Tag: Forex

Aetos is a global Forex and CFD brokerage that offers its clients access to a wide range of markets. This broker is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aetos Capital Group, which, according to them, is one of the most prominent non-banking financial institutions in Australia. Their main headquarters are located in Australia’s capital, Sydney, but apart from this, they have over 25 offices around the globe including ones in London and China which are undoubtedly economic powerhouses.

They operate on four main principles mainly, fairness, efficiency, intelligence and most of all a customer-first approach. A big plus for Aetos is that they are authorized and regulated by the FCA (Registration no. 598778) in the UK. Clients of this broker can rest assured that their funds are kept safe and completely separate from the company’s own funds in major well-known banks. Another advantage is that clients also have the opportunity to claim through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) which covers business conducted by firms by the FCA. Aetos is also regulated in Australia by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

If this information about Aetos has piqued your curiosity, read through this in-depth review and determine whether trading with this broker would be a good choice or not.

Account Types

Although in the past this broker had two account types, the General and the Premium, nowadays they offer only the General. This account enables clients to trade all the available assets, which we will go into further detail about later on in this review, and it can be opened in a few easy steps. Clients who chose to open up this account can execute trades based on pre-defined parameters, including various combinations of technical analysis indicators, support and resistance levels. Aetos claim that their General account has competitive spreads and fast execution without delays and re-quotes.

The initial deposit required to open up this account is $250, which is quite average although other brokers have a lower minimum deposit requirement. Clients can make use of this account through the very popular MT4 and MT5 platforms. Once an account is activated, clients will receive their account login details via email and they can begin their trading. Although they do not offer much choice when it comes to account types, their General account seems to be suitable for both beginner traders as well as more experienced ones.

Platforms

As we’ve mentioned this broker offers the MT4 and the more recent MT5 platforms. These platforms are well known for their large number of technical indicators and they are by far the most popular platforms available at the moment. The MT5 offers a few more technical indicators, 38 in total, whereas the MT4 currently has 30 available. Apart from this, there are other advantages when using the MT5 including an embedded MQL5, community chat, an economic calendar, and more graphical objects but overall, both platforms are quite similar.

On Aetos’ website, you can find a table comparing both platforms to enable you to make the best choice for your trading activities.

Leverage

Aetos mentions leverage multiple times on their website, but we could not find any factual information about what the leverage offered actually is. On online reviews from their clients, we did find information that the maximum leverage that they offer is 1:200 but we cannot be certain if this is, in fact, accurate so we cannot confirm this.

Trade Sizes

When using their General account, the minimum trade size available is that of 0.01 lot, also referred to as a micro lot which is industry standard. The maximum trade size available is 50 lots but the broker states that any clients wanting to alter their maximum trade size can send a request to [email protected].

Trading Costs

Aetos offers floating spreads on their General account and on their transaction costs you can find a full list of the typical spreads offered on all of their available assets. From what we could see, spreads seem to be slightly high, for example, the popular EUR/USD forex pair has a typical spread of 1.8 which is higher than the industry standard which is usually around 1.0/1.5 pips.

Apart from the spread, clients are also susceptible to overnight fees (Swap fees) which are generated at the cut off time. On Wednesday’s a three days’ fee is charged to make up for the weekend, whereas a one-day fee will be charged on Monday, Tuesday Thursday and Friday.

The broker also states that due to the liquidity issue of Offshore Chinese Renminbi market, the swap rates for the USD/CNH and AUD/CNH will be changed quite frequently. Aetos continuously adjust the swap rate based on the underlying market conditions.
Although they do not specify the percentage, on their terms and conditions page, the broker states that they may also charge a commission on each transaction.

Apart from this, we also found another piece of important info in their T&C page which claims that frequent transactions may result in commissions, fees and/or charges that may be substantial and not necessarily offset by the net profits made by the clients. Obviously, we suggest any potential clients get in touch with the broker to have a clearer idea of what commissions or fees they may be expected to pay when dealing with this broker.

Assets

Aetos have quite an extensive list of assets available for trading including Forex Pairs, stocks, indices, metals, and energy. For Forex pairs, this broker offers around 27 major, minor and exotic pairs including popular pairs such as EUR/USD, EUR/GBP and USD/CAD just to mention a few. Gold, Siler, and Copper are available when trading Metals.
Potential clients can find the full list of available assets on the broker’s website.

Spreads

This broker offers floating spreads, which from what we could see are slightly high when compared to other brokers. For their Forex pairs, the broker states that their spreads start from 1.8 pips. Unlike their Forex pairs, Aetos offer fixed spreads on most of their indices, but unfortunately, they do not specify the amount and on which indices these are applicable.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required to open up an account with this broker is $250. Although there are brokers that require a lower sum, some even as low as $5, the fact that this broker is authorized and regulated by the FCA makes the minimum requirement of $250 quite reasonable and affordable to a variety of traders, even those just starting out.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Clients wanting to deposit funds into their Aetos General account can do so via Wire Transfer, Visa/Mastercard, Skrill, Neteller, and Safecharge. On their Funding procedures page, Aetos inform their clients that after their initial deposit of $250, they must deposit a minimum of $50 when using Visa/Mastercard, Skrill, Neteller, and SafeCharge. When depositing via Wire Transfer clients can deposit unlimited funds to their account. Clients should expect their deposits to be available on their account within 1 day, although deposits executed via Wire Transfer may take up to 5 days.

It is important to note that a 3% transaction fee is deducted to their clients’ account when depositing through Credit Card or SafeCharge, but Aetos will then compensate this with an equivalent amount of trading credit. As always, the broker advises their clients that other fees incurred by their banks may be charged for depositing and withdrawing.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

In order to withdraw funds, clients are required to login to their account, select Withdrawal function and chose the amount of funds they want to withdraw. Aetos have quite a high withdrawal fee of $25 when using Wire Transfer which is charged only if there is no valid trading registered in the particular client’s account.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The broker states that Wire transfer deposits may take up to 5 days to be processed and completed.

Bonuses & Promotions

From what we could see, this broker does not have any bonuses or promotions on offer at the moment. However, this does not mean that they won’t have any in the future, so it might be a good idea to take a look at their website every now and then to see whether they have added any promotions or bonuses. Although no bonuses or promotions might seem like a disadvantage for some, it is important to note that usually, these come with a number of terms and conditions.

Educational & Trading Tools

Clients can make use of a number of Trading tools that are found on Aetos’ website. These tools include; Trading Central Technical Analysis which is a leading investment research provider aimed at financial market professionals. The technical strategies cover equity, index, forex, commodities and also fixed-income markets.

Clients can also make use of a number of charts that are updated constantly so their clients can stay up to date enabling them to make wise trading decisions. Another important tool that is offered is the economic calendar that helps their clients stay ahead with key events as well as an extensive and current Market news segment which takes into consideration everything that is moving the markets and shaping trading trends.

Apart from this, the broker also offers a market commentary that is updated daily as well as video commentaries hosted by James Sweeny. From what we could see, the video commentaries aren’t uploaded as frequently as the Market commentaries, but they are informative and great for those clients who prefer gathering info via video.

Customer Service

Clients wanting to contact Aetos can do so via a contact form found on their Contact Page, via telephone or through their Live Chat option. We did try to contact the broker through their live chat, but we did not receive an answer yet. We found it quite strange that in order to contact them through this medium, clients need to fill in an online form and then they will be contacted within 1 working day via email, so we are unsure how their live chat actually works. This is their contact information:

AETOS Capital Group Pty. Ltd.
Level 15, 122 Arthur Street, North Sydney, NSW 2060, Australia
Tel : +61 (2) 9929 2100
Fax : +61 (2) 9929 2055

AETOS Capital Group (UK) Ltd.
Level 6, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom, E14 5AA
Tel : +44 (0) 20 8104 9400
Fax : +44 (0) 20 8104 9401

Demo Account

Potential clients wanting to test out trading with Aetos can do so via a 14-day MT4 Demo account. The account will be credited with $10,000 in virtual money. Clients can register and set up their demo account through the broker’s website.

Countries Accepted

On their footer, the broker states that anyone opening a live trading account with them needs to adhere to the laws of their country as laws and regulations differ from country to country. They do not, however, mention any particular countries that may be restricted from doing business with them.

Conclusion

Overall, Aetos seems to be a good broker to trade with, mostly because they are fully authorized and regularized by the FCA, which means clients can be assured that their funds are safe. Apart from this, the broker offers the most popular platforms that are currently available the MT4 and MT5 which are by far the most preferred platforms worldwide. They have an extensive list of assets available but they do not have any cryptocurrencies available which might be a big disadvantage for those traders interested in Crypto.

Aetos does not have much choice when it comes to account types, as clients can only choose one account. They did offer two types of accounts until a few years ago, but we are unsure why they decided to remove the Pro account. Another advantage of this broker is that it offers a demo account, which is funded with $10,000 of virtual money, but clients can only make use of this for 14 days. The minimum deposit required to open up an account is average at $250 but we did notice that spreads seem to be quite high, especially on certain Forex pairs which have lower spreads through other brokers. Clients should be wary of deposit and withdrawal fees as well as unspecified commissions this broker might charge. We did not have a very good experience when trying to contact the broker via live chat, as we were left without an answer, but clients can reach out to them via multiple channels.

If you’re interested in opening an account with this Aetos, head to their website to get a clearer picture of what they have to offer.

MyFX Markets prides itself on the way that the firm caters to beginners and professionals, alike. They do so efficiently by offering some of the best spreads, leverage rates, and platform tools on the market. Similarly, their selection of different financial instruments includes over 50 forex pairs, alongside the most popular cryptocurrencies. Perhaps most importantly, MyFX Markets strives to provide retail traders with the same accurate quotes and order processing times that institutional investors enjoy.

How many account types does this broker have? What is the buying power? How can I deposit and withdraw funds? Does MyFX Markets charge commissions? What do their spreads look like? Read this article for answers to these questions and much more.

Account Types

Both of this broker’s offered accounts have competitive spreads. Additionally, while the Pro has a minimum deposit of $1,000, it is considered relatively low in comparison to other firms in the industry, especially those that offer multiple account types. MyFX Markets also has a Multi-Account Manager (MAM) system. Traders who manage the funds of their clients or have several personal accounts can use the MAM functionality to oversee the different portfolios from one dashboard.

Standard Account:
Minimum Deposit: $200
Spreads: From 0.6 pips
Commission: $0

Pro Account:
Minimum Deposit: $1,000
Spreads: From 0 pips
Commission: $7 per trade

Opening an account is relatively easy. First, traders must fill out an online form and upload certain documents (namely a government-issued photo ID and proof of address, such as a bill or bank statement). Once these steps are done, MyFX Markets will approve the account (as long as all the needed information is provided). At this point, you can start trading immediately after making an initial deposit. This broker accepts transfers in the Australian Dollar (AUD), Japanese Yen (JPY), and US Dollar (USD).

Platforms

Arguably the globe’s most widely-used platform, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is the software that MyFX Markets’ account holders use to trade. It enables them to exchange forex pairs, commodities, and futures, alongside other financial instruments. On MT4, you can initiate positions through one-click, access a variety of charting tools, utilize almost 50 technical indicators, and work with experienced financial advisors.

Perhaps most importantly, MT4 can be downloaded on Windows, MacBooks, Android, and iPhones. Through the MT4 app, you can view live prices, edit orders, execute new trades, program your own high-frequency algorithm, and more. These advantageous features are available on both of MT4’s desktop and smartphone apps.

Leverage

The Standard and Pro Account each come with a 400:1 buying power. In this respect, MyFX Markets is different than other brokerage firms. Most of the time, brokers will either limit your leverage as you deposit more funds (to minimize risks) or, conversely, increase the buying power when an experienced trader has a sizable account balance (therefore, incentivizing them to transfer more capital). MyFX Markets takes a middle ground by giving different accounts the same leverage.

Equally as important, this broker’s buying power is even more advantageous because it is relatively high (the industry average will range between 200:1 and 400:1). Crypto traders should be aware that MyFX Markets’ 400:1 leverage only applies to forex pairs. Digital currencies, because of their risky and volatile nature, only give you up to 5:1 in buying power. Account-holders can modify or change their leverage through the user dashboard.

Trade Sizes

The smallest position size that this broker permits is 0.01 lots, which is a micro-lot. Crypto and fiat/paper currencies have the same minimum trade size. For all of MyFX Markets’ forex pairs, the largest permissible trade is 1,000 lots, with one lot equaling 100,000 in the base currency. Cryptos, meanwhile, has a maximum of 10 lots per position. Each digital currency has its own standard lot size.

Margin Call: 90%
Stop-Out: 50%

When your account balance reaches the 90% margin level, the broker will only send you notifications via email, without automatically closing any positions. However, if you don’t deposit additional funds or exit some trades (in order to bring your balance above the 90% margin call point) and the account size becomes 50% the margin requirement, a stop-out is triggered. In this instance, all of your open positions are automatically closed. Equally as important, some margin rules and levels may change based on the amount of leverage you have.

Trading Costs

The Standard Account incurs no commissions, but it has a spread that starts at 0.6 pips. The Pro Account, on the other hand, pays $7 per closed lot (6.2 JPY or 7 AUD). Otherwise, both Pro and Standard are charged an overnight swap fee, but it only applies to overnight positions that aren’t closed by the end of the day. It is important to keep in mind that the swap isn’t a fee that the broker determines, but it is based on the interest rate of the currencies held in the overnight position.

More specifically, the swap depends on the central banking policies and economic events in a currency’s home country. In fact, some of them have a positive swap that allows traders to earn interest, as opposed to paying it, when a trade is kept open by the end of the day. Whether you pay this amount or profit from it, the swap on MyFX Markets (as well as almost any other broker) is tripled on Wednesday.

Why? Because this fee isn’t incurred on the weekend (when the market is closed) and, instead, Wednesday’s interest also takes Saturday and Sunday into account. On your MT4 trader account, you can view the swap of each forex pair.

Assets

MyFX Markets’ 55 currency pairs entail both majors and exotics. This selection also makes the firm advantageous since many other brokers don’t offer as many forex instruments. Some, however, may allow you to trade over 60 currencies. Nonetheless, alongside major pairs, MyFX Markets account holders have access to exotics such as the Norwegian Krone (NOK), Singapore Dollar (SGD), and South African Rand (ZAR). This broker also offers the 5 most popular cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple. Apart from that, there are several indices that track global markets (such as the US’s Dow Jones, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and Britain’s FTSE 100). All of which are traded as CFDs. Lastly, MyFX Markets has commodities that include precious metals and energies.

Spreads

The bid/ask price differences are floating for each of the Standard and Pro Accounts. In other words, during illiquid and volatile economic conditions, the spread may become undesirably large. Equally as important, different forex pairs have their own spreads. For the most part, though, we find that MyFX Markets bid/ask gap to be highly competitive and advantageous. Most brokers’ spreads will range between 1 and 3 pips, but MyFX Markets offers quotes that are down to a fraction of a pip (or a point). Furthermore, even though the spreads are variable, most of them are still below 1 pip. Traders should keep in mind, nonetheless, that the bid/ask variation for the same forex pair is different based on your account type. To clarify, Pro’s spreads are much lower than the Standard.

Minimum Deposit

As previously outlined, the minimum deposit requirements are $200 and $1,000 to open a Standard and Pro Account, respectively. No information about the minimum deposit per transaction is provided.

Deposit Methods & Costs

One of the main advantages that MyFX Markets account holders enjoy is that the broker offers a wide selection of deposit methods. You can fund your portfolio through a bank wire or Visa/MasterCard. The latter, though, is currently unavailable. Additionally, you may deposit money through electronic payment systems (Bitpay, Bitwallet, and STICPAY). It doesn’t cost any money/fees to make a deposit. MyFX Markets processes transfers within 10 minutes. At times, though, it may take up to 1 business day, depending on the payment method that you choose. Most deposits can be made 24 hours per day during weekdays and the broker will process them immediately.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

In order to withdraw money out of your MyFX Markets, the external method (such as a bank account) must match your name. In other words, if you run a company account or manage funds on behalf of clients, money can’t be withdrawn to a personal account. Otherwise, you also have to incur a fee whenever you transfer funds out of your trading portfolio. Credit/debit card withdrawals are free, but bank wires, China Union Pay, and Allpay cost $25 for each transfer. Meanwhile, outbound transactions through Bitpay, Bitwaller, Fasapay, and STICPAY are also free.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Traders who wish to withdraw money must do so during regular business hours and on weekdays, despite the fact that deposits can be made 24 hours between Monday and Friday. When you withdraw money, your bank or electronic payment method defines how long it takes until the transfer is fully processed. Moreover, because MyFX Markets is a globally-present trader, some international withdrawals could require you to wait from 2 to 5 business days. Bank wires, specifically, might take up to 5 days to process.

Bonuses & Promotions

It seems that MyFX Markets doesn’t have any current promotions. Their most recent one, which expired at the end of November 2019, gave new and current account holders the opportunity to earn as much as $500. The ‘Celebration Bonus’ was launched after the broker switched to a new website. Traders with $500 to $999 in funds who close 5 lots get a $50 award. Account sizes that are between $1,000 to $1,499, $1,500 to $2,499, and $2,500 to $2,999 need to trade 10, 15, and 20 lots in order to receive $80, $120, and $200 in bonuses, respectively.

Those who have over $3,000 and execute 40 lots or more get the maximum $500 credit. Previously, MyFX Markets had a $25 bonus on each referral that opens an account. In 2017, they ran a ‘Welcome Bonus’ and credited new traders’ portfolios. Because of this, if promotions and bonuses are important to you, you should inquire about any upcoming ones. Since MyFX Markets ran similar programs in the past, they will likely do so again in the future.

They do, nonetheless, have current promotions for dedicated traders. Through the Introducing Brokers (IB) bonus, those who manage the funds of their clients can earn rebates and access valuable trading data for each account. IBs earn profits every day and on every trade that one of their clients executes. Serious and seasoned traders can also participate in the regional partnership program. If they qualify for this, MyFX Markets will give partners their branded materials, customized account types, and customer service reps that speak their local language. The regional partnership enables the broker to grow through recruiting and supporting dedicated and experienced forex traders.

Educational & Trading Tools

The only features that this broker offers are a financial/economic calendar (which can be customized based on your timezone and embedded onto third-party/external websites) and live quotes. Otherwise, MT4’s trading and educational tools will certainly benefit traders from all types of backgrounds. For example, beginners may work with consultants, read tutorials, and learn how to trade. Similarly, technical analysts can use a variety of indicators and charting tools. When it comes to the fundamentals, MT4 has customizable newsfeeds that can either be related to a specific forex pair or the at-large market. You may also set up phone notifications that alert you whenever something significant happens.

Customer Service

MyFX Markets is based out of Saint Vincent and Grenadines, an island country located in the Caribbean Sea. You can contact them via email or phone. They also offer live support if you prefer to chat with them online. Another option is to fill out the contact form on the website with information about your question/inquiry and the best way for customer service to reach you.

Phone: +64 9 889 4022
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

Once you download the MT4 desktop software or smartphone app, you can immediately open a demo account. One of the best features of a MyFX Markets demo is that it doesn’t expire after a certain period of time. It only gets canceled when you don’t login for a period of 90 days. In general, demos are used by new traders who want to learn about the market before putting their real money on the line and those that never used MT4 before. Similarly, if you want to try a new trading strategy or technique, the demo is a perfect place to do so. Above all else, this paper/fake account gives you access to the same live quotes, spreads, and market conditions that you would have to navigate when you start trading real money.

Countries Accepted

This broker is not available in the United States, especially because cryptocurrencies are unregulated/unrecognized by American governmental bodies. However, if you are located in Belgium, Canada, France, Japan, or Germany, you may still open a MyFX Markets account. At times, these countries also have restrictions and rules on different types of financial products.

Conclusion

To summarize, MyFX Markets has the following pros and cons: The positive aspects are the incredibly reliable MT4 platform, a relatively high leverage, more flexible margin call policies, $0 commissions, very tight spreads, a wide selection of assets, different transfer methods, cashback bonuses, customizable tools, and a non-expiring demo account. The negative features, on the other hand, are the commissions that apply to the Pro Account, withdrawal fees, the broker’s lack of availability in the U.S, and the fact that almost all of the bonuses have expired. In short, while these cons are not ideal, we find that MyFX Markets’ positive aspects make this broker worthwhile.

Even though their services are not available in the U.S, they still work with traders in other countries that regulate or restrict cryptocurrencies and CFDs. Their demo account also doesn’t expire (unless you don’t use it for 90 days), which gives new traders and those who are unfamiliar with the MT4 platform plenty of time to go through the learning process. Additionally, MyFX Markets doesn’t provide you with a lot of educational content, but their economic calendar is customizable and the website includes live forex quotes. Otherwise, the MT4 platform has plenty of tutorials, one-on-one guidance sessions, sophisticated charting tools, and much more.

You can choose between several traditional (such as bank wires) and electronic transfer methods. Most deposits are processed instantly or on the same day. They also don’t require you to pay a fee. However, some withdrawal methods cost $25 per transaction. Outbound transfers may also take a few days until they are completed and you can only make a withdrawal request during regular business hours (deposits, on the hour hand, can be made 24 hours per day).

