the average spread for each pair, not the actual live floating spread. This serves as a good indication but also shows that their spreads are not entirely competitive to other brokers. For example, the average spread for AUDCAD is 5 pips, while the average spread on USDZAR is 49.7 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required by ScopeMarkets is $50 for the Variable Spreads (no commission) account and for the Raw Spreads + Commission account. This is both agreeable and affordable for the majority of traders, and about average when compared to other brokers of the same or similar caliber. It is rather confusing to be told this when the website states that the Variable Spreads (no commission) account has a minimum deposit of $500 and the Raw Spreads + Commission account is $5,000. The Live Chat agent seemed confused when this was bought up and then went on to say that there is a current promotion whereby the minimum deposit for all, is $50. It is not known how long this promotion will continue.

Deposit Methods & Costs

ScopeMarkets are somewhat limiting when it comes to the deposit methods offered, which are just two: Debit/Credit Card or Bank Wire Transfer. ScopeMArkets do not charge for deposits but your banking provider might apply a fee, so best to check with them before making a deposit.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You may withdraw via the same methods that you deposit which is Bank Card or Bank Wire Transfer. It must be noted that the withdrawal procedure requires a maximum of one free withdrawal per trading account per day and a maximum of five free withdrawals per week. After that, once you have reached the “maximum allowed withdrawal amount’’, you will be charged $35! This is absurd and should be a little shock to all, as this is not very usual or normal for a broker to place limits on withdrawals that a client can make.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

For withdrawals with ScopeMarkets, you should note that it can take up to 5 working days to process the withdrawal. Wire Transfers can take between 3-8 working days depending on the banking procedure of the beneficiary bank, so always check with your banking provider beforehand. This timescale is not particularly efficient, especially when it is common knowledge that other brokers can process withdrawals and have the funds back with their clients within a matter of hours or the same day.

Bonuses & Promotions

Earlier we covered the confusing topic of the minimum deposit which then led to discovering that ScopeMarkets currently have a promotional offer whereby the minimum deposit requirement has been reduced from 500 and 5,000 to just $50. It is not however known how long this promotion will continue. Asides from the minimum deposit requirement reduction, ScopMarkets do not currently offer any deposit bonus schemes or any other similar promotional schemes.

Educational & Trading Tools

ScopeMarkets do not offer anything in the way of trading education courses, but of course, this can all be found online for free. ScopeMarkets’ website does, however, offer an economic calendar which is handy to all traders to refer to, to ensure they are trading the markets during the right times for them.

Customer Service

Telephone, email, ticket form or Live Chat are the customer service options clients of ScopeMarkets have. They operate their support team Monday through to Friday all day. Although some may find 24/5 support sufficient, it is frustrating when you cannot get an answer regarding potential trade issues during the hours that they are not available. In regards to the quality of service they provide, they do rank themselves fairly well, with a prompt response and a consistently professional manner.

Demo Account

One should be wary of any broker that does not offer a demo account as this raises the question: why not? It is indeed highly questionable that ScopeMarkets does not offer a demo account, which also makes backtesting its trading services impossible without opening a live account right away. It should also be noted that the website actually advertises a demo account, and when you click on the button to open one, it directs you right to a page to make a live account. Asides from being incredibly deceiving, this is also not very helpful to anyone.

Countries Accepted

ScopeMarkets provide a disclaimer at the footer of their website that states that the provision of their services will not be granted to residents of the following countries: EU member states, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Afghanistan, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan, Puerto Rico, USA, Syria, and Ecuador.

Conclusion

ScopeMarkets overall do offer a good service however some aspects of their service are questionable, such as the fact they do not offer a demo account and claim to be “regulated’’ when really, their ‘regulation’ status is no more than a financial commission company. In addition, their spreads are by no means competitive however their leverage allowance is highly amicable. The quality of customer support is also something to commend, which is somewhat rare to find in a broker nowadays.

MEX Exchange was established in Sydney, Australia in 2012 and offers advanced trading platforms and the tightest pricing in the field of online financial trading in products, including Foreign Exchange, Metals (Gold & Silver), Stocks and CFDs. MEX Exchange is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).

Account Types

There are two account types available to traders:

Classic Account – MT4 standard account provides clients with swift execution speeds and with market-leading spreads this account type is suited for all traders.

ECN Account – Market leading pricing and trading conditions through the MT4 platform by providing clients with the True ECN Connectivity.

Platforms

You can trade with Mex on the following platforms:

MEX NexGen MT4 – Provides traders with a clearer trading foresight through an additional 11 features on MT4. MEX NexGen MT4 is free to all traders who open a MEX Live or Demo trading account.

MEX Exchange MT4 – Offers trading in Forex, Metals, and CFDs.

MetaTrader4 Mac – The Mac OSX platform has the full MT4 functionality and can run all the same Expert Advisors and Indicators.

Mobile Trading MT4 – Trade anywhere, anytime with the MT4 APP with full MT4 functionality.

MAM & PAMM – MEX Account Manager (MAM) and the Percent Allocation Management Module (PAMM) represent an ideal solution to manage and trade multiple MT4 accounts simultaneously.

FIX API – FIX is the leading protocol for fast messaging, direct connectivity and trading in the financial markets. The MEX FIX API Service is a turnkey solution for institutional and high volume clients looking for direct access to market-leading liquidity at affordable prices and without relying on external applications/front ends.

Leverage

The maximum leverage on offer is 500:1.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is $0.01 (Micro Lot).

Trading Costs

Trading costs for the two account types are as follows:

Commission:
Classic Account: £0
ECN Account: £7

Swap Fees: Swaps are applied to your trading account only when positions are kept open until the next Forex trading day. Each currency pair has its own swap charge and is measured on a standard size of 1.0 standard lot (100,000 base units). Swaps are calculated and applied on every trading night. On Wednesday night swaps are charged at triple the usual rate.

Assets

MEX Exchange offers a broad range of financial instruments to choose from, including Forex pairs, Metals (Gold & Silver) and CFDs.

Spreads

Typical spreads at MEX are shown in the chart below.

Minimum Deposit

MEX Exchange allows clients to open MetaTrader 4 Standard or True ECN accounts with as little as USD $200 or currency equivalent.

Deposit Methods & Costs

MEX offers the following deposit methods.

• Credit and Debit Card – Deposits are instant in most cases. Available Currencies: AUD, EUR, GBP, HKD, SGD, USD.
• Wire Transfer / Bank Transfer – Processed within 1 business day of receiving funds. Available Currencies: AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, HKD, NZD, SGD, USD.
• Neteller – Processed within 1-4 business hours. Available Currencies: USD, AUD, EUR.
• Skrill – Processed within 1-4 business hours. Available Currencies: EUR, GBP, USD.
• China Union Pay – Processed within 1-4 business hours. Available Currencies: RMB.

MEX Exchange does not charge any internal fees for deposits. However, please note payments to and from international banking institutions may attract intermediary transfer fees and/or conversion fees from either party which is independent of MEX. Any such fees will be the responsibility of the client.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals are processed by completing an online form. Funds can only be withdrawn to an account/credit card in the same name as your MEX trading account.
MEX does not charge any internal fees for withdrawals. However, please note payments to and from international banking institutions may attract intermediary transfer fees and/or conversion fees from either party which is independent of MEX. Any such fees will be the responsibility of the client.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Mex endeavors to process transfer requests as soon as possible after they are received. Withdrawals are generally processed within hours but may take up to 72 hours.

Bonuses & Promotions

MEX does not currently offer any deposit bonuses or promotions.

Educational & Trading Tools

MEX offers the following trading tools:

Market Analysis – A trade of the day is provided along with some technical analysis.

MEX Blog – A blog containing articles full of trading advice.

Lepus Proprietary Trading – Mex Exchange has partnered with Lepus Proprietary Trading, a world-class Forex Educator run by a trading veteran, Richard Jackson. Lepus offers an array of comprehensive educational content modules, video tutorials, and webcasts all produced first hand by a professional trader with 20 years of experience.

Autochartist – Autochartist simplifies the trading process. Powerful search engines continuously scan markets and automatically recognize trade set-ups based on support and resistance levels. Once an opportunity has been identified traders are informed.

Economic Calendar – A calendar showing upcoming news events.

DupliTrade – DupliTrade provides clients with an advanced auto-execution mirror system, which allows clients to automate their trading on Forex, Indices, and Commodities, by duplicating the trades of strategy providers, whose accounts are displayed on the DupliTrade site.

MT4 Video Tutorial – Get your MT4 set up quickly with this handy video tutorial.

Customer Service

The following methods of contact are available for Mex Exchange customers:

Telephone Numbers:

1800 859 092 (TOLL-FREE)
+61 02 9195 4000 (General)
1800 859 092 (Australia)

Emails:

[email protected] (Customer Support)
[email protected] (Sales)
[email protected] (Accounts)

Postal Address:

MEX Exchange, 227 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.

Demo Account

All live & funded clients are entitled to a non-expiring demo account. If you would like a demo account, simply open and fund a Live Account and request your demo from [email protected].

Countries Accepted

Residents from all countries apart from the ones below can open accounts with MEX.

Conclusion

Mex Exchange is not the worst broker in the world. There are plenty of interesting platform options and tools available to their customers. On the downside they don’t have as many assets available to trade as you would expect and not having a live support option is an oversight in my opinion. However, when I did contact them via email, they responded promptly and always gave thorough answers to my questions. I’d be tempted to give them a chance if I was looking for a new broker.

This broker is not regulated, with a completely obscured origin, location and trading conditions. The website is incomplete as pages are empty or blocked with visible language and typo mistakes. Content is typical for forex marketing, mentioning superior technology, without any fact to back the claims up. Emporio has some interesting ideas like the account type customization and different type of bonuses and promotions. This broker is new and as can be seen by the lack of Emporio’s presence on various Forex media and the MetaTrader 5 only license. The key selling point of Emporio is probably their bonus and the vast assets range if the broker is legit in the first place. This review will reveal if you can reliably invest and trade with Emporio Trading.

Account Types

Emporio offers 3 account types, at least that is what is described on their website. ECN Beginner, ECN Premium and ECN Pro. The starting and most affordable ECN Beginner has the least number of available assets to trade, but the largest leverage levels and micro-lot trade sizes. ECN Beginner account is also entitled to have the bonuses, the mentioned bonuses are called 1st-Week Bonus and a Welcome Bonus.

ECN Premium has more assets available to trade than ECN Beginner but requires double the investment amount and the leverage is reduced. Also, traders can request swap-free accounts and the “Kickback” option. Trade sizes are bigger but are enough considering the deposit requirement.

ECN Pro account has all the possible assets available for trading and these include, as published, 50 Forex pairs, 4 Metals, 4 Energies, 12 Indexes, 10 Commodities, over 5000 stocks, 8 Cryptocurrencies, and 7 Crypto cross pairs. Additionally, clients will enjoy all the bonuses, interesting Breaking Pip option, A cashback for every lot traded, but the leverage is reduced to 1:100.

These account types were not under the same name once you apply for registration. The options we were offered are “Standart”, ECN, ECN Gold and ECN Bitcoin. It also required a promo code that is probably received during some promotional emails or campaigns. With code 999 the registration can be finished if you want to see more information. What is certain is that the website and the client portal are inconsistent in many aspects.

Islamic or swap-free is stated to be only available for ECN Premium and Pro accounts although in the FAQ this requirement is not mentioned. Emporio also has a strange clause on Islamic accounts: open positions should not be held for more than 3 days to avoid “storage fee”. The FAQ also mentions account types that are probably outdated. USD is the only supported account currency.

Emporio also features Tune Your account option where traders can select what they want to be included. So they can select to have specific assets categories available for trading, what bonus, Trading Central signals type and info, partner KickBack commission, PAMM, Cashback, Money back, and the unique Breaking Pip option. These bonuses will be described in the Bonuses section. The Breaking Pip option is a method of breaking pips into smaller pieces to show smaller price movements. We are not sure what is meant by this as the smallest price movements should be in ticks. Cashback is a simple rebate of $6 for every lot traded. Finally, Money back is a deposit discount, 3% is given to $10.000 deposits, 6% for $25.000, and %9 for $50.000.

Platforms

Emporio has only the MetaTrader 5 platform offered that is available in the desktop versions, for PC and Mac, and also for mobile devices running on Android or iOS. MT5 web trader is a browser alternative for those that do not want any installation or a glance at their positions. MT5 will quickly find the Emporio servers showing a ping of just 50ms. The platform is at its default settings with the classic 4 major Forex pairs charts open.

Emporio servers have an impressive 50ms average execution time like the server does not have any utilization. The same server is for Demo and Live accounts. Assets listing was very long and they are neatly categorized, for example, Forex pairs are grouped into 6 liquidity levels, where the most exotic currency pairs are inside the LQ6 group. Stocks market is also grouped by country companies are based in.

The instrument specification window is filled nicely will all the relevant trading information. To our surprise, the Market Watch does not show values for Bid/Ask price columns after roughly 20 currency pairs on the list. Trading was possible for these assets and charts could be opened, without the current price line. Trades opened on these instruments were still showing movements normally, just the Market watch feedback was bugged. This manipulation is often used to hide spreads or other abnormal trading conditions.

Emporio allows hedging but not the use of EAs. At least that is what we thought until we saw another contradictory information on the website about the Emporio’s “features at a glance” where EAs and Signal Provider support is listed. MT5 supports EAs, but these are not yet widespread as with MT4. Scalpers are not welcome with this broker.

Leverage

The maximum available leverage is 1:1000 and only for the ECN Beginner account. This is one of the highest levels possible in the industry. ECN Premium has the maximum leverage set to 1:200 but it also requires a much higher deposit. Following the same pattern, the ECN Premium account has leverage lowered to 1:100. The high leverage for beginners is usually not recommendable, in addition to the high minimum deposit requirement that is not in line with the information in the Emporio’s client portal. In fact, many key points about trading are not in line as contradictive and inconsistent statements are found all over the website. More on this issue in the following sections.

Trade Sizes

According to the account types, the ECN Beginner account allows minimum trade sizes in micro-lots or 0.01 lots. Information from the MT5 platform confirmed this, additional trades can also be opened minimally by 0.01 lots. The maximum volume a trade can be opened is the highest we have seen – 10000 lots. Stops level is set to 10 points for the EUR/USD, for some were 5 points like for GBP/USD, CHF/JPY has 20 points stop level.

As we explored the more exotic currency pairs we found out some Stop levels were obscenely high. Such examples are the USD/CZK at 1000 points, EUR/RUB at 100.000 points with also fixed spread set at 4500 points, and the winner – CHF/RUB with 100.000 points Stops level and 45.000 points fixed spread. To make things even more strange, an exotic pair like the USD/COP (Columbian Peso) had Stop level at 5 points. Emporio will not provide Margin Call warnings, their margin levels are zero, or there is no Stop Out level.

Trading Costs

Emporio does not charge commissions which is not usual for STP ECN type brokers. The only trading cost here are the swaps, no other information could be obtained from the Emporio documents or the web site. All the Forex swaps are negative except for the EUR/USD and GBP/USD but under normal levels. They are calculated in points. EUR/USD swap is -11.39 for long and 5.31 for short position and GBP/USD -8.31 and 1.87 for short. Other swaps do not go over 5 points negative, should not worry long term traders.

For exotic pairs, the swaps are normally higher, so, for example, EUR/TRY has -16.21 long and -3.89 short position, USD/NOK -37.5 and -42.19, and the largest swap we could find for currency pairs is with USD/NOK at -3.57 long and -68.41. Strangely, some very rare currency pairs have swaps much lower than EUR/USD.

Swaps for spot Gold has a positive 1.56 for short position and -2.56 for long. Palladium swaps were also very affordable, not that common to see for this heavy mover. Palladium swaps are –1.56 long and -7.5 short. On Wednesdays, the swaps are tripled.

Some cryptocurrencies have different swap calculations, in percentages per annum and in points. BTC/USD has -30% and does not triple on Wednesdays. Although, if you trade BTC/GBP the swap is only -2%, as well for BTC/JPY. Other crypto swaps are in points and can triple on Wednesdays or Fridays. This is a strange swap set up to say at least.

Assets

Emporio has a really impressive range of assets. Traders will enjoy great Forex offer, Metals, Stocks, Indices, Oil, and Cryptocurrencies. Starting with Forex, a plethora of exotics marks the broker. We counted a total of 56 currency pairs listed in the MT5. Apart from majors and major crosses, traders can find all of the Scandinavian currencies crossed with USD and EUR, Turkish Lira quoted with EUR, USD, and CHF. MXN, CHN, SGD, HUF also crossed with USD and EUR. The most exotic pairs are the USD/Chilean Peso, CHF/RUB, USD/Brasilean Real, USD/Colombian Peso, and USD/Argentinian Peso. Clearly, Emporio is focused on the Latin America countries but also Russia.

There is 4 precious metals total in MT5. These are spot Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium. This range is enough for the majority of specialized metal traders, the only ones that are missing are that fall into the low cost, a commodity like metals.

Stocks range is also impressive, of course ignoring the fact Emporio restricts some assets based on the account type used. The stocks are grouped into the US, Russian and EU origin. Furthermore, the EU is divided into 13 major Europe countries. Thousands of companies are listed so we went on to see what is rare. In the EU group, we could see some companies from Greece, Portugal, and Norway. These were hard to find, like Alpha Bank, Energias de Portugal, Banco Commercial, etc. In the Russian zone, there are 24 companies, most are well known like Gazprom, Lukoil, and Sberbank. Overall, the range of the stocks is one of the best, unfortunately, it is reserved for high ticket clients.

Indexes are not that extensive as stocks, but still with 13 listed and with some rarities. Majors like UK100, Nikkei225, S&P500, Nasdaq and so on are unavoidable but we found Russia focused ones too. These are RTS and MICEX. Also, we found Hong Kong 33 and ASX 200. Emporio targets Russian traders’ interest and familiarity.

Spreads

Emporio web site is full of different statements for a single trading condition. The same is for spreads. Spreads from 0.0 pips and 0.2 pips are both incorrect and are just a marketing phrase. What we found are both floating and fixed spreads (for some exotics). Emporio is officially a floating spread broker. For EUR/USD the spread was from 1.8 to 4 pips which is considered high in the industry.

AUD/USD has a lower spread at 1.7 pips, also USD/CAD at 2 pips. The highest spread we could find in the non-exotic category is for GBP/NZD at an extreme of 36.7 pips. This is another instance of unusual business practice of Emporio.

Spot Gold and BTC/USD have the same 54 pip spread. Palladium 400 points and Platinum just 33 points. Note that the spreads could only be calculated by trading as the Emporio servers do not provide feedback for Ask/Bid prices in MT5. Web MT5 did not show these problems.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit for the ECN Beginner account is $10.000, an extreme figure, especially if we consider this is for “beginners”. As we go on to the next, ECN Premium account, the minimum is $20.000 and for the full-featured ECN Pro is $50.000. Emporio sets a steep barrier for entry, as their inferior services are in extreme demand or as if they want to pick only individuals with deep pockets.

The Emporio client portal does not show these minimum deposit figures. We have found out that the minimum number threshold for deposit is $100. Different figures are stated on the Withdrawals and Deposits page, although these are probably not minimum deposits related to accounts.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Emporio will not charge fees for deposits and they will also cover the costs for bank transfers. The deposit methods are Bank Transfers, Debit/Credit Cards, e-wallets like Qiwi, Yandex.Money, Neteller, Skrill, Perfect Money, ePayments and also Bitcoin. If clients do not see these methods from the clients are they should contact Emporio via email. The broker also offers their branded ePayments card which offers benefits like 1% commission on deposits and withdrawals.

What we have encountered in the client’s area is the Card deposit option which involved buying Bitcoin with the card, which is used for the deposit. This is one of the ways to void your chargeback protection Visa and MasterCard have. Bank Transfers option does not show any IBAN or details required for the transfer, so we can confirm it does not exist. The final option is “Alternative Methods” that again included Bitcoin or other crypto purchase for deposit. None of the methods are direct Card deposits. One of the two payment processors is a well known Virtual Office service web site used by scammers – pacifictradelp.com. The website serves as a masked Crypto wallet address. For those that are not aware, Bitcoin transfers are irreversible.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Emporio does not charge fees for withdrawals. The methods stated are the same as with deposits, Bank Transfers, e-wallets, and Credit cards. Note that there are minimum amounts for certain methods. Bank Transfer requires $500 minimum withdrawal, Cards $10 minimum and $2500 maximum, while e-wallets are not limited.
What we found in the Emporio’s client’s area is Bank Transfer, Credit or Debit Card, ePayments, and Bitcoin Address.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

As stated, Emporio will process the request in one hour and funds should reflect in the clints account in 1-5 days if Bank Transfer or Credit/Debit Card method is used. Other methods are instant after they are processed.

Bonuses & Promotions

Emporio offers 3 kinds of bonuses. “$30 Non-Deposit Bonus” is a classic top-up of $30 for newly registered traders. All profits are withdrawable as stated but no conditions are published.

Another bonus is $1000 called “Hot bonus”. This is a 10% bonus on deposits for new traders that is limited to max $1000. The bonus cannot be cashed out and is not valid for existing accounts.

Cashback is a $6 trading rebate per lot traded that will be credited every Monday. There is a structure and conditions for this promotion although it is also stated that the promotion is valid until December 2017.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is a special section called Emporio ED that is dedicated to education, This link will open a new web site that is unrelated to the broker, news-hive.com. A list of video tutorials and lessons will elaborate on various trading topics like Indicators, Chart formation patterns, Fibonacci, MT4, Cryptocurrencies and so on. The quality is good though it is available only in Spanish without subtitles. There are over 80 videos that are not longer than 5 minutes. No educational material or tools are found on Emporio’s website.

Customer Service

The chat service is mentioned on the Emporio web site but we could not find one. The chat icon will open a contact form mixed in Spanish ad Russian language. Email and a phone line are published but it is an IP phone line.

Demo Account

The demo will expire in 30 days. Clients can always open a new one within the MT5 platform in a few clicks. We cannot confirm that the demo will reflect the same trading conditions but we know that the same server is used.

Countries Accepted

Emporio states that they do not accept clients from Belgium, Canada, the USA, Japan, Israel, North Korea, Iran, Syria, and Iraq.

Conclusion

Given all the above we can say that Emporio Trading is a big mess that should be avoided. The location address points to Saint Vincent and Grenadines, and to the same building numerous scam brokers use. The regulation is from Vanuatu and the license does not exist. Emporio presents a certificate from an unknown company in the UK that gives these business certificates, unrelated to any kind of regulation. Also, Emporio presents that they are listed as regulated on brokerregulator.com, a website that mixes a few proven scam brokers with major, world-known on their Regulated Brokers list.

Issues with the MT5 and obvious Bitcoin/e-wallet deposit methods further confirm that this broker is extremely risky, let alone the minimum deposit of $10.000. Legal documents do not have any credibility, in fact, Terms of Use state so many off-liability points for Emporio that clients are completely open for any kind of manipulation.

Evolve Markets is a crypto oriented, unregulated, STP model, an offshore broker with an exemplary image. It is hard to trust crypto-only brokers, especially if we know that bitcoin transfers are permanent. Evolve Markets is a typical new age, an emerging trend in the CFD trading industry that follows the use of cryptocurrency. One of the key selling points of Evolve Markets is not just the ability to deposit in crypto but one of the best user ratings in this category of brokers.

Since its establishment in 2016, the broker managed to receive and sustain a good reputation in 3 years during which they operate. As they probably know, other users opinion is the core for gaining trust, the most important element, especially knowing that no regulation is signed to help with this. Few will satisfy with the IBC (International Business Company) registration they possess. Whatsmore, Evolve Market’s website is well designed, minimalist, without typical marketing and, of course, presenting user feedback on their main page. Other than that, features are very fast deposits and withdrawals, cold storage, high leverage, and from what we have seen, very good transparency. This review will evaluate Evolve Markets in sections to provide the best insight into services.

Account Types

As Evolve Markets is relatively new and follows the minimalist approach, they offer only one account type. Raw spreads and a commission is included for all trading instruments, although different figures are for Forex and Cryptocurrencies. The unnamed account provides the same trading conditions to the Metatrader 4 and 5 platforms. The MT4 is deprecated as it has some issues and does not provide the same trading conditions.

It is very easy to set up a live account with Evolve Markets, the minimum deposit is low enough not to be a barrier but know that the only currency accepted is Ethereum and Bitcoin for now. LTC and BTC based accounts may not be easy to adapt to for some traders that are used to see USD or EUR figures in their trading platforms. Security measures are 2FA with Google Authenticator, cold storage, no automated or API sending for withdrawals, and encrypted user data. Swap-Free accounts are not mentioned.

Platforms

MetaTrader 5 and 4 are available in all of their iterations, For PC and Mac, for mobile devices running on Android and iOS, and as a web-accessible platform without any installation. The process of registration, downloading and installation steps are very easy as the broker follows the idea if simplicity and logical information placement. The MT5 will quickly find Evolve Market’s two servers, Demo and Live. The ping to the Amsterdam servers is 63ms, a very good response time. Other servers are also available in London, Singapore, Tokyo, and Sydney. Interestingly, the Sydney server showed better ping even though it was the farthest from our location.

The client is updated to the latest version with a UK number typed in the about window which is not disclosed on the website. The default chart layout is not by default, what you will see is 3 charts of the major cryptocurrencies on M5 timeframe and one with EUR/USD on Daily. The windows are centered leaving a space to the right. There are no indicators on any charts by default. Evolve Markets wants to present fast, crypto trading with the addition of classic Forex setups. There are also a lot of custom indicators that are added in the directory, so it can be said the MT5 is upgraded for more advanced traders.

The assets symbols are categorized into “Pro” subgroups, as the broker had two account types in the past where Pro was one of them, and this is just a leftover. The Crypto category did not have this Pro subgroup and each crypto had its folder as they are commonly crossed with different assets. The instruments’ specification panel contained all the information, including the commission. Note that the Trade Terminal does not have the Commissions column enabled or available, so the only insight into the commission is from the specifications panel. The execution time is one of the best in the industry, consistently just below 70ms without deviations. Automated trading, scalping and other types of trading are not prohibited.

The MT4 platform has a similar ping rate to the same Amsterdam server. Chart layout is not by default, this time the broker wants to show versatility by showing 4 charts, one major Forex, Crypto, Metal, and Index all set to H1. There are no special indicators added in this version and also the instruments symbols do not have the “Pro” subgroup. The Crypto category does not have the same number of coins as with the MT5. Here you will only find Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, with different currency quoting.

The execution times are somewhat longer than with MT5 and around 90ms, which is still great. In MT4 the commissions are not presented in the instrument specification panel but they are present in the Trade Terminal. This platform also does not feature the Crypto order book and the only possible base currency is in BIT (1 millionth of Bitcoin).

Note that Evolve Markets experienced an internal error on 11/23/2017 for Thanksgiving, users reported a sudden drop of BTC/USD to $471 price level, which never happened in reality. The broker responded and reverted all the clients’ positions before the incident, according to the traders’ reports. This incident took a hit on the broker’s reputation although it is also a sign that the company is genuinely interested to keep their image. The MT4 platform also had some connectivity issues reported by clients.

Leverage

The broker states that maximum leverage is 1:500 for Forex and 1:50 for Cryptocurrencies. These levels were exactly what we found in both platforms. The only exception was the Tezos with the leverage of 1:2. Evolve Markets has a great overview of trading instruments online, with a filter that you can use if you seek a particular asset. The leverage of 1:500 on precious metals like Gold or Palladium is uncommon, but this broker can offer it as there are no restrictions by regulations. Also, this can be useful for low-risk Money Management to reduce the trade sizes, and therefore the commission.

Trade Sizes

Evolve Markets trading is completely set in micro-lots. The minimum trade size of 0.01 lots is for all assets, as well as additional volume steps. The maximum volume stated in the MT5 specification window is 100 lots for currency pairs but not for the exotics and some minors where the maximum is 50 lots. All other assets are set to 100 lots maximum except for the cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is set to 250 lots, Ethereum – 500 lots and the rest follow these two limits, some of which are volume capped to 250 lots, like Litecoin. Two Precious Metals have a Freeze level set to 1 point, these are Palladium and Platinum. This level prohibits any trade manipulation if the price is in range (1 point).

As of November 18th, 2019, the broker will change the Indices trading contracts to 1 per lot. Evolve Markets also do not have any Stops level (0) for all trading instruments, meaning traders can put their Stop Loss or Take Profit orders without price margin requirements. The broker does not have the usual margin management – Margin Call is set to 80% and Stop Out is at 30%.

Trading Costs

Evolve Markets updated their commission calculation to be in percentages since 15th November 2019. This was done for the commissions to be easier to calculate as MT5 does not show them in the Trade Terminal. Commissions on Indices, Forex, and Commodities, are now 0.0035% on both MT4 and MT5 platforms. The commission for Cryptocurrencies is 0.075%. The broker is transparent with the fees on their website and also has a blog post about how to calculate commission for different instruments, by steps. The commission will be charged at the opening of trade.

Swaps are under normal levels with frequent positive figures. Forex swaps are calculated in points, tripled on Wednesdays. The most liquid currency pair, EUR/USD has 3.744 points positive on short and -11.432 for long positions. Other major pairs have single a single-digit swaps that are marginal. In the exotics zone, the highest swap is attributed to the USD/CHN with -240 points for short and -480 points for long positions. USD/MXN has a positive on the short side – 159.3 points and -461.2 on the long. Similar swaps with one positive are for the ZAR, TRY, and NOK, while PLN, SEK, and THB have two-digit swaps. More interesting are the precious metals and cryptocurrencies. XPD/USD has an affordable swap of -15 points on both sides while Platinum -9 on both. Commodities have swaps tripled on Fridays.

Crypto swaps are also calculated in points, so BTC/USD has -408 and -422 in a long position. Calculated in US dollars this is around $4 per Bitcoin a day. Swaps are tripled on Fridays for crypto. Other coins had proportionally similar swap costs. The broker does not have any other trading fees.

Assets

Evolve Markets has 5 categories, with each being deep enough to satisfy most traders. Starting with Forex, there are 50 total currency pairs. All majors are listed as well as the minors. To appeal to more demanding traders the list is expanded with exotics like the Scandinavian currencies with the EUR and USD and also NOK/SEK cross, USD/THB, TRY, SGD, RUB, PLN, MXN, HUF, HKD, and CNH, some of which have the EUR as the base.

Precious Metals list has all 4 majors, Gold, Platinum, Silver, and Palladium. This range is enough for all trader hedging needs. Spot Gold and Silver are also quoted in EUR. Trading sessions are not the standard, there is a 1-hour break at 21:00 and closes at 21:45 on Fridays.

Commodities range is minimal and only energies. Both Oil types, WTI and Brent are listed with the addition of Natural Gas. Other commodity assets are not very popular with the new age, younger traders, hence they are not listed.
Indexes range is average, for most, it will be enough, Index traders that seek specific countries will pick another broker. Out of 10 listed, less common are Hang Seng 33, CAC 30, and IBEX 35.

Finally Evolve Markets’ specialty, Cryptocurrencies. The range is not that expanded some may expect. There are a total of 12 listed tradeable digital assets. Some of them were not open for trading like the USD/XTZ, USD/ETC, USD/ZEC, USD/XMR, USD/XRP, USD/EOS, USD/DSH, USD/LTC, and USD/ETH, these do not have the trading purpose, obviously they are all USD quotes. All the majors are present with the addition of BTC/EUR, Litecoin, Dash, EOS, Monero, Bitcoin Cash, ZCash, Ethereum Classic, and Tezos.

Spreads

The spreads are variable and typical for STP brokers – very low, they have to be. Evolve Markets showcase some of the spreads on their front page as a live feedback window, although for the full overview clients will need to open the MetaTrader platform. The spreads for the EUR/USD are from 3 points to 17 at the session closure, showing low widening tolerance. Sometimes it is more important how much the spreads expand during volatility periods than the initial spread in low activity. The spreads for all Forex currency pairs are very competitive and fall into top tier trading conditions.

Precious Metals have similar spreads. Spot Gold vs USD had just 12 pips top during our observation. XPD/USD 300 pips maximum and XPT/USD 125 pips maximum.
The most interesting spreads are from the Cryptocurrencies. BTC/USD has one of the best spreads in the industry with 25 pips. ETH/USD – 32, Litecoin 49. Dash – 50 pips and EOS/USD – 0 pips most of the time. Similar spread levels are noted for the rest of the cryptocurrencies. To have this liquidity, Evolve Markets uses internal quotes, and also major exchanges like Bitmex Swap, Bitstamp, Bitfinex, and Coinbase Pro.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit is whatever you need to open your first trade. There is no required minimum for the single account this broker has. This is great to test the broker’s live account trading and the quality of other services.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The deposit methods are available in Bitcoin and Litecoin, with the ability to have BIT, BTC and LTC based account. 1 BTC contains a million Bits. There are no costs charged by the broker. The deposits do not require KYC or the documents upload, ID confirmation, phone number, etc. A deposit will be funded to the account after 1st transaction confirmation.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawal methods are also Bitcoin and Litecoin. The minimum withdrawal is 0.005 BTC or LTC. There are no fees associated with Evolve Markets.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The process starts with cold storage and submitted to the blockchain in a few hours, 24 hours tops.

Bonuses & Promotions

Evolve Markets does not feature any bonuses. For those that are interested in the Referral and IB programs, the broker has a transparent commissions table and solid conditions. One of the selling points is also very fast registrations without the KYC which is very convenient for referrals.

Educational & Trading Tools

Evolve Markets does not have typical educational material. What could be regarded as one place for reading is the Blog section, and their respective social media pages. The articles posted are a mix of announcements, educationals, and guides specific to the broker. Some of the examples are “How Evolve Markets Commissions Work”, “Swap Rates Explained”, “Introducing Dash Trading on Metatrader 5”. The articles are minimal, without marketing and explain the topic fully. The blog is based on medium.com.

Customer Service

The customer service has very limited accessibility, only the ticket system is available. The Help section features a nice structure and a search bar, with short, to the point answers. The website is minimalistic but informative, with good transparency for the trading conditions, but not about the broker itself. Most of the trading information is available without the need to contact support. From what we have observed, Evolve Markets’ staff is professional and thorough.

Demo Account

The Demo is easy to open as the Live account. The main page features a quick entry field for your email to which the credentials will be passed after verification. After that, you can log in through the web trader immediately or install any of the platforms. The Demo has almost the same ping and trading conditions as the live account. Multiple Demo accounts can be opened with different leverage, funds, and base currency. Any additional modification to these can be done within the Client’s Portal.

Countries Accepted

Residents of the United States of America, Crimea, Sevastopol, Iran, Syria, North Korea or Sudan are not allowed as stated in the Terms and Conditions document. Interestingly, it is also stated that any country or other jurisdiction that is embargoed by the United States of America is restricted. This clause may point to close cooperation with the US authorities. Since Evolve Markets does not require KYC, it may prove difficult to prove the nationality of the client, especially if he uses IP masking methods.

Conclusion

In short, Evolve Markets is set to stand out in the category of crypto only brokers. They do this by having no KYC that is convenient and speeds up the process and protects the anonymity of the client. All these features are important for the impatient, new age trader. Whatsmore, trading conditions are almost ideal for the scalper types, EAs, and the rest of fast-paced strategies. Seasoned traders will also appreciate good assets range, transparency, and simplicity. All this comes at the cost of having no regulatory body that may stand as a cover if the broker faces problems. For the moment, Evolve Markets enjoys one of the best spreads, execution times, and ratings in the industry which may serve as good faith that your funds will be safe.

Forex Optimum is a Russian-Indonesian, unregulated, off-shore broker with HQ located in Moscow. The Forex Optimum Group Limited is registered in Kingstown, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, a common Island for brokers with a shady background. The broker does not have any worthy regulation although it is present and popular in Russia and Indonesia, revealing good standing with the user opinion benchmarks sites.

Founded in 2009 the group had in mind to offer some specialized and better services in countries that did not have the CFD trading availability like most western countries. Forex Optimum presents its mission to focus on Expert Advisors (EAs), education centers, analytics, personal traders and fund managers. These services are further diversified as the broker wants a different approach to cope with the investors, manager and retail traders around the common goal, a bridge between investors and knowledgeable traders. Thus Forex Optimum created services that are different than we see usually in the industry.

Forex Optimum does not have much content on the website related to marketing. Even the About Us page just states 3 figures that are not important and some additional features points like 24/7 support, 24h Dow Jones, Reuters, TASS news feeds, and that is all. This minimal marketing idea is sustained throughout every page, focusing on key figures and facts. Sometimes this can mean that the transparency and the quantity of information are not a priority, although this is not the case with this broker. Even there are enough ratings and user reviews on the best-benchmarking sites, we will evaluate the services so the reader will understand the risks, specific trademarks and pros of Forex Optimum.

Account Types

Forex Optimum presents a very clear table of their two account types differences. Standard Account and Cent Account do not differ much except for the minimum deposit and the fact that the Cent Account has cents counting as one currency unit, therefore $1 has 100cents. Cent Account has a very low minimum deposit without any features unavailable and reserved only for higher deposits, which is usually the case.

Forex Optimum main idea is to trade with a real-money environment but with low risk, a blend between live and demo account. Deposit bonuses are available for this account type. The Standard Account requires a higher deposit then the Cent and is the classic trading account that features a high leverage level, competitive spreads, and over 100 trading instruments. The deposit bonus is also available for this account.

Forex Optimum also has a VIP service for high-ticket investors. VIP includes 3 packages, Classic, Gold, and Platinum. All VIP account types have “Accumulation Bonus on deposit” which is a percentage based interest on the client’s funds, accrued monthly. The conditions apply. To be eligible for the interest for that month traders need to meet trading volume based on the sum of the funds available at the start of a month + credit bonus)*2/1000.

Only trades on Metals and Forex are counted and they have to be at least two minutes long, with a 0.05% price movement. The interest is void for the month for which a withdrawal is made. Classic VIP has 2% interest, Gold – 2.17% and Platinum – 2.33% per month. Additional benefits for VIP traders include a 20% Swap payments rebate and a cashback on spreads on similar conditions as for the Accumulation Bonus on deposit. All of the VIP packages include free training and a Personal Account Manager for Gold and Platinum Accounts.

It is very interesting to see that the broker features Bitcoin-based accounts. They are set in micro BTC (0.000001 BTC). This cryptocurrency account is not presented until you file for registration where all account types are listed. Here, swap-free accounts are also offered for the Cent and the Standard Account. To have a BTC based account will be very interesting to a wide range of traders, we are unsure if the lack of marketing is intentional or just a misunderstood opportunity. There are no restrictions to the trading styles, scalping, hedging, news trading, EAs are allowed.

Platforms

Forex Optimum is a MetaTrader 4 platform broker only. Not all MT4 versions are available from the website. Only desktop PC and Mac are optional for download without registration. Mobile and the web version are available once registered from the Clients Portal. On the dedicated page is a detailed step by step guide with screenshots on how to install the platform. The MT4 client is updated to the latest version and Forex Optimum servers are quickly found, showing a ping of around 80ms. Everything is set to the defaults, settings and the chart layout, showing the standard 4 major Forex pairs on the H4 timeframe.

The instrument specification is filled out with all the key trading information. The symbols are categorized although some categorization has no clear meaning, like “CFD-ADR”. The execution times fluctuated between 300ms and 370ms with an average of 341ms. Forex Optimum is declared STP according to its product offering, so these execution times are a bit slower comparing to other STP brokers. We have encountered where some of our orders were reported as off-quotes, signaling liquidity problems, even for the EUR/USD pair. Trade Terminal displays the swaps and commissions on the demo account too.

Leverage

The leverage is set to 1:1000 on all account types. This high leverage is possible where regulation is not strict, it allows more experimental trading, especially with the Cent Accounts. Investors and longer-term traders rarely need the leverage of 1:200 or higher. As the minimum deposit is also low, this leverage will benefit high-risk, frequent day traders that can show off their profit rates when managing other investors’ accounts or qualify for copy trading. It is almost impossible to maintain ROI of 100, 200% per month in the longer term, figures that are often marketed to attract unwary investors. Similar figures are presented on the Forex Optimum website.

BTC/USD leverage is 1:10, higher than usual, but with some other limits that will be discussed in the next section. LTC/USD has 1:5 as well as all the other cryptocurrencies. Spot Gold and other metals have 1:100 leverage while Oil is set to 1:50.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes for the Standard Account are in micro-lots or 0.01 lots. Step Volume is also in 0.01 lots while the maximum trade size possible is 40 lots. Forex majors also have a 40 points Stops level, meaning any Stop Loss or Take Profit orders need to be placed 4 pips away from the current price. Stops level may be different for some currency pairs like EUR/NZD is set to 80 points, GBP/NZD – 120 points, CAD/JPY – 50 points, etc. These levels may not be important for traders on higher timeframes, but for those that do not hold trades longer than a few minutes or EAs. Forex exotics category, as classified in the MT4 have the maximum trade sizes set to 20 lots and wider Stops levels. For example, USD/RUB has 10.000 points stops level, EUR/HUF – 300 points, CHF/SGD 90 points.

Energies have the same micro-lot trade sizes and steps, with the maximum trade possible set at 20 lots. Their Stops levels are 30 points. Metals have the same trade sizes as energies with the Stops level at 200 points for Gold and 100 points for Silver. In the cryptocurrencies category, BTC/USD has a 0.01 lots minimum trade size and steps volume with a maximum per trade of 1000 lots. Be warned that this instrument has Stops levels of no less than an extreme 3000 points. ETH/USD has Stops levels at 2 points only, with the same trade sizes. XRP/USD Stops level is set to 600 points, meaning it could also be cumbersome for SL/TP orders.

The Cent account has trade sizes in 0.1 lots for all instruments. Both accounts have a Stop Out at 20% margin level and 50% Margin Call. Margin Stop notifications can be set to notify by e-mail in the Client’s Portal.

Trading Costs

Forex Optimum does not charge commissions as for now, although there is a clause in the Terms and Conditions document that formulates it. An inactivity fee of $50 will be charged if you leave your account without activity for three months. This fee is published only in the Terms and Conditions. As for the swaps, they are at normal levels, with common positive figures. For Forex the swaps are calculated in points, tripled on Wednesdays. The EUR/USD has a positive 5.327 on the short position and -7.256 on long, GBP/CHF has 4.374 long and -6.472 short, AUD/JPY 0.88 long and -2.286 short and so on.

Most of the Forex pairs had a positive swap. Spot Gold/USD has -75.15 on long and -14.2 on short so traders also might want to trade XAU/EUR with better swaps, 8.86 long and -10.32 short, or maybe XAU/CHF option that is also available and uncommon with 22.28 long and -10.129 short swap. For energies the swaps were negligible. Cryptocurrencies have swaps calculated in percentages per annum. BTC/USD has -30% on long and -20% short position swap. The same pattern is set for all other cryptocurrencies.

Assets

Forex Optimum does not show all of their products offer on the website as Cryptocurrencies are completely hidden and show up only in MT4. The forex range is great with 50 currency pairs total. Apart from majors and their crosses exotics are present with many combinations. For example, CHF/SGD, GBP/DKK, EUR/PLN, USD/MXN, although USD/RUB is present but not the Chinese Yuan, TRY or the HKD which could be interesting to the Indonesian clients.

Precious metals are limited to Spot Silver and Gold. Forex Optimum offers different currency quotes for these thus making a better selection even though the charts look very similar. A trader can find Spot Gold crossed with USD, GBP, CHF, EUR, and AUD. The same is with Silver making a total of 10 CFD on Metals.

Commodities are limited to only three energy assets. CFDs on both Oil types, Crude, and Brent with the addition of US Natural Gas completes this minimal offer range.
Stocks are split into Russian and US companies. Most of the offer is comprised of 106 US major companies like Apple, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Alibaba and so on. Russian companies are in the CFD-ADR group where VTB Bank, Gazprom, Lukoil, Norilsk Nickel, and Sberbank can be found. The dividends list is presented on the Dorex Optimum website.

