Tag: broker

PaxForex Review

PaxForex is an online foreign exchange broker based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is registered with the Financial Services Authority (FSA). They ere founded by a team of professional traders who have extensive knowledge in trading forex, stocks, options, and CFDs. They aim to offer high-quality customer services, trading conditions and overall conditions for their clients. We will be looking into the services of an offer to see how they compare to the competition in this very saturated and competitive market.

Account Types

There are four different account types available, each based on the deposit value that you need to deposit with. They each come with their own conditions and features that we have outlined for you below.

Cent Account:
This account requires a minimum deposit of $10 but a recommended amount of $100. The base currency can be in USD and can be leveraged up to 1:500. The account comes with spreads starting from 2.4 pips, the lot size is 1,000 units and the minimum trade size is 0.0001 lots. The account has access to forex pairs, Gold and silver. There is no maximum trade size, the margin call level is set at 55% and the stop out level is set at 20%. You can get a VPS for $25 per month when using this account.

Mini Account:
This account requires a minimum deposit of $100 but a recommended amount of $500. The base currency can be in USD, EUR or GBP and can be leveraged up to 1:500. The account comes with spreads starting from 2.4 pips, the lot size is 100,000 units and the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots. The account has access to forex pairs, Gold, Silver, and shares. There is no maximum trade size, the margin call level is set at 10% and the stop out level is set at 5%. You can get a VPS for $25 per month when using this account. A swap-free version of this account is also available.

Standard Account:
This account requires a minimum deposit of $2,000 but a recommended amount of $5,000. The base currency can be in USD, EUR or GBP and can be leveraged up to 1:500. The account comes with spreads starting from 2.4 pips, the lot size is 100,000 units and the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots. The account has access to forex pairs, Gold, Silver, and shares. There is no maximum trade size, the margin call level is set at 10% and the stop out level is set at 5%. You can get a Free VPS when using this account. A swap-free version of this account is available. it comes with a personal manager and priority trade execution.

VIP Account:
This account requires a minimum deposit of $10,000 but a recommended amount of $50,000. The base currency can be in USD, EUR or GBP and can be leveraged up to 1:500. The account comes with spreads starting from 2.4 pips, the lot size is 100,000 units and the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots. The account has access to forex pairs, Gold and silver. There is no maximum trade size, the margin call level is set at 10% and the stop out level is set at 5%. You can get a VPS for $25 per month when using this account. A swap-free version of this account is available and it comes with a personal manager.

Platforms

MetaTrader 4 is the only platform offered by PaxForex, and it is a good platform to have. It is one of the most well known and use platforms offering a whole host of features that can help with your trading and analysis. It is also accessible as a desktop download, mobile application or web trader. Some of its other features include a simple and user-friendly interface, a customizable view.

You can put any group of colors for every forex chart, three major types of forex charts: Bars, Candlesticks and Line Chart, nine timeframes, more than 50 built-in indicators that help traders during the analyzing process, ability to use as many indicators on one chart, multiple chart setups, automated trading through expert advisors, and real-time data export via DDE protocol.

Leverage

The maximum leverage available to all four accounts is 1:500. The leverage that you want can be selected when opening up an account. You can get the leverage changed on an already open account by contacting the customer service team with the change request.

Trade Sizes

The Cent account is a smaller account, 1 lot is equal to 1,000 base units, so the smallest size in the platform being 0.01 lots equates to 0.0001 lots. The Mini, Standard, and VIP accounts have full 100,000 unit lot sizes. The minimum trade sizes on the accounts are 0.01 lots and they go up in increments of 0.01 lots. There is no maximum trade size but we would recommend not trading over 50 lots in a single trade due to execution and slippage issues. We do not know what the maximum number of trades you can have at any one time is.

Trading Costs

All four accounts use a spread based system so there is no added commissions on the accounts when trading. There are, however, swap charges which are fees charged for holding trades overnight. These can be viewed within the trading platform you are using. They are also available on the website under the contract specifications. The Mini, Standard and VIP accounts can also be used as an Islamic swap-free account where these swap charges are not present.

Assets

The assets on PaxForex have been broken down into a number of categories, we have outlined these below along with the instruments within them.

Forex:
EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDCHF, USDJPY, AUDCHF, AUDJPY, AUDNZD, AUDUSD, CADCHF, CADJPY, CHFJPY, EURAUD, EURCAD, EURCHF, EURGBP, EURJPY, EURNZD, GBPAUD, GBPCAD, GBPCHF, GBPJPY, NZDJPY NZDUSD, USDCAD, USDSEK, EURSEK, USDNOK, USDDKK, EURDKK, USDMXN, EURMXN, USDZAR, UERZAR, EURNOK, USDPLN, EURPLN, USDSGD, EURSGD, USDHUF, EURHUF, AUDDKK, AUDPLN, AUDSGD, CHFSGD, EURHKD, GBPDKK, GBPNOK, GBPPLN, GBPNZD, GBPSEK, GBPSGD, GBPZAR, NZDCAD, NZDCHF, NZDSGD, SGDJPY, USDHKD, USDTRY, EURTRY.

Metals:
Just Gold and Silver are available to trade.

Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin are available for trading.

Shares:
There are plenty of shares available to trade, some of these include Apple, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Intel, Microsoft, and Alcoa.

Spreads

The spreads that you get depends on the account you are using, the Cent account has spreads starting from 2.4 pips, the Mini account from 1.4 pips, the Standard account 0.4 pips and the VIP account also start from 0.4 pips. The spreads are variable which means they move with the markets, the more volatility or lower liquidity will cause the spreads to grow larger. Different instruments will also have different spreads, so while the typical spread for EURUSD maybe 0.8 pips, it will be 2.5 pips for AUDJPY.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount required to open up an account is $10 which allows you to use the Micro account, the Mini account requires $100, the Standard $2,000 and the VIP requires a deposit of $10,000. Once an account has been opened the minimum amount required reduces down to $10 for all top-up deposits.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There is a wide range of methods available to deposit with. Some have fees attached to them while others do not. We have outlined the methods below along with any potential fees.

Neteller – 3.2% -3.7% + $0.29 min 1$
Bank Transfer – Bank commission
Credit/Debit Cards – up to $299 3.75%-8.5% +$0.5, above $300 – 0% fee
Skrill – 2.9% – 3.9% + 0.38 USD
Perfect Money – No fee
WebMoney – 0.8% fee
QIWI Wallet – 4% fee
FasaPay – 0.5% fee
Bitcoin – No fee
Ethereum – No fee

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw. We have outlined them again with any fees that apply to them.

