Tag: Forex

MGK Global is a forex broker that aims to provide the highest level of service available. They are offering spreads from the interbank market, rapid order execution, the best trading platforms, offers all trading strategies, trusted deposit methods, the removal of revenue related issues and full transparency. In this review, we will be looking into the services being offered to see if MGK Global live up to their expectations and promises and so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are two main account types that we are going to be looking at, the normal account and the speed account, so let’s see what they offer.

Normal Account: There isn’t a lot of information available, however, all the information provided is as follows, widely well-known ideal and reliable trading platform for FX, also known for its high-security standard, easy-to-use for beginners and professionals alike, unlimited and powerful charts enable traders to analyze the trend.

Speed Account: Just like the normal account, there is not a lot of information on the Speed account either, however, the following is available, no re-presentation of price, no order limits the width to limit/reverse limit, also supports automated trading tool, fee of $ 7 one way $ 3.5 round trip will take, trade environment the best stable.

Platforms

Just the singular trading platform is available, the good news is that it is MetaTrader 4, so let’s see what this trading platform offers.

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

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

Leverage

The maximum leverage available is currently 1:500, this can be selected when opening up and account and is available for both account types. If you wish to change the leverage once ana account is already open you will need to get in contact with the customer service team.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start from 0.01 lots which are also known as micro-lots. Trades then go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next trade will be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. We could not locate any information regarding maximum trade sizes, however, no matter what it is we would not recommend trading trades larger than 50 lots as the bigger the trade becomes the harder it is for the markets and liquidity providers to execute the trades quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

The Normal account uses a spread based system that we will look into later in this review, the Speed account has an added commission of $3.5 per execution, so $3.5 when opening a trade and also $3.5 when closing the trade, so in total there is a commission of $7 per round lot traded.

Swap charges are also present, these are a charge for holding a trade overnight, they can be either positive or negative and can be viewed directly within the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.

Assets

There is not any information regarding tradable assets or instrument which is a bit strange as that is what we are coming to a forex broker to do. This information is vital and it not being available is a big blow to our expectations.

Spreads

Spreads on the Normal account seem to start from around 1 pip, on the Speed account they can be as low as 0.01 pips. It should be noted that these spreads are variable which means they move with the markets, when the markets are volatile the spreads will often widen and be higher. Also, different assets have different spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 1 pip, other instruments such as AUDNZD will be starting at a higher pip.

Minimum Deposit

While the information is not prevalent, it appears that the minimum deposit is $30 which gets you to access the Normal account, the entry requirement required for the Speed account is not known to us.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are just two deposit methods available, Asian Pay and Bank Wire Transfer. For Asian Pay, there is a $30 remittance charge and for Bank Wire Transfer there is a $50 remittance charge.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You can withdraw your money using the same methods that you used to deposit and must be withdrawn to the same method you used to deposit. There is a fee of JPY 5,000 you can transfer a minimum fo $50 per transaction. MGK Global also states that you will need to pay any of your own bank fees so be sure to check with your bank if they will charge any.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

This information is not stated on the MGK Global website, however as Bank Wire Transfer is one of the only methods available,m we would be expecting withdrawals to take a minimum of 2 – 5 business days in order to become available in your bank account.

Bonuses & Promotions

The is no current information about bonuses or promotions on the website, so if you are interested in them, you could get in contact with the customer service team to see if there is anything coming up.

Educational & Trading Tools

The only educational tool available is a simple glossary giving you the definitions of forex based terms. Apart from this, you will need to go elsewhere for your educational needs.

Customer Service

The contact us page offers a few ways to get in touch, there is the broker favorite online form, where you can submit your query and should then get a reply via email. There is also an email address and physical address should you wish to get in contact that way. We attempted to use the online form and also sent an email, however, we are yet to get a reply from either after 72 hours of waiting. The support team is open Monday – Friday between 9 am and 18 pm.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, you can create one as either a Normal account or a Speed account however the speed account can only be in JPY. You can select a balance between 1,000 and 5,000,000 of the base currency and leverage of 1:100 is automatically set. We set up a demo account to test however rit was having some connection issues so we could not test it out properly.

Countries Accepted

We did not locate any information about who can and who can not sign up with MGK Global, so if you are interested din ana account we would suggest getting in contact with the customer service team to see if you are eligible or not.

Conclusion

MGK Global set themselves some high expectations, unfortunately, they did not manage to live up to them. There is a lack of information regarding a number of subjects such as banking, account trading conditions, tradable assets and all of this combined with the fact that we are yet to get a reply via email fro the customer service team after 72 hours means it is hard for us to recommend MGK Global as a broker to use, this is before we mention the non-working demo account we created.

HighFX was a forex broker that was established by a team of successful traders and is operated within the United Kingdom. Their vision is to make a difference for their traders by creating a unique relationship and to provide information and strategies to help them succeed. With a high-quality customer support team behind them, HighFX is confident that they can achieve this. That is what the website says, we will be looking into the services on offer to see if this is achieved.

Account Types

5 different accounts are available from HighFx, these are the Standard, Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Islamic accounts. We will take a little look at each as they each have their own requirements and conditions.

Standard Account: This entry-level account comes with spreads starting from 1 pip, it also has a leverage range between 1:5 – 1:400. Hedging is allowed and swaps are present on the account. There is a deposit bonus of 15% and it has access to fast and safe withdrawals. You can get support from a personal investment expert and access to forex analysis. This account comes with 24/5 support and also has access to forex training and the WebTrader and mobile applications.

Gold Account: The Gold account reduces the spreads slightly as they now start at 0.8 pips, the account has the same leverage range of 1:5 – 1:400 and hedging is allowed. Swap charges are present and there is an investment bonus of 20% available. The account offers high lot refunds along with fast and safe withdrawals and access to a VIP investment expert. The account received WhatsApp signal and analysis support as well as live trading sessions, dealing room access, 24/5 customer support and access to the EbTrade rand mobile trading platforms.

Platinum Account: The Platinum account reduces the spreads further as they now drop down to a starting level of 0.5 pips. Leverage remains the same between 1:5 and 1:400 and hedging and swaps are both allowed and present. There is a bonus of 30% available and the account offers high lot refunds as well as fast and safe withdrawals. You are able to contact the VIP investment expert, the account also receives WhatsApp signals and analysis support as well as live trading sessions, dealing room access, 24/5 customer support and access to the WebTrade rand mobile trading platforms.

Diamond Account: The Diamond account is the top tier account on offer from HighFx and so the spreads are further reduced down to 0.1 pips. Leverage remains the same between 1:5 and 1:400 and hedging and swaps are both allowed and present. There is a bonus of 30% available and the account offers high lot refunds as well as fast and safe withdrawals. You are able to contact the VIP investment expert, the account also receives WhatsApp signals and analysis support as well as live trading sessions, dealing room access, 24/5 customer support and access to the WebTrade rand mobile trading platforms.

Islamic Account: The Islamic account seems to be similar to the Standard account except for the fact that it has no swap charges. It has a spread starting from 1 pip and leverage between 1:5 and 1:400. Hedging is allowed and there is a bonus of 15% available. Withdrawals remain fast and secure and there is access to a personal investment expert, along with access to forex analysis and 24/5 customer support. The account can use both the WebTrader and the mobile platforms to trade.

Platforms

HighFx use their own platforms to offer their trading, each with their own features, let’s see what they are.

WebTrader: Features of the WebTrader include trading through your browser easily, enables creating a favorites list, so traders can easily access their preferred assets. Easily trading option for your preferred investing assets. Live Stream Technology, a unique live feed that gives instant information and insights about market events and mass trading behaviors. This option also allows traders to get real-time notifications about important financial events or news directly on the platform. Cashback Bonus Program, a Bonus program that enables customers to earn for every position they open. Traders can easily see how much they can earn on the related assets box. The Web Trader platform enables access over all browsers without downloading. Trading Central signal and analysis access and 7 language options.

Mobile Application: The Mobile Forex Application includes all the features of the desktop platforms but with an intuitive interface so you can trade in the quickest possible and most comfortable manner. The main advantage of mobile, in general, is that it is made as simple as possible in order to accommodate our fast-paced lives. Efficiency is a must and most people want to utilize their spare time in the best possible way. By trading with your mobile device, you will be able to actively participate in the world of Forex trading, no matter where you are – on holiday, on a business trip, waiting in a long queue or just during your lunch break.

Leverage

Leverage for all accounts can be between 1:5 and 1:400, this can be selected when opening up an account, should you wish to change it on an already opened account then we would suggest getting in contact with the customer support team with this request.

Trade Sizes

Trading sizes start as low as 0.01 lots and go up in increments of 0,01 lots so the next trade would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. We could not locate information regarding the maximum trade size, however, we would not recommend trading more than 50 lots as it can become harder for the markets and liquidity providers to execute trades quickly and without commission the bigger they are.

Trading Costs

The majority of the accounts use a spread based system so there is no added commission. It is not clear if this is for all accounts as there is no mention of any commissions on the accounts comparison page or within the terms of service. So we can not comment on any potential commissions.

Swap charges are present on all account types apart from the Islamic account, there are charges for holding trades overnight and can be either negative or positive. These can often be viewed from within the trading platform you are using. There is also a dormancy fee of 10% of the account balance for not trading for an extended period of time.

Assets

HighFx has broken down their assets into a number of different categories but there isn’t a full breakdown of all the tradable instruments, just a few examples. Currencies are the first and there are major pairs and minor pairs available, some of the examples given are EUR/USD, USD/JPY, AUD/USD and NZD/USD.

Next up is commodities, where there are the usual metals of Gold and Silver, and then other commodities also such as Crude Oil and Natural Gas. Indices are also present with the usual suspects including Dow Jones, S&P 500, Dax 30 and Nasdaq. Plenty of stock on offer from the likes of Apple, Google, Boeing and Amazon available to trade. There are EFTs and finally, there are Cryptocurrencies which is great to see, the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum, DASH, EOS, Ehtereum Classic, and Iota are all available to trade.

Spreads

The spreads that you receive depends on a number of aspects, first up is the account type that you are using, If we look at EUR/USD the Standard account has spread of 1.5 pips, Gold 1.1 pips, Platinum 0.9 pips, Diamond 0.8 pips, and Islamic 2 pips. The spreads re variable which means they move with the markets when the markets are being volatile than the spreads often widen and become bigger.

It should also be noted that different instrument shave different spreads, so on the Standard account EUR/USD may have a spread of 1.5 pips, other instruments like USD/CAD has a spread starting at 5.5 pips and commodities such as Bitcoin has a spread of 20,000.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required from HighFx is 200 USD, EUR or GBP, this is the same for the initial deposit as well as any further top-up deposits you may make.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Just two methods available to deposit with which are Credit / Debit card, both Visa or MasterCard and Bank Wire Transfers. Using Bank Wire Transfer should mean your funds arrive in your account within 1 – 2 business days. While HighFx does not add any fees of their own, they do state that it is the customer’s responsibility to cover any expenses that may be incurred, so be sure to check with your bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw as they were to deposit, withdrawals must be made to the same account that deposited. The first withdrawal of the month is free, any subsequent withdrawals are subject to a 30 USD, EUR or GBP charge. The minimum withdrawal amount is 100 USD, EUR or GBP.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals are processed by HighFx within 36 hours of the request being made. It will then take 2 – 5 business days for the withdrawals to become available in your bank account due to the banks’ own processing times.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are a few different bonuses however the information surrounding them is not completely clear, but this is what we have got.

Reward Points: Get rewarded for your trading, by simply trading on your live account, you can accumulate HighFx points proportional to the volume of your closed trade. These points can be easily converted into funds and credited directly to your trading account. The more you trade, the more HighFx points you get.

Deposit Bonus: There is a deposit bonus available from each account which ranges from 15% up to 30%, the conditions of this bonus are unknown as the terms of service simply state that they can not be withdrawn until they have been converted into real funds, but there is no mention of how to do that.

Competiton: There is a trading competition each month where you can win up to $25,000. You simply need to trade the most volume, those who trade the most win.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is an economic calendar available to show you any upcoming news events and which currency they are on, however it is very basic and far better ones can be found elsewhere. There is a technical analysis section of the site, but no actual analysis, just information on what technical analysis is. The Academy is disappointing, it is just a single page outlining some basic information about forex trading. Finally, you are able to request a live trading session with a professional trader, we do not know how worthwhile this is though as we did not do it ourselves.

Customer Service

The customer service team is accessible via email or phone. There are email addresses for General Topics, Customer Services, and Affiliates. There are then phone numbers in a number of different countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, France, South Africa, Australia, Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, and Nigeria. You can also get in touch on social media like Facebook and Twitter.

Demo Account

There is no mention of demo accounts on the website, however near the top of the Terms and Conditions there is a very strange sentence, it states: “I confirm that I got an opportunity to trade on a demo platform and/or read a tutorial” However the demo accounts do not seem to be available so we are a little confused by this statement.

Countries Accepted

Which countries are accepted is not clearly indicated on the website so if you are interested in getting an account we would suggest getting in contact with the customer service team to see if you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

The trading conditions being offered by HighFx seem reasonable, spreads are not incredibly high and there is no mention of commissions, however, the lack of information on commissions can be a little concerning. There needs to be a better breakdown of tradable assets as potential clients will use this to ensure that there are enough and the right assets for them to trade. The main downside to HighFx is the withdrawal fees, the first in each month may be free but people often withdraw multiple times a month and any additional withdrawals will cost you 30 base currency which is quite high.

CEO Trading is a forex broker based in Belize, there isn’t much information about the company as a whole on the website so there isn’t too much to go by. We will be using this review to look at the services that are being offered to hopefully help you decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

CEO Trading has four different accounts on offer, we will be looking at the different requirements and features of each one.

All Accounts:
All accounts come with the following features, MetaTrader 4 as a trading platform, tradable assets of Forex, CFDs, and Metals, base currency as USD, unlimited maximum lot sizes and number of trades, floating (variable) spreads, margin call at 150% and stop out level at 50%, swap charges and the allowance for both scalping and hedging.

Mini Account:
The minimum deposit for this account is $1,000 and the maximum balance you can have is $9,999. The maximum leverage is set at 1:500 and The minimum lot size is 0.01 lots and the trade sizes go up in increments of 0.01 lots.

Standard Account:
The standard account increases the minimum deposit to $10,000 which is a lot and could price out a lot of newer traders, it has a maximum balance of $19,999 and the minimum lot size is 0.1 lots which goes up in increments of 0.1 lots. The maximum leverage for this account is currently set at 1:200.

Pro Account:
The pro account further increases the minimum deposit to $20,000 with a maximum balance of $49,999. The minimum lot size remains at 0.1 lots and increases in increments of 0.1 lots. The leverage is further reduced down to 1:100.

Premium Account:
The top tire account from CEO Trading requires an opening balance of $50,000 and has an unlimited maximum balance. The site doesn’t state what the minimum trade size is but as it goes up in increments of 0.1 lots we would assume it sticks to 0.1 lots. Leverage is further reduced and the maximum allowed is set at 1:50.

Platforms

Just the singular trading platform available, the good news is that the one platform is MetaTrader 4.

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

Leverage

The maximum leverage allowed is dependant on what account you have, the maximums are as follows:

• Mini Account: 1:400
• Standard Account: 1:200
• Pro Account: 1:100
• Premium Account: 1:50

Leverage can be selected when opening an account and a number of different levels can be selected. If you wish to change the leverage once an account is already active you will need to get in contact with the customer service team and the request needs to be made when there are no open trades.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes are also dependent on the account that you have, if you have a mini account then your minimum trade size will be 0.01 lots (also known as a micro lot) and will go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next available trade would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. If you have any other account then the minimum trade size is 0.1 lots (also known as a mini lot) and goes up in increment of 0.1 lots so the next trade would be 0.2 lots and then 0.3 lots.

There is no maximum on any account, however, we would not recommend using trades larger than 50 lots because it becomes increasingly difficult for liquidity providers and the market to execute larger trades quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

There isn’t any mention on the website in regards to any added commissions to trades so it appears that the accounts are using a spread based payment structure which we will look at later in this review.

Swap fees are present, they are an interest that is paid for holding trades overnight, they can be both positive and negative. These fees can be viewed directly within the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.

Assets

The only information regarding what assets or instruments are available is in the accounts comparison take which simply states Forex, CFDs, and Metals. There is no indication of how many or examples of which ones which is a surprise, many brokers are actively promoting how many assets they have available as a way to encourage people to sign up. We can only assume that there isn’t a large selection based on the lack of information.

Spreads

Similarly to the assets, there isn’t really any information on the site regarding this, the accounts section states that the spreads are floating, which means that they move with the markets, when the markets are especially volatile then the spreads tend to widen and get a lot higher. We do not know what the minimum trade is and how competitive they are which is a shame, these sorts of trading costs are vital to new potential clients. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets will have different starting spreads.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount to deposit in order to open an account is $1,000 which is a little high if trying to bring in new clients., There is no mention as to whether or not this amount decreases for any subsequent deposits after an account is already open, having said that, it does state that the minimum deposit for bank transfers is $500 so it may drop down to that amount.

Deposit Methods & Costs

It seems that the only method for depositing is via bank transfers. This can only be done in USD and thankfully there is a 0% fee for depositing. It can take a few days for your deposit to be processed which is a little concern as the majority of people wants to start trading immediately. It is also a shame that only one method seems to be available and this could potentially alienate a lot of potential clients.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Just like depositing, the only withdrawal method available is via bank transfer. This must be done in USD and unfortunately, there is now a $30 withdrawal fee. It is also worth noting that there is a minimum withdrawal amount of $30. Please also make sure to check with your own bank just in case they add a fee of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The CEO Trading site states that the lead time (processing time) for withdrawal requests is 2 to 5 hours which is very quick, as the only method of withdrawing is bank transfer, this means that your withdrawal will take another 2 to 5 working days to clear in your bank account due to bank processing times.

Bonuses & Promotions

We could not locate any information on the website that indicated that there were any active promotions or bonuses, this does not mean that there won’t be in the future so if you are looking for bonuses be sure to check back regularly.

Educational & Trading Tools

Nothing that we could find would be classified as an educational resource. As for trading tools, those would be limited to what the platform itself provides. Those tools are listed below.

Customer Service

The contact us page offers a few different ways to get in contact with CEO Trading, you can use the usual online submission form to fill in your query to be sent off, you should then receive a reply via email. There are also three email addresses available, one for the Admin, one for Finance and one for Support, so you can email the department that you desire.

The support department is open Monday to Friday between 10 am and 9 pm, it is closed at the same time as the markets on Saturday and Sunday.

Demo Account

We could not locate a way to open up a demo account, nor is there any mention of them on the website so we do not think that they are available which is a shame as many people like to test their strategies and test out the trading servers before signing up or using their strategies on live accounts. CEO Trading should really look at making demo accounts available.

Countries Accepted

No information on the website to indicate who can and who can not open up an account, so if you want to know if you are eligible you will either need to try signing up or to be safe, get in contact with the customer service team to find out.

Conclusion

Not too much to say about CEO Trading as there is too much information missing, information that is often vital for new clients to see before deciding to sign up somewhere. Things like commissions, spreads, and tradable assets should be available to potential clients, but with CEO Trading they are missing, due to all the missing information, it is hard for us to recommend them as a broker to use.

Big Boss Financial is a forex broker based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. They have a mission statement of “Reliability, Innovation, Enhancement, and Challenges are all the elements we put in our heart when we deliver service.“ During this review we will be looking at what is on offer and if they manage to live up to their own expectation.

Account Types

There are three account types on offer from Big Boss, two of them are focused on trading as a whole, while one is designed specifically for cryptocurrency trading, we will take a look at the requirements and features of each account.

Standard Account:
The standard account which is the entry-level account for Big Boss does not require a minimum deposit and can be opened with any amount (subject to payment method minimum). The base currency can be in USD or JPY and has forex leverage up to 1:555 (varies with different instruments). There is no added commission when trading with this account, margin calls are set at 50% and stop out at 20%.

Pro Spread Account:
The pro spreads account has a lot of similarities with the standard account, it also has no minimum deposit and leverage can also be as high as 1:555 (varies by instrument). This account, however, has a commission of $4.5 per lot traded which is reasonable depending on what the spreads are like. Margin call and stop out levels remain unchanged.

FOCREX Account:
This account is designed for people who only want to trade cryptocurrencies, it can have a base currency of USD, JPY, BTC, ETH, OMG, QASH, EXC, AXE, XRP, no minimum deposit just like the other accounts but this account does not have a margin call or stop out level. The markets will remain open 24/7 365 days a year as opposed to the other accounts closing on weekends.

Platforms

Big Boss currently only offers one trading platform, luckily that platform is MetaTrader 4, here is a brief little outline of what MT4 offers.

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

Leverage

There are a few different aspects that affect the leverage that you will receive, we have listed out the leverages below for convenience. When creating an account you can select the leverage that you desire, should you wish to change the leverage once the account is open, you will need to get in contact with the support team and there must be no open trades during the request.

Forex: 1:555
CFD: 1:50
Forex Minor (USD/RUB, USD/TRY, USD/ZAR): 1:50
Crypto: 1:5

Crypto on the FOCREX account may have higher leverages.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes are another aspect that depends on the account that you are trading with and also the instrument or asset that you are trading.

Forex on all accounts has minimum trade size of 0.01 lots which is also known as a micro lot. For the standard account, all CFDs will have a minimum lot size of 0.1 lots and all others will have 0.01 lots except for ETH/USD and NEO/USD which will have a lot size of 0.02 lots. For the pro spread account, some CFDs have a minimum lot size of 0.01 lots while others will have a size of 0.1 lots.

We could not locate any information in regards to the maximum trade sizes, no matter what they are, we do not recommend trading lot sizes greater than 50 lots as it can make it harder for the liquidity providers and the market to execute the trade quickly.

Trading Costs

The standard account uses a spread based system instead of any additional costs, we will look into the spreads later in this review. The pro spread account has an additional commission added to each trade of $4.5 per lot traded which is reasonable as the industry standard seems to be around $6 per lot. There are also swap charges which are either paid or received for holding trades overnight and can be viewed from within the trading platform (MetaTrader 4).

Assets

There is not a full breakdown od which assets and instruments are actually available to trade, instead, there is just a mention of a few and the categories that they fall into. It is clear that there are forex majors, forex minors, CFDs and cryptocurrencies available but not much more info than that. It does state that there is currently Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and a couple more crypt coins, but other than that it is hard to ascertain exactly which assets are available for trading.

Spreads

There is not a full breakdown of what the spreads are, instead there is a snapshot of a few different forex pairs and their live spreads. If we look at EUR/USD the spreads are around 1.6 on the standard account and 0.7 on the pro spread account, GBP/USD is around 2.3 on the standard account and 1.2 on the pro spread account. The standard account has pretty normal spreads however the pro spread account has quite high spreads when comparing it to other commission-based accounts.

It is also worth noting that the spreads are variable (floating) which means that they do not remain the same and will often be seen higher when there is a lot of volatility in the markets.

Minimum Deposit

There is no set minimum deposit which means you can deposit with any amount hat you want, the only possible limit is the limits imposed by the method that you are using to deposit, for instance, some cards won’t let you deposit less than $5.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Bib Boss currently allow you to deposit using all major credit and debit cards including Visa and MasterCard, they also accept bank wire transfers and bitcoin, it does not appear that e-wallets such as Skrill or Neteller are available to deposit with. We could not locate any information regarding any additional fees or if the deposits are fee-free so we can not comment on that aspect of depositing.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods for depositing are available for withdrawing, similarly to depositing with Big Boss it is unclear if there are any additional fees for withdrawing.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Big Boss state that they will aim to process any deposits within 48 hours, after this processing time it will take bitcoin as long as it takes for there to be enough confirmations, for bank transfers it will take between 3 to 5 business days and card transfers will take between 1 to 7 business days.

Bonuses & Promotions

The bonuses and promotions on Big Boss seem to be related to upcoming events, at the time of writing this review there is one bonus on offer and it is a Christmas one. You can get a 100% bonus of up to $5,000. While there is information in the terms about how your funds could be forfeited, there is no information on how to convert them into real funds which is a little suspicious to us.

It seems that there have been other bonuses in the past so be sure to keep an eye out if you are after a bonus for upcoming bonuses.

Educational & Trading Tools

Looking through the website it does not appear that there are any educational information or trading tools to help you with your trading.

Customer Service

It seems like there is only one way to get in contact with Big Boss and that is through an online form where you fill in your query and submit the form, you should then receive an email within the next couple days.

Big Boss states that they aim to respond to queries within 1 working day. It would have been nice to have more ways to get in touch with Big Boss as sometime sit is nice to actually speak to an actual person.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, you can select to open a demo account on the MetaTrader 4 platform and can be for either the standard account or the pro spread account. The full details of the demo account are not listed on the website in regards to how many you can have or how long they last but it is good to know that they are available and nice that you can choose to have the conditions similar to multiple account types.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is on the BigBoss website: “Bigboss does not provide Contracts for Difference to residents to certain jurisdictions, such as USA and Iran. This website is for reference purposes only and not intended to target residents of Malaysia or Japan. In principle, we do not accept applications from Malaysian or Japanese residents.”

If you are unsure, get in contact with the customer service team to get confirmation as to whether you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

It can be a little hard to find the information that you want with Big Boss, most notable is the lack of information regarding deposit and withdrawals it is such a major part of a broker for many clients, knowing exactly how you can deposit and withdraw as well as any costs are vital. It is nice having no minimum deposit but this does not make up for other shortcomings such as the lack of methods to get in contact with the customer service team. At this time, it is hard for us to recommend Big Boss over some of the other more established brokers out there.

Bernstein Bank is a german bank and brokerage firm catering to countries within the European Union. The core of Bernstein Bank includes providing a professional trading platform, the latest IT infrastructure, a broad range of financial instruments, quick and secure order execution, an attractive price model and the security of a German bank. In this review, we will look at what is being offered to see if they can live up to their core principles.

Account Types

There isn’t much information on the site in regards to different account types so it would appear that there is only one account on offer. Due to this, all information within this review is aimed at this singular account, so keep reading to learn more about the trading conditions such as spreads and commissions and much more. There is, however, information available on-site in relation to managed accounts.

Platforms

Only MetaTrader 4 is on offer from Bernstein Bank but when MT4 is the only option, it’s not a bad option to have.

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

Leverage

The maximum leverage with Bernstein bank is 1:100 which is relatively low when compared to a lot of modern brokers who are aiming for 1:500. Leverage can be set anywhere between 1:1 and 1:100 and can be changed on an account as long as there are no open trades during the change request. It is important to note that higher leverage can bring more profits, however, it also increases the loss of stopping out.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start at 0.01 lots and increase in increments of 0.01 so the next available trade size would be 0.02 and then 0.03 lots. The maximum trade size is currently 50 lots which are more than enough for the majority of retail traders. Cryptocurrencies have a minimum trade size of 1 lot and a maximum trade size of 5 lots. For shares, you can buy a minimum of 1 share and a maximum of 1000 shares, metals have a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots and a maximum trade size of 20 lots which indices and commodities have a maximum trade size of 0.01 lots and a maximum of 10 lots.