Indexes range is rather small with 9 listed, mostly from the US and Europe. Even though this is a Russian broker, no Chinese or Russian Indices are present.

The cryptocurrencies range is very good although visitors of the website will think crypto is not offered at all. As with the BTC nominated account, we are not sure why there is no promotion for a very interesting, popular market such as cryptocurrencies. MT4 platform shows a total of 17 unique coins and 18 crypto instruments. Major cryptos are present with a lot of less common ones like the 0x, Zcash, Monero, Stellar, TRON, OmiseGO, NEO, IOTA, EOS, and Golem.

Spreads

The spreads are floating type and generally average comparing to the industry. EUR/USD currency pairs show 15 points spread in the MT4. Similar is for the AUD/USD, USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, GBP/USD and USD/CHF. As we go into less traded pairs we could see wider spread naturally, but not bigger than 1-2 pips. Most of the exotic pairs have 10-20 pips and some go higher like AUD/NOK – 83 pips, USD/ZAR – 35 pips, USD/MXN – 36 pips, or GBP/SEK – 32 pips.

Spot Gold/USD has spread ranging from 35 to 45 pips. These spreads are not that attractive to fast traders. On some pairs like the XAU/EUR, the spread is 25-30 pips.
All energies show 1 pip spread according to the MT4 while BTC/USD has 60 pips, LTC/USD 50, ETH/USD 20 pips, etc. A more exotic TRON has a more attractive spread at 20 pips, which is around 1,5% of the token price.

Minimum Deposit

For the Cent Account, the minimum deposit is only $10. Traders that want to invest with Forex optimum can try their services, including the withdrawals and Signals with little risk. Scam brokers rarely have low-value deposit minimums. Standard Account requires a $300 deposit to be opened as well as the BTC (micro BTC) nominated. Mentioned VIP accounts require $10.000 for Classic, $30.000 for Gold and $100.000 for the Platinum package.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Forex Optimum will not charge a fee for deposits although some fees are bound by the third party transfer service. Such is the WebMoney deposit option that has a 0.8% fee. Forex Optimum will offer a kind of compensation for this in the form of a 0.8% bonus. The methods listed on the website are AccentPay, FasaPay, Local Exchangers, Neteller, Qiwi, and WebMoney. Some additional methods are displayed in the footer such as Wire Transfer, UnionPay, and Payonline.ru. The broker is special in a way that it also accepts Bitcoin deposits, yet this information is not clearly presented and clients will only find out about this once they register.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

As with the deposits, no fee is charged by the company. Payment processors may have their fees as well as Banks included in the transfer. For WebMoney withdrawals, fees (0.8%) are compensated by the broker for the Gold and Platinum VIP packages. According to the Forex optimum website, fees charged by FasaPay is 0.5%, Netteler 2% ($1 min, $30 max), and WebMoney 2%. As mentioned, BTC is also an option.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

According to the Terms ad Conditions document, payment of funds will be made to the Client within 7 (seven) business days. In cases of requirements of the legislation concerning anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, the broker will postpone the withdrawal. There is no more information about the wait time.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are four kinds of bonuses offered for live accounts. 50% Bonus on First Deposit is the usual bonus for first time funding available for all account types, although the deposit requirement is $100.

Security Bonus is a Standard Account bonus only for clients who are verified. The amount can vary from 50% to 100% of the deposit amount and depends on the broker’s decision. It cannot be withdrawn, only profits made by using it. The bonus acts as a buffer and needs to be topped up if there is a drawdown. If the account is not topped up for two days, the bonus is canceled.

100% Bonus is accrued to every deposit of %500 or more fo the Standard Account type. The bonus is time-limited and is used only as a margin, unavailable for withdrawing immediately. Trading volume requirements exist, and the maximum bonus amount is $3000. The trading volume required is calculated by the bonus amount divided by 3. After trading requirements are met, the bonus is transformed into real funds.

Cashback is reserved for the VIP accounts, or $10.000 minimum deposit. The benefit is a rebate on account balance but does not account for the bonuses already present and the additional deposits for that month. Profits are accounted into the cashback. Three cashback levels depend on VIP status (Classic, Gold, or Platinum).

Educational & Trading Tools

Forex Optimum focuses on its LAMM service, as one of their selling points. Investors can copy trades by their selected traders and LAMM (Lot Allocation Management Module) will allocate the provision to the trader based on lots of copied trades. The service is marketed as a solution for novice investors and for experienced traders that want to have additional income from qualifying for the program. From what we have seen on the performance list, All-time gains are very high, for example, the top one has 2565% made in just 2 months. Such trading involves extreme risk allowance. This particular trader receives a 5% commission.

Trading Signal service is provided for registered accounts and has to be requested within the Client’s Portal. At first glance, the signals provided by the broker do not have a great depth and are based on Support/Resistance levels, basic trend indicators, channels, and Price Action methods. There are 3 types of signals: Short-term trading signals, for timeframes like M15, “Integrated technical analysis” for H1-H4 and SMS Signals that are sent as an SMS. According to Forex Optimum, their signals are successful since 2008, with only one month in the negative.

Market reviews were released almost every week, although the reviews are outdated for two years. The content is professional, written by Forex Optimum staff. Most of the reviews include technical figures, fundamentals, and clear logic. Reviews can be filtered by date and the articles overview is clean.

The news section is fresh and it contains the latest from Reuters and other sources. The news is mixed with economic events and new articles are published almost every 15 minutes. Filtering is also available. This service probably made Market reviews obsolete although the analysis is more valuable as it extracts the most important information out if the events and news. The News section is very good and provides a lot of actual information.

Forex Optimum Economic Calendar is very well designed with a lot of filtering options. Impact levels can be sorted and filtered in addition to the region and time zone. Some events can be expanded for more information where traders can see many useful figures, for example, historic values for several years back, description, source, the impact relevance explanation, and the chart showing previous levels with a scalable timeframe.

Customer Service

The broker has several phone lines and offices for Malaysia & Indonesia, Thailand, Russia, and Internationally in English. Asking questions is also possible within the Clints’s portal and serves as a support ticket system. Chat service is also available but we were able to reach out to the support staff only by using their Facebook page. The support is therefore not 24/7 online. Some questions we have posed were ignored but generally, the answers were in full with obvious knowledge form the industry. Forex Optimum has a very well developed Social Management and the Group is present on several social platforms.

Demo Account

The Demo is very easy to open using the MT4 platform. You will not be able to open a demo BTC based account although the information MT4 reflects is the same as from the real accounts. There is no difference in the trading environment for live and demo accounts and all the information is clearly presented. The account will be closed after 3 months of inactivity but a new one can be opened.

Countries Accepted

According to the information from other sources, Forex Optimum does not accept clients from Canada, The United States, Saint Vincent And Grenadines, and the Dominican Republic. The regulation the broker has is very open so this list could be even shorter.

Conclusion

Forex Optimum can be perceived as an older NDD mixed STP broker with a very clear image. The user ratings are very good even though worldwide popularity is not high. We have not seen a single negative review where the broker staff has not resolved. Most of the clients come from Russia, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, and other countries in the region. There is a possibility that the broker does not want the attention of the Russian government about the Bitcoin inclusion in their services hence the silence about all the benefits. The regulation does not mean much to traders although trust could be gained by opening a $10 Cent Account and test the withdrawal service.

Some additional clauses exist in the legal documents. For example, in case of insolvency or bankruptcy of the Broker or its branches through used to execute client transactions, a client has a right to claim the available funds on the Account, as it is stated in the Account History, directly from the governmental/non-governmental securities in accordance with international laws.

Forex Optimum could be one of the few reliable brokers that have the option to have a BTC based account and use BTC for deposits and withdrawals. Also, the range of assets and services available further supports this advantage with some unique bonuses. It can be said that the broker has succeeded to differentiate in the industry, but the liquidity pools have to be larger to match the trades execution quality and time with other STP type brokers. Finally, beginners should know that the figures for the LAMM service could be only marketing as such gains are not sustainable in the longer term.

On the first look, SmartHub does not appear entirely competitive in terms of the range of markets offered to trade on CFD. However, positive notes are that SmartHub Ltd. is authorized and regulated by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission and this broker offers its trading services through the trusted trading platform that is MetaTrader 4. Moreover, this broker is suitable for all Scalp, Day, Swing and Algo Trading.

On a side note, the website itself is not particularly up to date or easy to navigate, and little information is provided on the whole. In addition, there is no live chat facility for a quick reference guide or assistance. The website also does not have an FAQ page for outlining any basic queries potential or current clients may have.

Account Types

SmartHub appears to only offer one demo and one type of live account. Information on the benefits of this one live account is somewhat limited, with no detailed breakdown on the website. All we know is this platform is supported via the MT4 platform, has access to approximately 24 FX CFD pairs. From the website itself, we have no knowledge of leverage or whether the spreads are fixed/floating. COmmission fees are also not set out.

Platforms

SmartHUb offers the MT4 trading platform which many can agree is the most reliable and trusted Forex trading platform to date. It is not known from the website and lack of customer support response, whether this broker allows clients to use their services via MT4 mobile as well.

Leverage

SmartHub neglects to mention leverage their clients can use, and even after 48 hours, we never received a response to our email on this matter so we cannot comment on leverage at this time.

Trade Sizes

No information was provided with regards to the minimum and maximum trade sizes. However, there were trade limits for different trading styles. These are as follows:

• Scalper: 50+ trader per day
• Swing Trader: 1 trade per month
• Day Trader: 1 trade per day
• Algo Trader: 3,000 lines of code

Trading Costs

Trading costs are something with a vague mention on the website in regards to trade commissions and swap fees. Trading specifications show swap values on each tradable pair but are not accompanied by a calculation in order for the client to work out how much they would be charged which is not useful to a new trader who would not necessarily know how swaps are calculated, or exactly how they work. Commission fees are not mentioned at all, but bear in mind it is rare for a broker claiming to have such tight spreads, to not charge commissions, as they would need to make a profit from clients somehow.

Assets

SmartHub offers a very small selection of tradable instruments totaling to approximately 24 pairs (Forex). SmartHub does not advertise anything other than Forex in the way of assets to trade. All pairs available are however displayed on the website, however many of you may find this small selection limiting in your trading ability.

Spreads

Although it is not clear if the spreads are fixed or floating, SmartHub sets out spreads on the website which are stationary, and appear very attractive and indeed, competitive, in respect of Forex pairs.

Minimum Deposit

It is very odd indeed that minimum deposit is not at all mentioned on the website, again emphasizing the lack of care this broker operation have towards their clients. Why would someone sign up to a broker without even knowing the minimum required a deposit to trade?

Deposit Methods & Costs

SmartHub does not provide information on its website regarding deposit options and any applicable fees. Customer service also did not respond to this query.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

SmartHub does not provide information on its website regarding client withdrawal options and any applicable fees. Customer service also did not respond to this query. This is not a very trustworthy move if clients have no means of knowing which deposit or withdrawal methods are even available, or even if these methods are suitable for them as an individual trader client.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Since SmartHub has neglected to inform its clients of deposit/withdrawal methods and costs, it is impossible for us to tell you the wait times clients must allow for such transactions to process and reach the client. This lack of information is highly concerning and one must ask themself: why would you sign up to a broker without knowing this basic information and not knowing how you would even go about getting your funds back?

Bonuses & Promotions

Deposit bonus schemes are not mentioned to be offered by this broker but SmartHub does have a promotional offer on a book that can be purchased from the website, for 289 EUR, which contains a 55 pages report, which explains what’s the next thing to expect from the markets. This seems like a rather expensive purchase especially seeing as this appears to be content that most likely can be found online by following economical news updates on markets of interest as well as following financial/economical reports in general.

Educational & Trading Tools

SmartHub does not offer anything in the way of training or trading education on the website, but no matter as this can very easily be obtained from a multitude of online sources, for free among this website and also youtube, just to mention a few.

Customer Service

The customer service team is really not satisfactory, with only an email and ticket form as a means of contact for assistance. It is not even clear or stated which hours they operate. SmartHub is not at all efficient when it comes to the response either when you compare to other brokers that can respond to questions and queries within 24 hours or instantly with a live chat system in place. SmartHub does not even offer the alternative of a phone number in order to speak to a representative directly, which is a very poor service, and very inconvenient for the clients.

Demo Account

A free demo account is advertised on the website, which is standard and expected form any decent broker, wishing for their clients to backtest the trading conditions offered, or even just to practice trading, and gain experience as well as an opportunity to develop and strengthen any trading strategies.

Countries Accepted

SmartHub does not give any information regarding which countries would be accepted or denied trading services with them, so bear in mind that if you register, you are highly likely to be asked to provide documentary proof of address and ID and verified accordingly. At this point, you should be told if your country is eligible to trade with these services or not. Although having said that, it seems unlikely that this broker is operating in any legitimate manner, so it would come as no surprise if they would be accepted residents from countries where the use of these services are not approved.

Conclusion

SmartHub is beyond unbelievable in regards to the ambiguity it’s website displays; it is impossible to contact this broker via their customer support team, and barely any information on their services can be found on the website. One must consider very thoroughly where they send their money and consider if a broker can be trusted when they do not even tell clients the following: leverage allowance, spreads, commissions, and swap fees, deposit/withdrawal methods + timescales. It goes without saying that no sensible trader would sign up for a service without such knowledge.

Traders Trust is a regulated Forex Broker, compliant with MiFID II under CySEC regulation. These are not to be confused with ttcmmarkets.com which Traders Trust does give a disclaimer on, on the website, in regards to the fact that the mentioned website is fraudulently using their details under their own domain. So, word of warning, ensure you are going to the correct website, and do not be misguided. The website is rather outdated, suggesting this is a broker that has been operating for some time.

Aside from this disconcerting hiccup, this IS a CySEC regulated company, and on the whole, appear to offer amicable services to their clients in respect of trading conditions.

Account Types

Traders Trust offers the following account types:

Classic: STP/NDD, 0 commissions and up to 1:30 leverage
Pro: STP/ECN/NDD, 3$ per lot per trade commission, and up to 1:30 leverage
VIP: STP/ECN/NDD, 1.5$/lot and up to 1:30 leverage

Platforms

Traders Trust has made its services fully compatible with the MT4 platform, which you can use via Windows Desktop, Webtrader, iOS, and Android versions meaning you can trade both at home, or on the go.

Leverage

As a result of ESMA policies, Traders Trust must comply with such regulation laws and therefore clients of this broker are restricted to using the leverage of up to 1:30 which may not be suitable for all types of trading, or indeed, desirable for all traders.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is 0.01 lot, which goes for all account types (Classic/ Pro/ VIP).

Maximum trade volume allowed is set at:

• FX 100 lots
• CFDs 50 lots
• Commodities 50 lots

Trading Costs

As mentioned previously, depending on the account type you choose, you may e subject to commission charges, or you may not;

• Classic: 0 commissions
• Pro: 3$ per lot per trade commissions
• VIP: 1.5$ per lot, per trade commissions

Bear in mind that when you are not paying commission fees, chances are, the spread will be marked up, so that the broker makes a profit via the spreads instead. This means that costs for trading overall, for the client, even out, regardless of which account type you choose.

Assets

Traders Trust is not the best when it comes to variety and a wide selection of tradable assets, with only offering around 70 tradable instruments in total: Forex, Indices, and Commodities. Some traders may find this small selection satisfactory, while others may consider this limiting. We must note here that Traders Trust does not offer CFD crypto trading, which more and more brokers are not offering. This suggests that this broker is not particularly forward-thinking, and perhaps a little outdated with the provision of their trading services, in comparison to other brokers being added to the industry.

Spreads

Traders Trust offers floating spreads and you can view their live spreads on the website, on all tradable instruments available. Their Forex spreads must be commended which average out to be very competitive in comparison to other brokers. Spreads on Indices and Commodities appear to be relatively tight as well.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit requirement differs from one account type to another. For the Classic account, the client must deposit a minimum of 50 USD or equivalent currency. The minimum for the Pro is 2,000 USD while the VIP account must be credited with a minimum amount of 20,000 USD or equivalent currency.

By no means are the Pro and VIP accounts ‘’affordable’’ for the majority, however, there is the Classic account option which should appeal to many traders, especially newer traders. However, of course, with the Classic account, the benefits are not as great as the other account options; with spreads starting at 1.5 pips, as opposed to 0 on the Pro account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

To deposit into a Traders Trust account, you have the following options at your disposal: Bank wire, credit/debit card, Skrill, Neteller, Bitcoin or Bit wallet. It is nice to see a rounded selection of methods to choose from to suit many clients, and also the fact they offer BTC as a deposit method is very preferable as it typically is one of the fastest methods. Traders Trust does not charge their clients any fees when making a deposit.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Clients may withdraw from a Traders Trust account via the following options: Bank wire, credit/debit card, Skrill, Neteller, Bitcoin or Bit wallet. Traders Trust does not charge their clients any fees when making a withdrawal however always check first with your provider to see if you may be liable for any fees applicable.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Bank card and wire transfers can take the standard between 3-5 working days but of course, depending on your banking provider, timescales to actually receive your funds could vary. Alternatively, Withdrawals by Skrill, Neteller, Bitcoin take a couple of hours only, which is far more efficient.

Bonuses & Promotions

Traders Trust does not offer any deposit bonuses nor do they offer any promotional offers advertised.

Educational & Trading Tools

The only tools that you will find from Traders Trust are the standard: Economic calendar and a trading calculator, which is handy for both new and experienced traders alike. You will not, however, find any training or educational courses. Of course, these can be found online, anyhow, and for free.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in touch with Traders Trust, you may contact them via Live Chat or email. For those that prefer telephone contact, unfortunately, you will be disappointed as this method of customer support is not available. Their customer support, however, operates on a 24/5 basis Monday to Friday on GMT+2 time zone. The response time is typically very prompt however the quality of response is not always consistent in reference to having to repeat oneself to get an answer.

Demo Account

It is standard procedure to provide a demo account access for potential clients to backtest the broker’s services before agreeing to become a client. With Traders Trust you can make use of their demo to try out their trading conditions before depositing live money into a real account.

Countries Accepted

Please be reminded that Traders Trust is a CySEC regulated FX broker, and therefore has restrictions in place on particular residents not being allowed to make use of their services. Residents of these countries include Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Japan, USA, Cuba, Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Guyana, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Uganda, and Yemen.

Conclusion

Traders Trust overall is not a broker to shy away from, however in respect of competitors, this broker does not stand out; leverage caps are low and yes, commission fees are low, but not all spreads are tight. In addition, the minimum deposit for 2 out of 3 accounts is incredibly high compared to other brokers offering similar types of accounts with the same benefits. IN conclusion, this broker does have many positive attributes, but one must fully backtest this broker’s trading conditions in demo first, for some time, in order to make a comprehensive decision if this broker is suitable for you or not.

TrioMarkets are a CySEC regulated ECN/STP Forex broker and on the surface, appear to offer a very wholesome and thorough service including educational material, MT4 platform, Social Trading and of course, for those that consider it of necessity, this broker offers the security of complying with a regulating body.

Account Types

TrioMarkets offer a variety of trading accounts, from small accounts targeted at the newer traders, and alternative account options for perhaps the more experienced, and then professional traders. There is the option to hold a ‘Professional’ traders account, which would entitle you to higher leverage options than what the regulation body policies allow on the other accounts. However, this usually means your minimum deposit requirement is much higher than the other accounts. The 4 accounts aside from the professional option, are as follows:

Basic: leverage of 1:30, minimum spread from 2.4 Pips and No commission charged

Standard: leverage of 1:30, minimum spread from 1.4 Pips and No commissions

Advanced: leverage of 1:30 and the choice between a raw or low markup spreads

Premium: leverage of 1:30 and a raw spread of 0.0. Priority access to the customer support team and low commission charges

TrioMarkets also offers Islamic accounts, which are shariah compliant.

Platforms

TrioMarkets offer the trusted and reliable MetaTrader4 (MT4) platform as well as their very own tailor-made version of MT4, which they have so named MT4 TrioXtend. If you are not already aware, customized platforms have been tailored for a reason; usually to mark up spreads and to ensure/maximize profits from clients. It is wise to always try out the demo version prior to opening the live account, to ensure this platform is ideal for you and your style of trading. Windows/ Mac Desktop, as well as mobile options, are available.

Leverage

For all accounts (Basic, Standard, Advanced and Premium), clients can trade with a maximum leverage of 1:30, which is not particularly amicable for the majority of traders, but this is, of course, a result of regulatory policies that the broker must comply with. However, should you consider yourself a ‘professional’ trader, you can apply for the professional account, which entitles you to higher leverage, depending on how much you deposit. This information is not particularly clear until you submit the request for such an account.

Trade Sizes

TrioMarkets minimum trade size is 0.01 lot, and this goes for all account types. There is no maximum trade size.

Trading Costs

Commission charges vary from account type:

• Basic: 2.4 pips – $24 per lot, per trade
• Standard: 1.4 pips – $14 per lot, per trade
• Advanced 1.1 pips – $11 per lot, per trade
• Premium 0.8 pips – $8 per lot, per trade

Swap fees are calculated depending on trade size and asset and also according to the exchange rate at the time. This can be calculated manually with assistance from the customer support team.

Assets

With TrioMarkets, you may trade a variety of CFD assets: Forex (60+ currencies) Metals, Indices, Stocks and Commodities. A full list of all available tradable assets can be found on the website, along with their specifications in regards to trading conditions. The selection of assets on offer is more than satisfactory, although some may argue not so since there are no cryptocurrencies available by this broker.

Spreads

Spreads by TrioMarkets are variable, and this goes for all account types. Unfortunately, the live floating spreads cannot be found on the website, so you would need to install MT4 and take a look at their demo version to see what the spreads actually are. However, minimum spreads for some pairs are displayed on the website. When speaking to a live chat agent, they were unable to provide even an average spread on any pair. In this case, one would need to check the demo for the live spreads to get a full overview of the spreads offered by TrioMarkets.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit requirements depending on the account type you opt for, which are as follows:

• Basic $500
• Standard $5,000
• Advanced $10,000
• Premium $25,000

The minimum deposit required for each account is a clear indication of the level of trader experience clients should have before entering into a live account, which is good to know so you can establish what level of experience you have and what deposit you are willing to make, when choosing the most appropriate account type for you.

Deposit Methods & Costs

TrioMarkets accept Card deposit, Bank wire transfers, Neteller and Skrill. TrioMarkets do not charge any deposit fees.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

TrioMarkets allow clients to withdraw via Card, Bank Wire Transfer, Neteller, and Skrill. Note that there is a 1.5% fee applied to all withdrawals and a minimum charge for bank wires is $25 but a max $50 charge.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal processing with TrioMArkets can take between 2-5 working days, but this can also vary and depends on the banking providers you use, so be sure to check with your own individual provider before making any withdrawals to avoid any delays or disappointment.

Bonuses & Promotions

TrioMarkets do not offer any promotional schemes or deposit bonuses, which is a positive attribute since this means that clients are not made to deposit and trade with eagerness supported by a false sense of extra margin.

Educational & Trading Tools

TrioMarkets have their very own trading education program, called TrioAcademy, which you can sign up to, to access a variety of tools: e-books, videos, and courses. In addition to this free education, TrioMarkets also offers Market News on the website, along with an economic calendar, so that even once you have started trading, you still have access to guides to assist in your everyday trading.

Customer Service

Customer support and assistance is available on a 24/5 basis between Monday and Friday during the hours of 9 AM and 9 PM (GMT +1). You may request assistance or have queries answered by Live Chat, Ticket form, and Telephone. The telephone agents operate 6 different language desks as well which is an added bonus for clients.

Overall the quality of customer service is prompt with response rate and the response overall is friendly, polite and adequately helpful.

Demo Account

TrioMarkets offer a demo account to practice with, should you require trading practice and/or wish to backtest their trading services to ensure they are in line with your expectations. It seems, however, that TrioMarkets only offer a demo account for the standard MT4 platform, but not for their own tailor-made version of it (MT4 TrioXtend), as this is nowhere to be found on the website.

Countries Accepted

TrioMarkets, since they are regulated (CySEC), cannot accept residents of the following countries to become clients: the United States of America, the State of Israel. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Conclusion

TrioMarkets offer a fair range of tradable assets and, for their regulation status, a fair service in terms of trading conditions, although some may argue that the low leverage restriction can be limiting, depending on what type of trading you are conducting. It must be noted also that withdrawals are not lengthly, and the customer service team are helpful and efficient with heir responses. The only need to be cautious is perhaps when it comes to the customized platform; all should be wary that a tailor-made platform is made to differ and tailored in a way that profits can be made easier for the broker, from the clients. Taking all elements discussed on this broker into account, TrioMarkets is seemingly targeted at the more well-established and experienced traders.

Charter Prime is a forex broker based in New Zealand and is registered with the Financial Service Providers in New Zealand. Committed to maintaining good connections wit their liquidators, Charter Prime promises competitive trading conditions and top customer service. In this review, we will be looking through the service that is being provided so you can decide if Charter Prime is the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are three different accounts on offer from Charter Prime, these are a variable account, an ECN account, and a swap-free account, let’s take a little look at them in more detail to see what they offer.

Variable Account: The variable account requires a minimum deposit of $100 to open, it does not charge commission as it is a spread based account. Leverage can be up to 1:500 and the minimum trade volume is 0.01 lots and goes u[p in increments of 0.01. You are able to use MetaTrader 3 with this account type.

ECN Account: The ECN account also requires a minimum deposit of $500, this account charges a commission of $8 due to it having much lower spreads. MetaTrader 4 is available with this account and the maximum leverage remains at 1:500 and the minimum trade volume as 0.01 lots.

Swap-Free Account: The swap-free account is for those whose beliefs mean that they can not pay or receive interest charges. This account is similar to the variable account apart from there is an additional $40 per lot every Wednesday in order to make up for the lack of swap fees.

Platforms

Just one platform available with Chartered Prime, but luckily that platform is MetaTrader 4 (MT4).

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is one of the world’s most popular trading platforms and for good reason. Released in 2005 by MetaQuotes Software, it has been around a while, it is stable customizable and full of features to help with your trading and analysis. MT4 is compatible with hundreds and thousands of different indicators, expert advisors, signal providers and more. Millions of people use MT4 for its interactive charts, multiple timeframes, one-click trading, trade copying and more. In terms of accessibility, MT4 is second to none, available as a desktop download, an app for Android and iOS devices and as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser. MetaTrader 4 is a great trading solution to have.

Leverage

All accounts have maximum leverages of 1:500, this can be set when opening up an account. Leverage can choose from anywhere between 1:50 to 1:500 and can be changed from within the client portal or by sending an email to the support team as long as there are no open trades at the time of the request.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot, trade sizes increase in increments of 0.01 lots so the next level would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. There is no indication of the maximum lot size but this normally sits between 50 lots and 100 lots. We would not recommend making trades bigger than 50 lots anyway due to it becoming harder for liquidity providers or the market to execute larger trades quickly.

Trading Costs

The Variable account does not have any additional charges applied to it besides the spreads (we will look at spreads later in this review). The ECN account has an added commission of $8 per lot traded which is not too far off the industry standard of $6. The swap-free account has a commission of $40 per lot which is charged every Wednesday.

Except for the swap-free account, swap charges are either paid or received for holding trades overnight, the exact fees can be viewed from within the MetaTrader 4 trading platform once you log into your account.

Assets

There are over 50 different instruments to trade spread over a number of different categories:

Forex Currency Pairs: A number of different major and minor currency pairs are available to trade such as AUD/CAD and CHF/JPY.

Commodities: Commodities are also available to trade with Charter Prime, including assets such as US Crude Oil. There are not as many available as one would expect though.

Precious Metals: The usual Gold and Silver are available to trade along with Platinum, these are the only three metals currently available to trade with Charter Prime.

Index CFDs: There are a small number of indices to trade as well, including the likes of the UK 100 Index, Singapore 30 and US Tech 100 Index.

There are currently no cryptocurrencies available to trade which is a shame because they are quickly becoming a major trading asset for both new and experienced traders.

Spreads

The spreads that you get are dependant on the account that you are using, if you are using a variable account or the swap-free account then you will receive additional spread markup, an example of the current spreads are 2.9 pips for AUD/CAD or 3.0 pips for EURAUD, the ECN account has reduced spreads and the same pairs are 0.8 pips for AUD/CAD and 0.8 pips for EUR/AUD.

It is important to know that spreads will go up and down depending on the volatility of the market, but the spreads mentioned are the lowest they will go, so they will often be seen slightly higher. It is also important to note that some pairs naturally have higher spreads than others.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit in order to open up a new account is $100, often once an account is open the minimum deposit reduces for any further deposits into that account but it is unknown if that is the case with Charter Prime.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a few different methods available to use when depositing with Charter Prime. These include Bitcoin, Tether, UnionPay, Bank Wire, Skrill, Neteller, and Local Gateway. All methods are fee-free with the exception of Tether, which carries a 5% fee. The broker’s website notes that your bank may charge a fee on each wire transfer, but the broker itself does not charge a fee on wires.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods to deposit are available to withdraw, we have put together a list with relevant information in regards to withdrawals:

• Bitcoin – Free – $100 Minimum
• Tether – 5% Fee – $100 Minimum
• UnionPay – Free – $25 Minimum
• Wire Transfer – Free – $200 Minimum
• Skrill – 1% Fee – $50 Minimum
• Neteller – 2% Fee – $50 Minimum
• Local Gateway – Free – $75 Minimum

It is a shame to see that withdrawal fees are not being covered by Charter Prime as that is quickly becoming the usual practice from most modern brokers and a trend we would like to see all brokers taking part in.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The processing time for all payment methods other than bank wire is three business days. On bank wire transfers, that is extended to 3 to 5 business days. As per usual, online payments are the fastest way to get your money, while bank wire is the slowest and most costly option due to bank processing and fees.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is currently a 30% trading bonus promotion active with Charter Prime. This promotion has a few requirements such as having a minimum initial deposit of $1000, account must be in USD and do not have a VIP, PAMM or MAM account. Promotion is capped at $60,000 ($200,000 deposit), the following trading volume is needed to convert the bonus funds into withdrawable funds.

Educational & Trading Tools

Charter Prime offers some basic economic news and an economic calendar to their clients. The news offers some basic information but far better news sources exist out there on the internet, similarly, the economic calendar shows you any upcoming news events, but there are more detailed ones available elsewhere.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in contact with Chartered Prime regarding a query or concern, you can do it in a number of ways. You can use the broker’s online web form to fill in your query, and can then expect a reply via email. There are also 3 physical addresses available should you wish to send a letter and there is also an email to send a message directly. There was not a phone number on the contact page, but there is one present at the bottom of the website in the footer.

The working hours are Sydney AEST 11:00 – 02:00 or GMT+0 0:100 – 16:00. You should get a response within 24 hours and support are open from Monday to Friday, closing at the same time as the markets.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, simply click the demo account button, instead of creating ana account this will simply download the MT4 platform which will create an account once you open it. It would appear that these accounts last indefinitely but we would not be surprised if it was closed if left dormant for too long.

Countries Accepted

We could not locate information in regards to accepted or excluded countries so if you require this information we would suggest getting in contact with the customer service team to see if you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

Charter Prime seems like a competent broker firm, their trading conditions are competitive and are in line with the current industry standards. It would have been nice to have seen cryptocurrencies as a tradable asset (along with a larger selection of other assets too) and the fees included for withdrawals are a little bit of a concern. Having said that, there is a decent selection of deposit and withdrawal methods to use should you decide to have Charter Prime as your broker of choice.

We hope you like this Charter Prime review. Be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

EverFX is a forex broker located and regulated within the Cayman Islands. They claim to be the brokerage that is on your side, so we will be expecting some good trading conditions and services. Their aim is to create a long-lasting relationship with their clients and to give the required tools, knowledge and support to improve their trading experience and results. We will be looking into what EverFX is actually providing to see if they live up to their statements.

Account Types

There are four accounts on offer plus an Islamic account from EverFX, each having their own entry requirements and also their own trading conditions, let’s take a look at what is on offer:

Entry: The entry-level account requires a minimum deposit of $250, this gets you an account with spreads starting from 1.5 pips, maximum leverage up to 1:500, a potential bonus up to 30%, 24/5 customer support and an introduction call from a personal account manager.

Standard: The standard account raises the minimum deposit to $2,500 which is quite a big jump. This account has slightly reduced spreads starting at 1.2 pips, leverage remains at 1:500 as a maximum but the potential bonus amount has increased to 50%. Customer support is still available 24/5 and you now get a personal account manager and access to certain investment research and analytics.

Premium: The premium account increases the minimum deposit further up to $10,000 which now will price out many retail traders. With this account you get a minimum spread of 0.8 pips, leverage has slightly decreased down to a maximum of 1:400, you can now receive a bonus up to 100%, support remains available 24/5 and you also get an account manager. Along with the account manager, you will receive a monthly session with a senior market analyst, ongoing support over skype and access to investment research and analysis.

VIP: The VIP account is the top-level account from EverFX, it has a huge minimum deposit of $50,000 and due to this larger amount, the spreads can start from as low as 0.0 pips. The maximum leverage has dropped further to 1:200 and the bonus remains at a potential 100%. There is now a commission charged on this account of $6 per lot traded and you will receive a dedicated personal manager. Along with these benefits you also receive weekly sessions with senior market analyst exclusive trading strategies, development of an individual business plan, ongoing support via skype and finally, access to investment research and analysis.

Islamic: Along with the regular accounts, there are also swap-free accounts which are known as Islamic accounts, these accounts are not charged and also do not receive swap fees for holding accounts overnight, instead, they are charged via administration fees. The trading conditions remain exactly the same as the other accounts.

Platforms

EverFX is currently providing 2 different trading platforms for their clients, we take a little look at what they are below:

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is one of the world’s most popular trading platforms and for good reason. Released in 2005 by MetaQuotes Software, it has been around a while, it is stable customizable and full of features to help with your trading and analysis. MT4 is compatible with hundreds and thousands of different indicators, expert advisors, signal providers and more. Millions of people use MT4 for its interactive charts, multiple timeframes, one-click trading, trade copying and more. In terms of accessibility, MT4 is second to none, available as a desktop download, an app for Android and iOS devices and as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser. MetaTrader 4 is a great trading solution to have.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5): MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is the younger brother of MetaTrader 4 (MT4)m developed by MetaQuotes Software and released in 2010, MT5 is used by millions and for good reason. Offering plenty of trading and analysis features to ain in your trading. Additional services expand the functionality of the platform making its capabilities almost limitless. MetaTrader 5 offers the built-in Market of trading robots, the Freelance database of strategy developers, Copy Trading and the Virtual Hosting service (Forex VPS). Use all these services from one place, and access new trading opportunities. MetaTrader 5 is also highly accessible with it being available as a desktop download, application for iOS and Android devices and even as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser.

Leverage

Leverage is dependant on the account you are using, the Entry and Standard accounts can have the potential to be leveraged up to 1:500, the premium account can go up to 1:400 and the VIP account has a maximum of 1:200. Leverage can be selected when opening your EverFX account.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start as small as 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot, trade sizes then increase in increments of 0.01 lots so the next available would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. We did not see mention of the maximum trade size but this normally sits between 50 lots and 100 lots which is more than enough, in fact, we do not recommend making trades more than 50 lots as it becomes increasingly harder for smooth and instant fulfillment of trade orders at higher lot sizes.

Trading Costs

The Entry, Standard and Premium accounts use a spread based payment structure that we will look at later in this review. The VIP account uses a commission-based system and currently charges $6 per lot traded, this is level with what appears to be the industry standard. There are also swap fees charged for holding trades overnight unless you get a swap-free account in which case there are some additional administration fees. Swap fees can be viewed from within your trading platform.

Assets

The EverFX website states that there are over 130 different instruments to trade, these have been broken down into various different categories.

Forex: The largest and most liquid market in the world, there are major, minor and exotic pairs available to trade with pairs such as EUR/USD, USD/CAD, GBP/CHF and many others being available to trade.

Metals: There isn’t a full breakdown of which metals are available, the only two being mentioned are Gold and Silver so it may be just the two that are available for trading with EverFX.

Stocks: There is a list of 20 stocks available including the likes of ASLN, PAL, and TTGT, however, there is no indication if the 20 listed are all the stocks or if there are additional ones too.

Cryptocurrencies: It is great to see the crypto world being available at EverFX, there are 15 different coins tradable on EverFX which is a decent amount considering the majority of brokers only have a couple. These include the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple and many more.

Indices: Indices are also available with the likes of Nasdaq, Dow Jones, S&P 500 and many more being available to trade.

Energies: Commodities such as crude oil are available to trade, there is not a full breakdown of all the energies that are available so we can not list any others.

Spreads

Spreads minimum spreads are dependant on the account type that you are using, an entry account will have minimum spreads of 1.5 pips, the standard account will have minimum spreads of 1.2 pips, the premium account 0.8 pips and finally he VIP account will have spreads as low as 0.0 pips.

It is worth noting that these are the minimum spreads, so they will often be seen higher. These spreads are variable which means that they will increase with market volatility, also the stated spreads are for EUR/USD which naturally have the lowest spread, so other currencies such as GBP/CHF will have higher starting spreads.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit to open up an account is $250 which is reasonable. We are unsure if this minimum decreases once an account is open, often once you have an account you can use smaller amounts to top up the account but there is no mention of this so if this feature is here it is unknown to us.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are plenty of ways to deposit, the good news is that for all of them there are no added fees, we have put the methods into a convenient list for you with the different currencies that you can deposit with.

• Visa Credit / Debit Card – USD, EUR, GBP
• MasterCard Credit / Debit Card – USD, EUR, GBP
• iSignthis Bank Transfer – EUR
• Bank One Transfer – GBP, EUR, AUD, USD
• Abanca Transfer – EUR
• TriO – RUB
• PayTrust – THB, VND, MYR, IDR
• PayBoutique – USD
• FasaPay – USD, IDR
• VLoad – USD, EUR
• Qiwi – USD, RUB, EUR
• Yandex Money – RUB
• Perfect Money – USD, EUR
• Apcopay – USD, GBP, EUR
• PayR – USD
• VoguePay – USD, GBP, EUR
• Neteller – USD, EUR, GBP, AUD
• Skrill – USD, EUR, GBP, AUD
• GlobPay – USD, GBP, EUR
• EasyEFT – ZAR
• EstroPay – USD, EUR
• Piastrix – RUB, USD, EUR
• SticPay – EUR, USD, GBP
• Alipay – CNY
• AloGateway – CNY
• Awepay – THB, VND, MYR, IDR, CNY
• RPNPay – CNY
• Pay2Bee – USD, GBP, EUR
• Solid Payments – USD, GBP, EUR

So there is plenty on option, but there doesn’t appear to be any way to deposit via cryptocurrencies which his strange for there being so many methods available. Also please note that which EverFC does not add any fees when using bank transfer, make sure to check if your won bank adds any processing or transfer fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The majority of the same methods are available to withdraw with which is great (there are a few missing), the downside is that there are fees attached to different payment methods. We have outlined them below for you.

• Visa Credit / Debit Card – 3% (Minimum charge $3, €2.50 or £2)
• MasterCard Credit / Debit Card – 3% (Minimum charge $3, €2.50 or £2)
• iSignthis Bank Transfer – No fees
• Bank One Transfer – No fees
• Abanca Transfer – No fees
• PayTrust – 4%
• PayBoutique – 3%
• FasaPay – 3%
• Qiwi – 3%
• Yandex Money – 3%
• Perfect Money – 3%
• Apcopay – 3%
• VoguePay – 3%
• Neteller – 3%
• Skrill – 1% (Minimum charge $1)
• GlobPay – 3%
• EasyEFT – No fee
• EstroPay – 3%
• Piastrix – 3%
• Alipay – 3%
• AloGateway – 3%
• Awepay – 3%
• RPNPay – 3%
• Pay2Bee – 3%
• Solid Payments – 3%

It is a shame to see withdrawal fees, this is a practice that a lot of brokers are beginning to reduce, so it would be nice to see EverFX follow suit as 3% is relatively high.

Please note that when using bank transfers or EasyEFT there may be charges by your own bank, so be sure to check with them prior to making a transfer.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

We have categorized each withdrawal method into different groups depending on how long it takes for them to be processed:

Real-Time: Pay2Bee, SolidPayments

One Busines Day: Visa credit/debit cards, MasterCard credit/debit cards, Neteller, Skrill, GlobPay

Within 48 Hours: Qiwi, PayTrust, PayBoutique, FasaPay, Yandex Money, Perfect Money, Apcopay, VoguePay, EstroPay, Piastrix, Alipay, AloGateway, Awepay, RPNPPay

Within 72 Hours: EasyEFT

Within 5 Business Days: iSignthis bank transfer, BankOne Transfer, Abanca Transfer

It should be noted that while some payments such as credit and debit cards state one business day, it can take up to 5 for it to appear in your account.

Bonuses & Promotions

As we mentioned on the account page, there are deposit bonuses, you can receive between 30% and 100% as a deposit bonus, however, it was very hard to find the information regarding this but we managed in the end.

You can receive a bonus up to $10,000 if you have a 100% bonus this means you need to deposit $10,000 to get $10,000 bonus, if you are on 50%, you will need to deposit $20,000 to get a $10,000 bonus, you can, of course, use smaller amounts too. These bonus funds are for trading only, however, every time you trade a lot, you will convert $2 of the bonus funds into real funds.

If you have a VIP account, then you can request a free VPS, if you do not have a VPS account then it will cost you $20 per month which is still a reasonable price.

We could not locate any information about any other potential bonuses or promotions.

Educational & Trading Tools

Trading Central is a place where licensed financial advisors come together and offer you a few different features such as Impartial analysis from award-winning licensed investment advisors, global coverage 24 hours per day at a number of timeframes, available through a variety of delivery methods and, multi-asset multi-language support. There is also a basic economic calendar, but there are more detailed ones available for free on the internet.

In terms of education, there are some educational videos around different subjects such as trading strategies, how to use MT4, how indicators work and so forth. There is also an educational blog section but it appears that there is only one post available there so it is not the most helpful educational program around.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in contact with EverFX, you can do so in a number of ways. Everyone’s favorite web form is present, fill in your query and you should get a reply via email. There is also a physical address available should you wish to send a letter, there is also an email address to get in touch with support and finally a telephone number to use to talk to someone directly.

It should be noted that the EverFX support is open 24/5 and is closed at the same time as the markets over the weekend. We did not get a chance to use the support system so we can not comment on their effectiveness.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, however, we struggled to find much information in regards to their features or how long they last. In order to open a demo account, you need to have a client account already and then simply select a demo account when opening a new account.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is on the website: “EverFX does not provide services for the residents of certain countries, such as the United States of America, Canada, Cyprus, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Iran, Ukraine, and North Korea.” If you are unsure whether or not you are eligible for an account, we recommend getting in contact with the support department to find out.

Conclusion

EverFX offers some decent trading conditions however rin order to get the best conditions you need a pretty hefty initial deposit. Plenty of ways to deposit however the withdrawals fees are a little bit of a letdown. In terms of trading, lots of instruments to trade with including crypto which his great to see. EverFX seems to be a competent broker but whether they are right for you, is up to you and only you.

We hope you like this EverFX review. Be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

LegacyFX is not one of the most talked-about, however, they do have a good service to offer. For those interested in a broker that offers the latest MT5 platform, this broker may be of interest to you. Although they are not regulated by a legitimate regulating body, they are however connected with Vanuatu Financial Services Commission which does safeguard clients and their funds to some degree, should you experience any trade issues with this broker, the VFSC body can investigate this for you, which certainly does add peace of mind for clients.