Neteller – No fee
Bank Transfer – Bank commission
Credit/Debit Cards – 5,5% (Min 10 USD)
Skrill – from 1% up to 3,9% + 0,35 USD
Perfect Money – 2.5% fee
WebMoney – 0.8% fee
QIWI Wallet – 1% fee
FasaPay – 0.5% fee
Bitcoin – 7% + 0.0006 BTC fee
Ethereum – 7% fee

Some of the fees are extremely high which could make it quite expensive to get your money out of PaxForex.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

PaxForex will process withdrawal requests within 1 working day of the request being made. It will then take between 1 to 5 working days for the withdrawal to fully process, this will depend on the method used and the processing speed of the method such as your bank’s own processing times.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is only one promotion displayed on the promotion page but unfortunately, it has now ended. We will still outline if just so you can get an idea of the sort of promotions that may be offered. If you are after bonuses, then you could always contact the customer service team to see if there are any new ones coming up that you could take part in.

Labour Day 2019 Promotion:
Based on the amount that you deposit, you will receive the spread back on a selection of trades of your choosing.

deposit 500 $ – we will recover the spread of 4 trades of your choice
deposit 1000 $ – we will recover the spread of 10 trades of your choice
deposit 1500 $ – we will recover the spread of 15 trades of your choice
deposit 3000 $ – we will recover the spread of 30 trades of your choice

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a lot of options when it comes to education and tools, the first being a set of trading courses. These go over the basics of trading and can give you a good starting platform. There are infographics that give a little bit of information about trading, and there is also a glossary detailing different terms used when trading if you come across anything you do not understand you can refer to this page to learn what it means.

There is some fundamental analysis which seems to be updated regularly throughout the week. It can give you ideas on what to trade. Along with the fundamental analysis is some technical analysis, this is once again updated daily to help with your own analysis. There is a forex related blog and an economic calendar that details upcoming news events and any potential effect the news could have. The final section is a calculator that can help you work out costs, profits and other areas of your trades.

Customer Service

PaxForex is offering a few ways to get in touch with them. You can use the online form, fill it in and you should then expect a reply via email. They also provide you with a postal address, a phone number, and an email. You could always use a host of social media sites like Twitter to get in touch too.

Address: 1825, Cedar Hill Crest, Villa, Kingstown, St. Vincent and Grenadines
Phone: +44 2035040387
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

You can open up a demo account using the form on the home page of the site. We, unfortunately, we do not have information about it such as the trading conditions or expiration times. The demo account allows you to test out the markets and strategies completely risk-free.

Countries Accepted

This information is not provided on the site so if you are thinking of signing up with PAXForex, you should contact the customer service team to ensure you are eligible for an account prior to opening one up.

Conclusion

PaxForex offers a range of accounts each with its own trading conditions. They all use a spread based system and so there are no commissions to worry about. The spreads on the Cent account are a little high while they are much more competitive on the top tier accounts. There are lots of ways to deposit and withdraw is good, but the fees are pretty high for both depositing and withdrawing. So while the trading is cheap, the funding is not. There are plenty of assets to trade which is good. You should always be able to find something available and there is some decent educational material for those just starting out. Our main concern is the high fees for funding, if you don’t mind them and can deposit enough to get a higher tier account then PaxForex could be a decent broke to use. If not, then we would suggest looking elsewhere for a slightly cheaper option.

Tags broker, Forex, forex review

Crypto Videos

eToro Platform Review Part 3 – Copy Trading Pros!

Post author By Keiran
Post date 14 February, 2020
No Comments on eToro Platform Review Part 3 – Copy Trading Pros!

https://youtu.be/HTq3z2brk7k

eToro platform review – part 3/3

The last part of the eToro platform review will cover the social aspect of the platform as well as deposit and withdrawal methods.

eToro usability

eToro offers some essential features that make life much easier for novice traders. The platform provides a Virtual Portfolio, which basically is a ‘demo mode’ that lets users play a game of trading without actually trading and without staking any real money. This mode allows you to buy as much ‘virtual’ Bitcoin or any other crypto as you like and watch how each cryptocurrency performs. This is also a great way to test trading strategies.

eToro also provides a feature called copy trading. This feature is excellent for traders that aren’t confident in their ability to select winning trades consistently. This feature allows you to copy the best-performing traders in any asset market. You choose the trade amount, and the platform will mirror every single action the trader takes. Users, however, can make adjustments such as copying only new trades and not all currently open positions.

The layout of eToro’s platform is user-friendly, easy to navigate, and suited for casual investors. The control panel is located on the left-hand side of the screen, while the right-hand side shows charts, data, as well as profiles you’ll need to trade properly. eToro’s also has a mobile application mobile that allows you to do everything you can do on your desktop. The platform app is available for both Android and iOS devices.

eToro social trading

eToro’s copy trading, as mentioned before, enables you to copy the actions of profitable traders of your choosing. This feature makes you trade like any seasoned trader you want. You can follow specific traders, monitor their actions as they happen, and opt-in to copy everything they do if you want.

This feature makes eToro the social media platform that bridges the gap between new and seasoned traders and their favorite markets.

eToro deposit and withdrawal methods

Users can deposit funds on eToro by transferring fiat currency into their eToro account. You can use your credit or debit cards as well as a variety of other options, such as wire transfer and PayPal. However, one thing to note is that all fiat funds held by eToro are held in US dollars. If you deposit funds in EUR or GBP, eToro will convert it to USD, which will incur a conversion fee. If we are speaking about crypto, getting funds on the platform is much simpler. eToro wallet has the option to store cryptos that will be traded on the platform, so all you need to do is send the cryptos to that wallet.

Withdrawals work almost exactly the same as deposits. To withdraw fiat currencies, you can use credit and debit cards, bank transfer, and PayPal. However, there is a flat withdrawal fee of $25 for every withdrawal. As this is a pretty steep fee, make sure to plan your withdrawals to avoid extra costs. Withdrawing cryptocurrencies is as simple as transferring them out of the eToro wallet and onto another wallet.

Final thoughts

eToro is quite a unique social investment platform that offers a diverse variety of investment products to people that want to trade on the go. Although it does have much higher fees compared to regular crypto trading services, the benefits may justify the costs. All in all, eToro is an excellent place to get used to trading and learn the basics.