MyFX Markets’ spreads are very tight and advantageous. The Pro Account’s bid/ask gap starts at 0 pips, while Standard’s is 0.6 pips or more. Both of these figures are much more desirable than what competitors have to offer. Moreover, this broker doesn’t charge the Standard Account any trading commissions, although the Pro must pay $7 per round trip position. Lastly, but certainly not least, the firm’s leverage is 400:1, which is closer to the upper range in the brokerage industry.

All in all, the two account types’ distinct features offer traders the flexibility to choose the one that suits them best. Meanwhile, their common toolsets and trading conditions are very advantageous in comparison to most of the MyFX Markets competitors.

As a globally present firm that offers comprehensive trading services, many market participants will appreciate what Windsor Brokers has to offer. However, they do have some notable geographic restrictions on where their services are available. Other than that, if you are looking for sophisticated trading tools, educational content, flexible funding methods, engaging bonuses, and lucrative leverage, you will find what you need through Windsor Brokers. Their multilingual website and customer support reps further enhance how comprehensive and inclusive this broker is.

In this Windsor Brokers review, we’ll cover the ins-and-outs about the firm’s account types, assets, trading costs, and more. After that, you can make your own informed evaluation.

Account Types

Windsor Brokers’ Prime Account is designed for traders who value consultations and ongoing support from experts. The Zero Account, meanwhile, suits high-frequency traders who are looking for minimal spreads.

Prime Account:
Minimum Deposit: $100
Spreads: From 1 pip
Commission: $0

Zero Account:
Minimum Deposit: $2,500
Spreads: From 0 pips
Commission: $8 per fully closed (round trip) trade

VIP Zero Account:
Minimum Deposit: NA
Spreads: From 0 pips
Commission: NA/reduced

Those who open a Zero Account should keep in mind that they have the option of upgrading to the VIP Zero type. The main difference between the two is that VIP Zero comes with reduced commissions and more access to expert support services.

Additionally, to upgrade from Zero to VIP, account holders need to deposit additional funds. However, the exact amount is not specified on the Windsor Brokers website. Instead, they encourage interested traders to contact customer support directly. Other than the potential upgrade, a key difference between the Prime and Zero Account is that the former allows you to add Islamic swap-free features, while the latter doesn’t.

Platforms

You can download MetaTrader 4 (MT4) on your desktop, tablet, and/or smartphone, all of which are done directly from this broker’s website. MacBook users, though, may need to install additional software from the Mac Store before downloading MT4. Another option is to use MT4 WebTrader, which is accessible from any desktop browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.). Yet WebTrader doesn’t have the same comprehensive and expanded tools as MT4’s desktop app. For a start, the latter allows you to utilize up to 50 technical indicators, while WebTrader and the MT4 smartphone apps only have 30.

Nonetheless, all of the versions have fast trade executions, in-depth charting tools, and user-friendly account management features. There are also other platform options that Windsor Brokers’ account holders can choose from. MT4 Multi-terminal is for those who manage more than one account, such as a trader who opens two different portfolios and deploys a different strategy on each. In fact, the multi-terminal software lets you control 100 different accounts.

Leverage

Windsor Brokers will give you 500:1 in leverage, regardless of which account type you choose. This puts the firm’s buying power amongst the highest in the industry. Additionally, traders can request more or less leverage by contacting the broker. They may increase it up too 1000:1. However, your trade sizes may limit your buying power. If your open positions are equal to 50 lots or less, then you may use up to 500:1. However, at 50 to 75 lots, it is reduced to 200:1. Leverage further goes down to 100:1 and 50:1 when your open trades range from 75 to 100 lots and 100 to 200 lots, respectively.

Windsor Brokers’ buying power is both unique and flexible. A lot of firms will limit your buying power when you despot additional funds, which makes it hard for traders that have a sizable amount of capital to rely on leverage. This broker, on the other hand, calculates your leverage based on your trade sizes. Equally as important, their website has several calculators that allow you to enter your position, the number of open lots, and, after that, the tool shows you the available leverage and margin requirements.

Trade Sizes

The minimum and maximum trade sizes are 0.01 lots (1,000 of the base currency) and 50 lots (5,000,000 of the base currency), respectively. This position size range, alongside the margin call and stop-out levels, applies to both of the Prime and Zero Account.

Margin Call: 100%
Stop-Out: 20%

Windsor Brokers doesn’t outline its margin call and stop-out policies. Most firms follow one of two approaches: First, they will send you a notification at the margin call level, but without closing any positions. They only do so at the stop-out point. The second common scenario is that a broker closes some of your positions at the margin call level until you have enough cash to meet the margin percentage requirement. Otherwise, all trades are liquidated if an account holder incurs more losses and goes below the stop-out level.

Again, Windsor Brokers’ website doesn’t mention what their approach is, it only specifies what margin call and stop-out percentage requirements are.

Trading Costs

When choosing between Windsor Brokers’ account types, traders must identify whether a low spread or a nonexistent commission is more suitable for them. Typically, those who use a lot of leverage or deposit a relatively large amount of capital may prefer to pay a commission rather than incur the bid/ask difference. This is the case because the larger the trade is, the more costly the spread becomes. Commissions, on the other hand, are fixed at $8.00 per round trip trade (as far the Windsor Brokers’s Zero Account is concerned).

When it comes to the Prime type, it’s $0 commission is more suitable for traders who have a small amount of capital and market participants that don’t use a lot of buying power. In this instance, the spread, although it’s large, wouldn’t come with hefty costs due to the relatively small trade sizes. Moreover, while this flexibility certainly counts as an advantage to using Windsor Brokers, there are notable downsides.

If you are thinking about opening a Zero Account, the swaps are another form of trading cost that you should account for. This fee depends on the interest rate associated with each of the base and quote currencies, which are normally set by the home country’s central bank. Furthermore, the spread can either be an expense or a profit. The forex pair you trade and whether you are short or long determine whether you pay or earn the interest.

Above all else, swaps only apply to positions that are kept open overnight, not those that are bought and sold on the same day. Windsor Brokers gives those who have the Prime Account the option to integrate Islamic/swap-free features. Doing so means that you incur a fixed, non-changing swap that is not related to the interest rates. Keep in mind that the Zero Account doesn’t have this option.

Assets

There are over 45 forex pairs that are available through Windsor Brokers. Their at-large asset selection is also very expanded, with account holders having access to commodities, indexes, stocks, and even bond CFDs. The latter is almost unheard of in the brokerage industry. Having said that, crypto enthusiasts will be disappointed since no digital currencies are offered by Windsor Brokers. Their exotic currencies, nonetheless, are especially appealing to traders who focus on the European markets. The list includes the Danish Krone (DKK), Hungarian Forint (HUF), Norwegian Krone (NOK), Polish Zloty (PLN), and Swedish Krona (SEK), alongside exotics from other parts of the world like the Singapore Dollar (SGD) and South African Rand (ZAR).

Spreads

The firm’s spreads are also relatively low. While most brokerage firms have a bid/ask gap that tends to be between 1 and 3 pips, the Windsor Brokers Prime Account only starts at 1 pip, putting it within the average range if not the lower one. Yet their commissions are somewhat high in comparison to the at-large industry.

Minimum Deposit

Each of the Prime and Zero Account have a minimum deposit requirement of $100 and $2,500, respectively. As previously mentioned, traders who are interested in the VIP Zero Account should contact customer support to inquire about the minimum deposit. None of the funding methods have a minimum requirement per transaction, but there are exceptions. Account-holders who deposit money via Neteller or Skrill must deposit $100 (or £100/€100, depending on their preferred currency) or more in a single transfer. Those using a regional bank in Thailand have a minimum deposit of the equivalent of $20 in the Thai Baht (THB) per transaction.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Windsor Brokers accepts China Union Pay, Neteller, Skrill, Visa/MasterCard, WebMoney, and wire transfers. They also let account holders deposit money through their local or regional banks in Thailand. Credit/debit card transfers have a fee that’s 3% transaction size, so do Neteller and Skrill deposits. For example, a trader who deposits $1,000 into their account incurs a $30 (3% of $1,000) fee. This feature isn’t ideal, especially since most brokerage firms don’t charge traders any money when they deposit funds.

Nonetheless, transfer through Thai regional/national banks and China Union Pay is free. The fee for Web Money is 0.8% the deposited amount, while bank wire costs may vary. Traders can transfer funds in USD, EUR, or GBP if they do so via Neteller and Skrill. MasterCard/Visa and WebMoney deposits can only be made in USD. Similarly, Windsor Brokers only excepts CNY (Chinese Yuan) for China Union Pay transactions and THB (Thai Baht) if a deposit is from a regional/national financial institution in Thailand. Bank wires can be made in USD, EUR, and KWD (Kuwaiti Dinar). All deposits are processed on the same day, but the ones made via a Thai bank are instant. Wire transfer times are different from one situation to another.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available for withdrawals. They also cost the same, apart from Skrill and Visa/MasterCard transfers. Both of which have a $3 fee on each transaction. As far as accepted currencies go, Visa and MasterCard withdrawals can be made in the British Pound and Euro. The rest have the same available currency options for both inbound and outbound transactions.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Just as with deposits, all withdrawals are posted on the same day, apart from regional/national Thai banks (instant transfers) and bank wires (variable processing times).

Bonuses & Promotions

Windsor Brokers has currently ongoing and past bonus programs. The existing one is offered to non-clients and those that only have a demo/paper portfolio (current account holders aren’t eligible). Since the firm is celebrating its 30th birthday, anyone who doesn’t already have an account with them can get a $30 portfolio for free (i.e. they don’t have to deposit money to access the capital). This may be a great opportunity for those who are interested in the broker but are unsure about whether or not to open an account. The bonus allows them to test the Windsor Brokers’ trading conditions and tools without having to commit any deposits.

Meanwhile, the firm’s past bonuses can tell us a lot about what type of promotions they might run in the future. The Demo 500 competition was offered to traders who had a fake/paper account. Between March and June of 2018, each week’s top 3 demo account holders (in terms of profits) were awarded $250, $150, and $100 in cash, respectively. During the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Windsor Brokers picked a match every day and its existing account holders submitted their scoreline predictions. The firm gave away up to $30,000 in cash prices. While this is unrelated to the forex market, the bonus is certainly an engaging and stress-free way to make money.

Windsor Brokers also had a Market Prediction bonus that they ran on Facebook. Going back to existing promotions, this broker will award you every time you refer an associate or acquaintance to their services. The bonus amount is based on how long your referral’s account remains active and the type of assets they exchange. For traders that have a large personal network, they can participate in Windsor Brokers’ affiliate marketing program, which is especially useful for those with a strong online or social media presence.

The Business Introducers (BI) promotion allows professionals to manage their clients’ investment accounts through the firm. In turn, they receive rebates and revenues each time the client makes a trade. White Label is for financial sector businesses that want to use an established trading platform and prebuilt asset infrastructure, as opposed to creating their own brokerage software. Liquidity Services helps corporations manage their reserve capital in a manner that minimizes risks.

Educational & Trading Tools

Whether you’re a beginner who is looking for tutorials or an expert that wants to utilize practical trading tools, you will certainly appreciate what Windsor Brokers has to offer. Every once in a while, the firm hosts live training webinars. They don’t have any courses scheduled in the near future, but you can access past videos on the website to learn about topics such as the different forex trading strategies, psychological management, how each instrument is exchanged, the role of technical indicators/signals, and more.

Windsor Brokers also has 3 ebooks and each of them covers the markets of a specific financial instrument, namely forex pairs, stocks, and CFDs. Lastly, but certainly not least, there is an in-depth trading glossary that defines different market terms and concepts.
Just as importantly, this broker’s trading tools cover several essential aspects that are relevant to day-to-day operations. Pieces of financial analyses are prepared by expert advisors who specialize in specific topics.

On a regular basis, they post articles and reports about trade ideas and technical predictions. Their blog, most noteworthy, is incredibly active. They post multiple news stories per day on a user-friendly site that is very easy to navigate through. Incredibly enough, it is as active as if it was a media organization or news website. In addition, Windsor Brokers has 5 different calculators (profit, margin requirements, pip sizes, Fibonacci, and pivots), alongside a customizable economic calendar.

Customer Service

There are three ways to get in touch with support: By visiting an office location (either in Jordan or Belize), giving customer service a call, or sending them an email. Their two offices have different phone numbers and emails. Another option is to contact them through their social media profiles, namely Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and/or YouTube.

Phone: +962 6 550 9090 (Jordan) and +44 3301280930 (Belize)
Email: [email protected] (Jordan) and [email protected] (Belize)

Demo Account

Once you open a demo, you may start trading under live market conditions and quotes through the MT4 platform. Demos provide account holders with a risk-free opportunity to learn about the markets and define new strategies. It also allows experienced traders to get comfortable with MT4’s tools if they haven’t used the platform before.

Countries Accepted

Even though this broker is registered and licensed in Belize, its services are not available to traders in the country. Similarly, you can’t open an account with Windsor Brokers if you live in the United States or an EU country, despite the fact that the firm is also registered with Cyprus’s regulators. This broker mainly caters to traders in the Middle East and the greater Arab World. It is licensed and registered with Jordan’s financial regulatory entities.

Conclusion

If you are the type of trader who appreciates low commissions and prioritizes reliable support, the Windsor Brokers Prime Account could be a very good choice, even more so if spreads aren’t a dealbreaker. The Zero Account, on the other hand, suits traders who are willing to pay a commission in exchange for nonexistent spreads. Above all else, this broker’s relatively low minimum deposits make both account types within the reach of many market participants. The Zero Account also comes with the option to upgrade it.

Equally as important, since many firms in the industry might limit your buying power when you deposit more funds, Windsor Brokers is a great place to go if you want to avoid that restriction, especially because of their 500:1 leverage that could be increased to 1000:1. However, keep in mind that your buying power could go down as you open new positions.

When it comes to bonuses, referral promotion is the only ongoing one. Yet their past offerings, which include cash awards for opening an account and weekly contests that apply to demos, give us a clear insight on potential future bonuses. In short, this firm has diverse and engaging promotions. You can open a demo account and start trading on MT4, the platform that the broker uses. MT4 is highly popular because of its array of charting tools, rapid news updates, and the ability to access it from any device. Opening a live or demo account isn’t the only easy process, but transfers in and out of your account are just as fast and simple.

Despite the fact that Windsor Brokers isn’t available in Europe and the United States, it still works with regional banks from around the world in order to facilitate deposits and withdrawals. They also accept electronic payments and wallets. The only downside, though, is that some transfers, including deposits, come with a fee, but you may avoid it by picking a no-cost transaction method. Other than that, we find that the firm’s educational content is rich with valuable resources, while its trading tools are essential-to-use during day-to-day market activities.

In short, almost all of Windsor Brokers features are competitive and advantageous, with a few negative parts here and there. Nonetheless, this broker is certainly worth considering for all types of traders, regardless of their level of experience and market philosophy.

FXPremax is a global online forex broker based in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. The company offers leveraged trading as high as 1:1000 on FX, metals, CFDs, and cryptocurrencies. Founded by a group of industry professionals in 2014, the company has since devolved a business model that is aimed towards providing an effortless experience. That business model allows clients to open an account, deposit, and start trading immediately, with rapid access to the best liquidity pools, fast execution speeds, and instant deposits/fast withdrawals. Although the registration process is convenient, most traders understand how crucial it is to study a broker more closely before opening a live account. Stay with us to find out everything you’ll need to know about this option.

Account Types

FXPremax offers five separate account types: Micro, Standard Fixed, Standard STP, ECN, and Crypto. Swap-free versions of each account type are available upon email request. Most of the accounts provide access to 74 currency pairs plus Gold and Silver, with no minimum deposit requirements. The Crypto account asks for a $1,000 deposit and features 36 crypto pairs.

Aside from the Crypto account, all accounts will allow traders to select leverage as high as 1:1000, so long as the account’s balance is below a specified amount. Spreads start from 1.9 pips on the Micro and Standard STP accounts, are fixed from 3 pips on the Standard Fixed account, and start from 0 pips on the ECN account. Traders will only pay commission fees on the ECN account type, with no fees charged on any of the other accounts. Account details have been provided below.

Micro Account
Minimum Deposit: $1
Leverage: Up to 1:1000
Spread: From 1.9 pips
Commission: None

Standard Fixed Account
Minimum Deposit: $1
Leverage: Up to 1:1000
Spread: Fixed from 3 pips
Commission: None

Standard STP Account
Minimum Deposit: $1
Leverage: Up to 1:1000
Spread: From 1.9 pips
Commission: None

ECN Account
Minimum Deposit: $1
Leverage: Up to 1:1000
Spread: From 0 pips
Commission: 0.005% from the amount of the transaction

Crypto Account
Minimum Deposit: $1,000
Leverage: 1:1
Spread: NA
Commission: None

Platform

Like many other forex brokers, FXPremax offers the highly-popular MetaTrader 4 platform. This is the most commonly offered option among forex brokers, due to its high demand, user-friendly interface, and variety of built-in features that make the trading process convenient. Just to name a few of those features, traders will have the ability to write custom indicators, access to 30 technical indicators, 9 timeframes, market watch, Expert Advisors, etc.

Those trading on MT4 will find the program to be powerful in that there is no lagging effect, even if one is running multiple operations on their device. Traders will also find that hedging, scalping, and other strategies are all supported. At the bottom of the broker’s website, traders will find a link to download the MT4 platform. MT4 can also be downloaded on iOS and Android devices, or accessed through the browser-based WebTrader.

Leverage

Those trading on the Crypto account will only be able to use a leverage of 1:1, a realistic option considering that the account focuses solely on crypto pairs. Micro accounts holding a balance of less than $10,000 can use leverage as high as 1:500. Traders can also request leverage of 1:1000 on those accounts through the trader cabinet, but only if the balance is below $10K. Once the account balance reaches that amount, the leverage would be reduced 100 times. For example, leverage set at 1:500 would be reduced to 1:5. Note that those rules only apply to the Micro account.

The remaining account types (Standard Fixed, Standard STP, and ECN) allow for a leverage of up to 1:1000 for accounts holding a balance up to $10K, 1:500 for accounts with a balance of $25K, 1:200 for accounts with a balance up to $100K, and 1:100 on accounts with a balance above $100K. Traders should find all of these leverage options to be extremely flexible and much more significant than many of the competitor’s offers. A word of warning to those that aren’t used to trading with extremely high leverages – doing so can be extremely risky and may result in large losses.

Trade Sizes

All five accounts support the trading of micro-lots. The Micro account supports a transaction size of 20 micro lots, while both Standard accounts and the Crypto account allow for a maximum trade size of 20 standard lots. The ECN account’s maximum trade size depends on the market’s available liquidity. The number of open trades allowed on the Micro and ECN accounts is unlimited, while the Standard accounts and the Crypto account all allow for 100 simultaneously opened trades. If the margin call level is reached, traders will need to deposit more funds or close out some open positions in order to avoid stop out. Once the stop out level is reached, open positions will be closed automatically by the system. Margin call and stop out levels have been listed below.

• Margin Call: 60% on Micro, Standard Fixed, & Standard STP; less than 100% on ECN; 100% on Crypto
• Stop Out: 30% on Micro, Standard Fixed, & Standard STP; below 50% on ECN; 99% on Crypto

Trading Costs

FXPremax profits from spreads, swaps (overnight interest charges), and commission fees, in the case of the ECN account type. The ECN account charges commissions at a rate of 0.005% from the amount of the transaction, while the other accounts offer a commission-free experience in exchange for a higher spread. Overnight interest charges would be credited or debited based on current rates on applicable positions that are left open past market closing time. The long and short swap rates for each instrument can be viewed on the “Instruments” section of the webpage. Those charges can be avoided if the account is set to swap-free, with accounting charges taking the place of traditional swap charges.

Assets

Micro, Standard, and ECN account holders will have access to currency pairs, metals, CFDs, and energies. Although the broker advertises 74 currency pairs as being available, their products page only lists 65 options. Available metals include the most popular options Gold and Silver, while energies cover US Oil, UK Oil, and Natural Gas. In total, 14 cash indices are available as well. Those that choose to open a Crypto account will have access to an impressive 36 crypto pairs, including the most popular pairs BTCUSD, BCHUSD, ETHBTC, LTCUSD, and many other well-known pairs, in addition to some lesser-known options.

Spreads

The account pages do not detail the spreads charged on each account type, but traders will be able to use a link that is available on the webpage to check those charges for themselves. We checked those pages for each account type in order to gain a better idea of what type of spreads traders will see. Starting with the Micro account, the lowest spread we observed on currency pairs was 1.9 pips, while the maximum was 3.5 pips on the pair EURNZD. Options on other instruments varied more widely, from 1 pip on NAS100 to a high 45 pips on the more volatile Gold.

The Standard STP account, which has floating spreads, shares the same exact spreads with the Micro account. Those that wish to open the Standard Fixed account will find those fixed spreads to be higher than average, from 3 – 10 pips on currency pairs. On Gold, the spread was doubled from the amount on the other account types. Spreads on the ECN account depend on the market and start from 0 pips. The website doesn’t provide an overview of this account type.

This is also true for the Crypto account, so there is no way to study those ranges in more detail. Keep in mind that the spreads we observed were not live and the broker did not specify whether these were the minimum charges or the average spreads. This, coupled with the fact that most of the spreads are floating, could result in fluctuations.