Account Types

LegacyFX offers 3 account types, and a comparison table is displayed on the website to help you select the one you feel is more suitable for you. The Silver account has a minimum deposit of $500, while the Gold requires $5,000 and the Platinum requires a minimum of $25,000. Note that all 3 account types offer a maximum leverage of up to 1:200 and access to the MetaTrader 5 Platform. Starting spreads to vary, however, which we will go into shortly.

Platforms

LegacyFX offers MetaTrader 5 platform which is the latest from MetaTrader, and also increasingly popular in the industry. You can download MT5 directly from the LegacyFX website if you do not already have it. Mobile and Desktop versions are both available so that you can trade both at home or on the go.

Leverage

As mentioned earlier, it is rather generous that LegacyFX offers leverage of up to 1:200, and this is available via (all) Silver, Gold and Platinum accounts. This means that even though you may wish to choose the smallest account with the lowest deposit, you will not be penalized and granted different leverage to what you could have on the other accounts. This adds an element of fairness among all types of trader clients.

Trade Sizes

Minimum trade sizes allowed, and this goes for all Silver, Gold and Platinum account traders, is 0.01 lot, and this applies to all tradable pairs, all of which are displayed on the website for an example guide.

Trading Costs

The FAQ page shed some light on trading fees or lack thereof; LegacyFX offers the luxury of trading without being charged any commission fees or even swap fees. This is applicable to all 3 account types. This means the broker accumulates profits via the spread, instead, so do bear this in mind when trading larger volume.

Assets

With LegacyFX, you are at liberty to trade the following: Forex, Commodities, Metals Cryptocurrencies, Stocks, and Indices. You can find a complete list of all available tradable assets are found on the website, complete with the spread variations on each pair (fixed and floating). Overall, the variety and selection of tradable assets available with LegacyFX should be satisfactory for many, if not all traders.

Spreads

It appears that all clients, regardless of the account type you opt for, you may choose between fixed and variable spreads. The Fixed and Floating (starting) spreads are set out on the website, for all 3 account types. Even at just a quick glance, we can deduce that the variable spreads do stand out competitively amongst other broker spreads. The Fixed spreads perhaps not so much, but this also depends on which you prefer to trade with, and how well either or work with your personalized trading strategies.

Minimum Deposit

As mentioned earlier on, the minim deposit required depends on which account option you go for, which are as follows:

Silver: $500
Gold: $5,000
Platinum: $25,000

These minimum deposit requirements first and foremost indicate quite strongly the ideal level of experience a trader must have before opening the account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The deposit methods available are Visa/Maestro/Mastercard Debit/Credit Card, Wire Transfer, Skrill, and Neteller. LegacyFX FAQ page clearly states that there are no deposit fees charged by the broker for either option which is an added bonus for the client.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You may withdraw your funds and profits from LegacyFX via Card, Wire Transfer, Neteller or Skrill. Withdrawal fees are not charged by LegacyFX but be sure to check with your banking provider before requesting any withdrawals, as they may apply their own charges. One must note that the minimum withdrawal amount is $200.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The FAQ page states that all withdrawals take a minimum of 3-5 business days to process. It is also stated that completion timescales for banking transactions can vary depending upon your banking provider, so it is good to check individually with your provider before you begin the withdrawal process. There is no specific mention of Skrill and Neteller timescales although typically speaking, these are usually the faster options.

Bonuses & Promotions

Deposit bonuses and promotional schemes will not be found with LegacyFX, as confirmed by a live chat representative.

Educational & Trading Tools

LegacyFX offers some trading courses or ‘mentorships’ which you will have access to once you sign up. This is a great service alongside the demo account for those who are perhaps just starting out in their Forex Trading journey. Another bonus is that these mentorships are free of charge, and all in one place. You can sign up directly from the website.

Customer Service

LegacyFX provides a very satisfied customer support service via Telephone, Email and Live Chat. If you need to reach out to LegacyFX with any issues or queries, you may send your messages in between the hours of 8 AM-10 PM (UK time) Monday – Friday. Overall it should be noted that the quality of customer service is more than adequate, and responses are delivered efficiently. All answers received were comprehensive, polite and friendly, and live chat responds very promptly (a couple of minutes).

Demo Account

LegacyFX offers a demo account version of their live service, which you could make use of if you wish to fully backtest their trading conditions prior to registering as a live client. A reminder that demo accounts serve a purpose- to be used; it is always good practice to demo with any broker before opening a live account.

Countries Accepted

The footer of the website does not state any regulating body that LegacyFX are compliant with, other than that they are connected with VFSC, which is not to confused with a regulating body such as FCA or CySEC, per example; VSFC is NOT a regulating body, but merely a body that investigates client trades where clients feel the broker has manipulated a result in some way, shape or form. Therefore, since this broker is not actually regulated, one must be aware that clients from the USA would not be allowed to register for a live account.

The FAQ page also states the following: “Legacy FX is regulated under the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission and is therefore compliant with all E.U. regulations governing financial market transactions. Client applications from the U.S., Yemen, N. Korea, and Iran will be denied.’’ It should also be pointed out that the ‘Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission’ is not a regulation body, but appears to be a reference to VFSC and/or similar services.

Conclusion

Although it appears that LegacyFX has attempted to lure clients in with a false appearance of being regulated when asked, they will tell you that they are not regulated, but in association with the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission, which should not be confused with an actual regulating body. Overall, LegacyFX offers excellent trading conditions in terms of assets available, leverage allowance and spreads. The customer support team is consistent in politeness and efficiency with their responses in both time and content. Providing you are able to meet the minimum deposit requirements of the accounts offered by this broker, there is no reason to hesitate from checking out what they have to offer.

ACY is an ASIC regulated STP ECN broker that made into one of the leaders in the industry in few categories. The brand ACY acquired in late 2018 is Synergy FX, a broker that had minor problems with the image and user reviews and wants a clean slate. ACY is more focused on the China and Indonesia markets where ACY has received many rewards and continues to find ways to penetrate this extremely attractive market. Opening a regulation with the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission secures a gateway to clients in the Asia-Pacific region but also from other counties. ACY has more domains for this purpose, acy.com, and acyasia.com. ACY has experience in the educational practices in the industry with Chinese clients and providing such services to OANDA, one of the largest US-based broker that is also interested in this market.

When it comes to funds security, ACY has more than it meets the eye as the broker features Professional Indemnity Insurance in partnership with Aon insurance company that covers the company about 5M AUD in case of default. The main selling point of ACY is the execution time, spreads and additional support for amateur traders. This review will reveal the best and weakest traits of ACY and whether their promoted values are useable for trading.

Account Types

All 3 Account types feature tight spreads as their main advantage. ACY has a transparent overview of the Account Types that will show traders enough of relevant data to understand the differences. All of their accounts have a subsequent deposit minimum ACY calls just the “minimum deposit”, market analysis and 1 on 1 service which is most of the time a sales agent. Stop Out and Margin Calls levels are higher than usual and are at 50% and 100% respectively. The accounts are scaled to the minimum deposit and start with the STP ECN Account which should mean it directly connects to the interbank market with 16 liquidity providers. This account does not have a commission although it has a somewhat wider spread.

It is appropriate for traders that employ lower leverage levels, do not exclusively rely on high-frequency trading strategies or EAs and their trades are not affected by the spread as much. STP ECN account can have USD, AUD, EUR, GBP, JPY, NZD, CAD as a base currency.

Zero ECN Account is promoted as the right choice for traders that execute high volume trades. The spreads are tighter while a fixed commission is charged. By comparing the spread and the commission per lot, a trader can see if this account is a better solution, especially if the maximum leverage level is applied. The account is a preferable choice for EAs and high-frequency traders, not necessarily high volume as ACY states.

Pure ECN account is the latest account type addition that has the highest deposit requirement. This account shares the same spread levels as the Zero ECN account by our testing, although only by a marginal amount on some assets the spread was tighter. The commission exists but it is lower than Zero ECN. ACY promotes features like optic fibers connected to the Equinix servers in New Your and Asia that should give traders the best possible execution times for this account although we are not sure they are not used for other account types. Pure ECN account does not seem to provide any substantial advantage over the Zero ECN account to justify the steeper minimum deposit requirement.

Platforms

ACY is MetaTrader 4 only broker as for now, showing ready-made pages that await the MT5 introduction. Most brokers will probably wait until the MT5 becomes more equipped with supported addons, as at the current state the MT5 does not provide enough to offset the popularity MT4 has. ACY MT4 does not have anything extra, the client is updated to the latest version and all settings at their default. The chart layout is set to the 4H timeframe with the 4 main Forex currency pairs, one-click trading enabled and the servers showing around 150ms ping. For some assets, like Palladium, we have noticed that the chart history does not go beyond 3 days, a serious issue, especially for day traders.

The Zero account assets symbols have a “zero” suffix in the MT4, aside from the standard that is shown by default which belongs to the standard, STP ECN account. This way traders can see the difference without switching the accounts. The execution times showed some inconsistency, some orders were executed in 250ms with a few going up to 400ms. The other 3 ACY live servers have shown similar latency. ACY states that their execution times are around 50ms that we were unable to achieve.

MT4 reflects all the conditions and costs associated with the accounts and the instruments specification window shows enough data about the trading conditions. The commission information is left out for the Zero assets but the respective amount is displayed within the Trade Terminal. As with many brokers that still have the MT4 license, ACY offers MT4 for mobile devices that run on Android and iPhone, desktop variants for Mac and PC, and a web version without any installation.

Leverage

The maximum leverage ACY offers is 1:500, although traders should know that this level depends on the balance on their accounts. Up to 5000, the leverage can be at maximum, above 5000 balance the leverage decreases to 400 and continues to decrease: above 10.000 – 300; 20.000 – 200; 30.000 – 100; 50.000 and above can only apply 1:50 leverage level. Taking this into account, we are not sure how can the leverage be 1:500 for the Pure ECN account as stated on the website that requires at least $20k initial deposit.

The leverage for Indices is 1:100 while for Gold remains at 1:500, which is high compared with other brokers. Cryptocurrencies are allowed to have 1:25 leverage as per data from the MT4. ACY has the right to change the leverage during trading and clients will receive a notification.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade volume is in micro-lots or 0.01 lots. The volume step is also 0.01 while the maximum volume possible in one trade is set at 20 lots. For Gold and other precious metals, the maximum trade volume is set to 10 lots. This is what we usually see with brokers that offer a trading environment for high-frequency trading, allowing traders the employ precision scaling and Risk Management.

Cryptocurrencies do not follow the usual micro-lot trade sizing. The minimum trade size for crypto is 0.1 lots as well as volume steps, with a maximum trade size of 100 lots. ACY also has set stops levels that are not 0, which may not be favorable for scalpers with very tight TP/SL levels. So for example, EUR/USD has 1 pip stops level, AUD/NZD has 3 pips, GBP/NZD 5.5 pips, Gold 2.5 pips, Palladium 300 pips, BTC/USD 1 pip, etc.

Trading Costs

Trading costs will depend on the account type but also the trading style. Trading costs play a larger role the shorter a trade is. STP ECN account does not have a commission and only swaps count as a trading cost. ACY calculates swaps based in currency so EUR/USD has a -11.98 EUR for long position and 4.42 EUR for short. GBP/CHF has 2.01 long and -7.5 GBP short, AUD/CAD -2.11 long and -2.88 AUD short, etc. The swaps are under normal levels with some positive figures, mostly the USD pairs. BTC/USD swaps are also calculated in currency, in this case, USD and are very small, -1.5 USD for short and long positions. Triple swaps are applied on Wednesdays.

Zero ECN account has a $6 commission per trade. The same swaps will apply through all account types. The Pure ECN account has a $5 commission per trade as advertised, although this account seems flexible in terms of trading conditions.

Assets

Probably one of the weakest points of ACY is the modest assets range. There are 5 categories in total. We have counted 41 Forex pairs that cover all the majors and crosses. From the less common currency pairs, we found EUR/HUF, NZD/SGD, USD/CNH, USD/HKD, USD/MXN, USD/PLN, USD/TRY and Scandinavian currencies. So ACY is missing the Ruble and some combinations with the EUR, which could be important for the Asian market they try to solidify, but overall a good Forex range.

The commodities category is rather minimal. It is limited to WTI and Brent Oil while Natural Gas listed on the ACY website is confirmed missing. Precious metals have a good range with all 4 majors listed in MT4. Gold, Platinum, Silver, and Palladium offer enough variations for metals traders. The only issue is that Palladium and Platinum do not show chart history for more than 3 days.

The indices range is good with 12 total listed and as expected, focused on Asia-Pacific companies. What we have found interesting apart from the majors like S&P 500, Nikkei 225 or DJ30, is China 50, Hong Kong 50, Euro STOXX 50, Spain 40 and Australia 200.

Cryptocurrencies are present although their range will not satisfy specialized crypto-traders. Only the majors like Bitcoin, Ripple Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash are listed in MT4.

Spreads

ACY spreads are a variable type, competitive and for some assets are peak top in the industry, like for the spot Gold. Generally, all metals have a very competitive spread. The STP ECN account does not feature these tight spreads so EUR/USD and USD/JPY have 1 pip spread, EUR/AUD has around 2 pips, EUR/NZD, and GBP/CAD – 3 pips, SGD spread is lower – 2 pips on both, the USD and NZD, where it is present. More exotic USD/CNH has around 14 pips, USD/HUF 12 pips, And USD/PLN around 10.

Spot Gold registers around 20 pips for this account type, which Is still top tier spread. Palladium has around 4000 points spread that can be considered wide, as well as Platinum at 1040 points. The Oil spreads do not vary and are like fixed to 40 points. BTC/USD sometimes has a great 20 pips spread although it varies greatly to 100 pips. We have noticed that the spreads on this account type have a wide suppression level, meaning spreads can easily triple and shrink in a matter of seconds.

Zero ECN and Pure ECN definitely have some currency pairs at 0 spread. These are EUR/USD, AUD/USD and USD/JPY. We have counted 26 currency pairs that have the spread under 10 points although spikes are often. From the exotic pairs, the spreads were not considerably lower than with the STP ECN account, so USD/CNH has 135 points, USD/HUF 80 points, and some even had wider spreads like the USD/PLN with 15 pips. But USD/MXN has around 35 pips, much lower than 120 pips this pair had with STP ECN account.

Spot Gold and Silver had an amazing 6 pips spread, one of the best we have encountered. The Platinum and Palladium do not have any change regardless of the account type. Oil assets have a 34 point spread, behaving in a similar fixed way and 6 points tighter than the STP ECN account. Cryptocurrencies remain unchanged and share the same spread across all accounts.

Minimum Deposit

ACY has 3 account types and the most affordable is the STP ECN that requires $100 for the initial deposit. Any additional deposits cannot be lower than $100. Zero ECN has a minimum deposit of $2000 with the same $100 subsequent deposits minimum. Pure ECN is reserved for those that can afford $20000 as a minimum deposit.

Deposit Methods & Costs

ACY has integrated a nice client portal called CloudHub from MuleSoft. From there the deposit options will be displayed and this depends on the client’s country. The methods available are Wire Transfer (Local and International), Credit Card and Debit Card, Skrill, Doku Wallet, and China Union Pay. ACY does not charge any fees for funding. Bank transfers that are not local will have their transaction fees.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The withdrawal methods will be presented within the CoudHub client portal. The methods will depend on the country and will be processed in 1-2 business days, which is 1 day longer than what is the usual practice. Credit Card withdrawals are not available and it must be done via Bank Transfer. International bank transfers have a fee of $25. Skrill also has a withdrawal fee of 3%. Local bank withdrawals are free although have more than 3 requests per month will incur a $25 fee. Withdrawals requests will be processed until 14:00 AEST, any requests that come after will be processed the next business day. The minimum withdrawal is $50, and this information is not disclosed in the FAQ or the website.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Once a request has been filed from the client’s portal, ACY state that the withdrawal will be processed by the company for up to two business days. After that International Bank Transfers may take up to 7 days. E-wallet withdrawal times are usually within the same day after the request has been processed by ACY.

Bonuses & Promotions

ACY has a promotion going on at the moment that enables traders to have $300 “safety net” funds in the first 7 days of trading. If traders within this period incur a loss, ACY will compensate up to $300. The compensation may take up to 3 days to come into the trader’s account. If the account is another currency other than USD, then the compensation will have the following value: 250 EUR, 200 GBP, 400 AUD, 400 NZD, or 400 CAD. Compensation is done within the client’s portal via support ticket under the “Safety Net Trading”.

Additional trading volume requirements are set, 1 USD (0.2 standard lots), 1 EUR (0.24 standard lots), 1 GBP (0.3 standard lots), 1 AUD (0.15 standard lots), 1 NZD (0.15 standard lots), 1 CAD (0.15 standard lots). The assets applicable are Forex, Oils, and Metals. This promotion will last until the end of 2019.

Educational & Trading Tools

ACY has a good and developed educational section they regard as one of their specialties. It is split into 7 categories, Trading Contests, Webinars/Seminars, Market Blog, Video Courses, E-books, How to Trade Forex and the Economic Calendar.

Trading Contests are held for the Demo Account that gets the best return rate. The winner in 2018 had a 2449% return which was enough to win a $20.000 prize. To win, traders will employ high-Risk Management that is probably not consistent and applicable to any normal situation.

The webinars are fresh and have interesting topics like “A Live trading session for USD & Gold demonstrating high probability trades.” These will include live trading sessions and the webinars continue to be released. Youtube video demonstrates some good analysis by ACY top professional Russell Sandiford.

Market Blog has three sections about the news, one not working correctly, although redundant. The news follows similar ideas and comes from the same person, Russel Stanford. Each news content is too wide and too shallow like trying to cover as many markets without saying anything useful. Russel also does the Market Analysis part which is like a studio made video report about the latest developments. The content is uploaded daily and has solid quality although it is not based on technical indicators and more on visual Price Action.

The e-book has high quality and solid structure, it describes the basics very well and has some interesting unique content, with some company marketing mixed in. ACY e-book is genuine and good for any beginner, just do not expect to learn something if you know how to trade even the basic setups.

ACY also features Trading Courses that require registration. The content has a lot of marketing mixed in between the lines but the general structure is good, explaining basic topics like Trading Psychology and so on. This service can be one on one or over the phone.

How To Trade Forex section feels like it is made just to fill out space. The content here has an appealing visual graphic that is a trait of the whole ACY website. Basic information about the process of starting a trading career is very well presented but it just scratches the surface.

Finally, the Economic Calendar has nice visuals, filters and a date bar at the top. Even it looks nice, it feels incomplete as it does not feature historic price chart, details about the even or related links. The filter is also somewhat limited to the impact level and the countries.

Customer Service

ACY customer service is mediocre. The broker is available 24/5, although the chat service is not full 24 hours available as we have noticed a few hours gaps. The representatives may need a minute or two to respond and there are only two of them. They do not have much knowledge about the company or trading and will most likely ask for your contacts. This is a common practice for the sales department that uses direct contact methods for conversion. Asking more than 3 questions will probably trigger a delayed response or closure with the ACY support email for additional questions. The broker also has a few phone lines in different regions.

Demo Account

The Demo account will last for 30 days but it is very easy to open a new one from within the MT4 trading platform. The Demo will show STP ECN and Zero ECN account assets with respectable trading conditions for each. Leverage and the amount of virtual funds can be set and are not limited to just 50.000 as stated on the website. The demo will demonstrate ACY services very well.

Countries Accepted

ACY has Vanuatu Office that opens the door wide for many countries. The Vanuatu Financial Services Commission, of course, does not provide that same strict conditions as the ASIC does. ACY only prohibits clients from the United States.

Conclusion

This broker has an average score on the benchmarking sites with various complains about the support, ethics, trading conditions, bad review suppression, etc. Most of these come from the time when Synergy FX was still active but it looks the ACY acquisition has not changed things for the better. The main selling points are tight spreads that have a low volatility tolerance and will rise sharply.

The account types do not differ much, especially the Pure ECN that has the same spreads as the Zero ECN. The asset range is average and in some categories basic, like commodities. The execution times are also average, with some deviations. Whatsmore, if traders encounter problems they can not rely on premium support, as proven by the users’ feedback. ACY, on the other hand, has something to offer to beginner traders which may be more prone to ACY marketing, education, and direct contact.

It is evident that ACY is trying hard to get a bigger customer pool on both the professionals that seek a quality trading environment and beginners hungry for more introduction into CFD trading, but it seems not enough on both sides. The local competitors like IC Markets outperform ACY in almost every aspect, thus the hurry to expand into the yet uncharted Asian market. One specific trait about ACY is that they are a very good option for Metals traders.

GT247 is a subsidiary and a juristic representative of Purple Group Limited, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The firm is an authorized Financial Services Provider operating under the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa holding FSP License No. 46315. The brokerage claims have been around for nearly 20 years and have a trading desk with over 100 years of cumulative market experience. In the GT2547 review that follows, we’ll take a closer look at what traders can expect from this FX broker.

Account Types

There isn’t much information present in regards to the accounts, it would appear that there is only a single account. The website does not indicate much about the trading conditions of this account but we have found the following:

• Up to 1:80 leverage
• 0.01 minimum trade sizes
• Multiple tradable assets
• Single trading platform
• No deposit limits
• No platform charges
• Low spreads

Platforms

GT247 states that they offer 6 different platforms when in reality they offer a single platform (MetaTrader 5) which has multiple versions for different platforms such as desktop or iOS devices.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is the younger brother of MetaTrader 4 (MT4)m developed by MetaQuotes Software and released in 2010, MT5 is used by millions and for good reason. Offering plenty of trading and analysis features to ain in your trading. Additional services expand the functionality of the platform making its capabilities almost limitless. MetaTrader 5 offers the built-in Market of trading robots, the Freelance database of strategy developers, Copy Trading and the Virtual Hosting service (Forex VPS). Use all these services from one place, and access new trading opportunities. MetaTrader 5 is also highly accessible with it being available as a desktop download, application for iOS and Android devices and even as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser.

Leverage

Leverage can be selected up to 1:80 as a maximum, it can range from between 1:1 as a low up to 1:80. This can be selected when opening a new account.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start at 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot, trades can increase in increments of 0.01 such as 0.02 or 0.03. It is unknown what the currently maximum trade size is for GT247 but it normally sits between 50 lots and 100 lots and we don’t recommend doing trades bigger than 50 lots so it is easier for liquidity providers to execute the trades instantly.

Trading Costs

We can not give any concrete information in regards to trading costs, there are spreads but there is no mention of what they are, there is also no mention of commissions so we are unable to comment on this section of the review in regards to actual trading costs. We can say that there are swaps involved, these are wither charged or awarded for holding trades overnight. If an account is left dormant for more than 12 months then a fee of $10 per month will be charged to any balance until a trade is made or the balance reaches 0.

Assets

The full extent of assets and instruments available on GT247 is not apparent to us. There is mention of there being over 65 fx pairs, indices, commodities, and crypto to trade, however, there is not a breakdown of what they are.

Spreads

Spreads exist, that is about as much as we can find, how much they are, what they start at and if they are fixed or floating is still a mystery to us. This is quite vital information for potential clients so it is a surprise that they are not clearly marked or any information stated on the website regarding them. The demo account offers spreads around 1.7 to 2.2 pips on the EUR/USD pair which is ok if the main account does not charge any commission.

Minimum Deposit

While there is no set minimum deposit, when starting an account we would always recommend depositing at least $500 as this allows you to use the proper risk management and gives more potential for profits.

Deposit Methods & Costs

If you wish to deposit with USD into your account you will need to use a bank wire transfer, it seems like this is the only method available. Should you wish to use ZART, then you need to use a credit or debit card. This is extremely limiting and not the most confidence-building thing to see. No information regarding bank transfer fees, but there is a fixed credit or debit card fee of $0.11 and also a fee of 2.3% on top of that.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Not much information from GT247 in regards to this, we assume the same methods for depositing are present for withdrawing but there is no mention of fees so we can not comment on them at this time.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Information on withdrawals times and processing times is not available on the website. Any requests made after 2 pm will be processed the next day, and that any withdrawal requests must be more than 14 days after the most recent deposit. This is a very strange rule and not one you see very often so be sure to take note of it should you wish to receive your funds quickly. Once payments are processed, any card withdrawals normally take between 1 and 5 business days and bank transfers normally between 3 and 5 business days.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is no information on the website in regards to any promotions or bonuses so it would seem like there are currently none available./ This does not mean that there won’t be in the future so be sure to keep an eye out if you are interested in joining GT247.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few different things available from GT247 in regards to getting some information or analysis. They are all pretty simple but if you are just starting out could be helpful to read. There is market news where you can get some information about what is happening in the markets. There are also research notes on different topics such as Non-Farm Payrolls and other major events, there is also a basic economic calendar available but there are more in-depth ones available out there on the internet.

In terms of education, there is an educational series to help teach you about certain aspects of trading such as their “Mastering the Fibonacci Retracement” or “Know Your Candlesticks & Candlestick Patterns” entries.

Customer Service

Customer services are open 5 days a week and are closed at the same time as the markets over the weekend. They open at 0:05 in the morning and close at 23:45 for a 20-minute break.

There are a couple of different ways to get in touch, you can call them directly using a couple of different numbers depending on the department you want to get in contact with. There are also postal addresses should you wish to send a physical letter. You can also use an email address should you wish to send your queries that way.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available from GT247 but this was not made very obvious on the website. You can sign up and use similar trading conditions to what the main accounts will most likely use. These demo accounts last for 28 days and are then deleted, you can, however, open up a new one once your current one ends.

Countries Accepted

We could not locate information in regards to which countries are accepted and which are excluded. If you require this information we suggest getting in contact with the support department.

Conclusion

There isn’t really enough information available from GT247 to make up a complete opinion of them, while their site looks good and the information they do provide is promising, there just isn’t enough of it for us to fully understand the service that is being offered or to be able to give a full recommendation, so this one is up to you to decide.

We hope you like this GT247review. Be sure to check out some of the other FX broker reviews to help find the brokerage that is right for you.

TeleTrade is an FX and CFD broker that has won 37 international awards since their establishment in 2011, including; Best Forex Broker Europe 2017, Best Customer Service Europe 2017, and Best Broker of the Year 2014. The company is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and is primarily located in Cyprus. This broker offers three different account types, some competitive pricing, and exclusive status levels for certain clients. As always, it’s vital to research a broker before handing over any hard-earned money. We’ve done the work for our readers, so stay with us to find out whether TeleTrade is worth investing in.

Account Types

This broker offers three account types; Standard MT4, NDD (No Dealing Desk) MT4, and MT5 Real ECN. Standard accounts provide users with the widest range of forex instruments available through the broker and rely on market execution. NDD accounts offer immediate access to the interbank market, without the intervention of a dealing desk. Investors have access to immediately executed trades, meaning there are no re-quotes on orders and no further pausing during order confirmation.

The Real ECN account allows traders to trade rapidly and take advantage of live-streaming and the best executable prices within the marketplace. These account holders can also trade outside of traditional trading hours and avoid wider spreads. Some similarities shared by the accounts include leverage caps, minimum deposit requirements, and margin call and stop out levels. Meanwhile, there are differences related to tradable instruments, spreads, commissions, and available platforms. We’ve included a brief summary of each account type below.

Standard MT4 Account
Minimum Deposit: $100
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spread: From 1.1 pips
Commissions: Zero

NDD MT4 Account
Minimum Deposit: $100
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spread: From 0.8 pips
Commissions: 0.01% on Stocks/0.007% on Others

MT5 Real ECN Account
Minimum Deposit: $100
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spread: From 0.2 pips
Commissions: 0.008%

Clients must provide personal compliance documents in order to complete the verification process. Necessary documents are made up of an ID document, which consists of a passport or national ID card (if the potential client does not have a passport), and a proof of residence document, which can be in the form of a utility bill, local authority tax bill, a confirmation letter issued by a municipality, or a bank statement dated within the last 6 months. The company also may take further steps to confirm identity, including having a telephone conversation, video call, or correspondence through email. Since this broker is more strict about verification, we would recommend waiting to make a deposit until the account has been completely verified.

Platform

The Standard and NDD account types both support MetaTrader 4, while the ECN account supports MetaTrader 5. If you’ve used either platform before, you’ll already know just how powerful MT4/MT5 can be. Both offer advanced tools, although MT5 includes 2 more pending order types, more technical indicators, graphical objects, and timeframes than its predecessor.

You’ll also find an Economic Calendar within the MT5 program. On the other side of things, many still prefer MT4, with its user-friendly interface, this is the platform that is most commonly offered by Forex brokers. MT4 can be downloaded from the broker’s website on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android, or accessed through the WebTrader. MT5 is only available for download on PC and Mac from the website, although it should also be accessible through the App Store or Google Play for supported devices.

Leverage

All accounts share the same leverage cap, which goes as high as 1:500. In case you’re unfamiliar with leverage, trading with a leverage of 1:1 would be the same as trading with the amount of funds in your account, while trading with a leverage of 1:500 would provide the ability to trade with 500 times the amount of funds in the account. Customers who do not have the status of a professional market participant can only trade with a leverage of 1:30 on FX pairs composed of USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD, and CHF. Leverage options are also more limited for those clients on other assets.

The cap is set at 1:20 on all other FX pairs, Gold and for a handful of Indices. There is a leverage limit of 1:10 for all other commodities, 1:5 is the limit on individual Stocks and ETFs, and there is a cap of 1:2 for Cryptocurrencies. At first glance, the leverages do seem to be high with this broker; however, having a less than professional status would limit one’s options significantly.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots, or one micro lot, on all account types. The maximum trade size differs based on the instrument and can be viewed under the “Specification” section within the trading platform. All accounts allow for a maximum of 200 open and pending positions. Once the margin level reaches 70%, traders will not be able to open any new positions. If the trader reaches the stop out level of 50%, open positions will be automatically closed by the system one by one.

Trading Costs

This broker profits through commissions, spreads, and swaps. On NDD accounts, there is a 0.1% commission for CFDs on Stocks and 0.007% for other symbol types. For Real ECN accounts, the commission is 0.008% on all instruments. Spreads start from 0.2 pips on ECN accounts, from 0.8 pips on NDD accounts, and from 1.1 pips on Standard accounts. Under the ‘Analytics’ section of the website, the broker provides a swap calculator that can be used to calculate the short and long swap on any available instrument. Of course, these any fees would only apply on positons held open overnight, with triple rates charges on Wednesdays. If your account status is Professional, Gold, or Platinum, the company will reimburse any accumulated negative rollover within the prior month. Check the ‘Bonuses & Promotions’ section of this review to find out if your account qualifies.

Assets

All accounts offer FX and CFD instruments; however, the Standard and NDD accounts offer more than 200 instruments, while the ECN account limits the number of available instruments to 100. CFDS are made up of Metals, Indices, Energies, Stocks, ETFs, and Cryptocurrencies. Beginning with FX options, we counted 66 available currency pairs on the Standard account, 60 options on the NDD account, and 57 options on the ECN account. This isn’t much of a difference, although some traders will find these numbers important.

We also counted 12 CFDs on Metals, 3 Energies, and 9 Indices, all of which are available on all three account types. This would be the expense of the ECN account offers. From there, the Standard and NDD accounts offer a large number of CFDs on Stocks, with investment opportunities available in companies like Apple, Disney, and Facebook, just to name a few. Both account types also offer 11 ETFs and Cryptocurrencies. The latter is one of the larger lists we’ve seen for the category, made up of 17 options, including the ever-popular Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple, and more.

Spreads

Spreads with this broker are variable and will, therefore, fluctuate with the market’s volatility. Naturally, the broker advertises the best possible spreads, which start as low as 0.2 pips on the ECN account type. If you’re trading on the NDD account, spreads start from 0.8 pips. On the Standard account type, the lowest spreads start from 1.1 pips. If you’d like to compare options, the broker lists the minimum and current spread for each instrument on their website and these can be viewed by choosing ‘Trading’ > ‘Instruments’ and then selecting an asset category.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit requirement is set at $100 USD on all three account types, so there is no need to compare based on cost. Many will be happy with the lower than average requirements, although it would be nice to see at least one account type with a lower limit. Still, $100 is a pretty solid amount that is low enough to be affordable for the majority of traders, while being large enough to allow for some flexibility when making trades.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded via Wire Transfer, Visa/MasterCard, Neteller, Skrill, or FasaPay. Wire Transfer is available within 2-3 business days and is subject to any fees charged on the bank’s behalf – we’ve seen these fees range from $25 to $50, but you’ll want to check with your bank to be sure. There is a 3.5% fee charged on Visa/MasterCard deposits and these deposits should be credited within 15 minutes. A 3.9% + 0.29 USD fee is charged on Neteller deposits, which are credited instantly. Skrill and FasaPay are also credited instantly, with a fee of 2.9% charged on Skrill deposits and a 0.5% (max $5 USD) fee charged on FasaPay deposits. If your account is Gold or Platinum status, the company will cover any fees charged on the bank or payment processor’s behalf in the form of a trading credit.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

TeleTrade has a few rules regarding withdrawals in order to prevent money laundering. Funds can only be returned to the same cards or electronic payment methods previously used to deposit. Once the deposited amount has been refunded, any profits must be withdrawn via Wire Transfer. Varying fees are charged on every withdrawal method. For SEPA EUR payments, a fee of 1 EUQ + a beneficiary bank commission fee may apply. For international payments through Wire Transfer, a fee of 0.1% (min $55, max $200) from the amount will be charged. If applicable, any intermediary bank fees will be deducted from the charged amount.

Fees on Visa/MasterCard withdrawals are 2.35% + $1 EUR/$1.50 USD. There is a 2% fee on Neteller, a 1% fee on Skrill, and a 0.5% fee on FasaPay withdrawals. If you request to withdraw funds with no trading activity, the company reserves the right to charge the equivalent of any incurred banking fees or 3% of the total withdrawal. The same policy as with deposits applied on withdrawals, where the company will cover any fees charged for clients of Gold or Platinum status. Your account would need to hold at least $100,000 to qualify for the waived fees.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

All back-office transfers are processed during standard business hours from 8:00 to 20:00 GMT +2(GMT +3 during DST), Monday through Friday. Visa/MasterCard withdrawals should be credited within 2-7 working days, depending on the card provider. Clients should expect Bank Transfers to be credited within 2 to 10 business days, depending on the currency and location of the exact bank. Neteller, Skrill, and FasaPay withdrawals are usually credited within 1-2 business days.

Bonuses & Promotions

This broker assigns one of three VIP status levels to certain accounts, based on the amount of currency in the account. Each status level provides different benefits in the form of personal account managers, reduction of spreads, reimbursement for negative rollover, a telephone line for VIP clients, deposits without commissions, and free admission to all workshops and training courses. Below, we’ve outlined the requirements for each status level and the rewards associated with it.

Professional Status ($50,000 deposited): Personal account manager available Monday – Friday from 9:00 – 21:00, a return rate of 10% at the close of each billing month, towards refunds on closed transactions, and reimbursement for accumulated negative rollover on closed transactions within the previous month.

Gold Status ($100,000 deposited): 24/7 (excluding bank and public holidays) Personal account manager, a return rate of 13% at the close of each billing month, towards refunds on closed transactions, reimbursement for accumulated negative rollover on closed transactions within the previous month, access to a special phone line for VIP clients, the company will cover bank or payment system commissions occurred by granting a trading credit, and free admission to in-depth training and special seminars.

Platinum Status ($500,000 deposited): 24/7 (excluding bank and public holidays) Personal account manager, a return rate of 15% at the close of each billing month, towards refunds on closed transactions, reimbursement for accumulated negative rollover on closed transactions within the previous month, access to a special phone line for VIP clients, and the company will cover bank or payment system commissions occurred by granting a trading credit.

Educational & Trading Tools

Educational offers are limited to webinars and videos aimed towards beginners. Clicking on Webinars leads to a webpage that introduces a member of the company’s team; however, we could not find anywhere to sign-up, nor did we see any lists of upcoming webinars. The videos section is composed of YouTube videos that cover topics like installing EAs, changing your password, opening, and closing trades, etc. The company seems to be offering a few more options when it comes to tools, including Market News, Calculators, Interactive Charts, an Economic Calendar, Interest Rates, Quotes, and a Holiday Calendar.

Demo Account

Free demo accounts are available and mimic each of the three account types offered by the broker – Standard, NDD, and ECN. Signing up for a demo is quick and easy, the process only requires a name, email address, phone number, and of course, the choice of which account type the demo should mimic. Opening one of these practice accounts could be an excellent way to test out a couple of the available account types before making a final decision.

Customer Service

The broker’s multilingual support team is available 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday from 9:00 – 18:00. Contact options include LiveChat, email, callback request, or phone. For the main European location, the broker provides two phone numbers and three email addresses. There are also separate contact numbers for the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, and Romania. As usual, we took a moment to check out the service on the website’s LiveChat feature, since this is the most commonly chosen contact option.

Also, note that you’ll need to select ‘Chat’ from the top of the website in order to begin the chat since the window is not located at the bottom of the screen. After filling in our name and choosing a language, we were quickly connected with an agent who greeted us immediately, although it did take the consultant a few minutes to respond with an answer to our initial question. Moving on, the broker is also active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Below, we have included all European contact options. If you’re located in one of the countries we listed above, all contact information can be found under ‘Company’ > ‘Our Contacts’.

Customer Support
Phone: (+357) 22314160
Email: [email protected]
Dealing Desk
Phone: (+357) 22024154
Email: [email protected]
Complaints
[email protected]
Address: 88 Archiepiskopou Markariou III, 1077, Nicosia-Cyprus

Countries Accepted

According to their website, the broker provides service on a cross-border basis and in selected 3rd countries, with the USA being excluded. The list of accepted countries includes Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Vietnam. We were concerned to see so many restrictions, so we attempted to register an account ourselves. Fortunately, these restrictions do not seem to be upheld, and one can even select the United States as their country when signing up. It’s possible that the broker simply needs to update the information on their website, or perhaps that misleading information is listed based on their being regulated by CySEC. Hopefully, one would not run into problems with verification, since these countries can be chosen.

Conclusion

TeleTrade is a regulated broker that offers trading on FX, Metals, Energies, Indices, Stocks, ETFs, and Cryptocurrencies. It costs $100 to open any of the three account types, which include Standard, NDD (No Dealing-Desk), and ECN accounts. Leverage options are initially advertised to go as high as 1:500; however, further investigation revealed that options are much more limited for traders that are not considered professional. Trading costs are dependent on the account type. Accounts either charge commissions, or are commission-free, and spreads are variable and range from starting from 0.2 pips to 1.1 pips.

Accounts can be funded by Wire Transfer, cards, or through a few electronic payment methods. One of this broker’s disadvantages would be fees charged on deposits and withdrawals, which can really add up, especially for those making large deposits, or withdrawing through international Bank Wire. The only way to avoid these fees would be to hold an account of Gold or Platinum status.

We were also disappointed to see such a slim offering of educational resources on the website, although the broker does offer a few helpful tools directly. Rather than offering bonuses, the company sets status levels on accounts for those that can afford to make deposits of $50,000 or more and offers rewards to said clients, including the offer to cover any funding fees that are incurred.

We had a good experience when we contacted the broker’s support team, which is available 24 hours a day, Monday – Friday. Overall, this broker does have some good qualities, although there are some disadvantages that may be a deal-breaker to some clients. It’s up to the individual trader to decide whether this broker is offering conditions that are advantageous enough to warrant opening an account.

XMTRADING is a product of Tradexfin Limited that is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and located in Cyprus. The broker offers high-leverage trading on FX, Commodities, Equity Indices, Precious Metals, and Energies. If you’re interested in signing up, you’ll need to know more about the three account types offered by the broker and their conditions.

Account Types

This broker offers three different account types; Micro, Standard, and Zero accounts. All accounts are affordable, with minimum deposit requirements ranging from $5 to $100. Leverage options and spreads are shared on the Micro and Standard account types, while the leverage cap is set lower on the Zero account. The Zero account also comes with lower spreads and is the only account type to charge commissions. We’ve included a quick summary of each account type below.

Micro Account
Minimum Deposit: $5
Leverage: 1:1 Up to 1:888*
Spread: From 1 pip
Commission: Zero

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: $5
Leverage: 1:1 Up to 1:888*
Spread: From 1 pip
Commission: Zero

ZMTRADING Zero Account
Minimum Deposit: $100
Leverage: 1:1 Up to 1:500*
Spread: From 0 pips
Commission: $5 per $100,000 traded

The broker requires a color copy of a valid passport or other official identity document and a utility bill dated within the last 6 months for account verification. Note that your address must be verified before withdrawals can be made, so you may want to complete this process before making a deposit. The broker doesn’t mention how long verification can take.

*These are the highest options available and limitations are set based on the account’s balance. See ‘Leverage’ for more details.

Platform

One of this broker’s advantages would be the inclusion of the two most popular trading platforms on the market – MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. You’ll be able to trade on either platform with no requotes or rejections. Trading on MT4 with this broker grants access to more than 1000 trading instruments, including Forex, CFDs, and Futures, full EA functionality, 1 click trading, technical analysis tools with 50 indicators and charting objects, 3 chart types, VPS functionality, and more.

MT5 offers many of the same advantages, however, traders would have access to FX, Gold, Oil, and Equity Indices through this platform. Many may have a preferred platform already, although it’s important to consider which asset classed one would prefer to have access to if this broker is chosen. On another note, there should be no issue accessing the platform, whichever is chosen. Both MT4 and MT5 are available on PC, Mac, and Mobile devices. The platforms can also be accessed through the browser-based WebTrader.

Leverage

The highest leverage option available would depend both on the account type and the amount of funds in the account. There are also some limitations on certain instruments. On Standard and Zero accounts, the maximum leverage cap of up to 1:888 is available with an account balance between $5 and $2,000. Anything between $20,000 and $100,000 qualifies for leverage of up to 1:200. Anything over that amount would only qualify for leverage as high as 1:100.

Options differ on Zero accounts, with the maximum leverage cap of 1:500 available with an account balance between $100 and $20,000, a leverage of 1:200 available on balances between $20,001 and $100,000, and a leverage of up to 1:100 available on any amount that tops $100,000. The broker has likely based their leverage options around the account balance in order to set limitations that would decrease the amount of funds one might lose. Taking a look at the instrument limitations, we see a leverage cap of 1:50 for some currency pairs, 1:100 for a few others, and a leverage cap of 1:400 on CHF currencies.

Trade Sizes

On MT5, the minimum trade size on the Micro account is 0.1 lots. On MT4, the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots, otherwise known as one micro lot, on the Micro account and both of the other account types. All accounts allow for 200 open and pending positions at one time. The Micro account has a lot restriction per ticket of 100 lots, while the other account types have a restriction of 50 lots. The maximum trade size on Precious Metals is 50 lots.

The margin in your trading account needs to be equal or above 100% in order for you to open new trades unless the new trades will result in your account being fully hedged. As soon as the margin level drops below 50% the broker will provide a warning that you do not have enough equity to support open positions. The stop-out level is reached when the client falls 20% below the required margin.

Trading Costs

This broker profits through commissions, spreads, swaps, and inactivity fees. Micro and Standard account holders will not have to pay any commissions. The commission on the Zero account is $5 per $100,000 traded. The commission fee for the MT4 platform is deducted from the transaction for both positions at once (opening and closing), and the commission on the MT5 platform is deducted from the account separately during the opening and closing of the position.

Positions held open overnight may be charged rollover interest. In the case of forex instruments, the amount credited or charged depends on both the position taken (i.e. long or short) and the rate differentials between the two currencies traded.

In the case of stocks and stock indices, the amount credited or charged depends on whether a short or a long position has been taken. Rollover interest is only applied to cash instruments. In the case of futures products, which have an expiry date, there are no overnight charges. Any account that is dormant for 90 calendar days will be considered inactive and a monthly $5 fee will be charged.