Tags broker, Crypto, Etoro, Exchange

Crypto Videos

eToro Platform Review – part 2

Post author By Keiran
Post date 12 February, 2020
No Comments on eToro Platform Review – part 2

https://youtu.be/jlhHdGuXjuw

eToro platform review – part 2/3

This part of the platform review will take a look at the fees eToro charges to its customers. It will also take a closer look at the crypto security of the platform.

eToro fees

Compared to the ‘standard’ crypto platforms (such as Coinbase or Binance), eToro’s fee structure differs a bit.
As eToro is a brokerage service rather than an exchange, it doesn’t charge trading fees the same way regular crypto exchanges do. eToro users will have to pay something called ‘spread fees‘ when selling crypto, and when buying cryptocurrencies using leverage. To sum it up, if you want to sell (or margin trade) a cryptocurrency, you will have to pay a percentage of the sale price. This percentage fee derives from the ‘spread’ of the asset itself, which constitutes the difference between its ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ price.

As an example, selling one Bitcoin at a market price of $10,000, you’ll also have to pay 0.75% of the Bitcoin’s value (0.75% being the current BTC spread value). Assuming that 1 BTC equals $10,000, you’ll have to pay $75.
Also, traders that are taking out a leveraged position on a cryptocurrency will have to pay ‘overnight fees,’ which are also referred to as ‘rollover fees.’ As the trader is borrowing money from the company to hold a trading position, eToro charges them interest.
eToro Spread/overnight fees
The table below will show the spread and overnight fees of the platform:
Cryptocurrency

eToro Spread Fee

As shown above, the overnight fees for Bitcoin are pretty steep. As a comparison, traditional crypto platforms are much cheaper. Kraken charges 0.01% every four hours of holding a leveraged BTC/EUR or BTC/USD position. So, if someone would hold a position of 1 BTC for 24 hours, they would have to pay around 0.00056 BTC on Kraken, while eToro users would pay $0.0075 BTC.

Similarly, the spread fees on eToro make it more expensive than trading on traditional exchanges and platforms. Binance and Bitstamp each charge only 0.1% for every trade a user makes. On the other hand, eToro’s spread fee of 0.75% for BTC is noticeably more expensive.
On top of all this, eToro also charges withdrawal fees as well as inactivity fees. The withdrawal fee is a flat $25, with users being allowed to withdraw amounts of $50 or more. The inactivity fee is $10 per month and is charged to users whose account hasn’t been used for 4 or 12 months, depending on whether they have deposited any funds.

Security of the platform

Unlike many centralized, traditional exchanges, eToro has experienced no significant scandals in the past. However, security isn’t eToro’s major selling point. Up until 2017 and 2018, cryptocurrencies weren’t directly traded using eToro. Instead, users held and traded a contract for difference (CFD), which allowed eToro to hold no crypto whatsoever.
There was no need for any additional security measures which competing crypto platforms had to have.

Today, when it does offer direct cryptocurrency trading, the additional security layers are unknown to the public. The website doesn’t specify the crypto security measures it uses to protect customers’ assets.
One thing to note is that the eToro wallet, just like other major exchanges, keeps your private key. This means that you have to trust the platform to protect your funds. That being said, eToro is one of the most secure platforms when it comes to general compliance with financial regulation. The platform is being regulated by CySEC in Europe, FinCEN in the US, and the FCA in the UK.

Make sure to check out the third part of our eToro platform review, where we will talk about the platform usability, social trading as well as withdrawal and deposit methods.

Tags broker, Crypto, Crypto Trading, Etoro, Exchange, trading

Crypto Videos

Crypto Exchanges VS Crypto Brokerages Part 2 – Are You Getting The Best Deal?

Post author By Keiran
Post date 12 February, 2020
No Comments on Crypto Exchanges VS Crypto Brokerages Part 2 – Are You Getting The Best Deal?

https://youtu.be/b7e8dz6eDgk

Crypto exchanges VS. Crypto brokerages – part 2/2

Trading Exchanges

Trading on a crypto exchange is quite straightforward. All you need to do is select the desired trading instrument and then open your trade. As the chart unveils, you will watch your position. You can place buy as well as sell orders. Most exchanges try to offer some form of different orders, such as limit orders.
One of the advantages that exchanges have over brokerages is that you can pick among a lot of different cryptocurrencies to trade.

Brokers

Brokerage platforms will usually have more analysis tools that will benefit traders to achieve their goals. Most of them have advanced analysis tools, as well as several variations of orders. However, the brokerage platforms will not offer you as many cryptos to trade as an exchange. Brokers have different cryptocurrency pairs available, but they mostly offer only the most popular cryptos.

Brokers also tend to have quite tight spreads, unlike some of the less liquid exchanges. This feature prevents slippage from happening.
Another great advantage is that the brokerage platforms have many more features to offer in general. Unlike most exchanges, brokerages offer the option to put multiple charts in your view-window, track the quote flow, use sets of indicators, etc. Some brokerages even offer the option to create automatic trading strategies without any previous knowledge of coding.

Safety & Security Exchanges
Crypto exchanges can be divided into two:
Centralized exchanges! Decentralized exchanges!
Centralized exchanges are considered relatively unsafe. You can create a very strong password as well as enable 2-factor authentication. However, this does not guarantee 100% safety of funds. The main thing is that the account owner is not the owner of the keys that hold the funds. As the exchange holds all these keys, hackers only need to hack one account – the exchanges, rather than each account individually. Many exchanges got hacked, and most of these funds never got back in the hands of the original owners. While exchanges are increasing their security levels as well as introducing forms of insurance, this is far from what brokers have.
Decentralized exchanges are considered the safest way to trade cryptocurrencies, as you hold your own wallet keys. However, these exchanges are not yet big enough to have good liquidity, which creates large spreads and slippage.

Brokers

Trading cryptocurrencies with a regulated broker will guarantee some degree of safety to the clients. First of all, most brokers are regulated with a reliable authority, such as CySEC, FCA, SEC, etc. If a broker is regulated, its business is strictly audited. Regulated brokers are also members of investor compensation schemes, which ensures claims of clients and against brokerages that are unable to meet obligations due to financial downfall or bankruptcy.
However, one thing to note is that almost no brokers trade with real cryptocurrencies, but rather with derivates. While this is not necessarily bad, traders should know that using brokers will often result in trading with contracts that derive their value from cryptocurrencies, rather than with cryptos.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while cryptocurrency trading is considered high risk and due to their volatility, people can choose safer ways to ensure that their funds are always in the right hands. Exchanges and brokers have their advantages and disadvantages, and traders should pick very carefully based on their goals while trading.

Tags broker, Crypto, Crypto broker, Crypto exchange, Exchange

Forex Course

41. Picking A Genuine Forex Broker 101

Post author By Reddy Shyam Shankar
Post date 6 January, 2020
No Comments on 41. Picking A Genuine Forex Broker 101

Introduction

Choosing the right broker is a vital point to consider, as all your transactions such as deposition, withdrawal, opening a position happen in this corner. In the present world, the competition between the retail brokers is so high that it can take a lot of hard work to determine the right broker of your choice.