Trading Costs

Bernstein Bank adds an additional spread onto their markets but we will go more into spreads in a later section of this review. In terms of commissions, there is no indication that there are any on the site, however, we can not say that there aren’t so we are unable to comment fully on this section. Swap fees are present for holding trades overnight and can be both negative or positive, these can be viewed from within the trading platform MetaTrader 4.

Assets

There are over 100 assets and instruments available to trade with Bernstein Bank, these are broken down into various categories. There are the standard forex currency pairs such as EUR/USD or GBP/AUD, there are major, minor and exotic pairs available. There are also Indices available such as DAX, US500 or FTSE 100, there are also commodities such as Corn, Wheat, and Crude Oil. When it comes to metals there is just Gold and Silver which are the main two and there are also a number of shares available such as Apple, Tesla, and Facebook. It is also nice to see that cryptocurrencies are available however there are only three and they are Bitcoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash, it would have been nice to see more but it is a good start.

Spreads

Spreads start at 1 pip, this is for the EUR/USD pair and so other pairs are naturally higher than this. The 1 pip is the minimum, they are floating spreads which means that they will move with the markets and when there are high levels of volatility, they will often be seen a lot higher. The 1 pip minimum is an amount added by Bernstein Bank in order to make money on each trade.

Minimum Deposit

There is no information available in regards to a minimum amount or how much you require to open up a new account so we are unable to comment on this section.

Deposit Methods & Costs

In terms of costs for deposits, we could not locate any information in regards to this, deposit methods available are stated in the FAQ but not a lot of detail is given. Considering this is a bank, bank transfers are available, there is also the ability to deposit using both credit and debit cards from either Visa or MasterCard, it does not seem like any e-wallets or cryptocurrencies are available to deposit with.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

There is the same lack of information in regards to the withdrawal methods, however considering that bank transfers and credit/debit cards are available for deposits, we would assume that they would also be available for withdrawals.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The Bernstein Bank website states that incoming payments will be processed within 24 hours, however, there is no mention of any outgoing payments. We can say that card payment normally takes between 1 and 5 business days and bank transfers within 3 to 5 business days once they have been processed and we would hope that all requests are processed within 48 hours but no concrete information is available at this time.

Bonuses & Promotions

No information regarding if any bonuses or promotions are available on the website so we do not think that there are any active at this point in time. This does not mean that there never will be though so if you are interested in joining Bernstein Bank then be sure to check back to the site regularly in case any promotions pop up.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few different things available to both clients and website visitors.

Research: There is a news section on the site which sets out different news articles about what is happening in the markets and what to look out for. There is also a podcast available, but this is more like a tutorial than an actual podcast and has topics such as how to use certain features of MetaTrader 4 and the basics of CFD trading. There is also something called a market mover which is actually just an economic calendar and doesn’t give off too much information that you cant easily find elsewhere. Finally, there is a newsletter to sign up to but we did not so we can not comment on how good it is.

Academy: The academy contains some webinars, however, that section is currently empty, there are however videos available which can give you a basic understanding of topics such as how to use the trading platform, how to trade different assets and how to place orders. There is also a knowledge base which gives information on various different topics. Finally, there is a glossary of forex based terms should you come across something you do not know the meaning of.

All of the above is useful when just starting out, however, if you have traded before then it may not be too useful to you.

Customer Service

The Bernstein Bank customer service team is open 24/5 and is closed at the same time as the markets over the weekend. There is a phone number available should you wish to get in contact that way, there is also an email address to use. We did not manage to test out the customer service team during the course of this review so can not specify how good or quick they were to respond.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, we managed to sign up to one, but when trying to access the account we came across some connectivity errors and so were not able to test it out completely to see what the trading conditions were like.

Countries Accepted

There is not any specific information regarding this, however, there are little bits that suggest that they are catering for countries within the European /Union. If you are unsure if you eligible or not, we would advise getting in touch with the customer service team to see if you can open up ana account with them.

Conclusion

Bernstein Bank is primarily that, a bank. While they offer the forex and trading experience it is clear that it is not their main focus, the information on the site is a little lacking and can make it hard to really understand what the trading conditions are or what is really being offered. Our personal recommendation would be to look for a broker that is dedicated to forex only and doesn’t have it as a side project.

Capital 245 is a forex broker based in Sofia. Their mission is to provide the best online trading experience to their clients, they will do this by providing an intuitive trading platform designed with the best technology, along with a high-quality customer service team. In this review, we will be looking into the services being offered bt Capital 245 so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are a large number of accounts, 6 in total, we will briefly outline what each one gets you.

Mini Account:
Min deposit: €500 – 4,999
— Includes —
Up to 10% monthly profitability
Monthly withdrawal of 3% of your initial deposit
Market reviews: 1 per month
Margin Loan of 15%
1:200 Leverage

Bronze Account:
Min deposit: €5,000 – 9,999
— Includes —
Up to 12% monthly profitability
Monthly withdrawal of 4% of your initial deposit
Personal Account Manager. 1 operation insured per week
Market reviews: 2 per month
Margin Loan of 20%
1:200 Leverage

Silver Account:
Min deposit: €10,000 – 24,999
— Includes —
Up to 14% monthly profitability
Monthly withdrawal of 5% of your initial deposit
Personal Account Manager. 2 operations insured per week
Market reviews: 3 per month
Margin Loan of 25%
1:200 Leverage

Gold Account:
Min deposit: €25,000 – 99,999
— Includes —
Up to 16% monthly profitability
Monthly withdrawal of 6% of your initial deposit
Personal Account Manager. 3 operations insured per week
Market reviews: 1 per week
Margin Loan of 30%
1:200 Leverage

VIP Account:
Min deposit: €100,000-249,999
— Includes —
Up to 18% monthly profitability
Monthly withdrawal of 7% of your initial deposit
Personal Account Manager. 4 operations insured per week
Market reviews: 3 per week
Margin Loan of 40%
1:200 Leverage

Premium Account:
Min Deposit: €250,000 +
— Includes —
Up to 20% monthly profitability
Monthly withdrawal of 8% of your initial deposit
Personal Account Manager. 5 operations insured per week
Market reviews: 1 per day
Margin Loan of 50%
1:200 Leverage

Platforms

Capital 245 use their own trading platform, it is not the most intuitive and can be quite difficult to use, it also does not have the ability to perform automated trading, something that a lot of traders like to do when using a platform like MetaTrader 4 or 5. The platform acts more like a binary options platform which is never a good sign.

Leverage

The maximum leverage allowed on each account is currently 1:200, this is valid for all account types. Leverage can be selected when opening up an account and should you wish to change the leverage on an account that is already opened you will need to get in contact with the customer service team.

Trade Sizes

Trades sizes on the small account start at 0.01 lots and go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next trade available is 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. There is no indication of any change in the other account types. There is also no indication of the maximum trade size but whatever it is we would not advise trading over 50 lots as it can become hard for the markets and liquidity providers to execute larger trades quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

We could not locate any information in regards to commissions being added to the accounts so we are not sure if there are any, there are swap charges, however, these are charged for holding trades overnight and can be viewed within the trading platform.

Assets

There is not a breakdown of which assets are available, in fact, there is no information at all which is a shame as this is vital for many clients when selecting which broker to use, this is an area that Capital 245 really need to look at improving. Looking on the platform there were a number of forex pairs, around 50 or so and a number of CFTs and ETFs such as Cocoa, Coffee, Cotton, and Sugar, there are also Oils and Natural Gas.

Spreads

Spreads aren’t advertised on the website and for good reason, when viewing the platform we noticed spreads were incredible, high, high enough to put any trader off, EURUSD was sitting at around 16 pips when we checked, considering you are normally looking at around 1.5 pips to 2 pips for non-commission accounts, this is around 10 times this amount. They are also variable which means they move with the markets so they go up and down, but no matter how long we looked they remained very high.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount you need to deposit to open an account is $500, this will get you the Mini account, if you want a different account then you will need to deposit more.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The following methods are available to deposit: QIWI Wallet, WebMoney, Visa, and MasterCard Credit / Debit Card, Yandex and Bank Wire Transfer. There is no indication of any fees, however, also no indication that there aren’t any, also be sure to check with your own processor or bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw as they are to deposit however there is a strange clause added to withdrawals, on the accounts page there is a little statement with each account, for example, the Mini account you are only able to withdraw 3% per month of your initial deposit, so if you have deposited $1000, you can only withdraw $30 per month, massively restricting your withdrawals and makes getting your money out as difficult as possible.

There is also no mention of any fees and just like when depositing, check with your own processor or bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

There is no indication of how long Capital 245 will take to process withdrawals, but for bank wire transfers and card withdrawals, you can expect 2 – 5 business days as a minimum.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is no indication on the Capital 245 website of any promotions and bonuses so it does not appear that there are any available at the time of writing this review.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is an education section of the website which goes over aspects of trading such as forex basics, fundamental analysis, technical analysis, risk management, trading plans, and trading volatility. These are just single pages of information and will not help you become a forex master, instead, they offer basic information to get you started.

Customer Service

There isn’t a dedicated customer service page, instead, you need to scroll to the bottom of the page to get any kind of information. There is an email address and a phone number available along with a submission to fill in your query and can then expect to get a reply via email.

Demo Account

We did not see the option to open a demo account so as far as we could tell there isn’t one available which is a shame as this is where new clients can test the trading conditions and regular clients can test out their new strategies without any risk to their capital.

Countries Accepted

There was no information present on which countries are accepted and which are not, so if you are interested in opening an account with Capital 245 we would recommend getting in contact with the customer service team to find out f you are eligible or not.

Conclusion

The trading conditions offered by Capital 245 are not good at all, they are much more expensive than the competitions and the lack of information on assets and instruments on the site is concerning. The most concerning aspect though, is the restrictions to withdrawals, only being able to withdraw 3% of your initial deposit oper month massively restricts getting your money out and for that reason alone we would suggest steering clear of Capital 245.

Royal Capital Pro is a foreign exchange broker situated in Tallin, Estonia. They claim to be perfect for traders from all backgrounds, offering superb trading materials and training, a wide array of bonuses and perks, step by step analysis, latest risk management tools and top quality customer service team. That is what the expectations are, so in this review, we will be looking at what is on offer to see if they live up to these expectations.

Account Types

There are three main accounts on offer and then an additional Islamic account, here is what their requirements and features are.

Classic Account: This is the entry-level account from Royal Capital Pro, it has a minimum deposit amount of $500, this account uses the MetaTrader 4 trading platform, has access to Forex pairs, metals, equities, indices, bonds and commodities, the account currency must be in USD and there are no added commissions. The margin call is set at 1505 and the maximum trade size is 50 lots. The account also comes with an account manager with a professional degree in Economics, a plethora of materials that help you understand trading, free tutorial trading sessions consisting of 3 lessons, a trading platform is compatible with mobile phone and daily recommendations from your account manager

Silver Account: The silver account increases the required deposit to $2,500, this account also uses MetaTrader 4 and has access to forex, metals, equities, indices, bonds, and commodities. The currency must be in USD and there is no added commission, the margin call is set at 150% and the maximum trade size is 50 lots. The account also comes with an account manager with a professional degree in Economics, a plethora of materials that help you understand trading, free tutorial trading sessions consisting of 5 lessons, daily recommendations from your account manager, a trading platform is compatible with a mobile phone.

Gold Account: The Gold account has a required deposit level of $10,000, this account is also un USD and has access to forex pairs, metals, indices and commodities. It uses the MetaTrader 4 platform and has no added commissions. The margin call level remains at 150% and the maximum trade size remains at 50 lots. The following features are also part of the account: An account manager with a professional degree in Economics, more advanced materials that are designed for you to learn the most advanced strategies. Free tutorial trading sessions consisting of 7 lessons, free access to all sorts of video tutorials, daily review by your market analyst, daily recommendations from your account manager, a trading platform is compatible with mobile phones.

Islamic Account: An Islamic account is for those that are not able to receive interest (swap fees) due to their beliefs, the website states the following features for this account: Buying and selling occur immediately and there is no postponement clause. All currencies are properly documented between the buyer and the seller. The deal must be paid for in full without any delay. If there are any usurious rates the contract is invalid.

Platforms

The trading platform offered by Royal Capital Pro is MetaTrader 4, so let’s see what this platform offers.

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

Leverage

The amount of leverage offered is the same for all accounts, however, different asset types have different maximum leverage amounts. You can select your maximum leverage when opening up an account and should you wish to change it you can get in contact with the customer service team to give them your request.

• Forex Majors: 1:200
• Forex Crosses: 1:200
• Indices: 1:50
• Metals: 1:200
• USA Shares:1:20
• Commodities: 1:50
• Energy Futures: 1:100
• Europe Shares: 1:20

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes for all accounts start at 0.10 lots (known as a mini lot), usually, broker start trades at 0.01 lots which make them more accessible and easier to apply risk management. Increments of the trades are unknown as to whether it is 0.01 lots or 0.1 lots. The maximum trade size is 50 lots which are fine as we always recommend to stay under 50 lots, the bigger the trade size, the harder it is for liquidity providers and the markets to execute the trades quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

All the accounts use a spread based system that we will look into later in this review, there is no commission on any of the accounts. The other cost that is valid for all accounts except for then Islamic accounts is swap charges, this is an interest that is either paid or received for holding trades overnight, the amount of this interest can be viewed within the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.

Assets

Assets at Royal Capital Pro have been broken down into a number of different categories. We will outline some of the instruments in each group below.

Forex Majors: EURUSD, USDJPY, AUDUSD, USDCAD, NZDUSD, USDCHF, GBPUSD.

Forex Crosses: CADJPY, AUDJPY, EURGBP, EURAUD, EURJPY, EURCHF, CHFJPY, NZDJPY, HBPCHF, GBPJPY, EURCAD, GBPCAD, AUDCAD, AUDCHF, GBPAUD, CADCHF, NZDCHF, AUDNZD, NZDCAD, GBPNZD, USDHKD, USDPLN, EURNZD, USDSGD, USDTRY, EURTRY, EURPLN, EURDKK, USDDKK, EURNOK, USDNOK, EURSEK, USDSEK, USDZAR, USDMXN.

Indices: NASDAQ, DOW JONES, S&P 500, CAC 40, IBEX 35, NIKKEI, SMI, Dax 30, FTSE 100.

Metals: XAGUSD (Gold), XAUUSD (Silver).

USA Shares: (a lot so only a few mentioned) Cisco, Alcoa, Apple, Google, CitiGroup, Coca Cola, Exxon Mobile, Pepsi.

Commodities: Cocoa, Corn, Soy Bean, Wheat, Coffee, Sugar.

Energy Futures: Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Brent Crude Oil.

Europe Shares: Eni, Fiat, Banco Santander, BMW, BBVA, Inditex, Telefonica, Deutsch Bank, Siemens, Volks Wagon, Enel, Unicredito Spa, Barclays, BP, HSBC, British Airways, Roll Royce, Tesco, Vodafone.

Spreads

There is only one set of spreads mentioned on the site so we believe that all accounts use the same spreads. EURUSd is shown as having a spread of 3.2 pips, this is the starting level, the spreads are variable (also known as floating) which means they move with the markets when there is a lot of volatility they move a lot more and can be larger. Different instruments also have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD shows as 3.2 pips, other pairs like NZDUSD are shown as 4.2 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount needed to open up an account is $500 which gets you the Classic account, if you want a different account you will need to deposit at least $2,500. Usually, once an account has been opened small er amounts can be deposited to top up the account but there is no mention of such a thing on the Royal Capital Rpo website.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a few different ways to deposit into Royal Capital Pro, these are Credit / Debit Card, both Visa or MasterCard, Bank Wire Transfer and a number of different e-wallets including, WebMoney, CashU, Neteller and Skrill.

Currently, there is a high fee of $25 (or currency equivalent) per deposit which is very high for depositing, there is also a note saying that Royal Capital Pro could change this at any time. We would also suggest checking with your processor or bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw, for clarification these are Credit / Debit Card, both Visa or MasterCard, Bank Wire Transfer and a number of different e-wallets including, WebMoney, CashU, Neteller and Skrill. The minimum withdrawal is 50 units unless you have less than this and it is your last withdrawal.

There is no mention of a fee, however considering there is a fee for depositing we are confident that there will be one for withdrawing too, in any case, we would recommend checking with your processor or bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal requests will take up to 24 hours to be processed once it has been processed it may take up to 7 days for funds to reach your bank account.

Bonuses & Promotions

The only promotion that seems to be running is a cashback program where you can earn up to $10 per lot traded as cashback. The following details are correct at the time of writing:

Deposit $5,000 – $10,000 – $1 cashback per lot traded
Deposit $10,000 – $50,000 – $5 cashback per lot traded
Deposit $50,000+ – $10 cashback per lot traded.

The cashback is deposited as real funds and the client can do as they see fit including withdrawing.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is a page on trading strategies but it is very simple not a whole lot of information and provides a very brief overview of different trading strategies. There are also trading signals on offer but we can not see them so we can not tell how accurate or profitable they have been in the past. There is then a glossary of different terms should you come across a word or phrase that you do not understand. There is a training section, however, registration is currently closed so you can not currently sign up for this.

Customer Service

The contact us page on the website offers you a few different ways to get in touch. You can use the online submission to send your query which you should then get a reply via email. There is also a physical address available along with an email address to the support team and a phone number, there is also a separate email for the support team, and complaints team.

No message about what times the support team is open but we will be assuming that they will be closed over the weekends, the same times as the markets are.

Demo Account

There is no option to select a demo account so it does not appear that there are any. This is a shame as new clients like to use them to test out trading conditions and current clients like to use them to test out new strategies without risking any of their own capital. This is an area that Royal Capital Pro should look into improving.

Countries Accepted

There is no statement on the website about which countries are eligible for an account and which are not, so if you are interested in joining we would recommend getting in touch with the customer service team first to make sure you are eligible for an account.

Conclusion

The trading conditions offered by Royal Capital Pro are a little on the steep side, while there is no commission, the spreads are starting at over 3 pips which is quite expensive, a lot of the competition start at around 1.5 pips for non-commission based accounts. Deposit and withdrawal methods are good however there is a fee for depositing and we expect there to be one for withdrawing too which is always a shame to see. No demo account makes it hard to really gauge the trading conditions that are being offered.

Trustworthy, transparent and fair, that is the motto from Trigold, a forex broker registered in Seychelles. TriGold’s main goal is to provide clients with all the tools they need to develop their skills at every step of their journey while enjoying an unparalleled trading experience. In this review, we will be looking into the services being offered to see if they live up to their motto and expectations.

Account Types

It seems that there is only one live account on offer from Trigold. This account has a starting deposit of $11 and has no commission, leverage can be as high as 1:400 and trading starts at 0.01 lots. The account is eligible for a bonus and execution speed is around 0.1 seconds. We will be looking into the different trading conditions in more detail later in this review.

Platforms

Trigold uses MetaTrader 4 as its only trading platform, so let’s see what the trading platform offers.

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

Leverage

Leverage can be as high as 1:400, this can be selected when opening up an account and once an account is already open, if you wish to change the leverage you will need to get in contact with the customer service team.

Trade Sizes

Trading sizes start at 0.01 lots which are also known as micro-lots, they then go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next trade would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. We could not locate information regarding the maximum trade size, however, we would not recommend trading more than 50 lots as it can become harder for the markets and liquidity providers to execute trades quickly and without commission the bigger they are.

Trading Costs

The account with Trigold uses a spread based system that we will look at later in this review, there are no added commissions. Swap charges are present which are fees that you wither pay or receive for holding trades overnight, these can often be viewed within the trading platform you are using.

Assets

Trigold has broken down their assets into two different categories, forex, and precious metals. Looking at the forex page, there only appears to be forex majors, at least that is all that is mentioned, the only pairs mentioned are AUDUSD, EURUSD, GBPUSD, NZDUSD, USDCAD, USDCHF, and USDJPY, it is unknown if there are any other pairs available to trade. In terms of the precious metals, there is only Gold and Silver mentioned so we assume this is all that there is.

Spreads

The spreads are not stated on the website, and trying to use the demo account did not work so we are unable to tell what the spreads actually are apart from the usual marketing of “competitive spreads”.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit stated on the website is $100, this is also the amount for any top-up payments too.

Deposit Methods & Costs

You can only use Bank Wire Transfers to deposit into Trigold, there is no information regarding any fees so we can not comment on that, however, be sure to check with your own bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Just like depositing, you can only use Bank Wire Transfer, again there is no indication of any fees, however also no notice that there aren’t any, as always, be sure to check with your own bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Trigold states that it will take between one and two business days to process a request, after this, it will most likely take another two to five business days for the funds to become available in your bank account.

Bonuses & Promotions

You can receive up to a 35% bonus up to a total of $30,000. This is for new customers only and is deposited as bonus funds, you are required to trade the bonus amount / 8 in lots in order to convert it into real funds, there is also a 3-month time limit and all bonus funds will be removed if the rollover is not met in the three month period.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few little things when it comes to education and tools, there is the standard economic calendar that tells you of upcoming news events as well as which markets they may affect. There is a risk management page which gives some very basic information on risk management and there is a training academy which is actually just some very basic information on different aspects of trading, it isn’t anything that will make you an expert but if you have no knowledge at all could be somewhat helpful.

Customer Service

The customer service team is available between 10:30 am and 6:00 pm from Monday to Friday and is closed at the same time the markets are. Strangely there is no phone number, no email and no online form to fill in. There are just physical addresses for Hong Kong, Seychelles, Taiwan, and Sri Lanka. So there isn’t actually a way to get in contact which is very concerning.

Demo Account

A demo account is available, however, it is currently not functional so we could not actually test it, looking through the internet, it seems that others had the same issue so it appears that they are not functioning or if they are, they are not representing real trading conditions.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is present on the Trigold website: “Please note TriGold does not service US and entities or residents of any kind. While we welcome clients from all over the globe, governmental restrictions along with our company policies prohibit TriGold from opening accounts originated from the following restricted and/or OFAC sanctioned countries: Afghanistan, Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Cuba, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Iraq, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya Mali, Niger, North Korea, Russia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkmenistan, The Democratic Republic of Congo The former Liberian Regime of Charles Taylor, Uzbekistan, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.”

If you are unsure if you are eligible for an account we would recommend getting in touch with the customer service team (if you can work out how) prior to signing up.

Conclusion

Too much information is missing for us to seriously consider Trigold as a suitable broker to trade with, the assets are unknown, deposit ./ withdrawal fees are unknown, spreads are unknown and the demo account doesn’t actually work. The worst part though is that there is no way to get in contact with the customer service team, for that fact alone we would recommend staying clear of Trigold.

House of Borse is an online FX and CFD broker that is located in London. The broker is fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), under regulation number 631382. Since its establishment in 2014, HoB has claimed to be focused on empowering its clients to trade with confidence – by providing superior services and upholding their core values. Read on to find out whether the company holds up to its mission statement.

Account Types

House of Borse offers three different account levels; Silver, Gold, and Platinum, with the assigned level depending on the amount of traded volume. Each account level rewards traders with lower commission costs, with options being 12.5% lower on the Gold account and 25% lower on the Platinum account. In order to qualify for better status, one would need to trade up to 1 yard for the Gold status, or more than 1 yard for the Platinum status. With other brokers, we often see higher deposit requirements traded in turn for better account status, so the difference is refreshing. Other than commission costs, each account shares the same conditions. All accounts are also offered as swap-free options. Conditions for each account can be viewed below.

Silver Account (traded volumes of less than 1 yard per month)
Minimum Deposit: NA
Leverage: Up to 1:100
Spread: Floating from 1.3 pips on FX
Commission: $4 per side per 100K traded on FX

Gold Account (traded volume up to 1 yard per month)
Minimum Deposit:
Leverage: Up to 1:100
Spread: Floating from 1.3 pips on FX
Commission: $3.5 per side per 100K traded on FX

Platinum Account (traded volume of more than 1 yard per month)
Minimum Deposit:
Leverage: Up to 1:100
Spread: Floating from 1.3 pips on FX
Commission: $3 per side per 100K traded on FX

Platform

At the moment, the broker exclusively supports the MetaTrader 4 platform, with claims that MetaTrader 5 will be added as an alternative in the near future. Some may want to hold out for MT5, but most will be more than happy to see the world’s favorite MT4 available in the present. Speaking on some of the platform’s highlights, MT4 offers complete customization tools, more than 30 pre-installed indicators, the ability to develop your own technical indicators, live streaming prices, one-click trading, support for Expert Advisors, and more. The platform is completely encrypted and designed with security in mind, so there’s no need to worry when operating through MT4. The platform can be accessed on the Webtrader or downloaded on iOS, Google Play, PC, and MAC.

Leverage

This broker’s leverage offer is capped at 1:100. This certainly isn’t the lowest option we’ve seen and is much higher than the 1:30 cap set by some regulators. On the other hand, there are forex brokers out there offering leverage caps of 1:400 and even higher, so this offer may seem slim in comparison. It’s really up to the individual trader to decide whether this leverage will be sufficient, although we predict that the cap will only affect professionals since trading with a higher option would be extremely risky.

Trade Sizes

All accounts support the trading of micro-lots, with the exception of CFDs, where we see minimums of 1000 barrels of US and UK Oil, and so forth. The website does not give any information on maximum trade sizes. Hedging is allowed, but the broker does not mention whether scalping is supported. Margin call and stop-loss levels are not listed.

Trading Costs

HoB profits through spreads, commissions, and overnight interest fees, otherwise known as swaps. The broker offers one floating spread that is shared by all account types, with options starting as low as 1.6 pips. The broker tries to hide the fact that commissions are higher on CFDs. Commissions on currency pairs start at $4 per side per 100K traded on the Silver account. In order to access cheaper options, clients will need to trade higher volumes. For the Gold account status, the required amount is up to one yard, with commissions being $3.50 per side. The broker doesn’t specify how much would qualify the upgrade from the basic Silver account to the Gold.

Traded amounts of more than 1 yard per month qualify for the Platinum status account, which has the cheapest commission charges of $3 per side per 100K traded. On CFDs, commissions are $9 on commodities and $7 + 1 tick on indices on the Silver account, $8 on commodities and $6 + 1 tick on indices (round turn) on the Gold account, and $7 on commodities and $5 + 1 tick on indices on the Platinum account. The website mentions that there are no extra fees, so clients shouldn’t have to worry about paying inactivity fees or other hidden charges. Swaps are charged on positions that are left open past closing time, with triple charges occurring on Wednesdays.

Assets

HoB offers more than 60 currency pairs (63 to be exact), CFDs on futures, and precious metals. Taking a look at the available currency pairs, we see an assortment of majors, minors, and 8 exotic pairs. CFDs include US 30, US 100, US 500, UK100, UK Gas, UK Oil, and US Oil. Metal options include Gold, Silver, and Platinum. Overall, these options are a bit limited, and we don’t see many different categories available. The grand total of available instruments comes out to 73 options.