Assets

Earlier, we mentioned that certain asset classes are available on each platform, so we will quickly recap. If you’ve chosen MT4, you’ll have access to FX, CFDs, and Futures. Meanwhile, trading on MT5 grants access to FX, Oil, Gold, and Equity Indices. Those FX options are shared by all accounts and include more than 55 currency pairs, including majors, minors, crosses, and exotics. Commodities are made up of Cocoa, Coffee, Corn, Cotton, High-Grade Copper, US Soybeans, Sugar, and Wheat. Equity indices include 18 options. Precious Metals include Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Pallidum. Note that options are limited to Gold and Silver on Micro accounts. Five Energies are available, including Brent Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and more. All of the available instruments can be viewed under the ‘Trading’ section of the website.

Spreads

Spreads on all majors start as low as 1 pip on Standard and Micro accounts and are from 0 pips on Zero accounts. These options are obviously advantageous, but we were also concerned about the typical spreads on other instruments. While the website does not mention these specifically, it is possible to compare the average spreads under the ‘Trading’ category on the website. Since spreads can vary so widely on all assets and account types, we would definitely recommend taking a look at this section yourself.

Minimum Deposit

The Micro and Standard account types allow traders to open an account with as little as $5. Traders may want to deposit a larger amount in order to gain more bonus credit and to be able to support more trading activity, however, this amount is excellent for beginners and it also provides the ability to test out some of the available funding methods before making a larger deposit.

The Zero account type is also offering a low deposit requirement of $100. Fortunately, traders should be able to open any of the available accounts with this broker without being restricted based on capital. If you’re on the fence about making a deposit, you could also take advantage of this brokers $30 Trading Bonus promotion, which allows one to open an account without making an initial deposit.

Deposit Methods & Costs

We found the FAQ to be vague when it comes to the available funding methods. While the broker did mention that they support multiple cards, electronic payment methods, Bank Wire Transfer, and other methods, we felt that the broker should understand how important it is to list these options in detail. After opening an account, we found the options to be much more limited than they were initially made out to be, with options being limited to Visa, MasterCard, SticPay, and Wire Transfer. Aside from Wire Transfer, all deposits are processed instantly. No fees are charged on the broker’s behalf on incoming deposits.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Funds are processed back to the originating payment source as refunds. Any profits on Visa or MasterCard withdrawals must be processed back via Wire Transfer. The broker offers fee-free withdrawals on all methods and covers banking fees on Wire Transfer withdrawals of $200 or more. If you withdraw any amount lower than $200, you’ll be charged by the company’s bank. While the broker does not detail how much the charge would be, one could expect to see a charge anywhere from $25 to $50 dollars.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

This broker processes withdrawal requests within 24 hours. SticPay withdrawals are received the same business day. It typically takes 2-5 business days to receive card withdrawals. The wait time for Wire Transfer withdrawals depends on the client’s country. Standard wire within Europe should be received within 3 business days, while it can take up to 5 business days to receive wires back to some locations.

Bonuses & Promotions

Currently, the broker is offering a few different opportunities in this category. There’s a $30 Trading Bonus, a 50% + 20% Deposit Bonus, a Loyalty Program, Free VPS Services, and Zero Fees on Deposits & Withdrawals. As usual, we took a more in-depth look at some of these offers, since terms and conditions are so important. We’ve provided a brief description and some of the most important qualifying factors below, although you’ll want to read the entire list of terms and conditions for any promotion you may be interested in on the website. Also, note that the broker mentions that new time-sensitive offers are available periodically, so be sure to keep a lookout for any additions.

$30 Trading Bonus (No-Deposit Bonus): The broker offers a $30 non-withdrawable credit to any clients that open a real account. The promotion makes it possible for said client to open an account and test the broker’s products and services with no initial deposit. Any profits earned are fully withdrawable.

50% +20% Deposit Bonus (Micro and Standard Accounts): This is a two-tier bonus that can earn traders a maximum of $5,000. The first tier applies a bonus of up to 50% on deposits of $5 or more. The second tier is applied to deposits of $2,000 or more. Therefore, a client could earn a total bonus of $700 on a $2,000 deposit, and so on, up to $5,000. Profits can be withdrawn but doing so may result in partial removal of bonus funds.

Loyalty Program (Micro and Standard Accounts): All account holders begin at the Executive level and work their way up with trading activity. With each loyalty status upgrade, the amount of points that are earned increases. The more points one has, the more they will be able to redeem for credit rewards. Executive level earns 7 points per lot, Gold earns 10 per lot, Diamond earns 13 points per lot, and Elite earns 16 points per lot.

Educational & Trading Tools

Judging by the wide range of promotions and the detailed information on this broker’s website, we were expecting to see a wide range of features in this category. Sadly, the broker just isn’t offering much in the ways of education. At first, we didn’t find any educational options, but we did find a link to some educational videos on the FAQ (https://www.xmtrading.com/tutorials). Demo accounts are also available, although one would need some prior knowledge in order to use one. Trading tools are limited to Forex calculators and VPS options.

Demo Account

Traders are allowed to operate up to five demo accounts at once through this broker and demo accounts do not have expiration dates; however, if one does not login to their demo account for 90 days, the system will close the account. We highly recommend opening a demo account if you could use the practice since these accounts allow one to trade under the conditions of the broker, become acquainted with the trading platform, test out strategies, and more, all while using virtual currency. Demo accounts are an excellent practice tool because they carry no risks.

Customer Service

Support is available 24 hours a day, five days a week via LiveChat or email. It could also be worth taking a moment to check the website’s FAQ since many frequently asked questions about accounts and funding are answered there. We were a little disappointed that the company isn’t offering a direct phone number, so we decided to test out their LiveChat feature in order to see if the service was up to our standards. Fortunately, an agent responded right away, proving that the website is offering at least one instant contact option. The broker’s email and mailing address have been listed below.

Email: [email protected]
Address: F20, 1st Floor, Eden Plaza, Eden Island, Seychelles

Countries Accepted

At the bottom of their website, the broker quickly mentions that the website is not aimed towards residents of Japan. On the FAQ, the broker also mentions that US residents are no longer accepted, due to a recent act passed by the US Congress. We were determined to find out whether these restrictions are enforced, so we attempted to open an account from our US-based offices. Sadly, the broker was sure to exclude to the US and all similar options from the list, so there’s no way around that restriction. However, we did find Japan to be an option and found it to be possible to open an account from that location.

Conclusion

XMTRADING is an FX and CFD broker that offers high-leverage trading from three different account types on the MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms. This broker is highly affordable and the most expensive account only requires a deposit of $100. Trading costs can be advantageous, with spreads starting from between 0 and 1 pips on all account types and commissions are only charged on Zero accounts.

On a negative note, the broker isn’t totally transparent about funding options and only offers a few options, although Visa/MasterCard is accepted. Fortunately, the broker covers all funding fees, aside from bank charges on withdrawals less than $200 USD. There are also opportunities to make extra money, including several ongoing bonuses and promotions.

Surprisingly, the website is a bit barren when it comes to educational resources, although demo accounts and a few educational videos are available. Customer support can be reached anytime during weekdays, but contact methods are limited to LiveChat or phone.

WELTRADE is an online Forex and CFD broker that has been in business for more than 13 years. The company has certainly managed to stay afloat long enough to prove that they’re headed in the right direction, especially with so many competitors in the field. This broker has offices in several different countries, with their primary headquarters being located in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. If you’re interested in opening an account with them, you’ll have five options to choose from, so it is important to be educated about that choice. Making the right choice is vital when it comes to making a profit.

Account Types

WELTRADE offers five different account types: Micro, Premium, Pro, ZuluTrade, and Crypto. Accounts seem to share more differences than similarities. Note that the Micro account was designed for training purposes and familiarization with trading conditions. The company has the right to limit trading activity on this account type and may propose that clients transfer their funds to a new account type once they seem to be qualified. It is free to transfer funds and open another account type, so this should not be too much of a hassle.

One of the main things to consider when looking at all of the account types would be trading costs since some accounts are commission-free with higher spreads and others charge commissions with lower spreads. Leverage options are very high on all account types, although the options are predictably lower on the Crypto account type. Tradable instruments can also vary, so be sure to check those options on each account type. We’ve provided an overview of all of the account types below for comparison.

Micro Account
Minimum Deposit: $25 USD
Leverage: 1:33 – 1:1000
Spread: From 1.9 pips
Commission: Zero
Assets: Forex, Metals

Premium Account
Minimum Deposit: $200
Leverage: 1:33 – 1:1000
Spread: From 1.9 pips
Commission: Zero
Assets: Forex, Metals, Commodities

Pro Account
Minimum Deposit: $500 USD
Leverage: 1:1 – 1:1000
Spread: From 0.5 pips
Commission: Zero
Assets: Forex, Metals, Commodities

ZuluTrade Account
Minimum Deposit: $200 USD
Leverage: 1:33 – 1:500
Spread: From 2.9 pips
Commission: 1.5 points
Assets: Forex, Metals, Commodities

Crypto Account
Minimum Deposit: $50 USD
Leverage: 1:3 – 1:20
Spread: From 0 pips
Commission: 0.5%
Assets: Cryptocurrencies

The company claims that the longer clients work with them, they will receive more benefits and higher status. We couldn’t find any more information on this claim on the website, so it’s unclear what type of benefits would be received if any at all. Clients are required to provide a copy of their passport and a proof of residence document in order to confirm their identity.

Platform

Micro, Premium, Pro, and Crypto account holders will have the option to choose between the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms. Those with the ZuluTrade account type will only be able to trade on the MT4 platform. The MT4 platform is a free online trading program that comes with more than 50 built-in indicators and tools. MT5 is a multi-asset platform that has built-upon the success of its predecessor. The program also enables the use of automated trading systems, robots, and copy trading. Both platforms are available on mobile, tablets, desktop, and through the web platform. Investors or clients that work with many accounts simultaneously can do so on the MT4 MultiTerminal.

Leverage

For Pro account holders, the smallest leverage option is 1:1. On Crypto accounts, clients can start with leverage of 1:3. Note that choosing leverage of 1:1 would simply mean that one is trading with the exact amount of funds that are available in their account. The Crypto account type allows for maximum leverage of 1:20, which is not surprising for an account that focuses on trading cryptocurrencies. The ZuluTrade account offers a higher than average cap of 1:500, an option that would be enough for the majority of traders.

From there, the company doubles the leverage offerings, with the cap being 1:1000 on the Micro, Premium, and Pro accounts. All of these options are excellent, so there will be no need to reconsider based on available leverage options. However, beginners should note that trading with higher leverage options could lead to huge losses, especially when trading without much experience. We would recommend practicing on a demo account to gain a better idea of what leverage options would be best for anyone that isn’t sure what option to choose.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size for all account types is 0.01, or one micro lot. Aside from the Micro account, all accounts offer a maximum order volume of 100 lots. The Micro account allows for 1,000 lots. The Micro, Premium, and ZuluTrade accounts will allow up to 100 open positions at a time, while the Pro account allows 150. The website does not clarify these details for the Crypto account type. Margin call and stop out levels are shared by the Micro, Premium, Pro, and ZuluTrade accounts. Those levels are listed below.

Margin Call/Stop Out Levels:
Micro, Premium, Pro, ZuluTrade: 20%/10%
Crypto: 40%/20%

Trading Costs

This broker profits through commissions, interest rates, swap fees, and spreads.
Commissions: Micro, Premium, and Pro accounts are commission-free. Commissions are charged when placing an order and are 1.5 points on ZuluTrade accounts and 0.5% on Crypto accounts.

Swap Fees: Swap-free versions are available for all five account types. Otherwise, swaps are applicable to any positions held overnight. The website doesn’t go into further detail.
Spreads: Spreads vary with this broker and range from starting from 0 pips to 2.9 pips.
Interest Rate: These charges are not applicable to Micro, Premium, ZuluTrade, or Crypto accounts. On the Premium account, the interest rate is 3.5%. The Pro account has an interest rate of 5%.

Assets

This broker offers Forex, commodities, metals, and cryptocurrencies for trading. The chosen account type would directly affect which types of assets can be traded, so we will start by reviewing those limitations. The Crypto account is the only option that allows for the trading of cryptocurrencies and this is the only type of asset available on this account type as well. This could be an excellent secondary account if you’re looking for more options. The Micro account options are also more limited, with Forex and Metals being the only options. Also, note that Forex options are limited to XAUUSD and XAGUSD only on Micro accounts.

All three of the remaining account types offer the largest variety, with Forex, Metals, and Commodities being available. Now, we will look into the tradable instruments in more detail. Starting with Forex options, we will remind readers that the Micro account only offers two currency pairs. We found that 48 currency pairs are available for trading on the other account types that offer them. When it comes to trading metals, Gold and Silver are the only options on the Micro account.

The Premium and Pro accounts offer Platinum and Pallidum in addition to those options. The ZuluTrade account offers Gold, Silver, and Platinum. The Premium, Pro, and ZuluTrade accounts feature two commodities; Brent Oil and Crude Oil. As we mentioned, the Crypto account is the only account type to feature cryptocurrencies. We found 15 available options, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

Spreads

Spreads are floating on all account types, so one should expect to see spreads climb higher than those advertised. The lowest spreads available with this broker are from 0 pips on the Crypto account type. The Pro account comes in second place, with spreads starting from 0.5 pips. Micro and Premium accounts both offer spreads that start from 1.9 pips. ZuluTrade accounts have the highest spreads, starting from 2.9 pips. Keep in mind that some of the accounts are commission-free and therefore come with higher spreads.

Minimum Deposit

Deposit minimums range from $25 up to $500 USD. The most affordable accounts would be The Micro account, with the lowest $25 minimum, and the Crypto account, with a $50 deposit minimum. You may find brokers that do not have a set deposit requirement; however, we feel that these options are large enough to allow one to actually conduct some trading activity while being small enough to be affordable for all types of traders. The Premium and ZuluTrade accounts both require a $200 deposit. The most expensive account type would be the Pro account, with a $500 deposit requirement.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Available deposit methods include Visa, MasterCard, Skrill, Neteller, WebMoney, PerfectMoney, QIWI Wallet, Indonesian Bank Transfer, Wallet One, and FasaPay. Crypto options include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and EOS. Aside from Indonesian Bank transfer and Crypto options, all payments are immediately available. It can take up to 24 hours for bank transfers to be credited and it will take the required number of confirmations on the network for crypto options to be credited. The company includes no commission deposits under their list of promotions and covers all of the fees for the available deposit methods at this time. There is no end date listed for the promotion, but do keep an eye out just in case the company does start charging their standard commission fees.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

All of the funding options can be used to withdraw funds. Service fees are applicable to most of the deposit methods, so you’ll definitely want to check those fees below. We did notice that Indonesian Bank Transfer and Wallet One do not charge service fees, so this does offer two very limited ways to withdraw fee-free. FasaPay also caps their fee at $5, so this would be a good option if you’re making a larger withdrawal.

• Indonesian Bank Transfer: 0%
• Wallet One: 0%
• PerfectMoney: 0.5%
• FasaPay: 0.5% (max $5.00)
• Skrill & QIWI Wallet: 1%
• Visa/MasterCard: 1.2% + 3.0 USD/1.2% + 2.7 EUR/1.9% (min 50 RUB)
• Neteller: 2% (min $1.00)
• Crypto (BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP, EOS): 1%
• WebMoney: 0.8% (max: 50 WMZ, 1,500 WMR, 100 WMB)

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

This broker offers an insanely fast process time within 30 minutes from the time the request is made. Withdrawals are even processed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This could be a huge advantage to anyone who may need their funds suddenly. We’re not used to seeing brokers that are available to process withdrawals on weekends, and much more rarely during the night.

Bonuses & Promotions

The bonuses and promotions offered by this broker are highly unique. Rather than offering a simple deposit bonus like we’re used to seeing, this broker makes a sort of game out of earning rewards, with random payouts based on spinning wheels, drawing cards, etc. You’ll always want to be on the lookout for new opportunities with this broker since these seem to be updated frequently. There are several different running options, so we’ve outlined them all below. Also, note that we always try to include the most relevant terms and conditions on offers, but it is always important to check all of these on the website.

AstroCards (All Account Types): For each deposit that is made, starting from $50, the trader will receive one AstroCard round. You’ll earn 1 round on a $50 deposit, 2 rounds on a $100 deposit, and so forth up to 20 rounds on a $1,000 deposit. Clients will select cards when playing rounds for this game and rewards will be paid out in forms of non-withdrawable bonuses.

Get an iPhone 11Pro Max (All Account Types): Sign-up and open a trading account, deposit at least $5,000, and then trade 250 lots. Once these conditions have been completed, the client will need to reach out to support to receive the reward. The trader will have the choice between the iPhone 11 Max or a $1,400 withdrawable amount in cash with no restrictions. This promotion runs until July 11th, 2020.

Bonus 100% (Micro and Premium Account Types): This bonus is credited on deposits of $200 USD or more. The bonus is applied as credit, rather than balance and can be used as additional margin for order volume increase.

Cash Puzzle (All Account Types): Complete tasks and win up to $15,000 every day. Each day, there will be five tasks in the form of puzzles available. In reality, it is the client’s trading activity that sets the progress on these activities. Achieved progress is lost at the start of each new day. Once the client has completed three daily tasks, they will be eligible for a reward, from $5 to the maximum amount.

Spinner: Make deposits and gain spins on the wheel, which will allow one the chance to win bonuses. A $30 deposit grants one spin, $60 gains 2 spins, and so forth. Prizes are fixed bonuses that are determined randomly once the client spins the wheel. The bonus is not available for withdrawal but can be used as free margin.

Educational & Trading Tools

The main educational focus on this broker’s website would be live seminars. Traders can subscribe to upcoming seminars under ‘Tools’ > ‘Seminars and Training’. The website doesn’t go into further detail, so it is unclear what type of skill levels the seminars would be aimed towards. It would be great for the company to add a list of upcoming events that could be viewed straight from the site, to give one a better idea. There is also a MetaTrader 4 Guide and free demo accounts are provided.

There are a few more options when it comes to trading tools, including VPS, an economic calendar, and a trading calculator. The website also features ZuluTrade accounts as one of their main account types. ZuluTrade allows traders to set their accounts to automatically follow those of professional traders. The program is proportional and works even if the trader does not have the same amount of funds as the professional trader. All of these options can be found under ‘AutoTrading’ and ‘Tools’.

Demo Account

This broker features free demo accounts with an available balance of up to $5,000,000 in virtual currency. Leverage options go as high as 1:1000 on these accounts, which is the highest option on several of the company’s real accounts. The broker doesn’t mention any certain account type and we didn’t see the option to choose when registering for a demo account. For a broker that offers so many account types, it can be confusing to offer one basic demo account. This is based on the fact that there is no way to determine which account’s spread will be featured, whether commissions will be charged, etc. We also like the idea of testing out a couple of different account types on a demo before making a real decision, especially if one is considering making a large deposit. This doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be at one’s advantage to practice, we would simply enjoy seeing options that mirror the broker’s real accounts.

Customer Service

Support can be contacted through LiveChat, email, by phone, or by filling out a callback request. The company doesn’t advertise their hours on the website, so we used the opportunity to test out the website’s LiveChat feature. Sadly, support did not get back to us as quickly as we had hoped. After seven minutes with no initial response, we messaged our support agent a second time. Eventually, we gave up on the chat. This could be blamed on it being a late hour when we tested, although our support agent was active and online.

On our second attempt at a later time, support replied immediately and informed us that support works around the clock. Moving on, the company provides four separate email addresses for different departments, including general questions, finance, technical support, and partnerships. We’ve provided the main phone number and email addresses below, but you’ll also find 14 more options for clients located in different countries. All of this information is available on the ‘Customer Support’ section of the website.

Phone: +44-20-34116458 (St. Vincent & the Grenadines)
Email
General Questions: [email protected]
Financial Issues: [email protected]
Technical Support: [email protected]
Partnership: [email protected]

Countries Accepted

The broker claims that service is not offered to residents of Canada and the United States. We often find that terms can be more lenient when it actually comes down to registering, so we attempted to open an account from our US-based offices. We found that the initial registration page never asked for our country, so we were able to breeze through the verification process and open an account with no problem. The company does require verification documents and reserves the right to check the client’s location by their email address, so it is possible that there may be problems a little later down the road.

Conclusion

WELTRADE is an FX and CFD broker that offers several different assets, including cryptocurrencies. The variety of assets one would have access to actually depends on the account type that has been opened, which is a common theme with this broker. There are five account types in total, with deposit requirements ranging from $25 to $500. Trading costs vary, with the lowest spreads from 0 pips and the highest starting at 2.9 pips and some commission-free account types. This broker also offers extremely high leverage options as an advantage to more professional traders.

Funding can be done through several different methods, including options like Bitcoin. On the plus side, withdrawals are processed within 30 minutes 24/7. On the downside, there are applicable fees on almost every withdrawal method. Customer support seems easy enough to reach, although we did wait several minutes and receive no response on our first contact attempt. This broker also puts a fun spin on earning bonuses by offering several unique games that offer some opportunities to earn big rewards. Looking at the broker as a whole, it seems that there are some obvious advantages and disadvantages. Since trading costs can climb on some account types, it is important to carefully consider the available options with this broker.

Vantage FX is a regulated broker that offers FX, commodities, indices, and Share CFDs. The company is regulated under the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) and their office is located on the Cayman Islands as well. This broker has received multiple awards, including Financial Trading Services Provider of the Year in 2017 and 2018, Best Customer Support 2016, and many more. A quick glance at their website made it clear that there are some financial opportunities here, but we felt that it was important to take a more in-depth look at this option. Stay with us to find out more about the three account types that are offered and to read about the best and worst things about this broker.

Account Types

This broker offers three different account types; the Standard STP, Raw ECN, and Pro ECN accounts. All accounts share the same trade sizes and offer access to the same tradable products and leverages, but differences come in the form of execution types, deposit requirements, and trading costs, with varying spreads and commissions.

Another difference we noticed was the fact that the ECN Pro account doesn’t support currencies in SGD, JPY, or NZD, while the other accounts do. Of course, all of the accounts support the most popular currencies, including AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, and CAD. Account type will affect which promotions the client can earn as well. The company notes that the Raw ECN account type is the most popular, so this could be worth considering if you’re having trouble choosing. The broker will also allow traders to switch their account type by contacting support if they decide to do so. We’ve outlined some of the most important information for the accounts below.

Standard STP Account
Minimum Deposit: $200
Leverage: Up to 500:1 (Exceptions Apply)
Spreads: From 1.4 pips
Commissions: $0

Raw ECN Account
Minimum Deposit: $500
Leverage: Up to 500:1 (Exceptions Apply)
Spreads: From 0.0 pips
Commissions: $3.00 per lot per side

Pro ECN Account
Minimum Deposit: $20,000
Leverage: Up to 500:1 (Exceptions Apply)
Spreads: From 0.0 pips
Commissions: $2.00 per lot per side

Islamic Accounts: Islamic accounts are provided for clients who are unable to pay or receive swaps based on their Muslim faith. The broker charges administration fees on positions, in place of swaps, in order to keep these accounts compliant with Shariah law. Traders can choose between the Islamic Standard STP and Islamic RAW ECN accounts.

Account Approval: The company requires proof of identity documents for account verification, in compliance with their regulation. Australian clients can provide a Passport, Driver’s License, or a notarized and valid Proof of Age card. International clients can also provide a National Identity Card, but all documents aside from Passports would need to be notified. Address documents are not required. The company typically approves accounts within 24 hours from the time documents are submitted.

Platform

Both the MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms are available for clients to choose from. Many brokers make the selection for their clients, so it’s nice to see options here, especially since these are the most popular trading platforms in the world today. Both offer many similarities, although MT5 offers a few additional features. The company provides the same specifications, including tradable assets, on both platforms, so the decision would really only need to be based on the platform alone. Demo accounts are available on both platforms, so consider testing out one version or the other on a demo account if you’re not sure which to choose. Both platforms can be downloaded on PC and MAC, through mobile apps, or via the WebTrader.

Leverage

This broker is offering leverages of up to 500:1 on all three of their account types. This means that traders can trade with up to 500 times the balance available in their account, which is much higher than the average leverage options we’re used to seeing. However, the standard leverage offer goes up to 100:1 on all of the account types and leverages are limited to 200:1 on indices and 100:1 on energies.

It seems that the highest options are only available to those that have been approved to use them. You can also put in a request to use higher leverages if your trading strategy would require them. The company is probably looking at experience and the number of funds available here, so that they can limit loss for traders that they do need to feel are qualified to take higher risks. Taking everything into consideration, we’d say that leverage offers are average here, with high options for those qualified clients.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is one micro lot (0.01 lot) on all account types. The broker doesn’t go into much detail about maximum trade sizes, but we do know that 20 lots in the maximum trade size for precious metals. The broker will alert traders via email when their account reaches the margin call level of 80%. The broker will also inform their clients of the deposit that will be required to keep their positions open once the margin call level has been reached. If the account reaches the stop out level of 50%, all positions will be closed automatically.

Trading Costs

Trading costs are applied in the form of commissions, spreads, and swap rates. We’ve broken down each of these charges below.

Commissions: No commissions are charged on Standard STP accounts. On Raw ECN accounts, commissions are charged at $3 per lot per side. The Pro ECN account offers commissions that are one dollar lower, at $2 per lot per side.

Spreads: Spreads are from 0.0 pips on Pro ECN accounts, from 0.1 pip on Raw ECN accounts, and from 1.4 pips on Standard STP account types.

Swap Fees: Any positions left open at the end of the trading day will be rolled over to a new value date and will, therefore, be subject to a swap charge or credit. Rollover charges on Wednesday evening will be three times the normal value. Overnight swaps are not applicable to Crude Oil because they are derived directly from the Futures contract. Each currency pair has its own Forex swap charge and rates are calculated and released daily.

Assets

This broker offers Forex, commodity, Indice, and Share CFDs for trading. Traders will have access to more than 40 currency pairs, including all of the most popular options within the category. Indices include the 10 most liquid world Stock Exchange Indices, in addition to five more options. Commodities are made up of energies, soft commodities, and precious metals. This includes the most liquid commodity markets of Oil, Gold, and Silver. Soft commodities refer to materials that are grown, rather than mined. Share CFDs include 100 options from the US and Hong Kong. All of the available instruments can be viewed by category under the ‘Products’ section of the website.

Spreads

We mentioned the spreads for each account type earlier, but we will go into further detail now. Just to recap, the lowest spreads start from 0.0 pips on the Pro ECN account, although you’ll want to remember that there is a $20,000 deposit requirement on this account type, so this may limit one’s ability to choose this account. The Raw ECN account offers spreads that are also advantageous, starting as low as 0.1 pips. Spreads on the Standard STP account start from 1.4 pips. Note that these are the lowest spreads for each account type and that there will be differences based on the asset that is being traded. For example, the spread on GBPUSD on a Raw ECN account starts from 0.6 pips. If you’d like to view the exact spreads on certain instruments, you can do so under ‘Trading Conditions’ on the website.

Minimum Deposit

The lowest minimum deposit would be $200 on the Standard STP account type. This is just below the industry average, which is around $250. The most popular Raw ECN account requires a slightly larger deposit of $500, while the Pro ECN account’s deposit differs more significantly at $20,000. Fortunately, the first two account types are offering minimums that seem realistic enough, although we always like to see an account with a lower option that would benefit clear beginners.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Methods: Funds can be deposited via International ETF, Credit/Debit (Visa and MasterCard), China Union Pay, Neteller, Skrill (Moneybookers), Broker-to-Broker Transfer, and Thailand Instant Bank Wire Transfer. The latter, Credit and Debit, China Union Pay, and Neteller are credited instantly, while it can take 24 business hours for Skrill and 2-5 business days to receive Broker-to-Broker Transfer or International ETF.

Fees: International Bank Wire, Skrill, and Neteller deposits may be subject to fees charged by the payment provider, in addition to any handling fees charged by the company’s bank. If support is provided with a receipt showing that any fees were charged, the company will fully reimburse the client.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

All withdrawals are processed back to bank wire. Due to restrictions, the company is not able to process withdrawals back to cards, or any other payment methods. The company does not charge any fees on withdrawals but note that payments to and from overseas banking institutions may be charged intermediary transfer fees. Upon further investigation, we learned that this would apply a 20-unit fee on any International transfers.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals are processed Monday through Friday from 9 am – 7 pm (GMT+2). Requests received after 7 pm will be processed the following business day. Note that the broker’s bank closes at 4 pm, meaning that any withdrawals processed after that time will not be sent until the next business day,

Bonuses & Promotions

50% Welcome Bonus: Currently, clients can earn a 50% bonus, based on their initial deposit on MT4 Standard STP accounts. The smallest bonus is applied on deposits of at least $300, while the largest bonus tops out at $250 on deposits of $500 or more. Note that you’ll need to make a deposit that is $100 higher than the minimum requirement on this account type in order to qualify for this bonus. There are a lot of conditions for this bonus, so we will list the most important terms here and recommend that anyone interested in this bonus should take a look at the full list of terms & conditions.

Clients must opt-in by submitting a form within 10 days of their qualifying for the bonus, otherwise, the bonus cannot be applied. Rather than crediting the bonus all at once, the broker will convert 2 units of credit for every standard lot that is traded. The bonus cannot be withdrawn and making any withdrawal of the initial deposit may affect or terminate the bonus.

Vantage FX Rebate: When you join the Vantage FX Rebate program, you can receive $2 AUD per standard FX back to your MT4 trading account in cash rebates. Rebates are calculated and added to account balances daily and can be withdrawn at any time. There are no time limits and no restrictions on trade sizes, which maximizes the potential to earn. Sadly, rebates are only available on the Standard STP account type. Also, traders must deposit at least $1,000 to participate. Note that this account has a minimum of only $200.

Active Traders: Any trader with an account balance of at least $10,000 can take part in this promotion. Traders can earn up to $8 per standard FX lot traded, however, one would actually need to deposit $300,000 to earn the maximum amount. If you stick with the lower deposit requirement, rebates are paid back $2 per standard lot traded. Existing clients can also receive a 30% redeposit bonus on deposits between $10,000 and $30,000 through this promotion. Before you can start earning rebates, you will need to contact support and inform them you’d like to take part in the Active Traders Program. Remember to do so as soon as possible to avoid missing out on any rebates.

Educational & Trading Tools

Educational resources are mostly made up of manuals and learning videos. The company has provided a breakdown of the Market Overview, Markey Analysis, and Trading Psychology under ‘Education’ > ‘Learn Forex’. Manuals are also provided that explain everything relevant to installing and using MetaTrader 4 and 5. The learning videos also have a large focus on explaining how to use the platforms, although they do get into more technicalities, like how to install custom indicators, change chart settings, and how to create and save templates, just to name a few examples.

If you have some knowledge about the Forex world so far, this broker should be offering enough to get you started trading. If you’re a clear beginner, you’ll probably need more information than what is provided directly on the website. On another note, the broker is offering several helpful tools and news from their website as well. The only thing we were really missing was the addition of calculators, although you’ll find that the sheer variety of tools will make up for that. We’ve listed all the available tools below.

• MT4 SmartTrader Tools
• Trading Signals
• Expert Advisors
• Economic Calendar
• Free Forex VPS
• Economic Calendar
• MT4 & Forex Sentiment Indicators
• Forex News
• Forex TV
• Forex Essentials (Including Live Spreads)
• CFD Rollover Dates

Demo Account

For potential clients, this broker offers free 30-day demo accounts, while non-expiring demo accounts are available to live account holders. The company explains that they understand 30 days may not be long enough for one to pick up on everything, which is why they extended the life of their demo accounts to those that have signed up for accounts. Traders can also choose between either trading platform, which provides an advantage if you’re considering using a platform that you aren’t used to, or if you’re trying to compare options before opening a real account.

Customer Service

Support is available 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday. The company recommends clients call one of their available phone numbers or use LiveChat for immediate assistance, otherwise clients can expect to receive responses via email within 24 business hours. If your inquiry has to do with opening an account, then you’ll need to email a different department. The company is also active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and YouTube. The broker has uploaded several videos that explain how to use the MT4 platform, so we suggest taking a look if you’re struggling there. LiveChat is available directly on the website and we have included all other contact information below.

Account Opening (9-5 Mon-Fri)
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +61 2 8999 2046

For Clients (24/5)
Email: [email protected]

Phone:
1 300 945 517
UK: +44 207 100 8625
China: 400-120-9301
Canada: 1-888-442-4106
International: +61 2 8999 2044
Fax: +61 2 9279 2652

Address: 4th Floor The Harbour Centre, 42 N Church St, George Town, Cayman Islands

Countries Accepted

The company claims to refuse service to residents of North Korea, Japan, the United States, and some other regions on their homepage. Checking their FAQ let us know that there are several more countries on the banned list, including: Afghanistan, Australia, Belarus, Burma, Burundi, British Columbia (Canada), Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, ISIL (Da’esh), & Al-Qaida, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Republic of Guinea, Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Russia, Crimea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

Conclusion

Vantage FX is a multiple award-winning, regulated Forex and CFD broker that offers three different account types with varying deposit requirements that start from $200. Trading costs can be advantageous but differ based on which account type has been chosen, with better spreads offered on the more expensive account types. Leverage options can go as high as 500:1 but those options are only available upon approval.

When it comes to funding, the broker offers several different methods for deposits, but withdrawals are limited to bank wire only, which could attribute to longer wait times and fees on international transfers.

The website provides a rich array of educational resources and tools, including free demo accounts. There are also a few ongoing promotions that one may qualify for, based on their deposit and account type. In the end, only the trader can decide whether these conditions are attractive enough to open an account with this broker. There do seem to be some clear advantages, but there is a lot of information to consider before making a decision.

ILimits DMCC is a forex broker based in Dubai and is aimed at people who currently reside in Dubai itself. Established in 2016, it claims to offer an advanced trading environment with each client having their own account manager. We take a little look into what services are really being offered.

Account Types

ILimits DMCC offers individual accounts and corporate accounts, we will only be looking at the individual accounts as that is what 99.9% of retail traders will go for. Having said that, it is quite hard to talk about the account, simply because there is very little information available, the accounts page which normally details the conditions and features of an account simply states that you can sign up, and the requirements to do so, I am not talking about funding, etc, but the verification.

What makes this broker seemingly focus on those living in Dubai is the fact that if you wish to open an account, you need to physically go into their offices and hand over your documents and application form to one of their representatives. Due to all this and the lack of information, we can not comment much more on what the accounts actually are.

Platforms

ILimits DMCC uses MetaTrader 5 (MT5) as their trading platform, it is the only one currently on offer, even without any other choice MT5 is a solid option. It offers high levels of customization and access to hundreds and thousands of expert advisors, indicators and signals to help with your analysis and trading. It also offers access anywhere with it being available as a desktop download, and app for iOS and Android devices as well as a web trader to use from within your internet browser.

Leverage

We are unfortunately not able to comment much on the leverage that is being provided as there isn’t any information about it on the website. The only information is a little bit of text that states “optimal leverage” but we are unsure of what this actually means.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start at 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot, however, there is no information regarding the maximum lot sizes. These are normally around 50 lots to 100 lots but we are unable to give any solid information on what they are with ILimits DMCC,

Trading Costs

We have no idea, this review is starting to seem like we didn’t even check, but there really is very little information available. We are if there are any commissions added to each trade as it is not mentioned on the site. We are assuming that swaps are a thing, but again not indicated but 99.9% of brokers have them. We had a little rummage through some of the documentation and noticed that there is talk of clients paying commissions, however, how much is still not stated.

Assets

ILimits DMCC work on futures, there are a number of different ones such as currencies, metals, options, equities, and hydrocarbons. There is not a huge selection within each, 20+ in total, so there isn’t a huge amount to chose from. There is a full breakdown of what is available on their website.

Spreads

You can guess what we are going to say here cant you? We have no idea. Once again there is very little information and none on spreads, so we can not comment at this stage.

Minimum Deposit

There is once again no information in regards to the minimum amount of equity required, either to open an account or for any other subsequent deposits.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Diving deep into the documentation on the site we see a mention of bank transfers, there are no other mentions of deposit methods or any fees.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Similarly to the deposits, the only method mentioned for withdrawing is also bank wire transfers. There is a mention of a potential fee, but how much is not specified.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Unknown, we can’t comment on this as the information is not available.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are no bonuses or promotions currently being advertised on the ILimits DMCC website.

Educational & Trading Tools

We could not locate any additional tools or education on the site and there is no mention of any in the documentation provided so we are confident that there is currently none available.

Customer Service

Customer services are open between 9:00 and 18:00 (except Saturday) UAE timezone. There are a number of ways to get in contact, using the online web form to send a message and get a reply by email, there is also a phone number to call and an email to email directly.

We tested both the web form and email to ask for some of the missing information above, unfortunately, after 72 hours, we are yet to have a response and so have given up on the wait, hence why the information in this review is a little sparse.

Demo Account

Unfortunately, there are no demo accounts available. This is a real shame whenever we see it, as it is important to be able to see how the broker runs (although on demo) or to be able to test your new strategies.

Countries Accepted

This information is not available on their website or terms and conditions, but as the broker seems to be focused on people living in Dubai, we would only recommend them if you are from Dubai.

Conclusion

It is hard to look past the lack of information available, it does not help to build any confidence in the brand and as a potential client, does not allow me to understand exactly what is being offered. The broker is focusing on those living in Dubai and so alienating a lot of the Forex trading world, this along with the lack of response from the customer service team means it is really hard for us to recommend this broker at all.

We hope you like this ILimits review. If you did, be sure to check out some of our other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

YaMarkets is a Forex broker founded in 2016 and located in Vanuata. YaMarkets was founded with the goal to give regulated, minimal spreads, fast order execution and an unrivaled trading condition for its clients. In this review, we will be looking at different aspects of YaMarkets to see what they really deliver.

Account Types

YaMarkets offer a number of different accounts, however, the details and differences between them are non existent, there are some details listed which we can only assume are relevant for all account types, we will put them here, but the different account types will have some differences, we just can’t find out what they are at this point in time.

All accounts seem to have optional leverage, you can choose increments from between 1:1 and 1:500. Minimum trade sizes are set to 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot. Spreads can be as low as 0 pips and deposits start from just $10.

Platforms

YaMarkets offers a singular trading platform, MetaTrader 5 (MT5). MetaTrader 5 was released in June 2010 and so has been around for nearly 10 years, this has given it enough time to build up a healthy user base, offering high levels of customization, access to hundreds and thousands of indicators and expert advisers and a solid signal database. Having just the one platform can be a bit limiting, but MT5 is a good option to have, especially as it is available to use as a desktop download, an app for iOS and Android devices as well as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser.

Leverage

As briefly mentioned earlier, the leverage for accounts can be selected by the user, the minimum leverage is, of course, 1:1, the maximum can be set as high as 1:500, 1L500 seems to be becoming the industry standard and what newer traders are looking for so it is good to see it present here. Commodities trading can have maximum leverage up to 1:400.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start with a minimum of 0.01 lots (micro lot), there is no indication of what the maximum trade size is, however for most brokers this normally sits at around 50 lots to 100 lots, so w would expect YaMarkets to follow suit.

Trading Costs

YaMarkets do not advertise what their costs are, so it is impossible to tell if there are any commissions without actually testing out the trading. As we can not test the commission, we do test the spreads so check out the Spreads section of this review.

Assets

Forex and commodities, those are the two instruments available for trading, in regards to how many, we have no idea. The forex section of the site does not indicate how many currency pairs are available or any indication of which ones, the commodities section does state that there are over 20 CFDs to trade, but does not really go into much more detail than that.

It also appears that cryptocurrencies are available to trade, however, there are no details on which ones, the only mention is of Bitcoin. It is nice to see the crypto world making it to YaMarkets, but they need to provide more details on what exactly is being offered.

Spreads

Information regarding spreads are not available on the YaMarkets website, we did, however, use a demo account to see what sort of spreads are in play, we noticed that the lowest spreads available, mainly for EUR/USD were over 3 pips, this is pretty high when comparing to other brokers. If there is a commission on top of this, then the costs of trading are extortionate.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit stated on the YaMarkets website is $10, this is low and allows people just testing the water to sign up. We do not know what the required balance for opening an account is, but we would assume the $10 minimum deposit would cover this.

Deposit Methods & Costs

It took a while to find, but there are a few different deposit methods available from YaMarkets, these are credit/debit cards, bank wire transfers, Neteller and Moneybookers. There are be others available but we could not locate much information about them. There is also no indication of any fees, although the promotion regarding free transfer fees states that deposits over $200 have no fees, so we can assume that there are if you are depositing a smaller amount.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Similarly to the deposit methods,m we could not locate any solid information on the methods provided, however, there are mentions of withdrawing with a bank wire transfer, Moneybookers, Neteller and credit/debit cards. Again no mention of fees, but similarly to the deposits, there may be a fee for withdrawing under $200 at a time.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Looking through the website and the general terms (customer agreement) of the site, we can not find any information in regards to processing. Most brokers try to process within 24 hours, but the complete lack of information available doesn’t give us much confidence. We, unfortunately, we can not comment on this section of the review.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are a few different bonuses available with YaMarkets.

Welcome Bonus: You can receive us to $500 as a welcome bonus, simply deposit and receive the bonus, there is no indication of what percentage bonus this is, or what it is exactly used for,m just that it is a no extraction bonus, meaning you can not withdraw it.

Zero Transfer Costs: YaMarkets publish this as a bonus, but we feel it should be standard, this bonus is simply that any deposits or withdrawals over $200 will not have any additional charges added to them.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are some very basic tutorials available in regards to topics such as making profits in forex, basic technical analysis, trading success strategies and a glossary of different forex based terms. None of these will make you an expert trader, but it is nice that at least some information is being provided. There is a Fibonacci calculator on the site, giving you a way to work out different levels, it is basic, but worth mentioning if you use Fibonacci to trade.

Customer Service

YaMarkets offer a few different ways to get in touch if you have any queries or require help. There is the usual online form to fill out, where you will then get a reply by email. There is also a physical address should you wish to send physical mail and a phone number to talk to someone directly. They also offer direct email support and can also call or chat on skype. There is a nice selection of ways to get in touch.

We tested out the web form, however after 48 hours we still have not received a response, the website states that support is available 24/5, only closing on weekends when the markets are closed themselves.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, you can access them by simply signing up to an account. The demo accounts last forever as long as you are actively using them, if they go dormant for too long then they will be deleted but you can easily open up a new one. It is stated that market conditions are similar to live trading, which indicates that spreads are high, the demo testing environment does not have the greatest trading conditions we have seen.

Countries Accepted

No indication of what countries are accepted or not, although the broker is not regulated so we can assume that the majority will be ok. Be sure to get in touch with the customer service team if you are unsure if you can join.

Conclusion

The lack of information is concerning, anyone looking to become a YaMarkets client will want to know information about the accounts, trading conditions such as spreads and any commissions being charged, not to mention what assets are available. Without this information being present it is hard to recommend them. A lot of our questions could have been answered by the customer service team, however, we are yet to get a response from them. There are plenty of other great brokers out there and we would be recommending to look at one of them.

We hope you like this YaMarkets review. If you did be sure to check out some of our other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

WiseBitcoin is a crypto and token focused broker that is currently regulated by the Finance Services Authority (FSA). WiseBitcoin is looking to make crypto and token trading accessible and efficient investment in infrastructure and trading environments. We take a deeper look into what service is really being offered and if it is worth trading with them.

Account Types

WiseBitcoin is keeping things simple as there is only one account type to get, the “Standard Account”. This account allows you to use all the features of WiseBitcoin and have the following benefits. The base currency can be EUR, USD, JPY or BTC, leverage ranging from 1:1 up to 1:100. All other features of the account will be looked at throughout this review, so we won’t put them here to save repetition.