Minimum Deposit

Those that decide to open an account through FXPremax will have the advantage of choosing from four account types that have zero deposit requirements. The Mini, Standard Fixed, Standard STP, and ECN accounts all fall into this category. The low requirements make it less intimidating for new traders to sign up, and the fact that so many account types offer this allows those traders the ability to choose an account based on preference, rather than affordability.

Traders should note that the maximum balance allowed on the Micro account is $10K, so another account option would be better if you’re planning to make a large deposit. Those that would like to open the broker’s specialized Crypto account would need to deposit at least $1,000.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded through bank wire transfer and Visa/MasterCard, in addition to a variety of e-wallets, including Neteller, Skrill, OkPay, UnionPay, FasaPay, and Thailand local deposit. Deposits can be made in USD, EUR, RUB, and JPY. Bank wire deposits are credited within 3-5 business days and all of the remaining methods are deposited instantly. There are no commissions charged from the broker’s side on incoming deposits through any payment method.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

All of the available deposit methods can be used for withdrawals and the broker doesn’t state any conditions that force withdrawals to be made back to a certain method. Typically, there is a requirement that withdrawals must be processed back to the original payment method, so traders shouldn’t be surprised if this condition does come up. Commissions are not charged when withdrawing through electronic payment methods. Bank wire transfers will likely be charged a fee on the bank’s behalf, with typical fees ranging from $25 to $50. Bank wire withdrawals can only be made in USD, otherwise, currency conversion charges may apply as well.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals to a card or any e-wallet will be processed within 24 hours and it can take 3-5 business days for withdrawals to be processed back to bank wire. Once funds have been sent, the broker doesn’t mention exactly how long it can take for those funds to show up in the client’s account. E-wallet withdrawals would likely be credited almost instantly once processed, while we estimate it could take additional business days to receive bank wire withdrawals, depending on the bank.

Bonuses & Promotions

The broker is currently offering multiple bonuses and cashback opportunities. All available offers have been detailed below.

Deposit Bonus: $200 deposit bonus is credited per each $1,000 deposit that is made. The bonus can be received an unlimited number of times.

Trading Bonus: $100 USD bonus is applied for every 100 standard lots that are traded. This bonus is fully withdrawable and can be received an unlimited number of times.

Cashback: Rebate amounts are credited on the basis of 0.5 pips for majors and 0.8 pips for exotic pairs. After reaching a certain volume, the earned amounts will be credited to the trading account. Micro account holders earn the least, ECN accounts the third-highest, Standard STP accounts the second-highest, and Standard Fixed accounts earn the highest amounts.

100% Bonus: Traders simply need to open an account, verify the account, and deposit funds in order to earn this bonus. Deposits between $100 and $6,000 are eligible. The bonus expires one month after being credited to the MT4 account.

Interest Profit: Traders will receive $50 interest every month under the condition that a deposit of at least $5,000 must be made to the account and maintained throughout the entire month. If the account does drop below this level, the amount won’t be available for that month but can be earned the following month.

Educational & Trading Tools

The FXPremax Academy is made up of multiple educational videos of various lengths. In total, there are 21 videos available in this section that detail some of the most crucial knowledge that is required by those that are just getting started in the world of forex trading. Video tutorials do seem to be easier to understand than articles or other mediums, so this could be very beneficial to those that are just getting started. The website also offers multiple tools, including Technical Analysis, a margin calculator, an economic calendar, and Copytrade.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are an invaluable tool in the world of forex trading, as they allow traders to gain the full live account experience without depositing any funds or taking any real risk. Most brokers understand how beneficial these accounts can be to their potential and existing clients. Fortunately, this broker is no different. In fact, FXPremax offers five separate demo accounts, modeled after each of their live accounts, which provides a more personalized experience. Traders will also have the ability to choose leverage from 1:1 up to the broker’s maximum 1:1000 cap and to type in any amount as a starting balance. All of these details show that FXPremax is offering a better, more personalized demo experience than many other brokers.

Customer Service

Support can be reached instantly through LiveChat and Skype, or via email or direct phone call. While we did attempt to contact an agent on LiveChat, we were left waiting for more than ten minutes with no response. The website stated that agents were online and we were first in the queue, so it seems as though this instant contact option may not always be so convenient. Traders should note that there are separate email addresses for general inquiries, customer support, and finance. The broker also provides four different phone numbers based on office locations in the UK, Hong Kong, Russia, and Malaysia. All contact details have been listed below.

Skype: fxpremax

Email:
General: [email protected]
Customer Support: [email protected]
Finance: [email protected]

Phone:
UK: +4420 8133 3029
Hong Kong: +85281990578
Russia: +74999187280
Malaysia: +60327727238

Address: C/O Suite 305, Griffith Corporate Centre, Beachmont, Box 1510 Kingstown, St. Vincent & the Grenadines

Countries Accepted

At the bottom of their website, the broker writes that clients from the United States are not accepted. As usual, we headed over to the account registration page to see if this restriction was upheld. Fortunately, the United States is an option on the country selection list, and the system allowed us to finish the registration process with the US selected. Our final conclusion is that it seems as though traders from all locations are accepted by the broker.

Conclusion

FXPremax provides investment opportunities in 74 currency pairs, metals, CFDs, and energies, with crypto pairs available on the specialized Crypto account. Four of the broker’s main account types can be opened with a deposit as low as $1, creating an advantage for those that may not have a lot of funds to start with. Leverage options are extremely flexible, going as high as 1:1000 on accounts that have equity below $10K. The ECN account offers spreads as low as 0 pips and comes with commission costs, while the other accounts offer spreads that start from 1.9 pips or fixed from 3 pips with no commission costs.

Support can be contacted by LiveChat, Skype, phone, or email, but we never managed to get a response from an agent when we reached out through the instant contact method LiveChat. Traders will be able to earn extra funds through multiple promotional opportunities, including deposit bonuses, a trading bonus, rebates, and monthly earned interest. The website also provides 21 educational video tutorials and multiple trading tools, in addition to highly personalized demo accounts. If you do decide to open an account, your country of residence shouldn’t matter, as the broker accepts clients from all locations.

CCFDbank is an FX and CFD broker that provides three live account types, plus partner accounts. The broker doesn’t seem to see the importance of providing clients with background information, based on the fact that their establishment date, missions & goals, etc. are missing from the website entirely. We do know that the company is based in Switzerland and apparently remains unregulated. On one hand, the lack of information is enough to make one apprehensive, but we do see some particular advantages offered by the broker as well. If one is willing to look beyond the initial shortcoming, then there could be potential to profit by opening an account. Keep reading to find out everything we know about this broker.

Account Types

CCFDbank provides three separate account types; Micro, Silver, and Gold. The Micro account is designed for beginners that want to trade lower volumes with a smaller initial deposit, while the Silver and Gold accounts accommodate more experienced retail traders. Accounts share minimum trade sizes, tradable instruments, and allow access to the same trading platforms. It costs at least $250 to open the most affordable account, while the requirement for the most expensive account is $5,000.

The Gold account does have a slightly lower leverage cap that the other accounts; however, the broker still manages to provide competitive and flexible leverages on each account. There are zero commission costs, meaning that most of the trading costs are built into the spreads, which start from 0 to 3 pips. The broker reserves the right to perform credit checks and/or other checks that are deemed suitable, which will be used to evaluate the terms of the account. Findings may determine whether the broker accepts, rejects, or modifies the terms of the particular account.

We’ve provided the average account details below.

Micro Account
Minimum Deposit: $250
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spread: From 3 pips
Commission: None

Silver Account
Minimum Deposit: $1,000
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spread: From 1 pip
Commission: None

Gold Account
Minimum Deposit: $5,000
Leverage: Up to 1:300
Spread: From 0 pips
Commission: None

Platform

Rather than featuring a well-known trading platform, CCFDbank has decided to provide its own platform on PC, Mac, tablet, WebTrader, iOS, and Android devices. Aside from the range of accessibility, the broker doesn’t spend much time explaining what features are available within the program. Usually, brokers see the importance of pointing out the ways in which their options manage to stand on their own.

The broker does tell us that the service will revamp the experience one has had so far, the platform comes with state-of-the-art technology and high speed of order execution. Yet, they don’t really provide us with concrete facts or screenshots from within the platform. It’s possible that their option could be likable, we simply don’t see enough evidence to decide whether it can compete with a more popular option like MetaTrader 4. We would recommend testing the platform from a demo account, but demo accounts are not even available on the website.

Leverage

This broker offers extremely flexible leverages on all three of their account types, regardless of the balance that is held within the account. Both the Micro and Gold accounts allow for the maximum leverage option of 1:500. This amount is scientifically higher than what is available through most other brokers, especially considering that some regulators limit the leverage cap to 1:30. Moving on, the 1:300 cap on the Gold account is also high for an account requiring a $5,000 deposit. These options should be high enough to satisfy a vast range of traders, although beginners may want to start with a lower option to be safe.

Do note that the way that the leverages are presented makes it seem as though there is a condition that may affect one’s maximum cap. Earlier, we mentioned that the broker reserves the right to perform credit checks or other checks and that the terms for accounts may be changed due to their findings. It seems most likely that a low credit score/unfavorable background may result in a lower cap for each individual.

Trade Sizes

The Micro account allows for the trading of micro-lots and the number of simultaneously positions allowed is 150, which includes pending orders. Keep in mind that this account is designed for those wishing to make smaller trade sizes. The Silver account also supports micro-lots, while raising the number of open positions to 300 open orders. Traders that choose to open a Gold account will have access to micro-lots as well and will be able to open up to 500 contracts at once.

The maximum trade size for the Micro account isn’t listed and the size is limited to 60 lots for Silver and Gold account holders. The amount would likely be lower for Gold account holders. The broker also fails to mention a margin call and stop out levels for each account.

Trading Costs

CCFDbank primarily profits through spreads and swaps. Having the ability to trade without commission fees provides an advantage, especially for beginners, because it makes it easier to keep up with the costs of one’s trade. However, the elimination of commission costs can sometimes cause spreads to be higher. We will provide those in more detail later, but traders should know that options can be lower than average on certain accounts. Swaps, or overnight interest charges, would also apply to positions that are held past market closing time.

The amounts can be credited or debited based on the current value of the long and short positions. The current rates aren’t available on the website, so traders will have to view them from within the trading platform. There is no word on whether the broker offers Islamic accounts that would allow one to trade without paying swaps. We also couldn’t find any mention of extra fees, like inactivity charges, which is a good sign that traders won’t have to worry about unnecessary charges.

Assets

Tradable instruments are composed of currency pairs and CFDs, which includes indices, stocks, commodities, bonds, ETFs, and several cryptocurrencies. Available cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Dash, IOTA, Monero, Zcash, EOS, Ethereum Classic, Ada, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, NEO, Qtum, Tron, and Stellar Lumens.

While we can positively comment on the vast variety of instrument categories that are offered, we were a little disappointed that the website doesn’t list all of the products for each category. It isn’t clear how many currency pairs are available or how many instruments are provided in total. This will likely leave many traders curious about what stocks are offered, what types of metals, etc.

Spreads

The advertised minimum spreads start from 0 pips on the Gold account, 1 pip on the Silver account, and 3 pips on the Micro account. Traders will likely recognize the competitive offers on the two better account types, while the Micro account offers a spread that is twice the industry average amount. If possible, we would recommend making the $1K deposit to open a Silver account to avoid the doubled charges. If you don’t have the funds to open an account of Silver level or better, it may be best to choose another broker in the meantime.

Traders would be able to make the $250 Micro account deposit elsewhere and likely access a better account with better spreads. If you do open a Silver or Gold account, keep in mind that the advertised spreads are only the minimum. The website doesn’t give us the option to view live spreads, so it isn’t possible to say just how high the average numbers may fluctuate.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum account opening requirements vary based on account type. The Micro account is described as being the ideal account type for those that want to make a low initial deposit; however, the $250 deposit requirement on the account is steep, especially when compared to similar accounts elsewhere. The Silver account raises the requirement to $1,000. This could be difficult to come up with for some, although the account does provide a low starting spread as an advantage to those that can make the deposit.

The Gold account is the best account offered by the broker and therefore requires the largest initial deposit of $5,000. It isn’t uncommon to see requirements of $10,000, or even $20,000 and higher for similar accounts that offer the same spreads. Overall, it seems that the asking amount on the Micro account is high for that type of account, the Silver account’s requirement is average, and the amount required on the Gold account is relatively low.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded via Visa/MasterCard, bank wire transfer, QIWI, Yandex, and WebMoney. Deposits via credit card must meet a $250 minimum amount for each deposit and are limited to a $10,000 cap per transaction. The website doesn’t even provide us with a funding category, which forced us to gather information from the broker’s terms & conditions. Sadly, this section barely mentions funding at all and leaves us with no clear explanation of any associated deposit fees.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

One sentence under the broker’s terms & conditions states that refunds would be made back to the original payment method, minus transfer fees, so we would assume that transfer fees are in fact charged on regular withdrawals as well. Once again, the broker doesn’t mention what those exact fees could be. Some brokers charge relatively low fees, while others can charge insane amounts when clients try to withdraw funds. The fact that we don’t know where CCFDbank stands makes us apprehensive that there could be some unpleasant surprises. Note that non-deposited monies, such as incentives, bonuses, or gains that did not come from deposited funds, do not have the option for immediate withdrawals unless clearly agreed. If one requests a withdrawal involving those funds, the request will be canceled.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The website never provides us with clear processing time for withdrawals. We did notice a term that stated non-deposited funds wouldn’t be eligible for instant withdrawals. We would assume that might mean that certain payment methods, like QIWI, Yandex, and WebMoney, may offer instant withdrawals. The broker does mention that it can take up to 7 business days to process refunds, so it may take the same amount of time for methods like bank wire transfer and card to be manually processed. Keep in mind that this is only our assumption and the timeframe could be longer or shorter.

Bonuses & Promotions

Rewards are offered periodically with conditions that state a minimum trading volume of 25 lots needs to be fulfilled for every $1 reward. Funds can only be withdrawn once the trading volume has been met in its entirety. If a withdrawal request is made before this is done, the broker will cancel the request and debit the bonus funds from the account’s balance. At the time this review was written, there weren’t any ongoing promotions.

Educational & Trading Tools

Although CCFD bank has dedicated a section of their website to education, traders will be met with a coming soon message if they attempt to access this area. It’s still promising to see that the broker is actively working to provide materials for beginners and hopefully even intermediate traders, even though this isn’t helpful to those that need the resources right now.

There isn’t any mention of exactly what will be offered in the section, but we would hope that the broker will add articles, eBooks, video tutorials, and other information sources. It would be a good idea to check this section periodically in case it is updated. From the website’s homepage, traders can currently view market news, including top trades, popular trends, and financial news. There don’t seem to be any plans to add further trading tools anytime soon.

Demo Account

We were surprised to see that demo accounts are not offered on the website. Most brokers do manage to provide these risk-free simulation accounts, even if absolutely nothing else is offed educationally. Our hope is that CCFDbank is planning to add demo accounts in the near future, especially considering that they are currently working to add other educational materials. Still, traders that decide to open an account soon won’t be able to take advantage of any of the features offered by demo accounts.

Customer Service

CCFDbank advertises 24/7 support as one of their advantages; however, the contact page later claims that customer service can be contacted at any time Monday – Friday. Another downside would be the lack of availability of any instant contact option, like LiveChat or Skype, etc. Traders can still reach out via phone call, email, by filling out a contact form on the website, or through a callback request.

While we’re happy to see the direct phone number listed on the website, it is a little disappointing that traders can’t simply reach out instantly. In today’s world, instant online support does seem to be a standard that many people look for, as it provides the ultimate level of convenience. On the bright side, traders will still be able to contact support at late hours on working days, so there is some convenience there. We’ve provided all the contact details below.

Phone: +41715087095
Email: [email protected]
Address: CCFDbank LTD 1574 Sofia, R.A, Hristo Smirnenski, 112 Geo, Milev Str., Partner Floor, Office 1

Countries Accepted

The broker’s website doesn’t mention any specific restricted countries, although we did find a missing option on the registration list. The United States seems to be the only restricted country, likely due to how difficult current regulation has made it for brokers to offer service to clients from that location. It’s possible to find other brokers that are willing to overlook the restriction and allow those users to register, so traders should always check the registration pages to see if those restrictions are actually enforced. On another note, clients from many other commonly restricted countries will be able to open an account through this broker.

Conclusion

CCFD offers generous leverage caps of up to 1:500 (upon approval) when trading currency pairs and a vast variety of CFDs, including cryptocurrencies. The minimum threshold to open an account is $250 or up to $5K for a Gold account. Some traders may see a downside in the fact that the broker offers its own mysterious platform in place of more popular options like MT4 or MT5. Spreads start from double the industry average on Micro accounts, while starting from 0 and 1 pip on Silver and Gold accounts with no commission fees.

Other than advertising a few available deposit methods, the broker barely tells us anything about funding. We don’t know what fees would be charged on deposits/withdrawals or have any type of timeframe to consider for withdrawals. Customer service is available 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday with no instant contact options. There are some conditions for periodical promotions, although none are currently available.

The broker is also actively working to add educational resources to their website. We hope to see the Education section updated soon, but traders will not even be able to open demo accounts in the meantime. Those located in the US won’t have the option to open an account through this broker. We would recommend this broker to traders that can afford to open a Silver or Gold account, while traders that can only afford the Micro account would do better elsewhere.

AK Global Markets is an FX and CFD broker with offices located in the Cayman Islands, Netherlands, USA, Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland. AKGM aims to offer transparent trading with access to technological advantages while remaining reliable and providing top security. The company also claims to do all of these things at a reasonable cost to its clients. Stay with us to find out whether this broker upholds their mission statements.

Account Types

AK Global Markets offers Standard and Premium account types. The Standard account is designed for beginner and more experienced traders, while the Premium account is meant for professional clients that can afford the $500k deposit requirement, or who can meet the trade requirement of more than $500 million USD per month. The broker offers some extra benefits to Premium account holders, including one on one access with a senior trader, free access to training courses, briefings with the Chief Market Strategist, and discounted commissions.

The broker doesn’t provide us with exact spreads for either account type and the website is vague when referring to commission fees as well. This could make it difficult to choose the best account type. We’ve listed all of the available conditions for both account types below.

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: $500
Leverage: Up to 1:100
Spread: NA
Commission: 3% or more

Premium Account
Minimum Deposit: $500,000
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spread: NA
Commission: 3%

Platform

The broker features the VetaTrader platform for download, in addition to their own trading platforms through the browser and on mobile devices. At first, we thought the broker had a typo since their trading platform seems to be so close to MetaTrader, which is the world’s most popular trading platform. However, we did determine that there was no mistake. According to the website, VetaTrader is specially designed to run alongside other programs simultaneously, while supporting one-click deals, limit orders, and personalization options on the trader’s station.

The web-based version would be better for clients that have a firewall or other security systems installed on their computers, as some seem to have had problems downloading the platform in those cases. The mobile platform features the most accurate rates and comes with a sleek design. One account username and password can be used to login to all three separate programs, making for a more convenient experience.

Leverage

On the Standard account type, the broker sets a maximum leverage cap of 1:100. Many traders do prefer to use a leverage of this amount or lower, but we have to point out that traders can find much higher options through several other brokers. Meanwhile, AK Global Markets saves its better leverage option of up to 1:500 for Premium account holders. In a way, it seems that the broker is offering opposite what other brokers would for their account types. For example, most would offer higher leverage on the more affordable account type, while severely limiting the accessible leverage on accounts that require large deposits. Those that would like to open the Premium account may benefit from the rarely high leverage option offered by this broker.

Trade Sizes

The website isn’t forthcoming with information related to trade sizes, margin call and stop out levels, or whether scalping and hedging are allowed. This isn’t surprising, considering that the broker’s website can be vague in several different areas.

Trading Costs

AK Global Markets profits through spreads, swaps, commissions, and dormant account fees. On their website, the broker mentions minimum account fees of 3%. We’re assuming that this is the commission amount on Premium accounts, and due to the fact that those accounts advertise discounted commissions, there’s a good chance that the account fees are higher than 3% on Standard accounts. Otherwise, commissions could be 3% on Standard accounts and cheaper once discounted on Premium accounts.

As for swaps, traders can expect to see these charges on positions that are left open overnight, with triple charges occurring on Wednesdays. The only way to view the long and short swap values would be through the trading platform. In the case that an account remains dormant for six months, the broker will begin to charge a monthly fee of 10% of the available balance.

Assets

The broker’s asset portfolio includes currency pairs, commodities, cryptocurrencies, indices, and stocks. Aside from giving us a list of these categories, the website doesn’t provide us with any information about how many instruments are available or what we would see in each category. This left us wondering how many currency pairs were available and just how diverse the assets in each advertised category were overall.

Spreads

One of our biggest concerns with this broker is the absence of any exact information on spreads. The product pages don’t give us any detail, so it is impossible to guess the typical spreads associated with each account. The broker does mention that their spreads are competitive, but it seems that most brokers make this statement, whether options are actually competitive or not. It could certainly be disappointing to make the 500k deposit for the Premium account and to then find out that spreads are above an average amount.