Spreads

This broker provides variable spreads that fluctuate with the market, meaning that exact examples we have provided may change at times. At the time we checked, the lowest spreads on FX options were at 1.3 pips on EURUSD, which is typically the currency pair that has the lowest spread. The second-best spread was available on the pair NZDUSD and was at 2.6 pips, well above the industry average. The spread on Silver was at just 1.6 pips, while the spread jumped to 2.3 pips on Gold and 81.1 pips on Platinum. This isn’t too surprising, considering that metals are more volatile. The current live spreads for each instrument can be viewed by clicking on the “Trading Products” tab at the top of the website and then choosing a category.

Minimum Deposit

It isn’t possible to access any information about the minimum deposit requirement until one has completely finished the verification process. Some online information suggests a $5,000 minimum, although we couldn’t get support to verify this. This is only the beginning of the vague information on the website related to funding.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Deposit methods are limited to Wire Transfer and credit cards, with fees depending on the card type or incoming bank. One thing we disliked was the fact that the website is only willing to provide terms on fees from within the member area, making it impossible to view associated fees from the main website page.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Once again, the broker is less than transparent about associated fees for withdrawals. This always makes us wonder whether conditions are hidden because they are less than advantageous. The wording on the website does make it sound as though fees will be incurred on both withdrawal methods, and we can assume that banks will charge some type of fee from their end (typically $25-$50). Be sure to check with your receiving bank to get a better idea of those costs.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Any withdrawal request that is received before 11 am UK time will be processed within two business days, with an additional one-business day wait time for requests received after 11 am. Note that this is only the processing time, and the website doesn’t mention exactly how much longer the wait time could be once funds have been sent.

Bonuses & Promotions

As far as any extra opportunities go, HoB isn’t currently offering anything. It’s always nice to see welcome bonuses that can help out beginners, trading contests, demo contests, etc. However, many brokers don’t offer these options. It seems to be more commonly available with larger brokerages, although the prescience of bonuses or promotions does not necessarily mean that one could profit more with another broker.

Educational & Trading Tools

Unfortunately, the HoB website is completely barren when it comes to educational opportunities. Beginners will probably feel less than enthused with the lack of resources and would need to look elsewhere in order to be prepared to open a live account. We do see demo accounts available, but would strongly recommend one become more acquainted with trading terms, chart patterns, etc. before opening a real account without other experience. As for trading tools, you’ll find an economic calendar on the website, but not much else.

Demo Account

In order to open a demo account through the broker, one can simply click “Demo Account”, located on the top right on the website. Signing up for a demo is risk-free since it requires a commitment to open a real account and no cash deposit is required. These accounts provide an excellent opportunity for traders of different skill levels to practice different trading strategies, trade under the broker’s conditions, become acquainted with the supported trading platform, etc. HoB allows users to select the amount of virtual currency from a predetermined list, starting at $50,000.

Customer Service

Customer support is available 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday. In order to get in touch with an agent, traders can use LiveChat, call a direct phone number, send a fax, email, or fill out a contact form directly on the website. Having so many contact methods is an attractive quality and it shouldn’t be too difficult to get in touch with an agent, although we do wish support was available on weekends. Listed contact information has been detailed below.

Phone: +44 (0) 203-327-7001
Fax: +44 (0) 203-327-7010
Email: [email protected]
Address: Berkeley Square House, 2nd Floor, Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London W1J 6BD

Countries Accepted

On their website, HoB claims that their services are not meant for clients in the United States or any other jurisdiction where it would be unlawful for residents to open an account. The wording used indicated that it still may be possible to open an account from the US, so we headed to the account registration page to test the process. While the US isn’t listed specifically, we did find the US minor outlying islands on the list, which can be selected as an alternative.

Conclusion

House of Borse is a regulated broker that offers leveraged trading of up to 1:100 on FX, futures, and metals from the MT4 platform. The broker provides three different status level accounts, with better levels being earned by trading larger volumes. Rewards come in the form of cheaper commissions, with the cheapest option being $3 per side per 100K traded. All accounts share the same spreads, which tend to be higher than average on most currency pairs.

No deposit minimum is listed and accounts can only be funded through wire transfer and cards. The broker also refuses to provide any information about deposit and withdrawal fees until one has completely completed the verification process, which is typically a red flag that tells us those fees could be high. Another negative is the lack of information on any certain deposit minimum requirement.

Support isn’t available on the weekend, but the broker does make it convenient to reach out to an agent and offers 24-hour support on weekdays. Currently, there aren’t any extra opportunities to profit through bonuses or promotions. The broker has also failed to include any type of educational resources, aside from demo accounts. This broker may reward higher volume traders with regular commission charges but doesn’t seem to bring much else to the table.

Infinox Capital Ltd is registered in the United Kingdom and registered and licensed under the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This broker opens its services for clients who wish to not only trade individually but also offer Introducing Broker and Affiliate programs to those who wish to expand on their income outside of their trading portfolio. Infinox is also well established, and have been offering their trading services since the year 2009 so it is safe to say they clearly know how to maintain a client base and offer the right service to suit their trading needs.

Account Types

Infinox offers 3 live trading accounts for CFD trading:

• IXO (Infinox tailored trading platform): no commission fees
• MT4 STP: no commission fees
• MT4 ECN: 5 GBP (round turn) commission fees but access to lower spreads

All accounts offer the same instruments and spread however the IXO platform is the only one in which clients have access to Equity CFDs. If however, you would rather trade Futures rather than CFD, there is an alternative trading platform available (CQG).

Platforms

As mentioned above, Infinox offers its trading services compatible via MetaTrader 4 platform as well s their own IXO platform which is tailor-made. Clients can choose whichever they prefer, with the same access to the same markets for trading. Of course, the difference between the two platforms is aesthetics as well as the fact that the IXO platform does not charge commission fees. Therefore, expect the spreads to be slightly marked up as the broker would, in turn, earn profit from the spread in this case.

Clients who opt to use MetaTrader 4 can Download MT4 on their Desktop PC or Mac, and Android/ iOS versions are also fully compatible. The IXO platform is only available via the Desktop version.

Leverage

The maximum leverage on all CFD trading account is set at 1:30. This is, of course, to comply with the regulation policies that Infinox adhere to. While this leverage cap is low and not competitive, traders can still make a great profit, but this would mostly be a result of a large initial deposit, to begin with. Equity will need to be maintained when trading with such leverage caps. The maximum leverage allowance is as follows for all instruments:

• FX Majors: 1:30
• Commodities: 1:10
• Equities: 1:5
• Cryptocurrencies: 1:2

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size requirement is 0.01 lot, which is standard for the vast majority of brokers, but the maximum is set relatively low at 40 lots for Forex trading.

Trading Costs

The commission fees are not applicable to all trading accounts but bear in mind that where commissions are NOT charged, the spreads on that account option will be marked up.

• IXO: 0 commission fees
• MT4 STP: 0commission fees
• MT4 ECN: 5 GBP RT commission fees

Assets

Infinox offers a fairly wide and competitive range of tradable instruments to their clients, which include: Forex currencies (49+), Indices, Commodities, Equity CFDs and Futures. we advise you to open an Infinox Demo account to see the complete and full list of tradable instruments available. Infinox did previously offer Cryptocurrencies but no longer do, the reason as to why this is the case is unclear.

Spreads

Infinox offers their clients variable (floating) spreads, all of which ‘typical’ spreads are available, for ALL instruments directly on the website, however, to view all LIVE floating spreads, you will need to open a demo account. On the whole, even just looking at the typical spreads, Infinox offers competitive spreads across the board, especially for Forex currency Majors and Commodities.

Minimum Deposit

The FAQ page states that the minimum deposit required to start trading with Infinox is just £1 or equivalent in your base currency so this leaves the initial deposit entirely down to the client to deposit as much as he/she wishes to fund their account with, without any pressure to deposit a specific amount.

Deposit Methods & Costs

According to the FAQ page, Infinox accepts clients to fund their account via the following:

• Debit or credit card
• Skrill
• Neteller
• Bank transfer

Infinox does not charge its clients for making a deposit via the above methods available.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The withdrawal methods available with Infinox are the same as the deposit methods listed above, and the only fee-free withdrawals would be for the GBP trader account holders. If, for example, you have your account in EURO currency, you will be charged a 7 EUR fee but the first withdrawal of the month is totally free of charge.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Infinox process all their withdrawals within 3-5 working days, however, Neteller withdrawals are processed within the same day, and usually is the fastest method. Although wait time after processing can sometimes vary, Infinox does stick to their timescales and does not disappoint their clients with any delays.

Bonuses & Promotions

Infinox does not offer any deposit bonus schemes or such promotions, which of course reminds us this is a fully regulated broker, who cannot offer such schemes under strict regulatory policies.

Educational & Trading Tools

Infinox offers a small selection of reading material on trading and how it works, but it is not very thorough so if you are looking for some in-depth reading and learning to do, you may be better off approaching alternative avenues. However, not to worry as many free online trading education resources can be found online.

Customer Service

One thing that really stands out positively with this broker is the Infinox Customer Support team. They are available to contact via email, telephone and live chat during the hours of 8 AM – 6 PM between Monday and Friday. You will find customer support by Infinox more than satisfactory, with their prompt and professional responses. This level of quality in a customer support team is not all that easy to come across in a broker so it is refreshing when you find it as this adds a level of reassurance and confidence among the clients, knowing a representative is easily contactable and will deliver fast responses.

Demo Account

Infinox does offer a demo account so for those who are either just starting out in trading and wish to take some time to practice, this tool is available. Alternatively, if you simply wish to backtest a simulation of the live trading environment, the option is there, prior to opening a live account right away. Of course do bear in mind that while the demo account reflects the live trading conditions, it cannot take into account some real-life instances that occur in live trading, such as slippage.

Countries Accepted

The Infinox website disclaimer does state that these trading services are not directed at residents of the United States, Belgium or any particular country outside the UK or any country or jurisdiction where the use of these trading services would be contrary to local law or regulation. Of course, to register for a live account, all clients must go through a KYC process and submit a document proof of Identification and proof of address residency. At this point, you will be notified if your residency allows access to Infinox trading services or not.

Conclusion

On the whole, Infinox offers a very competitive trading service, as far as regulated brokers can offer. Their selection of tradable instruments is wide and the selection of trading account types are fair and justified and clients have the choice of trading on IXO or MT4 platform, as they wish. In addition, the customer support team are consistent in terms of speed of response, quality of response and professionalism.

One major downside to trading with this broker, however, is that those clients who do not hold a GBP account, are subject to paying incredibly expensive withdrawal fees, which can really stack up if you are withdrawing frequently. This is essentially a double-edged sword whereby the client may choose to keep on trading and try their luck, as opposed to withdrawing their profits as they earn them, meaning they will be more inclined to keep their funds with the broker and continue trading.

Overall Infinox is a good choice of broker to consider, even if you are not wholly experienced as a trader, this broker offers simplicity and straightforwardness for their clients, and a reliable 24/5 support team to assist you along the way.

UFX is an STP broker, formerly known as UFX Markets, that was founded back in 2007. In 2011, UFX became regulated in the EU, with their global business being regulated by Cyprus Securities (License number 127/10) and subject to CySEC rules. In 2014 the company underwent a rebranding exercise and became UFX. This brand also has an entity regulated in Vanuatu, under the name UFX GLOBAL. This is regulated by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC).

This broker offers fixed spreads on a proprietary state-of-the-art MassInsights Technology platform that is suitable for professional as well as beginner traders. On their website, they state that all UFX processes are encrypted and 100% secure. They ensure their clients that funds are held in segregated accounts at top-tier banking institutions. UFX offers six different account types for clients to choose from, including a Swap-free account, ideal for Islamic clients, with varying minimum deposit requirements.

Account Types

If you’re interested in opening an account with UFX, you have a choice of six different accounts available namely; Micro/Mini, Mini, Standard, Gold, Platinum, and Islamic. Minimum deposit requirements vary from $100 for the Micro accounts to $10,000 for the Platinum and the Islamic account. The Gold and Platinum accounts have access to the MT5 platform while all available accounts have access to daily market reviews and recommendations, 24h live support and a video library.

The Mini, Standard, Gold and Platinum accounts receive VIP trading support whilst only the Standard, Gold and Platinum accounts have access to exclusive updates. On their FAQ page regarding their Accounts, this broker states that clients are not allowed to open more than 1 account and they need the following documents to successfully open up an account with UFX; copy of passport, a copy of a bill or statement with current residential address and a copy of both sides of their credit card. Apart from this information, we could not find any useful information regarding their accounts such as; spreads and leverage on their Accounts page.

Platforms

This broker offers two trading platforms, their own UFX MassInsights Technology platform and the well-known MetaTrader 5.

UFX’s proprietary platform, which is accessible through any web browser, without the need to download, has a number of popular tools and features amongst clients that can help them make better-informed decisions whilst trading. For example, on this platform, clients can see which specific assets are trending in real-time, which assets have experienced an abrupt change in direction, any rapid buy/sell activity on specific assets, any larger-than-usual growth in overall trading volume on particular assets, Uptrends, Downtrends, financial events calendar as well as up to date market news.

Needless to say, this information is extremely valuable to those experienced brokers that know what to do with it. Although this platform does not require a download, it only supports the latest versions of Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari (version 8+) and Internet Explorer (version 10+). There is also the possibility of downloading a mobile application of this platform. This will enable you to access demo mode, to set Stop Loss, Take Profit & Limit Orders and round the clock support.

Apart from their own platform, UFX also offers its clients the most popular and the most trusted platform out there, the MT5. Although the MassInsights platform does have attractive tools, the MT5 offers a superior range of features on a user-friendly interface. Some of the features that you can find on MT5 are; Flexible trading, Virtual Hosting and fundamental analysis for those weighted financial decisions. You can find a download button for the MT5 platform on UFX’s website.

Leverage

With UFX, leverage levels are set by default to a maximum of 50:1 as it is required by the Regulator, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, but experienced retail clients will be permitted to trade CFDs with full leverage levels (400:1). On the other hand, less experienced clients will be permitted to trade CFDs with a decreased leverage of 30:1. Clients are classified as Experienced once they have completed a total of at least 30 trades or 5 consecutive months of trading with UFX, whichever happens first. Clients are notified by the broker once this has occurred.

Trade Sizes

All six accounts have different minimum trading volumes applied as explained below;

• Micro/Mini- $250
• Mini- $5,000
• Standard- $10,000
• Gold- $50,000
• Platinum- $100,000
• Islamic- $100,000

We could not find any information regarding the maximum trading volumes permitted by this broker, so we decided to contact them via live chat. They redirected us to the Accounts page that does not specify maximum trade sizes, but they did inform us that clients can open as many trades as they wish with the free margin that they have available.

Trading Costs

Potential clients can find some information regarding any fees or commissions they are expected to pay when dealing with UFX on their Terms and Conditions page.
For example, the level of overnight commissions also referred to as swap fees, are calculated once every day from Sunday to Friday and in triple on Wednesday. UFX’s spreads are based on market rates received from the execution brokers or liquidity providers and they are pre-determined according to the client’s account status. This broker also reserves the right to use floating spreads on any assets for MT5 accounts.

If you decide to join UFX you must also keep in mind that maintenance fees and inactivity fees may be charged. Although UFX does not charge regular maintenance fees, it does reserve the right to charge a $100 fee on an open account every 45 days, and if an account has been inactive for over 45 days, and inactivation fee of $100 will be charged.

Assets

UFX has a vast selection of assets available including over 40 Currencies, including Bitcoin and a variety of Major, minor and exotic pairs, 7 Commodities including Gold, Natural Gas, Oil, and Silver SP, a very large number of stocks including American Express, Amazon, Apple and Coca-Cola amongst many others as well as 7 indices including Dax30, CAC 40 and Dow Jones. You can find the list of all available assets on UFX’s website, along with the leverage and spreads for each.

Spreads

As we’ve just mentioned, potential clients can have a look at UFX’s spreads on their Assets page. If you were to compare this company’s spreads to other popular brokers of the moment, UFX’s are definitely on the high side. For example, the popular currency pair EUR/USD has a spread of 4.0 Pips while GPB/USD has a spread of 5.0 Pips.

Minimum Deposit

This broker offers 6 available accounts, all with varying minimum deposit requirements. The cheapest account to open is the Micro/Mini which has a minimum deposit of $100, making it affordable for a large number of traders, even those just starting out. The Mini and the Standard accounts have a $500 and $1,000 minimum required respectively. The Gold account can be opened for a minimum of $5,000 whilst both the Platinum as well as the Islamic account have a minimum deposit of $10,000. The last 3 accounts are targeted towards experienced traders rather than beginners.

Deposit Methods & Costs

UFX claims to have fast, easy and secure funding methods available for its clients. We also noticed that they have quite a variety of methods available namely; MasterCard, Visa, Visa Electron, Maestro, Diners Club, Local Bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller, Sofort, ELV Giropay and more. You can find the full list on UFX’s Funding page. According to their FAQ page, this broker does not charge any deposit fees. Also, if clients accidentally deposit funds into their account, they can request a withdrawal immediately by clicking on the Withdrawal tab on their trading platform.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Clients can withdraw funds by signing into their trading account, clicking on the profile button and choosing Withdraw Funds from the drop-down menu. Like most brokers, withdrawals will only be sent via the method with which the initial deposit was made. It seems like UFX does not charge any withdrawing fees, which is always a plus, but transfer fees may be imposed by banks.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals may take between 3-14 business days to be processed. The broker also mentions that the minimum amount for withdrawal is $25 and any funds exceeding the initial deposit will be transferred via Bank Transfer.

Bonuses & Promotions

UFX does have a promotions page on their website, and although this seemed positive at first, we realized that the last competition took place back in 2014. Their promotions, or competitions as they’re called on their website, seem to be quite different from the norm, as they require players to guess closing prices of Commodities as well as holding the longest drive. Although there isn’t any mention of a current, ongoing competition at the moment, you might want to check out this page perhaps more competitions will be available for clients in the future.

Educational & Trading Tools

At the moment, this broker does not offer any educational content on their website. They do go over some basics on their FAQ page, but there is no up to date information about the trading business. As for trading tools, one can find an economic calendar on UFX’s site as well as daily market reviews.

Customer Service

UFX can be reached either by Live chat or by telephone. We did have a pleasant experience when using their live chat options. We were assisted by a UFX worker who was quick and polite when giving us feedback. We did notice, however, that most of her answers were simply stating what was already on the site, so we suspect that the customer support might not be 100% informed about UFX’s trading conditions. You can find this broker’s contact information below:

UFX HEADQUARTERS – Reliantco Investments Ltd
139 Makarios Avenue, Zavos Business Center
3021 Limassol, Cyprus
Telephone numbers
Cyprus: +357 2503 0314
Germany: +49 303 080 8240
Czech-Republic: +420 22 888 22 70

Demo Account

UFX does offer a demo account that is designed to give potential clients the opportunity to learn how to trade within the Forex market without risking their capital in a risk-free environment. When we asked their customer support, we were informed that Demo accounts have $10,000 of virtual money and there is no time-limit on Demo account activity. In order to set up a demo account, clients must first sign in, click on the profile avatar and click on Demo.

Countries Accepted

Unfortunately, clients coming from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Belgium, Iraq, Turkey, and USA are not accepted to trade using this broker. You can find this information on UFX’s FAQ page.

Conclusion

UFX offers a wide range of assets available for trading, including Cryptocurrency CFDs and Single-Stocks. They also have a big choice of accounts to choose from, although the minimum deposit requirements are slightly high. Clients may find that the biggest drawback UFX has is its pricing options, with fixed spreads being quite high.

Their customer support is fast and efficient, and we should mention we were given an answer within minutes even on a Sunday. Educational content is not present on the website, but needless to say, those wanting to learn more about the industry have a never-ending supply of up to date content on Forex.Academy’s website as well as multiple other sites.

They do have quite a number of restricted countries, including America and New Zealand which is obviously a major drawback for clients coming from these particular places. This broker offers plenty of options when it comes to depositing and withdrawing and it is good to note that the broker does not charge any fees for these actions.

If you are interested in what UFX has to offer, you can head on to their website to find out more. We also suggest using their Live Chat as feedback is quick and efficient.

ZenTrader is a relatively new binary options broker that offers clients a different experience when trading. The main company, ZT Markets Limited, is registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines under the registration number 25071 IBC2018. This is a popular offshore zone for brokers as it offers easy registration, low taxes and companies don’t need to meet any regulatory requirements. Potential clients should always be aware of such information as there is a risk involved in dealing with this kind of broker.

ZenTrader state that this company was founded with the goal of creating the best trading experience for its clients. They claim to have the highest payouts on winning trades, a knowledgeable support team, and fast deposits and withdrawals. Clients can trade Currency pairs, Equity Indices, Commodities, Single stocks and also Crytpo. You won’t find a list of accounts available through this broker as they only offer 1 type of account that, in their words, is perfect for beginners as well as experienced traders.

Account Types

This broker only offers 1 single account platform, but with two types of options, Classic and On-Demand. Not much information is given regarding this account, apart from minimum investment requirement and maximum payouts reaching 200%. The payouts are based upon the asset being traded and the particular time frame. When we spoke to their live chat they explained that clients would be able to see the payout before entering the trade. This account seems to be directed towards short-term traders that like flexibility as well the convenience offered by a fixed schedule.

On the other hand, this makes this broker not appealing to traders looking for long-term trading. When using this account, clients can trade Forex, Commodity, precious metals, single stocks, and stock indices. The minimum trade size for Zentrader’s account is just $5 and the maximum exposure per account is $25,000 or equivalent.

The Classic High/Low options run on a fixed time schedule (15min, 30min, 1hour and 1 day) traders may enter or exit at any time up until the no-trading point just before expiry. On the other hand, if clients go for the On-Demand option, the countdown of the selected time frame, whether 30sec, 60sec, 3min or 5min begins when the trade is entered into. If you need more information about these options, you can speak to their efficient and informed live chat which we will be discussing soon further on in the review.

Platforms

ZenTrader offers its own trading platform that can be used via a web browser, mobile web app, and Android. Potential clients can have a look at what the platform looks like by trying out the Platform Demo found on this broker’s website. The design is very minimal and easy to follow, which is great for new traders. Through this demo, clients can also see what the percentage payouts are on all assets provided by this broker in the top left part of the page.

On the bottom right corner, clients also have an updated news feed regarding the trading industry. According to their live chat, the demo platform and all the data and conditions you see on it are identical to the live platform. Although this platform seems easy to trade with, some traders might still want the option of using a more popular platform such as MT4 or MT5 but unfortunately, this is not available when using this broker.

Leverage

This broker does not offer leverage but a payout percentage of up to 195% in 30 seconds. This refers to the total amount clients will receive back on any winning trade. For example, if a client placed 1 x ¥5000 trade on USD/JPY with a payout of 195% and win, they will receive back ¥9750. The ¥5000 investment + ¥4750 profit. Obviously, for losses, the same numbers are applied. The payout percentage is based upon the asset being traded as well as the timeframe. You can find out the payout percentages through their Demo platform. Investors should be wary of such high returns as this brings along with it great risks.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size with this broker is very affordable at $5 whilst the maximum trade size is $1000.

Trading Costs

There is no mention of commissions or fees applicable to clients on ZenTraders site. To make sure, we asked their live chat and they confirmed that no commissions are applied when trading with this broker.

Assets

ZenTrader offers quite a large variety of assets to choose from including the currency pairs, commodities, indices, single stocks as well as cryptocurrencies. We’ve listed down some of the available assets below.

• Forex: EUR/USD, AUD/JPY, AUD/NZD, USD/CHF, USD/JPY, EUR/JPY
• Commodities: Gold, Silver, US OIL (WTI)
• Stock Indices: Nikkei 225
• Single Stocks: Softbank, Fast Retailing, Toyota Motor
• Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin

You can find a current list of all available assets on the Trading Schedule page on ZenTrader’s website.

Spreads

We cannot comment on this as it seems Zentrader does not use spreads.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required to open up an account with this broker is $50 or equivalent. Although there are brokers who have a smaller minimum deposit, $50 is quite affordable to many traders, even those just starting out in the business.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Clients wanting to deposit funds into their ZenTrader accounts can do so via a number of methods. Local bank transfers are probably the simplest way to do so and deposits through this method are typically credited to the client’s account instantly, but this depends on the country the client is located in. This broker also accepts international bank transfers for those located in countries where local bank transfers are not available. Manual bank transfer deposits usually take between 1-3 business days.

This broker also accepts deposits through credit or debit cards in a range of currencies as well as multiple e-wallet payment systems which will enable you to fund your account instantly 24 hours a day. ZenTrader also allow clients to deposit funds through their preferred providers like ecoPayz, Paysafecard, iWallet and Jeton Wallet amongst others. The minimum deposits clients can make through ZenTrader is $50 and the max is $50,000 daily.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Clients can withdraw their funds through the same methods mentioned in the deposit methods segment of this review, namely; Bank transfers, credit & debit cards, bank transfers as well as e-wallets. There are no mentions of fees when it comes to withdrawing, but bank fees may be applied.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Clients can withdraw their funds by filling a withdrawal request on the withdraw page of the ZenTrader Dashboard. Withdrawal wait time depends on the method chosen by the client and clients can view the status of their withdrawal in the payment history page which is also found in their Dashboard. ZenTrader claims to be committed to processing their clients’ withdrawals as fast as possible. Some methods are instant whilst others, such as international bank transfers may take up to 3 business days.

Bonuses & Promotions

This broker has a dedicated page to Rewards on their website. These rewards enable their clients to earn cashback through their online trading plus accessing a range of exclusive benefits. The reward points depend on how much the client trades each month, obviously the more clients trade, the higher their rewards. According to their Rewards page no coupons, codes or redemption forms are required and the cash that clients earn goes back into their personal trading account.

The ZenTrader rewards are divided into three different categories; Bronze, Silver and Gold.

Bronze: Bronze traders will earn a $50 cashback bonus when they trade between $10,000 to $24,999.99 in a calendar month.

Silver: Silver traders will earn a $250 cashback when they trade between $25,000 to $49,999.99 in a calendar month.

Gold: Gold traders will earn a $500 cashback bonus when they trade $50,000.00 or more a month.

In order for clients to withdraw their cashback bonus, they must redeem them first. To redeem, clients must trade the cashback bonus amount of times 1.

Customer Service

Clients wanting to reach ZenTrader can do so via Live Chat or telephone. Their Live Chat response is instant and, in our case, we were met with a knowledgeable support provider. We asked a number of questions and he answered them all with no hesitation. This broker also has a Help Centre that you can find on their Support page. In this section, you will find information on how to get started with ZenTrader. They also have a number of articles that clients may find useful. Here are ZenTrader’s contact details:

Address: ZT Markets Limited
SVG IBC, First Floor, First St Vincent Bank Ltd Building
James Street,
Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines

Telephone: UK +44 152 422 0083
Switzerland +41 43 505 12 88
Japan +81 503 196 4588

Demo Account

Unlike most brokers, ZenTrader has a Platform Demo available on its website rather than an Account demo. The demo that they offer serves as an introduction to their own platform. On their platform, you can see all the basic information that you would need whilst trading in a simple and organized way. Trading currency, time frame, payout percentage, and account balance are visible on the platform’s main page.