Platforms

WiseBitcoin continues to keep things simple, they are only offering a single trading platform, MetaTrader 5 (MT5). MetaTrader 5 came out in 2010 and has been adopted as one of the most used trading platforms for retail traders. It is the little brother or MT4 and offers huge amounts of customization, compatibility with hundreds and thousands of expert advisors and indicators and is extremely accessible due to it being available as a desktop download, an app for iOS and Android devices and as a WebTrader to use within your internet browser.

Leverage

The leverage available is based on the coin that you are trading, for instance, Bitcoin and Ethereum have a maximum leverage of 1:100, while Ripple and many others have a maximum leverage of 1:25. There is a handy page on the site that lists all current coins and tokens available and the leverage that is available for them, so be sure to check that out if you are interested in using WiseBitcoin for your crypto trading. 1:100 is quite high for Bitcoin trading when comparing to other brokers, while it can offer huge profit potential, we urge you to use caution as it also offers huge loss potential.

Trade Sizes

Just like leverage, the trade sizes are based on the coin or token being traded, so be sure to check out the product guide page that gives a full overview of the trade sizes allowed. As an example, Bitcoin has a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots (micro lot) and a maximum trade size of 1 lot, while Ethereum has a minimum trade size of 0.02 lots and a maximum trade size of 10 lots.

Trading Costs

There are a few different fee structures with WiseBitcoin, there are spreads, commissions, and swap charges.

Commission: Currently, there are no commissions added to any trading with WiseBitcoin, so you can trade cryptocurrencies and tokens free from any commission.

Spread: Spread is the difference between the buy and sell prices, this is decided by the liquidity of the market, it is constantly changing but with WiseBitcoin it will sit anywhere between $0 and $30 when trading Bitcoin.

Swap: Swap fees are charged for holding trades overnight, these are determined by the market conditions, WiseBitcoin update swap rates daily by 0.2% across their products.

Assets

With WiseBitcoin being a crypto-only broker, you will be expecting a large selection of coins and tokens to trade, and you will not be disappointed. There are 15 different crypto coins including the big hitters like Bitcoin and Ethereum, there are also slightly smaller coins such as Augur and Gnosis available. In terms of tokens, there are 6 available to trade using Ethereum as a base currency. If you trade crypto, you shouldn’t be disappointed, however, in the future, we would be expecting more coins and tokens to be added.

Spreads

We mentioned spreads in the trading costs section of this review, so there isn’t too much for us to add. “Spread is the difference between the buy and sell prices, this is decided by the liquidity of the market, it is constantly changing but with WiseBitcoin it will sit anywhere between $0 and $30 when trading Bitcoin.”

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit will depend on the method that you are using to deposit, we have listed out the methods and minimum amounts down below:

Bitcoin: 0.001 BTC
Ethereum: 0.01 ETH
Visa / Mastercard: $5
Sticpay: $5
Bank Wire: $300
Neteller: $5
Skrill: $5

So the minimum deposit amounts are low, making WiseBitcoin accessible to many people.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Bitcoin, Visa / Mastercard, Sticpay, Bank Wire, Neteller, and Skrill have a 0% deposit fee so there are no added costs. Ethereum has a 0.37% fee for deposits. Please note that when using bank wire as your deposit method, your own bank may add a processing fee of their own, please check with your bank prior to making a deposit.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw as they are to deposit, sadly the free deposit stance does not carry over to the withdrawals and fees are present, please see them below:

• Bitcoin: 1%
• Ethereum: 0.1%
• Visa / Mastercard: Free
• Sticpay: 0.3 USD + 2.5%
• Bank Wire: Free
• Neteller: 2% (min 1 USD, max 30 USD)
• Skrill: 1%

It is always a shame when you see brokers charging for withdrawals, something we really want to see stamped out.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Processing times similarly to deposits and withdrawals are based on the method that you have used, we have made this simple for you with the list below:

• Bitcoin: 1 – 2 business days
• Ehtereum: 1 – 2 business days
• Visa / Mastercard: 4 – 7 business days
• Sticpay: 1 – 2 business days
• Bank Wire: 2 – 5 business days
• Neteller: 1 – 2 business days
• Skrill 1 – 2 business days

Having to wait up to 2 days for an e-wallet or crypto withdrawal is quite long, many brokers are now aiming for under 24 hours, however, it is by far not the longest we have ever seen.

Bonuses & Promotions

Apart from the usual affiliate scheme, we could not locate any information in regards to any bonuses or promotions so it would appear that there are not any active promotions or bonuses at the moment, be sure to check back regularly if you are interested in using WiseBitcoin in case any promotions have popped up.

Educational & Trading Tools

The only education available on the website is tutorials on how to use WiseBitcoins’ own products and services, there currently is no information or tools to help with your trading or analysis.

Customer Service

Customer service is available 24/7 which is always nice to see. What is slightly less nice to see is that the only method of contacting WiseBitcoin is through a web form where you can expect a reply via email. It would have been good to be able to talk directly to someone via phone or live chat, but these features are currently not available.

Demo Account

Demo accounts allow you to test out the trading environment and your strategies. Demo accounts are available with WiseBitcoin and mimic market execution, compatibility with expert advisors and mimic the real trading environment. They last indefinitely as long as they are being used if you stop using it and it is left dormant, it will be deleted but a new one can then be opened.

Countries Accepted

Wisebitcoin does not offer its services to residents of certain jurisdictions such as USA, Cuba, Sudan, Syria, and North Korea and listed / relevant parties of Consolidated United Nations Security Council Sanctions Lists.

Conclusion

There is a lot on offer from WiseBitcoin when it comes to crypto and token trading, they offer extremely high leverage when comparing to other crypto brokers and they also offer plenty of deposit methods, it is a real shame to see this tainted by the withdrawal fees. No commission is good and the spreads are in line with a lot of other brokers in the crypto space, there is a small concern regarding the customer services with only the one way to get in contact, we would have liked to of had some options. If you are looking for a crypto-based broker then WiseBitcoin could be ok, there are worse and better ones out there though.

We hope you like this WiseBitcoin review. If you did, be sure to check out some other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

Anzo Capital is a forex broker based in Belize and was founded by a group of financial industry veterans. The broker was set up with a goal to reduce and mitigate their clients’ risks. Offering secure online trading, essential trading tools, and resources and offering a dedicated customer support team are their commitments. Do they live up to them? In this review, we will dive deep into the service that Anzo Capital is really offering.

Account Types

There are just two accounts on offer from Anzo Capital and they are based around different types of market execution, let’s take a look to see what is on offer.

STP Account: An STP account stands for ‘Straight Through Processing’, this means that your orders are sent directly to the markets in real-time and there is no other entity involved. This account requires a minimum deposit of $100 and can have leverage anywhere up to 1:500. It has floating spreads and the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots (micro lot) which can be increased by 0.01 increments, the maximum trade size sits at 50 lots. Margin call is set at 80% and stop out set at 50%, there are no added commissions added to this account. This account has access to MetaTrader 4 as its trading platform and has access to all trading services except for an account manager. This account type can be used as an individual or joint account only.

ECN Account: An ECN account stands for ‘Electronic Communications Network’ when you put in an order, it is sent to liquidity providers who then confirms your order, quotes are more stable with an ECN broker compared to STP. This account has a minimum deposit of $500 and retains the same leverage maximum of 1:500, spreads remain floating but are slightly reduced in size and the 0.01 lot minimum and 50 lots maximum trade sizes still stand. Margin call and stop out levels remain at 80% and 50% respectively. There is an added commission of $7 USD per lot traded. MetaTrader 4 is the only available trading platform for this account and it has access to all trading services including a dedicated 24/5 account manager, this account type can be used by individuals, joint accounts and also as corporate accounts.

Platforms

There is just a single platform available to use the Anzo Capital, the good news is that it is MetaTrader 4 which is always a solid choice.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is one of the world’s most popular trading platforms and for good reason. Released in 2005 by MetaQuotes Software, it has been around a while, it is stable customizable and full of features to help with your trading and analysis. MT4 is compatible with hundreds and thousands of different indicators, expert advisors, signal providers and more. Millions of people use MT4 for its interactive charts, multiple timeframes, one-click trading, trade copying and more. In terms of accessibility, MT4 is second to none, available as a desktop download, an app for Android and iOS devices and as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser. MetaTrader 4 is a great trading solution to have.

Leverage

The maximum leverage is set at 1:500 however not everyone can use it, maximum leverage is determined by account capital and the following conditions:

• Up to leverage of 1:500 when equity is less than USD 100,000
• Up to leverage of 1:400 when equity is between USD 100,000 to USD 200,000
• Up to leverage of 1:200 when equity is between USD 200,000 to USD500,000
• Up to leverage of 1:100 when equity is above USD 500,000

Trade Sizes

Minimum trade sizes are currently set at 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot and are the industry standard for forex trading. The maximum trade size is currently 50 lots which is an appropriate level, the majority of retail traders will never get this high if you do, it is recommended not to trade over 509 lots anyway as it can make it harder for the market or liquidity providers to fill the order instantly. Trading sizes can go up in increments of 0.01, for instance, 0.02, 0.03, all the way up to 50.0.

Trading Costs

Botha accounts have spreads which add to the cost of the trade, the STP account only uses spreads as their payment structure, we will be looking at spreads later in this review. The ECN account has an added commission of $7 per lot traded. This is not an unreasonable amount as it seems that $6 per lot is quickly becoming the standard commission charge. Swap fees are also present and are charged or received for holding trades overnight, these fees can be seen from directly within MetaTrader 4 (trading platform).

Assets

The assets on Anzo Capital are divided into 4 categories with multiple instruments within them, they are broken down as follows:

Forex Currency Pairs: The forex market is open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Anzo Capital currently offers both major, minor and exotic pairs to trade. There are 28 major and minor pairs including pairs such as EUR/USD and NZD/CHF. There are 17 exotic pairs including pairs such as USX/MXN and EUR/DKK.

Precious Metals: Only two metals on offer which is a little disappointing, there is Gold and Silver which are the main two,m but would have been nice to see others such as Platinum or Zinc.

Contract For Difference: Also known as CFDs, these are broken down into further categories, there are currently 13 CFDs on offer with an additional 2 spot oils and 11 cahs indices. Things like crude Oil, DAX30 and UK 100 Index are available for trading.

Cryptocurrencies: Cryptocurrencies are quickly becoming a major trading asset for both new and experienced traders. There are only 4 on offer from Anzo Capital which is a little disappointing, but any step in the right direction is a good one. You can currently trade ETHUSD, BTCUSD, LTCUSD, and XRPUSD. It would be nice to see more in the future.

Spreads

Spreads are completely dependant on two aspects, the account you are using and the instrument that you are trading. If we take forex as an example, AUD/CAD for the STP account has a target spread of 2.5 pips, while the ECN account for the same pair has a target spread of 0.6 pips. For metals, Gold has a target spread of 0.35 for STP and 0.1 for ECN. For CFDs, ASX200 has a target spread of 3.5 for STP and 1.2 for ECN and finally, cryptocurrencies have the same target spreads for both accounts an example is Bitcoin at 50.

It is also important to note that all spreads are variable, this means that they change depending on the markets, the target spreads are what Anzo Capital want them to be, not what they will be, they will often be seen slightly higher and rarely lower.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount needed to open up an account is currently $100 for the STP account, however, once an account has been opened the minimum deposit reduces for future top-ups. Depending on the payment method that you use, the minimum deposit will drop down to $20 once an account has already been opened.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a whole host of deposit methods available, we have put them all into a convenient table below in the following format:

Method – Currencies – Min Amount

Bank Transfer – USD – $100
Visa / MasterCard – USD – $20
WebMoney – USD – $100
Skrill – USD, EUR, GBP – $20
Neteller – USD, EUR, GPB, $20
FasaPay – IDR – $100
Qiwi – USD – $100
Yandex – USD – $100
SticPay – USD – $100

There are some other additional transfer methods which are specific to certain countries, be sure to check them out to see if any specific payment methods may be relevant to you.

It should be noted that there are no fees for depositing with Anzo Capital except with bank wire transfer, Anzo Capital will cover all fees if the deposit is over $3,000 any amount under this and the client will need to cover any fees. Also, be sure to check with your own bank in case they charge any bank transfer fees themselves.

It is also a surprise that there are so many deposit methods, but no cryptocurrencies available, a lot of people are beginning to fund their account with crypto, so it is a shame that it is not available here.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals are done via the same method that you used to deposit, the following information is relevant for withdrawals.

Bank Transfer – USD – $100
Visa / MasterCard – USD – $20
WebMoney – USD – $100
Skrill – USD, EUR, GBP – $20
Neteller – USD, EUR, GPB, $20
FasaPay – IDR – $100
Qiwi – USD – $100
Yandex – USD – $100
SticPay – USD – $100

It should be noted that there are no added fees except for a similar situation as the deposits, Anzo Capital will cover all fees if the deposit is over $3,000 any amount under this and the client will need to cover any fees. Also, be sure to check with your own bank in case they charge any bank transfer fees themselves.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

All withdrawals are processed the same day as the request, however, any requests out of working hours will be processed on the next working day (Monday to Friday).

Bank wire transfers will take between 2 to 5 working days once they have been processed and credit or debit cards will take between 1 to 5 days once they have been processed. E-wallets should receive the funds within 2 hours of being processed.

Bonuses & Promotions

There were 2 promotions that we could find one of them was for $50 cash rebates. You are able to receive a $50 bonus for depositing $500 with an ECN account or $200 with an STP account, you can withdraw the funds once you reach the following goals:

a. Complete at least 5 trading lots for STP/ECN account
b. At least 25 tickets round turn for STP/ECN Account
c. 5 standard lots round turn for STP/ECN Account of trading volume must be done within 30 calendar days from the date when the one-time deposit is made.

The second was the ability to get a free VPS, in order to get one, you need to have a daily average balance of at least $5,000 and trade at least 5 lots per month. If you do not meet this requirement you will be charged $25 per month.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a number of different educational and trading tools available as well as some other basics to help with analysis.

The majority of information provided is based around news, there is an economic calendar that tells you about any upcoming news events and how they may affect the markets, there are also news articles and daily insights to give you ideas of what may happen in the markets to help aid your own analysis.

In terms of education, there is a very basic video series that goes over some of the absolute basics, in terms of what forex is and different ways to do it. This may be helpful for people completely new, but if you have traded before you may not find it very helpful.

Finally there are signals, however, these are not unique to Anzo Capital as anyone can use them from MQL5.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in contact with Anzo Capital there are two ways to do it, you can either use their email address or live chat. We tried the live chat but did not connect after 5 minutes so gave up, this wasn’t the most promising time, however, we only tried once so may have just been unlucky. It is a little disappointing that only these 2 methods ar3e available as we have grown accustomed to being able to use the phone to get in contact. Support is available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week and is closed at the same time as the markets are.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, just click the demo account button on the right of the page a sign up. Demo accounts can be wither STP or ECN accounts so you can test the one you think you may use, can have a deposit up to $100,000 to play with and can select leverage up to 1:500. The demo accounts work with MetaTrader 4 and last 30 days, once the 30 days are up the accounts will be closed. You can sign up for a new one once your current one ends.

Countries Accepted

The only mention of any restrictions is the fact that Anzo Capital does not accept anyone from the United States if you are unsure if you are eligible for an account, get in contact with the customer service team and find out.

Conclusion

Anzo Capital is providing a competitive trading environment, its ECN account has a commission close to the industry standard of $6 and the trading conditions are acceptable for that commission rate. Plenty of ways to deposit and withdraw without any added fees, it would have been nice to see crypto as an option though. We weren’t able to get through to the customer service team which is concerning, but we may have just been unlucky on that one. Anzo Capital seems like a competent broker and we would not look at you funny if you decided to sign up with them.

We hope you like this Anzo Capital review. If you did, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

Gemini Capital also knows as GeminiCap is a forex broker registered and based in the Bahamas. Their core team includes many experienced traders and financial experts and is focused to adhere to their “customer first” philosophy. In this review, we will be looking deeper into what services are being offered and if they really are “customer first”.

Account Types

There are 3 different account son offer and each of them can be registered in 2 separate ways, let’s have a look at the accounts first to see what the trading conditions and requirements are like for them.

ECN Account: The ECN account is actually the highest tier account from GeminiCapl, the minimum deposit to open this account sits at $10,000 which could price out a lot of retail traders. Spreads are kept low sitting at a minimum of 0.0 pips for the EUR/USD currency pair. Leverage can be set between 1:50 and 1:500 and the minimum trade size is 0.01 pips (micro lot). Stop out level is at 100% and this account gives you access to the mobile app, one-click trading, hedging, no other trading restrictions and is able to use expert advisors. It is not stated, but we would be assuming that there is a commission added to this account due to the low spreads.

VIP Account: The VIP account is the “Hot” account according to the GeminiCap site. It has a required deposit of $1,000 and spreads have a minimum of 1.2 pips for the EUR/USD currency pair, leverage remains between 1:50 and 1:500. All other features remain the same as the ECN account. It is not stated, but we believe that there will be no added commission on this account type.

Standard Account: The entry-level account for GeminiCap with a minimum deposit of $500, spreads are at the highest for all accounts with a minimum of 2.2 pips on the EURUSD pair,, all other features remain the same such as leverage, minimum trade sizes, stop out and accessibility to things like the mobile app and expert advisors. We believe that there will be no added commission for this account.

You can register for accounts as either an individual or as an institution, be sure to have the required documents handy when signing up to an account as they will need to be verified.

Platforms

Gemini Capital uses MetaTrader 4 as their singular trading platform which is a good choice to have if you are only going to be using one platform.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is one of the world’s most popular trading platforms and for good reason. Released in 2005 by MetaQuotes Software, it has been around a while, it is stable customizable and full of features to help with your trading and analysis. MT4 is compatible with hundreds and thousands of different indicators, expert advisors, signal providers and more. Millions of people use MT4 for its interactive charts, multiple timeframes, one-click trading, trade copying and more. In terms of accessibility, MT4 is second to none, available as a desktop download, an app for Android and iOS devices and as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser. MetaTrader 4 is a great trading solution to have.

Leverage

Leverage for all accounts can be chosen when signing up to an account, the current minimum leverage available is 1:1 which is different to what is stated on the accounts page, and the maximum is 1:500, you can change leverage at any time but in order to make a change, there needs to be no open trades at the time of the request.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start at 0.01 lots which are also known as micro-lots, trade sizes increase in increments of 0.01 so the next available is 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots and so on. We did not see a mention of the maximum trade size but these normally sit between 50 lots and 100 lots, we do not recommend going over 50 lots per trade anyway as it can become increasingly harder for the market or liquidity providers to execute trades over 50 lots instantly.

Trading Costs

There are mentioned commissions within the legal documentation on the site however there is nowhere that it mentions what they are. The ECN account will most certainly have a commission added to it but it is unknown what this will be. Swaps are a fee that is known, this is charged for holding positions overnight and can be both positive and negative. These can be viewed from within the trading platform.

Assets

Assets on GeminiCap are broken down into 4 different categories, these are Forex, Indices, Commodities and US Stocks CFDs.

Forex: There are currently 36 currency pairs to trade, this is a relatively low amount when looking at the competition, these include both major, minor and a few exotic pairs.

Indices: A few examples of the indices on offer are DAX30, FTSE100, SP500, and HSI. It seems like there are 12 in total to trade.

Commodities: There are seven commodities on offer including the usual Gold and Silver, others such as Crude oil are also available to trade.

US stocks CFDs: Launched in August 2019, CFDs are now available on GeminiCap and there are 50 different international companies available to trade, including those from Belgium, Switzerland, Britain, Japan, China, and the United States.

Spreads

Spreads are the difference between the buying price and the selling price, the gap between them is decided by a number of factors including market conditions and broker added spread.

GeminiCap offers 3 different accounts and each one has a different base spread, the standard account starts at 2.2 pips which means the broker has added 2.2 pips to its spread in order to make a profit. The VIP account has a starting spread of 1.2 pips and the ECN account has a starting spread of 0.0.

It is important to note that these spreads are variable (or also known as floating) which means they will go up and down depending on the market conditions however will never go under the numbers stated. It is also important to note that certain pairs and instruments will naturally have higher spreads due to their nature.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit to open a new account is $500 which gets you the standard account, if you want an ECN account then the minimum deposit will be $10,000 which is pretty high compared to the competition. However, there is mention of smaller deposits, so once an account has been opened you should be able to deposit smaller amounts to top the account up.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The website currently only states 2 methods but there is a bit of confusion surrounding this. The site states that it accepts wire transfers from your bank or UnionPay. It states in the FAQ that they do not accept credit or debit card payments, however in the same FAQ, it states that there is a fee of $10 for depositing an amount under $200 with a credit or debit card, so we are not sure if they do or do not accept card payments. We believe they may have meant UnionPay who has these requirements.

Within the legal documents, it also states that there are no added fees to your deposits apart from the usual fees charged by your bank or payment processor. This again contradicts the information in the FAQ regarding the card payments and potential fee.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same information is provided as above, so it seems that only bank wire transfers and UnionPay are available, again it states that there are no added fees by GeminiCap except for any that your bank or payment processor may add.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Very little information regarding this, the usual processing for bank withdrawals is between 3 – 5 business days, but this depends on when it is processed from Gemini Capital which is currently not stated. UnionPay withdrawals should be received instantly after being processed and we are still unsure if card withdrawals exist.

Bonuses & Promotions

There seems to be 2 active promotions on the site, so let’s take a look at them.

$100 bonus: The name says it all, open a new account and get a $100 bonus. Although it should be noted that the closing date for this promotion is September 30th so we are not entirely sure why it is still on the site or if it is still active. Only valid for VIP or VIP accounts and it states that profit can be extracted when it reaches $50, so we are not entirely sure what that means.

Deposit with up to $20,000 bonus: Once again we need to note that this promotion states that it ends on September 30th, so again we do not know if it is still active, but it is present on the site. Terms are not completely clear, you get a different deposit amount based on different criteria but we do not know what they are exactly. You may need to get in touch with them to clear it all up. You will get either 10%, 20% or 50% for each deposit… we think.

Educational & Trading Tools

No too much when it comes to educational or trading tools, there are some basic guides on how to open an account or how to use MetaTrader 4 but that is about it. In terms of analysis, there are some very basic analysis pages which may help if you do not have any other sources, but there are much better free resources out there on the internet to use.

Customer Service

You can get in contact with a number of ways to ask your questions to get any help. You can use the online contact form to fill in your query and to get a response via email. You can also use their email address directly, along with an online chat feature. We did test out the online web form but are still awaiting a reply after 48 hours.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, simply click the demo account button and sign up, you can select a number of different things such as the account type (see account types section), the leverage that you want, anything from 1:1 up to 1:500 and the amount of capital between $3,000 and $5,000,000. We would recommend practicing with the same amount that you will deposit when going live. We could not see how long the accounts last, but normally they either last 30 days or are removed when left dormant for too long.

Countries Accepted

There is no mention of who can or can not use the service, so we can only recommend that you get in contact with the customer service team should you be interested in opening up an account.

Conclusion

GeminiCap offers what seems to be a pretty blow average service, there isn’t too much to shout about the lack of deposit and withdrawal methods is a little bit concerning, not to mention the confusion around credit and debit cards. We did not get a response from their customer service team and the trading conditions are the only real thing that is in line with any other brokers. At this point in time, it would be hard for users to recommend them as a broker to use.

We hope you like this Gemini Capital review. If you did, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

 

FXGlobe is an ECN broker registered in the Republic of Vanuatu and, currently catering for over 45,000 traders. FXGlobe started as a side project for a few traders but quickly grew over the past 9 years into what it is today. In this review we will be looking at what FXGlobe offers and if it is worth signing up to do your trading with them.

Account Types

FXGlobe currently offers three different accounts, the standard, Pro and ECN Razor, each with a different requirement and offering different trading environments, let’s take a look at what is on offer.

Standard: This account requires a minimum deposit of at least $250, it has a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots (micro lot), spreads starting at around 1,.6 pips, these are variable spreads so can be seen slightly higher or lower, this account gives you access to customer support but not an account manager.

Pro: The pro account increases the minimum deposit needed to $1,000, this entitles you to slightly lower spreads starting at 1.2 pips, as with the standard account, these are variable and so can be seen higher or slightly lower. This account entitles you to an account manager.

ECN Razor: The top tier account from FXGlobe, this account requires a deposit of at least $2,000. Spreads are further decreased and now start at around 0.4 pips, again these can be seen slightly higher and lower. With the ECN Razor account, you are provided with a dedicated account manager.

It would appear that all other trading conditions will be the same across all accounts including trade sizes, leverage and so forth, these will be outlined later in the review.

Platforms

There is currently one platform on offer from FXGlobe so let’s take a little look at what it is.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is one of the world’s most popular trading platforms and for good reason. Released in 2005 by MetaQuotes Software, it has been around a while, it is stable customizable and full of features to help with your trading and analysis. MT4 is compatible with hundreds and thousands of different indicators, expert advisors, signal providers and more. Millions of people use MT4 for its interactive charts, multiple timeframes, one-click trading, trade copying and more. In terms of accessibility, MT4 is second to none, available as a desktop download, an app for Android and iOS devices and as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser. MetaTrader 4 is a great trading solution to have.

Leverage

The maximum leverage given by FXGlobe is currently 1:300 which can be used on any of the accounts. Lower leverages can be selected when opening an account should you wish to trade with less leverage.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size for all accounts is 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot. We could not locate a mention of the maximum trade size but this normally sits between 50 lots and 100 lots.

Trading Costs

We had a look around the site but not seen any information in regards to any commissions for the accounts, normally an ECN account will have commissions attached to it due to the low spreads but we can not see if any are present here, so there may be some, we are just not sure what they are at this point in time. There are swap charges, which are paid or received for holding trades overnight and also a small markup on spreads which we will look at in more detail later in this review.

Assets

Plenty to chose from when it comes to assets and tradable instruments, a number of different categories are present with different amounts of assets in them. We have listed out the categories along with how many different instruments are present within them.

• Forex pairs: 51
• Commodities: 5
• Indices: 11
• US Shares: 10
• German Shares: 4
• UK Shares: 6
• Cryptocurrencies: 2

While it is great so see things like cryptocurrencies making an appearance, it would have been nice to have had ore choice when it comes to the number of instruments available from the crypto world.

Spreads

The spreads that you get with FXGlobe all depend on the account that you are using and the instrument that you are trading. The standard account has spread starting at 1.6 pips but they are variable, so they fluctuate with the markets and can often be seen higher. The pro account starts at around 1 pip but again they fluctuate so can be seen higher, finally, the ECN Razor account starts at around 0.4 pips but can increase with market movement. With all accounts, some currency pairs naturally have higher spreads and so can be seen much higher than the starting spread numbers.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit in order to open up an account is currently $250, there is no mention if that remains the minimum deposit after an account has been opened but it would be strange if it remained at $250 after the account is already open.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a number of different methods available to deposit with, FXGlobe currently accepts credit and debit cards, CashU, Neteller, wire transfers, bitcoin and more, but without having an account you are not able to see what the additional deposit methods are.

There are no additional fees when depositing with FXGlobe but be sure to check with your bank when making wire transfers just in case they charge their own fee. Third-party deposits are not accepted and all deposits must come from an account under your own name.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You can use the majority of the same methods to withdraw that you did to deposit, there are no additional fees when withdrawing which is nice to see and similarly to depositing, all withdrawals must go to accounts in your own name. You must also withdraw an amount equal to your deposit for each method before you can use a new one.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The FXGlobe FAQ states that all withdrawal requests will be processed within 24 hours, so for e-wallets, this means you will receive your funds within 24 hours, for other methods such as card it will take between 1 and 5 days and bank transfer between 3 and 7 days.

Bonuses & Promotions

We could not locate any information in regards to bonuses or promotions so we do not think there are any at present, however, this does not mean that there won’t be in the future so be sure to check back from time to time to see if any have popped up.

Educational & Trading Tools

The FXGlobe academy is there to help you learn and earn. There are a number of different courses available which will teach you a lot of the basics when it comes to trading and how to use different software such as MetaTrader 4.

There are also signals available for you to follow and copy to help give you trading ideas, there is also the standard economic calendar which tells you about any upcoming news events and the effect that they may have.

Customer Service

The customer support is a simple page, there is a web form to fill in which once they receive your query will reply to you via email. There is also a live chat but we have checked the site a number of times and it has never been available. Finally, there is a phone number to call if you want to speak to someone directly.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, however, when clocking the trial account button on the front page it led us to an error page. Demo accounts if you get one open give you an idea of the trading conditions and allow you to practice any trading strategies that you may have. The demo accounts with FXGlobe last indefinitely unless they are left dormant for too long in which case they are removed but a new one can then be opened.

Countries Accepted

We could not find any information regarding countries accepted or excluded on the site or in the terms and conditions, so if you are unsure, get in contact with support to see if you are eligible for an account.

Conclusion

The FXGlobe accounts offer a competitive trading environment with good conditions, spreads are relatively low and the entry cost of $250 is reasonable. It is nice to see cryptocurrencies available for trading and also banking however t would have been nice to see more of them. We were concerned about the fact that the demo accounts were currently not working but this may have been a temporary thing. Leverage is acceptable and trade sizes are fine, the fact that FXGlobe currently has 45,000+ clients means they must be doing something right.

We hope you like this FXGlob review. Be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

LBLV is a forex broker registered in Seychelles and registered under the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Boasting over 98,000 active traders 2,400 employees and 36 offices across 5 continents, LBLV is a major operation. They aim to offer high-quality service and support, we take a delve into the website and services being offered to see what LBLV are really offering and if it is worth using them as your online broker.

Account Types

There are 6 accounts to choose from when signing up with LBLV, each having their own requirements and features, we will take a look at them in more detail to see what each of the accounts offers.

All Accounts: All accounts with LBLV come with the following benefits, access to MetaTrader 5 as a trading platform, a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots (also known as a micro lot), the option of having an Islamic account which does not get charged swap fees, access to mobile trading, an account manager and dedicated 24 hour support.

Rookie: The entry-level account has a minimum deposit of $5,000 which is quite high for an entry-level account. The Rookie account comes with floating spreads (more details in the spread section of this review) and no additional features.

Basic: The basic account increases the minimum deposit to $25,000, it also has floating spreads and the account features page makes it seem identical to the Rookie account.

Premier: The premier account is similar to the above two accounts except that the minimum requirement has increased to $50,000, moving out of the usual retail traders’ range. The other difference is the addition of an economic news technical indicator, we will look into that in more detail in the trading tools section of this review.

Elite: The elite account requires a massive $100,000 deposit to open up, this account is slightly different as it now has a fixed spread instead of a variable one which means it does not change depending on market conditions. This account comes with the economical news indicator as well as an additional technical analysis.

Elite Plus: The Elite Plus account increases the minimum deposit amount even further to $250,000 this account comes with all the perks of the Elite account with the addition of an EU private bank account.

VIP: The top tier account, very few retail traders will be able to open this account as it requires a minimum deposit of $1,000,000. It has the same features as the Elite Plus account except you now get a personal banker for your EU private bank account.

LBLV is going for the more experienced and big-spending traders rather than people new to trading due to the minimum account deposit being $5,000 so those testing the markets will be priced out straight away.

Platforms

LBLV are offering a single trading platform, the good news is that it is MetaTrader 5 (MT5).

MetaTrader 5 (MT5): MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is the younger brother of MetaTrader 4 (MT4)m developed by MetaQuotes Software and released in 2010, MT5 is used by millions and for good reason. Offering plenty of trading and analysis features to ain in your trading. Additional services expand the functionality of the platform making its capabilities almost limitless. MetaTrader 5 offers the built-in Market of trading robots, the Freelance database of strategy developers, Copy Trading and the Virtual Hosting service (Forex VPS). Use all these services from one place, and access new trading opportunities. MetaTrader 5 is also highly accessible with it being available as a desktop download, application for iOS and Android devices and even as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser.

Leverage

Maximum leverage from LBLV is currently 1:400, however, it is unclear if this is for all accounts, we do not believe that if you have a $1m account that you will be able to trade with leverage of 1:500. Unfortunately, we can not clarify this at this moment in time.

Trade Sizes

Trading starts at 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot, maximum trade sizes are currently unknown as they are not advertised on the site, but the usual amounts are between 50 lots and 100 lots. No matter the maximum trade size, we would advise not to trade any lot sizes higher than 50 as it can make it harder for the liquidity providers to execute trades instantly and can cause slippage.

Trading Costs

LBLV do charge a commission, there is lots of mention of it in the terms and conditions, however, there is no mention of how much, on what accounts and on what instruments. So at this point in time, all we can say is that there are additional commission costs, but we don’t know how much.

Spreads are also resent, but we will look at them in more detail in the spreads section of this review. There are swap charges for holding trades overnight, either negative or positive, these can be viewed directly within MetaTrader 5. If you have an Islamic account, then instead of swap charges, the commission will be slightly increased.

Assets

There are currently 4 different categories of instruments available with LBLV, these are forex currencies where there are over 50 different pairs available, metals where there 5 different metals including gold, silver, and platinum. Commodities are also available and there are currently 5 of them available and finally, indices and shares where there are over 300 shares and over 40 indices available to trade.

Spreads

LBLV offer both fixed and variable spreads, fixed spreads do what the name suggests, they do not change, if a spread is at 1.5 pips it will remain at 1.5 pips. Variable spreads on the other hand change depending on the market conditions, if there is a lot of volatility (movement) then the spreads are generally higher.

Spreads can start as low as 1 pip, however the lower tier your account the higher they go, so if you are on an entry-level account, you could see the starting spreads sitting at over 3 pips.

It is also important to note that some currency pairs naturally have higher spreads than others, so while 1 pip may be the minimum, this is most likely for EUR/USD and pairs such as AUD/JPY will have higher spreads.

Minimum Deposit

In order to open up an account, you will need to make a minimum deposit of $5,000 which is quite high for an entry-level account. Once you have an account open, you can deposit smaller amounts in order to top up the account, we are not sure how low this reduced minimum goes but we know that it does reduce after the initial deposit and an account is open.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a few different methods of depositing with LBLV and we outline them below.

Credit or debit card, both Visa and MasterCard are available, you can deposit with USD, RUT, GBP or AUD and the limit to your deposits depends on your card issuer, deposits are instantly using this method.

Bank wire transfers are also available, there is no limit when using this method and is most likely the method used if opening the VIP account. You can deposit using USD, GBP, EUR or AUD and it will take between 2 to 5 business days for deposits to clear.

There are also a number of different e-wallets that can be used, these are Skrill, Qiwi Wallet, UnionPay, Neteller, WebMoney, and Yandex Money. You can deposit with USD, EUR or GBP and there is no maximum deposit, funds will take between 2 to 5 business days to become available, however, there is a note stating they take 1 business day, so a little confusion there.

LBLV do not add any fees to their deposits, however, when using the bank transfer method, be sure to check with your bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available for withdrawal as the ones for depositing so we will outline their features again for you. Visa and Mastercard withdrawals are available, the maximum withdrawal depends on your card issuer. Bank transfers are available, there is a minimum withdrawal amount of $50 or above. The same e-wallets are available to withdraw with the addition of Moneta. You must have verified documents for the bank or e-wallet that you are going to try and withdraw to and no third part withdrawals are allowed, all accounts must be in your own name.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals using credit or debit card will be processed within one working day, funds will then clear into your account between two and nine working days. Bank wire transfers are processed within one working day and depending on your bank, will be available to you between two and nine business days after the request has been processed. E-wallets are processed within one business day and you will receive your funds between 1 business day and 3 business days.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are a couple bonuses and promotions going on so let’s take a little look at what they are.

Deposit Bonus: There is currently a 30% deposit bonus promotion going on, simply open up a new account (must be first account) and deposit, you will then receive an additional 30% as bonus funds. These are bonus funds and are not withdrawable, the site states that they can be converted into real funds but do not state the method of doing this on the website. These are normally tied to the amount of trading volume you do.

There are a couple of other things under promotions but we see them as educational and tools, so will be outlined in the next part of this review.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is a variety of things in regards to education and tools, some you may find helpful, others not so much, we will outline what they are for you so you can decide if they are any benefit to you.

Free Signals: LBLV is offering some free signals to help you decide to buy or sell a currency pair. We can not comment on the accuracy of these signals which currently send you entry and exit points, they are completely free to all members of LBLV.

E-books: There are some e-books available to download from within the members’ area, this help to teach you the basics of forex and trading, there are a couple based around analysis but on a basic level to get you started, rather than to master the markets.

Analysis: There are a number of little tools that come under this heading, there is an economic calendar that tells you about any upcoming news events and the effect they may have on the markets. There is also a market commentary section where each market is looked at and an expert gives their opinion on it. Finally, there is also some market news where the economic calendar is expanded on and also past news is shown to help understand what is going on in the world and how it will affect the markets.

Tutorials: There are a number of tutorials available,e mainly on how to use LBLV and their services as well as the available trading platforms, basic tings but great for people completely new to trading.

Customer Service

There are a couple of different ways to get in contact with the 24/5 customer service department over at LBLV. You can email them directly, or use a phone number to talk to them. We tested out the email and received a reply within about 25 hours, which is not bad at all, they were helpful and answered our basic questions well (we already knew the answers to the questions just to be sure). There is also an online chat to quickly get an answer but we did not manage to test this feature.

Demo Account

It wasn’t initially obvious if you could open a demo account, the only way to do so is to sign up to a live account and then select a demo account from within the client area. The demo accounts let you test the markets and also test out any new strategies you have without any risk to your capital. Demo accounts will not last forever so if left dormant for too long they will be closed and emoved, you can then, however, simply open up a new account.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is present on the website: “LBLV does not offer its services to residents and/or citizens of certain jurisdictions such as the USA, Iran, Syria and North Korea. It is your own responsibility as our client to act according to your jurisdiction and to make sure that the said activity is allowed in your country. The company will not be responsible in case your jurisdiction does not comply with the offered activity.”

Conclusion

LBLV is aiming for the stars, their entry-level of $5,000 is high and may price out a lot of newer traders, the fact that their VIP account requires a minimum deposit of $1,000,000 you can see the sorts of clients they are going for. Customer services were good and replied promptly, with plenty of bonuses and promotions, training tools and a good selection of deposit and withdrawal methods. LBLV may be a decent broker to use, however, if you have the funds available to open a basic account with LBLV, the same funds are normally enough to get improved trading conditions to account with many other great brokers.

We hope you like this LBLV review. If you did, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

Vantage FX is an award-winning Australian based forex broker, founded in 2009 by a team of financial, forex and technology experts, Vantage FX was created as a way to help clients pursue their financial goals. Vantage FX offers the highest standards in terms of the regulation (ASIC) and security and aims to provide full transparency to their operations, at least that is what is stated on the site. In this review, we will be diving into the website and service is offered to see if they really are offering the service they suggest.

It should be noted that there are multiple versions of the Vantage FX website for different regions, we are going to be looking at the .com website which is more global than the more Australia based version. What this does mean, is that a few different aspects may be different depending on the version of the site you are looking at.

Account Types

There are three accounts on offer from Vantage FX, we will outline the differences in the below as well as all the features that they share.

All Accounts: All accounts with Vantage FX come with the following features: 1:500 maximum leverage, access to MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 along with their mobile and web versions. 0.01 lots as a minimum trade size and access to 40 currencies, 13 indices and 20 commodities.

Standard STP: This is the entry-level account from Vantage FX, it requires a minimum deposit of $200 and has an execution type of STP. Spreads on this account start from 1.4 pips however they are variable so may be seen higher. You can receive $2 AUD as a rebate for each lot traded and there is no commission. This account can use AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, SGD, JPY, NZD or CAD as a base currency.

Raw ECN: Increasing the minimum deposit to $500 the Rax ECN account now has an execution type of ECN. Spreads now start from 0.0 pips but again they are variable so may be seen higher depending on the market conditions. There is a commission added to this account of $3 per lot traded which is reasonable but this account is not eligible for the $2 AUD rebate and is available with a base currency of AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, SGD, JPY, NZD, and CAD.

Pro ECN: The Pro ENC account is the top tier account and this is reflected in the $20,000 minimum balance requirement. It retains the ECN execution method and pips remain at 0.0 pips as a base level, the commission has reduced down to $2 per lot traded and there are slightly fewer options when it comes to base currency as now only AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, and CAD are available to use.

Islamic Accounts: Islamic accounts are also available on request, these accounts do not charge a swap fee for holding trades overnight, instead, they have a different method of paying these fees that coincide with Shariah law.

Platforms

Vantage FX uses a few different trading platforms for their accounts, let’s take a little look and see what they are.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is one of the world’s most popular trading platforms and for good reason. Released in 2005 by MetaQuotes Software, it has been around a while, it is stable customizable and full of features to help with your trading and analysis. MT4 is compatible with hundreds and thousands of different indicators, expert advisors, signal providers and more. Millions of people use MT4 for its interactive charts, multiple timeframes, one-click trading, trade copying and more. In terms of accessibility, MT4 is second to none, available as a desktop download, an app for Android and iOS devices and as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser. MetaTrader 4 is a great trading solution to have.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5): MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is the younger brother of MetaTrader 4 (MT4)m developed by MetaQuotes Software and released in 2010, MT5 is used by millions and for good reason. Offering plenty of trading and analysis features to ain in your trading. Additional services expand the functionality of the platform making its capabilities almost limitless. MetaTrader 5 offers the built-in Market of trading robots, the Freelance database of strategy developers, Copy Trading and the Virtual Hosting service (Forex VPS). Use all these services from one place, and access new trading opportunities. MetaTrader 5 is also highly accessible with it being available as a desktop download, application for iOS and Android devices and even as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser.

Social Trading: Vantage FX allows you to use a couple of different social trading platforms in order to trade, they are compatible with both ZuluTrade and MyFXBook automated trading. Both ZuluTrade and MyFXBook offer the opportunity for people to copy the trades of other users, you can browse the database of users and accounts to find the ones that match your own style and then copy their trades. While it is a hands-free way of trading, it also has its downsides as if the person you are following loses, so do you, and you do not have much control over it at all.

Leverage

Leverage for all accounts can be set as high ar 1:500, this is quickly becoming the amount that a lot of new and experienced traders are looking for as it gives a good balance and risk-reward ratio. You are able to change your leverage at any time from the client portal by simply submitting a request, but be aware that you can not change your leverage if there are any active trades on the account.

Trade Sizes

Trades start at 0.01 lots which are also known as micro-lots, we had a look around for what the maximum trade size is but could not locate this information, for the majority of brokers this sits around 50 lots to 100 lots, we would not recommend putting in trades more than 50 lots anyway as it can be harder for the liquidity providers to fill these orders instantly.

Trading Costs

Depending on the account that you are using there will be a slightly different fee. The standard STP account, for example, does not have a commission but does have a higher spread in order to make up for this (we will look at spreads later). The Raw ECN account has a commission of $3 per lot traded and the Pro ECN account has a commission of $2 per lot traded. $3 and $2 are relatively low when looking at competitors so it is refreshing to see a broker not charge extortionate commissions.

Swap fees are also charged which are an interest fee that can be either negative or positive for holding trades overnight, these rates can be viewed from directly within the trading platform you are using. If you have an Islamic account then these fees are replaced by an administration fee which will be of similar value.

Assets

When it comes to trading, Vantage FX offers a number of different assets and instruments to trade, there are over 40 forex pairs including, major, minor and exotic pairs. There are 10 indices on offer including the DAX30 and SP500. In terms of commodities, there is a mix of metals such as gold, energies such as crude oil and soft commodities such as coffee.

We were quite surprised to not see anything about cryptocurrencies which are fast becoming a major tradable asset for a lot of brokers and traders.

Spreads

Spreads with Vantage FX are variable, this means that they move with the markets, if the markets are moving quickly then the spreads will be slightly higher, there are also certain currencies and commodities that naturally have higher spreads, so while the starting spread may be correct from EUR/USD, it may not be the same starting spread of a pair such as AUD/JPY.