So, in this lesson, we will discuss some of the most critical criteria you consider before opening an account with a broker.

📍 Security

Security can be considered as the most important criterion to choose a broker. Since traders will be playing around with their money here, it is necessary to make sure that the broker is genuine and trustworthy.

Checking the credibility of the broker is pretty simple, as there are regulatory agencies that disclose the trustworthiness of a broker. So, if a broker is registered with any of these agencies, we can consider the broker to be genuine and secure.

For your reference, some of the regulatory agencies are given below.

National Futures Association and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in the US
Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, in the UK
Swiss Federal Banking Commission, in Switzerland
Australian Securities and Investment Commission in Australia
Investment Information Regulatory Organization of Canada, in Canada
Financial Conduct Authority, in the UK
Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, in Cyprus

📍 Types of Fee levied

Many brokers claim that they do not charge any fee other than the spread. However, some brokers do charge different types of fees from the clients, such as brokerage fees, commission fees, daily rollover interest, etc. Therefore, one must verify with the broker on what all charges are imposed by them.

📍 Margin trading

This is no doubt the best feature provided by the forex brokers. Margin trading is the facility provided by the brokers where a trader can open larger positions with a lesser amount. Different brokers provide different margins. So, one must choose their broker by considering the margin provision and also by keeping the risk factor in mind.

📍 Deposit and Withdrawal

It is essential to choose brokers who provide a user-friendly, swift, and fast feature to process the deposits and withdraws. One should check the withdrawal policies of the broker before signing up with them. Because this is where most of the brokers have their hidden costs or undisclosed withdrawal limits.

📍 Trade execution

The trading software must be such that the orders are filled at the best available prices. This is an important factor for scalpers to consider, as every micro pip has significance.

📍 Trading platform

The trading platform also plays a vital role while choosing a broker. For a novice trader, if the UI of the trading platform is not user-friendly, it can become quite challenging for them to place and manage trades. Also, the presence of trading tools and indicators is necessary for professional traders. Hence, one should make sure that the broker meets all your requirements and specifications.

Therefore, considering the above points can definitely help you fetch a good broker for you to trade the forex market.

[wp_quiz id=”55229″]

Tags broker, Brokerage Firms, Deposits, Fees, Forex, Forex Broker, Margin Trading, Platform, security, Withdrawal

Forex Forex Brokers

Cardiff Global Markets Review

Post author By Forex Academy
Post date 23 October, 2019
No Comments on Cardiff Global Markets Review

— IMPORTANT NOTICE —
We’ve just received word that Cardiff will now be operating under the brand name Trade360 Australia. Existing clients are being asked to transfer their accounts over

— IMPORTANT NOTICE —

We’ve just received word that Cardiff will now be operating under the brand name Trade360 Australia. Existing clients are being asked to transfer their accounts over to the new brand. Prospective clients are being asked to not register with Cardiff at this time, but instead, register directly with Trade360. We advise contacting the new brand with any questions related to accounts, the trading platform, and conditions.

Cardiff email announcing changeover to Trade360.

This ECN broker from Australia is ASIC regulated, well structured, situated in the center of Sydney besides KPMG, PwC, and other financial greats, but not popular. Cardiff’s beginning dates to 2013 since the first ASIC license application. This broker is related to the forexcfds.com that, at first glance does not look like a great brand under Cardiff. Still, from the official Cardiff Global Markets site, traders could see some great trading conditions and we are unsure as to what exactly this broker is missing, except probably better marketing.

The website uses a lot of flashy, redundant wording that in the expanding world of brokerages makes readers unimpressed by the repetition. Real investors like to see figures, comparisons, features details, unique useful tools, and services. Cardiff has none of that which blends them into the averages. Going through their services we will evaluate what benefits you can expect.

Account Types

We went into the documents about the product disclosure statements we have encountered two account types. From the Cardiff web site, a total of 3 are offered so we assume that its very new. The information table reveals enough information for each and it is easy to compare the difference. The most affordable type is the Standard, starting from a $50 minimum deposit. The first apparent limit is the trading assets scope. With Standard, you can trade Forex, indices, and commodities only. The platform used for trading is Metatrader 4 in all versions.

Spreads will start from 0.9 pip with this account and at first glance in comparison to the other two account types, this is a major drawback. On the other side, Standard is the only account that does not involve commission at all, making it attractive for traders that stay with the most liquid assets. The margin call is at a 100% level and Stop Out at 50% for all account types.

The next tier is the Pro Account, with the same limiting assets scope. The main difference from the Standard type is lower spreads that start from 0.0 pips. This is usually just a marketing figure, in practice, it is at least 0.1 pip. To offset the spreads, commissions are charged $3 per lot with some discounts possible depending on volume.

The final account type is the Cardiff Prime available from a $50.000 deposit. As this broker expects to deal with high ticket clients, the maximum trading size is customizable and could be larger than 150 lots. An additional advantage, or better to say access, is a better range of assets to trade. As to what exactly is available here is not disclosed. More for this account type is the API connectivity feature and the commission reduction to $1.5 per lot traded. The same 0.0 pip spread is advertised for this account type too. Additional information we found about the execution method related to the account types states that the Standard and the Pro have the STP, No Dealing Desk method and Cardiff Prime is pure ECN.

A warning note to traders, the trading conditions from the web site, client portal and in the legal documents are not the same. More information about this issue in the platforms section.

Platforms

Cardiff Global Markets offer only one platform and that is the Metatrader 4. It is available for Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac. Unfortunately, for those that want a quick glance what Cardiff has to offer, the web MT4 is not available from the web site itself, only through the client portal. A client portal is well designed, with a clear information arrangement and categories. From the dashboard, you will have a wallet where all the transactions come from.

As you will be able to open multiple accounts, funds can be transferred between them. Also, there is a market news feed that works well with the latest information from the DailyFX. Trading Accounts overview gives good management feed over all the accounts a trader has. Here transaction history can be shown based on the account, time frame and open/close time. If traders want to change the leverage or password for the MT4 platform, it can be done from here. The support ticket is opened from Cardiff’s client portal as well as some additional tools that will be reviewed in the education and tools section.

The MT4 platform is at its default settings, version 4 build 1220 (latest at the time of review). Ping to the server is average at 121 ms. Execution times were great and always below 200ms mark, on average 180ms, testifying a real ECN environment. By default after installation, one-click trading is disabled, unlike some other brokers. The trading asset specification widow will show all the usual information a trader may need. The leverage is set during the account creation.