Countries Accepted

Even though ZenTrader is a global broker, they do not accept clients from United States, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Estonia, Israel, Iran, North Korea, Palestine, Sudan, Syria or the Russian Federation. This list is subject to change due to increasing regulations. If you are interested in opening an account with ZenTrader you can see what current countries are accepted in the Country drop-down box found in the registration form.

Conclusion

ZenTrader is a new binary options broker that is registered offshore. They are different in the way they enable their clients to experience trading. Using their own platform, clients can experience a high payout of up to 195% which can be as rewarding as it is damaging, a quick and informative support team and no fees for deposits and withdrawals.

On the other hand, this broker only offers short-term options which make them quite limited for traders wanting more long term options. Potential clients may also find it difficult to gather important information regarding the single account that is being offered because most of the information is either missing or difficult to find.

Having said that, their support team is very quick and knowledgeable. ZenTrader also has an interesting Rewards scheme where clients can get cashback bonuses without actually doing anything else except trading. Keep in mind that this broker is unregulated and this might be a fact to consider when picking your broker of choice. If you’d like to know more visit ZenTrader’s website and try out their Demo platform.

BP Prime, which stands for Black Pearl Securities Limited, has been around since 2013 and it is authorized and regulated by the reputable Financial Conduct Authority (company number: 08823678). When a company is regulated by the FCA, this means reliability, funds are held securely and compliance with strict requirements. They are headquartered in London, with operational offices in Italy and China. This company has both retail and institutional clients from across South America, Asia, and Europe.

This UK forex broker was named Broker of the Year by Le Fonti Awards in 2018. BP Prime offers its clients a choice of three accounts with attractive trading conditions whilst using the most popular platform available, MT4. BP Prime claims to offer dedicated 24/6 customer support, non-dealing desk, fast execution, and low latency. On their website, clients can learn more about the background and experience of their IT Director, CEO & Founder as well as the compliance manager. This can help clients feel more at ease when trading money through this broker.

Account Types

If you are interested in creating an account with BP Prime you have three available options, namely; The Standard Account, The Pro Account and the Prime account.
The Standard and the Pro accounts have quite a lot of similarities including the minimum deposit requirement of $5,000 (or equivalent in Euro). This is quite high when compared to other brokers. We did find some contradicting information regarding this in another section of their website, but we will go into more detail about this in the Minimum Deposit segment of the review.

These two accounts are also fee-free and the minimum lot size available for trading is 0.01 lots. Spreads for the Standard account start from 1.4 Pips whilst the Pro Account spreads start from 0.6. The leverage for both these accounts changes according to the clients. For retail clients, leverage is set at 1:30 whilst for professional clients, this increases to 1:100. Both the Standard and the Pro accounts allow their clients to trade using all available instruments, we will go into detail about this in the Assets segment of this review.

The Prime account has a minimum deposit requirement of $10,000 or equivalent and spreads are competitive as they start from 0.1 pips. The minimum trade requirement is 0.01 lots and this particular account is suitable for high volume as well as Algo traders. Clients opting for this account should take into consideration that the commission is dependent on trading volumes. Leverage for retail clients is set at 1:30 whilst for professional clients, it is increased to 1:100.

Clients must meet a number of stipulated criteria in order to qualify as a professional trader. These criteria are; A financial instrument portfolio that exceeds €500,000, a minimum of 1-year experience in trading in the financial sector and the placing of 10 relevant trades of a significant size per quarter for the previous year.

On the FAQ page on their website, we also found information stating that this broker allows hedging. You can find more details about this on their website. Accounts that are left with 0 balance are archived after a ninety-day period but there are no dormant fees.
We have outlined the main characteristics of all accounts offered by BP Prime below:

The Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: $5,000 (or equivalent)
Leverage: Retail Clients – 1:30
Professional Clients – 1:100
Spreads: 1.4 Pips
Commissions: None

The Pro Account
Minimum Deposit: $5,000 (or equivalent)
Leverage: Retail Clients – 1:30
Professional Clients – 1:100
Spreads: 0.6 Pips
Commissions: None

The Prime Account
Minimum Deposit: $10,000 (or equivalent)
Leverage: Retail Clients – 1:30
Professional Clients – 1:100
Spreads: 0.1 Pips
Commissions: Dependent on trading volume

Platforms

BP Prime uses the most popular platform available, which is the MetaTrader4 (MT4). The MT4 gives traders easy access to Commodities, Cryptos, Forex, and CFDs. This platform comes equipped with over 50 in-built indicators that simplify and highlight key trends that helps clients to determine the best entry and exit points. Another cool feature of this platform is the ability to automate trades by using Expert Advisors as well as the facility of building your own trading strategy, including instant executions, stop orders and trailing stop functionalities. You can use this platform on any device from desktop to mobile devices which makes it easy to trade on the go, wherever you are.

Leverage

When comparing BP Prime’s leverages to other brokers, they seem to be quite low as the maximum leverage offered is that of 1:100. The leverages are reasonable and they comply with regulations applicable to CFD trading. Apart from this, the ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) introduced a leverage cap of 1:30 for retail clients in 2018 and this broker must comply with these regulations.

Trade Sizes

The minimum lot size for all accounts is 0.01 Lots. We did not find information regarding the maximum lot sizes available for trade with this broker on their accounts page.

Trading Costs

The Standard and Pro account are fee-free which means no commissions are applicable when trading through these accounts. The Prime account, on the other hand, does have commissions that are dependent on the trading volumes, but we could not find any more details about this commission. You can reach out to the broker if you want more details regarding any fees you will encounter when trading with the Prime account.

Assets

When trading with BP Prime you will have quite a variety of assets to trade with, namely; Forex, Indices, Commodities as well as Cryptocurrencies. We saw 28 currency pairs available for trading on their FOREX page. The currencies are split into three categories; Majors, Minors and Emerging/Exotics. The trading hours for these assets are from Sun 21:00 to Friday 21:00. We also noticed that spreads for Major pairs were quite low as most fell under 0.7 Pips.

Clients can also trade more than 10 index CFDs, including; DAX, S&P, DOW JONES and FTSE amongst others, with real-time pricing either through GUI or via FIX API. BP Prime claims to offer extremely tight spreads offering the chance to profit big from small price movements. Clients can also be more in control of their risks since this broker offers flexible leverage when dealing with these assets.

BP Prime has four commodities available for trading including; UK Oil, US Oil, Gold, and Silver. Spreads are quite low here as well as they range from 0.04 to 0.027. US Oil, Gold and Silver can be traded from Sunday 22:00 till Friday 20:45 while UK Oil can be traded from midnight on Monday till Friday 20:45.

On their Cryptocurrencies page, potential clients can have a look at a table comparing this broker with other popular brokers who trade Cryptocurrencies. This data is based on the analysis of the published Crypto spreads published on BP Prime’s UK competitor sites. Leverage on this type of asset is up to 1:10 and no commissions or fees apply. You can trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple.

Spreads

Spreads with BP Prime are quite low overall, although they seem to be a bit high on the Standard account. One must also remember that although the spreads on the Prime account are very low, there will be a commission to add to that, so keep that in mind.

Minimum Deposit

On BP Prime’s ACCOUNTS page, one can see the minimum deposit required for each account; Standard & Pro Account £5,000 and £10,000 for the Prime account. We thought these requirements were quite high, especially for the Standard account, where clients can find other brokers offering similar conditions for much less.

Whilst we were going through the FAQ page, we did find a piece of contradicting information regarding minimum deposits. On this page, the broker states that the Standard account has a minimum deposit of £100, the Pro £1,000 and the Prime £10,000. Although these figures make more sense, we are unsure which figures are the correct ones. We reached out to BP Prime through live chat to find out, but as of yet, we have not received an answer.

Deposit Methods & Costs

If you’ve opened up an account with BP Prime you can choose one of the following methods to deposit money into your account; Credit/Debit card, Neteller, Skrill, WebMoney, and Bank Wire Transfer. There are no fees charged to clients from the broker’s side, but they do inform clients that their credit card provider may charge transaction fees or international processing fees.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Currently, BP Prime has a number of options available for clients wanting to withdraw their funds, such as multiple credit cards, multiple electronic payment methods, bank wire transfer, and local bank transfers. Money can be deposited in any currency the client wishes. This will be automatically converted to the base currency of the client’s account.

In order to withdraw funds, clients must have a validated account. Once confirmation has been received from the Validation Department that the account has been validated, clients can request funds withdrawal by logging into the Members Safe Area, selecting the withdrawal tab and sending a withdrawal request.

Withdrawals are sent back only to the original source of deposit. Clients can also withdraw their money whilst having an open position. This is possible if, at the moment of payment, the free margin of the client exceeds the amount specified in the withdrawal request.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

All withdrawal requests are processed by the broker’s back office within 24hours on business days. Bank wire or credit/debit card usually takes 2-5 business days, whereas standard bank wire in the EU countries takes 3 working days and in some other non-EU countries this may take up to 5 working days.

Bonuses & Promotions

At the moment, it seems as though no bonuses or promotions are available when trading with this broker.

Educational & Trading Tools

Clients of BP Prime can register to watch free Webinars organized by the broker which covers a variety of topics related to trading. Apart from these, clients, as well as potential clients, can access a number of interesting articles related to trading, with an emphasis on Cryptocurrencies, which can help assist beginners as well as professional traders in their trading endeavors.

Although we didn’t find any specific information regarding trading tools on their website, we did find mention of this on their Brochure that you can access on their Legal Documents page. Here BP Prime state that they offer a suite of multi-platform, multi-lingual, market informed apps which help their traders to optimize their trading strategies. They claim that these apps give traders institutional-quality tools over and above those offered by MT4. This includes decision assistance, messaging broadcasting facilities, news & market data and trade execution, and management.

Customer Service

Clients wanting to get in touch can do so either by live chat, request forms or a free call back. This broker offers these services 24/6. We did try to contact BP Prime through live chat but we weren’t given any feedback regarding our queries. You can find BP Prime’s contact details below:

Address: BP Prime
Lower floor, 62 Great Eastern St
London EC2A 3QR, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (0)20 3745 7101
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

On BP Prime’s website, you can find a Try a Free Demo Button. This button takes you to a simple form that you must fill out. Apart from the usual personal details, you will also get to choose which account you want to test, Standard, Pro or Prime. All three options are offered in USD.

Countries Accepted

In their FAQ page, one can find information that BP Prime does not accept US clients because of regulations. In the footer of their website this broker claims that the content of this site is not directed at clients of the US, Canada, France or Belgium. If you are from any of these countries, you might encounter some issues when trying to open up an account with BP Prime. You can contact the broker directly for more information regarding restricted countries.

Conclusion

This UK based broker is licensed by the FCA, which for some, is a major plus. Apart from this it uses the industry’s leading platform MT4 and claims to offer even better proprietary apps available for clients. It offers its clients a choice of three accounts, two of which being fee-free. Leverages are reasonable whilst spreads are low especially in the Prime account. The website does offer some up to date and useful educational content in the form of webinars and articles. Although BP Prime claims to offer 25/6 customer support, we weren’t given any feedback via live chat.

If you think you’d feel safe trading through BP Prime, get a closer look at their conditions by visiting their website.

Aide Securities Futures Co., Ltd is a Hong Kong-based broker that offers Securities, Futures and Forex trading on leverage. Additionally, the broker is licensed to conduct advisory on futures and securities trading and Asset Management. The group is oriented to the Asian market, not offering any content in English. Financial Education is one of the best in Hong Kong, and the management behind this broker is publicly known for its great performance.

EDDID is an acronym of Efficient Dedicated Dependable Innovative Dynamic, the usual what most brokers want. Professionalism is one of the trademarks of this broker that is also commonly cherished in the business culture in Hong Kong. The website does not have a really pleasant design but has some content that shows transparency and a good scope of the broker business. Investors can rely on the regulation license of EDDID, Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission – FSC, while this review of EDDID will focus on the services provided so you can decide on the investment, provided you are from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau or mainland China.

Account Types

EDDID has an account for each service, Futures, Forex and Stocks Account. The Forex trading account is promoted by offering 24h assets trading availability, leverage, low spreads, and easy to use trading platform. The minimum deposit is not disclosed, one can assume the minimum is what is needed for opening a minimal volume trade on top of the margin requirements.

To trade Forex, one needs to install EDDID’s proprietary platform.
Securities Account is focused on Hong Kong and US stocks. The broker describes other securities like ETFs and Options, but in an educational manner, without much relevance to the features of the Account. There are special sections for the Hong Kong fees and commissions, and the US market. Looking at these tables one can see so many fees that it is very confusing and most of the beginners will look away from this presentation. Transparency is evident although the structure is overcomplicated.

Futures Account features the leverage, two-way trading, and low deposits required for Futures position opening. The dedicated in-house platform is available to download that provided real-time quotes with the addition of futures investment analysis. A full manual is provided on how to use the platform for this Account in Chinese.

EDDID does not provide specifics of their Accounts, you will not see anything typical brokers usually present. Additionally, special platforms for each account, very different from MetaTrader, make it clear that EDDID is specialized for the local market. The account opening approval process takes 1-3 days.

Platforms

We have found 3 different platforms specially developed for trading Futures, Forex, and Securities. Starting from the Forex platform, probably where most traders will go considering easier comprehension of the Account features, it is called EDDID mF4 Trader. It sounds like a copy of MT4, but actually, it is coded in HTML and shares some similarities. EDDID presents the platform features although we have filtered some of the content that is not useful to anyone. The mF4 features are Clear trading interface; Adjustable trading size; One-Click trading; Stop Loss/Take Profit set by price, pips or range; Up to 20 technical indicators; Newsfeed, financial data, and market analysis.

The platform is available in a few versions. For mobile devices, there are Android and iOS versions. We have tried the Android version called EDDID Fx Pro. The app is also available in English and is simple but without many features. The main list is presented with 40 forex pairs with their respective Bid and Ask prices without any kind of filtering options.

Opening a position is easy enough, with SL/TP setting by price, Pending orders, tolerable slippage level, and “Good Till” setting for specifying timed orders. The execution is fast without delays of more than half a second. The chart takes some time to load and has a toolbar in full-screen mode with timeframe setting, crosshair, rotation lock, instrument selection, and indicator toggle button.

The indicators are RSI, MACD and Bollinger Bands with default settings and non-customizable. These are the only indicators you can use. The app is useful for emergency trading and not intended for serious analysis. The main issue we had is the connection interruptions with the server that led to forced logout. Also, the app would not load on retry, so you will need to force close it. The fingerprint login makes things faster, but these issues should not happen this often at least.

The desktop mF4 platform is available for Windows in Java and HTML versions. Installing is easy with the ID and password that are sent to the email. The registration can also be done from the platform. At first glance, you will see similarities with the popular MT4 but it is clear that this platform has fully customizable module windows. Click and Drag also has a context menu for easier arrangement.

Chart type can be set to Heiken Ashi in addition to the classic that MT4 also has. Every chart has a statement in the bottom that “they are for reference only”, like they may not show the real-time quotes. A top toolbar will give you options to draw Fibonacci levels, channels, lines, shapes, text and so on, but also the ability to fix window scaling.

Crosshair does not measure points as the MT4 does. Timeframes are classic, we have not found anything advanced here like in cTrader where 2H timeframe can be set, for example. Traders can save their workspaces although only one kind of template can be saved called “default indicators”. The list of indicators available is limited to exactly 20 as promoted. All of them are common to the trading community.

Open Positions module and the Journal are different than MT4 with more focus on orders type listing than on showing various fees, swaps, executions, etc. Some numbers are also off the scale, the balance is probably showing Yuan even our base account currency is in USD. The promoted News Feed module is nowhere to be found. Interestingly, our position opened within the mobile platform cannot be closed from the desktop, as it looks like the position sizes are incompatible. There are few cases of platform crashing to desktop.

The Futures application is called EPolestar. The platform failed to run after installation so we were unable to review it. We advise against installing it in the first place as it contains compromising files and could not be uninstalled the normal way.

ED One-Stop application should encompass Forex, Futures, and Stocks although it is only reserved for China and it is in Chinese. The Securities platform is available for mobile devices running on Android and iOS. Windows desktop version is also there with the addition of a web-accessible platform. As all were only written in Chinese, we were unable to test it.

Leverage

The leverage is up to 1:20 for all Forex currency pairs. For Futures, the broker does not disclose the leverage except mention that they are low. The trading conditions table presents some very messy information that could be outdated as the link to the Hong Kong Exchange is provided to check the actual conditions.
For Securities, no leverage is mentioned.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is 10,000 units for Forex or 0.1 lots. EDDID has set this level probably to enforce the minimum deposit to more serious amounts. Additional steps volume size is also 0.1 lots. The Margin Call is at 5% level and Stop Out will be executed at a 1% margin level. This means EDDID allows almost maximal drawdowns.

Trading Costs

EDDID has put a lot of information on its complex fee structure. For Forex no commissions are charged. The updated swaps list is disclosed online and they are under normal levels with common positive figures, calculated in points. EUR/USD has -7.8651 long position swap and a positive 3.2039 for short while GBP/JPY 0.2822 long and – -5.2826 short. In the exotics zone the swaps remain very low, for example, -7.2145 long and -3.5500 short for the USD/CHN, USD/RUB has -18.01 points long and 5.6325 for short, and the biggest swap we could find is for the USD/TRY pair with -42.274 for long and 13.568 for short position. Spot Gold against the US Dollar is also lited with very low swaps, -7.2508 long and 3.6215 short.

Hong Kong stock commissions are HK $100 minimum or 0.25% and 0.005% transaction fee. A physical stock deposit fee is 250 to 350 HKD per transaction while the withdrawal fee is 8 HKD per lot. Other stock related fees are also listed that are not that important. Custody fee of 0.12 HKD per lot per month for margin accounts exists and also inactivity fee for not trading for more than one year of 250 HKD.

Agent corporate services also have fees, so for example, 1.0.20% of the dividend received (minimum charge 30 HKD) for dividend collection, and many more. US Stock commissions are 0.8% for the normal trading sessions. After a market close, the commission is 60 HKD minimum.

For Futures EDDID has a separate fee for each trading instrument. For example, Hang Seng Index Futures has a 20 HKD exchange fee per lot with the addition of a trading commission that is negotiable. A total of 8 futures are listed with their associated fees and required margins. Global Futures all have negotiable commission rates. Negotiation is common in China and is part of the culture.

Assets

EDDID assets range can be considered specific to the market and average compared to the usual brokerage houses. With Forex there are a total of 40 currency pairs. All majors are listed with the addition of some exotics with good trading conditions like USD/CHN, USD/RUB, USD/HKD, USD/MXN ad USD/CZK, and Scandinavian quoted currency pairs.
In the Index category, we have encountered a total of 10 and most of them are not common like the MSCI Taiwan Index, SGX Nikkei Stock Average, or the Mini E-mini Dow Jones Index.

In the futures set, there are Forex futures also with 9 total contracts. Some of them are New Zealand Dollar future, EUR, YEN, etc. Energy futures are both Oli types, Brent and Crude with the addition of Natural Gas and Small Crude Oil. Commodities futures are extended compared to the industry with some rarities. You can find Cors, Soybean, Wheat and Soy Flour but also some rarely listed metals like Kohara Copper. Metals encompass the Spot Gold, Silver Copper and smaller equivalent contracts. Bond Futures are also present, they are all US treasury bonds with a 10-year maturity. As for Stocks we could not confirm what is offered as the platform is in Chinese and no other information is disclosed online.

Spreads

EDDID promotes spreads from 0.8 pips for Forex. In the time of a very calm period, we have observed that EUR/USD had 9 points variable spread, and also USD/JPY – 9 points. AUD/USD is next with 12 points and then we see a sharp increase with the EUR/JPY at 17 points, NZD/USD – 23 points, GBP/AUD – 52 points, NZD/CAD – 68 points, meaning the 0.9 pips spread is reserved for the most liquid currency pairs. From exotics, USD/CHN has 208 points, USD/TRY – 841, USD/MXN – 2094 and USD/HKD – 110. Spreads for the other assets were not available to us.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit is not set but should be in line with the mentioned trade sizes, leverage, and other fees.

Deposit Methods & Costs

EDDID, like everything else, does not have classical deposit methods. “FPS” transfers are described in 3 steps and involve making screenshots and emailing. Costs involved with this bank transfer method will not be reimbursed by EDDID. The usual Bank Transfer is also possible with a similar procedure, EDDID’s Bank of China account is accepting 3 currencies, HKD, USD, and Yuan. A check deposit is rare to see but it is possible with EDDID. It can be delivered in person or by post. EDDID does not accept any other deposit methods.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

For local withdrawals the broker requires a withdrawal form, then the check will be sent by mail to the trader. Cross border withdrawals are initiated from the E-Stop portal. The Wire Transfer will be processed for non-Hong Kong bank and a fee of 350 HKD will be charged. Some additional fees may be charged by the bank and an exchange feel will apply if the account currency is not matching.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal processing is available from Monday to Friday until 2 pm. After 2 PM the withdrawal will be processed the following working day. Bank transfer could take up to 7 days.

Bonuses & Promotions

EDDID does not have any bonuses or promotions officially for a longer period but we have encountered an article in the company news section where 1000 HKD worth of gifts is handed to assignees to the seminars.

Educational & Trading Tools

EDDID is great at seminars they conduct within their local offices. The Team behind is professional with extensive experience in various financial areas. By looking at the activity timeline, we have noticed that they are often, although the last one is held in March 2019. Topics covered are classified into Basic Investment Teaching, Investment strategy sharing, and Market trend analysis. Specifically, some of the topics are “Five reasons for the Yen to rise”, “Global Central Bank policy review”, “Derivatives Win Strategy”. In addition to this, two articles about the US and Hong Kong stocks trading are short and cover some basics, certainly not enough for novices.

The company news section is very well managed with frequent events coverage worth checking. This provides some insight and very high activity the company encourages.

Customer Service

EDDID has Chat, Phone and email channels ready. The Chat service is through the Whatsapp service, meaning the broker will have insight into your phone number, compromising your privacy. The support is in the Chinese language.

Demo Account

The Demo account is available and is easy to create. It can also be done within the mF4 platform. There are no limits mentioned.

Countries Accepted

There is no information about country limits although the One-Stop application is available only to China.

Conclusion

To complement with additional information of the ADDID review we would like to note that the broker key selling point is the Asset Management service. The service is accommodated to the client with great diversification options available only to the EDDID. This is the core of EDDID operations, to access their Managed Accounts service, a minimum of 50,000 USD investment is needed. On the other side, trading conditions are not good enough to be competitive for world-class brokers. Whatsmore, the platform shows some stability flaws and limitations, it is inferior to Metatrader. Finally, the fee structure will avert most of their potential customers.

Britannia Global Investments is one of the new rebrands and integration with Destek Markets, a former experienced Turkish broker. Britannia Global Investments is an FCA regulated broker, although the website name – britanniacapitalmarkets.com registered in the license is not the current domain – www.britannia.com/gi. We have further investigated this issue and the results are in the Conclusion section of this Britannia Global Investments Review.

The website itself is very limited in terms of content, information, and features. There are a few dead links and the trading conditions are not presented transparently. The broker is relatively new under this name, since October 2018, under the name of Britannia Capital Markets. The company has not yet established full effective business potential as it is evident by the website alone.

There are no special features about this broker, the biggest selling point is the FCA regulation and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme of up to £50,000 (£85,000 is stated elsewhere on the website). As stated, the broker is also under the MiFID directive. Financial Ombudsman Scheme that is provided can offer some security in certain cases but bureaucratic difficulties may arise if the company is constantly rebranding.

There are no specific figures, videos, tools, tables, feedback or names that could give some substance to the broker presentation except classic, eloquent financial marketing content. We will evaluate Britannia Global Investments services and give traders insight into what is behind the words.

Account Types

Britannia Global Investments does not have a set of account types. The registration is done manually via the email to the broker ([email protected]). The registration link is also not promoted, as usual, the link exists only in the footer of their website. Trading features are stated in the Trading section, traders can use up to 1:100 leverage, have “extensive trading tools and research offering” and “Easy account management”. Except for the leverage, nothing else is clear in this offer. There is no trading conditions page. Trading assets are limited to Commodities, Forex and Index CFDs according to the website. More on this in the Assets and Platforms section.

Platforms

Britannia Global Investments offers only one platform, MetaTrader 4. MT4 is usually available for mobile devices as a web-accessible, and desktop computers. In Britannia Global Investments case, the links to these are not working. The only link that works on the broker site is initiating the standard Windows 32bit MT4 client. This MT4 version is the default by MetaQuotes, without any modifications and updated to the latest version. There are two servers to choose from, Demo and Live with around 55ms ping. 4 default charts are displayed with the major currency pairs and One-click trading buttons visible.

The About window will show the former website address – britanniacapitalmarkets.com and also the former registered business address. There are no additional templates or indicators packed in the MT4 installation. Trading instruments symbols are focused around Forex, there are 8 Forex groups and 2 reserved for Indexes and Commodities.

Interestingly, Turkish Lyra has a special group, showing signs of Turkish broker origin. The instrument specification shows enough information about the trading conditions. Trade Terminal is properly showing trading costs, swaps and commissions. The execution times have a range from 115ms to 190ms with an average of 160ms. The deviation is present but all executions were under 200ms in normal market conditions. This time average for a Dealing Desk broker as Britannia Global Investments states.

Leverage

We had some suspicion of the 1:100 leverage that is presented on the Britannia Global Investments’ website but this leverage is real. It is still not clear how this leverage can be in effect for a broker that adheres to MiFID or FCA for clients in the EU region. All Forex pairs have this leverage, including the exotics. XAU/USD is the same, with 1:100 leverage, also XAG/USD. Commodities do not deviate, 1:100 is applied to both Oil types.

Trade Sizes

Britannia Global Investments is a micro-lot broker meaning all trading instruments have a minimum trade volume of 0.01 lots, except for Indexes that have 0.1 lots minimum. For Forex, the maximum volume per trade is 20 lots, also for precious metals while Indexes have 200 lots maximum. Stops level exists and should not be a problem for fast traders as it is set to 10 points for Forex currency pairs, Commodities, and Indexes. Stops level of 10 points or 1 pip means no Stop Loss or Take Profit orders can be placed in the 1pip range of the current asset price. Step volume is also standardized to all assets to 0.01 lots and 0.1 lots for Indexes.

Trading Costs

Britannia Global Investments does not state any cost figures regarding the commission on the website, legal documents or the MT4 platform. The only trading costs are negative swaps. What we have observed in the MT4 platform the swaps are under normal levels, calculated in points and mostly tripled on Wednesdays. EUR/USD has a -13.22 points long position overnight charge and 6.01 points for short. Other majors are under similar levels, for example, USD/JPY 4.97 points long and -12.32 short, GBP/USD -7 long and -0.5 short, or AUD/USD -1.4 long and -3.3 points short swap.