Minimum Deposit

It costs $500 to open a Standard account and the account holds a maximum balance of $50,000. The Premium account requires a deposit of at least $500,000 USD and tops out at $250,000. Many will be limited to the Standard account alone because of the high requirements, while some may not be able to afford either account type. Elsewhere, traders can find accounts that only ask for $100 deposits or less.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded through cards and bank wire transfer. There is a maximum combined limit of $10,000 USD/EUR/GBP per debit/credit card per month. This means that clients opening the Premium account type will be forced to deposit through wire transfer, as it is the only method that doesn’t set a maximum funding limit. There is no information about any potential fees that will be charged on deposits. Hopefully, the broker would only charge fees on withdrawals.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals must be made back to the same card or bank account that was used to deposit in the same currency. Withdrawals are subject to processing and handling fees, which will be deducted from the transaction amount. The broker doesn’t provide those exact fees, which is likely a sign that the fees could be high. There is also a withdrawal minimum of $3,000 through bank wire, which could leave some clients without the ability to withdraw funds equaling $2,500 or more. We would recommend avoiding bank wire deposits for this reason, unless you’ve chosen the Premium account, as there is no other choice.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal requests are typically processed within 5 business days of receipt. Once the request has been approved, it can take up to 10 business days for the funds to reach the client’s bank account or card. The broker also mentions that they are not committed to any certain timeframe for processing withdrawals, so it may take longer for funds to be sent.

Bonuses & Promotions

At this time, the broker isn’t offering any extra promotional opportunities. It’s always nice to see deposit bonus options available, although this isn’t something that we’d consider to be absolutely necessary. If you decide to sign-up for an account, you should keep an eye on the website to check for any future updates.

Educational & Trading Tools

Rather than focusing on providing educational material, AK Global Markets focuses more on market analysis, trends, and news. In addition, the website provides an economic calendar and free demo accounts. Overall, we do wish that the broker would offer some resources that are aimed more towards educating traders.

Demo Account

It is possible to open a demo account by clicking on “Platforms” at the top of the webpage and then clicking “Open Demo” to the left of the page. The website will then require the trader to fill in a few basic personal details (name, phone number, country, email, DOB, and gender). From there, traders will be able to open a free demo account in order to practice or test out the market. If you’re unsure about the broker’s lesser known trading platform, it may be a good idea to open a demo account in order to get a feel for the platform before deciding whether to open a live account.

Customer Service

A member of the broker’s support team can be contacted through phone or email, or by filling out a contact form on the website. Sadly, we don’t see any instant contact options like LiveChat or Skype, and there is one business day waiting period for email responses. Traders will find that the broker has multiple email addresses for different departments, in addition to several different contact numbers for different offices. All contact information has been listed below.

Email
Sales: [email protected]
Support: [email protected]
Compliance: [email protected]
CEO Department: [email protected]
Marketing Department: [email protected]
Dealing Room Department: [email protected]

Phone
Cayman Islands: 1888004278
USA: +13024988325
Hong Kong: 800901734
Italy: 800790735
Poland: 008001125093
Sweden: +46842002694
United Kingdom: 08006525494
Saudi Arabia: 8008147890
Switzerland: 0800838106

Countries Accepted

We couldn’t find any mention of specific restricted countries on the website. To be sure, we did check out the account registration page to see if any options were missing. The United States isn’t on the list, but those residents will be able to sign-up for an account by choosing the “US Minor Outlying Islands”. Japan and other commonly restricted countries are on the list, but traders will want to reach out to support if their country is missing.

Conclusion

AK Global Markets offers clients investment opportunities in currency pairs, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and stocks. The broker offers two different account types and features their own trading platforms, in addition to VetaTrader. Traders that don’t have the $500k deposit for the Premium account will be limited to a Standard account, which has a deposit requirement of more than twice the industry average. Leverage options are limited to 1:100 on Standard accounts, but the broker does offer an impressive cap of 1:500 for Premium account holders.

At first glance, the broker’s website seems to be detailed and transparent, but upon further investigation quickly reveals that there isn’t much detail about the available assets, spreads, trade sizes, exact commission costs, and other important details. Accounts can only be funded through card and wire transfer. The broker sets an insane withdrawal minimum of $3,000 for wire withdrawals, which will leave many clients with thousands of dollars stuck in their account.

There aren’t any instant contact options for support, but the broker does provide direct phone numbers and email addresses. At this time, there aren’t any bonus opportunities and aside from demo accounts, educational resources are nonexistent. Traders will need to consider the fact that the broker’s lack of transparency leaves many important details unclear and that there aren’t any obvious benefits before opening an account.

TradeFTM is a London based ECN FX and CFD broker that was established back in 2007. The broker offers leveraged trading as high as 1:500 on multiple currency pairs, commodities, CFDs, and indices. Under their mission plan, the company aims to put their client’s needs at the center of every decision that is made, while striving to provide maximum performance, customer satisfaction, and security. Stay with us to find out all of the interesting details about this broker’s conditions.

Account Types

TradeFTM offers eight separate account types: Micro, Mini, Gold, Professional, ECN Classic, ECN Gold, ECN VIP, and ECN Elite. All accounts offer market execution. The non-ECN accounts seem to be more affordable, while the ECN account types have deposit requirements ranging from $10,000 up to $100,000. Leverage options are higher on those more affordable account types.

Spreads range widely, starting from 2.5 pips on the broker’s ECN account while starting from a low 1.6 pips on the ECN Elite account. Commission fees aren’t charged on non-ECN accounts, while those charges can be high on all of the ECN account types. With so many options available, traders will want to take all conditions into consideration before deciding which account to open. We’ve provided an overview of those conditions for each account type below.

Micro Account
Minimum Deposit: $200
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spread: From 2.4 pips
Commission: None

Mini Account
Minimum Deposit: $500
Leverage: Up to 1:400
Spread: From 2 pips
Commission: None

Gold Account
Minimum Deposit: $2,000
Leverage: Up to 1:400
Spread: From 1.8 pips
Commission: None

Professional Account
Minimum Deposit: $5,000
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Spread: From 1.1 pips
Commission: None

ECN Classic Account
Minimum Deposit: $10,000
Leverage: 1:400
Spread: From 1 pip
Commission: $25 per lot

ECN Gold Account
Minimum Deposit: $25,000
Leverage: 1:200
Spread: From 1 pip
Commission: $15 per lot

ECN VIP Account
Minimum Deposit: $50,000
Leverage: 1:200
Spread: From 1 pip
Commission: $10 per lot

ECN Elite Account
Minimum Deposit: $100,000
Leverage: 1:100
Spread: From 0.6 pip
Commission: $15 per lot

Platform

This broker supports one of the market’s most attractive trading platforms, MetaTrader 5. You won’t find a detailed section of the website that is dedicated to providing details about the platform and download links, but traders will be able to download the platform directly from the website’s homepage.

MT5 offers 21 different timeframes, compared to just 9 on MT4. Traders can take advantage of unlimited charting and can open more than one hundred charts at a time. The platform also has 38 inbuilt indicators, 22 analytical objects, and 46 graphical objects. All of these features, along with others, have helped to skyrocket the platform’s popularity and to make it one of the most preferred options on the market today.

Leverage

The Micro account offers the highest leverage cap of up to 1:500, while the Mini, Gold, and ECN Classic accounts also offer an impressive leverage cap of 1:400. Traders will find these options to be highly competitive when compared to the leverage options available through many other brokers. TradeFTM lowers the cap on accounts that require larger deposit amounts in order to limit those clients from risking large amounts of capital.

The limit is set at 1:200 on the Professional, ECN Gold, and ECN VIP accounts. On the most expensive ECN Elite account, the cap is lowered to 1:100. Some brokers only offer a cap of 1:100, regardless of the account’s balance, so this is a generous offer for an account with a $100k deposit requirement.

Trade Sizes

The Micro, Mini, and ECN account types all allow the trading of micro-lots. The Gold account has minimum trade size of 0.10 lots, while the Professional account requires a trade size of 0.50 lots. All accounts allow hedging, trailing stops, expert advisors, and pending orders. The margin call and stop-loss levels are shared by all accounts and have been listed below.

Margin Call: 40%
Stop Out: 30%

Trading Costs

TradeFTM profits through spreads, commissions, and swaps. Starting spreads vary widely, from 0.6 to 2.4 pips. Non-ECN accounts offer commission-free trading for forex pairs. Meanwhile, commission fees can be high on the ECN account types. On the ECN Classic account, the charges are $25 per lot.

The ECN Gold and ECN Elite accounts share a commission fee of $15 per lot. The ECN VIP account has lower commission charges at $10 per lot. Swaps are charged on positions that are left open overnight, with triple charges occurring on Wednesdays. Traders will find a helpful swap calculator on the broker’s website. There do not appear to be any extra charges based on inactivity, transferring funds, etc.

Assets

TradeFTM offers instruments from the FX, commodities, stock CFDs, and spot indices asset categories. Currency pairs consist of 57 total options, made up of majors, minors, and exotics. There are a variety of different exotic pairs, including the USDMXN, USDCNH, EURHKD, CHFNOK, USDHUF, and several more options. Commodities include Gold, Silver, Brent Oil, Crude Oil, and Natural Gas. Stock CFDs consist of more than 170 stocks in popular American companies like Apple, Facebook, and Disney. The spot indices category is made up of eleven total options.

Spreads

Opening one of the broker’s more affordable accounts comes with the disadvantage of trading with higher than average spreads, with options starting from 2.4 pips on the Micro account, from 2 pips on the Mini account, and from 1.8 pips on the Gold account. Keep in mind that the industry average is about 1.5 pips.

It’s a little disappointing to see that traders would need to deposit at least $5,000 in order to access competitive spreads from 1.1 pips on the Professional account. Spreads continue to drop to a much more competitive level on the ECN account types, with spreads starting from just 1 pip on the ECN Classic, ECN Gold, and ECN VIP accounts. The ECN Elite account offers the best starting spreads, from a low 0.6 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The more affordable accounts would be the Micro and Mini options, as the Micro account requires a $200 deposit and the Mini account asks for a $500 deposit. The Gold account raises the requirement to $2,000, while the Professional account requires a $5,000 deposit. Those wishing to open one of the ECN account types will need to make a deposit of at least $10,000 to open the ECN Classic account, $25,000 to open the ECN Gold account or $50,000 to open the ECN VIP account.

All three of these accounts share the same spreads. The most expensive account offered by the broker would be the ECN Elite account, which asks for a $100,000 deposit. This account comes with some added benefits and has lower spreads than the other ECN account types.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded through a variety of methods, including cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Maestro, Discover), PayPal, Skrill, JCB, Visa Electron, Neteller, Diner’s Club, and bank transfer. Note that the company may enforce limitations on the available methods based on the client’s residency. Most deposits are credited within just a few minutes, aside from bank transfers. There are no fees charged from the broker’s side on incoming deposits, but traders may want to check with their particular bank to see if fees will be charged from their side.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

All of the available deposit methods can be used for withdrawals, under the condition that funds must be withdrawn in proportion back to the originating payment methods. The broker charges a standard 2% + $7.50 fee on all withdrawals made through bank wire transfer and credit/debit cards. Skrill and Neteller withdrawals share a 1% fee, while Amex withdrawals are charged a fee of 3% of the withdrawal amount + $7.50.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

TradeFTM advertises instant withdrawals and states that withdrawal requests can be made 24 hours, 7 days a week. If a withdrawal is not processed instantly, then the broker claims that the funds will be sent within 24 hours. We don’t see any mention of a delay if those requests are made on weekends, so it seems that the broker manages to finish processing all withdrawals quickly. The website doesn’t state exactly how long it can take for those funds to show up in the client’s account once they have been sent.

Bonuses & Promotions

TradeFTM offers welcome bonuses to clients, with the exact percentage of the bonus that can be earned is based on account type. Some account holders will not be able to earn any type of bonus. Micro and ECN Elite account holders would be excluded from the promotion. Traders can earn a 20% bonus on the Mini account, 30% on the Gold account, and 40% on the Professional account.

The bonus percentage drops to 5% on the ECN Classic account, 7% on the ECN Gold account, and 10% on the ECN VIP account. In addition, clients will find redeposit bonuses and no deposit bonuses. The $50 no deposit promo is a one-time bonus that allows clients to withdraw profit amounts of up to $100. There are several conditions that affect the timeframe in which the bonus can be withdrawn, the leverage that can be used, etc. Traders can check out those conditions under “Promotions”.

Educational & Trading Tools

Under the “Education” section of the website, the broker offers a forex education section, a glossary, and a section dedicated to providing articles and tutorials. While the education section is relatively brief, traders will find multiple archives of technical analysis articles under the tutorials section. Trading tools can be located under “FX Trading” > “Trading Tools” on the website. Those tools are made up of calendars (National Holidays, Central Bank Rates, Economic, CFD Adjustment, and Dividend Adjustment), charts, and calculators related to currency conversion, profit, FX Market hours, FX cross rates, overnight swaps, and pips. Having access to all of these resources provides an advantage to those that decide to open an account through this broker.

Demo Account

At first glance, it may seem as though demo accounts are not available, but we were happy to find that the broker does in fact offer these risk-free accounts. Traders can register for a demo account by selecting “Login/Sign Up” from the top right bar of the website. From there, it is possible to switch the account type to a demo. TradeFTM allows traders to customize several features on their demo account by choosing leverage from 1:1 up to 1:300 and an amount of virtual currency that ranges from $100 to $5,000. Many others set unrealistic amounts of currency on their demo accounts with no option to select a lower amount, so traders will find a more realistic experience when trading from one of this broker’s demos.

Customer Service

The broker’s customer support team can be reached through phone, email, or by filling out a form on the website’s contact page. While we’re happy to see a direct phone number listed, it is a little disappointing to see that there aren’t any instant contact numbers and that the website fails to provide traders with the exact hours that support is in the office. If you’re in a hurry, the phone would be the quickest option, otherwise, the broker would likely respond to emails within one business day. The contact information has been listed below.

Phone: +44 20 8144 1010
Email: [email protected]
Address: 130 Old Street, London, England, EC1V 9BD

Countries Accepted

We couldn’t find a list of specific restricted countries on the website, but we did head over to the account registration page to check for any missing countries. Surprisingly, the broker doesn’t even clients to enter their country of residence, making it possible for traders from every location to register for a live account with no issues.

Conclusion

TradeFTM is an online ECN broker with an asset portfolio that is made up of FX, commodities, stock CFDs, and spot indices. The broker’s wide range of account types makes it possible for traders to have access to varying conditions. Some of the advantages of opening an account would be access to impressive leverage options that go as high as 1:500. Traders that can afford a larger deposit will have access to spreads starting from 0.6 – 1.1 pips, while those open one of the more affordable account types will be stuck with higher starting spreads from 1.8 – 2.4 pips.

Commission fees can be high on all of the ECN based account types, but those fees are absent on the Micro, Mini, Gold, and Professional account types. It costs at least $200 to open an account. Accounts can be funded through a variety of payment methods and withdrawals are processed within 24 hours. The withdrawal fees charged for bank card and bank wire withdrawals can be steep, but traders will only have to pay a 1% fee when withdrawing through Neteller or Skrill.

Those that do decide to open an account will benefit from the welcome, redeposit, and no-deposit bonuses. Traders will also have access to some educational resources and multiple trading tools directly from the website, including customizable demo accounts. There do seem to be several advantages to choosing this broker, so long as one is able to select an account type with some of the better conditions.

A broker that provides the best service for their clients, has satisfied and happy employees, offers maximum security for their clients and offers advances in technology and development of trading instruments, that is what NelsonFX a forex broker based in the Marshall Islands says about itself. In this review, we will be looking into the services that NelsoFX offers to see if they live up to the expectations they have put on themselves.

Account Types

There are two accounts to choose from when signing up with NelsonFX, we have outlined some of the features below, unfortunately, the trading conditions are not readily available so we will look at them later in the review.

Live Account: This account is intended for new customers, there does not appear to be a minimum deposit amount required, the account also comes with access to MetaTrader 4 as a trading platform and 24/5 customer support. With the Live account, you can undertake any transactions on the market you choose in the same way as with any other. You also get access to regular online webinars, seminars, and training sessions to improve your abilities to trade on the markets, primarily for identifying opportunities and risks and your skills with the individual trading platforms.

Live Premium Account: This account requires an initial deposit of $25,000 which is pretty high. The Live Premium account includes the complete service from NelsonFX, so you get the best personal support on the market in your native language and also access to regular training sessions for trading to assist with your transactions and teach you the full potential of our trading platform. This includes access to the MetaTrader 4 trading platform, access to 24/5 customer services, analysis and overviews of the markets from specialists and a personal trading specialist who is always ready to help.

Platforms

NelsonFX uses MetaTrader 4 as their sole trading platform, making the platform available for Windows, Linux, and MacOS systems, along with a WebTrader browser option and app options for mobile devices. With more than 14 years of development in the books, MetaTrader 4 offers guaranteed quality, professionalism, and security.

MetaTrader 4 offers:

• User-friendly interface
• Complete technical analysis
• Trading signals and copy trading:
• Algorithmic trading
• Alerts and financial news
• Much more

Leverage

The maximum leverage being offered is 1:500 which is what a lot of brokers are now aiming for. Leverage can be selected when opening an account and should you wish to change it on an already open account you can do so by getting in contact with the customer service team.

Trade Sizes

Trading starts from 0.01 lots which are known as a micro lot, they then go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next available trade would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. The maximum trade size is 20 lots which are fine as it is not too high as to make it harder for the markets or liquidity providers to execute trades quickly without any slippage. Different instruments may have a different maximum or minimum trade sizes such as some Indices which have a maximum trade size of 10 lots or 5 lots.

Trading Costs

There is a commission added to each trade, at the moment the commission is $10 per lot traded which is pretty high when considering the industry average seems to be sitting around $6 and this is on accounts that also have a spread. There are also swap charges which are charged for holding trades overnight, these can be viewed both within the trading platform you are using and also on the NelsonFX website.

Assets

NelsonFX has broken down their assets into 5 different categories, let’s have a look at what they are.

Forex: There are 51 different currencies available to trade, these include AUDJPY, EURUSD, GBPUSD and, USDPLN.

Commodities: 14 different commodities which are Cocoa, Coffee, Copper, Corn, Cotton, Natural Gas, Platinum, Rice, Soybean, Sugar, US Oil, Wheat Gold, and Silver.

Index: 14 Different Indices which are UK 100, AUS 200, DE 30, Dollar Index, EU 50, FRA 40, HK 33, JPN 225, N 25, SPA 35, SWI 20, US 100, US 30 and US 500.

Stocks: Lots of stocks on offer including the major ones like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Tesla.

Bonds: Just one bond to chose from and that is the Germany 10 Year Bond.

Spreads

The spreads on offer are not specified, the trading conditions page simply states “floating2 next to all of the instruments so we can not say what they start at. Floating means that they are variable, they move with the markets, the more volatility there is the bigger the spreads will become. Naturally, some assets will have different starting spreads, EURUSD will be different from AUDNZD as an example. It would have been nice to know what the spreads are, as it is such an important bit of information when selecting a broker to use.

Minimum Deposit

There does not appear to be a minimum deposit when it comes to opening up the Live account, however, if you want the Live Premium account you will need to make a deposit of at least $25,000. Normally after an account is open the deposit requirement for subsequent top-ups reduced but there is no mention of that here at NelsonFX.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There is not a page with information about deposits or withdrawals so we can not get this information, nor is there a deposit and withdrawal policy for us to look at. On the website, there is an image of Visa, MasterCard, and Maestro so we would assume that Credit and Debit cards from these providers would be accepted. There is a mention of Bank Wire Transfer and online payment providers in the terms and conditions but what the payment processors are is unclear.

There are no mentions of any fees in the terms and conditions, nor is there a mention of there being no fees.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

There is also no information regarding withdrawal methods or fees, but we would assume the same methods of Visa, MasterCard, and Maestro Credit and Debit cards would also count for withdrawals. Bank Wire Transfers and payment processors are once again mentioned but not clarified.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

There is a small note in the terms and conditions which state that Wire Transfers will take up to 5 business days to process, online payments up to 5 business days and credit/debit cards will take up to 10 business days to process.

Bonuses & Promotions

There do not seem to be any active bonuses or promotions at the time of writing this review, if you are after bonuses, you could get in contact with the customer service team to see if there are any bonuses or promotions coming up.

Educational & Trading Tools

The only thing that could go into this section is a news section of the site that simply details past news events, nothing that is going to really help you improve your training or anything, but it seems up to date and relevant.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in contact with NelsonFX you can do so by using the online submission form, simply fill in your query and submit, you should then get a reply via email. There is also an email address to use to send an email directly along with the phone number should you wish to speak to someone. The customer support team is available 24/5 and is closed over the weekend and bank holidays just like the markets are.

Demo Account

You can open up a demo account and you can try out trading on the stock market, completely risk-free and free of charge. The Demo account lets you have current data from real markets to practice your trading strategies. There is no indication as to how long the demo accounts last, as some brokers put a time limit such as 30 days on them, so this information would have been good to know.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is on the website: “We do not establish accounts to residents of certain jurisdictions including the USA” If you are looking to join, we would recommend getting in touch with the customer service team to see if you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

NelsonFX has plenty to offer when it comes to assets and instruments, slightly less to offer when it comes to information about their services. The lack of information surrounding the accounts meant we had to dig deep to find information that should have been present, there is also a lack of information on deposit and withdrawal methods, considering they will be dealing with our money this is an aspect that is quite important and something that needs to be improved if they want to attract a new host of potential clients.