The account opening process through the client portal presented us with completely different trading conditions we have encountered on the Cardiff web site. Account comparison table showed different spreads, maximum leverage levels, commission, minimum trading sizes, minimum deposits, and even different margin call/stop out levels. As we want to be sure what is true, we will use the MT4 platform feedback for each in the following sections of this review. For serious investors, this issue is very aversive.

Leverage

Cardiff has a questionnaire for clients in order to accept them. This will also affect the leverage you are granted. Moreover, the leverage will also depend on the country of origin and the equity in the client account. The default leverage set is 1:20. After all set, the maximum leverage for the Standard Account is up to 1:200 as well as for Pro Account. The Cardiff Prime Account has a maximum leverage of up to 1:50. The leverage levels are customizable with Cardiff and easily requested from their client portal.

Trade Sizes

Another issue about uncorrelated information is the minimum trade sizes associated with the three account types that Cardiff offers. From the platform, we can confirm that for the Standard Account the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots, as well as increment steps. The maximum per trade is 200 lots. For the Pro Account, the comparison table from the client portal shows a minimum trade size of 0.1 lots. Our MT4 platform did not confirm this, the minimum trade was like with the Standard Account, 0.01 lots. The top tier account, Cardiff Prime, has a 0.5 minimal trading size and step.

Trading Costs

Cardiff Global Market presents different figures even for costs. If we take the downloadable Product Disclosure Statement, there are no exact figures but we have noticed the conversion fee that will be charged if your account currency is not the same as the position closed. An additional spread will be applied that the MT4 will not reflect.

The commission rates are shown in the demo account. This is another issue for serious investors because transparency seems is not a priority for Cardiff. The conflicting info about the costs adds to this.

According to the info panel during the deposit process, the Standard (Classic) Account does not have any commissions. The Pro and Prime Accounts have a $5 commission per lot traded.

More from the legal documents shows interest charges that apply to accounts with insufficient margin requirements level. These rates will be determined at Cardiff’s own discretion. Swaps are under normal levels but the positive swap is rare, only minimal for some exotics like for the TRY.

Assets

Cardiff is not a very generous broker regarding the range of assets offered. Cryptocurrencies, ETFs and other categories are absent from the list. Forex market though has 43 pairs for the Standard Account and 47 for the Pro account. SGD has many crosses with the majors and from the exotics, we found TRY, Scandinavian currencies, MXN and ZAR. Interestingly, the Pro Account does not have the HKD/CNH pair present in the Standard.

We are unsure why these differences are not described to the traders in advance. Commodities range is extremely limited to the spot WTI and Brent oil CFD. Precious metals offer is good enough. Traders can choose between Gold, Silver, Palladium, and Platinum denominated in USD and AUD. Equities are limited to indices only. A total of 12 indices, majors like the AUS200, Germany 30, Spain 35, France 40 (two available), Nikkei Index, etc. Any difference between the accounts types except some Forex pairs is not evident. We see a lot of assets that have more influence in the global east market and this is no wonder as Cardiff Global Market is From Australia.

Spreads

Disregarding the information from the Cardiff web site, we will reflect the MT4 platform spreads. What is certain is that all spreads are a variable type. The Standard Account has the spreads as stated in the client portal from 1.6 pips for the EUR/USD pair. SGD/JPY shows 10 pips spread which is great considering the average ATR of this pair. The highest spreads for Forex pairs get up to 8.1 pips for the ZAR/JPY and for GBP/NZD 18 pips. For the Gold, the spread is relatively attractive at 3.5 pips. For the Pro Account, the spreads are lower, for example, the EUR/USD spread is at 1.6 pips, SGD/JPY has 8.6 pips and ZAR/JPY 7.3 pips. In general, the Pro Account has 20-50% tighter spreads than Standard. Cardiff Prime Account has spread around 50-90% lower.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount we have detected when filing for the deposit is $100. From the comparison table, the minimum deposit for the Standard Account is $500, therefore the information conflict makes everything unclear. For the Pro account the minimum is $2000 and for Prime, $25.000. Margin requirements are also different, Standard requires 100% level until call and at least 30% before the stop out. Pro requires 100% and 50% levels respectively and Prime 125% and 75%.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Cardiff legal documents have clearly described the fees associated with the deposit transactions. There are no deposit fees except the client’s bank costs. The deposit methods could change depending on the country you have selected during the registration process. In general, Cardiff accepts Credit Cards, Visa and MasterCard, e-wallets like Skrill, Neteller, B-pay (AUD), Union Pay, Poli Pay, and bank transfers. The deposit maximum is $100.000 or another currency equivalent.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The fee for international electronic funds transfer is 20AUD. Depending on the deposit method, the withdrawal will be made using the same channel as the deposit (Skrill, Neteller, Bank Transfer). Any amount that is larger than the original deposit is paid via bank transfer. In the Wallet section of the Cardiff client portal app, traders can add Credit Cards, e-wallets, and bank accounts that can be used for deposits and withdrawals. Here, any withdrawal requests can also be tracked. Additional methods presented at the web site will direct to the client portal wallet.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

All the methods take 24 hours to process by the Cardiff, for the bank wire method additional 1-5 days is required.

Bonuses & Promotions

Cardiff Global Markets does not mention any kind of bonuses. Introducing broker and Money Manager services are available for anyone interested in helping this broker expand their client base.

Educational & Trading Tools

The educational service or material does not exist. What is contributed toward giving some insight into what potential traders are getting into is the Product Disclosure Statement. The document contains Q&A, both related to trading and Cardiff trading environment. The quality of information is good, a lot of facts and definitions about the processes during trading are explained but also what Cardiff is doing. An interesting fact about this broker is the sole discretion to hedge client positions and decide to accept an order. Still. Cardiff claims that no requotes are possible.

The client portal has an interesting news feed tool from the DailyFX that is showing the most recent developments. Clicking the news will open the details and a link to the source. Unfortunately, under the tools section in the client portal there us a market analysis that is no longer operational. This tool used to provide analysis from the Smart Markets. The economic calendar is not available. Taking a look, it seems that Cardiff was once a much better brokerage.

Customer Service

Live Chat that we have used established the connection with the Cardiff support but we have not received a reply to our queries. The contact form is on the site and the ticket service is available through the client portal app. Email and phone are there for visitors that do not want to register.

Demo Account

Cardiff does not hide the demo account like some other brokers that resort to aggressive and manipulative marketing. To open one, traders need to fill in the details and the email where the login credentials will be sent. The phone is required. After this process, you will be able to login to the Cardiff client portal where demo accounts are created. Demos are available like the Standard and Pro Account. For the GBP currency only the Pro. Traders are able to create more than one account so they can easily compare the differences. Note that the demo account does not reflect the commissions charged with real Pro and Prime Accounts.