As seen, positive swaps are not that common, and usually include just the USD currency pairs. Swaps under the minors group are all single-digit for both position sides except the USD/SGD with -6.7 points for long and -10.4 for short position. More exotic pairs like the USD/TRY have -139 long position and 91 points positive swap for short but tripled on Thursdays. USD/CNH does not have a high swap considering it is considered exotic, -79 points for long and -26 for short position. Other exotics are also lower than average, so USD/HKD has -13.2 long swap and -53.1 short position swap, USD/ZAR -300 for long and 150 points positive swap for short, USD/PLN -24.2 long and -20.9 short and the highest swap is reserved for the USD/MXN with -550 points for long and 300 points positive swap for a short position.

XAU/USD has a single-digit, -9.5 points for long and 1.5 for short. Both Oil types have swaps tripled on Fridays, US Crude Oil has -0.25 points long and -0.82 points short position swap.

Assets

Britannia Global Investments has only 4 trading instrument categories offered by our count. These are Forex, Precious metals, Commodities, and Indexes.

Forex range is good enough for the most forex traders. We have counted 42 currency pairs total listed in the MT4 platform. All the major and crosses are present and forex traders will like the symbol groupings to Minor, Exotic, Major, FX Scandinavia and FX Australasia. The exotic range is solid and includes currencies like CNH, HKD, MXN, PLN, and ZAR, all quoted under the USD. There is an issue with the USD/CNH, AUD/NZD and USD/HKD instruments as trading are in full access although the MT4 platform was not able to execute orders and gave us the Off Quotes warning. This means that these exotics at the current state are not liquid enough to be tradeable and, Britannia Global Investments will have to find more liquidity providers. Taking this into account, this forex range is mediocre compared to other brokers in the industry.

Precious metals are limited to spot Gold and Silver, although they have very good trading conditions.

Indexes range is also limited as there are only 6 total listed in MT4. These are Germany30, UK100, US30, US500, and NASDAQ 100 as named in the platform. These also have a 1.5-hour break around day end trading hours.

Finally, Commodities are just energy assets and limited to just two major Oil types, Crude Oil and Brent.

Spreads

Britannia Global Investments has floating type spreads for all assets. Based on our reading form the MT4 the spreads are competitive and do not deviate much for more exotic instruments. Forex currency pairs with the tightest spread are the EUR/USD with 5 points spread, USD/JPY with 6 points, GBP/USD with 5 points and AUD/USD with 9 points spread. NZD/USD, EUR/JPY, EUR/CHF, and USD/CAD are the second with spreads just above 10 points.

Other minors do not go over 20 points spread and the exotics have much higher spreads as expected. USD/TRY has 613 points spread, while EUR/TRY has a tighter one at 318 points. USD/PLN has 115 points, USD/MXN 227 points, and the off quotes USD/HKD has the last recorded spread at 445 points.

One of the good traits of this broker is the spread for the spot Gold – 14 pips, one of the best in the industry. For Silver, it is 20 points. Brent and Crude Oil have similar spreads around 50 points.

Minimum Deposit

Britannia Global Investments does not have a statement about the minimum deposit. What is known that the previous brand, Britannia Capital Markets, has a minimum of 100 USD/GBP/EUR. Subsequent deposits also had a minimum of 20 EUR/USD/GBP.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Bank transfer to Britannia Global Investments’ Barclays Bank account is the only mentioned deposit method. Currencies supported are GBP, EUR, and USD. The broker will not charge a fee but fees for the bank transfer will not be covered. It may take up to 5 business days for the funds to reflect in the trading account.

it is possible to transfer funds from a different broker to Britannia Global Investments trading account. As stated, only FCA regulated UK brokers are eligible for this transfer. The minimum requirement is 5000 EUR, USD, GBP per transfer.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

For withdrawals, no information is disclosed. If a trader wants to withdraw, he will need to contact Britannia Global Investments via email.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

If only bank transfers are possible, processing may take up to 7 days for international transfers.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are no Bonuses or Promotions disclosed.

Educational & Trading Tools

Actual educational material available online does not exist, as well as any tools or the Economic Calendar. Although Britannia Global Investments states that they will provide “a wide range of educational and research tools”.

Customer Service

The broker states they are available 24/5, offer multilingual support via phone, email, chat or live in their offices. We have not found a chat service and the broker location does not point to offices in London.

Demo Account

A demo account is easy to open from the MT4 platform with a few personal information fields. Here you can select your leverage (up to 1:100) and the number of virtual funds. You can open multiple demo accounts. No email confirmation is required. It is unknown how long the demo lasts.

Countries Accepted

The broker mentions the United States, Belgium, and Canada, or any country or jurisdiction where their services would be contrary to local law or regulation.

Conclusion

While reviewing Britannia Global Investments services and structure, we have found a few interesting facts. 79.06% of traders lose money when trading with this broker, which is a bit below average in the industry. What is more interesting and confusing is the leverage provided which is above the regulatory limits of 1:30 for retail traders. As Britannia Global Investments does not offer separate conditions for professional clients, or at least not stated on the website, which is obligatory, it is not clear how the FCA and MiFID regulation does not apply even though the FCA register contains this license. The license does not contain the www.britannia.com/gi domain, only britanniacapitalmarkets.com.

Additionally, the broker is not registered under the Money Laundering Regulations of FCA.
The broker does not have any ratings under the current brand or domain, nor in the previous. This could mean that no marketing is pursued or simply not good enough to attract investors. For now, Britannia Global Investments is under the radar.

From the company history, we have also found uncommon activities like 6 official business address changes within one year, a few official company name changes or rebranding, many official managers and directors switches, and very low employee number for such a company (on some occasions just 5). Additionally, the website may be still in construction, but important documents like Terms and Conditions have a dead link from some pages.

The website’s certificate expired on 12/12/2019, so every time you visit Britannia Global Investments’ website, a warning will pop out about an insecure connection. Transparency issues are also present, both in the legal documents and on the website. The broker, on the other hand, provides solid Forex and metals trading conditions and will probably finish the incomplete business venture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IGOFX is a forex broker located in Vanuatu which aims to be a world-class grade forex company and wants to become a market leader by committing themselves to deliver competitive pricing, reliable trade execution, and innovative trading tools. In this review, we will be looking at what is on offer to see if they live up to these expectations or if they fall short.

Account Types

There are three different account types available, these are the mini account, the standard account, and the premium account. Let’s take a little look at what each of them offers.

Mini Account: The mini account is the entry-level account from IGOFX, due to this it has a very low entry requirement and needs a minimum deposit of just $1. The base currency must be in USD and it can be leveraged up to 1:1000. The minimum trade size for the account is 0.01 lots and hedging is allowed. There are 30 currency pairs and metals available for trading and you can also get a swap-free (Islamic) version of this account.

Standard Account: The standard account increases the minimum deposit value up to $300 which his still very accessible. The account is also required to have USD as a base currency and leverage is now set at 1:500 as a maximum. The minimum trade size if 1 lot and hedging is allowed, the same 30 currency pairs and metals are available and just like the mini account, you can have this account as a swap-free version.

Premium Account: The premium account sees the minimum deposit jump all the way up to $20,000 which will price out many retail traders. The base currency stays at USD and the maximum leverage remains at 1:500 as a maximum. The minimum trade size is 1 lot and there are 30 currency pairs and metals available to trade. Hedging is allowed and just like the other accounts, if you require a swap-free account, you can have one in this account variant.

Platforms

IGOFX offers a few different ways to trade however only one of them is based around forex and so we will only be looking at MetaTrader 4, the other platforms such as the Binary Options we will not be concentrating on.

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

Leverage

Maximum leverage is dependant on the account that you have, if you have a mini account then the maximum leverage would be 1:1000, if you have the standard or premium account then the maximum leverage available to you would be 1:500.

Leverage can be selected when opening up an account, should you wish to change the leverage once an account is already open you will need to get in contact with the customer service team, also ensure that there are no open trades when making a leverage change request.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes also depend on the account that you are using. The mini account has a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots which is also known as a micro lot. The trades then go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next trade would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. The standard and premium accounts have a minimum trade size of 1 lot, it is unknown how much each increment is, it could be 2 lots as the next trade or it could be 1.01 lots, we can not tell for sure.

The maximum trade size can be a little confusing, the FAQ on the website states that the maximum trade size you can have is 1000 lots, however, the maximum that MT4 can open is 500 lots, either way, that is far too high, we would never recommend opening trades larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets and liquidity providers to execute the trades quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

There is no mention of any commission on the website so it would appear that there are not any added to any of the accounts, all three accounts use a spread based payment structure that we will be looking at later in this review.

There are swap charges which are either paid or received for holding trades overnight, these can be viewed from within the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. If you opt for a swap-free account then an administration charge will be added to the account instead of interest.

Assets

This is a major downside to IGOFX, the fact that there are only 30 currency pairs and 2 metals to trade, it can leave you with nothing to trade or analyze at times. Gold and Silver are the two metals which hare also the most popular two. In terms of currency pairs, there are ones such as AUD/CAD, EUR/JPY and EUR/USD, there does not seem to be any exotic pairs, just majors and minors/crosses.

Spreads

Spreads are the main way that IGOFX makes their money, they add on an additional spread which they then take as profit. There is not a stated difference between the accounts but we would expect the higher entry requirement accounts to have slightly lower spreads, however, we can only go on what the website says.

Some examples of spreads are:

• AUD/CAD: 8 pips
• AUD/USD: 3 pips
• EUR/GBP: 4 pips
• GBP/CHF: 7 pips

As you can see the pips are relatively high, even for accounts with no commission. It is also important to note that the spreads are variable (also known as floating), this means that they move with the markets, when the markets are being volatile then the spreads will widen and will be seen much higher than the numbers stated.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount to open an account is $1, however, the minimum amount allowed by any of the deposit methods is $2 with Perfect Money so that will be the minimum deposit, should you wish to open an account other than the mini then you will need to make a deposit of at least $300 for the standard account and $20,000 for the premium account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There is not a huge selection of deposit methods and it is disappointing to see so many processors excluded from the list. We have set out a little list below to give you some basic information on the methods available.

• Bank Wire Transfer – $100 Min – Bank Fees Apply
• Visa Credit / Debit – Min $100 – 5% Fee
• MasterCard Credit / Debit – Min $100 – 5% Fee
• Perfect Money – Min $2 – 0% fee

It is a shame to see transfer fees added to the deposits if using bank wire transfer be sure to check with your bank to see if there are any added fees from the bank.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw as they are to deposit, the same information is displayed on the deposit. withdrawal page so we are assuming that all the information posted above is also correct for withdrawals, for clarification this is:

• Bank Wire Transfer – $100 Min – Bank Fees Apply
• Visa Credit / Debit – Min $100 – 5% Fee
• MasterCard Credit / Debit – Min $100 – 5% Fee
• Perfect Money – Min $2 – 0% fee

If using bank wire transfer be sure to check with your bank to see if there are any added fees from the bank.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

IGOFX does not specify how long it takes for them to process a withdrawal but they do provide lead times for each of the withdrawal methods which we have also listed below for ease of reading.

• Bank Wire Transfer: At least 5 working days
• Visa Credit / Debit: 1 – 5 working days
• MasterCard Credit / Debit: 1 – 5 working days
• Perfect Money: Within 24 hours

Bonuses & Promotions

There is one main bonus on offer which is a 30% deposit bonus when opening up a new account. You are required to make a deposit and then trade a certain amount in order to claim and keep the bonus. The terms do not specify what is required to convert the bonus funds into real funds though which is quite important information to know so we can not comment on the terms or how profitable the bonus could be. There are also a few different contests available but they seem to have expired so we can’t comment on them too much, they are ways to trade and win if you do well.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are some webinars in the forex tools section of the site, however, the page is blank and there is nothing in the upcoming webinar section so they may not be happening at this moment in time. There is also an economic calendar that details any upcoming news events and which markets they may effect, there is also a market analysis section however nothing has been added to this section since 12 June 2017 so it appears to be dead.

Customer Service

The customer support is available 24 hours a day 5 days a week wand closes over the weekends just as the markets do. There does not appear to be any phone numbers, just email addresses, there is an email available for the support department as well as the accounting department. It would have been nice to have a way to speak to someone directly, we have tested the email addresses provided but are yet to have a response after 72 hours of waiting.

Demo Account

Looking around the site we could not locate any information about demo accounts so it appears there may not be any. Potential new clients like to use demo accounts to test out the servers and trading conditions offered, current clients like demo accounts as a way to test out new trading strategies without risking their own capital. It would be a big boost to IGOFX if they make demo accounts available to their current and potential new clients.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is present on the IGOFX website: “IGOFX does not accept clients from the U.S., UK, Canada, Belgium, Sudan, Syria, North Korea, Malaysia, and China. Clients from Singapore and the above countries are not accepted to trade Binary Option in IGOFX.” If you are unsure of your eligibility, we would recommend trying to get in contact with eh customer service team to find out.

Conclusion

IGOFX offers a number of account but the differences between them are not clear, the spreads all appear to be the same and are all far higher than we would expect, even for accounts with no commission. The fact that some of the website sections have not been updated in a while makes it hard for us to be clear how serious IGOFX is in becoming a leading forex broker.

FinMArket is a forex broker based in Cyprus and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (“CySEC”). They don’t offer too much information about themselves, just that they value regulation, security, support, and trading platforms. In this review, we will be looking into the services that are being offered to help you decide if FinMarket is the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are 5 different accounts to choose from should you sign up with FinMArkets, each one has its own requirements and features so let’s take a look at what they offer.

Silver Member: The silver account requires a minimum deposit of $250, this account offers variable spreads starting at 4 pips, there is no commission on this account and has leverage up to 1:30, the account also allows hedging and the use of expert advisors.

Gold Member: The gold account requires a minimum deposit of at least $5,000, this account has slightly reduced spreads which now start at 3.4 pips. The account gets a commission discount (in this case spread) of 14% and is available to use the MT4 trading platform, this account also has a leverage up to 1:30.

Platinum Member: The platinum account further increases the minimum deposit which now sits at $20,000, with this increase in deposit the spreads have reduced further and now sit at 1.1 pips as a starting position. This account gets a 65% discount on the spread and is available on the MetaTrader 4 platform, just like the previous accounts this one has leverage up to 1:30.

Diamond Member: The diamond account brings the minimum deposit up to $50,000 which now prices out a lot of retail traders, this increased deposit gives account holders a 75% discount on spreads as they now start at 0.9 pips. Similarly to the previous accounts, the leverage remains at 1:30 and the account can use MetaTrader 4 as its trading platform.

Elite Member: The top tier account and something a lot of us could only dream of, this account requires a minimum deposit of $250,000, yup you heard that right. This account reduces the spreads by 85% and they now start at 0.8 pips. All other features remain the same with 1:30 maximum leverage and MT4 as the trading platform.

Platforms

FinMarkets offer MetaTrader 4 as their only trading platform, so let’s take a look at what it brings to the table.

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

Leverage

The maximum leverage being offered to all accounts is 1:30, it is low due to the regulations put upon FinMarkets. Leverage can be selected when opening up ana account, should you wish to change it on an already open account then you will need to ensure that there are no open trades and then get in contact with the customer service team.

Different instruments have different leverages available, and here is a breakdown:

• Forex Pairs: 1:30
• CFDs: 1:20
• Stocks: 1:5
• Indices: 1:20
• Commodities: 1:10
• Cryptocurrencies: (not stated)

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes with FinMarket start at 0.01 lots which are known as micro-lots. Trades then go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next trade would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. We could not locate information on the maximum trade size, however, no matter what it is we would not suggest trading over 50 lots in a single trade as it becomes increasingly harder for the markets and liquidity providers to execute trades quickly and without any slippage the bigger they get.

Trading Costs

All accounts with FinMarket use a spread based system that we will look at later in this review. There are no commission-based accounts. Swap charges are present, they can be both positive or negative and are charged for holding trades overnight, these can be viewed directly within the MT4 trading platform.

Assets

FinMarket has broken down its assets into 6 different categories.

Forex Pairs: 30+ different currency pairs including majors, minors and exotic pairs. Leverage on forex currency trading has a maximum leverage of 1:30.

CFDs: There is a large variety of CFDs at FinMarket, they are further broken down into other categories including trade currencies, commodities, crypto, stocks and indices, CFDs have a maximum leverage of 1:20.

Stocks: There isn’t an exact number of Socks stated on the site but instead a list of a few of them including Apple, Goold,e Alibaba, Coca Cola, Amazon and a few more. You can have a leverage up to 1:5 when trading stocks.

Indices: You can trade all major indices with FinMarkets including S&P 500, NASDAQ 100, FTSE 100 and Nikkei 225. When trading indices you have a maximum leverage of 1:20.

Commodities: The most popular commodities are available including Gold, Silver, Coffee, and Crude Oil, there isn’t a full breakdown of assets but it does state that there is maximum leverage of 1:10 when trading commodities on FinMarket.

Crypto: The most popular cryptocurrencies are available to trade on FinMArket including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Ripple, Litecoin, Dash and Monero. The leverage on crypto is not stated on the crypto page of the website.

Spreads

The spreads that you receive are dependant on a few factors including the account you use and the instrument that you are trading, if we look at EUR/USD, the silver account has a starting spread of 4 pips, the gold is 3.4 pips, the platinum is 1.1 pips, the diamond 0.9 pips and the elite account has a starting spread of 0.8 pips.

All spreads are variable which means that while they state 0.8 pips as an example, they will often be seen higher than this as it is simply the starting point, during times of high volatility the spreads will be much higher.

It is also worth noting that different instruments have different natural spreads, while on the Standard account EUR/USD may have a starting spread of 0.8 pips, USD/CAD will have a starting spread of 1.2 pips.

 

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit amount required to open an account is $250, this will get you the Silver account, if you want a different account then your initial deposit will need to be bigger. There isn’t any further information regarding deposits such as a reduced top-up minimum or anything like that.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The deposit methods are not clearly indicated on the website, there is a simple image of a number of processors such as Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, Wire Transfer, Skrill GiroPay and Neteller, but there isn’t a dedicated deposit/withdrawal page with information. This is very disappointing as it is vital for potential clients to know how their money will be handled and what costs there may be for depositing (and withdrawing).

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Just like the deposits, there isn’t any information about withdrawals, we would be assuming that the same methods listed above would be available for withdrawals as they all have that function, however, we are not able to say for sure. Just to reiterate that it is a shame that this information is not available as it is so important.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The only information that we have is that withdrawals are processed within 48 hours, there isn’t any more information. We can state that Visa and MasterCard withdrawals will take 1 – 5 business days and bank transfers 2 – 5 business days after they are processed but not much more than that.

Bonuses & Promotions

Looking through the FinMarket website we did not locate any information regarding any bonuses and promotions so it does not look like there are any active at the moment, if you are interested in bonuses then be sure to check back at a later date to see if any have come up.

Educational & Trading Tools

FinMarket has a tools section of their website which has some basic help in regards to trading. There is a news video feature which gives daily news on what is happening around the world, we could not view a video as you are required to have an account to view it. There is also an economic calendar that gives basic information about upcoming news events and which markets they may affect. Finally, there are webinars, however, loading up the webinar page it displayed a blank page with just a risk warning and no actual content.

Customer Service

Should you have any questions of queries for FinMarket you can get in touch with them using an online submission form, this is a form where you fill out a query and should then get a reply via email. There is also a phone number to ring with is open Monday to Friday between 9L00 am and 9:00 pm. Finally, there are 3 different emails, one for support, one for finance and KYC issues and one for compliance issues and complaints. It appears that the support is open 5 days a week and is closed over the weekend when the markets are closed.

Demo Account

We went all over the site but did not locate any information about a demo account and could also not locate a way to open one so it appears that they are not available. This is never a good sign for us as many potential clients will use demo accounts to check what the trading conditions are like and current clients may want to test out new strategies without risking their own capital. So it would be beneficial for FinMarket to add in demo accounts.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is present on the FinMarket website: “K-DNA Financial Services Ltd does not offer its services to residents or passport holders of certain jurisdictions such as Azerbaijan, Moldova, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Belgium, Sudan, USA, Syria, North Korea, Israel, Canada, Myanmar, and Australia .” If you are unsure, be sure to get in touch with the customer service team to find out if you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

FinMarket start of their set of accounts with an accessible account which sadly has terrible spreads, we would not recommend anyone trade with spreads starting at 4 pips, in order to gen an account with acceptable spreads toy will need to deposit at least $20,000 which will price out a lot of potential clients. This couple with the fact that there is so little information about deposits and withdrawals, one of the most important parts of a broker considering we are giving them our hard-earned money can make them very difficult to recommend. Lots of tradable assets including crypto is a big plus, but is it enough for you to give them your money to trade with?

ETFinance is a forex broker based in Cyprus and is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (the “CySEC”). Their mission is to provide a firm foundation and a cutting edge platform to allow traders to reach their full potential. During this forex broker review, we will be looking at different aspects to see if they live up to this and so you can decide if they are the right broker for you to trade with.

Account Types

There are three accounts available when trading with ETFinance, these are Silver, Gold, and Platinum, we will take a look at the requirements and features of these accounts are.

Silver: This being the lower value metal is the entry-level account for ETFinance. It is unknown at this time what the deposit requirement is but the account comes with over 750 tradable assets, 1:30 maximum leverage for retail traders and 1:400 / 1:500 for people classed as professional. Spreads start at 0.07 which is unclear but we will go into more details regarding spreads later in this review.

Gold: The gold account has a slightly reduces spread at 0.05, leverage remains the same for both retail and professional traders. This account comes with a dedicated account manager, access to webinars and videos and also allows hedging. There is also a nice 25% discount for swap charges.

Platinum: The platinum account is the top-level account, it further reduces the spreads to 0.03 and leverage remains unchanged. This account also has access to an account manager, webinars and videos, a further reduced 50% discount on spreads and now also has news alerts and a free VPS.

All account types can be used as an Islamic account if you are not allowed to receive or pay interest such as swap charges due to your beliefs.

Platforms

Just the one platform on offer from ETFinance and that one platform is MetaTrader 4.

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

Leverage

Leverage varies depending on how ETFinance class you as a trader, if you are assigned as a retail trader (someone who is new to trading) then you will have a leverage up[ to a maximum of 1:30, if you are classed as a professional trader, then you will have a maximum leverage up to 1:400 or 1:500, how the difference between 1:400 and 1:500 is decided we do not know. We are also currently unsure of what ETFinance constitutes as a professional client and what they require to assign you as one.

Trade Sizes

Trades start at 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot, trades then go up in increments of 0.01 so the next trade would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. We are unclear what the maximum trade size is but whatever it is, we do not recommend trading over 50 lots in a single trade as it will become harder and harder for liquidity providers and the market to execute trades quickly without any slippage the bigger they become.

It is also important to note that different assets will have different minimums and maximums, as an example forex pairs have a minimum of 0.01 lots while some commodities or indices will have minimums of 0.1 lots.

Trading Costs

There are no commissions charged on any of the accounts with ETFinance, at least not according to the website, each account uses a spread based system that we will look into later on in this review.

There are swap fees charged on accounts though, these are either paid or received when holding a trade overnight, they can be viewed directly within the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. If you have an Islamic account then you will not pay these, however, there will be an administration charge added to the account.

Assets

Plenty of assets on offer, in fact, the website states that there are over 750 available to trade. These are broken down into 5 different categories. In the forex group, you have major pairs, minor pairs, and exotic pairs, these include the likes of EUR/USD, AUD/NZD and CHFJPY. There are also crypto pairs, and there are a lot of them, too many to list individually but the major coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple are there and tradable against multiple different currencies.

There are indices such as the FTSE 100, DAX 30 and SP 500 along with many more. Commodities are also present and there are plenty of them, including metals such as gold and silver along with others such as Coffee, Corn and Orange Juice. Finally, there are stocks, this is where the majority of the 750+ assets mentioned lie with stocks from the USA, Europe and the rest of the world present and tradable.

Spreads

The spreads mentioned on the accounts page can be a little confusing, usually, it states the spreads for currency pairs, however on the accounts page it is going for the lowest spread possible which comes with some of the commodities.

In regards to currency pairs, they are as low as 0.7 pips on the platinum account, the crypto pairs have floating spreads and no minimum is given on the website. All spreads are technically floating (variable) which means that they move with the market and when there is a lot of volatility will often be seen much higher than the stated amount.

It is also important to note that the minimums stated are for the platinum accounts and the lower tier accounts will have slightly higher spreads as a minimum. The final point to note is that not all pairs and assets have the same starting spread, EUR/USD as an example has a minimum spread of 0.7 pips while AUD/CAD has a minimum of 3.6 pips.

Minimum Deposit

There isn’t much information regarding the deposits and what the minimum deposits are which is a shame as this is important information for potential clients so not seeing what this information can put a lot of potential clients off. Scouring the internet, it appears that the minimum deposit is either $200 or $250 as different sources offer different amounts as a minimum.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Just three methods available for depositing and they are the once most frequently found with forex brokers. You can deposit via credit and debit card, Trustly, bank transfer, and Skrill. There are no added fees when depositing but be sure to check with your own bank just in case they charge their own transfer fees. There may be other methods to deposit, but we were not able to locate them.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You can use the same methods to withdraw as you do to deposit, similarly to the deposits, there are no added transfer fees by ETFinance however check with your own bank to see if they will charge any incoming transfer fees.

It should be noted that if you deposit and then withdraw with only 1 or fewer trades being made, ETFinance may charge a withdrawal fee of $50, so ensure that at least 2 trades have been made before withdrawing.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal requests will be processed on the day they are made as long as the request is before 11 am GMT, if they are made after 11 am GMT then they will be processed the next working day. Credit and debit cards will then take an additional 1 to 5 working days and bank transfers a further 3 to 5 days before they clear into your account. Trustly and Skrill withdrawals should arrive within 20 minutes of the request being processed,

Bonuses & Promotions

There wasn’t any clear information regarding any promotions or bonuses apart from the usual affiliate program where you can refer others to use ETFinance. Due to there being no information it does not look like there are any active promotions or bonuses but if you are interested in them, be sure to check back regularly to see if any have popped up.

Educational & Trading Tools

On the outside, it appears that ETFinance offers quite a lot when it comes to education. They offer some webinars and it seems like they have one every few days, plenty of ended events and it does not appear that you can rewatch the ones that have already been which is a shame. There is also an earnings calendar which is based around the earnings reported by a lot of companies, not really beneficial unless you are a stock trader. Articles are the next section which as well, articles about various different aspects of trading and about different things that may affect your trading.

There is also a video section that has a number of different videos about various subjects including MetaTrader 4, and different things like a risk in trading. There are also some Ebooks to download, we didn’t get to take a look but there are a few on topics that could be helpful to new traders. Finally, there are courses and tutorials which go over a number of different trading aspects to help give you the edge.

While there is a lot of content, none of it is truly groundbreaking and is very similar to other sources on the internet.

Customer Service

The contact us part of the site is a pretty standard one, there is everyone’s favorite online contact form where you fill in your query and can expect to get a reply via email. There is also an email address that you can email your query directly. A phone number is also available should you wish to talk to someone directly and finally, there is a live chat to get to talk to someone quickly.