Prestige FM is a foreign exchange broker offering a number of different key principles, they aim for professional and transparent trading platforms, personal, professional 1 on 1 training, a range of tradable assets, the highest level of security and privacy and much more. In this review, we will be looking into the services being offered by Prestige FM to see if they live up to their own expectations.

Account Types

There are 4 different accounts on offer from Prestige FM, each with their own requirements and features, so let’s see what they offer.

Basic Account: The basic account has a minimum deposit of 5,000 EUR, it can get a bonus of up to 50% and has a part-time account manager. You get an intro into live trading and also receive signals and market reviews once a week along with monthly webinars and seminars. eBooks are also available on forex and stocks and the video academy for beginners.

Advanced Account: The advanced account requires a deposit of at least 25,000 EUR. It can receive a bonus of up to 75% and has full consultation from an account manager. It receives 2 sessions of 1 to 1 training and has access to special trading events for 2 months. Signals and market reviews are available twice a week and webinars and seminars are available twice a month. There are ebooks on forex and stocks and the video academy is for beginners and trading tools.

Expert Account: The expert account increases the minimum deposit further up to 75,000 EUR. There is a bonus of up to 100% and you receive individual support and assistance from an account manager. You get 4 live 1 on 1 session and 4 months access to special trading events. You get signals and market reviews 3 times a week and weekly webinars and seminars. Ebooks on forex, stocks, and crypto are available as well as videos for beginners, trading tools and trading strategies.

Prestige Account: This is the top-level account and so the deposit amount required is not stated, you will need to get in touch for this account type. It can have a bonus of up to 150% and receives a special concierge service from an account manager. It gets unlimited live sessions with an expert and access to special trading events. It gets daily signals and market reviews as well as webinars and seminars when requested. It has access to all Ebooks and access to all academy sections.

Unfortunately, the accounts page does not outline the trading conditions of each account, so throughout this review in various sections, we will outline what the trading conditions are.

Platforms

Prestige FM seems to only have an online WebTrader available to trade, we are not sure of its developer and may be Prestige FMs own platform. Its layout is very clean and intuitive, but unfortunately, we can not commend on a lot of its features as we do not know what they are and they are not stated on the website.

Leverage

Unfortunately, there isn’t any mention of the leverage being offered to the account so we are not able to state what it is. It would be good to have this information readily available on the website.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is 10 EUR, the Prestige FM platform does not use lot sizes as the majority of forex brokers do, instead, it uses an investment cost so you can know exactly what your trade will cost you. We do not know what the maximum trade size is if there is one.

Trading Costs

The trading costs are again an aspect that is not really mentioned on the website so it is unknown to us if they have any commissions on the trades.

Assets

Prestige FM has broken down its assets into 5 different categories, so let’s explore what is included in each one.

Currencies: AUDCAD, AUDCHF, AUDJPY, AUDUSD, CADCHF, CADJPY, CHFJPY, EURAUD, EURCAD, EURCHF, EURGBP, EURJPY, EURUSD, GBPAUD, GBPCAD, GBPCHF, GBPJPY, GBPUSD, NZDUSD, USDCAD, USDCHF, USDJPY, USDNOK, USDSEK.

Stocks: Alibaba, Amazon, Apple, Coca-cola, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, eBay.

Commodities: Gold, Silver, Crude Oil

Indices: S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow 30, DAX Index.

Crypto: ETBTXC, ETHEUR, ETHUSD, LTCBTC, LTCEUR, LTCUSD, XRPEUR, BTCUSD, XRPUSD.

Spreads

Spreads are another aspect of the trading conditions which are unfortunately not listed or present on the website, due to the way the trading platform works there may not be a spread so to speak as they are using their own system.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required to open an account is 5,000 EUR which gets you the Basic account, however, once an account has been opened the minimum deposit for all account top-ups is 250 EUR.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The following methods are available for depositing, Visa Credit / Debit, Visa Electron, MasterCard Debit / Credit, Maestro, Alpha exchange and Bank Wire Transfer. Prestige FM does not add any fees of their own when depositing however, we would always recommend that you contact your processor or bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw with, for clarification these are Visa Credit / Debit, Visa Electron, MasterCard Debit / Credit, Maestro, Alpha exchange and Bank Wire Transfer. Just like depositing, there are no added fees for withdrawing and we would always recommend that you contact your processor or bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Prestige FM will process your withdrawal request within 1 – 5 business days, depending on the method used it could then take a further 1 to 5 business days for the money to become available dependant on your processor or bank.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is a welcome bonus available, this bonus is a 100% bonus up to 1,000 EUR on the first deposit. The bonus will be deposited into your account after the deposit has been made, in order to withdraw the bonus you need to reach a minimum trading volume which unfortunately is not mentioned so it is unknown how much you would need to trade. It does state that the bonus can be withdrawn in ana mount calculated as dividing 20- times from the client balance, whatever that means.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is the standard economic calendar that details different upcoming news events and which currency pairs they may affect. There is also a market analysis that tells you about different events that have past and also what the future could hold. There are live webinars but they don’t seem to have been happening since June 2019 and finally, there is the standard FAQ.

Customer Service

The customer service department is open Monday to Friday between 8:00 GMT and 22:00 GMT. You can get in touch using the online submissions to fill in your query and then expect a reply back via email. You can also email them directly or use the available phone number to speak to someone. There is also a live chat and WhatsApp option if that is easier for you, so plenty of different ways to get in contact.

Demo Account

There doesn’t seem to be any demo accounts available which is a shame, or at least we did not see any information about them. Demo accounts are important as they allow new clients to test out the trading conditions and servers and allows current clients to test new strategies without risking their own capital./ This is an aspect that Prestige FM should look into if they are indeed not available.

Countries Accepted

The information about which countries are accepted and which are not is not present on the website, so if you are interested in joining, be sure to get in contact with the customer service team to check if you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

Prestige FM brings the forex markets to the market in a slightly different way, they do not use the traditional method of using lots and instead use an investment directly giving a clearer understanding of what the trade costs, unfortunately, this can make things confusing when it comes to things like spreads and other trading conditions, we were not able to tell exactly what a lot of them were. There are a number of ways to deposit and withdraw with no added fees which are good and there are plenty of ways to get in contact with the customer service team. If you are able to understand the format and how their trading works then it seems like they could be a good choice, but if you are looking for more traditional trading you may need to look elsewhere.

Atirox is a forex broker specializing in providing reliable and competitive services to its clients worldwide. They are a pure ECN / STP broker, allowing hem to bring the best pricing and liquidity to their clients. Established in 2015, Atirox brings sound brokerage experience and cutting-edge trading technology. Customers from all over the world successfully use the services of the Company. Atirox is well represented in Asia, CIS countries, in the Middle and the Far East as well as on the African continent.

Account Types

There are four different accounts on offer from Atirox, each one having its own deposit requirements and trading conditions, lets briefly look at what they are.

Micro Account: The entry requirement for this account is just $1, it can be leveraged up to 1:1000 and has spreads starting from 3.0 pips. There is no commission on this account and the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots. It uses STP execution and hedging, scalping, and expert advisors are all allowed to be used. It offers one-click trading and the margin call is set at 100% with the stop out being set at 50%.

Fix Account: This account requires a minimum deposit of $10, it can be leveraged up to 1:500 and has spreads starting from 2.4 pips. There is no commission on this account and the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots. It uses STP execution and hedging, scalping, and expert advisors are all allowed to be used. It offers one-click trading and the margin call is set at 75% with the stop out being set at 50%.

Classic Account: This account has a minimum requirement of $50, it can be leveraged up to 1:500 and has spreads starting from 1.1 pips. There is no commission on this account and the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots. It uses STP execution and hedging, scalping, and expert advisors are all allowed to be used. It offers one-click trading and the margin call is set at 70% with the stop out being set at 30%.

Pro Account: This is the top-level account, it requires a minimum deposit of $300, it can be leveraged up to 1:500 and has spreads starting from 0.05 pips. Due to the low spreads, there is an added commission of $4 per lot traded on this account and the minimum trade size is 0.1 lots. It uses STP execution and hedging, scalping, and expert advisors are all allowed to be used. It offers one-click trading and the margin call is set at 100% with the stop out being set at 50%.

Platforms

There are two main systems for trading, one being manual trading with MetaTrader 4 and the other being a copy trading system, so let’s see what they offer.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): Atirox recommends that its clients install the MetaTrader 4 terminal for FX trading. Professional traders have long considered the MT4 trading platform to be one of the most intuitive and functional platforms of all-time. This is exactly why today MetaTrader has grown to become the industry standard in the world of online forex trading. Traders who prefer algorithmic FX trading can easily customize their Expert Advisors and use them while trading on the Atirox servers. Atirox offers MT4 for traditional desktop (Windows & Mac) computers, as well as the most popular mobile platforms (Android & iOS).

Copy System: Atirox Copy System is a service of copying deals, which allows followers to copy the transactions of the most successful traders and in turn, traders get the opportunity to have an additional income by sharing their experience with their followers. Registration in the system and configure the copy parameters takes only a few minutes. The main advantage of the system is its reliability. The follower fully controls the situation, as the funds remain on his account. He sets up the system for his own needs and can independently cancel the copied transactions if, in his opinion, the transactions bear unreasonable risks.

Leverage

The leverage that you get can depend on the account you are using, different accounts have different limits.

• Micro: 1:1000
• Fix: 1:500
• Classic: 1:500
• Pro: 1:500

The leverage can be selected when opening up an account, should you wish to change it on an already open account you will need to get in contact with the customer service team.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade sizes on the Micro, Fix and Classic accounts is 0.01 lots (also known as a micro lot) they then go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next trades are 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots.

The starting trade size on the Pro account states that it is 0.1 lots, however on the product specification page it states 0.01 lots, but we will go with what is stated on the accounts plage. So the trades start at 0.1 lots and the incremental increase amount is not specified.

All account ahs a maximum trade size of 1,000 lots, however, we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

The Pro account is the only account with an added commission, it is $4 per lot traded which is lower than the industry standard of $6 per lot traded. All other accounts use a spread based system that we will look at later in this review.

There are also swap charges to contend with, these are interest charges that are incurred for holding trades overnight, they can be both negative or positive and can usually be viewed from within the trading platform of choice.

Assets

Atirox has broken their assets down into 6 different categories, we will outline some examples from each below.

Forex Major: EURUSD, USDJPY, GBPUSD, EURGBP, EURJPY, EURCHF, AUSUSD, USDCAD, NZDUSD, EURCAD, EURAUD, EURNZD.

Forex Minor: AUDCAD, AUDCHF, AUDJPY, AUDNZD, AUDSGD, CADCHF, CADJPY, CHFJPY, CHFSGD, EURCZK, EURDKK, EURHUF, WUENOK, WUEPLZ, EURSEK, SEUSGD, EURTRY, EURZAR, GBPAUD, GBPCAD, GBPCHF, GBPDKK, GBPJPY, GBPNOK, GBPNZD, GBPSEK, GBPSGD, GBPTRY, NOKJPY, NOKSEK, NZDCAD, NZDCHF, NZDJPY, SEKJPY, USDCNH, USDCZK, USDHUF, USDNOK, USDRUB, USDSEK, USDSGD, USDTRY, USDZAR, ZARJPY.

Commodities: XTIUSD (WTI Crude Oil), XBRUSD (Brent Crude Oil), XNGUSD (Natural Gas).

Spot Metals: XAUUSD, XAGUSD, XAUEUR, XAGEUR, XPTUSD, XPDUSD.

CFDs: AUS 200, EUSTX 50, FRA 40, GER 30, HK 50, JPN 225, NAS 100, SPA 35, SWI 20, UK 100, US 30, US 500, US 2000.

Crypto: BTCUSD, BCHUSD, DSHUSD, ETHUSD, LTCUSD, XAIUSD, XMRUSD, XRPUSD, ZECUSD.

Spreads

The spreads that you get depend on a few different factors first is the account you are using.

• Micro: From 3.0 pips fixed spread
• Fix: From 2.4 pips fixed spread
• Classic: From 1.1 pips variable spread
• Pro: From 0.05 pips variable spread

Fixed spreads mean that they do not change, they remain the same no matter what is happening in the markets. Variable (also known as floating) means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 1.1 pips, other assets like GBPJPY may start slightly higher, in this case, 1.4 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit amount is $1 which is needed to open up the Micro account, all subsequent deposits also have the minimum requirement of $1.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a lot of different ways to deposit with Atirox, we have outlined them for you below.

Bank Wire Transfers

Credit / Debit Card: Visa, MasterCard

Electronic Payment Systems: FasaPay, Perfect Money, Neteller, Bitcoin, Skrill

Malaysian Bank Transfers: CIMB, MayBank, Hong Leong Bank, RHB, Public Bank

Indonesian Bank Transfers: BCA, Mandiri, Bank BRI, PermataBank, CLOMB NIAGA, Bank BTN

Thailand Bank Transfers: Bangkok Bank, KrungThai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, KASIKORN Bank, UOB, Krungsri Bank

Vietnam Bank Transfers: VietinBank, Vietcombank, BIDV Banks, Eximbank, Techon Bank, ACB Bank, Sacom Banks, Dong A Bank

There are no added fees from Atirox for depositing, however, you should check with your bank or processor to see if they add any of their own fees.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available as withdrawals, Bank Wire Transfer, Visa Credit / Debit, MasterCard Credit / Debit, FasaPay, Perfect Money, Neteller, Bitcoin, Skrill, CIMB, MayBank, Hong Leong Bank, RHB, Public Bank, BCA, Mandiri, Bank BRI, PermataBank, CLOMB NIAGA, Bank BTN, Bangkok Bank, KrungThai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, KASIKORN Bank, UOB, Krungsri Bank, VietinBank, Vietcombank, BIDV Banks, Eximbank, Techon Bank, ACB Bank, Sacom Banks and, Dong A Bank.

Just like deposits, there are no added fees, however, you should check with your bank or processor to see if there are any added fees from them.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The withdrawal processing times seem to be the only bit of information missing from the website, we could not locate it anywhere. We would expect processing to be done within 48 hours, then it will depend on the method uses and could take anywhere between 1 – 5 working days for the funds to be available for use.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are two different bonuses available here is a brief overview of them both.

50% Deposit Bonus: You can receive a bonus of up to $12,000 on your account by simply depositing. Bonus 50% can be withdrawn under the fulfillment of the condition that the trading volume [amount of bonus / 7] lots in the account. For example: deposit $1000 – received $500 of bonus, then the bonus can be withdrawn only if the customer gain by trading: 500 / 7 = 71 lots. Withdrawable can be able only the whole amount of the received bonus (except for bonus funds which are registered in the account after the Stop Out); the possibility of a partial withdrawal of the bonus is not available.

Prime Bonus: The new bonus from Atirox is a great opportunity to start trading on Forex. Your way to the world of the largest and most liquid market in the world, which has become the main source of stable income for many traders around the world. With a Prime Bonus of $1800, you will be able to evaluate our unsurpassed quality of execution of orders in real trading conditions without risk. Upon receipt of the bonus, this amount will be instantly credited to your account and is available for trading.

There are also a number of different contests taking place, each one has a different prize such as a Toyota car or a Honda motorcycle. You simply need to deposit and then fill in the application form to enter. Each has slightly different rules so be sure to check them out if you are interested in taking part.

Educational & Trading Tools

In terms of education and tools, there are some basic ones on offer, there are some calculators to that allow you to evaluate the potential profit or loss of their trade, compare the results of deals at various opening and closing prices, or receive information about the cost of pips in various trading instruments. The economic calendar contains information about when and for which country the reporting will be published, which allows you to build trading tactics based on the analytical forecast. Statistics are published at a fixed time (for example, on the second Friday of the month at 18.00). And it is at the time of the news release that the greatest volatility is observed in the financial markets.

Finally, there is some analytics, which looks at different aspects of the markets and analyzes them to see which ways the markets may move next, There is multiple analysis posted each day and it could be quite helpful to go along with the analysis you are doing yourself.

Customer Service

Atirox has made it simple and easy to get in contact with the people you need to, they have separated their contacts into various departments which are as follows.

Support Department:
Working Hours: 06:00 – 16:00 UTC
Tel: +60327112834
Email: [email protected]
Skype: atirox
Telegram: Atiroxbot

Partner Department:
Working Hours: 06:00 – 16:00 UTC
Email: [email protected]

Public Relations Department:
Working Hours: 06:00 – 16:00 UTC
Email: [email protected]

Finance Department:
Working Hours: 06:00 – 16:00 UTC
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, you can sign up through a simple form, it is a free MetaTrader 4 account with real pricing, there is a balance of $10,000 in the account. It is not clear which of the accounts it mimics or if there is an expiration on the account. Demo accounts allow potential new clients to test out the servers and trading conditions while giving existing clients somewhere to test out their new strategies without risking any of their own capital.

Countries Accepted

The information about which countries are accepted and which are not is not present on the website, so if you are interested in joining, be sure to get in contact with the customer service team to check if you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

Atirox has made it easy to find the information that you need, it is refreshing to see a broker laying out all the information needed in such an easy to find manner. The only bit of information that seemed to be missing (we may have missed it ourselves) is the withdrawal times, everything else is available in detail which is great to see. The trading conditions (apart from the Micro account) are very competitive and certainly make for good reading. Plenty of assets to trade as well as many different ways to deposit and withdraw, all without any added fees. Atirox certainly seems like a competent broker and one we would be happy to trade with.

NPBFX is a forex broker specializing in trading products. They have been on the forex markets since 1996 and rebranded in 2016 to offer their services to the world. Offering their services to all client types NPBFX boast their main selling points as being on the markets since 1996, having a customer-focused service model, fast and high-quality transaction processing, having a compensation fund, a high-quality analytical portal, offering the best trading platforms and more. Throughout this review, we will be looking into the different services on offer to see how they rank next to the competition.

Account Types

There are three different account son offer, they each have different requirements and features, however, they also share a lot of them, so we have outlined the similarities and differences below.

All Accounts: All three accounts have access to MetaTrader 4, 38 currency pairs, gold, silver oil and natural gas to trade. Thre is no added commission on any of the accounts and the base currency can be in USD, EUR or RUB. All accounts use STP execution and automated trading with expert advisors is allowed. All accounts shave swap fees, however, swap-free versions are also available, hedging is also allowed, and the stop out level for all accounts is set at 30%.

Master Account: The master account requires a minimum deposit of 10 USD, 10 EUr or 500 RUB. Its minimum trade size is 0.01 lots with increments of 0.01 lots. It has spread from 0.8 pips with an average of 1.2 pips and the leverage is up to 1:1000.

Expert Account: This account requires a minimum deposit of 5000 USD, 5000 EUR or 300,000 RUB./ It has a spread starting from 0.6 pips and an average spread of around 1 pip. Its trades start at 1 lot and go up in increments of 0.1 lots, the account has leverage up to 1:200.

VIP Account: This is the top tier account, it has a deposit requirement of 50,000 USD, 50,000 EUR or 3,000,000 RUB. It comes with a spread starting from 0.4 pips but with an average of 0.8 pips. Trade sizes start at 1 lot and go up in increments of 0.1 lots, the account also comes with a maximum leverage of 1:200.

Platforms

There are two different styles of the platform, a normal trading platform in the form of MetaTrader 4 and then social trading in the form of ZuluTrade and MyFXBook, so let’s see what each offers.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): MetaTrader 4 is among the most widely used electronic trading and analytical platforms in the world. MetaTrader 4 provides end-users with advanced professional functionality, control over their trading account, price chart analysis, and Forex strategy development. MT4 also offers fully automated instant transactions, with transaction output taking place within the interbank foreign exchange market via STP/NDD technology. Users will further benefit from the ability to hedge, make use of Expert Advisors, and access financial news tape directly from Dow Jones Newswires in real-time.

Social Trading: There are two different social trading platforms available, ZuluTrade and MyFXBook. ZuluTrade is the world-leading online and mobile Social Trading platform. ZuluTrade enables users to locate successful traders that are ranked by ZuluRank, a proprietary performance evaluation algorithm, and follow their trades which are translated into real trades in their own broker accounts.

Users can fully manage their accounts via a customizable account management suite that is equipped with advanced risk management features such as ZuluGuard, a shield against volatile trading strategies. MyFXBook AutoTrade is one of the most advanced copy trading (mirror trading) platforms around with a sophisticated and intuitive web interface. Just as with Myfxbook’s service, AutoTrade is designed from the grounds up to be the most innovative, feature-rich and in the same time user-friendly platform for mirror trading.

Leverage

The leverage that you get depends on the account you are using, the Master account can be leveraged all the way up to 1:100o which is a little high, we would recommend not going over 1:500. The Expert and VIP accounts have a maximum leverages of 1:200. Leverage can be selected when opening up an account and can be changed on an already open account by contacting the customer service team with the request.

Trade Sizes

The trading sizes are also dependant on the account you are using. The Master account has trade sizes that start from 0.01 lots (micro lot) and they go up in increments of 0.01 lots. The Expert and VIP accounts have trade sizes starting from 1 lot and they go up in increments of 0.1 lots.