Countries Accepted

Cardiff does not accept clients from Japan and the United States. Other countries could be on the list if the laws prohibit CFD trading service from this provider.

Conclusion

This broker has evident issues about the information they handle to potential investors. The web site is like any other average broker that does not follow the trends and demands of the market. Beeing regulated with a reputable regulator, a lot of effort is made towards the safety of clients funds, but this may be reserved for Australian clients. The required minimal capital for the Australian Financial Services Licence is 1 million AUD and this is a significant barrier to entry, in return giving some credibility to investors. We are not sure as to why the information about the account type, spreads, commission, and many other key investor figures are not disclosed in a single, accurate and indisputable manner. The Cardiff web site is full of usual sentences that try to assure in the quality of service, safety, etc. It takes more than just saying a broker is great, a leader, innovator, safe, and supportive.

Cardiff Global Market is an ECN broker that is not doing a requote but has a right to hedge and to choose not to accept the order. This is a sign of a market maker but it does not mean that this practice is often. The legal documents provide enough information that could be less obscured and integrated into the web site. Taking all into consideration, the popularity of this broker is low because of the marketing and the inaccurate information that traders will feel at every step, bringing them closer to the decision of no return. Additionally, Cardiff does not offer any popular assets to trade, like the cryptocurrencies, equities, automated trading service, copy trading, and so on. The support is not present in the chat. Traders that are already trading with Cardiff cannot switch to equities or crypto in case of market shifts, will start to seek another broker. Our final opinion is to avoid this broker until a better service is offered.

Tags broker, Forex, review

Forex Forex Brokers

OD Markets Review

OD Markets are based in New Zealand and established themselves in the year 2014, Despite operating for a few years now, they do not seem to have accumulated a huge

OD Markets are based in New Zealand and established themselves in the year 2014, Despite operating for a few years now, they do not seem to have accumulated a huge amount of traction online, nor do they seem very popular. However, their website offers attractive trading conditions overall. In addition, they also offer IB partnerships as well as deposit bonuses, if that is of interest.

Account Types

OD Markets offer one live account for all clients. For this account, one must submit one photo proof of identification and document proof of residence, such as a utility bill or bank statement. The minimum deposit is $100 and you have access to a wide variety of instruments to trade on the world’s trusted MT4 platform. Islamic accounts are also available.

Platforms

As just mentioned, OD Markets have decided to stick with the well known and trusted platform, MetaTrader 4. This platform is favorable for most traders.

Leverage

The FAQ page helped us to easily pinpoint the leverage allowances, which are as follows: 1:200 for Forex and Commodities and 1:50 for Gold. This leverage is rather generous and definitely competitive for Forex trading.

Trade Sizes

Unfortunately, the minimum and maximum trade sizes are not mentioned on the OD Markets website, so this is not something we can comment on at this time. Feel free to contact the broker’s support team for more information regarding trade sizes and other platform specifics.

Trading Costs

Aside from taking into consideration the spreads you are trading with, other costs to bear in mind are Swap and Commission fees. OD Markets do not charge trade commissions, meaning they make their income via the spreads- so we expect these to be a little above average- but we will get to that shortly. In regards to swaps, these vary according to market volatility, which is stated on the FAQ page, so we cannot comment on the specific charges you would incur.

Assets

OD Markets offer a fair range of instruments to trade including CFDs on Forex, Indices, Metals, and Energies. You may also trade Gold Options. A full list of tradable instruments is available on the Spreads page on the website.

Spreads

Overall, for the major Forex pairs, the spreads are reasonably low, but of course expect the exotics to have much higher spreads, which is understandable since this is the same with all brokers. You can even see average spreads set out in a full list on the website.

Minimum Deposit

The FAQ page states that $100 is the minimum deposit required to get started. This is not particularly low, but also not extortionate compared to other broker requirements.

Deposit Methods & Costs

With OD Markets you may choose from 4 methods to fund your account: Local Depositor (full available location list available through the website), China Local Interbank transfer, Credit/Debit card or Bank Wire. This gives a fair variety of options that should satisfy most clients. Although additional fees are not mentioned, bear in mind your provider may apply some charges, so be sure to check with them prior to making the transfer.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The website FAQ insinuates the only withdrawal option from an OD Markets account is via Bank Wire. It also states that the client is liable for any charges (check with your banking provider in regards to any applicable charges) which will be deducted from the full amount you withdraw.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

According to the FAQ page, withdrawal requests can take up to 5 business days to be processed. This is not very efficient, and definitely not competitive since many brokers process withdrawal requests within hours or the same day. Of course, the time it takes for your funds to hit your account could also vary depending upon your banking provider so it would be wise to check any timescales with your bank before you make the withdrawal.

Bonuses & Promotions

OD Markets do offer deposit bonuses and you can find information in regards to this scheme on the website. Upon registration, you can receive a welcome bonus of 20% of your deposit (maximum $5,000). Upon reading this section of the website, we also noticed that leverage is set at 1:500 for trading with this bonus. Be mindful these bonuses are not entirely what they appear, and strict trading rules apply in order to be allowed to withdraw any profit made on the back of the bonus.

OD Markets also held a trading competition back in 2015, but the minimum deposit was $30,000. No other competitions have been mentioned on the website since then.

Educational & Trading Tools

OD Markets offer a section on their website called the ‘Learning Center’ where some free trading education (reading) material is available to help you understand the basics of trading as well as terminology used.

Customer Service

OD Markets offer customer support on a 24/5 basis via telephone, email and live chat.

Demo Account

If you wish, you may open a demo version of the live account to practice and test their trading conditions before you go ahead and register for a live account. A demo account is always a good gauger to verify if a particular broker trade conditions fit well with your trading style.

Countries Accepted

It seems that OD Markets accepts most/all residents, other than residents of New Zealand, which is a clear disclaimer printed on the bottom of their website.

OD Markets awards.

Conclusion

Overall, OD Markets appear to be an average broker, offering amicable trading conditions. However, they lack in particular areas such as when it comes to a variety of instruments to offer where there is the absence of crypto trading, per example. Moreover, having only one method of withdrawal can be quite limiting and wire transfer is notorious for having a lengthy timescale and delays which means a lot of back and forth communication with the broker as well as your banking provider which is just unnecessary and time consuming for the client. All aspects considered, this broker appears to be amicable across the board, and suitable for even the newer traders, with helpful educational material and an FAQ page handy for quick reference.

Tags broker, Forex, review

Forex Forex Brokers

Aronex Corporation Review

Aronex is a small broker and an educational service group headquartered in Cambodia. The offices are in Seychelles as this is a popular getaway from taxes and regulators. Aronex is

Aronex is a small broker and an educational service group headquartered in Cambodia. The offices are in Seychelles as this is a popular getaway from taxes and regulators. Aronex is not regulated but a simple company under Cambodia law and local securities commission license. This group focuses on trading education and in the Metatrader 4 platform. We will check out what value they have for traders.