We tested out the live chat and got a response quite quickly, the person on the other end was helpful and understood our questions well. The customer service team is open Monday to Friday between 8 am and 8 pm GMT.

Demo Account

We could not locate any information regarding demo accounts so it does not appear that there are any available if there are then they are not advertised very clearly. We always feel that it is beneficial for a broker to offer demo accounts as it gives potential clients a way to test the servers and also to test out any strategy that they may have without risking any real money. If demo accounts are not available then it is something that ETFinance should definitely look into getting them.

Countries Accepted

There wasn’t any clear information regarding which countries are accepted or not, the only clear detail was that clients from the USA are not able to join. If you are unsure if you are eligible for an account, be sure to get in contact with the support department to find out.

Conclusion

ETFinance seems to be running quite a competent platform, their initial accounts do not have the best trading conditions however the upper accounts have much better conditions. There needs to be more information available on the site in regards to deposits and withdrawals as well as the requirements for opening each account as they must be different due to the drastic improvements in the trading conditions. This along with the lack of demo accounts can make it hard to recommend, the big plus was a helpful and quick response from a customer service representative. It is now up to you to decide if you feel that ETFinance is the right broker for you.

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

iForex24 is an online, offshore broker with an investment portfolio that contains more than 200 options, made up of FX, commodities, and stocks. The company’s physical location is in the Marshall Islands, with establishment dating back to the early 2000s (according to the website). The broker’s main goal is to provide traders with an effective and convenient environment for investment. While this goal is certainly well-intentioned, it is fair to say that most traders would be more concerned with the costs that are associated with trading with this broker. Fortunately, we’ve done enough digging to outline everything one would need to know about this broker, so stay with us.

Account Types

iForex24 is currently offering three account types; Premium, Standard, and VIP. Accounts share several similarities, including leverage options, spreads, commission charges, trade sizes, available instruments, etc. The main differences would be the deposit requirements and the fact that the Standard account offers discounted spreads on commodities, while the VIP account offers the same discount but on commodities, indices, and forex majors, ultimately making it cheaper to trade these types of instruments on these account types. The broker doesn’t go as far as to detail exactly how much these discounts could save traders. We’ve outlined important details for each account type below.

Premium Account
Minimum Deposit: $200 (maximum $9,999)
Leverage: Up to 1:200 on FX
Spread: From 3 pips (fixed)
Commission: 0.1% (stocks only)

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: $10,000 (maximum $29,999)
Leverage: Up to 1:200 on FX
Spread: From 3 pips (fixed) (With discount on commodities)
Commission: 0.1% (stocks only)

VIP Account
Minimum Deposit: $30,000 (maximum $49,999)
Leverage: Up to 1:200 on FX
Spread: From 3 pips (fixed) (With a discount on commodities, indices, forex majors)
Commission: 0.1% (stocks only)

The broker requires specific documents each time a client makes a deposit, including a photo ID, recent utility bill, etc.

Platform

This broker has made the bold decision not to offer a well-known trading platform like MT4 or MT5, and instead offers their own iForex platform. We’ve seen some brokers bring impressive platforms to the table, but the website is extremely vague about the features that are supported on their available platform. This doesn’t mean that the iForex platform doesn’t hold up on its own, we just wish the broker would provide some photos and more information, especially since they need to establish their own platform as a reasonable choice.

We’re guessing that the broker didn’t want to dish out the $100k license fee for MT4, and therefore made their own platform, which seems like more of an afterthought. One good piece of information we do have about the iForex platform is that is compatible with smartphones, making it possible to trade on the go.

Leverage

Rather than offering specific leverages on each account type, the broker has assigned a maximum leverage cap to each individual instrument. FX options share the same leverage cap of 1:200, which is the highest option offered by the broker. On commodities, the limits are set at either 1:50 or 1:100, depending on the specific instrument. Gold and other metals, Crude Oil, and Cocoa offer the 1:100 cap, while the other instruments only offer the 1:50 cap. Indices also offer a similar pattern, with some options offering the 1:50 cap and others offering a cap that goes as high as 1:100. The majority of stocks have a leverage cap of 1:20, with an exception of 1:10 on Banca Monte Paschi Di Sienna.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is one mini lot on CFD contracts based on currencies and 0.03 lots for commodities. The margin requirement is 1% of the nominal value of the contract size in the case of currencies, 2% in the case of indices, and 3% for commodities. A margin call is activated any time the equity in the account falls below the 100% margin requirement and the company will immediately begin to liquidate open trades if the balance falls below 20%. Traders are only permitted to open one trade per 2 minutes on any specific contract that goes on the same asset, direction, and expiry time.

Trading Costs

iForex24 profits from spreads, commission fees, and swaps, or overnight interest charges. The Standard account offers a spread discount on commodities, while the VIP offers the same discount on commodities, indices, and forex majors. We’ve provided more information on the typical spreads offered below. The commission charge is 0.1% on stocks and commissions are not applicable on FX or commodities. The iForex24 financing charge for overnight interest is 1.5% with charges on commodities and stocks being based on the denomination of the CFDs currency. If the CFD is priced in a currency other than USD, the company will determine the value of the exchange rate.

Assets

The broker’s investment portfolio contains 40 FX options, 26 commodities, including Corn, Crude Oil, gasoline, shares of foreign and US companies, and German bonds. The broker also offers full access to the Warsaw stock exchange, with 141 total options. Taking a more in-depth look at the FX options, we see major and minor instruments, in addition to several exotic options, like the TRY, ZAR, SEK, NOK, and more. This makes for an impressive number of assets to invest in.

Spreads

Accounts share the same spreads, although some discounts may apply to the Standard and VIP accounts. The company is very transparent about the typical spreads on each instrument and lists these under “FX Trading Conditions” and “Trading” > “Trading Conditions. On FX options, clients can choose from floating or fixed spreads. We’ve listed a few examples of the differences below, in order to give one an idea of the typical spreads on FX options and the difference between the fixed and floating options.
The floating spread starts from 2.2 pips on EUR/USD, while the other version of the spread is fixed at 3 pips.

The spread is fixed at 4 pips on EUR/JPY, while the floating spread starts from 3 pips.
On EUR/GBP, the floating spread starts from 3.1 pips and the spread is fixed at 4 pips.
The lowest fixed spread that we see on FX instruments is 3 pips, making options higher than average. On commodities, the spread is either fixed or floating, depending on the instrument. We see fixed spreads at 0.05 pips on Crude Oil, 0.7 pips on Gold, and 0.07 pips on Silver. The remaining instruments in this category have floating spreads, with the highest spread starting from 10 pips on Cocoa.

Spreads on Indices start from below 1 pip and differ based on which instrument you’re looking at. As for stocks, the majority of options are at one pip or lower, although the spreads can be higher on a couple of instruments. Between 20:45 GMT and 7:00 GMT, spreads of TRY pairs may be widened and spreads on PLN might be widened to 20.

Minimum Deposit

The Premium account would be the most affordable, with a $200 minimum deposit requirement. This amount could be considered typical, although many other brokers have at least one account type with a lower requirement, and some have done away with deposit requirements altogether. There is also a maximum balance limit of $9,999 on this account. Opening a Standard account requires a much more significant deposit of at least $10,000 and the account has a maximum balance limit of $29,999.

The VIP account is the most expensive, with a $30,000 deposit requirement. We would expect this account to have an unlimited balance, but iForex24 has set a balance limit of $49,999 on their VIP account, making it impossible to have a balance larger than $50k with this broker, at least according to the broker’s website. Under their terms, the broker also mentions that the maximum deposit they can accept is $10,000. This may mean that deposits for larger accounts would need to be made through multiple payments.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Currently, the available deposit methods include Visa/MasterCard, Wire Transfer, and Skrill. The broker mentions on their funding page that more options will be added in the near future, so be on the lookout for the possible addition of more e-wallets. Upon making a deposit, the broker will require a copy of the client’s valid passport or ID card, photocopies of the front and back of the card being used to make the deposit (feel free to blackout all of the card number, aside from the last 4 digits), and a copy of a recent utility bill in the client’s name. There don’t seem to be any fees associated with making a deposit.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals made via Visa/MasterCard are processed as “refunds” back to the original card for amounts up to the funded amount. Any extra profits must be sent back through Wire Transfer. One Wire Transfer per month is credited free of charge, with a 25 Euro fee on any additional withdrawals made through this method in that month. Clients must make minimum withdrawals of at least 50 Euros when using this method. If the trader has not made at least 5 trades before making a withdrawal request, then the broker will charge an additional $50 USD fee on top of any other applicable charges. The broker doesn’t mention any applicable charges for Skrill or Visa/MasterCard.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Once a withdrawal request is submitted, the broker can take up to 3 business days to process the request. Once the request has been approved, it can take between 3-5 more days for funds to show up in the client’s account. This means that if one were to make a withdrawal request on a Friday, the maximum time it could take to receive those funds would be 12 days.

Bonuses & Promotions

Currently, the broker isn’t offering any special opportunities. Under their Terms & Conditions, iForex24 does mention that they may offer bonuses, promotions, or other benefits at their discretion. In the case that a bonus is awarded, the terms state that the trader would need to execute transactions in amounts at least 30 times the bonus amount and that there may be requirements based on deposit minimums, minimum trading volume, timeframes, etc.

Educational & Trading Tools

The website’s Education section is made up of Forex Basics, Fundamental Analysis, Video Tutorials, and Technical Analysis. The latter includes the mini-sections Chart Formations, Chart Analysis, Market Trends, Support and Resistance, Technical Indicators, and Technical Basics. Unfortunately, the video tutorials are not yet available, although the broker claims that this section will be updated soon. Trading tools consist of platform downloads and an Economic Calendar, so we don’t see other options, like calculators, VPS, etc. available on the website.

Demo Account

Like the majority of their competitors, this broker is offering risk-free demo accounts to any users that would like to open one. Opening a demo is a quick process and only requires the trader’s name, email, phone number, and country. One thing that makes this broker’s demo account special is the fact that the accounts are specified to mimic each of the broker’s real accounts, meaning one can open a Premium, Standard, or VIP demo account. These accounts serve a variety of purposes and are excellent educational tools for beginners, but demo accounts can also be used to test conditions offered by the broker on their various account types or to test out the lesser-known platform. This information can help to give one an idea of whether they would prefer to make a real deposit with the broker.

Customer Service

In order to reach customer support, traders can call, email the broker directly, or send a message through the online contact form on the contact page. We don’t see any instant contact option available, making phone the quickest way to get in touch with support. Support is active 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday. This makes it convenient to get in touch on weekdays although weekends tend to be a high-volume time when many users may be looking to sign-up. Listed contact information has been provided below.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: +441865521164
Address: IFOREX24 LTD, Trust Company Complex, Ajeltake Road, Ajeltake Island, Majuro Marshall Islands, MH 96960

Countries Accepted

iForex24 mentions that services are not available to clients located in France. In addition, the broker reserves the right to refuse service or cancel accounts opened by clients that they deem to be located in jurisdictions where it would be illegal to pursue a relationship with them. In addition, the broker mentions that it is against the law for US clients to buy and sell commodity options. If you visit the account registration page, you’ll find both of the aforementioned locations are listed. This means that it is possible to open an account from France, the US, and many other locations.

Conclusion

iForex24 is an online FX and CFD broker that offers leveraged trading of up to 1:200 on more than 200 total instruments, made up of FX, commodities, and stocks, from three separate account types. The most affordable account can be opened with a $200 deposit, but the broker asks for deposits of $10k or more to open one of the additional account types. Traders can choose from fixed or floating spreads on FX instruments.

Spreads seem to be above average on FX instruments, regardless of which type is chosen, while the broker offers much more attractive options on commodities and stocks. Commissions are only charged on stocks, so traders won’t have to worry about these costs when trading currency pairs or commodities.

One disadvantage would seemingly be the broker’s featured trading platform, since it was created by the company and the website doesn’t provide any details about available features. Funding methods are currently limited to Visa/MasterCard, Wire Transfer, and Skrill, with a maximum wait time of up to 10 days for withdrawals. Fees are not charged on deposits and clients are able to make one free Wire Transfer withdrawal per month.

Customer Support is available 24/5, via email and phone. The broker seems to be in the process of updating their educational section and trading tools are limited to an economic calendar. Currently, there aren’t any ongoing promotional opportunities, but it does seem promising that this could be available in the near future. Service is available for US clients and clients in many other locations all over the globe.

GCM is a Turkish broker with a local license to provide Advisory and brokerage services for financial derivatives. It is authorized by the local authorities in Turkey (Capital Markets Board) and the website is not available in English. For investors that are not residents of Turkey, it means this broker does not have any regulation for international clients. The company is headquartered in Instanbul and transformation from Artı Menkul Değerler A.Ş, which has been operating before and this is a continuation in the form of a brokerage.

The website design has tight margins and organized in a typical way, without modern effects and limited information to keep it beginner-friendly, but, with some effort, a lot of important information for investors is published, with good transparency. GCM states that their specialty is leveraged trading and Futures. They are proud to present their figures, 86k clients, 39 TRY (~7M USD) capital investments, 330 employees, and the ongoing effort to bring more trading assets and technology.

Additionally, there are many awards displayed like: “High Transaction Volume Award” in 2015, “Best Order Transmission” from Forex Report Magazine, “Best Forex Broker” in 2014 and a few more. Of course, these awards are a part of the marketing industry, but this GCM review will reveal the scope and quality of service they provide.

Account Types

GCM does not give you any options when selecting an account type. The page will offer you a Trial Account and a Real Account. The first one is just the usual demo. Real Account is presented to feature low spreads, a personal sales manager, and other “advantages” that are not specified. By applying for a Real Account you will also need to accept the Consent Form that some may see as privacy-invading, you will opt-in for a lot of marketing and private information sharing.

Real Account is available in EUR, USD and TRY currency. The two-step registration procedure will list many worldwide countries, but in the next step, you will be given to select only cities from Turkey and ID registration in Turkey.

VOIP is a designed Account for Futures and Options trading localized on Borsa Istanbul. More than 30 instruments are promoted with leverage, tax advantages, and bi-directional trading. Demo for VOIP is also available. Turkey’s big companies are featured as well as Borsa 30 Index that is interesting for local investors.

Platforms

GCM offers MetaTrader 4 platform for standard trading and MetaTrader 5 for Options&Futures. Both are available to download for Windows but not for Mac. Webtrader and mobile versions are also offered running on Android and iOS. GCM has an additional web platform, Sirix, a well known, simplistic platform that is easy to adopt by beginners.

The MT4 platform is connected to 4 live servers and one demo. These are distributed in several global locations, in the UK, Netherlands, Singapore, Honk Kong, and Ireland. Our dedicated server from the Netherlands had a ping rate of 58ms. The platform is updated to the latest version and is set to defaults and One-Click trading buttons visible. Four charts with major Forex currency pairs are the default template with MAXD and CCI inserted.

Trading instruments are categorized into too many groups to be considered practical, for example, Forex pairs have 7 groups, EUR/USD USD/JPY, and USD/RUB are separated for no apparent reason. Whatsmore, CFD1, CFD2, etc groups do not represent what class of assets they contain. The instrument specification window presents enough information. Execution times were below 0.2s but sometimes it could go over 500ms. Trade Terminal is showing all the trading costs including swaps.

Sirix platform is available in a web-accessible form and for mobile devices running on Android and iOS. It will not be shown in the English language straight after the loading, so the trader will have to find the language switch in the top right. Sirix is not designed to deliver complex orders or for automated algorithms. It features 50 indicators with basic chart drawing possibilities which are somewhat inconvenient as everything is done with mouse only.

Sometimes Sirix platform has a more advanced variant to switch to, but we could not find that on this GCM version. What is good with Sirix is the nice-looking graphical design and the Social module, unfortunately, we were unable to see it working. Economic Calendar is also integrated, but it was the same case as with the Social module. The execution times are slower and take about 1 second, making this platform just a user-friendly step for inexperienced traders until they understand the basics of trading.

MetaTrader 5 platform for VOIP Accounts needs to have login details specific for VOIP Account. It is set to present the Futures and Options trading with four charts displaying Futures on Gold, Bank Vis Index, USD/TRY, and one future with an exchange specific codename. There are 4 servers, all based in the UK and Netherlands with below 60ms ping. The executions are great with just above 60ms mark. The instruments specification window shows additional information needed for futures trading, like Margins, Ratios, dates, commissions, etc. Note that most markets have gaps and noise typical for low liquidity.

Leverage

Exact leverage is not disclosed when you open the account. The whole instruments list exists in the Trading Conditions section, although you may need a few clicks to get there. For all trading assets, the leverage is 1:10, which is considered too low in the industry. Most of EU brokers will offer 1:30. VOIP Account leverage is up to 1:30.

Trade Sizes

GCM has the usual micro-lot trade sizes or 0.01 lots. For Forex the minimum trade volume is 0.01 lots, also for additional steps. The maximum trade size is 150 lots for EUR/USD but all other currency pairs have 100 lots. Other Instruments also have the same trade sizing, even Stocks and Indexes. Stops levels could be a matter of concern for a good share of traders. For the EUR/USD pair stops level is 40 points, GBP/USD 120 points, EUR/CHF 140 points, and as we go towards minor and exotics, Stops levels get uncomfortably high. Therefore, AUD/NZD has 300 points, GBP/AUD 300, and GBP/TRY no less than 500.

The highest Stops levels are with USD/ZAR at 2398 points, for most, these levels are too much. For those that do not know, the Stops level threshold does not allow limit orders around the current price. Gold/USD has a 100 points Stops level.
Margin Call and Stop Out are not disclosed.

Trading Costs

GCM does not charge commissions for the standard account. The swaps are very low with frequent positive figures on one side. EUR/USD has -11.3 points on the long and 5.3 points on short, tripled on Thursdays. Double-digit swap is not a common sight among the major pairs, the highest swap is with the EUR/AUD, -12.5 points for long and 6.2 for short.

From the exotics, the swaps are expectedly higher so EUR/HUF has -20.2 long and 4.23 short, USD/ILS 0.33 points long and -12.50 short, USD/ZAR -400 long and 90 for short, the same as USD/MXN, and the highest swap values among currency pairs is with USD/RUB at -2120 for long and 500 for short position overnight charge. XAU/USD has -15 long and 4 points short swap while Silver/USD has just -1.5 and 0.5. Crude Oil has -3.8 and -2.4 points.

Inactivity fee exists. If a trader does not have any open positions and did not open any new for 3 months it is considered non-performing and will be charged $3 or 2€ monthly.
Trading Futures and other derivatives on VOIP is subject to banking and insurance transactions tax (BITT) of 0.0005%.

Assets

GCM has a very good asset range across all categories, except for cryptocurrencies which are not offered. Forex features 51 currency pairs with some broker specialties. All majors are present, and minors have variants with EUR, GBP, and USD as a base currency. Therefore you can find EUR/TRY, USD/TRY but also GBP/TRY. This is also true for the Scandinavian currencies, DKK, NOK, and SEK.

Among the exotics, traders will find PLN, ILS, MXN, HUF, SGD, RUB, and ZAR. A GCM specialty is a basket forex asset TRYBASK that comprises of EUR and USD against the Turkish Lyra, so 1 lot contains 50k USD and 50k EUR. Some of the instruments were off quotes like EUR/ILS, or in other words, not available for trading.

Precious metals have extended range where you can find Gold against USD, TRY, EUR but also Gold Gram variant. Silver is only available against the USD. Platinum and Palladium are under the commodities grouping and they could be hard to find at first. In addition to these Copper is also listed, as a commodity metal.

GCM has a good choice of Index including the Dollar Index that is not just indicative but fully open for trading. A total of 14 are present with major ones and less common like Russel 2000 Mini Index, CAC 40, CNA 40, DJ EUR 50, MIB 40 Italy, Hang Seng Index, and IBEX 35.

Commodities are present and above the industry average range. Traders can find a total of 8 commodities but nothing exotic. These are both, Brent and Crude Oil types, Natural Gas, Heating Oil, Gasoline, Wheat, Corn, Soybean, Sugar, and Cotton.

We have fount a total of 38 stocks from the EU and 50 from the US, which is the average range. These are major popular companies shares but are very well diversified by industry. GCM also offers bonds. These are all US treasury Bonds with 3,10 and 30-year maturity. 30 year US bond is not common to see among brokers.

Spreads

GCM offers fixed spreads for most trading instruments. This means the broker may not be the best option for fast trading strategies where low trading costs and spreads are essential. Starting with Forex, the most traded pair, EUR/USD has 2 pip spread. Other majors follow GBP/USD 3 pips, USD/JPY 2 pips. In the mid liquidity range, GMC has AUD/NZD with 15 pips spread, EUR/NZD 20 pips, GBP/CAD 15 pips and similar for others.

In the exotic range, the spread is increased, GPB/TRY has 60 pips spread, higher than USD/TRY with just 15 pips. Then we have the USD/SGD which has a floating spread specified, although we did not see it changing from the 80 points level. The highest spreads were for EUR/HUF – 70 pips, USD/MXN – 100 pips, USD/ILS – 160 pips, and USD/RUB – 675 pips. A sharp increase for the exotics means these are maybe attractive only to long term traders.

Whatsmore, the fixed spreads can be changed by GCM, as stated, during the volatility periods and also around session closure. Precious metals also have a fixed spread. Gold/USD has 50 pips and Silver 4 pips. Gold denominated in EUR has much wider 100 pips spread, and in TRY 450 pips. Palladium spread is 250 pips and Platinum 12pips, both classified as floating spreads. Copper also has a floating spread at 62 points.

Crude Oil has a 40 points fixed spread while Brent has a 7 point, a lower amount because it is a floating spread. Note that GCM also seems to present ECN accounts with variable spreads but the actual account opening does not offer this option, therefore we will not cover this, probably former account type with variable spreads and commission.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit is not presented on the website until you register for an account. The minimum deposit is 50,000 TRY or around 8500 USD. This is a high barrier for entry for most traders but considering the lower leverage, it may be needed.

Deposit Methods & Costs

What we have seen within the trader’s area, only bank transfers are possible. The costs will depend on the bank. Currencies available are USD, EUR and TRY. Credit Card option is displayed but the link opens the same page for bank transfers. Deposits by bank transfer are more complicated for a chargeback than with VISA or MasterCard.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals are made only by bank transfers. A form will require you to type IBAN and other bank details. No associated costs are mentioned.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal processing takes one business day by the broker, after the transfer may take up to 7 days.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are no promotions or bonuses offered by GCM.

Educational & Trading Tools

GCM shows analysis and tools on different pages across its website. Often you will see the basics about Forex, transactions, where to invest and so on, essentially this is tied to marketing and account opening. Forex training section contains both Fundamental and Technical analysis, Webinars, Videos, and written material. An analysis manual that describes how to interpret the reports and indicators is also added.

Videos are numerous and of great quality. MT4 platform explanations are all in Turkish but are very detailed and professionally edited. Over 30 videos exist just for the platforms. GCM states that there are more than 10,000 minutes of video material for various topics. Other videos showcase the latest market developments and can last for more than 30 minutes.

For example, the latest topics are “Latest Situation in the Oil Market”, “Policy Developments of Fed and Large Central Banks”, “Inflation, Base Effect, and Central Bank Route”, etc. These videos are also of great quality, long, showing different technical applications, fundamental drivers, fact figures and other arguments. There is also a possibility to sign up for a live Youtube stream.

Fundamental and Technical analysis part explains what they are and how to apply them. They are structured and well written. The indicators page is long and tries to cover the most popular indicators and other methods of analysis. Additionally, there is an e-book containing all this material, but it is not available for download.

Articles are fresh but updated monthly and cover interesting topics that are relevant to present political developments. Some of the latest subjects are “What is ECB? Effects of ECB Interest Rate Decisions”, “What is Trade War? Effects of Economy of Turkey and the World Trade War” and so on. The articles are of good quality without any marketing.
GCM also has a very developed Market Analysis section.

The analysis is published daily and more than once. A timeline graphic will show traders what analysis coming up, be it morning technical analysis, video or special reports. Expert opinions are also published and contain short but quality content, with the addition of how it is relevant to Turkey. Technical analysis is also extensive but does not show anything more than Support and Resistance levels, Pivot lines and price levels.

Market News section is outdated, showing the latest reports from 2017. GCM probably decided to include news along with the reports and analysis they frequently publish.
GCM has a few tools available. Calculators are for Pips, Margin, Swap and s currency converter. These are very basic while the economic calendar has its section but it is not available.

GCM has its Sentiment Indicator for every asset. This indicator is usually seen with larger, market maker brokers. It is refreshed frequently.

Customer Service

GCM has an email, phone and chat service available. It is not available in English and is not 24/7, just during the working hours in Turkey. The staff requested our phone number and disconnected us without providing us with any answers. Direct audio contact is better for sales hence the reason for the phone number. Note that it is common to see other affiliates contacting you as a part of shared policy marketing.

Demo Account

GCM promoted a Trial Account or a demo with 100,000 virtual currency. After 30 days, the trial account will be closed. A new demo could be obtained and within the user account panel, it is possible to open multiple accounts. The Demo account will have all the conditions as with Live, having the same information specs.

 

Countries Accepted

No information is available from the GCM website. The registration form has a long country list.

Conclusion

To complete this GCM review we will state a few important info for interested traders. This is a market maker broker that has great range and transparency. We have seen a broker publish statements on profitable/losing traders ratio using their services, but it is uncommon to also see reports on price providers, Ration of rejected orders, Asset price deviation report, and a Ratio of Customer Complaints. This is commendable although it still may not be enough considering trading conditions that are not favorable to fast traders, which are many.

The broker also shows signs of being just an affiliate of Fortrade, that shares the same trading instruments although at higher leverage and a bit higher fixed spread. GCM has some additional values for clints from Turkey as most of their services are adapted to them, including the Futures and Options trading. Additionally, there is a lot of marketing involved and it is in the national culture.

Finally, the minimum deposit is too high for most traders that just want to try live service, especially taking into account that this is a locally licensed broker, not globally popular and that there are not enough positive user reviews.

Formerly known as Merkativa, AGEA is a rebrand that has been online since 2005. This broker is headquartered in Montenegro with a real address location in Podgorica. AGEA is a public company on the Montenegro Stock Exchange and regulated by the local authority, Commission for Capital Markets. This regulation does not officially comply with the EU directives as the country is not in the EU, but AGEA states they are based on the legal framework following the MiFID directive. Client funds are segregated and policies are established for AML, Risk and other categories compliant with the MiFID. There is also a client categorization policy that defines a professional trader. Still, the leverage provided is not limited as with ESMA compliant brokers.

AGEA has improved its services since establishment and differentiated in some fields like the platform offers. The website is well designed and does not follow the classic structure. Content has a good mix of educational and specific information material for advanced users who can understand the industry phrases. Overall transparency is good, the website is providing more details than what we usually see with other brokers, especially for the overview of the platform. User rating for this broker is mediocre, although the most negative come from accounts that used the company promotion funds.