We do not know what the maximum trade size is but would recommend not trading over 50 lots in a single trade, we are also not sure what the maximum number of open trades allowed is.

Trading Costs

There are no added commissions on any of the accounts as they use a spread based system that we will look into later in this review. There are swap charges on all accounts which are charged for holding trades overnight and can be viewed within the MetaTrader 4 trading platform, Islamic swap-free accounts are available though.

Assets

The assets and instruments on NPBFX have been broken down into 4 different categories, we will briefly look through them to see what is on offer.

Forex: AUDCAD, AUDCHF, AUDJPY, AUDNZD, AUDUSD, CADCHF, CADJPY, CHFJPY, EURAUD, EURCAD, EURCHF, EURGBP, EURJPY, EURNZD, EURRUB, EURUSD, GBPAUD, GBPCAD, GBPCHF, GBPJPY, GBPNZD, GBPUSD, NZDCAD, NZDCHF, NZDJPY, NZDUSD, USDCAD, USDCHF, USDDKK, USDHKD, USDJPY, USDMXN, USDNOK, USDRUB, USDSEK, SUDSGD, USDTRY and, USDZAR.

Metals: Gold and Silver, both tradable against USD.

CFD: Brent Crude Oil, WTI Crude Oil and, Natural Gas.

Crypto: Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin, Dashcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple. All tradable against USD.

Spreads

The minimum spread depends on the account that you use, they are as follows.

• Master: From 0.8 pips (average 1.2 pips)
• Expert: From 0.6 pips (average 1 pip)
• VIP: From 0.4 pips (average 0.8 pips)

The spreads are variable which means they move with the markets so when there is added volatility the spreads will be seen higher. Different instruments will also have different spreads, for example, EURUSD will always be lower than USDZAR.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required to open an account is 10 SUD, 10 EUR or 500 RUB which will allow you to open the Master account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are plenty of ways to deposit funds into NPBFX, including Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, WebMoney, QIWI Wallet, Yandex Money, Fasapay, Skrill, Neteller, Ngan Luong, Bank Wire Transfer and then there are a whole host of different local bank transfers. There are no added fees for depositing, however, you should check with your bank or card issuer to see if they add any transfer fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw to apart from some of the local bank transfers, for clarification, the methods available are Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, WebMoney, QIWI Wallet, Yandex Money, Fasapay, Skrill, Neteller, Ngan Luong, Bank Wire Transfer, and a few local bank transfers.

Just as with deposits there are no added commissions apart from Bank Wire Transfer, there is a 100 EUR withdrawal fee which is very steep and so you should try to avoid this method if possible.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

We do not know the processing times from NPBFX, however, depending on the method used you can expect processing to take between 1 to 5 working days.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are two main promotions currently on offer, lets briefly look at what they are.

Loyalty Program: The following gifts are available when trading the required volume…

60% Cashback: You can receive up to 60% of the spreads as cashback (up to $7 per lot traded). The cashback is fully withdrawable and there is a maximum cashback of 10,000 per month. EAs and scalping are allowed.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is an Analytical Portal on the website, this offers clients the chance to revive things like trading signals, weekly review videos, training materials, calendars, and calculators, as well as the opportunity to talk with an analyst. There is a calculator available for all for working out costs and profits. We are unable to see the majority of the education as we do not have an account on the analytics portal to check.

Customer Service

There are plenty of ways to get in touch, the customer service team works 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday. There is an online chat system as well as email and phone numbers of various different departments.

Customer Support:
Email: info:npbfx.com
Phone: +44 800 069-84-70

The same email and phone are also used for trading operation support and non-trading operations support.

Address: Suite 305, Griffith Corporate Centre, Beachmont, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, and you can open one by filling in a short form. The accounts allow you to trade on the Forex without risk of losing real money, learn the trading platform and gain experience of making deals, test trading strategies using real market prices, read the terms of service, check prices and spreads. It is not clear which account type the demo mimics or if there is an expiration time on the accounts.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is present at the bottom of the NPBFX website: “NPBFX does not provide services for Canada and United States residents.” If you are not sure of your eligibility for an account, you should get in contact with the customer service team to find out prior to signing up.

Conclusion

The trading conditions on offer from NPBFX seem to be quite competitive and in line with the competition. The spreads are appropriate for an account that does not have any added commission and there are enough assets to keep you busy, however, it would be nice to see some more indices and commodities. There are also plenty of ways to deposit and withdraw, with no added fees, however, if using bank wire transfer you may want to look elsewhere as the 100 EUR withdrawal fee is a little too high for us.

ForexMart is an offshore broker, registered in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and have been operating their services since the year 2015. This broker is most well known for its wide provision of tradable assets accumulating to over 100 instruments, as well as a high leverage of 1:500. This broker is also heavily affiliated with a number of online social media outlets, which is where many clients first hear about ForexMArt. This also means that for those of you wishing to expand your income outside of personal trading profit, you can also become an affiliate of ForexMart, and there are a variety of types of partnerships to choose from.

Account Types

ForexMart offers 4 live account types for their clients to choose from, and each has varying benefits:

• Classic: Min Deposit $15, 0 commission, floating spreads from 1 pip
• Pro: Min Deposit $200, 0 commission, floating spreads from 0.6 pips
• Cents: Min Deposit $15, 0 commission, floating spreads from 1 pip,
• 0 Spread: Min Deposit $1, 0.02% – 0.07% commissions, min spreads 0 pips (fixed)

Platforms

ForexMart offers the MetaTrader 4 platform, which clients can use via Web base, Desktop and mobile (iOS/Android) versions, as you wish. This means clients of ForexMart have the flexibility of being able to trade both at home or on the go.

Leverage

The maximum leverage offered by ForexMart is a competitive 1:500 for Forex trading. This leverage allowance is rather high in comparison to many brokers, so ensure you are using it with caution, as it can be detrimental to trading loss as much as it can be a benefit to accumulating great profit.

For Gold trading, leverage allowance is up to 1:100 and for Crypto trading, it is very low, set at 1:2. Crypto trading leverage is not competitive at all, compared to what many brokers are offering, however, 1:500 for Forex is more than generous.

Trade Sizes

ForexMart requires clients to trade with minimum trade sizes of 0.01 lot and maximum of 1000 lots. The minimum requirement is standard and more than amicable even for those trading with small capital, and the maximum is very generous for those who wish to trade large volumes. These requirements are applicable to all trading account types, with the exception of the Cent account, which requires a minimum trade size is 0.01cent lots and 10,000 cent lots is the maximum.

Trading Costs

The FAQ page does not state the commission fees for each trading account type, so I spoke to the customer support live chat team who seemed very confused by my question and repeatedly linked me to deposit and withdrawal fee links from the website. After much time, we finally got to the bottom of it and can tell you that ForexMart does NOT charge trade commission fees.

Swap fees are listed on the website and vary according to the pair you are trading. As for Islamic account (swap-free) options, these are also available upon request.

Assets

ForexMart advertises on the website that they offer over 100 instruments for their clients to trade. ForexMart displays all tradable instruments available (fixed and floating spreads options according to account type). Clients may trade CFD Forex, Cryptos and Shares, and there is the option also for Spot Metal Trading. Overall, ForexMart does offer a fairly diverse variety of instruments to trade, but the one that is really lacking is in the crypto trading department, where only 5 cryptos are available to trade.

Spreads

ForexMart offers both fixed and floating spreads, depending on the account type option and currency pairs you are trading. All spreads (typical for floating as well as fixed) are displayed on the website, to save you opening a demo account to see the spreads specific to each pair on each different account type.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit varies according to the account type, all of which are displayed on the website as seen below. We would say that even the highest deposit requirement on the Pro account, is appropriate and not unreasonable if compared to other broker’s trading start requirements.

• Classic: Min Deposit $15
• Pro: Min Deposit $200
• Cents: Min Deposit $15
• 0 Spread: Min Deposit $1

Deposit Methods & Costs

All Deposit methods available with ForexMart can be found on the website:

• Bank Transfer
• Card (Visa/Mastercard)
• Skrill
• Neteller
• PayCo
• FasaPay
• Qiwi
• UnionPay
• AliPay

All deposit methods are free of charge from the broker, however, there is a statement on the website to tell clients that they may be liable to pay fees from the banking provider’s side, although ForexMart, will, on occasion where they see fit, reimburse the fee to the client.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

All withdrawal methods and costs are set out on the website as follows:

• Bank Transfer: 2.5% fee, min 2 USD
• Card (Visa/Mastercard): 2.50% + fixed fee 3.50 USD/EUR
• Skrill: 1% (not more than 11,41 USD or 10 EUR). Transaction fee – 1.39%.
• Neteller: 2%
• PayCo: no fee
• FasaPay: no fee
• Qiwi: no fee
• UnionPay: 2%
• AliPay: 2%

Of course, always check with your banking provider to confirm if you will be charged a fee from their side as well as this is sometimes the case.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal processing times are set out on the website: PayCo, FasaPay, Qiwi, UnionPay, and AliPay are all processed within 48 working hours while Skrill and Neteller can take anywhere between 1-7 days to be processed, and then received. Bank and card transactions can take between 2-4 business days to process. Overall these processing and wait times are not competitive when some brokers offer instant withdrawal options. This broker has 0 instant withdrawal options, so be sure there is an option that you are happy with before you register as a live client with ForexMart.

Bonuses & Promotions

Although ForexMart website does not clearly set out the bonus scheme they offer, the customer service representatives can offer this information. They explained that the bonus scheme is not only a one time offer but a revolving product whereby clients holding a Classic or Zero Spread account, can make use of a bonus each time they make a deposit. CLASSIC account holders can get an additional 20% while ZERO SPREAD account holders can receive an additional 30% of the deposit, each time they make a deposit.

Deposit bonus schemes are not entirely what they are cut out to be, and not as great as they seem at first glance, so ensure you read and fully understand all terms and conditions associated with them before making use of such schemes.

Educational & Trading Tools

ForexMart offers a range of trading tools to assist its clients including the following: an Economic calendar, market analysis, economic news information, currency converter, and a forex glossary. All these tools are freely available on the website, and highly beneficial to all client traders experienced as well as novice traders.

Customer Service

ForexMart operates its customer support on a 24/5 basis. You can speak to a representative via Live Chat, Email, Telephone, or call back request at a time that is suitable for you. What is also even more convenient for some customers of this broker is that ForexMart offers customer support via Viber, Skype, WhatsApp, and Telegram. These customer support channels give clients a lot of flexibility especially when out and about, or trading on the go and needing to speak to a representative in a more modern and convenient fashion.

Demo Account

ForexMart offers both live and demo account options. Whether you are an experienced and confident trader or not, a demo account is always good to make use of to try out the forex service of the broker overall before moving on to the live account. Bear in mind of course that while the demo reflects the live account trading condition environment, it cannot take into account things like slippage, which can, of course, occur in live trading.

Countries Accepted

Of course, in respect to the fact ForexMart are not regulated, and that some jurisdictions do not allow it’s residents the use of trading services, the following countries will not be granted access to a live trading account with ForexMart:

• United States
• North Korea
• Myanmar
• Cuba
• Sudan
• Syria

If your residency is not accepted, this will become apparent as part of the verification process when you are required to submit both proof of photo ID and document proof of address.

Conclusion

ForexMart offers a fair amount of positive qualities in their trading service, such as the leverage allowance and 0 commissions, however, there are some questionable elements such as the deposit bonus schemes which can really get clients into some trouble if they do not fully understand how they work, and this can lead to aggressive trading and frequent deposits. Another issue with this broker is that they claim to have a 24/5 customer support service, but the live chat team are offline for the majority of the day, which indicates this broker is not true to their word on one aspect which then leads one to think: what else are they not 100% transparent on? This uncertainty is also backed up with the fact the FAQ page and the website do not set out information at all regarding the deposit bonus scheme; this only became apparent through a customer support representative.

If you are considering joining this broker, ensure you try out the demo first and get all questions you may have, answered well before you sign up so you fully understand the ins and outs of the service you are getting into.

EightCap is not an obviously popular or much spoken about forex broker and does not receive a huge amount of online social media traction for their services, compared to other forex brokers of the same caliber, which usually suggests they could be relatively new to the industry. However, upon some quick research, we found that EightCap have in fact been operating a forex brokerage service the year 2009, and are also regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), so this does provide some peace of mind in regards to security of client funds in the case of any trade issues or missing withdrawals.

EightCap also offers white label services alongside their trading services, as well as IB affiliate schemes so trading clients can expand their profit opportunities with this, if they wish to. In regards to the website, it is very modern and well laid out, and includes an FAQ page A live chat facility is available 24/5 for the fast resolve of queries you may have, also.

Account Types

EightCap offers two account types: Standard and Raw. Raw account holders will be charged trade commission fees of $3.50 per lot ($7 per round turn). However, the Raw accounts have tighter spreads, starting from 0.0 pips. While the Standard accounts charge no trade commission, this account has wider spreads, starting from1.0 pips. It should be noted that both accounts allow full scalping and hedging.

When choosing an account, the trader must consider what volume you are trading. If you are trading substantial (high) volume, it may be more cost-effective to go with the account that has tighter spreads yet still charges commissions. Similarly, if you trade very small volume, an account with 0 trade commission fees yet slightly wider spreads, may perhaps be more suitable. Of course, it is always wise to backtest a broker’s services on demo prior to opening the live account, if you are unsure of what account will be more appropriate for your style of trading.

Platforms

EightCap is very much ‘with the times’ when it comes to their services, especially in regards to the choice of trading platforms they offer. Not only are their services compatible with MT4, but also MT5. Both web/desktop and mobile versions are all available for clients to trade both from home as well as when they’re out and about.

Leverage

The maximum leverage EightCap offers is 1:500 which is competitive in itself. Both account types have access to this leverage, which is a great tool to use for profit maximization, even in the case of a small capital account.

Leverage options do vary however depending on the assets you are trading:

• Forex 1:500
• Commodities: some 1:100, others 1:200
• Indices 1:200
• Shares: some 1:100, others 1:200
• Cryptocurrencies 1:5

All leverage options are very generous except perhaps for crypto trading; 1:5 is very low and not competitive at all when other brokers are offering crypto trading leverage as high as 1:50 or even 1:100, which of course generates a lot more profit on winning positions than just 1:5.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size requirements set by EightCap actually depend on the assets you are trading, which re as follows, (all applicable to both account types)

• Forex: 0.01 lot, maximum of 40 lots
• Crypto: 0.1, maximum of 100 lots
• Commodities: 0.1 lot, maximum of 100 lots
• Indices: 0.1 lot, maximum of 30 lots

Trading Costs

As mentioned earlier, only 1 out of the two live account type options charge trade commission fees, which is the Raw account, which charges trade commission fees of $3.50 per lot ($7 per round turn).

It is always important when considering total client trading costs, not just the commission fees, but also the spreads; for example,t eh RAw account is charged trade commissions (not high ones, at that, in comparison to other brokers), but one must also consider the spreads. In this case, the Raw account has tighter spreads than the Standard account.

Assets

With EightCap, clients have access to the following markets, with over 40 of the following assets available:

• Forex
• Commodities
• Indices
• Shares
• Cryptocurrencies

Spreads

EightCap offers variable spreads to all clients, on all tradable instruments. All tradable instruments available, together with their average spread, is available to see on the website. For the most part, spreads offered by EightCap are very competitive, especially for the FX Majors available.

Minimum Deposit

If trading with EightCap, the minimum deposit is 100 of your base currency (USD, EUR, GBP, etc.), which applies to both Standard and Raw account. This is not an unreasonable minimum requirement to expect and is considered most probably, an average minimum requirement if compared to what other brokers require from their clients.

Deposit Methods & Costs

EightCap website clearly states the funding methods options which are as follows:

• Debit/Credit Card (MasterCard/Visa) – 0 fee
• POLi Payment – 0 fee
• Bank Wire (check with your banking provider if any fees apply on their end)
• BPAY – 0 fee
• Skrill – 0 fee
• China UnionPay – 0 fee

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The withdrawal methods offered by EightCap are the same as of course, the deposit methods listed above. As stated on the website, EightCap does not charge any fees for withdrawals, however, it is also wise to check with your provider to avoid any disappointment, if you are liable for any fees from their side.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

All withdrawal processing times are detailed on the website, for each withdrawal method offered, which are as follows:

Debit/Credit Card (MasterCard/Visa): Processing is 2 – 5 business days but completion is between 3-20 business days

Bank Wire: Process time is 24 hours, but completion time can take 2-5 business days

Skrill: 2-5 business days in total

It is also important to note that EightCap has a policy in place whereby you must first withdraw the amount you INITIALLY deposited (via the same method you used to make the deposit, then only after, you may withdraw any additional profits either via the same method used to deposit, or an alternative method of choice.

Bonuses & Promotions

EightCap does not offer any deposit bonus or promotional schemes at this time.

Educational & Trading Tools

EightCap has been very forward-thinking in how to appeal to all trader, new and experienced alike, as there is ample free educational material and trading tools that both types of traders can benefit from, including Analysis Overview, Forex News, guides on MT4 platform and how it works, Trading Strategies and so on.

Customer Service

EightCap Customer Service deserves a high rating for the prompt response time it consistently sticks to, and the knowledgable representatives who clients can speak with. The customer support team operates via telephone, email or Live Chat, all of which are available on a 24/5 basis.

Demo Account

You can create a demo account with EightCap upon request, however, note that this is only valid for 30 days. In the case of needing to spend more time on demo trading, you can of course simply apply for a new one after the 30 days expiry.

Countries Accepted

Due to EightCap’s ASIC regulation policy, only residents of Australia are allowed to make use of these trading services, as stated in the website disclaimer at the footer of the page.

Conclusion

Overall, this broker is very impressive with their trading conditions offered, a wide variety of deposit and withdrawal methods, a choice of using both MT4 or MT5, competitive spreads, and a high-quality 24/5 customer support team. Many traders will not be disappointed with the overall services of EightCap, however, the only downside is that these services, as per ASIC restrictions and regulations, only residents of Australia can make use of the service.

Alfa Financial is a foreign exchange broker based in Dubai, they have over two decades of experience, making Alfa Financial one of Dubai’s oldest and most trusted brokerage houses. Under the leadership of her highness Shaikha Moaza Al Maktoum and a visionary management team, Alfa Financial has become synonymous with professional and quality services that cater to comprehensive trading requirements. From being one of the leading brokers in the Middle East, today Alfa Financial has grown to a large and well-established international investment firm and has become a true industry leader. We are a regulated broker committed to transparency and fair trading practices. That is what they are trying to live up to and in this review, we will see if the services they offer live up to those expectations.

Account Types

From going through the website it does not appear that there is more than one account type, there is no mention of different trading conditions or deposit requirements so we will be looking through this review as if there is just one account. We will not make a note of things here, instead, use the various sections of this review to get a better understanding of the trading conditions on offer from the account available.

Platforms

There are two different platforms on offer from Alfa Financial, these are the AX1 Trader and MetaTrader 4, let’s see what they offer.

AX1 Trader: AX1 Trader- A Single Global Platform Transforming the World into One Global Exchange! This next-generation platform strives to meet all the whims and fancies of the most finicky retail trader. At the same time, the AX1 trader platform also endeavors to be the ultimate management console for a typical financial trading service provider. The modules included in the platform provide a wide range of customized solutions, catering to any type of business requirement in the fast-paced financial trading world. It features highly Customizable Exchange Trading Software, ease of use through its user-friendly interface, provides users the best in terms of Security, Speed and Perfection, intelligent Order matching and Order Routing, multilingual support, access to all sort of news- economic, entertainment, sports, etc and, detailed Account statements.

MetaTrader 4: Alfa offers its clients MetaTrader 4 for PC only. While it is a shame that the platform is only offered in one format, MT4 remails the most powerful and popular of all platforms. MT4 delivers convenient tools for technical analysis and account management. The platform provides a well-designed trading system, complete with support for 3 execution modes and 8 order types. Traders can choose from an unlimited number of interactive charts and 50+ analytical tools, while also accessing news and alerts that inform about the most important market events of the day.

Leverage

Leverage can be as high as 1:100, this can be selected when opening up an account, should you wish to change it on an already open account then you can do so by getting in contact with the customer service team with your request.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start as low as 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot, they then go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next trade would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. There wasn’t any information surrounding the maximum trade size, however, we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

There isn’t much information available in regards to trading costs, there is a note in the FAQ that states that there are no commissions for opening up an account, but nothing in relation to actual trading costs. We are taking this as there being no additional commissions on top of spreads when trading. Having said that, in the CFD section of the site, there is a mention of low commissions, however no further information regarding them.

There are swap charges to think about though, these are interest charges that are incurred for holding trades overnight, they can be both negative or positive and can usually be viewed from within the trading platform of choice.

Assets

Alfa Financial state that they have a lot of assets to trade, however, the information available on them is rather limited. In regards to Forex pairs, there is a lot of information with all of them being listed, they have 50+ currency pairs including all majors, 21 cross-currency pairs and 100 exotic currency pairs. Some of the pairs include EURUSD, AUDUSD, CASCHF, GBPAUD, USDNOK and, USDZAR. CFDs are also available in the form of metals and energies, however, there doesn’t appear to be a full breakdown, for metals, the main two mentioned are Gold and Silver which are the most popular metals, for energies, there is only a mention of Crude Oil so we are unsure if there are any other available for trading.