Account Types

Aronex does not complicate things, two account types are offered. The Classic Account with low commissions and tight spreads. How low is yet to be determined. Aronex mentioned their own platform, but only Metatrader 4 is available.

The Privilege Account offers a 1% interest per annum, a fully customizable market report, and a priority queue for services. These reports are not public, some examples can be seen on Aronex Facebook page but not on the website. Overall, very little information is given about these account types and nothing measurable. Note that during the registration for any account type, you will be warned about an insecure connection. This connection is direct to Aronex Corporation CRM software.

Platforms

Aronex uses the Metatrated 4 platform only, highlighting its great ability for analysis, indicators, automation, etc. No web or mobile versions are up. An interesting quote is a relationship Aronex has with the developers of the MT4 platform to provide the best experience and trading conditions to clients. We are unsure as to how the developers can influence the trading conditions a broker provides unless some plugins are used, like the notorious Virtual Dealer plugin.

We did not detect any deviations from the default MT4 version 4.00 build 1220. Aronex registration panel calls this platform “MT4 Mate Pro”. A serious warning to anyone that uses this broker for trading is the order execution and the server. We have encountered long delays to our orders, up to 5 seconds, and also platform connection drops. The slippage was evident, but positive was not filtered. Anyone serious about trading knows this is a red flag.

Leverage

The leverage is not mentioned on the web site but while making an account, traders will be available to select between 1:100, 1:400 and 1:500 leverage applicable only to the Forex market. Equities and commodities are not leveraged at all. These levels count for both account types.

Trade Sizes

From the MT4 platform, the minimum trade size volume is 0.01 lots. Additional steps are also 0.01 lots. The maximum is larger than with other brokers at 100 lots. Information about trading conditions is not present on the Aronex website.

Trading Costs

Aronex did not disclose any information about the commission they charge. The demo account does not reflect commissions. As for other trading costs, swaps are under normal levels with frequent positive amounts. For example, the XAU/USD short position provides 6.63 points, EUR/USD 4.7 points for short or CAD/JPY 2.59 for long. For USC/CNH the negative swap is just -3.45 for a long overnight position. The rebates are also mentioned for every trade. It is unclear to what amount as this information is not disclosed.

Assets

Aronex is a small broker and it shows with a modest range of assets to trade. The focus is on forex markets trading. A total of 53 currency pairs is listed with some interesting exotics like TRY/JPY, NOK/JPY, ZAR/JPY, and China offshore Yuan pairs. For forex traders, this is more than enough, with a good balance between the east and western markets. The rest of the trading categories are very limited. Gold, silver, and copper from precious metals, also denominated in EUR. For commodities, only oil and natural gas are listed. Equities do not include stocks at all, just major 11 indices like S&P500, NASDAQ, CHN50, etc. Cryptocurrencies are not included.

Spreads

Aronex states they are an ECN broker with tight spreads. This is true according to the feedback from the MT4 platform. The usual variable spread for the EUR/USD is 0.3 pips, GBP/USD 1 pip and the largest spread for non-exotics is GBP/CHF at 1.7 pips. From the metals category, the gold spread was just 24 points, which is on par with some top broker spreads. In general, the spreads offered are great and Aronex is certainly making the most from commissions.

Minimum Deposit

Aronex offers the Classic Account with a minimum of $200.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Aronex is not clear whether there are costs regarding the deposits as well as what deposit methods are available. From other sources, we are informed that bank transfers and Credit Card deposits are offered once the ID documents are uploaded. Another key investor information is not disclosed by Aronex.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Same as with the deposits, the information about withdrawals is not disclosed.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

From the incomplete web site structure, we have noticed pages that explain the withdrawal process monitoring feature that should show the status of the client’s funds while it is processed. This page is not meant to be published online and is filled with random text.

Bonuses & Promotions

Some promotions are available in terms of volume-based rebates but the exact structure remains undisclosed, similarly to other key investor information. Another kind of rebates is offered for referrals. For every referred client that deposits $1000, a $50 rebate will follow for the contributor. For $500 deposits, $25 is counted as a rebate. Of course, some terms and conditions are applied but as to exactly what is not stated. Introducing Brokers (IB) program is offered to potential agents that want to earn a commission from Aronex.

Educational & Trading Tools

Clearly, Aronex presents itself as a broker that focuses on education. For that purpose, they offer educational packages. On their web page, some useful tips and fundamentals about trading hold true about serious approach to trading. Aronex even offers some career opportunities for good traders. Still, the educational packages are very expensive for what they offer. For example, “Strategies for day trading” costs $2000, “Forex fundamentals” is $1000, etc. A total of all four courses costs $5000. The material covered here is mostly available for free on the internet alone.

The economic calendar is on the web site. It also serves as an invisible marketing link to other brokers, but just once. The economic calendar has the filtering, time scaling, description for every event and also chart for past event levels. This economic calendar has all the information needed for a normal trader and is easy to use.
Aronex has put some other tools under the web site menu like the news updates and the technical analysis. Unfortunately, these pages are incomplete and leave a bad impression on Aronex professionalism.

Customer Service

There is no chat service so your immediate curiosity will have to wait for the email response. The phone line is available. We did not receive a response to our email in 24 hours.

Demo Account

The demo is available with an easy registration process. Interestingly, the phone is not required implying that Aronex is not heavy on marketing and pushing the clients for deposit. With the demo MT4 platform available for desktop only, traders will see the spreads but not the commissions. Swaps are accounted for though. The demo is not time-limited. The client portal accessible from the web site is not working for the demo accounts.

Countries Accepted

This information is not disclosed to us as we did not receive any response from the Aronex support staff. Taking into account that this broker is not regulated, we assume there are no countries prohibited.

Conclusion

Aronex has developed an interesting tool called “Trade Alchemist” showing some impressive income results, of course. The educational and the whole business around Aronex seems to come from Rieve Ko, a professional technical analyst, speaker, coach, columnist, etc. Aronex looks to be one of his own channels for putting his skills to use through the mentioned educational section. Whether this is attractive and has some added value to traders is questionable. The facebook page in updated regularly with promotions, iPhone giveaways and other meetings that prove that this broker is active in the press and marketing. As a broker, Aronex does not pass our test mainly because of completely unreliable trading execution, lag, information obscurity, security and lack of any regulation.