With the Standard STP account, the spreads start at 1.5 pips as a minimum, for both the ECN accounts they start at 0.0 pips for EUR/USD but may be higher for others.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit for opening ana account is $200, the website states that this is the minimum deposit full stop, so we are unsure if you are able to top up your account with smaller amounts after the initial account opening.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Plenty of options when it comes to depositing with Vantage FX, each has a slightly different requirement and potential fee so we can list them down below for you:

Method – Fee – Available Currencies

International Bank Wire – $0 – AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, SGD, JPY, NZD, CAD
Credit / Debit Card – $0 – AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, SGD, JPY, NZD, CAD
UnionPay – 1.3% – 2.5% – USD
Neteller – See below – AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, SGD
Skrill – See below – USD, EUR, GBP, CAD
Broket to Broker – Bank Transfer Fees – AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, SGD, JPY, NZD, CAD
Thailand Bank Wire – $0 – USD

For Neteller and Skrill, there may be a charge from the e-wallet provider, however, Vantage FX will reimburse any fees into your trading account. Also, it should be noted that you should check with your bank if performing a bank wire transfer to ensure that your bank does not charge a fee, third party deposits are not accepted and all funds must come from an account under your own name.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You can use the same methods for withdrawing with a few differences, and we do not have all the information in regards to fees, we did find some so will note it below.

You can not withdraw using credit or debit cards, any deposits with this method must be withdrawn using a bank wire transfer. Bank wire withdrawals have a minimum fee fo 20 units of your base currency. It is important to also check with your own bank to see if they have any added fees for international transfers too.

We would be assuming that for all other methods, the same fees will apply for withdrawing as they will for depositing.

We are disappointed to see that card withdrawals are not possible, apparently due to the regulations overseeing the broker.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The website states that withdrawal requests are processed from Monday to Friday between 9 am and 7 pm (GMT+10). Requests outside of these times will be processed the next business day. Withdrawals to e-wallets will normally take up to 2 hours after processing and bank wire transfers will take between 3 to 5 business days to clear in your own bank.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are a number of promotions and bonuses available from Vantage FX and we will outline them below for you.

Active Traders: There is a promotion taking place called “Active Traders”. This promotion allows you to receive rebates when trading up to a certain amount. The higher the balance you have the more you trade, the faster and more you earn. To put it simply, it is just a way for Vantage FX to lower their trading costs for their clients.

Rebates: Ther is also a simpler rebate program where you can receive $2 per lot on a Standard STP account which technically is just lowering the overall trading cost.

50% Welcome Bonus: Open a live account and receive a 50% bonus up to a maximum of $250. In order to convert these bonus funds into real equity, you need to trade, for every lot traded $2 worth of bonus credits will be converted into real equity that you can withdraw. Please note that different base currencies will receive different rebate amounts per lot traded.

Free VPS: If you trade over 10 lots per month you are eligible for a free VPS from Vantage FX. These can be used to host your trading 24/7 without the need to have your own equipment running.

Refer A Friend: You will receive a $200 bonus every time you refer someone to Vantage FX and they trade with an account balance of $1,000+. You can only refer up to 5 people using this promotion.

Educational & Trading Tools

Plenty of tools and education available from Vantage FX, we will outline them below for your convenience.

Economic Calendar: A simple calendar which details any upcoming news events, this is useful when planning trades to make sure there are not any major news events that may affect the pairs that you are trading.

MT4 Indicators: Vantage FX has some of their own indicators that you can use with the MT4 platform, indicators can give you a good insight into how the markets are currently moving and can give a good boost to your own analysis. The main indicators on offer are “Adaptive Convergence Divergence Signals”, “Analyst Opinion Indicator”, and “Adaptive Candlesticks”.

Forex Sentiment Indicators: On the VCantage FX website, there is a page that shows you what the current opinions about the markets are, whether the majority thing something is a buy or a sell, while not the most effective, it is still a nice tool to have.

Learn Forex: There are some simple and basic courses to help you learn the basics about forex and trading if you have traded before or have learned somewhere else then this may not be relevant to you, but if you are completely new it can give you a small insight into what is involved with trading.

MT4 / MT5 Manuals / Videos: There are help guides and videos to teach you how to use the available trading platforms, so if you are new to them or unsure of something, be sure to check them out.

News: While not really a tool, there is a news section of the site that can give you a good understanding of what is happening in the financial world, it may or may not help with your analysis.

Customer Service

There is a whole host of ways to get in contact with Vantage FX if you have a query or need any support. There is a direct support email to use, a phone number for the same department and a live chat.

If you are a client of Vantage FX then there are additional phone numbers to use depending on where you are located and there is a separate email in regards to setting up accounts. A physical address is also present should you wish to send a physical letter.

We tested out the live chat and were greeted with a friendly representative who answered our questions well. There were a few awkward pauses with no response, but otherwise, it was a smooth experience.

Support is available 24 hours a day 5 days a week.

Demo Account

As expected from a major broker, demo accounts are available, you can simply sign up and start trading. It took us less than 30 seconds to set up the demo account which can be set up as an MT4, or MT5 account as a Raw ECN or Standard STP account type. You can choose any currency from AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, SGD, JPY, NZD, CAD.

Demo accounts only last for 30 days and are then automatically closed, however, you can then open up a new demo account, unfortunately, any data from the first demo account will be lost.

Countries Accepted

Vantage FX currently does not accept any clients from the following countries: Afghanistan, Australia, Belarus, Burma, Burundi, British Columbia (Canada), Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, ISIL (Da’esh) & Al-Qaida, Lebanon, Japan, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Republic of Guinea, Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Russia, Crimea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Ukraine, United States of America, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

Please note, if using the Australian version of the website, that version is only intended for residents from Australia.

Conclusion

Plenty of information about Vantage FX, they are offering competitive trading conditions along with a whole host of promotions to help you on your way. Customer support was efficient if a little slow, it was a small shame to see deposit and withdrawal fees being present as most brokers are trying to get rid of these and the lack of card withdrawals was a letdown. Spreads and trading costs are good with commissions being relatively low compared to the competition. If you liked what you read then Vantage FX seems like a good choice for a broker, just be sure to double-check all information as there are multiple versions of the site.

We hope you like this Vantage FX review. If you did, be sure to check out the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

BCS Forex is a forex broker located in Cyprus but registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Founded at the end of 2014, BCS Forex claims to provide a wide range of professional services and offer top quality customer service. In this review, we will take a look in detail, the services that are being offered so you can see if BCS Fores is right for you.

Account Types

There are four different accounts on offer from BCS Forex, each with slightly different conditions and features, we will take a little look at what each one offers.

Global: When using this account you can choose to have either USD or EUR as the accounts base currency. The minimum deposit is $1 and spreads start from 1 pip. There is no commission charged on this account and leverage can be anywhere from 1:1 to 1:200. There are 116 instruments to trade with a maximum trade size of 100 lots and a minimum of 0.01 (micro lot). A margin call will be at 100% and the stop out level is set at 35%. This account uses MetaTrader 5 (MT5) as its trading platform.

NDD: The NDD account also has the same base currencies, initial deposits, leverage and trade sizes. Instead of the spreads starting at 1 pip it is now reduced to 0.2 pips but a commission of 0.003% has been added to each trade. There are only 38 instruments to trade as they are restricted to just forex currencies, the margin call remains at 100%, however, the stop out level has increased to 50%. This account can use both MetaTrader 5 and MetaTrader 4 as a trading platform.

PRO: Base currencies remain the same, as does the $1 minimum deposit and the 1:1 to 1:200 leverage. Spreads have gone back to 1 pip but are now fixed instead of variable. There is no added commission with this account, there are 117 instruments to trade which are forex pairs and CFDs and the margin call level remains at 100% while the stop out level reduces down to 20%. This account can use MetaTrader 4 as its trading platform and uses instant execution for trades.

Direct: The direct account keeps the $1 minimum deposit as well as the same leverage levels and trade sizes. It has a spread from 0.7 pips and has 117 tradable instruments including forex, crypto, and CFDs. Margin call level remains at 100% and the stop out level is at 20%. This account can use MetaTrader 5 only as its trading platform. This account also uses instant execution to make the trades.

 

Platforms

There are two platforms on offer from BCS Forex, they are MetaTrader 5 (MT5) and MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

MetaTrader 4: As for today, MetaTrader 4 still is one of the most popular trading platforms in the world. This platform offers rich functionality, operation simplicity, stable operation and interface easy to understand even for novice traders. The client-side of the MetaTrader 4 platform is now available for all operating systems since its browser version allows you to trade without downloading and installing the desktop application. MetaTrader 4 platform allows you to trade not only on the Forex market but also on other financial markets. These features of the platform make staying connected to the market 24 hours a day an easy task.

MetaTrader 5: MetaTrader 5 is the most popular trading platform, this is the fifth generation of platform for online trading in the financial markets. MT5 includes all the advantages of the previous version, complemented by a variety of unique technical solutions for operations on the Forex market, stock markets, as well as futures and CFD trading. In the meantime, it allows you to use a single trading account for different markets. MetaTrader 5 is also available for almost all types of mobile devices (thanks to the web version of terminal and versions for iOs and Android).

Leverage

Leverage on all accounts with BCS Forex has a range of between 1:1 and 1:200, increments can be chosen in between too. You can select your leverage when opening an account, should you wish to change the leverage on your account, you can request this in the client area, but you must have no open trades at the time.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes for all accounts start at 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot, lot sizes increase in 0.01 intervals until they reach a maximum of 100 lots.

Trading Costs

Different accounts have different costs and cost structures. The Global, Pro and Direct accounts use a spread based system where an additional spread is added to help make the broker money. We go into more detail on the spreads later in this review. The NDD account has a commission of 0.003% taken from each trade. It is not very often that you see a broker put a percentage onto the trades rather than a fixed commission per lot traded. There are also swap fees either paid or received based on holding trades overnight, these numbers can be seen from directly within the trading platform, both MT4, and MT5.

Assets

There is a decent selection of assets when it comes to BCS Forex, each account type has access to a different number of assets, so be sure to check out the website for a list of what is available with each account.

In terms of assets, there are forex currency pairs, commodities, CFDs, stocks and, crypto. The majority of the 117 assets on offer come under stocks and forex currencies, with just the single cryptocurrency available, that being BTC/USD. It would have been nice to see more crypto available as that is quickly becoming one of the major trading assets for a lot of new and experienced traders.

Spreads

The spreads that you get are dependant on the account that you are using. The global account has variable spreads starting at 1 pip, this means that the minimum you will see it 1 pip but they will often float higher and can be seen around 2 pips or more. The NDD account also has a variable spread, which is around 0.2 pips, again as this is variable, it can move higher due to market conditions. The Pro account has a fixed spread of 1 pip, this means that the spread does not change and will always be at 1 pip, each pair will have a different fixed spread, the 1 pip mentioned is the lowest available, others will be higher. Finally, the Direct account has a variable spread of 0.7 pips, as mentioned before, this is variable and so will move with the markets and will often be seen higher.

Please note that different currency pairs naturally have different spreads, the numbers mentioned above are the minimum numbers for the EUR/USD pair, which naturally has the lowest spreads, most other pairs will be higher.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit is $1, this is both for opening a new account and for any subsequent deposits to top up an account. This is a very accessible figure, but not easy to trade with, we would not recommend opening an account with less than $500 as this allows for better risk management and profit potential.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a number of different deposit methods available and unfortunately some of them have a fee attached to them, please refer yourself to the list below for details of the methods and the fee that they require, we have put the method, currencies, and fee for your convenience.

• Bank Transfer – USD, EUR – 0%
• Ruble Bank Transfer – RUB – 0%
• Visa – USD, EUR, RUB – 2.5%
• Mastercard – USD, EUR, RUB – 2.5%
• BCS Online – USD, EUR, RUB – 0%
• Alpha Click – RUB – 2.5%
• QIWI Wallet – RUB – 2.5%
• Yandex Money – RUB – 3.5%
• Internal Transfer – USD, EUR, RUB – 0%

Please note when using bank transfer, your own bank may charge a fee so be sure to check with them prior to making a transfer.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

There are slightly fewer methods available to withdraw, we have put together a similar list to deposits for withdrawals, the info provided is the method, the currency, and the fee.

• Foreign Bank Transfer – USD, EUR – 0%
• Ruble Bank Transfer – RUB – 0%
• Visa – USD, EUR, RUB – 2.5%
• Mastercard – USD, EUR, RUB – 2.5%
• QIWI Wallet – RUB – 2.5%
• Yandex Wallet – RUB – 3.5%
• Internal Transfer – USD, EUR, RUN – 0 %

Please note when using bank transfer, your own bank may charge a fee so be sure to check with them prior to making a transfer.

It is always a shame to see a fee added to both deposits and withdrawals, this is a practice that a lot of modern brokers are getting rid of. So it would have been nice for BCS Forex to follow suit.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal times will be based on the method that you are using to deposit, below we have listed the expected withdrawal and processing times for each withdrawal method:

• Foreign Bank Transfer – 2 – 3 business days
• Ruble Bank Transfer – 2 – 3 business days
• Visa – 1 – 3 business days
• Mastercard – 1 – 3 business days
• QIWI Wallet – Instantly
• Yandex Wallet – Instantly
• Internal Transfer – Instantly

Bonuses & Promotions

Along with the usual affiliate program where you can earn for referring new clients to the broker there are a couple of other promotions available.

On the home page, there is a banner stating that you can receive back 50% of the spreads while trading. This promotion ends on 31/12/19 however we can not see what the terms for the promotion are as clicking the banner takes you to the account login page.

There is also a loyalty program available whereby you trade and receive something called a tripcoin, you can redeem these coins for discounts on flights and holidays, we believe this would be tailored more towards those in Russia rather than other places in the world.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few bits of information and analysis on offer from BCS Forex including some forex reviews which are more market analysis, they give a bit of detail about different markets to help aid you in your own analysis, there is also the usual economic calendar to let you know when any major news events are coming up.

In terms of education, there are a couple of courses into the basics of trading, both written and in video form, however, they are aimed at beginners, once you have a grip of the markets you won’t necessarily find them too helpful. There is also a trader’s handbook, but this is more of a glossary and definition database.

Customer Service

Customer support is open from 9:00 to 21:00 Monday to Friday Moscow time rather than the usual 24 hours. You can use the online web form to send your query and receive a message back via email, or you can use the email address provided directly. There is also a phone number provided should you wish to talk with someone directly. We sent a message using the webform, it has currently been 48 hours and we are yet to receive a reply which does not fill us with confidence.

Demo Account

BCS Forex offers demo accounts, simply sign up for an account and when selecting which account to open select demo. The demo accounts last indefinitely and allow you to test the markets and different strategies. If a demo account is left dormant for too long it will be deleted however a new one can then be opened.

Countries Accepted

BCS Forex does not cater to residents of the Russian Federation, all other countries should be accepted.

Conclusion

We are a little confused, most of the site seems to aim itself at the Russian population, but then clearly state that they are not providing their services for people living in Russia. While everything else could be perfect, that fact alone would put off many potential clients. Trading conditions are competitive, as is the minimum deposit, it is just a shame to see fees being added to both deposits and withdrawals. The lack of response from the customer services along with the confusion as to who their services are aimed at making BCS Forex hard for us to recommend at this time.

We hope you like this BCS Forex review. If you did, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

GMT Markets is a forex broker based out of Melbourne, Australia. GMT Markets want to be your number 1 choice for online forex and CFD trading. Regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission offering competitive trading environments and modern technology, that is what is being claimed, so let’s take a little look to see what is really on offer.

Account Types

GMT Markets try to keep things simple for their clients with just the single account type. This account has a minimum deposit of $500 and a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots (micro lot). Spreads are fixed, meaning that they always remain the same, they vary by currency but start at 1.5 pips. Leverage on this account has a top of 1:200. Base currencies can be in either USD or AUD.

Platforms

Just one trading platform is on offer from GMT Markets and that is MetaTrader 4 (MT4) while having just one platform available can seem to limit, the fact that it is MetaTrader 4 gives us some comfort. MT4 is a hugely popular trading platform and has a whole host of features to help with your analysis and trading. It has high levels of customizability and is compatible with hundreds and thousands of indicators, expert advisers and signals. It is also accessible in a number of ways such as a desktop download, app for iOS and Android devices and as a WebTrader to use within your internet browser, this helps ensure that wherever you are you have access to the markets.

Leverage

Leverage can be chosen by the client when opening up an account, the current maximum leverage is 1:200 but alternatives are available in increments to chose from.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start at 0.01 lots which are also known as micro-lots. The maximum trade size is not mentioned but these normally sit between 50 lots and 100 lots which is more than enough for the majority of retail clients.

Trading Costs

We do not believe that there are any commissions charged on trades with GMT Markets, instead, they use a spread based system, this means that he spreads are slightly higher and that is where the broker makes its money. As spreads are starting at 1.5 this is not a major issue. Swaps are also charged for holding trades overnight, these figures can be seen from within the MT4 platform directly.

Assets

GMT Markets offers a number of different instruments to trade with including forex pairs, CFDs, commodities, metals, energies and Cryptocurrencies. We could only find info that there are 32 forex currency pairs, we could not get many details into the specifics of things such as the cryptocurrencies, however, it is good to know that they are available.

Spreads

GMT Markets uses a fixed spread system, this means that they do not change with the markets. Spreads start at 1.5 pips for pairs such as EUR/USD however rise depending on the pair being traded, some can be seen as high as 5 pips or 7 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit needed to open an account is $500 AUD. After the initial deposit, there is no further limit so any amounts can be used to top up your account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The following methods are available to deposit with Visa / Mastercard, Bank Wire Transfer, Bpay and Poli. There are no added fees for deposits, however, please check with your bank if using bank transfers in case they charge any fees themselves. GMT Markets do not accept third party deposits so all deposits must come from accounts in your own name.

It would have been nice to see some additional e-wallets such as Skrill and Neteller. There is also no option to deposit via cryptocurrencies which are fast becoming a popular way of transferring money.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw with, we are unable to tell if there are any fees added, but for Bank Wire transfers you must check with your bank to see if any fees will be charged by them. GMT Markets do not accept third party withdrawals so all withdrawals must come to accounts in your own name.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

GMT Markets aim to process all withdrawals within 48 business hours. Local transfers will normally take around 1 – 2 business days while international transfers will take between 3 – 5 business days.

Bonuses & Promotions

We could not locate any information on the website in regards to any promotions and bonuses so we do not believe that there are any active at the moment, this does not mean that there won’t be any in the future though,

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few resources available for clients to use, these include daily market analysis, an economic calendar, news feed, exclusive articles and then there are also online webinars and free seminars to attend. These are aimed at getting you the basics rather than becoming an expert.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in contact with GMT Markets with a question or help request, you can do it in a number of different ways. You can use the online web form to submit your query and can expect a reply back via email. There is also a physical address as well as a PO box should you wish to send a lett, also a direct email address and phone number for a more personal experience.

We tried contacting the customer service team and got a response back after about 29 hours which is not too long, the customer service department claims to be open 24 hours a day 5 days a week and only closes when the markets are closed.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available on request, simply sign up and select a demo account. The demo accounts last as long as you need them, however, if left dormant for too long they will be closed to help free up server space if this happens a new one can then be opened.

Countries Accepted

All information and services are aimed at residents of Australia, if you are from any other country then you may struggle to open an account.

Conclusion

GMT Markets are clearly aiming at an all Australian client base, they make things simple by having one account type and one trading platform. It can be a little struggle to find some of the required information on their site though. Customer services responded to the query in an acceptable timeframe, it would have been nice to of had more information regarding depositing and withdrawing and to have more methods to do so. If you are from Australia, there are seemingly better brokers out there, but if you chose to go with GMT Markets, you should be ok.

We hope you like this GMT Markets review. If you did, be sure to check out some more reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

FXGiants is an international FCA regulated broker located in the UK. Created by a group of experts with years of experience, FXGiants looks to give the ultimate trading environment to their clients provide the highest standard of service with full transparency. In this review, we will be having a look through the site and service being offered to see if they can live up to these claims.

Account Types

FXGiants offer a massive 7 different account types, each with slightly varying requirements and features. We will take a little look at some of the differences.

Micro Account: The micro account appears to be the entry-level account from FXGiants, it offers both fixed and floating spreads, a minimum deposit of just $100, and base currency can be in USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, JPY, CHF, PLN, HUF, CZK. Minimum trade size is 0.01 lots (micro lot) and spreads can be as low as 101 on floating and 2.2 on a fixed account. There is no added commission on this account.

Premium: The premium account raises the minimum deposit up to $1,000 while maintaining a lot of the other features such as trade sizes, base currencies and the choice of fixed or variable spreads, the spreads, however, have been slightly reduced with the floating spreads starting at 0.7 pips and the fixed spreads starting at 1.2 pips. Leverage on this account has a maximum of 1:30, there is also no commission charged for this account.

0 Fixed Spread: This account takes a slightly different approach, it has a minimum deposit of $500 but in terms of base currencies, you can only use USD, EUR or JPY. The minimum trade size remains at 0.01 (micro lot) but this time there is a commission charged for each trade, this is set at $18 per lot traded, which is extremely high. As the name suggests, spreads are set at 0 pips.

STP/ECN No Commission: This account also has a minimum deposit of $500 and once again you can use USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, JPY, CHF, PLN, HUF, CZK as a base currency. Leverage is set to 1:30 and minimum lot sizes are 0.01, there is no mention of commission or spreads on this account info page.

Absolute Zero STP/ECN: This account requires you to contact an account manager to get set up, it has a leverage of 1:30, can be used with USD or EUR as the base currency and has no commissions, while the spreads can also be as low as 0 for pairs such as EUR/USD.

STP/ECN 0 Spread: This account has a minimum deposit of $500, leverage of 1:30 and base currency pairs available are USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, JPY, CZK. In terms of commissions it gets a little complicated but are as follows: “Professional – $7.5/Lot on FX; Gold $10/Lot, Normal – $13.5/Lot on FX; Gold $30/Lot, Affiliate – $18.5/Lot on FX; Gold $40/Lot, Affiliate Plus – $23/Lot on FX; Gold $40/Lot”.

Absolute Zero Plus STP/ECN: For this account, you need to get in contact with your account manager, leverage is set to 1:30, you can have USD or EUR as a base currency, commissions are up to $10 per lot and spreads can be as low as 0 pips on certain pairs such as EUR/USD.

Plenty to chose from, although the majority of retail traders will go for micro or premium with the more experienced going for one of the ECN accounts.

Platforms

While there are 7 accounts available, there is only 1 trading platform available to sue, that is MetaTrader 4 (MT4). MT4 is one of the world’s most popular and most used trading terminals for retail traders. It offers a lot of features to help make your analysis and trading a lot easier. It has a lot of customization potential and is compatible with hundreds and thousands of indicators, signals, and expert advisers. MT4 also makes it incredibly easy to access your trading terminal as it is currently available as a desktop download, an app for Android and iOS devices and finally as a WebTrader to use from within your internet browser, allowing you to trade wherever you are.

Leverage

Leverage is dependant on a few different things, whether you are a retail client or a professional client, and also which pairs you are trading. As a retail client, you are restricted to around 1:30 as maximum leverage, however, different pairs have different leverages, for example, AUD/CAD has a max leverage of 1:20, while EURJPY has a max leverage of 1:30, be sure to check out the contract leverage page for more info on all currencies.

People classed as professionals will benefit from the following leverages:

Instant Execution Accounts:
$500 – $49,999: Up to 1:500
$50,000 – $99,999: Up to 1:200
$100,000+: Up to 1:100

STP/ECN Accounts:
$500 – $49,99: Up to1:200
$50,000+: Upt to 1:100.

Leverages up to 1:500 are becoming the standard and what a lot of new traders are looking for, it would have been nice to see this on the ECN accounts, however, 1:200 is still an appropriate level for trading.

Trade Sizes

Minimum trade sizes for all account sis at 0.01 lots which is also known as a micro lot. We did not find information on the maximum trade size, however, these normally sit around 50 lots to 100 lots which is more than enough for 99.9% of retail traders.

Trading Costs

FXGiants uses both a spread and commission-based structure depending on the account that you are using, the spreads we go into more detail below in this review, the commissions being charged are high, very high. The 0 fixed spread account has a commission of $18 per lot traded, far higher than the industry standard of $6 per lot. When it comes to professional clients it gets a little more complicated and looks like this: Professional – $7.5/Lot on FX; Gold $10/Lot, Normal – $13.5/Lot on FX; Gold $30/Lot, Affiliate – $18.5/Lot on FX; Gold $40/Lot, Affiliate Plus – $23/Lot on FX; Gold $40/Lot.

Swaps are of course present, swaps are charged for holding trades overnight and can be both negative and positive. There is a chart on the site indicating the current swap rates, these can also be viewed within the MT4 terminal.

Assets

When it comes to choosing what to trade, there is plenty on offer from FXGiants, they currently have the following instruments to trade: Shares, Forex, Metals, Indices, Commodities, Futures, and Cryptocurrencies. There is a full breakdown of forex currency pairs available however limited information about the rest.

We are happy to see Cryptocurrencies making their way in as they are fast becoming the go-to asset for new and experienced traders alike.

Spreads

Spreads are determined by the type of account that you have, we took a little look at a few, while some seem competitive, others seemed quite high, here are the current spreads for EURUSD:

Floating Spread: 0.5
Fixed: 2.2
Zero Fixed Spread: 0
STP/ECN: 1.7

We are happy to see that the fixed 0 spread does, in fact, have 0 spreads, however, please bear in mind that only a few pairs had a 0 pip spread, a lot of the other pairs did, in fact, have spreads, often higher than 1 pip.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount needed to open up a new account is $100 for the micro account. You may be able to deposit smaller amounts after these initial deposits but this information is not clear so we will stick with $100.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are plenty of ways to get your money to FXGiants, the food news is that for all of them, there are no fees added to the deposits. The following methods are available: Visa / MasterCard Credit / Debit cards, Bank Wire Transfer, Neteller, FasaPay, Skrill, UnionPay, and DotPay. Please note that when using Bank Wire, your own bank may charge a fee, please check with your bank before making a transfer.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw (except for DotPay), unfortunately, it appears that there are a number of different fees added to the withdrawals:

Visa / Mastercard: Up to EUR 2 per transaction
Bank Wire: Check with your bank
Neteller: 2% capped at $30 / minimum $1 per transaction
FasaPay: 0.5% per transaction (max approximately $5)
Skrill: 1% capped at $10,000
UnionPay: CNY 20 per transaction
DotPay: Can not withdraw

It is a shame to see withdrawals fees still taking place, especially when they can be as high as $30 or even $10,000 if going with Skrill, this is a practice that a lot of modern brokers are getting rid of and would have been nice to see here too.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Processing times are not indicated on the website, normally for e-wallets, this is between 24 – 48 hours and bank wire or credit/debit card withdrawals sit between 1 and 8 business days. These may be different for FXGiants though so be sure to check with them first.

Bonuses & Promotions

There isn’t too much when it comes to bonuses or promotions, there is the usual affiliate scheme for introducing new people to FXGiants, there is also an opportunity to get a free VPS, the requirements for this is simply to have and maintain a balance of at least $5,000.

Educational & Trading Tools

There area few educational items on the site including economic news, an economic calendar, live currency rates, educational videos, Ebooks, webinars and a forex glossary. Unfortunately, we can not comment on them as at the time of writing this review, the pages were not loading properly and so we were unable to view any of the material.

Customer Service

There are quite a few different ways to get in touch with FXGiants, there is the usual online web form to fill out with your query in order to get a reply via email. There are a number of different phone numbers available including customer support and a trading desk along with a number of numbers to call dependant on your location. There are also email addresses for the support team along with a physical address.

We contacted the support team to find out about processing times, we got a response in around 30 hours, however, the questions weren’t really answered, so while they do respond, in this instance they weren’t very helpful.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, you can simply sign up and start using one, they work indefinitely as long as they are being used, if left dormant for too long they will be deleted to free up server space, however, a new one can be opened. Trading conditions are set to mimic the real markets.

Countries Accepted

FXGiants do not offer its services to residents of certain jurisdictions such as the USA, Iran, Cuba, Sudan, Syria, and North Korea. If you are in doubt, please get in touch with the customer service team to find out if your country is accepted.

Conclusion

FXGiants offers a lot of choices, possibly too much, the accounts can be a little confusing and it is a shame that they separate their retail clines from professional clients and restrict the retail clients to lower leverages. Costs are high with commissions reaching $18 per lot. Withdrawal fees still being present and quite high along with a customer support team that failed to answer a simple question does not fill us with a lot of confidence. FXGiants may be a reliable and well-established broker, but with lots of little issues, it can make them hard to recommend.

We hope you like this FXGiants review. If you did, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help to find the broker that is right for you.

UBCFX is a global online forex broker who claims to offer some of the tightest spreads in the market and offer innovative and user-friendly trading platforms. We take a little look at what UBCFX really offers so you can make an informed decision on whether they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are 6 accounts on offer from UBCFF, each with their own requirements and benefits, we will take a little look at them in some more details.

All of the accounts with UBCFX come to wit the following benefits: Swap-free accounts, MetaTrader 5 (MT5) as a trading platform, negative balance protection to ensure you don’t lose more than you deposited, full access to the trading academy, social trading where you can follow other peoples trades and a minimum trade order size of 0.1 lot which is a lot higher than the expected 0.01 lot (micro lot).

Micro Account: This account requires a minimum deposit of $100, it has leverage up to 1:100 and has a spread markup of 4 pips. This account does not have access to signals, a personal assistant or more concerningly, support.

Mini Account: The mini account requires a minimum deposit of $500+, it has increased leverage up to 1:200 and the spread markup has reduced down to 2.5 pips. This account does not have access to signals but has 1-on-1 guidance with a personal assistant and live support 24/5.

Standard Account: The minimum deposit increases further to $1,000+, leverage remains at 1:200 and the spread markup further reduces down to 2 pips. You get 1 month of premium signals and trading analysis from your personal assistant. Live support remains available on a 24/5 basis.

Silver Account: The silver account requires a minimum deposit of $5,000+ and keeps the same leverage at 1:200. Spread markup continues to reduce, down to 1.5 pips and you now get 3 months of premium signals. The get an account manager and support remains as 24/5 but you now have access to support via WhatsApp.

Gold Account: $10,000 is the minimum that you will need to open this account, leverage remains at 1:200 and the spread markup sits at just 1 pip. You get a lifetime subscription to premium signals and gain a senior account manager. Support now includes the weekends and is 24/7.

VIP Account: The VIP account requires a deposit of $50,000+ and the features and benefits will be customized to your requirements, you need to get in touch with UBCFX in order to open a VIP account.

Platforms

UBCFX only offers MetaTrader 5 (MT) as their singular trading platform. MetaTrader 5 is as good of a trading platform that you could hope for, building on the success of its predecessor MetaTrader 4, MT5 brings similar levels of customization and the ability to work with hundreds and thousands of indicators, expert advisers and signals. Accessibility is a major benefit with MT5 as well, as it can be accessed as a desktop download, an app for iOS and Android devices or as a WebTrader where you access it from within your internet browser.

Leverage

Leverage is dependant on your account, if you go for the micro account then your maximum leverage will be 1:100, any other account and you have a maximum leverage of 1:200.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size for all accounts is 0.10 lots, this is higher than most brokers who allow you to trade in micro-lots (0.01). We could not locate the information in regards to the maximum lot size, these are normally between 50 lots and 100 lots but we can not say for use with UBCFX.

Trading Costs

UBCFX uses a spread based payment scheme, this means that they add additional spreads on top of the natural spreads. Depending on the account you use, these amounts are different, we have outlined them below.

Micro Account: 4 pips
Mini account: 2.5 pips
Standard Account: 2 pips
Silver Account: 1.5 pips
Gold Account 1 pip

Please bear in mind that these are not what the spreads are, these are added on top of the normal spreads, so you could be finding some spreads being 5+ pips. Also, note that some currency pairs naturally have higher spreads than other pairs.

Assets

UBCFX offers a number of different instruments to trade, these include forex currency pairs, indices, commodities, metals, cryptocurrencies, and equities. The full break down of each category can be found on the site, we are happy to see cryptocurrencies making an appearance as these are quickly becoming a major trading asset for new and experienced traders, there are currently 4 cryptocurrencies available so it would be nice to see these expanded in the future.

Spreads

The following list indicated what the additional spreads added to each pair are, spreads are often seen much higher.

Micro Account: 4 pips
Mini account: 2.5 pips
Standard Account: 2 pips
Silver Account: 1.5 pips
Gold Account 1 pip

Please bear in mind that these are not what the spreads are, these are added on top of the normal spreads, so you could be finding some spreads being 5+ pips. Also, note that some currency pairs naturally have higher spreads than other pairs.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit on UBCFX is $100, which is the same amount needed to open up a micro account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a few different ways to deposit with UBCFX, the good news is that with all of them, the fees have been covered by UBCFX. There are a few different variations that we will note below.

For credit/debit cards both Visa and Mastercard, the minimum deposit is $100.

For e-wallets, including Neteller, Skrill, DixiCard, Interac, and Bpay, the minimum deposit is $500. Neteller and Skrill can use USD or EUR, DixiCard is just USD, Interac is CAD and Bpay in AUD.

For bank transfers, the minimum deposit is $100 and can take between 2 – 7 business days to be processed for deposit.

Bitcoin is also available but minimum amounts are not stated, so we would assume that they are also at $100.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw as they are to deposit, once again fees are paid by UBCFX and so there are none added to the withdrawals. Please note that your bank may charge a fee of their own, be sure to contact them if you are unsure if a fee will be charged or not.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

We could not see the information in regards to processing times so we can not give completely accurate information. We can go by the average which is normally processed within 24 to 48 hours, e-wallets will arrive immediately after processing. A card will take around 1 – 5 business days and bank transfers will take 2 – 7 business days after processing.

Bonuses & Promotions

There was not any information prominent on the website in regards to any promotions or bonuses so we are assuming there aren’t any at this point in time. This does not mean that there never will so be sure to keep checking back just in case something pops up.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are some educational things available but the pages displaying them were not functioning properly and so we can not evaluate how good the information actually is. There are meant to be video tutorials, help with installing and using MT5, an Ebook and some webinars, the webinars could be viewed and can be helpful for someone just starting out, not necessarily helpful for an experienced trader.

Customer Service

Customer support is around 24/5 however if you have a top-level account or VIP account then you have access to support 24/7. You are able to get in contact using an online form where you submit your query and get a reply by email, there are also 2 email addresses available and a phone number to call if you wanted to speak to someone directly.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, simply click the demo account button and fill in your details. The dermo account mimics the markets however are not 100% accurate. They last indefinitely as long as they are being used, if left dormant for too long they are deleted but new accounts can then be opened.

Countries Accepted

UBCFX does not specify which countries they cater for, instead, they state that each individual should understand the laws of their land and make a decision themselves, not the most helpful stance to take.

Conclusion

Straight off the bat their claim of having some of the tightest spreads in the market is proven wrong, when you add an additional 4 pips on top of the normal market spread, you can not possibly have the tightest spreads. Lots of accounts to choose from and the use of MT5 is a bonus, however, it would have been nice to have additional choices. Plenty of instruments to choose from including a few cryptocurrencies will keep you busy trading. Deposit methods and withdrawal methods are good with plenty of options and no fees. While UBCFX may be a competent broker, with the massive spreads on offer, it makes it hard to recommend at this time.

We hope you like this UBCFX review, if you did, be sure to check out some more reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

Forex Club / Libertex is an organization that has been around since 1997, they recently joined the International Finance Commission is 2016. Situated in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Forex Club / Libertex offers a number of different trading platforms and opportunities to earn, in this review we are going to take a closer look at what Forex Club / Libertex really offer.

The first note we must make is that there are a number of different sites under the Forex Club / Libertex name, so some information may vary depending on which site you are using, these sites are divided by the language you select, also there is a slight difference between the .com and .org address.

In this review, we are looking at the .org address for Libertex.

Account Types

There are three different account types available with Forex Club / Libertex, these are based around the trading platform that you select to use, we will detail them to give a small overview of the features and requirements.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) Account:
The MT4 account as you can guess, uses the MT4 platform, it has a minimum deposit of $100, this account comes with a maximum leverage of 1:500 and has a starting spread of 0.6 pips (although often higher), this account is not charged any commission. The base currency needs to be USD and automated trading is enabled. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lot which is also known as a micro lot.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) Account:
The MT5 account, similar to the MT4 account, uses the same platform as its name, MT5. This account has very similar traits to the MT4 account, as it also has a $100 minimum deposit, spreads starting at 0.6 pips and also needing to have the base currency set as USD. This account allows for hedging and automatic trading.

Libertex Account:
The Libertex account is where things start to differ, this account is based around their own trading app. It also has a minimum deposit of $100, however this time there is no spread, there is a commission charged on each trade, however, this is not fixed and fluctuates depending on assets and market conditions. The minimum trade is $10 and there is maximum leverage of 1:200 which is slightly lower than the other accounts. This is not your normal account, so if you are looking for the normal forex trading experience, go for one of the other two accounts.

Please note that the Libertex account is more focused on binary options rather than forex trading.

Platforms

There are three platforms available with Forex Club / Libertex, they have the standard MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, as well as their own mobile-based trading platform surprisingly called Libertex.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4):
MT4 is one of the world’s most popular trading platforms. It offers incredible amounts of customization and flexibility and is compatible with thousands of indicators and expert advisors. There is a reason why it is so popular, it also offers the ability to trade simultaneously over multiple accounts. MT4 is available as a desktop download, a WebTrader in your browser and as an Android and iOS application.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5):
MT5 is the younger broker to MetaTrader 4, it offers a similar level of flexibility, with a more streamlined interface and much smoother operation. MT5 is quickly becoming one of the most used platforms and for good reason. Similarly to it’s older brother, it offers compatibility with thousands of expert advisors and indicators and is available as a desktop download, an app for iOS and Android and also it is available in your internet browser as a WebTrader.

Libertex:
This is Forex Club / Libertex’s own creation, surprisingly though, there is actually not a lot of information about it on the website. It is a mobile only application allowing you to trade currencies, indices, stocks, and the other usual suspects. It has been designed to be simple and to incorporate its own indicators to help you plan your trading better. It would have been nice for there to be more info regarding the actual features of Libertex.

Please note that the Libertex platform is more focused on binary options rather than forex trading.

Leverage

There is currently maximum leverage of 1:500 when using MT4 or MT5 accounts, leverage can be selected when opening an account and can also be altered on a live account as long as there are not active trades at the time of the request. When trading with a Libertex account, there is maximum leverage of 1:200.

Trade Sizes

There is a minimum trade size of 0.01 lot also known as a micro lot when trading with MT4 or MT5 when trading with Libertex, it works slightly differently as the minimum trade volume is set at $10.

Trading Costs

With the MT4 and MT5 accounts, there is no commission charged on any trades, all the costs come down to the spreads which have a minimum of 0.6 pips. These have regularly been seen to be higher though. The Lbertex account, however, is charged on a commission-based system, it differs from the majority as each trade and asset has a different commission cost, and these also fluctuate, commissions start as low as 0.03% but can rise higher, how high, we are not sure of as it is not detailed on the website.

Assets

When it comes to assets and instruments, there are plenty, in fact far too many for us to even think about listing, we will, however, let you know the categories, there are: Stocks, Crypto, Forex, Metals, Indices, Agriculture, Oil and Gas, and EFTs. We are particularly happy to see cryptocurrencies making an appearance as they are fast becoming the go-to trading asset for newer traders as well as a branch for experienced traders to move into. Whatever you are looking to trade, you will find it with Forex Club / Libertex.

Spreads

When trading with the MT4 or MT5 platforms, there is a minimum spread of 0.6 pips, this is quite low for a broker not charging commissions, however, these numbers fluctuate and this is the bare minimum, you can expect spreads to be higher in general. When trading with Libertex, it states that the spread is “not available” indicating that there will be a 0 spread, which is also mentioned on the homepage of the website, due to the way the Libertex platform works, this may well be the case.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit for Forex Club / Libertex is currently set at $100 which is an appropriate level for new traders, however, for the ability to deploy appropriate risk management, we always recommend around $500 as a minimum deposit.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The methods available to use are dependant on the region and website that you are using, for example the .org address only has deposits for bank wire and credit/debit cards, while the .com address has the above, plus e-wallets such as WebMoney, so be sure to check which are available when accessing the site.

When it comes to deposits, there are no fees being charged on the Libertex side of the company, however, the Forex Club side charges a commission on each deposit which is then converted into bonus funds. (See Bonuses & Promotions).

When depositing, you can deposit in any currency, however, it will be automatically converted into USD which is the required base currency for the accounts. (On the region of the website we were using).

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Similarly to deposits, the methods available change depending on your region, so be sure to double-check when signing up that the method is available for the region you are using. Unlike deposits, there is a fee for withdrawing, Credit / Debit Card has a fee of $1 / €1, e-wallets are fee-free, however, bank transfers have a fee of 0.5% with a minimum of $2 / €2 and a max of $10 / €10.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

E-wallet withdrawals are processed within 24 hours which is the new standard amongst Forex brokers, however, the credit/debit cards are processed between 1 – 5 days which is a considerable amount of time, bank transfers are processed within 3 – 5 days, which is standard for bank transfers.

Bonuses & Promotions

Promotions and bonuses are something that Forex Club / Libertex really seems to be pushing. There is a welcome bonus of 100% of your opening balance which has a minimum amount of $100 and a maximum amount of $10,000. In order to earn from these bonuses, each time a commission is taken from the bonus funds, you are paid 10% of this commission as real money. So while you do not make any more by winning trades and building the bonus balance directly, you will make a small amount for every trade completed. You can, however, only convert as much bonus funds as your initial deposit, it does not work indefinitely.

Educational & Trading Tools

On the English Forex Club / Libertex site, there are some basic videos and tutorials on the basics of trading and how to get started, but nothing that will make you an expert.

On the Russian Forex Club / Libertex site, it offers a number of little benefits and educational tools that can help you learn the basics. There is a training section on the website that can teach you the basics of trading. You can get the first three courses for free, then the additional courses require you to have an account of at least $500 in order to get access to them. You can also enroll in courses which will be more tailored to your needs, from beginners to a completely specialized course, of course, these will cost, however, how much is not obvious.

There are also a few different types of analysis that can be obtained from the Forex Club / Libertex site, with market reviews, an economic calendar, and quotes available on site. While not necessarily the most helpful, it is nice that they are offering their clients these extra little features.

Customer Service

In terms of support, there are a couple of ways that Forex Club / Libertex can help, they have a knowledge base on the site, just in case the question you have is already answered it is always good to check that out.

There is the standard online form for getting in contact, you can fill it in with your query and they will get back to you via email as soon as possible, there is also the support email address made public, so if you prefer you can email them directly.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available with Forex Club / Libertex and offer the opportunity to test the markets and strategies to see if they work. Demo accounts come with funds of $50,000 and remain open indefinitely as long as they are being used, after a period of non-use, the demo account may be closed, but you are then able to open up a new account.

Countries Accepted

Forex Club / Libertex does not offer their services to the following countries: Russia, USA, Japan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazi, Guyana, Iraq, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Yemen, Vanuatu, Uganda, Quebec Canada, Syria, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Iran and North Korea. This list may be added to at any time.

Conclusion

It can be confusing, very confusing working out what is available and how your account will work considering there are so many different versions of Forex Clum and Libertex. We would suggest sticking with the region that it automatically selects for you and then looking at the features. The MT4 and MT5 accounts are pretty standard accounts which is by no means a bad thing. The Libertex account is geared towards Binary Options, so while it is there, we would advise avoiding it and sticking to Forex.

There are decent promotions with an interesting bonus cashout system, deposit and withdrawal methods can be both confusing and also expensive. While Forex Club / Libertex seems like a well-established entity, we can’t really recommend signing up simply due to the fact that there are so many different variations that can confuse potential clients, so for now, our recommendation is to look elsewhere.