Spreads

Just like trading costs, there is very little information when it comes to spreads, all that we do know is that the spreads are variable (also known as floating) so this means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. We do not know what they are starting at or what they are for any individual assets, there is a mention of low spreads, but that doesn’t really tell us much of the real trading conditions in regards to spreads.

Minimum Deposit

It seems that the minimum deposit for Alfa Financial is currently set at $5,000 which will price out a lot of potential customers, especially if they are new to trading. Alfa Financial is clearly marketing themselves towards the more advanced and experienced traders.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Unfortunately, there is no information on the website in regard to deposit methods or the costs of them. This is a shame to see as Alfa Financial will be dealing with our money, it is important for clients to know how they can fund their accounts and also if it will cost them anything. Whatever the methods do turn out to be, make sure you check with your processor/bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Just like with deposit methods, there is no information on the withdrawal methods available. This is probably worse than having no information on deposits as clients will want to know how they can get their money back should they be in profit or need to withdraw for any other reason. Costings are also not present when it is not available it often makes us think that there may be high fees, which potential clients may also think and then look elsewhere for a broker.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The FAQ of the website states that withdrawal requests will normally be processed within 24 hours, however, you should allow up to 3 days for it to be processed. We can not tell you how long it will take after that to be available to you as we do not know what the withdrawal methods are.

Bonuses & Promotions

We could not locate any information on the website in regards to bonuses or promotions so it does not appear that there are any active ones at the time of writing this review. If you are interested in bonuses then be sure to check back regularly or get in contact with the customer service team to see if there are any upcoming bonuses or promotions.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few very small aspects to the educational side of Alfa Financial, they have the usual economic calendar which outlines any upcoming news events and what markets the news may affect. There is also a traders’ glossary which simply tells you what a number of different trading-related terms mean. There is a market outlook section that gives a brief overview of things happening on the market, however, it has not been updated in a while. Finally, there is a learn forex section, but this is a single page of information and won’t be making you an expert trader.

Customer Service

There are a number of different ways to get in contact with Alfa Financial should you need to, there is a live chat on the website to speak to someone over chat, you can also request a callback by one of their representatives.

There are three different departments available, General Inquiries has its own email address, phone number, and fax number, it is open Sunday to Thursday from 10 am to 7 pm. The Customer service desk also has a phone number and email address and is open Sunday to Thursday 10 am – 7 pm. Finally, the sales department has an email address and phone number and is open from 10 am to 7 pm from Sunday to Thursday.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, however, it seems like they are only available on the AX1 Trader platform, the account gives you an account with $50,000 and lasts for 30 days. The account will mimic the trading conditions listed in this review (although we are not sure about some of them still).

Countries Accepted

The information about which countries are accepted and which are not is not present on the website, so if you are interested in joining, be sure to get in contact with the customer service team to check if you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

There is a lot of important information missing from the Alfa Financial website about their conditions and methods. First was the lack of information on trading costs and spreads, simple terms like a low commission or low spreads do not build confidence for potential new clients, who will be looking at these conditions as a way to chose which broker they want to use. Worse than those bits of information being missing is the complete lack of information around the deposit and withdrawal methods, it is vital that clients know how they can get their money into and out of a broker along with any costs it may charge. Without that information being readily available it is hard for us to recommend Alfa Financial as a broker to use at this point in time.

***IMPORTANT NOTICE***

In the few days since this forex broker review was written, it appears that Mocaz Financial Markets has been either bought out, taken over, or simply transformed by its parent company into ‘Real Trader Community’ (RTC). The Mocaz website link will take you directly to the RTC page. Until such time that we can complete a comprehensive review of this new brand, we recommend that you confirm that the details below are still applicable.

Mocaz Financial Markets is an online forex broker providing their services across the globe. Situated in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, they claim that their platform is top-notch. Mocaz has a few key values which include integrity and trust, honesty and fairness, transparency, flexibility, commitment and responsibility, reliability, strong corporate governance, and constant innovation. We will be going through the services on offer to see if they live up to heir values and so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are three different account types on offer, within each account type there are a further two types, investor and trader, for the purpose of this review we will only be looking at the trader side of the accounts. So lets briefly look at what they offer.

Standard Account: The standard account requires a minimum deposit of $300, it also has a minimum capital requirement of $30 and $30 minimum for subsequent deposits. Auto withdrawal is disabled for this account and there are also no added commissions. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots and there is no maximum trade size. Leverage can be up to 1:300 with the margin call level set at 50% and the sop out level set at 20%. The account uses the MetaTrader 4 platform as its only trading platform.

ACTR 1000 Account: This account increases the minimum deposit up to $1,000 and has a minimum capital requirement of $300, any future deposits have a minimum of $100. This account has something called ACTR activated and has the option of having auto withdrawals turned on. Ther is no added commission on the account and the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots with no maximum size. Leverage can go up to 1:300 and the margin call level set at 50% and the sop out level set at 20%. The account uses the MetaTrader 4 platform as its only trading platform.

ACTR 3000 Account: This is the top-level account, it has a minimum deposit requirement of $3,000 and a minimum capital level of $300, any further deposit has a minimum requirement of $100. This account is an ECN account and so there is an added commission of $5 per round lot traded. Auto withdrawals are optional and the trading starts from 0.01 lots. Leverage can go up to 1:200 and the margin call level set at 50% and the sop out level set at 20%. The account uses the MetaTrader 4 platform as its only trading platform.

Platforms

The only platform on offer from Mocaz is MetaTrader 4, so we will briefly go over some of the available features of this platform. There is also an auto-copy program that we will briefly look at too. Some of the main features of MetaTrader 4 include it being fully customizable, offering deep analysis, ultra-fast order execution, different order execution capabilities, the ability for automated trading and, no trading conflict of interest between broker and client. MetaTrader 4 is also available as a desktop download, web trader and as an iOS or Android application.

AutocopyTrade: The AutocopyTrade by Mocaz Financial Markets Limited is an innovative service enables copying or imitating the trade made by proven profitable and consistent traders in the world, on a pre-set ratio and condition applied. AutocopyTrade Profit Sharing system between Traders (Master Account) and their Investors (Apprentice Account) with a very attractive Profit Sharing Commission given to each network built. All these AutocopyTrade features will be automatically executed in your MetaTrader trading platform with reputable security guaranteed. Mocaz Financial Markets Limited has developed a complex and unbeatable system to enable our clients to use this AutocopyTrade feature without any hassle at all.

For some reason, MetaTrader 5 is also mentioned however it does not seem like any accounts are currently using it.

Leverage

The maximum leverage available to you will be based on the account you are using, the Standard and ACTR 1000 accounts can both be leveraged up to 1:300, the ACTR 3000 account has leverage up to 1:200. Leverage can be selected when you open up a new account, it can be changed on an already open account by getting in contact with the customer service team.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start from 0.01 lots which are known as micro-lots, they then go up in increments of 0.01 lots. There is no set maximum trade size, however, we would never recommend going over 50 lots in a single trade as it can become harder for the trades to be executed quickly and without any added slippage. We did not locate any information on the maximum number of open trades wither.

Trading Costs

The ACTR 3000 account has an added commission of $5 per round turn lot which is just under what seems to be the industry average of around $6 per lot traded. The standard and ACTR 1000 accounts do not have any added commission and use a spread based system that we will look at later in this review.

There are also swap charges, these are an interest that is either pair dor received for holding trades overnight, this interest can be viewed within the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.

Assets

It is stated that there are over 90 assets available to trade including forex, commodities, metals, bonds, and indices. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a full breakdown of them, so we are unable to give full examples of what is available. What we can say is that in terms of forex, there are all the majors and minors available to trade, no mention of any exotic pairs though. For commodities there aren’t any examples, instead, it just states that all the most popular ones are available to trade.

Spreads

Unfortunately, as the is not a breakdown of assets, there is also not a full breakdown of spreads or even an example of spreads. The only information present is that they are variable spreads, this means that they move with the markets and when there is volatility in the markets the spreads will often be seen larger. It should also be noted that different instruments will have different starting spreads.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit to open up an account is $300, which will give you the Standard account, it should be noted that each account has minimum capital value, if the account goes below this amount you will need to deposit more to continue trading. The Standard account has a top-up minimum of $30, while all other accounts have atop up a minimum of $100. However, the deposit page states that the minimum is $10, so we are not clear if smaller amounts can be deposited into a holding account or can go straight into the main accounts.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a number of ways to deposit with Mocaz, these are Wire Transfer, Visa / MasterCard Credit / Debit, Neteller, Skrill and local bak transfers from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. There are no added fees from Mocaz, but be sure to check with your own bank or processor to see if they add any transfer fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw with, for clarification these are Bane Wire Transfer, Visa / MasterCard Credit / Debit, Neteller, Skrill and local bak transfers from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

The only method with an added fee is for the local bank transfers, there is a fee of 1.5% on these withdrawals. Just as with the deposits, there are no added fees from Mocaz on the other methods, but be sure to check with your own bank or processor to see if they add any transfer fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal requests can be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If they are not processed instantly they will be processed within 24 hours. After this time the amount of time it takes to be fully processed will depend on the method used and the processing of the receiving bank.

Bonuses & Promotions

Looking through the website it does not appear that there are any bonuses or promotions currently running, if you are interested in bonuses we would recommend getting in contact with eh customer service team to see if there are any upcoming ones you can take part in.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is also no education information that we could find, this is a shame as a lot of modern brokers ar enow looking to help their clients improve and develop their skills, so it would be nice to see Mocaz do something similar.

Customer Service

There are a few limited ways to get in contact with Mocaz, there is an email for general inquiries and support and also one for partnerships. There is then a WhatsApp phone number to get support hat way.

General Inquiries and Support: [email protected]
Partnership: [email protected]
WhatsApp Support: +6010 4576610

It would be nice to see more opportunities to get in touch.

Demo Account

Demo accounts do not appear to be available from Mocaz which is a little bit disappointing. You can download MetaTrader 4 and open an account that way but the trading conditions will not match the ones of Mocaz. Demo accounts can allow potential clients to test out the trading conditions and servers while allowing existing clients to test new strategies without risking a y of their own capital, so it would be good to see Mocaz add some demo accounts to their arsenal.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is present on the Mocaz website: “MFM Group Limited does not offer its services to the residents of certain jurisdictions such as Afghanistan, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan, Puerto Rico, USA, Canada, Australia, Syria, Japan, and Ecuador.”

If you are unsure of your eligibility, we would recommend getting in touch with the customer service team to find out prior to signing up.

Conclusion

The accounts on offer from Mocaz varies enough to make them individual, the initial trading costs are good with the $5 commission on the top-tier account being below average. Unfortunately, the spread based accounts we do not know how much they will cost as the spreads and assets are not available to view, these really need to be added as it is important for potential customers to know what they can trade and how much it will cost them. Plenty of ways to deposit and withdraw without any added fees which is a big plus. Finally, there is a lack of ways to get in touch with the customer service team which can be concerning, but there are at least ways to get in touch.

ICE FX is a Forex and CFD broker founded and based in Malaysia. Their main values are to offer transparency to their clients, to offer real investor statistics and to offer transparency in the trading of their company and manager. ICE FX work not only as a broker for your own trading, but it also works as an investment company. In this review, we will be looking into the services offered on the broker and trading side of things rather than the investment side.

Account Types

There are three different account son offer each with varying requirements and trading conditions, so lets briefly look at what they are.

STP Account: The STP account requires a minimum deposit of at least $30, the account comes with leverage between 1L1 and 1:300 and there is a commission between 0.0025% and 0.25%. The base currency must be in USD and it uses market execution. In terms of tradable assets, it has 62 currency pairs, 5 spot metals, 11 indices, 3 commodities, and 15 cryptocurrencies. The account also comes with risk management and a demonstration of position hedging.

STP-MA Account: This account increases the initial deposit required up to $500 and the account must be in USD. Leverage on the account is between 1:1 and 1:100 and there is an added commission of 0.004% to 0.006%. The account has 62 currency pairs, 5 metals, 11 indices, and 2 commodities available to trade. It uses market execution and has risk management and a demonstration of position hedging.

Cent Account: The Cent account has a minimum deposit of $1 and a maximum deposit of $100. It has leverage between 1:1 and 1:500 and a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots. There are 62 currencies, 5 metals, 11 indices, 3 commodities and 15 cryptos to trade. The account must be in USD and there is a commission of 0.0025% to 0.25%, it uses market execution and there is risk management available.

Platforms

ICE FX uses MetaTrader 4 as its trading platform, providing it in PC and application (Android & iOS) formats. MetaTrader 4 is a leader among forex trading platforms and has remained the gold standard within the industry for many years. Its large scale functionality and plethora of trading opportunities, along with its intuitive interface make this platform suitable for traders of all skill levels. MetaTrader 4 offers not only a large number of tools and trade opportunities for fast and efficient trading but also delivers a wide variety of functions and tools that can be used for analyzing the marketplace. The system further supports trading robots (EAs), including tools for their development and testing. MT4’s popularity can be credited to its infrastructure, which was developed by a team of professionals consisting of script developers, advisers, experienced investment managers, trading signal providers, and more.

Leverage

The leverage that you can have depends on the account type you use.

• STP Account = 1:1 to 1:300
• STP-MA Account = 1:1 to 1:300
• Cent Account = 1:1 To 1:500

Leverage can be selected when opening up an account and is known as floating which means that it increases or decreases depending on the volume of open trades, the higher the trade volume the lower the leverage will become.

Trade Sizes

The different instruments have different minimum and maximum trade sizes, we have outlined them for you below.

• Forex Main: 0.01 lots min / 0.01 lots increments / 1000 lots max
• Forex Exotic: 0.01 lot min / 0.01 lot increments / 100 lots max
• Metals: 0.01 lot min / 0.01 lot increments / 100 lots max
• Indices: 1 lot min / 1 lot increments / 250 lots max
• Commodities: 1 lot min / 1 lot increments / 250 lots max
• Crypto: 0.1 lots min / 0.01 lots increments / No max

While the maximum trade sizes are quite high, we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage. There is also no limit to the number of open trades you are able to have.

Trading Costs

There is a commission on all accounts, ICE FX has set out their commission as a percentage rather than a fixed pip. The commission is between 0.0025% and 0.25% on the STP and Cent accounts and between 0.004% and 0.006% on the STP-MA account.

Swap charges are also present, these are interest charges that are incurred for holding trades overnight, they can be both negative or positive and can usually be viewed from within the trading platform of choice.

Assets

ICE FX have broken down their assets into a number of different categories, let’s have a look at what they are.

Forex: AUD/SGD, NZD/JPY, AUD/SGD, NZD/JPY, CHF/SGD, EUR/RUB, EUR/PLN, AUD/CAD, AUD/CHF, AUD/JPY, AUD/NZD, AUD/USDCAD/CHF, CAD/JPY, CHF/JPY, EUR/AUD, EUR/CAD, EUR/CHF, EUR/DKK, EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, EUR/NOK, EUR/NZD, EUR/SEK, EUR/SGD, EUR/TRY, EUR/USD, GBP/AUD, GBP/CAD, GBP/CHF, GBP/JPY, GBP/NZD, GBP/USD, ZD/CAD, NZD/CHF, NZD/USD, NZD/JPY, USD/CAD, USD/CHF, USD/CNH, USD/JPY, USD/NOK, USD/PLN, USD/DKK, USD/RUB, USD/SEK, USD/SGD, USD/TRY. USD/ZAR, EUR/CZK, EUR/HUF, EUR/ZAR, GBP/DKK, GBP/NOK, GBP/SEK. GBP/SGD, GBP/TRY, USD/CZK, USD/HUF, NOK/SEK, SGD/JPY, NOK/JPY, USD/HKD, USD/MXN.

Metals: XAU/EUR, XAG/EUR, XPT/USD, XAU/USD, XAG/USD

Indices: DAX 30, CAC 40, IBEX 35, FTSE 100, STX 50, DJI 30, SP 500, NQ 100, HSI 50, JP 225, ASX 200

Commodities: Brent Crude Oil, WIT Crude Oil, Natural Gas

Crypto: BAT/USD, ETC/USD, IOT/USD, XLM/USD, BCH/USD, BTC/USD, DSH/USD, EOS/USD, ETH/USD, ZEC/USD, LTC/USD, NEO/USD, OMG/USD, XMR/USD, XPR/USD

Spreads

It seems like all account types have the same spreads, so the spreads you get depend on a couple of factors. The spreads are variable (also known as floating) so this means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 1.1 pips, other assets like GBPJPY may start slightly higher, in this case, 2.7 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit possible by the deposit methods available is $50 which will allow you to open either a Cent account or an STP account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a number of different methods available, each coming with their own minimum deposit amounts and charges, we have outlined them below.

It is a shame to see deposit fees, this is something a lot of brokers are looking to phase out so it would be nice to see ICE FX do a similar thing. When using Bank Wire Transfer be sure to check with your bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

We have outlined the deposit methods below along with their minimum / maximum withdrawal and the fees charged.

When using Bank Wire Transfer be sure to check with your bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The amount of time it takes ICE FX to process withdrawals could not be located by us, if it is there we may have just missed it. Depending on the method you use though, you could expect any time between 1 to 5 business days to receive your funds.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are two different promotions on offer, the first being a commission rebate on deposits and withdrawals, these have already been calculated into the figures we mentioned in the previous sections of this review.

Rebates: There is a rebate system which to us seems a little confusing. When creating an account you can select an increased amount of commission, doing so entitles you to more rebates. You can recover up to 25% of your commission back as a rebate. Any rebates received are received as live funds and can be withdrawn at any time.

Educational & Trading Tools

When it comes to education and tools, there are a lot of things but they are all scattered over the website which makes it hard to work out where and what everything is, we have managed to find the following though.

The Tradebox is a page offering live information including quotes, spreads, and swaps, there is also an economic calendar detailing upcoming news events and stating which currencies they may affect. There is also a VPS on offer, you are able to get this for free as long as you have a high enough balance or are a VIP client.

There may be other tools but we can not find them in the crowded menu system.

Customer Service

The contact page was quite hard to find as the menus of the site are so crowded, once you get to the contact us page there are a number of different ways to get in contact. You can start a chat using the online chat system, you can also use Skype if it is easier. There is also the main support email as well as a direct phone number to support. The support department is open 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday.

There are also skype and email addresses for the Trade Operations Department, Legal Department, Financial Department, Execution Help, Working With Managers, Working With VIP Clients, Forum Rules and, the Partnership Department

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available: STP-Demo simulates an STP-account without the need to deposit real money. It differs by the order execution method, certain trading conditions, and the absence of part of the marginal requirements. It is not recommended to consider the trading results received on an STP-Demo account as real or retrospectively apply them on an STP-account.

The demo account comes with 62 currency pairs, 5 spot metals, 11 indices, 3 commodities and 15 cryptos to trade, its base currency is USD and leverage are set at 1:100. Commission on it is 0.0025% to 0.25% and ut has instant execution.

Countries Accepted

The information about which countries are accepted and which are not is not present on the website, so if you are interested in joining, be sure to get in contact with the customer service team to check if you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

There is a lot of information available on the ICE FX site, in fact, there may be too much the menus can be very hard to navigate and to find exactly what you are looking for, That aside, the accounts page is informative and there is plenty of information on trading conditions like spreads and trading costs. The costs seem reasonable and quite competitive. Plenty of deposit and withdrawal methods are available but the addition of fees, even after a commission rebate means it can be quite expensive to move your money about. Plenty of ways to get in contact with the customer service team and a whole host of tradable instruments can make ICE FXC an appealing broker to try, as long as you are ok with the costly deposits and withdrawals.

LeoPrime is a forex and commodities broker offering a range of products to both retail and institutional clients. The main ethos is to be transparent, cost-effective, to have a strategy and to offer the best technology available. In this review, we will be looking at the services being offered to see if they have achieved these goals and so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are three main accounts on offer should you sign up with LeoPrime, these are the Cent, Classic and ECN accounts, each having their own requirements and features, so let’s see what they are.

Cent: The Cent account has a minimum deposit requirement of $10. It has spread starting from 1.6 pips and there is no additional commission on the account. Leverage can be as high as 1:1000 and it currently uses the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. Minimum trade sizes start from 0.01 lots and the margin call level is set at 50% with the stop out being 30%, there is no swap-free version of this account and there are 35 currency pairs, gold, silver, crude and indices available to trade.

Classic: The classic account also has a minimum deposit requirement of $10, tt has spreads starting from 1.6 pips and there is no additional commission on the account. Leverage can be as high as 1:1000 and it currently uses the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. Minimum trade sizes start from 0.01 lots and the margin call level is set at 50% with the stop out being 30%, there is a swap-free version of this account should you need it and there are 35 currency pairs, gold, silver, crude, 4 cryptos and indices available to trade.

ECN: The ECN account requires a minimum deposit of $1,000. It has spreads starting as low as 0.1 pips and due to this, there is a commission of $6 per lot traded. Leverage can go up to 1:200 and trade sizes start from 0.01 lots, the account uses the MetaTrader 4 trading platform and there is no maximum trade size. The margin call level is set at 50% with the stop out level set at 30%, there is a swap-free version of this account if it is needed and it can35 currency pairs, gold, silver, crude and indices available to trade.