AGEA responds to every negative review and that shows dedication to improve the image. Apart from being transparent, the broker encourages the use of the demo account for at least several weeks for inexperienced traders, giving us the feel of genuine interest to have skilled traders for a longer-term. This notion is further confirmed with good tips guides. This review will give you insight if AGEA has the right offer for your style of trading and the quality of service.

Account Types

AGEA does not have classic account packages with different minimum deposit requirements or similar. Account differentiation is based on the platform. AGEA offers two platforms, MetaTrader 4 and Streamster. MetaTrader also has a Cent Account that enables traders to risk lower amounts of money but experience live trading. The maximum balance for the Cent account is $5-$6000. Each platform has somewhat different trading conditions although not substantial.

Accounts are available in USD, EUR, GBP, CHF for the MT4, and USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD, and AUD for the Streamster platform. Accounts have different maximum leverages and the MT4 platform requires at least $100 balance as stated on the website, but the AGEA support told us a lower limit. When trades register for an account with AGEA, the will be rewarded with $5 upon verification but they will not be able to have multiple accounts. Traders will still be able to have accounts under their single master Account with AGEA.

Platforms

AGEA supports two platforms, Streamster and MetaTrader 4. Streamster is available as a desktop version and web which is automatically opened once you register and is regarded as a standard platform. This platform is simplified, easy to use and well designed. There are two color themes to switch to, light and dark, both are good looking and easy on the eyes. Some advanced features like chart drawing, custom indicators or automated trading are missing, as expected with simplified web platforms.

Streamster has its API for algorithmic trading but you will have to be familiar oh how to set it up for automation in PHP or Visual Basic. A guide is prepared on the AGEA website with examples. Streamster will have enough features for basic trading, there are 3 windows by default that can be resized and rearranged by preset layouts. The windows will display the chart, instruments list, and the account/trading terminal with few integrated tools and services not available in the MT4. The chart can be set to classic timeframes like in MT4, and type can be set to line, bar, candle and track, Track style is like a bar with gradient changing colors as the price reaches new lows and highs.

We have spent some time to figure out how to add a new instrument chart as this is integrated with the indicators list that is much larger than the instrument selection dropdown menu at the top. The same list is opened with a gear-like button but without the instruments selection menu. Traders can have up to 3 charts open but cannot have them visible at the same time. The indicators list is similar to the MT4, we have counted a total of 35. Most of the indicators are well known and there are no additional colors or other settings like with the MT4.

Ordering will give you options to set Stop Loss and Take Profit (called Exit Target) levels, volume in Units, Limit, Stop and Market type, GTC, GTD, IOC duration and a custom text that can be added to the trade. The most interesting part is the management module window that is similar to the Termina in MT4. In addition to classic trade management sections like Portfolio, Orders, and Positions, Streamster has Chat, News, Support, Calendar, and Account integrated service sections. Chat will give you the ability to communicate with other traders globally and also with AGEA support. We found this chat to have a lag more than a few seconds for every line sent.

News will display the latest feed from Reuter, CBNC News, South China Morning Post, RT Business and Market Watch, with a filter to disable some of these sources. Clicking on the news line will link you with the published page. Calendar section will list the last 9 events for the current day without any filter options, thus seriously limiting the usability.

Account section will display similar information as from the AGEA website if not the same, making this section just an integrated AGEA webpage where you can open new accounts, read content and so on. The instrument information is obscured, you will not have the spread displayed or anything related to the execution time, but still have the instrument price change, highs and lows, and the time.

Streamster desktop platform is similar but has more features than its web version. This platform has more indicators with more settings, some chart drawing options, alerts for prices and economic events, and more account management features. “My AGEA” menu hold much more useful information and analysis. Here you can see Portfolio analysis, manage accounts, see trades information, manage funds and more.

MetaTrader 4 is available only as a desktop version. It is described by AGEA as a platform used “by traders who understand how to code”, which is not true, traders do not need to understand coding at all. The platform is updated to the latest version and shows two servers upon startup, AGEA Demo and Live. Both are having a ping rate of about 200ms. The instrument symbols are grouped into four groups with clear and full specifications.

The default four forex charts have the One-click trading buttons visible with default indicators applied. No additional indicators or templates are added to the installation. The MT4 Terminal will show all the relevant trading costs for open positions including swaps and commission. Execution times are around 270ms without deviations, the slowest execution being just past 280ms. This latency is average in the industry. We have also noticed a major issue with Oil assets. They were off quotes or took an abnormal time to execute orders. Trading hours for all platforms is Sunday 22:15 to Friday 21:00 GMT.

Leverage

The leverage is initially by default 1:100 for the MT4 Account and fixed to 1:100 for the Streamster platform. MetaTrader 4 has the leverage set from 1:1 to 1:200 for the standard size and up to 1:500 for the Cent account. This leverage is available regardless of the client categorization set by MiFID that exists during the registration process. The leverage for precious metals and other assets is the same.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes in the Streamer platform are measured in units, and the minimum trade size is 1 unit for Forex. This is lower than a micro-lot trade size as 1 lot is 100,000 units. Increments are also not limited. Limits exist for the maximum number of opened positions (50) per desk type (200 in total) but this limit should not be a factor for most traders. The maximum volume limit is 1,000,000 cumulative for all positions. For target orders, there is a 3 pip distance limit that may be too big for some fast trading strategies.

MetaTrader 4 platform has a different trading size policy. The minimum trade size we have observed is 0.1 lots. This is too big for small deposits even though the minimum requirement is very low. The 0.1 lot minimum trade size is not applied to precious metals, so XAU/USD has 0.01 lots minimum trade size and the same for additional trading steps. The maximum allowed per trade is 10 lots. For Oil assets, there is another interesting limit, the maximum trade size is 1 lot while the minimum is 0.01. The contract size for these CFD Oil futures is not standard and is 10 units.

The stop out level is the same as with the Streamster – 3 pips. The Cent account has the same trading volumes and conditions. Margin Call and Stop Out levels are not defined and are limited only to the equity needed to sustain the margin.

Trading Costs

AGEA is a commission-free broker for all platforms and also swap-free for the Streamster platform. This means the only non-spread trading costs are the negative swaps if you are using the MT4 platform. The swap rates are disclosed in the MT4 instrument specification window only. The website listing will display some information about the spreads but not swaps. Swaps are calculated in currencies and tripled on Wednesdays. Positive swaps are not uncommon.

For the most traded pair, EUR/USD the swap is -7.32 EUR for long position and 2.57 EUR for short. USD/JPY also has a positive swap on the long side, 1.45 USD and -5.55 USD on short. GBP/USD has -4.66 GBP for long and 0.02 GBP for a short position swap. NZD and AUD swaps are also wit positives, NZD/JPY has 2.56 NZD positive for long and -8.46 NZD for short while AUD/CHF has 3.51 AUD for long and -9.41 AUD for short position swap.

As we go into exotics the swaps are not going higher to a large degree, some remain single-digit. For example, USD/CNH has -3.25 USD for long position and -0.85 USD for short, USD/HUF has -0.65 USD long and -5.35 USD short. The highest swap is for the EUR/TRY with -42.48 EUR for long and 0.10 EUR for a short position swap. Swaps for XAU/USD is low with -0.056 USD for long and -0.047 USD for short.

AGEA has an Inactivity Fee of $20 per year for accounts dormant for 12 months.

Assets

The asset range offer is different for the Streamster and the MT4 platform. Both have the same categories but MT4 has an extended Forex instrument range. A total of 44 currency pairs is present in MT4 while Streamster desktop and web version have 17 total and none of them are exotic pairs. In the MT4 forex traders will also find uncommon pairs like USD/MXN, USD/CNH, USD/HKD, EUR/PLN, EUR/TRY, SGD/JPY, EUR/HUF, and Scandinavian currencies.

These and more variants with the USD are not present in the Streamster platforms. Desktop Streamster platform has some of the forex and other assets invisible, traders will have to “subscribe” to all available by clicking on the search button under the Subscriptions tab.

Precious metals are limited to spot Gold and Silver. These are present on both platforms.
Indexes are present on all platforms in equal numbers. There are a total of 6 future Index CFDs and the asset names are not what we see usually. You will find XDE30 (German DAX), XFR40 (CAC 40), XUK100 (FTSE 100), XUS100 (NASDAQ), XUS30 (Dow Jones e-mini) and XUS500 (S&P 500).

Commodities are limited to Oil futures CFDs. UK Brent and US Crude Oil are present in MT4 but not on Streamster platforms. AGEA had some technical issues with the execution. We are not informed is the problem is with the liquidity provider or server related.
AGEA Instruments Profiles page also has Bonds, ETFs, and Stocks in the dropdown menu, but these assets are not yet introduced.

Spreads

AGEA has floating spreads that are specific for each platform they offer. The spreads are generally competitive but not good enough for fast trading strategies. Forex spreads are disclosed on the website but the minimums are never achieved, even during night sessions. For example, EUR/USD minimum spread is 5 points but it is almost always in 10 points range, USD/JPY has 12 points while the minimum stated is just 1 point. AUD/USD has 11 points, NZD/USD 12 points, and USD/CHF has the highest with 18 points in the majors.

Other pairs have higher spreads, so AUD/NZD has 29 points, CHF/JPY 31 points, EUR/NZD 37 points, GBP/AUD 44 points, and GBP/NZD with the highest spread of 83 points in the minors. Exotics spreads are like fixed for some pairs like for USD/TRY at 6000 points, 3000 points for USD/ZAR, and 6000 points for EUR/TRY. These are also the highest spreads. For other exotics, the spread is much tighter, so USD/MXN has 665 points, USD/PLN 166 points, ZAR/JPY just 13 points, USD/CNH 107 points, and USD/HUF 218 points.

Spot Gold has competitive spread at 37 pips and Silver with 12. Oil assets have 13 points spread.

Streamster platform has tighter spreads but is not displayed on the platforms. Traders will have to manually calculate from the Bid/Ask price. For comparison, EUR/USD has 5 points spread, USD/JPY 4 points, GBP/USD 5 points, and the rest of the forex currency pairs have the same 4 or 5 points spread. These spreads are much more comfortable for fast trading but traders will have to put some effort into API to connect their algorithms. Spot Gold has 15 pips spread and Silver is at 4 pips in the Streamster platform.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit stated on the website is $100 for the MT4 platform and no requirement for the Streamster. In the FAQ there are no minimum requirements as stated while the support staff told us the minimum for the MT4 is $6 and $1 for the Streamster. Note that the trading sizes for MT4 may require you to have more on balance. Cent MT4 account has a $5 minimum balance. AGEA will reward new traders with $5 upon verification so traders can start with Cent account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

AGEA has a comprehensive list of deposit costs by different payment processors. AGEA does not charge any fees for deposits. Deposit methods are numerous but without any crypto methods. You can deposit via Bank Wire, VISA, MasterCard, Local China Banks / UnionPay, DixiPay, FasaPay, Local Bank Transfers, Neteller, PerfectMoney, Qiwi, Skrill, WebMoney, Payza, RBK Money, E-Dinar, Epay, and AliPay.

Fees charged by these payments providers are:

• Local Banks in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam: 2.8% (deposits); 1.6% (withdrawals).
• Credit Cards: 3.5% + USD 0.50 or 3.5% + EUR 0.35 (deposits); 2.5% + USD 7.50 or 2.5% + EUR 6.50 (withdrawals).
• Local China Banks / UnionPay: 1.20% (deposits); RMB10 per transaction (withdrawals).
• Fasapay: 0.50% (deposits); 0% (withdrawals).
• Skrill: 2.5% + USD 0.37 + 0.5% or 2.5% + EUR 0.35 or 2.5% + GBP 0.3 (deposits); 1% (withdrawals).
• Neteller: 1.9% + USD 0.29 (Minimum USD 1.29) or 1.9% + USD 0.29 + 0.5% (Minimum USD 1.29 + 0.5%) or 1.4% + 0.29 equivalent of USD for other currencie (deposits); 0% (withdrawals).
• PerfectMoney: 0.50% (deposits); 0.50% (withdrawals).
• WebMoney: 2.50% (deposits); 1.50% (withdrawals).
• QIWI: 5% (deposits); 1% (withdrawals).
• Payza: 3.9% + USD 0.59 (deposits); 0% (withdrawals).
• RBK Money: 3.50% (deposits); 3.50% (withdrawals).
• DixiPay: 0.50% (deposits); 0.50% (withdrawals).
• E-Dinar: 1% (deposits); 1% (withdrawals).
• Epay: 0% (deposits); 0% (withdrawals).
• AliPay: 2.2% (deposits); 0% (withdrawals)

Some of these options are not available in all countries.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

In addition to withdrawal fees charged by payment processors stated above, AGEA also has its fees. Bank Wire fee is $10 and $7 one-time fee for other, non-wire processors. This means the reward of $5 will not be available for withdrawal.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal processing is not automated and will take up to 24 hours to process. This is also valid for e-wallets. After clearance, bank transfers may take up to 7 days and e-wallets are usually instant.

Bonuses & Promotions

AGEA has a kind of a bonus upon account verification but since there is a fee for withdrawals this bonus may be regarded as a pure marketing gimmick.
AGEA has a tournament called “AGEA Masters – Monthly Tournament”. This tournament is based on the highest pips performance for the current month and available only for the Streamster platform. The rewards are not disclosed.

Educational & Trading Tools

AGEA does not have a dedicated section for education. The closest thing is the Resources section with Introduction to Markets, various FAQs, Specifics and Facts, and Trading Techniques. Introduction to Markets is a very short explanation of the basics like ordering and profit calculation. This is not very useful for beginners. Trading Techniques contains useful tips about Technical, Fundamental analysis, and Risk Control.

The content is short for any serious study but points out important facts for successful trading. Specifics and Facts part is just some common phrases and topics in the forex industry. It is a kind of glossary with examples and explanations. AGEA FAQs are well structured and cover the majority of common trading questions. Transparency is good enough, the only drawback is the lack of the search tool.

AGEA does not have the Economic Calendar or any tools available on the website. Most of the tools are integrated into the Streaster platform. More on this is in the Platforms section.

Customer Service

AGEA customer service is very good. The support is available by email. phone, and chat. The chat service is well designed and integrated into the Streamster platform. This chat has a small lag for every line sending but it is tolerable. The staff will respond within a minute and has a good knowledge of trading and understanding of your needs. Some answers may not be in full, especially if it is hard to answer without a negative context. In our case, after asking about the Oil trade execution problem, we were put on hold for a few minutes until we had to ask again. Only then we have received a reply that they have technical issues. Still, the support service is 24/5 and answers promptly.

Demo Account

AGEA is one of few brokers that will encourage traders to spend on a demo for a few weeks before going live. The demo account for the Streamster platform will provide traders with $10,000 virtual funds and the MT4 demo account can be opened within the platform. The leverage and the number of virtual funds can be selected. There is no time limit and the demo will reflect live trading conditions accurately. All platform versions have a demo available.

Countries Accepted

Countries not supported are the United States, Cuba, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.

Conclusion

This section of the AGEA review will sum key information about this broker. AGEA has some advantages that are not good enough to attract new-age traders and not good enough for classical, mid and long term traders. Their Streamster platform is easy to use but lacks features and assets while the MT4 has a good Forex range, it does not have the best trading conditions. This is further complicated by low liquidity or overloaded servers.

Whatsmore, the regulation is not known for being robust and is not quite adhering to the MiFID EU directive. On the other hand, the company has solid grounds for beginner traders that like simplicity, good trading tips, chat, social aspect, and almost no deposit entry barrier. To complement this focus to beginners, AGEA has introduced the Cent account and the monthly tournament.

The broker also needs affiliates and additional staff they recruit through the AGEA Assistant program. The main selling point of this broker is the beginner-friendly Streamster platform, enough leverage, and the low deposit requirement. For other traders that prioritize great execution times, more assets including cryptocurrencies, better spreads and liquidity may look elsewhere.

Zurich Prime is an online NDD Forex and CFD broker that was launched in 2017. The company is based in Romania and offers leveraged trading of up to 1:400 on FX options. The broker’s asset portfolio consists of several different instrument types, including currency pairs, Precious Metals, Energies, Indices, Stocks, Commodities, Stocks, ETFs, and CFDs. The large variety of tradable options could certainly be enough to attract one to the broker’s website, although we were determined to find out whether the trading conditions make this broker a worthy choice.

Account Types

This broker offers five different account types, including Standard, Silver, Gold, Platinum, or Islamic. Leverage options and trade sizes are shared by all accounts and the differences seem to come in the form of deposit requirements and spreads. The Standard and Silver accounts require different deposits, although both accounts share the same spreads. Once one reaches the Gold account level or above, welcome bonuses can be activated and spreads begin to drop lower, with the very best spreads being reserved for the most expensive Platinum and Islamic accounts.

This broker has done away with commission fees entirely, meaning that traders will only pay costs through spreads and swaps. Those that are looking to open a traditional Islamic account may be satisfied to see that the broker has tailored an attractive account for them specifically. We’ve detailed the aforementioned conditions for each account type below.

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: $250
Spreads: 4-5 pips
Leverage: Up to 1:400

Silver Account
Minimum Deposit: $2,000
Spreads: 4-5 pips
Leverage: Up to 1:400

Gold Account
Minimum Deposit: $5,000
Spreads: 3-4 pips
Leverage: Up to 1:400

Platinum Account
Minimum Deposit: $10,000
Spreads: 1-2 pips
Leverage: Up to 1:400

Islamic Account
Minimum Deposit: $20,000+
Spreads: 1-2 pips
Leverage: Up to 1:400

Platform

We don’t see the most popular options MetaTrader 4 or 5 available through this broker. Instead, the company supports the SIRIX platform, which is accessible through WebTrader, PC, or on mobile devices, including iOS and Android. The platform advertises advanced functionality that allows traders to make accurate predictions that lead to successful trades.

The program is easy-to-use and incorporates advanced charting with built-in indicators, one-click order capabilities with no re-quotes, and comes with fully integrated social trading. Overall, this platform does seem to be an effective option that is simple to navigate. Some traders may be disappointed to see that MT4 or 5 is not available, although this platform is popular and efficient enough to hold up on its own.

Leverage

All accounts share the same leverage caps, with limitations set based on the category of asset that is being traded. On FX options, a generous leverage cap of up to 1:400 is available. This amount should be more than enough for even the most professional traders. On Precious Metals, Commodities, and CFDs, the leverage cap is set at 1:100. On Stocks and Indices, the maximum leverage cap is 1:25. For the holiday season, the broker is currently advertising a leverage option of 1:100 as an advantage on the instruments Dow Jones, NASDAQ, S&P 500, and Gold. One would need to contact their account manager in order to receive this benefit.

Trade Sizes

Micro lots are allowed on Standard, Silver, and Islamic accounts. A minimum trade size of 0.01 lots is required on the Gold and Platinum account types. We don’t see any information about maximum trade sizes or stop out levels on the broker’s website.

Trading Costs

This broker profits from spreads, swaps, and data fees. Zurich Prime does not charge commissions on any of their account types and incorporates all trading costs into the spread. Spreads can range from 1-5 pips when trading, depending on the account type. All open positions are automatically rolled over at the end of the trading day (5:00 pm ET). The value of the swap is determined based on the movement of the open position and the interest rate difference between the currency pair. The broker will also charge data fees on accounts that are inactive for a period of 90 days, although the fee can be avoided by temporarily deactivating the account. The broker does not list the exact charge in the case that the fee is incurred.

Assets

This broker’s investment portfolio includes FX, Precious Metals, Commodities, Energies, Stocks, ETFs, Indices, and CFDs. FX options are made up of majors, minors, and exotics. Precious Metals include Gold, Silver, Platinum, and others. Commodities include Coffee, Wheat, Corn, Sugar, Cotton, and others. Energies are made up of Natural Gas, Oil, and others. Stocks include major options like Apple and Facebook as well as lesser-known options with a leverage of up to 1:25.

Four ETFs, Indices, such as the Dow Jones and NASDAQ, and CFDs on a large variety of instruments in all major markets are also available. The broker doesn’t provide an entire list for each category, so it was impossible for us to count the exact amount that is available for each category. While we would have liked to see more transparency here, there is enough information to determine that the broker is offering a large variety of instruments.

Spreads

The very best spreads are reserved for the most expensive Platinum and Islamic accounts, with starting spreads from 1-2 pips, when trading major currencies. The second-best option of 3-4 pips is exclusively offered on the Gold Account. At the bottom of the list, we see spreads from 4-5 pips on the Standard and Silver level accounts. Since the broker has built all of the trading costs into the spreads, it makes sense to see spreads that are a little higher than the industry average, although the spreads on the Standard and Silver account still seem to be higher than we’d like to see, even with the lack of commission charges.

Minimum Deposit

Deposit minimums range from $250 up to $20,000+, with the cheapest $250 requirement being exclusive to the Standard account. One could argue that this is the industry average, although we typically see lower charges on Standard accounts that gravitate more towards the $100 range. The second most affordable account type would be the Silver option, which accepts deposits of $2,000.

If you’re looking at the Gold account, you’ll need to deposit at least $5,000, while the Platinum account requires a deposit of at least $10,000. On the higher end of things, the Islamic account requires a minimum deposit of at least $20,000 or more. Many will be happy to see that this broker has created an entire account type for Islamic clients, although the cost may turn away some of the broker’s potential clients if they cannot meet the requirement.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded by card (Visa, MasterCard, Maestro), Wire Transfer, EcoPayz, and Sofort. The broker does not accept third party deposits. The broker does mention that transfers may be subject to currency conversion charges, bank fees, or provider fees that are not reimbursable. Since the broker doesn’t list these exact fees, it is impossible to say exactly how much may be debited from the total funded amount. On their homepage, the broker advertises 0 deposit fees from their side.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

This broker does have a few rules in place to prevent money laundering. Any funds deposited via card must be withdrawn back to the same card and any profits can only be withdrawn via Wire Transfer. Profits can only be withdrawn in amounts that exceed $100 USD. The broker is not transparent about any costs that may be associated with withdrawals and one should expect to see bank charges.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

If there are no active bonuses, the account is verified, and the submitted request is for an amount of the available balance or lower, then the withdrawal will be processed within 2 business days (Monday through Friday). Once processed, it can take 7-10 days for funds withdrawn via Wire Transfer or card to be received. The broker mentions that it can take longer to receive Wire Transfers due to the fact that this payment method must pass between several banks.

Bonuses & Promotions

Standard or Silver account holders will not qualify for any type of bonus opportunity. The Gold level account qualifies for a 10% Welcome Bonus, while the Platinum and Islamic accounts qualify for a 20% Welcome Bonus. The broker doesn’t offer much more detail about the terms of the Welcome Bonus, although we can assume that this would be applied to the initial deposit that is made to the trading account. In addition, the broker advertises instant rebates, a 30% Power Bonus, and a 100% Credit Bonus, although terms are not discussed.

Educational & Trading Tools

This broker has dedicated an entire section of their website, titled “Academy”, to providing educational resources. This section aims to explain different types of trading instruments, trading strategies, social trading, and economics. Traders can access the vast amount of data through video tutorials, e-books, or articles. Since an entire portion of this section is devoted to a Beginner’s Course, one could defiantly say that this broker is doing their part to educate any novice traders that come their way. If you’re more interested in tools, you’ll be able to find an economic calendar, market news, financial news, summary news, and social trading available on the website as well.

Demo Account

Unlike the majority of other Forex brokers, this broker does not currently offer a demo account. This was a little surprising, especially considering the fact that Zurich Prime seems to be dedicated to providing educational resources. Demo accounts are always an excellent tool for traders of all skill levels, so we did feel disappointed overall to find the option missing. One could always open a demo through another broker, although the conditions wouldn’t mimic the exact conditions available through this broker, which would result in a watered-down experience.

Customer Service

Support is only available on weekdays from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, local time. This broker does not offer instant contact LiveChat, so phone would be the quickest contact method, followed by an email or the alternative contact form that is available on the website; however, the broker does not list a direct phone number. The customer support team is based in Romania and uses the same email address for all five of their departments. All listed contact information has been listed below.

Email: [email protected]
Address: U-nex Solutions SRL, Bucharest, Romania

Countries Accepted

Under their terms of service, the company mentions that traders are required to know their own state laws in order to determine if they can legally open a trading account. We weren’t certain if the broker would actually make it impossible for clients in certain countries to register, so we did check out their registration page to double-check. We were happy to find that the United States, Canada, Japan, North Kora, and several options that are typically restricted can, in fact, open an account through the broker.

Conclusion

Zurich Prime is an online broker that offers leveraged trading of up to 1:400 on a large variety of instruments, including FX, Precious Metals, Commodities, Energies, Stocks, ETFs, Indices, and CFDs from the SIRIX trading platform. This broker seems to follow a familiar pattern of rewarding clients that are able to make larger deposits with better trading conditions, with the best spreads of 1-2 pips available on the Platinum and Islamic accounts, which require deposits of $10,000 or more. Traders that cannot afford one of the better account types will be subject to spreads from 4-5 pips and would need to deposit at least $250 to open the cheapest account.

Fortunately, the broker has done away with commission fees altogether, which makes it easier to keep up with costs. The broker has a policy that is somewhat of a nuisance, where profits must be withdrawn through Wire Transfer for amounts of at least $100 USD. This could potentially restrict one from withdrawing their profits, even if they were very close to meeting that limit. The broker provides a vast library of educational resources, including videos and e-books, in addition to some trading tools and news. Strangely enough, demo accounts are not available.

Any trader that can afford a Gold level account or better will qualify for a Welcome Bonus through this broker. Support hours are limited to 9:00 am to 9:00 pm on weekdays and the instant contact option LiveChat is not available, meaning traders will need to call or email in order to get in touch with an agent. One would need to determine which account type would be the most advantageous, and whether they could afford it when deciding whether to invest with this broker.

Trade4x is an online forex broker that offers leveraged trading as high as 1:500 on FX, metals, indices, oil & gas, and stocks. The company is fairly vague when it comes to describing themselves and doesn’t provide us with any details about who they are, when they were founded, or what missions they have. As for location, we do get the vague information that the company has offices located in Singapore and Dubai. We’d recommend taking a look at our detailed review if you’re in the market for a forex broker, although the lack of background information may leave some traders feeling apprehensive about this choice.

Account Types

Trade4x offers three account types; Standard, Premium, and VIP. In addition, Islamic accounts are offered as a fourth account type. Standard accounts offer the same leverage options as the Premium account, with a lower deposit requirement and there is no listed information about the account’s spreads. The Premium account offers starting spreads from 2 pips, in exchange for a larger minimum deposit. The VIP account offers the best starting spreads from below 1 pip, with fixed leverage of 1:100 and a $5,000 deposit requirement. The website never notes whether commissions are charged on any of the accounts. All of the listed conditions for each account type have been detailed below.

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: $250
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spread: NA
Commission: NA

Premium Account
Minimum Deposit: $2,000
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spread: From 2 pips
Commission: NA

VIP Account
Minimum Deposit: $5,000
Leverage: From 1:100 fix
Spread: From less than 1 pip
Commission: NA

The broker will require documents that prove identity in order to verify the account, for example, a photo ID, passport, utility bill, bank statement, etc. The broker doesn’t list how long wait times for verification can last, or whether one would be able to begin trading before fully completing the process.