Tags broker, Forex, review

Forex Forex Brokers

Merit Forex Review

Merit Forex is a Forex broker located in the Republic of Vanuatu, they claim to have some of the best trading environment, unique customer service, competitive spreads, and superior trading

Merit Forex is a Forex broker located in the Republic of Vanuatu, they claim to have some of the best trading environment, unique customer service, competitive spreads, and superior trading technology. In this review, we will take a close look at Merit Forex to see if they live up to their promises.

Account Types

There are four account types with Merit Forex, Standard, Gold, VIP and EA Robot, each one with different requirements and features. Let’s take a little look at them in some more detail.

Standard Account:

The standard account is the entry-level account from Merit Forex, it has a minimum deposit on $250 and maximum leverage of 1:400. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots (micro lot), spreads are around 1.5 pips and there is no added commission on this account. You also have access to a personal mentor which could be a nice benefit.

Gold Account:

The gold account has an increased minimum deposit of $1,000 with this higher entry, there are a couple of additional benefits. Firstly the spread has been reduced from 1.5 pips to 1 pip, the leverage, however, has decreased to a maximum of 1:200. The minimum trade volume has also increased up to 0.1 lots. This account also grants you access to Merit Fore’s copy trading service.

Merit Forex account types.

VIP Account:

The VIP account is the top tier account on offer, due to this, the minimum deposit is $10,000, this account comes with some larger changes to the other accounts. It’s spread is reduced down to 0.4 pips, however, a commission is now being charged on each trade (how much is unknown). The minimum trade volume has increased once again and is at 0.5 lots, which is rather large and there is a further decrease in leverage which now sits at 1:100. The copy trading service is also available and there is access to some live educational sessions which are not available for the other account types.

EA Robot:

This account is only for people using an EA robot from Merit Forex, it has a $500 minimum deposit and a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots (micro lot), leverage is decided upon request.

There is a nice selection of accounts, however, the increased minimum trade size is a bit of a concern for the larger accounts.

Platforms

There are two platforms on offer, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5(MT5), both from the MetaQuotes company. MetaTrader 4 comes with the desktop download and mobile apps, while MetaTrader 5 comes with the desktop download, mobile apps, and online WebTrader. Apps for both software are available on both iOS and Android devices.

Both platforms and flexible and compatible with hundreds and thousands of expert advisors and indicators, MetaTrader 4 being the most widely used, however, MetaTrader 5 is the newer platform, offering a more streamlined experience. Both options are great choices for any trader so it is hard to not be happy with the options available with Merit Forex.

Leverage

The leverage that you get is dependant on the account which you open, the standard account has a leverage of 1:400, which the gold has a leverage of 1:200 and finally, the VIP account has a leverage of 1:100.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size, as with leverage, is dependant on the account that you have. If you have a standard account then the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots (micro lot, a gold account has a minimum trade size of 0.1 lots and the Gold account has a minimum trade size of 0.5 lots. 0.5 lots is a surprising minimum as it is higher than what a lot of retail traders ever get to, it increases risk and does not allow you to trade small percentages of your account at a time.

Trading Costs

Trading costs for standard and gold accounts are based on their spreads with the standard account having spreads at an average of 1.5 pips and the gold account at 1 pip, there are no added commissions on these accounts. The VIP account, however, has a reduced spread at an average of 0.4 pip but it does charge a commission. We were unable to locate on the website what the value of this commission is and if it is worth having the reduced spread in exchange for the commission.

Assets

Merit Forex offers a number of different instruments and assets to trade and these are spread over a number of different categories including Forex, Commodities, Energies, Equity Indices, and Metals.

The Merit Forex website does not specify any of these categories specifically except for metals where it states that you can trade Gold, Silver, and Copper. All other categories may list one or two instruments, but there is no concrete information on all available tradable assets.

Spreads

Spreads are dependant on your account type, with the standard account having average spreads of around 1.5 pips, the gold account has a spread of 1 pip on average and the VIP account has a further reduced spread at 0.4 pips on average.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit for the entry-level account is $250, if you want more features and reduced spreads, you will need to make a minimum deposit of at least $1000.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The following deposit methods are currently available with Merit Forex, Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, Skrill Neteller, and Bank Transfer. All deposit methods have a minimum deposit amount of $250 except for bank transfer which has a minimum deposit of $1000. All methods are instant except for bank transfer which can take 3 – 5 business days. There are no fees for any of the deposit methods.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available for withdrawal as there were for deposits. You can only withdraw using USD and not any other currency. All withdrawal methods take 1 – 5 business days except for bank transfer which is 3 – 5 days. There are also no fees added to withdrawals, similar to deposits.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals are processed between 07:00 and 16:00 GMT+2 and the withdrawal processing times depend on the method used, if you use bank transfer then there is a processing time of between 3 – 5 business days. All other methods including Skrill and card transfers can take between 1 – 5 business days.

Bonuses & Promotions

From having a little explore around the Merit Forex website, we could not see any mention of bonuses or promotions, so it does not look like there are any at this current time. This does not mean that there won’t be in the future, so be sure to regularly check back to see if any new ones have come up.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is some basic education available on the Merit Forex website, it offers information on the basics of trading which is a nice touch as well as a glossary of forex terms. There are also sections of market news and research to help you analyze the markets and confirm your own analysis. This can be helpful, however, the standard is not as high as what can be found at other sites on the internet.

Customer Service

Should you need to get in touch with Merit Forex for any reason, there are a number of different ways that you can do it. There is everyone’s favourite contact form to fill out, there is also a raw email address that you can use. There is also a skype available for messaging which we tested out and got a response within 10 minutes which while not the quickest, at least someone replied. The support team is available 24/5 and is closed at the same time as the markets close over the weekend.

Demo Account

There are demo accounts available with Merit Forex, there is a button at the bottom of the main page to apply for one. Simply fill in the details and it will open up for you. These accounts last indefinitely if they are being used if you stop using one, after a period of time they will close and you will be required to open up a new account.

Countries Accepted

Merit Forex allows anyone to sign up as long as you are not located within the United States of America.

Conclusion

Merit Forex offers a nice selection of account types with varying benefits, spreads are decent for the accounts that are not charging a commission. Having both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 is excellent as it gives you as much flexibility as any broker probably can. It would have been nice to have a full breakdown of tradable assets though. Our main concern is the withdrawal processing time, the quickest is between 1 – 5 business days which is quite a long time to wait for your funds.

There are plenty of worse brokers out there, but also plenty of better ones. While we would not recommend Merit Forex as our go-to broker, we also feel comfortable enough to not warn you away from them, so ultimately, it is down to your own preferences.

We hope you enjoyed reading the review, make sure to check out some of our other reviews to help find the broker that is right for you.

Tags broker, Forex, review