We hope you like this Forex Club review, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

At first look at the Varchev website, visitors will think it is Bloomberg with a dark theme. News around the world will dominate the page without the classic template we see with many brokers. Varchev presents itself as a professional information station that is supremely packed with knowledge on many markets and finance subjects. Varchev is multidisciplinary and provides more services than an average broker. It is regulated in the UK by the FCA although Varchev is based in Bulgaria and obeys the MiFID directive of the EU and Bulgaria’s Financial Supervision Commission. Transparency is great, a lot of useful information can be found on the website without redundancy, leaving a serious, formal business approach to customers.

To understand what makes Varchev a different choice, a simple page is created with all the key points about his broker, like its business model, No Dealing Desk Direct Market Access, great trading instruments range, exact figures of spreads, bonuses, 3 different platforms and many more. This may be overwhelming for first-time traders, for anyone having at least basic knowledge will stay and explore what this broker has to offer. This review will summarize the most interesting aspects.

Account Types

Varchev does not feature different account packages. Once applying for trading, you will be given 3 platform options, each has its trading conditions that do not differ much. We have noticed some inconsistencies about the minimum deposit amount on the website and the Trading Conditions document. The documents for all platforms state no minimum is required although the website mentions $200 or another currency equivalent. Trading terms are very detailed, transparent and plentiful, both online and on paper. Terms are also separated across trading instrument categories like Gold Trading Terms, Cryptocurrencies Trading Terms, and so on.

Varchev will present the Demo account many times on their website to see all the trading figures applicable to the real account. The VIP Account is mentioned although not as clearly, for clients that deposit $50.000 will have the option to negotiate some trading conditions such as the leverage level.

MT4 platform account features benefits like Video lessons, although we are sure the MT4 platform does not have videos. Also, traders will enjoy negative balance protection, narrow spreads, EA allowance and all types of strategies, winning trading tips, etc.
MT5 has the same offers while the Varchev Absolute Trader platform has slightly different margin requirements. The margin requirements list is extensive and split into 9 tiers, ranging from 1% requirement to 100%.

Platforms

Varchev goes a step further than other brokers offering 3 platforms for different devices and computers. Both MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms are offered with the addition of Varchev’s branded xStation platform called Varchev Absolute Trader (VAT), platform originally developed by XTB broker.

The VAT is a web-accessible platform that is well developed with user experience in mind. The VAT has a dark theme by default and looks more pleasant than both MetaTrader platforms. The market watch has a built-in sorting, asset categorization with additional context buttons, search box, and asset basket creation, thus making it much more useful than MT4 / 5 counterpart. One-click trading is available immediately without any confirmation. VAT charts have a great overview by giving the trader all the major information ready to consume around the chart. Such as period countdown, handy toolbars for drawing, text, chart comparisons in the same window, customizable visible layers or toolbars, better crosshair information, and indicators insertion.

A major drawback is immediately clear once you scroll for the available list of indicators, only a handful are listed. This also means no automated trading is possible. The same chart can be detached as a separate browser window but also arranged into a grid, vertical, horizontal or full screen. Aside from charts, other tabs can be selected so traders can see the News, Calendar, Market Analysis, and trading history. The news feed comes from the xStation sources with good quality and quantity relevant to different asset categories that can be filtered to the trader’s interest. All content has charts and related arguments that go well with the analysis, clearly professionally made.

Next is the Economic Calendar that is well designed, although we found that the filtering is available but not working. Sorting by Impact or Currency is possible, yet some currencies are not typed in. Market Analysis gadget has 4 sections: Market Sentiment, Top Mover, Heatmap, and Stocks Scanner. All of these are very useful and interesting, especially the Stocks Scanner that has an impressive range of Ratio Analysis applicable to all stocks tradeable. Trade Ordering has advanced Stop Loss and Take Profit, as well as other pending orders with the addition to set price levels according to pips, price or percentage.

Execution times are very fast, we have not encountered anything slower than 100ms. This platform is very useful as a demo or to execute signals out of MT4 or other platforms that support more technical indicators. Whatsmore, this platform analysis, and news feature provide great value to traders. Some of these could be added to MT4/5 in the form of various plugins or indicators although a ready-made quality solution like VAT platform has its advantages. VAT platform is also available for mobile devices, both Android and iPhone.

MetaTrader 5 platform found Varchev’s servers in a blink and relays the signal in 35ms. Everything is at default settings, the client updated to the latest version with one-click buttons visible. We have moved on to see if the execution times are as great as with the VAT platform and they were around 140ms, slightly slower than with the VAT. The asset specification window is fully loaded with information on all key points. We have noticed that some assets are disabled for trading even though they have active trading sessions and no risky market events. The same assets were enabled on the VAT platform. Assets range is neatly categorized in groups and subgroups.

Unlike the MT5, the MT4 platform is not by default settings. Varchev customized the platform with its in-house indicators, chart layout, and templates. We have explored what custom indicators are offered by Varchev and found a total of 15 Varchev Indicators. Some of them are and extended versions of popular indicators like the Keltner Channel with additional settings options. Indicators extend the MT4 in numerous ways, the Overlay indicator adds the ability to plot another instrument chart over the other. Trend Filter shows multiple signals from poplar indicators under the bottom corner of the chart, giving an easy big picture glance of the market.

Varchev did a great job providing these indicators that greatly contribute to the trading environment and presenting them in full glory with a non-default layout. MT5 does not have these probably because they are not ported to the MQ5 language yet, a common drawback for MT5 that is still missing the support MT4 has. The execution times are around 350ms which is a bit slower than with the MT5 and the VAT platform. What amazed us is that MT4 has some assets that are not found either on the MT4 or VAT. More info on this in the Assets section.

Leverage

The leverage is presented at the 1:500 level and traders should know this is for professional traders. Since the ESMA policies went into effect in 29.07.2018, to have higher leverage than 1:30, traders will need to meet two of three criteria. These are transaction size requirements, in significant size, on the relevant market and frequency; The size of your financial instrument portfolio exceeds EUR 500,000; You work or have worked in the financial sector for at least one year in a professional position. We will display leverages for non-professional traders as these are the majority.

For VAT and other platforms accounts, except the VIP clients, the leverage is 1:30 for Forex majors, 1:20 for non-majors like EUR/AUD or USD/TRY, 1:20 for Gold and major Indices, 1:10 for the rest of the metals and commodities, and 1:5 for the remaining of available CFDs. Cryptocurrencies have 1:2 leverage.

Trade Sizes

Varchev is a micro-lot broker meaning the minimal trading size is 0.01 lots. Step volume is also 0.01 lots with the minimum Stops level at 0 points. These figures make the best possible environment for precision trading for any strategy, allowing better Money Management, scaling, and Risk management. The maximum trade size is 100 lots. This trade size setup is consistent across the Forex range. For Oil, only the maximum is set to 10 lots, and for Gold and other precious metals at 50. Indices have the minimum set at 0.1. Bitcoin and other cryptos are set to the maximum trade size of 5 lots and a minimum of 0.01. VAT platform had a minimum trade size of 0.1 lots for crypto. Note that the VAT platform has more assets to trade as well as some minor differences in the trading conditions. Margin Stop Out is at 30% and Margin Call at 50%.

Trading Costs

Varchev does not charge commissions except for CFDs on shares, Oil, and ETFs. For the MT5 platform, the commission for US shares is $0.05 per stock, min $5 and EU 0.10%, min 5 EUR. As stated for the MT4 platform, only $0.05 per any stock is charged. For traders utilizing the VAT platform, the commission for shares is specific to countries. For Czech companies, the commission is 0.25% (min 300 CZK), 0.08% (min 8 EUR/USD)for the EU, United Kingdom, Swiss, and US companies. Poland is an exception like Czech Republik and has 0.25% (min 25 PLN) commission charged. For the EU ETFs, the commission is 0.1%. (min 8 EUR) and for the US ETFs, 0.08% (min 8 USD).

The Swaps are under normal industry levels and with frequent positive values. They are calculated in points for forex. EUR/USD swap has a positive figure on short position 6.245 and -9.981 for long, the US dollar has a positive on USD/JPY and –8.627 on the short position. EUR/GBP also has a positive swap on the GBP side 1.395. From what we have seen in the MT5 platform, many pairs have a positive swap, tripled on Wednesdays. Spot Gold swap is also calculated in points with -10.24 for long and 7.733 for short positions. Palladium has somewhat higher levels, -14 for long and -35 for short. For stocks, the swap is calculated in percentage terms per annum and Cryptocurrencies -30% per annum on both positions, tripled on Fridays. VAT platform has different swaps, so for example, Bitcoin had -30% for long and -10% for short positions. Varchev also has a Rollover Table for Indices and Commodities published under Trading Conditions.

Assets

Varchev took great efforts to bring numerous instruments to traders. Is it promoted that over 3000 assets can be found. We have confirmed that this true although traders should know that not all are open for trading and that some have limited trading sessions.
The Forex category is separated into Majors, Minors and Exotic groupings. All of the majors are present and interestingly currency pairs like USD/TRY and USD/BGN are under the Minors group. The Bulgarian Lev is certainly an exotic, very rare to see even with Forex focused brokers. Under Exotics, we found USD/MXN, USD/HKD, EUR/NOK, USD/RUB, and Scandinavian currencies.

VAT platform has many more currencies like USD/Romanian Leu, Hungarian Forint, Chilean Peso, Brasilian Real and Czech Koruna. Overall, one of the longest list in the industry. The MT4 Forex range stepped to another level. In addition to the major pairs all brokers have, the exotics are unique and only a handful of brokers can offer Serbian Dinar, Croatian Kuna, Macedonian Denar, Ukrainian Hryvna, and Israeli Shekel. What we have disliked is that all of these were disabled for trading at the moment of our review.

Commodities are separated into Oil types, natural Gas and Metals. Crude, WTI, and Natural Gas are listed as several futures too. From Metals Gold, Platinum, Palladium, and Silver are present, completing the list for any metal-oriented trader. MetaTrader 4/5 does not have all the Commodities VAT platform has. In the VAT, traders can find Cocoa, Coffee, Cotton, Sugar, Wheat, Corn, Soybean, Zinc, Aluminium, Copper, and Nickel. The MT4 has Pork Bellies not found in MT5 or VAT. Also, Palladium is not listed in VAT, only MT4/5 has it.

Bonds are not officially listed as a category but they are present under the Commodities group in VAT for unknown reasons. There are 4 of them under BUND10Y for German 10 year Bonds, SCHATZ 2 Year German Bonds, TNOTE for the US 10 year Treasury Note, and an interesting EMISS for CO2 Emissions Contract. These Bonds are not found in MT4/5.
In the MT5 platform, we found a total of 15 Indices, some disabled for trading like the Volatility Index, VIX and the Dollar Index. All of the majors are present with a few specialties like the Swiss SMI, CAC 40 and UK 100 besides FTSE. The VAT platform, again, offers much more. Indices are split into Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe groups.

A total of an amazing 24 indices are listed with a lot of interesting, uncommon like the Largest Polish companies Index, W20, HUNComp, Netherlands NED25, CZKCASH, RUS50, INDIA 50, CHNComp, HKComp, South Korean KOSP200, MEXComp, and more. A great range that offers more diversification in the indices category, experienced traders know many indices are heavily correlated. Under the “New” group, the MT4 has a few of Indices and stocks that are introduced recently, further expanding the range.

ETF range in the VAT is again much better than what is commonly seen in the industry. We have counted more than 100 ETF in the VAT and most are from the US. These are not available in the MT4 or 5.

Varchev stocks range follows similar depth as with other categories. Impressive companies range is from the US, UK and the rest of Europe. We found some differences from the MT4 / 5 and the VAT platform although they are hard to find. For example, Holland companies are not found in VAT but are listed within the MT5 and 4. Stocks traders should find even the rarest of companies within the Varchev offer.

Cryptocurrencies are most dominant with the VAT platform. The only drawback is the minimum trade size volume is 0.1 lots. A total of 29 crypto pairs are found and all are available for trading. Apart from the majors like Bitcoin or Ripple, traders will see EOS against the USD and Ethereum, Dash vs BTC, TRON, Monero, IOTA, Zcash, Stellar, NEO, Cardano, NEM and many crosses with another major crypto. MT4 and 5 do not have such an extensive range or are disabled for trading.

Spreads

Varchev has floating spreads that are competitive. The tightest spread comes from the EUR/USD and USD/JPY at 8 points and there is a very small spread difference in the comparison of VAT and the MT5/4 platforms. The widest spread among the major forex group was with the GBP/CHF at 2.7 pips and GBP/NZD at 4 pips. The spread does not have high deviation so the spreads are competitive across all currency pairs. Exotics also had very competitive spreads, for example, EUR/CZK had 2.8 pips, USD/PLD 11.5 pips, and GBP/PLN 29.5 pips.

Spot Gold spread had a slight difference, VAT platform showed about 38 pips while MT4 was like fixed on 40 pips. Bitcoin/USD spread was around 34 pips in MT4/5 and almost double, 60 pips in the VAT. On the other hand, Etereum/USD has 40 pips spread in MT4/5 and 37 pips in VAT. For some coins the spread difference is more noticeable like for LTC/USD – 102 pips in VAT and 145 in MT4/5. When having this mixed trading environment, it is best to see what are the most traded assets and compare those among the platforms. Traders can also use both of them and select what is best of each although this will make management more complex.

Minimum Deposit

Varchev website and the trading documents show different statements about the minimum deposit. On the website, the minimum is 200 USD/EUR/GBP or 400 BGN for all 3 Account types or platforms. Trading Conditions state no minimum is required. To make sure, we have confirmed with Varchev support that the true information is stated on the Trading Conditions website page. The VIP account requires a $50.000 minimum deposit which will allow negotiable trading conditions.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Varchev has a good range of methods of deposit. E-wallets supported are Skrill, Paypal, ePay.bg, Netteler, Giro pay, Itau, Ukash, and even Bitcoin. Whatsmore, traders can even deposit in cash within Varchev’s offices in Sofia and Varna. Aside from these, the usual deposit methods via Credit/Debit card and Bank Transfer exist. The costs will depend on the method used, Varchev will not charge any additional costs. As per the latest info from the Varchev support, Bitcoin deposits are not possible at the moment because of Netteler.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Varchev will use the same method as with the original deposit for withdrawals. For a bank transfer, it is required to download and print the withdrawal request form, sign it and send it to Varchev. Varchev does not charge any fees for withdrawals, all the cost associated with the withdrawal from third parties are carried over to the client. Not all withdrawal options will be available for every country the client comes from. In-hand cash withdrawal is possible with the commission of 0.5%.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Varchev will process the withdrawal request in 24 hours. At the moment Varchev receives your withdrawal request, the broker will issue a wire transfer through a Bulgarian bank – within the day. If it is towards a foreign bank – 3 to 5 working days will be required. For e-wallets, this time is reduced and is usually within the same day of the withdrawal request.

Bonuses & Promotions

ESMA restricts bonuses, as can been noticed with Varchev that offers bonuses only to professional traders classification. If a trader is accepted as a professional client, there are 3 kinds of bonuses Varchev offers.

Client Bonus is a classic addition of company funds to new real accounts. The structure is scaled to the initial deposit amount. Over $3000 – $250 bonus is applied, Over $10 000 – $1000 and over $50.000 the bonus can be negotiated as well as other trading conditions. The bonus follows the usual trading volume clause to become withdrawable. A client has to trade 10 lots for every $1 bonus, which is very high although there is no timeframe this has to be achieved. Withdrawals will reduce the bonus proportionally to the amount taken.

Cashback Bonus is not a rebate benefit but a reimbursement in case clients go into negative on the first trading day. $500 will be compensated or if the trader has a loss below $500, his account will be restored to the original amount.

Friend Bonus is a classic referral bonus of $100 that is awarded to both parties. The conditions are the minimum deposit of at least $1000, introduced trader has to trade at least 10 lots for you to receive $100, and the other $100 will be funded to the introduced trader after he trades another 10 lots. Introducing more than 10 clients in 6 months gives the ability to apply for Introducing Broker program.

Educational & Trading Tools

Varchev features a special section for training. It consists of various categories of material, ranging from videos, ebooks and just fresh economic events. It is not well organized although the content is of good quality. Interesting is the “60 seconds with Biser Varchev” videos that explain interesting trading topics but it is not in English, YouTube has captions in English available though. Technical analysis features explanations on some advanced topics that are narrow in scope, like “Falling Knives” FX Strategy and how to use Varchev’s mentioned indicators already inserted in the MT4 platform. There is a lot of material to consume but finding what you need might be tedious.

The second section that could be regarded as an additional information tool is the Varchev Blog. This is a combo of tweets from the founder Biser Varchev and other social media content. Here you can see how Varchev is trading, his positions, and opinions, something other brokers do not do. This section is not frequently updated and 2 months gaps are not uncommon. On the same page, there is a contact form for directly asking questions to Varchev. FAQ section is not comprehensive enough and is separated dor different sections of the website.

Economic Calendar is not present although the VAT platform has it integrated.
A lot of additional content is presented on the website homepage. This is a mix of in-house analysis, news, and tutorials. News windows are categorized by asset classes, so you can find Commodities news, Stocks Daily Forecasts, Market Rumors, Great Traders, Interest Rates, Trading Univesity and much more. This page is also one of the Varchevs selling points.

Varchev website also features a Currencies Exchange calculator. This calculator is specific because it lists offices in different parts of Bulgaria, adhering to different BLG exchange rates. There is also a crypto exchange office rates located in Bulgaria. Therefore, Varchev is also offering exchange services.

Customer Service

Varchev Customer service is 24/5 available through e-mail, contact form, chat, and Telegram group. The broker is also very active on social media. Chat service uses a unique client that features a chatting room where all Varchev treaders and staff can see and answer you. You will also see questions from other clients. Talking is possible as well as uploading a file. The staff is knowledgable and responsive within minutes, so you will not feel someone is giving full attention only to you.

Demo Account

The Demo account is encouraged all over the Varchev website. The demo does not have a time limit and is customizable in terms of leverage, currency, amount, and all the platform types. The Demo will correctly reflect real trading conditions in all platforms offered. The opening process is simplified and can be done through the MT4/5 terminal or by the standard e-mail credential procedure for the VAT platform.

Countries Accepted

Varchev does not show this information as all countries are accepted. Of course, this cannot be true since they are regulated. We are informed by the Varchev staff that the USA and Belgium are the currently prohibited countries.

Conclusion

Varchev ahs established good connections in London and with the XTB brokerage house especially. The VAT is based on XTB’s xStation platform that received a lot of rewards. The asset range is strangely similar to the XTB as this broker is just a proxy with a markup. Still, Varchev offers a lot of additional services like Investment Consulting, business plans, marketing analysis, enterprise processes optimization, opportunities for attracting equity, crisis management planning, tender preparation and more. Varchev also features Portfolio management for VIP clients and manages their Fund called High-Yield Fund. The Fund price chart is not that promising as it shows a negative number in the past two years. Whatsmore, the Fund assets diversification is heavily biased towards the Bulgarian market.

Varchev security rating is good enough as it is regulated in different jurisdictions by reputable FCA and less important FSA of Bulgaria. The broker adheres to MiFID directives, has segregated funds within multiple banks and features Investor Compensation Fund that protects clients funds with 20.000 EUR pool. Most experts think this pool is far from enough to cover everyone’s losses in case of broker default.
Varchev does not have any rating on benchmarking sites, as completely unpopular worldwide despite the well-developed structure. The rating on other social media has less weight although is mostly positive and from Bulgarian clients.

Founded in 2008 Pelliron Universal Inc. is not new to the business although has not reached the popularity or the scope of successful brokers that are much younger. Allegedly based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, one of the favorite offshore places for brokers, both legal and illegal. The company website does not show professionalism in the content and the design. We have also noticed that the content is not always written in proper English, does not have much useful information, no support, no Demo account option, meaning this could be the early signs the broker, if legit, does not have much to offer. Whatsmore, we have confirmed that Pelliron is not licensed to provide CFD or any kind of financial instruments trading. Pelliron presents a world map of its services, showing clients from usually restricted countries like the United States, Japan, and China. Within this review, you will see if there is something that you might like with this broker still.

Account Types

Pelliron does not have multiple account types to choose from. Only two account types are available but with some special traits. Swaps do not exist apart from Cryptocurrencies, and additionally, Prillon features a deposit interest of 36% per annum under specific conditions. Instruments do not have 5 digits, the minimal price change is on the 4th decimal. The spreads are fixed although it is common to see spread modifications or complete trading restriction upon News events or high market volatility.

Deposit interest is rare to see among brokers, let alone the 3% monthly. There are trading conditions, traders need to execute more than 3 lots per $1000 of the balance and not to withdraw funds for that month. This feature can be combined with other bonuses and promotions. The payment will be credited based on the Equity level at the end of the month. After 90 days of inactivity, the client’s account will be considered dormant. The broker will “archive” this account and all bonuses will be canceled. Interestingly, Pelliron will not reactivate this account once archived and the only way to obtain residue funds is by opening a new account and use the transfer function from the Clients Area.

Pelliron also offers a VIP Club for clients with big deposits. Mentioned deposit interest is increased to 4% per month. Consequently, the trading volume condition is also increased to 4 lots per 1000 units of available funds. Furthermore, the account also has a Cash-back of $10 for all transactions exceeding the trading volume condition for the 4% interest. Pelliron will compensate all bank expenses for the deposits for members of the VIP Club.

Platforms

Pelliron has only Metatrader 5 platform available. New brokers cannot apply for Metatrader 4 license as it is discontinued by MetaQuotes Corp. MT5 can be downloaded for all computers using Windows and Mac systems as well as for Android and iOS mobile devices. Web MT5 is also available without any need for downloads or installation. The MT5 platform quickly found Pelliron Universal servers with a ping of 63ms. All settings are at defaults and the platform is updated to the latest version. The executions times are extremely slow compared to other brokers. The average was always above 6 seconds which is not acceptable for any fast trading strategies.

There is enough information for each trading instrument, swaps rates are omitted as this broker does not deal with swaps. For Crypto, where swaps apply this is not stated. The 1M chats were very choppy, showing very low liquidity even for EUR/USD pair. Price movements are also sudden and intermitted. Whatsmore, trailing stop placement is not allowed and trading contract sizes are not standard. We have further detected errors in the Clients Area app that is based on Yii Framework 2.0. Overall, Perillon provides poor technical trading conditions.

Leverage

The leverage is set to 100:1 by default and as described in the Trading Conditions. We have confirmed this level within the MT5 platform for all Forex currency pairs, including exotics. For crypto, the leverage is 1:10 and for Gold, the broker defaults 1:100.

Trade Sizes

Pelliron does not have 5 digits quoted and does not offer micro-lot trade sizes. The minimum trading size is 0.1 lots although for BTC/USD 0.1 lot is 1 BTC, which is not the standard contract size. 1 lot should be 1 Bitcoin, otherwise, traders cannot trade anything less than 1 BTC with this broker. The minimum step volume is also 0.1 lots. The maximum trade volume is 100 lots that apply to Forex pairs, metals and crypto. For stocks, the maximum is 1000 lots. Stop level for Forex pairs is 3 points, for Gold is 50 points and for Oil 5 points.

Trading Costs

Since Swaps are not calculated with Pelliron and also no commissions are charged, there are no trading costs apart from spreads that will be evaluated in the Spreads section. Any account-related fees are not disclosed in the legal documents or on the web site.

Assets

The broker has 6 categories of assets offered. Forex has 42 pairs covering all the majors and a decent number of exotics. Alternative forex traders can find MXN, TRY, CNH, RUB and Scandinavian currencies like SEK and NOK. SGD and HKD are also on the list. TRY is present as a quote currency for EUR and the USD.

In the Index category, Pelliron has 12 listed. These are the most common indices in addition to Hong Kong 50 Index, CAC 40, Spain 35, and Dollar Index Futures. The Dollar Index was closed for trading. Precious Metals are limited to two, just spot Gold and Silver are offered. Commodities are limited only to energy assets. They are Brent and WTI Oil and Natural Gas.

Cryptocurrencies have a somewhat longer list than Commodity and Metals category. A total of 5 are listed, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Ethereum, and Litecoin. This list range is still below average although at least the major Cryptocurrencies are available.
Stocks offer follows similar, shortened range. All of the companies belong to the US markets, namely NASDAQ and NYSE. Equity traders that want location diversification will have no options with Pelliron because of this. A total of 28 companies are listed, all major and popular like Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Bank of America, Amazon, Facebook, etc.

Spreads

Pelliron offers fixed spread that is subject to modification in cases of volatility. Spreads are from 3 pips for major Forex pairs as stated. For example, EUR/USD has 3 pips spread, EUR/JPY has 4, GBP/NZD has 5, AUD/CAD 6, NZD/CAD 7 pips, etc. From the more exotic currencies, we have detected 70 pips for USDMXN, USD/SEK 60 pips and USD/RUB 205 pips. Spot Gold also has higher spreads at 50 pips and Silver 10 pips. Cryptocurrencies are a bit lighter on the spread so BTC/USD has 25 pips. Remember that cryptocurrencies do not have swap typed into the MT5 instrument specs window, but they exist per Trading Conditions. The exact amount is stated at zero for all crypto at the moment for this review. All energy assets have 5 pips spread.

Minimum Deposit

Pelliron has one of the highest minimum deposits requirement in the industry at $2000. For the VIP Club status, one would need $100.000.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Pelliron mentioned deposits by bank transfer, cards, WebMoney, and Netteler. The Credit/Debit card option does not exist within the Clients Area. To many investors, this could be a red flag as you are not protected by VISA /MasterCard consumer policies. Furthermore, it also means that it is hard for the broker to find a PSP company as many want to avoid chargebacks percentage. There are no costs related to deposits except for bank transfer costs.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Pelliron follows the same typical procedure that withdrawals need to be requested and they will be transferred using the same method as deposit, under the client’s name. There are no mentioned costs charged by the broker. Pelliron uses RBK.money, a Russian PSP.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The broker states that funds should be credited to the trader’s account within 3-7 business days. The processing is requested through the Client’s Area. Pelliron also has a Withdrawal and Refund policy. Probably one of the most important points in these documents is point 7. Of the Refund policy where it is stated that the client will not file a chargeback while or after using Pelliron’s services. If this happens it is considered a breach of the Client’s Agreement. If a chargeback is filed nevertheless, the broker will freeze the account and send the funds after all the fees. This policy does not hold any legal value. If the chargeback is valid, no fees can be applied to this procedure as the broker is charged by the PSP and VISA/MasterCard.

Bonuses & Promotions

Pelliron mentioned bonuses in forms already described as deposit interest rates and zero Swap rates. In the Partnership section, the broker vaguely describes additional benefits for 3 programs. We are not sure if these programs are for referrals or any trader following complex conditions listed under each program.

1+1 Partnership Program provides 100% additional funds from the broker. The bonus will be released in stages and the requirements are based on trading volume. There are many conditions and some are specific for each stage.

Double Hit Program. Similarly to the above Program, the broker will add a 100% bonus under certain trading volume conditions. The program is structured for different deposit amounts, 10k, 15k or 20k USD.

Trading Account Insurance Program. Pellion will reimburse the client who has lost all the deposited funds. The conditions are based on trading volume and also on other conditions like using a Stop Loss order on every trade. All the programs can be combined with the deposit interest rates feature.

Educational & Trading Tools

Relevant sections to Education would be Markets & Investing that includes 8 articles about trading and concepts. Some of these are very informative, especially for beginner traders. Wealth Management and Investment Planning, for example, have a better content quality that commonly seen with other brokers.

The News section is about global and news from Pelliron. Global news encompasses the latest from Reuter and other agencies and most of the content is secondary research. On the other hand, the news is fresh and holds the same quality out of the press. The company news is just the latest update on trading conditions, schedules, etc.

Economic Calendar is available although it is the same we see coming from MetaQuotes. There is no news type or selective filter for this Calendar and the only good part is the description and the chart of historic event levels.

Customer Service

Pelliron does not have a chat service. Interested parties will have to rely on the email and the phone line. The support is claimed to be 24/7. This was not true for us at the time of writing this review.

Demo Account

The Demo Account is not presented by the Pelliron. To be precise, the word “Demo” is not present anywhere on the site or the legal documents. Yet Demo Account is available by following the opening process within the MT5 platform. The leverage is fixed at 1:100 and you will be given 100.000 funds. There is only one server from Pelliron Universal, so you will have the same conditions as with Live account.

Countries Accepted

There are no restrictions and no specific information about prohibited countries. Judging by the lack of any supervision or regulation, everyone can apply.

Conclusion

Pellion Universal capital and management come from the former Soviet region and their target customers are in the same area. This is further supported by the IT architecture developed in Russia and the Russian PSP provider. As we go deeper we find out that the company has a few scam reports from users in Romania and Moldova. There are also trails of frequent broker location switches in different parts of the globe, mostly small island countries. Legal documents are not transparent enough, have too many clauses that put investors at very high risk, like the Chargeback point in the Refund Policy.

On the other side, Pelliron has somewhat developed a social network page that shows fresh in house-made video reports. For traders that want to take the risk with an unregulated offshore broker as Pelliron, they might enjoy the deposit interest features and permanent swap free trading that long term traders will appreciate. Wide fixed spreads become less impactful for such trading as the price movements are many times bigger than the spread itself on these, higher timeframes.

A2Trade is an offshore broker regulated by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius and offers a wide range of assets including Cryptocurrencies and special crypto withdrawals. The regulation license points to another owner company – Centrum Capital Ltd. This financial and investment banking company is public on the Mumbai Stock Exchange. There is no available information that confirms connections of A2Trade with this company. The owner of the website is Aragona Capital, another company involved in Cyprus. Furthermore, the A2Trade bank account points to an address in Belgrade, Serbia. A2Trade has another domain ending in .com. This is a Crypto Exchange registered in Estonia.

The overall quality of the A2Trade broker website does not show a professional approach as with top tier brokers although that does not mean A2Trade does not have anything to offer. We will evaluate each section to make sure traders have a good picture of what A2Trade can deliver.

Account Types

Account types are completely obscured to the point clients might think there is no selection. What we know is that four account types are mentioned, scaled according to the minimum deposit. Standard Account requires $500, Silver $5,000, Gold $10,000, and Platinum $25,000 deposit. According to some legal documents, these accounts can have different orders execution and other undisclosed parameters. We have encountered some problems during the creation process as credentials sent to the email were not correct. Although doing the registration process through the MT5 platform is a good alternative.

Platforms

A2Trade is focused on Metatrader 5 platform only. This platform is available for Windows, Mac as well as for smart devices running on Android and iOS. For those that do not want any installation process, the web MT5 platform is available too. A2Trade servers responded after a few seconds before the connection to the platform was established. Ping time once logged in was 39ms. The platform is updated to the latest version although registered to Aragona Capital company in the Cayman Islands.

All settings are to defaults but the chart screens were not receiving any feedback from the servers. The reason behind this is that all assets do not have normal names but with a dot at the end. After some testing, the average execution time was consistent at 130ms which is considered as a top tier in the industry. The asset information has all the important points except the leverage. All orders are Good Till Cancel and filled Immediate or Cancel.

Leverage

As the information about the account types is non-existent on the A2Trade web site, visitors could not see what leverage is available until they register and log in to the Members Area. Upon making a new account, clients will be able to select the leverage from 1:100 to 1:500. For Crytpo there is no leverage, unfortunately.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes are in micro-lots or 0.01 lots. The maximum trading volume is 100 lots and increment volume steps are also in micro-lots. This setting is a common level among brokers and provides good control for risk management. The same level applies to metals except for copper, and Bitcoin trade volumes are also in micro-lots, with a maximum of 1000 coins.

Trading Costs

A2Trade has not disclosed any information about the costs associated with their accounts or trading. From the Terms and Conditions document the fees are mentioned in categories like Swaps, Commissions, Spreads, and Markups. Speaking of swaps, they are tripled on Fridays and are in normal values. The list published on the A2Trade website shows incorrect swaps and it is not live. Information on that list lacks some important figures like the spread but shows some positive swaps like for the Gold at -15 and +2 points for short position. The commission is not applied to Forex according to the instrument’s specification window in MT5. For Cryptocurrencies, there is a 0.4% commission per lot and swap levels are normal. For example, BTC/USD has a -55 points overnight charge per coin on both positions.

Assets

A2Trade has a total of 144 assets to trade which is not a lot comparing to other brokers as it lacks some of the classes. The website presents Forex, Indices, Stocks, and Commodities, leaving out the Crypto class. Clearly outdated, we have also confirmed from the platform that there are no CFD Stocks offered too. Starting with Forex, a total of 80 currency pairs are listed and by all standards, this is a great range. All majors and crosses are listed and alternative forex trades will be satisfied with exotics. For example, CHF is crossed with PLN, DKK, NOK, JPY, HUF, SEK, and SGD which is rare to see. Furthermore, SGD/HKD, HKD/JPY, SEK/JPY, TRY/JPY pairs are very interesting.

Precious metals range contains all the metals popular for trading nowadays. Gold, Silver, Palladium, Platinum, and Copper are listed in their MT5. To mix this up, A2Trade offered more underlying currencies for Gold And Silver. Therefore you can find AUD, CHF, EUR, USD, and GBP crossed with XAU and XAG. As far as other brokers do, it cannot be better than this.

Under Commodities, the range is close to basic. WTI and Brent Oil are available with the addition of Natural Gas. For many Forex traders having two Oil types is good enough.
The indices range is average compared to other brokers. A2Trade decided to offer a good but not extended range as with Forex. A total of 12 Indices are available at the moment, covering all majors like the S&P500, Nasdaq 100, DAX 30, with the addition of some less common like SMI Swiss Blue Chip companies index and Spain 35.

Probably because of the connection with the A2Trade Cryptocurrencies Exchange, the range of cryptos is among the best in the industry. A total of 39 instruments are available. This is the list of Crypto: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, LiteCoin, Dash, Ethereum, Ripple, Monero, OmiseGO, Zcash, Basic Attention Token, EOS, IOTA, and Neo. If you combine these with different base currencies and even precious metals, you get something like BTC/XAG, XRP/GBP, ETH/JPY, BCH/XAU, and more. The only drawback here is the absence of any leverage.

Spreads

As with other important information on the A2Trade website, the spreads are not disclosed. To see the spreads, traders need to open an account and log in to the MT5 web or a desktop platform. All spreads are floating and are very reasonable. For example, the most traded currency pair, EUR/USD has a spread of 1 pip, AUD/NZD has an acceptable 2.7 pips spread and exotic like CHF/SGD has 6.5 pips. Other exotics and majors do not deviate from these values.

In the Metals class, the spreads are also very competitive. XAU/USD has 21 points spread that put A2Trade to the top 30 brokers with the best Gold spreads. Silver has an even lower spread at 12 points. Platinum is around 14 pips and Palladium 40 pips spread.
Cryptocurrencies spread levels are in line with the complete range. BTC/USD has 22.8 pips spread, but take into account the 0.4% commission. These cryptocurrency spreads are also one of the best in the industry.

Minimum Deposit

This information is available from the member’s area only. What we have noticed is three options with different minimum deposits. So, investors can choose $1, $20 and $50 minimum deposit. We are not sure what other options could be available for other countries.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The three options we saw are all related to crypto- Bitwallet, Coingate, and B2B InPAY. This broker did not offer us a Credit Card or the Bank Wire options mentioned, meaning traders will not have chargeback protection. For bigger, corporate deposits a Bank Wire is addressing a bank in Serbia. Also note that Coingate will charge a fee of 1% of the deposit value, Bitwallet 4% and B2B InPAY 1%. A2Trade does not state any additional fees. For those with the Bank Transfer option, the minimum deposit is $50 and will take up to 24 hours to complete.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Since all possible withdrawals are not disclosed anywhere, we will mention what is offered to us. Bitwallet and B2B InPAY. Like with the deposits, no Cards or Bank transfers method is possible. Bitwallet will charge you a 4% commission plus $40 for a withdrawal with an allowed minimum of $20 and a maximum of $5000. B2B InPAY does not charge a fee, minimum of $1 and a maximum of $10.000. The only currency available for withdrawals is the USD.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The A2Trade Payments page states that any profits realized will have to be transferred by Bank Wire or in Crypto and the initial funds using the same method for deposit. A2Trade will process the request in 48 hours. Bitwallet withdrawal time is 0-1 hours and B2B InPAY takes up to 24 hours to complete. Bank Wires take the usual of up to 7 working days.

Bonuses & Promotions

A2Trade does not offer any bonuses based on trading, only referral rewards. Introducing Brokers, Broker-Dealers, Affiliates, Money Managers, are all accepted for this program.

Educational & Trading Tools

Social trading or copy-trading is available with A2Trade. There are clear instructions on how to join but it is also possible to become one of the signal providers that receive a cut. PAM program is available too. As for education material, there is none. A2Trade has not put much effort into any tools except two economic calendars. The first one is very basic, with a rudimentary filter and no additional info on any event. The MT5 Calendar is the familiar classic MetaQuotes event calendar without filters available and event description with historic level charts. News or analysis features are not present.

Customer Service

A2Trade has some phone numbers that are not available and no chat. We have noticed a Telegram channel used instead. The email response time is longer than 24 hours.

Demo Account

The Demo Account creation process has some glitches if this is done through the client portal. Namely, the demo will not show up or any login information is sent. This can be avoided by opening the demo within the MT5 platform. The demo will have the option to select the leverage. There is no information about how long the demo will last or to what Account Type it reflects.

Countries Accepted

A2Trade does not mention any information on this subject. Judging from the payment methods, we think the coverage is better than usual.

Conclusion

In terms of funds protection or regulation, A2Trade has none in practice. Crypto is an unregulated class of Finance and therefore all risk fall to the investors. Furthermore, the very complex structure behind A2Trade is a great barrier to claim the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius can protect any investor. A2Trade is not listed on any benchmark sites and search engines do not pull a lot of data about anything relevant. On the other hand, the Forex and Crypto assets range is great, but what is also very appealing is the ability to use crypto for deposits and withdrawals. Finally, brokers like this do not need a lot of attention and the priority is to be able to keep the crypto options and open to traders from hard to reach countries, like the United States, Japan, etc.

TIO Markets is a forex broker regulated by the Finance Conduct Authority (FCA) and is a broker claiming a few different things. They claim to offer no commission, no fees, no hassle which should make them a no brainer. In this review, we dive into what they really offer so you can make an informed decision as to whether or not they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are 3 accounts available, however with TIO Markets they are called plans, these plans act as payment gateways to better trading conditions.

All Accounts: All accounts get access to the following perks, max leverage of 1:200, however you can request higher up to 1:500, no fees on deposits or withdrawals, fast withdrawals, security and license regulation, lightning-fast trade execution, 120+ instruments to trade, access to customer services and negative balance protection.

Free: The free account comes with all the above, however, due to it being free, there is a $6 commission per lot traded added to the account.

VIP: The VIP account costs $24.95 per month, it has a 3$ commission for each lot traded and grants the user access to priority support and level 1 education, we will look into what that means later in this review.

VIP Black: The VIP Black account costs you $49.95 per month, this removes any commissions charges from the account. This gives you access to TIOshield and TIOreimburse, we look at these in more detail in the promotion section of this review, you also get access to platinum support and advanced education.

It’s rare to see brokers charging for membership in terms of an active subscription, is it worth paying that for reduced commission? It would depend on how much you trade, and what the other features actually are.

Platforms

TIO Markets offers 2 platforms to trade with, both from the same family MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5).

MetaTrader 4 (MT4):
As for today, MetaTrader 4 still is one of the most popular trading platforms in the world. This platform offers rich functionality, operation simplicity, stable operation and interface easy to understand even for novice traders. The client-side of the MetaTrader 4 platform is now available for all operating systems since its browser version allows you to trade without downloading and installing the desktop application. MetaTrader 4 platform allows you to trade not only on the Forex market but also on other financial markets. These features of the platform make staying connected to the market 24 hours a day an easy task.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5):
MetaTrader 5 is the most popular trading platform, this is the fifth generation of platform for online trading in the financial markets. MT5 includes all the advantages of the previous version, complemented by a variety of unique technical solutions for operations on the Forex market, stock markets, as well as futures and CFD trading. In the meantime, it allows you to use a single trading account for different markets. MetaTrader 5 is also available for almost all types of mobile devices (thanks to the web version of terminal and versions for iOs and Android).

Leverage

Leverage is available up to 1:200 as standard, however, should you wish to trade with higher leverage, you can request to have the leverage raised to a maximum of 1:500, simply get in touch with TIO Markets to request this.

Trade Sizes

The trade sizes start where you would expect, at 0.01 lots (also known as a micro lot). We could not find any information regarding the maximum trade size, however, these normally sit between 50 lots and 100 lots which is more than enough for 99.9% of retail traders.

Trading Costs

There are commissions added to the free and VIP accounts, the free account has $6 per lot added which is the industry standard, the VIP account has a commission of $2, however, there is a monthly charge of $24.95 to have this account. The VIP Black account does not have any commission however it costs you $49.95 per month to use, so depending on your trade volume, you can decide if it is better to go for a commission or a subscription.

It should be noted that swap charges affect all accounts and can be viewed from within the trading platform of choice, these are charged or paid for holding trades overnight. There are also spreads with TIO Markets and these are discussed in more detail later in this review.

Assets

There are plenty of tradable instruments ready for your consideration with TIO Markets, they are broken down into the following categories, 70+ forex currency pairs, 5 energies, 3 cryptocurrencies, 60 shares, and 11 indices. While it is great to see cryptocurrencies making an appearance it would have been good to have seen more of them as they are a very popular trading instrument at the moment that a lot of new traders are looking towards.

Spreads

All spreads are variable which means that they will fluctuate based on the market conditions. Spreads have been seen anywhere between 0.1 pips to 7 pips depending on the currency and account that you have. An example of a crypto spread is that BTCUSD was currently sitting at 13.4 when we checked. The VIP Black account has spreads starting at 0 for major currency pairs, minor and exotic currency pairs still have spread but they are far lower than the other two accounts.

Minimum Deposit

Tio MArkets does not specify a minimum deposit so we are assuming you can deposit any amount, however when starting a new account, we always recommend starting with around $500 in order to be able to use proper risk management.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Tio MArkets do not actively promote their deposit methods however we were able to discover that they currently support all major credit and debit cards, they also allow for bank wire transfers as well as some popular e-wallets such as Neteller and Skrill. There may be others but as they are not advertised it is hard for us to tell.

TIO Markets do not add any fees for their deposits, but if using bank wire transfer, be sure to check with your bank to see if they make any of their own charges.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

As with the deposit methods, there was no clear indication of what methods are accepted, we would be assuming that the same methods are available to withdraw as they are to deposit. We are also unsure f any fees are added to any withdrawals.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Individual processing times are unknown, however, the website states that withdrawals are normally processed within a few hours, so for e-wallets, this should mean the funds are available to you within a few minutes after processing. Card withdrawals normally take between 1 and 5 days to process and bank transfers between 3 and 7 days to fully process depending on your bank.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are a few bonuses available with TIO Markets, we have outlined them below for you.

TIOreinburse: Available for VIP Black subscribers, this promotion allows you to receive 50% of your deposit back if your account is stopped out within the first 30 days. These reimbursed funds are counted as bonus funds and can not be withdrawn themselves.

TIOshield: Available to VIP Black subscribers, this allows you to open a trade and then close it within the first 60 minutes if it is going against you, there is a small premium to pay, however.

Trading Competitions: TIO Markets hold regular trading competitions where you can trade and have a chance to wish a share of $300,000 in trading credits. Each competition is slightly different so be sure to check out the competition page for more information. There are both solo and team competitions.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are some educational videos available to view, these give a basic understanding of the forex markets and ways to analyze and trade. Apart from these videos outlining different features of the site and accounts, there isn’t much more in terms of education. There are a few additional webinars available for VIP Black members but we are unable to tell what these webinars are like.