Platforms

LeoPrime currently offers one platform, MetaTrader 4, however, they have a second platform from the MetaQuotes company coming soon. MT4 is provided for both Windows PC and Mac, while also being offered in app form for Android and iOS systems. MetaTrader is a powerful and convenient tool for both technical analysis and trading round-the-clock within the markets. Obtain access to live asset price data from the forex market from within the platform. The platform offers 3 chart types and 9 timeframes (periods), along with with real-time symbol quotes, and a connection to 2000+ broker servers.

Leverage

The maximum leverage available depends on the account that you use, the Cent and Classic account can be leveraged up to 1:1000, the ECN account can have leverage up to 1:200. The leverage available also depends on the account balance:

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start from 0.01 lots which are known as micro-lots, they then go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next trade will be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. There is no maximum trade size, however, we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

The ECN account comes with an added commission of $6 per lot traded which is in line with the industry standard of $6, all other accounts do not have any added commission as they use a spread based system.

If you are using a normal account then there are also swap fees, these are interest charges that are incurred for holding trades overnight, they can be both negative or positive and can usually be viewed from within the trading platform of choice. If an account is in swap free mode then there are no charges for holding the trade overnight.

Assets

LeoPrime has broken down their assets into 5 different categories, let’s go through and see what sort of instruments are available for trading.

Forex: There are 35+ currency pairs available, some of them include AUDUSD, CADJPY, EURSGD, EURUSD, GBPUSD, EURNOK, GBPJPY, NZDCHF, USDMXN and, EURPLN

Spot Metals: Gold and Silver

Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple

Energies: Crude Oil, Natural Gas

Indices: France 409, German 30, Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, FTSE 100

Spreads

Spreads depend on son a number of different factors, the first being the account that you are using when using the Cent or Classic account spreads will start from around 1.6 pips, while on the ECN account they will start from around 0.1 pips. The spreads are variable (also known as floating) so this means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 1.6 pips, other assets like GBPJPY may start slightly higher, in this case, 2.9 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount required to open an account is $10 which gets you the Cent or Classic account, if you want an ECN account then you will need to deposit at least $1,000.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a number of different deposit methods available, we have listed them below along with the minimum amount possible to deposit and any fees that may be charged.

• Bank Wire – $1,000 – Bank Fees
• Visa / MasterCard – $150 – 3% Fee
• Neteller – $10 – No Fee
• Skrill – $10 – No Fee
• Perfect Money – $10 – No Fee
• Bitcoin – $10 – No Fee
• Fasapay – $10 – No Fee
• Malaysia Bank – $15 – No Fee
• Indonesia Bank – $15 – No Fee
• Thailand Bank – $20 – No Fee
• Vietnam Bank – $15 – No Fee
• WebMoney – $10 – No Fee

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Not quite as many ways to withdraw, we have outlined them below along with the minimum withdrawal and any fees charged.

• Bank Wire – $1,000 – Bank Fees
• Neteller – $10 – No Fee
• Skrill – $10 – No Fee
• Perfect Money – $10 – No Fee
• Malaysia Bank – $15 – No Fee
• Indonesia Bank – $15 – No Fee
• Thailand Bank – $20 – No Fee
• Vietnam Bank – $15 – No Fee
• WebMoney – $10 – No Fee

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Processing of withdrawal requests will take no longer than 24 hours, after this time the amount of time it takes will depend on the method used and could take between 1 to 5 business days to be accessible in your account.

Bonuses & Promotions

The main bonus available is a 25% extra welcome bonus, this bonus is only for the Classic account, however, there is not much information about the actual promotion, just that you can receive up to 25% extra when depositing. We do not know the terms of how to convert these funds into real funds if you even can.

Educational & Trading Tools

The educational side of the site is a simple blog but it hasn’t been updated since April 2019 (at the time of writing this review). There are a few additional tools including an economic calendar that details any upcoming news events and which markets they may be affecting. There is also a calculator for helping work out trade sizes. There is some technical analysis that is being updated daily to help give ideas of potential trades and finally, there is a VPS on offer, you can get it free as long as you have an account with over $1,000.

Customer Service

If you need to get in contact with the customer service team you can 24/5. There is an online submissions form to fill in and you should get a reply via email, there are also phone numbers and email addresses for client support and for compliance support.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available and come with the following features:

• Available for free on Metatrader 4
• An initial available balance of $1,000
• Safe, secure, and ultra-fast transactions
• Account valid for 90 days
• Create up to 8 separate demo accounts

Countries Accepted

The following statement is present on the website: “Leo Prime Services Limited does not offer its services to the residents of certain jurisdictions such as USA, Belgium, North Korea, France, Australia, Israel, and Japan.” If you are unsure of your eligibility, make sure to get in contact with the customer service team to check.

Conclusion

LeoPrime seems like a well thought out and competent broker. They offer a range of trading conditions which can be seen to be quite competitive. Plenty of assets available, however, more indices would have been nice. Deposit methods are plentiful and the majority have no added fees. We see no reasons as to why you should avoid LeoPrime but if they are the right broker for you, is your choice.

Globtrex is a Forex and CFD broker, they do not give away a lot of information about themselves, they are regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and are based in Cyprus. In this review, we will be looking into the services being offered by Globtrex to see what they are offering and so you can decide if they are a broker you want to try.

Account Types

There are three accounts on offer, each with different requirements and features, however a lot of the trading conditions are not specified on the accounts page, we will look into them in more detail as the review goes on, for now, we will look at what information is readily available.

Starter Account: Requiring a minimum deposit of $100, the account comes with a 5 day trial period of trading central, the ability to trade in multiple currencies, Globtrex Trader and MetaTrader 5 as trading platforms and access to webinars and seminars.

Smart Account: A minimum deposit of $1,000 is required to open up this account, it comes with Trading Central market analysis, individual account assistance, daily market research emails and access to webinars and seminars.

Pro Account: The Pro account page offers a little more information, it requires a minimum deposit of $25,000 to open. With access to the highest levels of personalized service and customer care, the Globtrex Pro Account is perfect for high net worth individuals and expert traders. Globtrex provides high-level service and trading conditions. The account gives you access to the Globtrex Trader and MetaTrader 5, Ebooks on the basics of trading, trading central analysis, 24/5 customer support, webinars and seminars, daily market research emails, trade in multiple currencies, dedicated account manager and up to 10x higher leverage.

Platforms

Globtrex offers 2 different trading platforms, the popular MetaTrader 5 and their own Globtrex Trader mobile app, let’s see what each one brings to the table.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5): The revolutionary MetaTrader 5 platform allows for complete freedom when trading forex. MetaTrader 5 is designed to provide support to both amateur and advanced level traders, allowing both to access the best possible trading experience. MT5 is a user-friendly trading platform, offering complete transaction access, a view of your account status, up-to-date financial news, and analytical charts to help with decision-making. The platform is available for download on Apple or Windows-based PCs, as well as in-browser using MT5 WebTrader.

Globtrex Trader: For your convenience, Globtrex Trader has created an innovative mobile platform that allows traders to utilize all of the tools and functions available on any Android or Apple device. The firm provides access to technical analysis tools, real-time quotes, and advanced charts available in the multi-chart view. Online CFD trading involves the use of Globtrex Trader’s risk management tools. We offer Stop Loss, Take Profit and more. Globtrex Trader was designed to be a user-friendly platform, all of the available features are accessible within a few clicks.

Leverage

Leverage is the same for all accounts apart from the Pro account, due to the ESMA, leverage for retail traders is limited to the following.

• Major Forex Pairs: 1:30
• Major Indices: 1:20
• Gold: 1:20
• Commodities: 1:10
• Stocks: 1:5
• Cryptocurrencies: 1:2

For the Pro account the following leverages are available:

• Major Forex Pairs: 1:200
• Major Indices: 1:100
• Gold: 1:100
• Commodities: 1:100
• Stocks: 1:10
• Cryptocurrencies: 1:2

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes for Forex pairs start at 0.01 lots (known as micro-lots) and go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next trade would be 0.,02 lots and then 0.03 lots. The maximum order size is 30 lots which are appropriate and not too big as to cause slippage issues when executing.

Different instruments have different maximum and minimum trade sizes. Things like commodities have different maximum trade sizes and go up to 100 lots, so be sure to check with the product specification to see what the trade size is on the asset you are interested in trading.

Trading Costs

As far as we can tell, there are no added commissions on any of the accounts and they instead use a spread based system that we will look at later in this review. Swap charges are relevant to all accounts which are charges for holding trades overnight, these can be both positive or negative and can be viewed within the trading platform of choice or on the product specification section of the Globtrex website.

Assets

The assets and instruments have been broken down into 6 different categories, we have listed them below for you with a few examples.

Forex: 53 different pairs available from Majors to Minors, some of the available pairs include AUDCAD, CHFJPY, NZDUSD, and EURUSD.

Stocks: 246 different stocks are available including a number of major stocks such as BMW, Continental, Amazon, Facebook, and Tesla.

Bonds: Just one bond is available that that is the German 10 Year Bond.

Commodities: 15 different commodities available to trade which are Corn, Rice, Soy Beans, Wheat, Copper, Platinum, Gold, Silver, Cocoa, Coffee, Cotton, Sugar, Natural Gas, UK Oil, and US Oil.

Cryptocurrencies: It is good to see crypto coins being available to trade, currently, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple are available to trade.

Indices: There are 14 different Indices available which as 100 UK, DE 30, FRA 40, EU 50, N 25, SPA 25, SWI 20, AUS 200, HK 33, JPN 225, Dollar Index, US 100, US 30 and US 500.

Spreads

Spreads are starting from 3 pips, we say starting because they are variable (also known as floating) which means they move with the markets and when there is volatility they can be seen much higher. It is also important to note that different instruments have different starting spreads so while EURUSD may start at 3 pips, other pairs such as GBPAUD can start at 9 pips. The spreads are a little high, even for no-commission based accounts.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount to open an account is $100, this will get you the starter account, if you want a different account then you will need to deposit at least $1,000. Normally when an account has been opened the minimum required for top-up deposits reduces however there is no indication of this happening with Globtrex.

Deposit Methods & Costs

In order to get a full list of deposit methods you need to have a valid account with Globtrex, we know the following methods are available through Visa Credit / Debit Card, MasterCard Credit / Debit Card, Bank Wire Transfer, Skrill, and Neteller. There are no added deposit fees added by Globtres, however, be sure to check with your bank or credit card provider to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw with, for clarification these are Visa Credit / Debit Card, MasterCard Credit / Debit Card, Bank Wire Transfer, Skrill, and Neteller. Just like the deposits, there are no added deposit fees added by Globtres, however, be sure to check with your bank or credit card provider to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal requests can take between three to six business days to fully process, Globtrex does not specify how long it takes for them to process but just gives the blanket statement 3 to 6 days this is the usual length for Bank Wire Transfers so we would assume e-wallet payments to process a little quicker.

Bonuses & Promotions

It does not appear that there are any active promotions or bonuses, if you are interested in bonuses then you could get in contact with the customer service team to see if there are any new ones coming up soon.

Educational & Trading Tools

For education there are a few small offerings available, there is a market news section, however currently this section is empty and does not display any information, there are also webinars, however again there is no content and it simply states coming soon. There is also a glossary that tells you the meaning of a number of trading-related terms.

There is also a trading Central section which you need an account to access, this provides you with daily analysis, views of professional analysts and some charts to help with your analysis.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in contact with Globtrex, you can in a number of different ways, there is a phone number available for the main office as well as a branch in the Czech Republic, there is also an email for both however the email is the same, then there is a physical address available too. Customer support is available 24/5 and is closed over the weekend and bank holidays when the markets are also closed.

Demo Account

A demo account is available and it allows new traders to test-drive all trading tools and instruments without the risk of losing money. Using virtual money, you can explore trading with real market conditions, develop your strategy, create a portfolio – and fully prepare to open a real account. There is no indication as to how long the account lasts though as some broker impose a time limit such as 30 days, while others allow them to stay open indefinitely, so this information would have been good to know.

Countries Accepted

There is no indication as to which countries are allowed and which are not, so if you are interested in joining, be sure to check with the customer service team to see if you are eligible or not.

Conclusion

Globtrex made their initial information about the accounts quite hard to find, once we managed to uncover the trading conditions then seemed quite average, spreads were a little high, even for non-commission based accounts which can be a little offputting for new and potential clients. Plenty of assets and instruments to trade which is good and plenty of ways to get in contact with the customer service team. It is a shame that the educational side of the website does not seem to be functioning at the time of writing this GlobTrex review.

Arotrade is a regulated broker and financial services provider for traders across the world. Situated in Belize, they offer over 1000 different tradable assets and give you instant access to the markets. Some of the benefits that Arotrade claim to offer include 24/6 customer support in multiple languages, personal account managers, IFSC regulation, free demo accounts, choice of trading accounts, advanced charts and analysis tools, an online education centre and more. We will be looking into these and more throughout this review to help you decide if they are the right broker for you,

Account Types

There is 5 main account sot chose from when signing up, there are an additional 2 accounts, but these are for special clients so we won’t be looking into them in any detail, the ones available we have outlined below.

Basic: This account requires a deposit of $250 and comes with standard spreads, it also has access to 24/6 support along with access to the education centre, daily market reviews, pro webinars, price alerts and daily analysis videos. This account has a 20% welcome bonus.

Bronze: This account requires a minimum deposit of $1,000 and comes with standard spreads, it also has access to 24/6 support along with access to the education centre, daily market reviews, pro webinars, price alerts, daily analysis videos and, access to a junior account manager. This account has a 40% welcome bonus.

Silver: The minimum deposit for this account increases up to $5,000 and it comes with silver spreads, it also has access to 24/6 support along with access to the education centre, daily market reviews, pro webinars, price alerts, daily analysis videos and, access to a senior account manager. This account has a 60% welcome bonus.

Gold: This account comes with a minimum deposit requirement of $10,000 and has silver spreads, it also has access to 24/6 support along with access to the education centre, daily market reviews, pro webinars, price alerts, daily analysis videos, access to an executive account manager, gold signals and a personalised trading strategy. This account has an 80% welcome bonus.

Platinum: This account comes with silver spreads and has a minimum deposit of $25,000, it also has access to 24/6 support along with access to the education centre, daily market reviews, pro webinars, price alerts, daily analysis videos, access to an executive account manager, platinum signals, a personalised trading strategy, a 1 on 1 trading trainer and exclusive position access. This account has a 100% welcome bonus.

Platforms

The single platform on offer from AroTrade is MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MT4 has been used by millions of traders and for good reason. It offers accessibility with a desktop, web and mobile version. It is fully customisable for your own personal trading, gives instant access to the world’s markets, offers a full suite of trading tools from indicators, analyzers and expert advisors, it also hosts 24/5 technical support and backups. If you are stuck with just one platform to use, you could do a lot worse than MetaTrader 4.

Why MT4? 

• Tested and approved by millions of FX traders
• Desktop and mobile versions available
• Completely customizable for personalized trading
• Instant access to major global markets
• A full suite of trading tools, charts and live data
• 24/5 technical support

Leverage

The maximum leverage available at Arotrade is 1:200 which can be selected when opening up an account.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start from 0.01 lots and go up in increments of 0.01 lots, the maximum trade size is unknown but we would suggest not trading over 50 lots ina single trade. The maximum number of open trades allowed is also not known.

Trading Costs

It is unknown if there are any commissions on the accounts, we know that there are spreads present but there is no mention of any commissions. Swap charges are there for all accounts, these are interest charges for holding trades overnight and can be viewed within the MetaTrader 4 platform. There is an Islamic account that does not have swap charges.

Assets

Arotrade has broken down its assets into 5 different categories. We have outlined the instruments in each below. Please note that any dated one will change based on the date.

Forex: USDJPY, GBPUSD, USDCAD, AUDUSD, EURUSD, EURJPY, USDRUB, GBPJPY, USDTRY, EURGBP, USDZAR, NZDUSD, USDCHF, EURRUB, GBPCHF, GBPAUD, GBPRUB, EURTRY, AUDJPY, EURCAD, EURZAR, GBPCAD, GBPNZD, EURCHF, EURAUD, NZDCHF, USDMXN, AUDCAD, EURNZD, EURSEK, AUDNZD, EURPLN, EURNOK, NZDJPY, CADJPY, USDSGD, CADCHF, USDCZK, NZDCAD, CHFJPY, USDPLN, AUDCHF, USDDKK, USDSEK, USDHKD, USDNOK, USDCNH, EURDKK, BCHBTC, AUDSGD, USDILS, USDHUF, USDRON

Commodities: GOLD, CL MAR20, SILVER, NGAS FEB20, BRENT MAR20, COPPER MAR20, COFFEE MAR20, PALLAD MAR20, PLAT JAN20, WHEAT MAR20, COTTON2 MAR20, COCOA MAR20, SUGAR11 MAR20, HOIL FEB20, CORN MAR20, RICE MAR20, SBEAN MAR20, LCATT FEB20

Indices: DAX30, NSDQCO, DJIA, CAC40, RTS MAR20, Nasdaq 100 MAR20, S&P500 MAR20, FTSE MIB MAR20, DOW MAR20, FTSE MAR20, JSE 40 MAR20, HANG SENG JAN20, USDNDX MAR20, VIX FEB20, Germany 30 MAR20, RUSSEL2000 MAR20, AEX MAR20, NIKKEI225 MAR20, France 40 MAR20. SPMIB.I, EU Stocks 50 MAR20, TOPIX500, IBEX, IBEX FEB20, TOPIX MAR20, AEX.I, ISE100, MSCI Singapore DEC19, SPY, XINHUA50, SHCOMP

Cryptocurrencies: BTCUSD, ETHUSD, DASHUSD, XRPUSDT, ETHEUR, ETHUSD, XRPUSD,m LTCUSD, XRPEUR, ETHBTC, BTCEUR, BTCAUD, LTCEUR, BTCJPY, BTCUSDT, LTCXMR, XRPBTC, LTCBTC, DASHUSDT, DASHXMR, OMGETH, ETCETH, STRBTC

Stocks: There are a lot of stocks, too many for us to list but some of them include APPLE, AMAZON, TESLA, NETFLIX, FACEBOOK, GAZPROM, ALIBABA, GOOGLE, SBER, MICROSOFT, NVIDIA, BOEING, LUKOIL, BYND and, UBER

Spreads

Looking through some of the assets we do not know if there is a different spread for the different accounts, but they seem to start at around 3 pips, they are also variable which means they move with the markets when there is a lot of volatility they will be seen higher. Different instruments also have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD seems to start at 3 pips, other assets like AUDUSD start at 4 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required to open an account is $250 which will get you the basic account, it is not clear if smaller amounts can be deposited once an account has been already been opened.

Deposit Methods & Costs

You are able to deposit into Arotrad using Credit / Debit Card (Visa and MasterCard), Bank Wire Transfer, Skrill and, Neteller. It is not clear if there are any added fees as the deposit page does not state if there are ar arent. We would suggest contacting your bank or processor to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw with, for clarification these are Credit / Debit Card (Visa and MasterCard), Bank Wire Transfer, Skrill and, Neteller. There is a fee of 3.5% when withdrawing, however, the minimum fee is $30 per withdrawal, the maximum is $3,500. This is a pretty hefty withdrawal fee and makes withdrawing anything under $1,000 very expensive.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Arotrade will not process your withdrawal request until 48 hours after the request as they wish to allow clients to cancel the withdrawal if they see fit. This is a little disappointing because most people will request a withdrawal because they need the money. It will normally take between 3 – 4 days for the request to be approved. Once the request has been approved it will take between 1 to 5 working days for the withdrawal to fully process.

Bonuses & Promotions

The account overview page details a deposit bonus, however, we could not locate information on the site regarding it, we know it is a percentage bonus, but the terms are unknown and we do not know if it is worth the hassle to get the bonus withdrawn.

Educational & Trading Tools

There seems to be plenty when it comes to education, there are some video courses which cover aspects of trading from crypto, forex and CFD, there are plenty of them so there should be new things to learn. There are also Ebooks on a number of subjects covering Forex, CFDs and Cryptocurrencies and they seem to be quite in-depth. There is a calendar for webinars but they do not seem to be any on there at the moment, finally, there is a glossary of terms just in case you come across something you do not know the meaning of.

Customer Service

Should you need to contact the support team they are available 24 hours a day 6 days a week. You can use the online submission form to fill in your query and you should then hopefully get a reply via email.

There are also a whole host of email addresses and telephone numbers available:

Demo Account

You can sign up for a demo account, however, we are not clear on what the conditions of the account are, such as which account they mimic and if there is an expiration on the account. They are a good way for new clients to test out the trading conditions.

Countries Accepted

While there isn’t a statement on the site indicating which countries are accepted and which are not if you are situated in a country that is not eligible for an account a pop up should tell you this. If you are still not sure you can contact the customer service team to find out.

Conclusion

There is plenty to choose from when trading with Arotrade, they have a lot of different accounts, however, thee trading conditions do not seem to change much between them. We do not know what the different spreads are as they state to contact an account manager to find out. There are a lot of assets, and loads of crypto pairs to trade which is great to see. We are not sure on commissions but the starting spreads are a little high making it quite expensive to trade, so it will depend on how much of a discount the bigger accounts offer as to how worth it is to trade here, with the starter accounts, it is a little too expensive for us to recommend.