Customer Service

Should you have any queries or need any help, there are a number of different ways to get in contact with TIO Markets. You can use the online form to send your question and you should expect to get a reply back via email. There are also live chat and a telegram chat available to get support. There are also a number of emails to get in contact with different departments such as general inquiries, support, partnerships, and dispute resolution. Finally, there is a postal address available should you wish to send a physical letter. Surprisingly there is no phone number available to call.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, simply click the “Try the Demo” button on the website and sign up, once you have your demo account it lasts indefinitely unless you do not use it, if it is left dormant for too long then it will be automatically closed, if this happens you can simply open up a new one.

Countries Accepted

The website states that the information and services provided are not intended for residents of the USA or OFAC, it is not however limited to just these countries. So if you are unsure if you are eligible to join, simply get in contact with the support team to find out.

Conclusion

It is not very often that you find a forex broker with a subscription model, it could word out beneficial to sign up to one of these subscriptions if you current commissions are more than the subscription cost, there are plenty of benefits that come along with the subscription. Trading conditions are competitive and there are plenty of ways to get in contact with the support team. There is a lack of information in regards to deposits and withdrawals and it took a lot of digging to find any info at all. Two very good trading platforms make TIO Markets seem like an appealing place to trade, but be sure to do your own research to ensure they are right for you before signing up.

We hope you like this TIO Markets review, if you did, be sure to check out some of the other reviews in order to help find the broker that is right for you.

EuropeFX is a forex broker registered in Cyprus and states that it is dedicated to offering the best possible range of products and services while maintaining the highest standard of customer service in the industry. In this review, we will be looking at this in a little more detail to see what is really being offered.

Account Types

There are 5 different accounts on offer, each with different requirements and features, we outline what some of them are down below.

All accounts gain the following benefits:

Online chat support, demo accounts, segregated bank accounts, STP / no dealing desk, access to all trading platforms, maximum leverage of 1:30, professionals get a maximum leverage of 1:200, stop out levels of 50%, access to the online education center, webinars, seminars and a variable spread from 0.1 pip. Base currencies can be set as EUR, USD or GBP however not changed once set.

Bronze: The bronze account is the EuropeFX starting account, it has a minimum deposit of $200 (Europe FX recommend $1000) and gives a trial period for things such as a relationship manager, trading central daily newsletter, premium signals, and a private one on one trading academy. Commissions are charged on this account.

Silver: Starting at $2,500, with this account you get a relationship manager, access to the daily trading newsletter, a trial period for the premium signals, and 3 sessions of private one on ones. There is also access to EuropeFX investments but only the mirror trader. There are also full commissions paid on this account type.

Gold: Gold accounts require an opening balance of $10,000, with this account you get a relationship manager, access to the central daily newsletter, full access to premium signals and 4 sessions of private one on one trading help, you also get 2 private trading sessions per months, access to event rooms once per month, SMS trading notifications, access to EuropFX investments, both mirror trader and RoboX. This account has a 10% discount taken from its commission.

Platinum: The platinum account increases the minimum deposit further to $25,000. This account gives you a relationship manager, access to the central daily newsletter, full access to premium signals and 8 sessions of private one on one trading help, you also get 4 private trading sessions per months, access to event rooms twice per month, SMS trading notifications, access to EuropFX investments, both mirror trader and RoboX. This account has a 25% discount taken from its commission.

Premium: This is the top tier account and it shows by needing a massive $50,000 minimum balance, showing that his account is more aimed towards professionals than retail traders. This account gives you a relationship manager, access to the central daily newsletter, full access to premium signals and 16 sessions of private one on one trading help, you also get 8 private trading sessions per months, access to event rooms 4 times per month, SMS trading notifications, access to EuropFX investments, both mirror trader and RoboX. This account has a 50% discount taken from its commission and trial access to the VIP services (we go into more detail around this in the bonus and promotion section of this review).

Platforms

EuropeFX only has one trading platform, here is a little overview of it.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): MetaTrader 4 is one of the world’s most popular trading platforms and for good reason. Released in 2005 by MetaQuotes Software, it has been around a while, it is stable customizable and full of features to help with your trading and analysis. MT4 is compatible with hundreds and thousands of different indicators, expert advisors, signal providers and more. Millions of people use MT4 for its interactive charts, multiple timeframes, one-click trading, trade copying and more. In terms of accessibility, MT4 is second to none, available as a desktop download, an app for Android and iOS devices and as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser. MetaTrader 4 is a great trading solution to have.

Leverage

There is maximum leverage of 1:30 for retail clients, should you be considered as a professional trader then this figure increases up to a maximum of 1:200, get in contact with EuropeFX if you feel you should have higher leverage than the standard 1:30.

Trade Sizes

EuropeFX claim that the minimum trade size is dependant on the instrument that you are trading, however, it appears by looking through the documentation that the minimum trade size os 0.01 lots (also known as a micro lot) across the board, there may be a change when trading CFD Futures or Shares, but otherwise it stands at 0.01 lots. We could not locate the information for the maximum trade size, however, with most brokers this normally sits around50 lots to 100 lots.

Trading Costs

Commissions are added to each trade, this is calculated using a formula so it is slightly more complicated than the usual fixed amount per lot.

This is the explanation given by EuropFX:

The commission is charged as a fixed amount or as a percentage of the underlying asset price. The formula for Commission in Percentage = Asset price * Commission * Volume. Example: Suppose Amazon share price is 1850.50 and you want to trade 0.1 lot with commission 7%. Commission paid = 1850.50 * 7% * 0.1 = 12.95$

Certain accounts receive a discount to the commission, the gold account gets a 10% discount, Platinum accounts get a 25% discount and Premium accounts get a 50% discount.

If an account is not used for three months it will be considered as inactive, this account will then incur a fee of $50 (or equivalent base currency) per month until either a trade has been opened or the account balance reaches 0.

Assets

There are plenty of assets and instruments to trade with EuropeFX there is not a full breakdown of the tradable assets in terms of individual instruments, we can at least break them down into categories. There are Forex currency pairs, CFDs, Indices, Shares, Commodities, EuropeFX asset index, cannabis stocks and finally cryptocurrencies.

There are two areas of interest, firstly the cannabis stocks, and these are quite rare to see in brokers, at least the major players so it is nice to have them as an option to trade on stocks of different growers, biotech companies and suppliers. Secondly, are the cryptocurrencies, there isn’t a full list of those available but the major players such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and so forth are available which is great to see as the crypto world is growing incredibly fast with many new and experienced traders looking to crypto as their trading instruments of choice.

Spreads

EuropeFX offers raw spreads on all of their assets, this means that the spreads come directly from the liquidity providers and there is nothing extra added by the broker. Spreads can be as low as 0.1 pips depending on the asset, for instance, EUR/USD will normally be very low, while some other currencies will be higher.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required to open up an account is $200, however, EuropeFX makes it clear that they suggest at least $1000 so you can maintain proper risk management and improve the profit potential of the account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are plenty of different ways to deposit with EuropeFX and the good news is that with all of them there are no added fees. Currently, you can use bank transfer, Visa or MasterCard, both debit or credit, Skrill, Sofort, iDeal, Giro Pay, Safety Pay, TrustPay, Euteller, and Przelewy. Please note that your own bank may charge a fee when performing a bank wire transfer, so be sure to check with your bank prior to making a deposit.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You can withdraw using the same methods as you could for depositing. Unfortunately, the same stance of no fees are not considered here, there is a $25 (or equivalent currency) fee for each and every withdrawal, no matter the methods. This is a real shame as this is an aspect of online brokers that every trader hates and a lot of brokers are now removing the withdrawal fees so it would be nice to see them removed here too, $25 is high when it comes to withdrawal fees.

Please note, if withdrawing by bank wire transfer, your own bank may also charge a fee (on top of the EuropFX fee) so be sure to check with your bank prior to making a withdrawal.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

EuropFX does not give any specifics when it comes to their processing times, they simply state that it will take between 1 to 5 business days to receive your funds based on your selected withdrawal method, so processing must take around 24 hours for you to receive your e-wallet withdrawals in 1 business day.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is a VIP program on offer from EuropFX. This gives a number of different perks including an increased leverage up to 1:300, a 75% discount of trading commission and swaps, daily private trading sessions, complete access to offline and online education, priority bookings to the one on one sessions, daily access to the event room, SMS trading notifications and expedited withdrawals.

You can have a trial of the VIP program by simply opening up a premium account, there are multiple different tiers of the VIP program each requiring a different amount of points, gaining points is simple, just trade, the more you trade, the more points you get.

Educational & Trading Tools

Plenty on offer when it comes to education, it seems to be an area that EuropeFX is pushing due to all the different aspects states on the account pages.

Education: There are trading Ebooks available to read online which go over different aspects of how to successfully trade with forex, CFDs, and stocks. There are also plenty of videos available that go over all aspects of trading, including the use of the trading platforms to how to analyze the market effectively. There is also a glossary available to help you understand any terms that you may not have heard before.

There is also a basic economic calendar to help you to see any upcoming news events that may affect the pairs you are trading, a market news section which gives plenty of information o things like reviews of the market, a market watch that gives you ideas on where good movement could be and currency forecasts. Finally, there are the webinars, seminars and one on one sessions available where you can learn from professionals, ask questions and gain a lot of knowledge by working alongside a number of professional traders.

Tools: In terms of tools, there are two, one names RoboX which is classed as a smart trading machine, it creates an algorithm based on questionnaire answers and will then scan the database of all available strategies to find the ones that are right for you, changing them as it trades based on your answers, how effective this is we do not know, but it is an interesting concept.

Mirror trader is a slightly more conventional tool, you have seen mirror traders all over the place, you chose someone who is doing well and the software will copy their trades, they win, you win, they lose, you lose.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in contact with EuropFX, you can do so by using the online web form, fill in your question or query and you should get a reply by email. There are also two phone numbers available, one for Cyrus and one for Germany.

We did not manage to test the customer service at this time however it is stated that they are open 5 days a week 24 hours each day, closing at the same time that the markets close.

Demo Account

As expected, demo accounts are available, simply sign up to open one up, they last indefinitely as long as they are being used, if they are left dormant for too long they will be closed in order to free up server space if this happens simply open up a new one. There is a notice on the site that trading conditions may be slightly different in demo accounts than real live accounts.

Countries Accepted

EuropeFX state that they do not offer its services to residents of the USA, Iran, Cuba, Crimea, ​ Sudan, Syria, New Zealand, North Korea as well as some other additional jurisdictions. Be sure to check with the customer service team if you are unsure if you are eligible for an account.

Conclusion

EuropeFX seems like a competent broker, all the required and relevant information is available and easily accessible. With the new regulations in place, it is a shame to see the maximum leverage being reduced to 1:30, however, this is not EuropeFXs fault, more so to the new regulatory rules. Plenty on offer when it comes to educations, low spreads are always a plus but the commission structure can be a little more complicated to what we are used to, it would have been nice to have a set figure per lot.

We hope you like this EuropeFX review, if you did, be sure to check out some other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

Milton Markets is a forex broker situated in Vanuatu, specializing in forex currency trading Milton MArkets claim to offer competitive trading conditions along with the best customer services, industry-leading privacy and rapid liquidity of your funds. In this review, we will be looking into Milton MArkets in more detail to see what services they are really offering.

Account Types

There are two different accounts on offer from Milton Markets, they both have different entry requirements and offer slightly different trading conditions, let’s take a little look at what is on offer.

Standard Account: The standard account has a minimum deposit of 30,000 JPY, 300 USD or 300 EUR. It offers a maximum leverage of 1:800 and a starting spread of 1.5 pips. Order sizes can range from 0.01 lots up to 50 lots as a maximum. You can have up to 100 open orders and the stop out is set at 100%. This account has access to MetaTrader 4 as a trading platform.

Premium Account: The premium account has a lot of similarities with the standard account, for instance, the deposits remain the same, as does the leverage and the trade sizes, in fact, the only change to the account is the spreads, which are reduced to a starting spread of 0.3 pips, there is not an added commission of 0.4 pips added to each trade though. The trading platform remains the same as MetaTrader 4.

A free VPS is available with both accounts as long as the requirements are met (see the bonus and promotion section of this review).

Platforms

There is only one platform on offer from Milton Markets and that is MetaTrader 4 (MT4).

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is one of the world’s most popular trading platforms and for good reason. Released in 2005 by MetaQuotes Software, it has been around a while, it is stable customizable and full of features to help with your trading and analysis. MT4 is compatible with hundreds and thousands of different indicators, expert advisors, signal providers and more. Millions of people use MT4 for its interactive charts, multiple timeframes, one-click trading, trade copying and more. In terms of accessibility, MT4 is second to none, available as a desktop download, an app for Android and iOS devices and as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser. MetaTrader 4 is a great trading solution to have.

Leverage

There is maximum leverage of 1:800 which is very high, the industry seems to be moving towards 1:500 as an average, higher than this can pose risks, however, it is good to see such high leverages being offered to those who may want to trade with a little more risk. Leverage can be set lower, so it is up to the user what level they set when opening up an account.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes for both accounts start at 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot, the maximum trade size is currently 50 lots, this may sound low but it is more than enough for 99.9% of retail traders and it is recommended not to put in trades bigger than 50 lots, if you do want to, then be sure to put in multiple 50 lot trades to help ensure that he orders are executed quickly.

Trading Costs

The main trading cost from Milton MArkets comes from the spreads, however, we go into that in more detail later in this review. There is an added commission when using a Premium account, the spreads are reduced but there is a commission of 0.4 pips added to each trade. This is a confusing way to writing it, it is far clearer if a set amount per lot is stated as the commission. There are also swap charges either taken or paid when holding a trade overnight, these fees can be viewed directly within the MT4 trading platform.

Assets

There are no obvious lists or breakdowns of the available instruments on Milton Markets, there is only mention of currencies so it seems like they are specializing in currencies and not expanding, we may be wrong on that because there just isn’t any information available on the site.

Spreads

Spreads are variable, this means that they will fluctuate with the markets, the standard account has spreads starting at 1.5 pips, this is the minimum and due to the market’s movements can often be seen higher. The PRemium accounts have a reduced spread down to 0.3 pips, however, these are also variable and so can be seen higher, there is an added 0.4 pips for each trade on the premium account. Please note that some pairs and instruments naturally have higher spreads, so it will be higher than the stated 1.5 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit in order to open an account is 30,000 JPY, 300 USD or 300 EUR. It is unclear if you can make smaller deposits once the account is already opened but it would be presumed that you can.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Milton Markets only accepts two methods of depositing, you can use bank wire transfer or you can use something called bitWallet. bitWallet is a payment solution that allows you to use your credit or debit card, both Visa and MasterCard to deposit with Milton Markets. There are no fees to deposit, however, if using bank wire transfer, be sure to check with your bank as they may charge fees themselves.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same two methods are available wit withdraw as they are to deposit, bitWallet stays completely free to withdraw, however, it is unfortunate that Milton Markets have chosen to charge a fee of 2400 JPY, 24 USD or 24 EUR for any withdrawals by bank wire transfer. Also, bear in mind that you should check with your bank to ensure that they do not charge any fees for receiving a bank wire transfer. You must withdraw any balance to the same deposit method until the withdrawn amount equals the total deposit amount.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Milton Markets do not state that their processing times are, however they do state that bank wire transfers will take between 3 to 5 business days which is pretty standard.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is a promotions page on the Milton Markets website however it does not appear to be functioning properly so we are unable to comment if there are any additional promotions or bonuses aside from the free VPS. Having said that, there is a banner on the front page mentioning cashback bonuses, however, the link leads to the non-functioning promotions page.

There is a free VPS on offer to clients who meet the criteria, these are relatively low when comparing to other brokers, you simply need a balance of either 50,000 JPY or 500 USD and to have traded a total of 2 lots in a month.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is an economic calendar which gives some basic information in regards to any upcoming news events. Unfortunately, it appears that this is the only form of tools or education that is available with Milton Markets.

Customer Service

The website states that the support team is available 24/6 over chat, email, and phone, however the contact us page only has an online web form to fill out and get a reply via email. We could not locate the phone number so we assume it is on the client account page. We also clicked the little icon at the bottom of the page that looks like a chat window would pop up, but it failed to load so we are unsure.

If advertising phone and chat support, it should be made clear on the contact page on how to go about getting this support.

Demo Account

There wasn’t any mention of demo accounts and we could not find a way to open one so Milton Markets may not be doing demo accounts, we did not get into a user backend though, so there may be an option to open a demo account from there.

Countries Accepted

Looking through the site and the terms and conditions we did not see any mentions of which countries are restricted or accepted, so if you need clarification, we would suggest getting in contact with the support team.

Conclusion

Milton Markets started out strong with some competitive trading conditions, however as we explored the site a bit more we discovered that certain parts of it were not functioning properly, including the lack of information on the contact us page. Not many methods to deposit coupled with the high fees for withdrawing to your bank can be a bit offputting. We are not sure if the competitive conditions would make up for those drawbacks, but that decision is up to you.

We hope you like this Milton Markets review, if you did, be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help decide which broker is the right one for you.

Evolution Brokers is a forex broker registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and is registered with the Financial Services Authority there. Offering plenty of instruments, and boasting a dedicated support team, Evolution Brokers claims to be one of the best. In this review, we will dive deep into the services that are being offered to see if Evolution Brokers are a broker worth your money.

Account Types

There are four different accounts on offer from Evolution Brokers, the beginner, standard, professional and VIP, let’s take a little look and see what each account is offering.

Beginner:

This is the entry-level account with Evolution Brokers, it has a minimum deposit of $500, it has spreads starting at 3 pips and you can get a deposit bonus of up to 20%. This account has market execution and hedging is allowed. The maximum leverage is huge, sitting at 1:1000 which is more than enough for any trader.

Standard:

The standard account has a raised initial deposit of $1,000, with this raised deposit the deposit bonus raises to 30% and the pips decrease down to a starting spread of 2 pips. Hedging, market execution, and the 1:1000 leverage remain unchanged.

Professional:

The professional account again raises the initial deposit which now sits are $5,000. This account comes with a deposit bonus of 40% and the spreads decrease again to a starting spread of 1.5 pips. Hedging and market execution remain the same but the maximum leverage drops down to the more sensible 1:500.

VIP:

The VIP account is the top tier account from Evolution Brokers, it has a minimum deposit of $50,000 which prices out the majority of retail traders. This account comes with a 50% deposit bonus and the spreads now start at 0.6 pips, hedging is still allowed and the account still uses market execution. The leverage has dropped down to 1:200 which is reasonable for such a high account balance. All accounts are available as Islamic accounts if you are not able to pay or receive swap fees due to our beliefs.

Platforms

There is only one platform available with Evolution Brokers and that is MetaTrader 5, so let’s take a look at what that features…

MetaTrader 5 (MT5):

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is the younger brother of MetaTrader 4 (MT4)m developed by MetaQuotes Software and released in 2010, MT5 is used by millions and for good reason. Offering plenty of trading and analysis features to ain in your trading. Additional services expand the functionality of the platform making its capabilities almost limitless. MetaTrader 5 offers the built-in Market of trading robots, the Freelance database of strategy developers, Copy Trading and the Virtual Hosting service (Forex VPS). Use all these services from one place, and access new trading opportunities. MetaTrader 5 is also highly accessible with it being available as a desktop download, application for iOS and Android devices and even as a WebTrader where you can trade from within your internet browser.

Leverage

Leverage depends on the account that you are using, the beginner and standard accounts come with a maximum leverage of 1:1000 which is incredibly high and it is generally not recommended that you trade with leverage so high.

The professional account comes with a maximum leverage of 1:500 which is much more reasonable and the VIP account comes with a maximum leverage of 1:200 which is suitable for accounts wit such a high balance.

Trade Sizes

Trading starts at 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot, there is no mention that we could find in regards to the maximum trade size but these normally sit around 50 lots to 100 lots which is more than enough for the majority of retail traders.

Trading Costs

There is a mention of commissions in the terms and conditions and also the trading conditions pages of the site, however, there is no indication of what these commissions are. The accounts page does not mention any so we are unsure if commissions are charged or not, the information in the documents could be for legal or potential future or past reasons. There are swaps charged for holding trades overnight, either positive or negative and these can be viewed from directly within MT5 or on the website.

Assets

Plenty of assets to choose from, we have broken them down into the individual asset categories and the number of instruments within them.

• Foreign Currencies: 36
• Cryptocurrencies: 41
• Metals: 5
• Energies: 7
• Stocks: 284
• Indexes: 7

It is great to see so many different cryptocurrency pairings, normally you see between2 and 10, but 41 is fantastic to see.

Spreads

The spreads that you get are going to depend on the account that you have, spread with Evolution Brokers are variable which means that they move up and down depending on the market conditions so they can often be seen higher than the starting spread figure. The beginner account starts at 3 pips, the standard starts at 2 pips, the professional starts at 1.5 pips and finally, the VIP account starts at 0.6 pips.

Minimum Deposit

In order to open up an account you will need to make an initial deposit of at least $500, after this initial deposit there is no minimum deposit, some deposit methods do have a minimum but Bitcoin does not so the minimum drops down to $0.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are three different methods available to deposit with Evolution Brokers, these are Swift Bank Wire, Credit or Debit Cards and Bitcoin. Bank Wire transfers do not have any added fees, but if you use credit or debit card there will be a 4% fee added to the transaction and Bitcoin there will be a 3% fee added to the transaction which is disappointing to see. It is great to see Bitcoin as a deposit method as a lot of people are looking towards crypto coins in order to transfer their money, but having a fee attached to it kind of spoils the celebration.

Please note when using a bank wire transfer, your own bank may charge their own fees so be sure to check with them prior to making a transfer.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same three methods are available to withdraw and the fees remain the same which is just as disappointing. Many brokers are looking at getting rid of fees for depositing and withdrawing, so it would be nice to see Evolution Brokers go the same way and abolish the fees.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal requests are processed within one day, so depending on the method you used you could get your funds quite quickly. Bitcoin normally will be received within a few hours of processing, bank transfers normally take between 3 and 5 days and card withdrawals will normally take between 1 and 5 days.

Due to limitations from credit/debit card processors. withdrawal via credit/Debit card is offered up to the deposited amount. Withdrawal of profits exceeding the deposited amount must be performed via swift bank transfer.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are loads of promotions available from Evolution Brokers, we will outline what they are below.

50% Tradable Bonus: Every deposit that you make can receive a tradable bonus, the amount that you receive depends on the amount that you deposit, the bonuses start from 20% for a deposit of $500 – $999 and go up to 50% for deposits over $50,000. The funds are fully tradable but can not be withdrawn until they are converted into real funds, in order to convert them to real funds the following volume of trading must be done: < Number of Lots > = < Bonus amount > / 3.

3 Risk-Free Trades: Once you have opened an account your first 3 trades are completely risk-free if you profit you get to keep it, if you lose then Evolution Brokers will refund the losses. A maximum of 1 lot per trade and refunds are paid as bonus funds which are then converted back into real funds at a rate of $10 per lot traded.

Rebates: Depending on the amount that you trade, you are able to receive a certain amount of your spreads back as a rebate, starting at $1 for trading between 1 and 9 lots, up to $5 for trading 1000+ lots. Rebates are fully withdrawable funds.

 

Free VPS: If you maintain a balance of at least $5,000 and trade at least 5 lots per month then you are entitled to a free VPS, however, the terms and conditions state $1000 so we are unsure which it is.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is a basic trading course available, which can be helpful to newcomers but anyone that has done any trading before may not find it too helpful. There is also a video course on how to use MT5 and an economic calendar to let you know of any upcoming news events that may affect the pairs you are trading.

Customer Service

The contact page offers a few different ways to get in touch with Evolution Brokers, there is the standard online web form where you can fill in your query and then expect to get a reply via email. There are also a number of different physical addresses available should you wish to post a physical letter and there is an email address and phone number in case you wanted to speak to someone directly. Support is available 24 hours a day 5 days a week and is closed at the same time that the markets are closed.

Demo Account

Demo or practice accounts are available to use, simply sign up for a demo account and start trading. You can select leverage between 1:100 and 1:500 (increments of 100) and can also select an opening balance of between 1000 and 1000000 going up in multiples of 10. The demo accounts last indefinitely if you are using them, however, if left dormant for too long they will be removed but a new one can be opened up.

Countries Accepted

The website states that Evolution MArkets do not cater to residents or entities from the USA. Be sure to check with customer services if you are unsure if you are eligible for an account.

Conclusion

Evolution Brokers provide a competitive trading environment, there leverages may be set a bit high but there is the option to bring them a bit lower. Plenty of promotions on offer with reasonable requirements and the use of MT5 as a trading platform is a big plus. One of the major factors that may influence your decisions are the fees for depositing and withdrawing, it is a shame to see such high fees when the majority of brokers are trying to get rid of them. Plenty of instruments to trade including 41 crypto pairs which are great to see.

We hope you like this Evolution Brokers review. Please be sure to check out some of the other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

Blueberry Markets was founded In 2016 taking the slow, steady growth strategy without the use of debt. To position on the market, and differentiate, Blueberry Markets marketing strategy focused on user feedback as the prime channel for client pool development. Visitors will be met with some background videos that may give an impression the broker wants to get interactive and stir the right emotions by direct contact with the customer. Right from the start, the website will point the main selling points of Blueberry Markets, Customer support, and user ratings on the two most dominant review sites for Forex and other industries.

Forex Peace Army (FPA) and Trustpilot show an amazing over 4.5/5 star rating that is the best rating we have seen, also taking into account the number of feedbacks. This is really hard to achieve, especially if we know the fact that most of the people lose money trading and there is a good chance dissatisfied customers will leave bad feedback unrelated to the broker quality of service. Forex Peace Army is heavily marketing Blueberry Markets on its website, further solidifying their image. We have evaluated why is this result so good and what internal, cultural processes are responsible for Blueberry Market’s success.

Account Types

Blueberry Markets has two account types although the first option they present is the Demo or Practice Account. This Demo account will be reviewed later in this review. The other two accounts are Standard and Professional Account. Standard account features no commissions, wider spreads than Professional Account, from 1 pip, smaller deposit threshold, MT4 trading platform, the same leverage level and the number of trading instruments as the Professional Account.

 

Also, Professional Account features Live Trading Forex Room for free but also a commission that can be reduced for clients that deposit $50.000. For all Accounts, there is a possibility to have a free VPS for trading 10 lots per month. This concept of having one account with wider spreads and no commissions and one with commissions and narrow spreads is common for brokers who offer a good trading environment for fast strategies and Expert Advisors (EAs).

Platforms

Blueberry Markets offers MetaTrader 4 and 5 although MT5 is not presented on the website, for instance, there is no section about MT5 and the Account types selection does not mention MT5, just the MetaTrader 4 platform. Interestingly, once clients apply for a live account they will have a selection drop list to choose MT5 or MT4. If you select the MT5 option, you will receive an email upon completion with the link to MT4. Upon closer inspection, we have noticed the link to download MT5 for Mac that requires XQuartz.

MT4 is updated to the latest build and shows around 260ms ping to the Blueberry Markets servers. The platform is set to default settings with some standard templates. One-click trading buttons are visible with classic four currency pairs charts. The execution times are around 340ms which is a bit slower than usual for ECN brokers. As we went on we have noticed that the assets specification window is showing all important information for trading. The only thing that is left out is the swap calculation method. The symbols are categorized into Metals, Forex, UK Oil, US Oil, and CFD where all the Indices reside.

Leverage

Blueberry Markets has scalable leverage from 1:1 to 1:500, for all account types. The leverage level can be modified at any time. For Forex exotics the leverage is up to 1:100 and 1:200 for Indices. Oil and Metals remain with a maximum of 1:500 leverage. By default, Blueberry Markets sets the leverage to 1:100.

Trade Sizes

The minimum rade size is in micro-lots or 0.01 lots. The volume steps are also in micro-lots. The maximum trading volume is 100 lots. For Indices it is a bit different, 0.1 lots are the minimum trade size with the same volume steps size and the maximum at 40 lots. This scheme for Indices also applies to Oil assets. Metals have the same trading sizes as with Forex. The Stops Levels is at 30 points for Forex and Oil is at 1. Blueberry Markets has a Stop Out level at 50% margin levels which is somewhat higher than other brokers in the industry.

Trading Costs

The commission is charged for the Professional Account – $7 per round. For the Standard Account, there are no commissions at the expense of wider spreads. The swaps are under normal levels, although they are not disclosed on the website, nor the legal documentation. For EUR/USD the swap is -10.306 for long and 5.939 positive for short. On the USD long side it is common to see a positive swap, for example, USD/JPY has 7.113 and -11.645 for short, USD/CHF 7.086 and -11.117 short position swap. Some rare currency pairs like EUR/HUF do not have substantial levels on either side, -3.489 long and 0.623 short. USD/MXN has an interesting swap, 6.2 short positive swaps and -15.257 long. For the Metals, spot Gold has -12.09 points swap for long and 6.527 for short. Silver has low-level swaps, -0.891 long and 0.353 points long.

Assets

Blueberry Markets does not have a wide range of assets when comparing to other brokers. Cryptocurrencies are completely left out, commodities are based on Oil only and Stocks are also missing. There is a total of 54 trading instruments, and most of those are Forex currency pairs.

Forex has a total of 48 currency pairs and it can be said that Blueberry Markets is focused on this market. All the majors are listed with a good number of exotics like USD/MXN, USD/PLN, USD/TRY, USD/HUF, and Scandinavian currencies. These exotic currencies are also combined with the EUR. Metals offer is limited as only spot Gold and Silver are listed.
Indices are present with 10 optional trading assets. All are majors except for EUSTX50, AUS 200 and Hong Kong 20. The remainder of the trading assets is both Oil types, WTI and Brent.

Spreads

All spreads are floating type and the levels depend on the trading account type selected. The Standard Account has spread from 1 pip although they were starting from 1.3 pips according to our reading in the MT4 platform. The Professional Account should feature spread from 0.0 pips, but in practice, the spread is 0.3 pips for the EUR/USD. It widens by 1 point for USD/JPY, AUD/USD, EUR/GBP and EUR/JPY. The spread gets disproportionally wider as we check the cross pairs like AUD/JPY – 3.2 pips, EUR/CHF – 5.7 pips, EUR/NZD – 21.2 pips, GBP/NZD – 28 pip. From the Exotics, the spread is average, USD/PLN has 440 points and USD/HUF 310 points. Gold has a reasonable 28 pips, similar to spot Silver at 22 pips. The spreads on the Standard Account have about 1 pip markup on the tighter spreads featured in the Professional Account.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum is $100 or currency equivalent for the Standard Account type. For the Professional Account with raw tight spread and $& commission, the minimum deposit is $1000. Deposit currency can be AUD, USD, CAD, GBP, NZD, EUR, and SGD.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Blueberry Markets does not have any fees related to deposits. It also features several deposit methods that may not be available for all countries. These are Bank Transfer, Visa, MasterCard, Skrill, Fasapay, China Union Pay. According to the Product Disclosure Statement, Blueberry Markets will cover the fees that are on their side although some fees could be charged by the recipient bank. This will depend on the location, policies, and Credit Card / Account type. The broker will notify 30 days before any additional fee or a structure change. Skrill has recently updated its terms that involve 3-4% transfer fees as well as Fasapay with 0.5%.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Blueberry Markets does not have any fees for withdrawals, and this is also a good marketing element towards a “friendly broker” image. The methods will be available within the Client Portal but in general, the same methods as with deposit exist.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The broker does not take any longer than 24 hours to process the withdrawal request. Withdrawals are requested within the Clients Portal.

Bonuses & Promotions

We have found a document that promotes a $50 bonus for certain clients that match the requirements and this promotion was available for that month. Currently, no such bonuses or promotions are mentioned. Introducing Programs are available.

Educational & Trading Tools

We can say Blueberry Markets Blog is the source of all educational and trading material. There are 6 articles about some interesting trading topics like “The Psychological Power of Trading” by Dean Hyde, Blueberry Markets founder. In the mix is the recent news across markets and currency pairs. The analysis includes charts with support/resistance lines, trends and some key price levels. There is not much depth to any of the mentioned news-analysis articles, although they cover a few of the markets. Apart from this, blueberry Markets do not have any event calendar or tools. The free VPS service is available for traders that can execute 10 lots of trading volume in 1 month. The server reportedly has an amazing execution time of 2ms.

Customer Service

Blueberry Markets highlight and the carrier of the business model is their Customer Support. Chat service is 24/5 with very responsive staff. The FAQ and the rest of the website have mediocre content, which is average in quality and quantity. What traders appreciate is what is going on behind the curtain. Blueberry hires premium staff that is knowledgeable, fast, polite, although we have noticed some information is limited to them. The broker can be contacted by email, chat, and phone that is also 24/5.

Demo Account

The Demo account is presented to have 50.000 virtual funds and expiration of 30 days regardless of activity. The Demo can be extended with a request. We have managed to fund our demo with more than 50.000 as there are more options to choose from within the MT4 registration.

Countries Accepted

Blueberry Markets has a bigger number of prohibited countries. These are Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Palestine, Puerto Rico, Russia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, USA, Ukraine, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. These countries are still available for the Demo.

Conclusion

Blueberry Markets is regulated, based in Australia without offshore offices. Some of the most popular forex trading mentors have recommended this broker and it is also a sign of heavy research and investment into finding quality traders pool that will keep trading. This aligns with the company vision. It could also mean Blueberry Markets seek more advanced trader focused mainly on forex markets, hence the lack of any educational material.

Blueberry Markets is an authorized representative of EightCap. This is another company over the Blueberry Markets brand that has a somewhat lower rating and the number of reviews. We have the impression that the broker is open to any kind of trading, be it scalping, hedging or using fast trading EAs. This is how Blueberry Markets differentiate, although there is much more room for improvement. The instrument offer range is below average, as well as additional tools and material.

The website also has limited information even transparent, leaves the impression it is not yet complete. It is really hard to find these flaws in the reports form their clients, on the FPA and Trustpilot. The ones that leave bad feedback are noticed by the broker staff and they receive a reply. Traders that want more assets and better trading conditions may skip this broker, great customer support is not their main deciding factor. This is also something to consider if Blueberry Markets looks for long-lasting traders.

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.

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.

AXI Trader is an FX, index, and commodities broker. The company is regulated by the Australian Securities & Investments Committee (ASIC), while the UK based location is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It didn’t take much digging to find out that the company has received several awards since its launch in 2007, including #1 Customer Service in 2013 and Best MT4 Broker and Most-Trusted Forex Broker in 2018, among many others. A regulated broker that has received as much attention is certainly worth reading about, but what is it about them that has really been attracting the masses? Stay with us to find the answers.

Account Types

All trading accounts share similar features, with a few key differences, aimed at different traders with different strategies. Those differences really just boil down to the choice between higher spreads with lack of commission fees, or lower spreads with some commissions charged.

There is no need to compare minimum deposit requirements, leverage options, trade sizes, or even product offers since both accounts share all of those. This makes the decision much easier, so long as the trader understands which account’s costs would be more of a benefit to their trading style. Traders can also begin with a Standard account and upgrade to a Pro account later if they wish to do so. Below, we have outlined some of the most important details for each account type.

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: None
Leverage: Up to 400:1
Spreads: From 1 pip
Commissions: None

Pro Account
Minimum Deposit: None
Leverage: Up to 400:1
Spreads: From 0.0 pips
Commissions: $7 Round Trip (USD)

It only takes a few minutes to fill out an application but identity and address documents are required for verification. If the company can verify your identity electronically, an account will be approved instantly, while it can take 24 hours when an individual is required to submit additional documents. This broker also supports joint accounts and swap-free Islamic accounts, both of which can be requested upon sign-up.

Platform

This broker features the award-winning MetaTrader 4 platform, along with several other useful tools that accompany the program. Allow us to mention a few of the program’s features, just in case you’re one of the few that haven’t heard of MT4. The program fully supports 1-click trading, a customizable dashboard that features drag and drop chart and analysis tools, full market coverage, automated trading and compatibility with Expert Advisors, and a range of third-party extensions.

The company is also offering MT4 NextGen, which features an economic calendar, more post-trade features, a mini manager, session map, and more. MT4 Multi Account Manager allows users to operate as many trading accounts as they wish. MT4 is widely accessible and available for download on PC and MAC, or through the App Store or Google Play for mobile, tablets, or other supported devices. The program can also be accessed on the WebTrader, which is simply a browser-based version of the platform.

Leverage

Regardless of which account is chosen, traders will have access to leverages as high as 1:400 with this broker. This means that one would be able to trade with up to 400 times the amount of funds in their account. Of course, this high-stake, high-reward experience could really pay off, but it could also cause one to lose significant amounts quickly. We’re always happy to see brokers offering high options to their traders, although we feel obligated to point out how dangerous using such high leverages can be to those that may be inexperienced. On the bright side, beginners can start with a lower option and work their way up over time, while professionals should be more than happy with these options.

Trade Sizes

Both account types allow for the trading of micro-lots. Maximum trade sizes vary based on the exact product that is being traded. For example, some currency pairs, like the EURHUF, have a maximum trade size of 20 lots. Other products, like the AUDUSD, have a maximum trade size of 100 lots. You’ll find that some products have a maximum trade size of fewer than 10 lots, while oils go as high as 400 lots. All of these details can be viewed on the company’s Product Schedule page.

Trading Costs

For Standard accounts, transaction fees are incorporated into spreads and commissions are not charged. On Pro accounts, commissions are based on a number of standard contracts bought or sold in each transaction. The amount is typically equal to $7 round trip in USD. The swap fee is an adjustment reflecting the relative difference in interest rates or yield on the underlying instruments. Usually, the broker charges on long positions and pays swap benefits on short positions. However, in certain market conditions, the broker may require a client to pay a charge when they would have received a benefit. Swap-free accounts are liable for an administration fee if positions are kept open for seven days or more.

Assets

This broker offers 80 different currency pairs, including all major currencies like USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, in addition to minors. In addition, commodities, precious metals, equity indices, and one cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, are available. Precious metal options include Gold and Silver. In order to view more information on the company’s products, you can use the drop-down list under ‘Our Products’ at the top of the webpage.

Spreads

Spreads are floating and start from 1 pip on Standard accounts, while spreads start from 0.0 pips on Pro accounts. At first glance, Pro accounts do seem to have the advantage here, but one must keep in mind that these accounts charge commissions, while the Standard accounts do not. Either way, both accounts are offering better than average starting spreads. Really, it comes down to one’s personal strategy when deciding which account would be more beneficial. Under ‘Our Advantage’, the company provides a link to view their live spreads on both account types, so this would be something to take a look at.

Minimum Deposit

This broker’s lack of deposit requirement offers a real advantage to those that may be wary of depositing, or who may not have a lot of funds to start with. Professionals may even like to test out the broker’s deposit methods and withdrawal times, to make sure that everything is up to standards before making a significant deposit. You’ll occasionally find others that allow accounts to be opened with no minimum, although many require at least $100 minimum. Fortunately, there is no need to save up to afford an account with this broker.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded by Credit/Debit Cards (Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, JCB), Neteller, Skrill/Moneybookers, Global Correct (Australian clients), BPAY (Australian Clients), China UnionPay (Chinese Residents), Bank Transfer, and Broker to Broker Transfer. This broker does not charge fees on any deposits, but you should be advised that your card provider could view charges made as cash advances and may bill you accordingly. Most methods are deposited instantly or within 15 minutes. Exceptions would be Global Connect and Broker to Broker Transfer, both of which may take 3-5 business days or longer, BPAY, which is posted the same or next day, and China UnionPay, which is posted within 3-5 business days.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals are processed back to the method used to fund the account, with e-wallet payments being returned directly to the client’s bank account. Funds can only be returned to an account bearing the client’s name, so be sure to avoid attempting any third-party withdrawals. The broker does not charge any fees on withdrawals, although your bank may charge a receiving fee on international payments that the broker will not reimburse.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals take varying amounts of time to be returned, based on the method to which the refund is processed. Bank Transfer and Global Collect seem to take the longest amount of time, while Neteller and BPAY seem to be on the faster side. Note that the website didn’t specify about Skrill, but we’re assuming that it would also be credited the same or next day, based on the fact that withdrawals to Neteller and Skrill are often processed within the same amount of time. We’ve listed each method’s withdrawal timeframe below.

• Skrill – NA
• Neteller – Same or Next Day
• Global Collect – 3-5 Business Days or Longer
• BPAY – Same or Next Business Day
• China UnionPay – 1-3 Business Days
• Bank Transfer – Same or Next Day for Local Payments/3-5 Business Days or Longer for International Payments

Bonuses & Promotions

We couldn’t find any advertisements for extra bonuses on the website, so we double-checked with support to ensure that we weren’t missing anything. Sadly, support confirmed that there are no ongoing opportunities, although we do think that the broker may offer promotions from time to time. This assumption is based on the fact that the company has included the fact that promotions are excluded when advertising their lack of deposit requirement. This would mean that one would like need to make a certain deposit, likely of around $100 or so, in order to qualify for a deposit bonus. The support agent also informed us that nothing is available currently, so one would need to keep a lookout for any changes.

Educational & Trading Tools

Education: This company had done an excellent job providing multiple avenues of learning opportunities. We really thought the online Education Center was a nice touch. This feature offers more than 80 different lessons that are broken down into categories like ‘Forex Trading’, ‘Market Analysis’, ‘Trading Psychology’, and more. The website keeps track of one’s progress on a completion level from 0% to 100%, so there may be some sense of accomplishment in completing the course. We’ve listed all other educational resources below.

-Video Tutorials
-Free e-books
–Forex Glossary
–Forex Basics
-Online Education Center

Trading Tools: At the top of the webpage, one can select the ‘Market News & Blog’ tab. From there, you’ll find relevant articles that affect the market, AxiTrader News, Technical Analysis, Tools and Infographics, Videos, an Economic Calendar, and a Dividend Forecast Schedule.

Demo Account

AXI Trade offers the ability to select between two free demo accounts; Standard or Pro. Both accounts mimic the trading conditions on their live account versions and provide access to all of the tradable products. If you run out of funds, support is willing to top up demo accounts upon request. You can also request a leverage change, should you decide you’d like to try something different. Demo accounts expire after 30 days of registration; however, non-expiring demo accounts can be added to any funded live account by contacting support.

Customer Service

Support is available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, beginning at 23:00 Sunday. Although we’d like to see some support hours on the weekends, customer service seems pretty easy to reach and is available via LiveChat, phone, or email. You can even follow this broker on Facebook, Twitter, subscribe to their YouTube channel, or contact them on LinkedIn. The company will allow clients to book appointments in-person at their offices. To do so, you’ll need to contact your account manager. Below, you’ll find all of the contact information.

Email: [email protected]
Australia: 1 300 888 936
Int.: +61 2 9965 5830
UK: +44 203 544 9646

Countries Accepted

On their FAQ, the company mentions that any countries missing from their sign-up page would have to do with their regulation. However, the broker doesn’t go as far as to mention the specific countries that are banned. We did a quick check and found that the United States is not available for selection – but the US Virgin Islands can be selected in its place. If you don’t see your country on the list, chances are you won’t be able to create an account, based on the company’s FAQ.

Conclusion

AXI Trader is a regulated FX, index, and commodities broker that has won several awards since its establishment in 2007. The company offers 24/5 support, maximum leverages of up to 1:400, and offers the advantage of no deposit requirement. Two account types are offered, with the key difference being the way traders will pay trading costs. Since neither account has deposit requirements and both offer the same product trading and leverages, traders can choose based on the costs alone, without making other considerations.

The company has also provided multiple educational resources and demo accounts on its website for any potential clients that may need help. Fee-free deposit and withdrawal options also add to this broker’s advantages and maximize the potential to come away with a profit.