Platform

This broker supports the MetaTrader 4 platform, which is available on PC, Mac, Iphones, Ipads, and Android devices. MT4 was designed with a customizable and easy to use interface that continues to satisfy the majority of traders today. The platform supports 100+ custom indicators, Expert Advisors, 4 pending timeframes, partial close, and various other built-in features. This is the platform that is most commonly offered by forex brokers and it has not lost any popularity since being released in 2005. MT4 should provide everything a trader could need, from beginner to absolute professional status levels.

Leverage

The Standard and Premium accounts offer a leverage cap of up to 1:500 with no limitations based on the account’s equity. This cap is impressively higher than many of the competitor’s offers, although beginners will want to keep in mind that trading with leverages this high can be extremely risky. For the VIP account, the broker offers fixed leverage of 1:100. This is the exact leverage that is preferred by a wide range of professional traders across the globe, although some may not like the fixed leverage on this account type.

Trade Sizes

Standard accounts allow for trading of micro-lots, while VIP accounts support the trading of mini lots. The broker doesn’t provide an answer for the minimum trade size on Premium accounts, so we would assume these accounts would fall in the middle, either supporting micro or mini lots. The broker doesn’t provide any information about maximum trade sizes or stop-loss levels.

Trading Costs

We can confirm that this broker charges swaps, rolling fees, and dormant fees on inactive accounts. Swaps are dependent upon the chosen account type and can start from below 1 pip up to 2 pips or more. One may want to avoid the broker’s Standard account type since the exact spreads are not listed. The broker charges rolling fees, aka swaps, for extending a day-trading position until the following day. One potential way to avoid this charge would be to open an Islamic account if one meets the criteria to do so.

Accounts are considered dormant once there have been no transactions for 12 consecutive months. Once an account is considered dormant, the broker will charge a $25 annual maintenance fee or the remainder of what is in the account if the amount is less than $25. Unfortunately, the broker fails to mention commission charges anywhere on their website. It is possible that there are no commissions, although we would expect the broker to list commission-free trading as one of their advantages if this were the case.

Assets

Trade4x has an asset portfolio that consists of FX, metals, indices, oils & gas, and stocks. At first glance, the broker seems to be offering detailed product pages for each category. Unfortunately, clicking on each of these only takes us to a page that explains a description of each instrument type, instead of specific information and spread examples of what this broker has available. Aside from briefly mentioning that there are 44 available currency pairs, the broker doesn’t provide an exact number of available instruments.

Spreads

The broker fails to mention what type of spreads are associated with their Standard account type. We’re going to assume that those spreads start from more than 2 pips, based on the fact that the Premium account requires a deposit that is $1,500 larger and already offers starting spreads as high as 2 pips itself. This means that the broker would have to be offering a less attractive option on their cheapest account type. The only account that offers below-average starting spreads would be the VIP account, with starting spreads below 1 pip.

Minimum Deposit

The most affordable option offered by this broker would be the Standard account, which requires a $250 deposit. This amount is somewhat standard in the forex world, although it isn’t hard to find brokers offering the same type of account for $100 or less. There is also a $2,000 balance limit on the Standard account type. In order to open a Premium account, one would need to deposit at least $2,000, so some may feel limited based on the higher requirement. Fortunately, a VIP account only requires a $5,000 deposit, which isn’t unrealistic for that type of account. It would really come down to what the individual is willing to pay in order to access better conditions.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded through Wire Transfer, credit and debit cards, and e-wallets. The website doesn’t offer any further information about potential fees that may be incurred when making a deposit through one of these methods. For Wire Transfers, we would definitely expect to see some charges on the bank’s side, although this can be checked by contacting your personal bank. The website doesn’t list which e-wallets are accepted so it is hard to speculate for that payment method.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

This broker sets some limitations that may change the available methods for withdrawals. Withdrawals can be refunded back to cards up to the amount that was funded by that card. In some cases, the broker will allow these refunds to be processed back to a bank account owned by the client. If the account has a currency that differs from the card’s currency type, additional conversion fees may apply. The website does not go into further detail about any potential fees that may also be incurred on withdrawals. Unfortunately, this could mean that the broker will tack on high withdrawal fees without the client having any prior knowledge. These fees can really add up in the long run and we do wish that the broker would be more transparent on the subject.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Once again, Trade4x leaves us without any information about their processing times. We can be certain that it would take at least a few business days to receive funds through cards and Wire Transfer since one would be looking at the broker’s processing time on top of the bank’s own processing time. As for the e-wallets, we can’t say for sure since we aren’t provided with an exact list. Usually, withdrawals are credited back to these methods much more quickly.

Bonuses & Promotions

This broker’s website is fairly simple and we don’t see any extra offers for this category. This doesn’t mean that these options won’t be offered in the future, although the broker hasn’t mentioned anything related to bonuses at any point on their website. If you decide to sign-up, keep an eye out for any updates.

Educational & Trading Tools

The “Education” section of the website is made up of four categories: Introduction to Forex, Technical Analysis, Fundamental Analysis, and Automated Trading. Under the first section, we see some brief but helpful information that explains some of the major concepts of forex trading. The Technical Analysis section is made up of the following: What is Technical Analysis, Technical Indicators, Charts, Support & Resistance, Chart Patterns, Mathematical Indicators, Fibonacci & Elliot Wave. The Fundamental Analysis section also consists of a brief explanation of related concepts. As for trading tools, we see automated trading and other tools built-into the MetaTrader 4 platform, with no additional options on the website.

Demo Account

One can open a demo account through the broker by simply clicking “Open Demo” on the website’s homepage. You’ll then need to fill in a few simple details – name, email address, and phone number, before selecting a username and password. From there, traders will be able to start trading from the risk-free demo account. We don’t see any customization options with this broker’s demo accounts, so it seems that the account will come with a predetermined amount of virtual currency. It also seems that the demo account is only available in one type, rather than being available in the broker’s Standard, Premium, or VIP versions.

Customer Service

Contact methods seem to be limited to email options or call back requests. The broker does mention the phone and fax at one point but never lists any phone numbers anywhere on the website. It is possible to fill out a callback request if one is willing to wait for a support member to reach out. Also, note that there is a live chat menu in the bottom right corner of the screen that doesn’t seem to work. At first, we thought that support may not be online, but it seems that the broker has simply abandoned offering this contact option altogether. The broker is also active on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter and it may be possible to contact support through their social media channels. One can fill out a feedback form under the “Support” section of the website. All available contact information has been listed below.

Email: [email protected]

Countries Accepted

Trade4x explicitly states that residents of the United States and Hong Kong may not open accounts with them. We did try to test out the registration page to see if this rule was upheld, but the website seems to block users with certain IP addresses, confirming the statement that residents in the US are blocked. If you cannot access the sign-up page, chances are that the broker has purposely blocked users in your location from creating an account.

Conclusion

Trade4x is an online broker that offers leveraged trading of up to 1:500 on FX, metals, indices, oils & gas and stocks. Traders can choose from 3 main account types, with minimum deposits ranging from $250 up to $5,000. The lowest spreads start from below 1 pip on the most expensive account, with the highest spreads starting from more than 2 pips on the Standard account. The high spreads would be more forgiving if the broker actually mentioned whether or not commissions are charged in addition to the spreads. This leads us to believe that these charges are applicable, meaning that one would need to deposit at least $5k in order to access the only account with spreads that are not above average.

The website is also vague about funding and only mentions the available funding methods, without giving us any indication of how much it may cost to deposit and withdraw funds. Trade4x isn’t offering anything extra, like bonuses, extended support hours, or LiveChat, but we do see some educational resources available. The website also fails to provide us with a lot of important information on the broker’s background, such as what year the company was established, etc. Altogether, the lack of some information can be a red flag, but there is more information provided for the Premium and VIP account types if one is willing to make the larger deposit.

ProfiForex is an FX and CFD broker that offers market execution on CFDs and Metals and instant execution on forex instruments with 4-digit quotes. The company is located in Belize, owned and managed by TIM GROUP INC. and was founded by a group of traders with the goal to help others become successful. Since 2010, the broker has been attracting more clients and growing in popularity. Stay with us to find out whether the founders have actually managed to provide a competitive environment that their clients will benefit from.

Account Types

ProfiForex provides the choice between two real account types – Micro and Standard. In addition, the broker offers a demo, Islamic, joint, and corporate accounts. Both of the real accounts share several similarities, including minimum trade sizes, lack of minimum deposit requirements, spreads, and commission costs. On Micro accounts, the balance will be shown as USC or US Cents. For example, a deposit of $1 will show as 100 USC. Another difference would be the maximum trade size and the number of simultaneously opened positions that are allowed. Upon registration, the broker does not provide a choice between account types and it seems that the default account is Standard. Details for the two main account types have been listed below.

Micro Account
Minimum Deposit: None
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spread: variable/fixed (See “Spreads”)
Commission: 0.3 pips to 0.6 pips (See “Trading Costs”)

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit:
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spread: variable/fixed (See “Spreads”)
Commission: 0.3 pips to 0.6 pips (See “Trading Costs”)

Unlike most of their competitors, this broker does not require verification documents and there are no restrictions placed on accounts that have not been verified, so there is no need to worry about withdrawals or other problems arising. It would still be wise to provide proof of ID and residence documents since the company does reserve the right to request these documents if the need arises. Fortunately, one would be able to begin trading without being delayed by the companies 5 business day waiting period.

Platform

This broker offers the world-famous MetaTrader 4 platform, in addition to the MobiusTrader7 platform. MT4 can be downloaded on PC, iOS, and Android devices, or accessed through the browser-based Webtrader. The website also provides download links for MobiusTrader7 on PC, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS, and this platform can also be accessed through the browser with no download required. MetaTrader 4 could really serve as a standalone platform choice on its own, with support for one-click trading, Expert Advisors, customizable charts, economic news, reliable execution, analytical objects, multiple technical indicators, and more.

MobiusTrader6 also seems to be a worthy choice that supports trailing-stop and the ability to make multiple orders. The platform has an offline mode, offers access to the full trade history, supports all types of executions for trading operations, and has 3 different types of charts; bars, Japanese candles, and broken lines.

Leverage

The lowest leverage option that can be used is 1:1, which simply means that one is trading with the exact amount of funds that are within the account. The maximum leverage cap is set at 1:500 on FX and Indices and 1:100 on Metals. There is also a condition on EUR/TRY where the leverage is 10 times lower than the currently selected leverage option. The maximum cap offered by this broker is extremely high and should be more than enough to satisfy even the most demanding of traders; however, beginners may want to consider sticking with a lower option, as trading with higher leverages can cause one to lose a significant amount of funds quickly. Leverage settings can be changed at any time from the “Personal Area” once one is logged into their account.

Trade Sizes

Micro accounts allow for the trading of micro-lots and have a maximum trade size of 10,000 lots. Standard accounts also allow for the trading of micro-lots, with a 1,000 lot maximum trade size limit. Up to 200 orders can be opened simultaneously on a Micro account, while Standard accounts will allow for 300 open orders. The company reserves the right to close out the most unprofitable deals when the client’s margin level drops to 15%.

For deposits that exceed $1,000, the margin call level is 80%, while the stop loss level is set at 60%. Scalping is allowed; however, orders must last at least 1 minute or they will be canceled on deals with fixed spreads. There is no limitation on deals with variable spreads. Hedging is also allowed, providing that there is a time gap of at least 5 minutes between the opposite deals being opened.

Trading Costs

ProfiForex profits from spreads, commissions, and swaps. The broker does not charge commissions on pairs with no suffix, for example, EUR/USD. A round turn commission of 0.3 pips is charged when trading on instruments with the suffix V and a round turn commission of 0.6 pips is charged when trading on instruments with the suffix ECN. Overnight interest, or swaps, are charged on positions that are held overnight, with a triple charge occurring on Wednesdays. There do not appear to be any inactivity fees charged by this broker.

Assets

Trading instruments are limited to currency pairs, Metals, and CFDs. In total, the broker offers 49 currency pairs, including majors, minors, and exotics, like the USDTRY, USKNOK, USDHKD, and more. Metal options include Silver/Euro, Silver/USD Dollar, Gold/Euro, and Gold/US Dollar. There are 11 indices available, including Brent Crude Oil, natural gas, copper, and more. This brings the grand total of available instruments to just under 70 options.

Spreads

This broker offers variable and fixed spreads, and one can determine the spread type by checking the suffix that has been assigned to the instrument. If there is no suffix, then there are no commissions charged on that instrument and the spread is fixed. The suffix V stands for variable spreads, while the suffix ECN stands for lowered spreads. On the “Spreads And Swaps” page, users can view the minimum and average spread on each instrument for both the variable and fixed spreads. We see higher options on the fixed spreads, for example, the fixed spread on EUR/USD is 2 pips, while the minimum variable spread is between 0.1 and 0.5 (average) pips on the same instrument.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum required amount needed for the minimal contact size is only 3 cents, although the broker suggests depositing at least $2-3 for full-scale trading. Compared to the deposit minimums in the hundreds or thousands, this makes this broker one of the most affordable options on the market.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded through Visa/MasterCard, Skrill, Bitcoin, Okpay, WebMoney, PerfectMoney, Neteller, RBK Money, Liqpay, W1, Yandex Money, QiWi, UnionPay, Boleto, and Mobile. If one decides to deposit via Visa/MasterCard, the broker will require a photo of the card, showing the name and last four digits, with all other information blacked out. All deposits should be credited instantly. The broker does not charge fees from their side but does mention possible fees that may be charged by each specific payment provider.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

All of the deposit methods are available for withdrawals. The company does have a rule that states withdrawals can only be made back to the originating deposit method. It is unclear if any certain method must be used for profits, so we’ll assume that clients can choose a method in those cases.

Exact fees are not listed on the website, although we were able to see the fees for a couple of methods on the withdrawal page after registering for an account. The rest of the payment methods are likely missing because we haven’t made a deposit, although the website will display those commission fees for all methods once one does go to make a withdrawal with funds. The associated fees that we could view are listed below.

WebMoney: 0.8%
Visa/MasterCard: 2.9%
Skrill: $5
PerfectMoney: $5

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Amounts less than $5,000 are processed within 24 hours, while amounts for more than $5,000 are processed within 48 hours. Withdrawals back to Visa/MasterCard may incur a longer wait time because of the bank’s processing times. Withdrawals are only processed on business days and withdrawals made on Fridays will not be processed until the following Monday.

Bonuses & Promotions

The broker is currently offering a whopping bonus of up to 500% on initial and replenishment deposits. Upon making the deposit, traders will select the amount of the bonus, from 50% to 500%. The chosen amount will increase the account’s leverage, for example, a bonus amount of 500% will result in leverage of 1:3000. The bonus is then reflected on the account as a credit and will be canceled out if the stop loss level is reached.

Portions of the bonus will also be subtracted from the account if a withdrawal is made. For each 1 lot that is traded, a separate amount of the bonus can be converted to withdrawable form on the account balance. The exact amount that can be converted varies and those conditions have been listed below.

Forex – 1 USD (per lot)
Forex.ECN – 1 USD (per lot)
Forex (Fixed Spreads) – 3 USD (per lot)
Forex.Big – 80 USD (per lot)

In addition, the broker is preparing to offer a newbie contest on demo accounts that will offer real cash prizes. More on that later.

Educational & Trading Tools

The ProfiForex has an entire section of their website dedicated to education. Within this section, we see tutorials that explain concepts like Bulls & Bears, moving averages, ADX, and more. Those articles contain photos and graphs that can help one to grasp the concepts much more easily. We also see a tutorial that is dedicated to explaining how to use the MetaTrader 4 platform with step-by-step photos. We also see articles that are dedicated more towards professional-level strategies and information based on the graphical analysis. Another section of the website is dedicated to trading tools; however, this section only includes downloads for the trading platforms.

Demo Account

A forex demo account allows traders to practice trading on the financial markets without risking any real funds. All currency is virtual, so traders can gauge their skill level based on their profitability within the program. A demo account can be opened directly from the website, or from within the trading platform. Traders will need to log in at least once every two months in order to keep the demo account active and non-active demo accounts will be archived. Another incentive to open a demo with this broker would be the ability to take part in a free contest that opens on the 22nd of January. The contest is for newbies and a grand prize of $100 will be paid out to the winners, with places 2 through 10 bringing home $5 to $50, depending on ranking.

Customer Service

Customer support can be reached through LiveChat or via email. Note that customer support cannot provide technical assistance over the phone and the broker does not provide any direct phone numbers. As for LiveChat, we are happy to see an instant contact option, although support was not online when we tried to chat later in the day. The exact hours that support is online on chat is not specified, so one would likely have to catch support at a good time. Otherwise, it’s possible to reach out through email via the different email addresses that have been listed by the broker. The contact information is listed below.

Email:
Client Department (24 hours): [email protected]
Financial Department (7 a.m. – 4 p.m. London time Mon-Fri): [email protected]
Development Department: [email protected]
Quality Management Department (6 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon-Fri): [email protected]
Management Department (6 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon-Fri): [email protected]
Address: Corner Hutson & Eyre Street Suite 302, Blake Building, Belize City, Belize

Countries Accepted

We visited the account registration page to check for any obvious restrictions on the broker’s sign-up list. Fortunately, the USA was a selectable option and we were able to register an account from our US-based offices with no problem. There is conflicting information, however, as the FAQ states that United States residents are not accepted. We also see Iran, North and South Korea, Canada, Iraq, Japan, and many other commonly restricted countries on the sign-up list.

Conclusion

ProfiForex offers leveraged trading of up to 1:500 on 64 total instruments, which include FX, Metals, and CFDs. Traders will have the choice between Micro and Standard accounts, both of which share many similarities. The broker does not require a minimum deposit of more than a few dollars. The broker offers variable and fixed spreads and charges commissions of 0.3 – 0.6 pips on certain instruments. Accounts can be funded through a variety of methods with quick processing times on deposits and withdrawals. Exact fees associated with funding for all payment methods are not listed.

Currently, an impressive 500% bonus is being offered and a contest that offers real cash prices for trading on demo accounts starts soon. The website also offers some educational resources, although we don’t see any trading tools, like an economic calendar or calculators. Support is limited to LiveChat and email and agents do not always seem to be online during business hours. The broker offers service to clients in all locations and seems to be worth consideration.

NumerousFX is an online FX and CFD broker that offers leveraged trading as high as 1:1000 on FX, precious metals, CFDs, and cryptocurrency pairs. The company was founded in the year 2008 by a group of financial experts and professionals, with years of experience in financial trading and technical support. The broker is located in the United Kingdom and offers the advantage of choosing from 5 account types; however, one would definitely want to read more about those terms before deciding whether to open an account.

Account Types

NumerousFX offers the choice of five different account types: Basic, Classic, Premium, Pro, and Advanced. The Basic account offers the lowest deposit requirement, with a leverage cap of 1:300 and spreads from 2.5 pips. From there, one would find an incentive to make a larger deposit in the form of higher leverage options and lower spreads. The Classic account offers a leverage cap of 1:400 with spreads from 2 pips, although the deposit requirement jumps to $1,000.

The Premium account shares the same starting spreads as the Classic account, although the account offers a higher leverage option and requires a $5,000 deposit. Spreads start from 1.5 pips on Pro accounts, with leverage options as high as 1:700 and there is a $10,000 deposit requirement on this account type.

Finally, the Advanced account offers a maximum leverage cap of up to 1:1000 and spreads start from 1 pip, with a deposit requirement of $50,000. There are no commission charges on any of the accounts. None of these accounts offer swap-free options, so those looking for Islamic accounts will have to look elsewhere. All aforementioned conditions have been listed below.

Basic Account
Minimum Deposit: $100
Leverage: Up to 1:300
Spread: From 2.5 pips
Commission: $0

Classic Account
Minimum Deposit: $1,000
Leverage: Up to 1:400
Spread: From 2 pips
Commission: $0

Premium Account
Minimum Deposit: $5,000
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Spread: From 2 pips
Commission: $0

Pro Account
Minimum Deposit: $10,000
Leverage: Up to 1:700
Spread: From 1.5 pips
Commission: $0

Advanced Account
Minimum Deposit: $50,000
Leverage: Up to 1:1000
Spread: From 1 pip
Commission: $0

The broker doesn’t mention anything about account verification on their website, so it is unclear whether ID and/or address documents would be required before one could fund their account and begin trading.

Platform

This broker exclusively supports the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. Links to download and access the platform can be accessed from the broker’s website by navigating to the “Downloads” tab. Note that the NumerousFX server can be accessed by choosing with the server name PROFX. Most have already heard about this platform and know that it comes loaded with features and supports trading styles that will suit all types of traders.

If you haven’t heard about MT4, you should know that the platform supports one-click trading, trailing stops, Expert Advisors, customizable charts, a user-friendly interface, analysis tools, multiple order types, 4 pending timeframes, micro-lots, and more. MT4 is accessible on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android devices, or through the WebTrader.

Leverage

Leverages with this broker range from 1:300 up to 1:1000. The lowest leverage cap is reserved for the Basic account and is still high enough to satisfy a broad range of traders. The Classic account raises the cap to 1:400, while the Premium account offers a maximum cap of 1:500. From there, options become much higher than average at 1:500 on Premium accounts and 1:700 on Pro accounts. The Advanced accounts offer an advantage to professional traders, being that the account offers a leverage of up to 1:1000. Options are typically much more limited for account types that require larger deposits with other brokers.

Trade Sizes

All accounts allow for the trading of micro-lots and maximum trade sizes are not listed anywhere on the website. Stop out occurs at 25% on Basic and Classic accounts, 20% on Premium and Pro accounts, and 10% on Advanced accounts. The broker does not specify whether hedging or scalping is allowed.

Trading Costs

NumerousFX has done away with commissions altogether and only profits from spreads and swaps. The fact that all trading costs are built-into the spreads makes it easier for one to calculate the exact costs that are being incurred, so this is always an advantage for beginners. Do note that spreads seem a bit higher than average, although spreads are raised to make up for the missing commissions. As for swaps, these charges would be incurred on positions that are held overnight, with triple charges on Wednesdays. There do not appear to be any inactivity charges associated with this broker.

Assets

NumerousFX has a very simplistic website – one that, unfortunately, fails to list a product page. We can still tell you that the broker offers currency pairs, precious metals, CFDs on commodities and indices, and a number of cryptocurrency pairs, including Bitcoin, Dash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and more. Sadly, we can’t offer more details, like the exact number of available instruments, or more detail about each category.

Spreads

One should expect spreads to be a bit higher with this broker, considering that all of the costs are built-into the spread due to the lack of commission charges. Still, the starting spreads from 2.5 pips seem a bit high for the Basic account type and one would need to make a deposit of at least $1,000 to access the starting spreads from 2 pips on the Classic and Premium account types. The starting spreads drop to a much more reasonable level from 1.5 pips on Pro accounts. To access the best spreads possible, one would want to open an Advanced account, which offers spreads from 1 pip.

Minimum Deposit

If you’re looking to deposit less than $1k, then your only option would be the Basic account type, which has a $100 minimum deposit requirement. From there, requirements jump into the thousands, at $1,000 on the Classic, $5,000 on the Premium, and $10,000 on the Pro account. The most expensive account would be the Advanced account, which comes with a steep $50,000 deposit requirement.

Overall, it seems that the broker is offering a good range of different account types, although it would be nice to see less expensive options, at least on the Classic account. One can open an account with as little as a few dollars through some bigger brokers, although the $100 minimum for the Basic account is a realistic number.

Deposit Methods & Costs

According to the website, accounts can be funded via Bank Wire, Visa/MasterCard, Neteller, Skrill, and WebMoney. The website doesn’t go into any further detail about costs or wait times, although it’s safe to assume that there are likely fees associated with the majority of these methods. This can be said for Bank Wire especially, as the bank will apply their own charges on deposits. The lack of transparency when it comes to these costs is somewhat disappointing and unfortunately, this pattern repeats itself as we move on to withdrawals. One suggestion would be to make the smallest initial deposit possible in order to test the process.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Once again, the website fails to provide us with any solid information about withdrawals. With most brokers, we do see rules in place that force withdrawals to be made back to the original deposit source, for example, if one were to initially deposit $100 through a card, then rules would require one to withdraw funds back to that card up to $100.

We don’t see any pages dedicated to terms or conditions on the website, so it is unclear whether this broker follows that familiar trend. As for fees, one should definitely be prepared to see costs when it comes to withdrawing funds. If withdrawals were fee-free, this would definitely be something that the broker would boast about somewhere on their website.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The website doesn’t provide any information that gives us a substantial idea of how long wait times may be for withdrawals. We do know that customer support is active 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday, so withdrawals are likely processed during these hours, with a longer wait time for a request that is submitted on a Friday. Bank Wire and Visa/MasterCard withdrawals typically take longer to be received based on the bank’s processing times.

Bonuses & Promotions

At this time, the broker is not offering any type of bonus or promotion. We usually read through broker’s terms and look for hints on the website that suggest that these types of opportunities may be offered from time to time; however, this broker’s website remains simple and does not seem to refer to bonuses at any point. This leaves little room for faith that we will see these options offered through this broker at any time.

Educational & Trading Tools

As we mentioned earlier, this broker’s website is fairly simple and nothing extra is offered in the ways of education. NumerousFX has even failed to offer simple demo accounts, which will force beginners and novice traders to look elsewhere for learning material. This doesn’t actually affect whether one should open a real account, it’s just nice to see brokers making an effort to educate their clients and make the process easier by offering those resources directly. We also failed to find any tools on the website, although MT4 does come loaded with some helpful tools that will somewhat make up for the lack of options on the website.

Demo Account

Surprisingly enough, we don’t see the option to open a demo account available through this broker. The majority of forex brokers offer demo accounts to their potential clients free of charge, as a way to allow traders to test out their conditions and gain experience trading without risking funds. We’re disappointed to see the option missing here, especially coupled with the fact that the broker isn’t offering any educational resources at all.

Customer Service

One can get in touch with a support agent at any hour on weekdays through phone, email, by filling out a form on the website, or Skype. While we did try to contact the broker’s support team on Skype, our search result did not yield any results when using the company’s provided Skype ID. Hopefully, the broker will correct this issue, otherwise, traders will only be left without an instant contact option.

There’s nothing wrong with email, although response times typically take 24 hours or more through this method. If one were in a hurry because of a technical error or missing funds, then we would certainly hope to be able to contact an agent more quickly. All contact methods have been listed below, including the currently non-active Skype ID.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: +44 (0) 3700 0106
Skype: supportnfx
Address: 20 Ropemaker Street, Finsbury, London, EC2Y 9AR, UK

Countries Accepted

The broker doesn’t list any restricted countries anywhere on their website. Instead of offering a traditional registration page, the broker directs potential clients to fill out a form with a message to send to support. The form does ask for the trader’s country and allows anything to be typed in. This leaves it unclear as to whether the broker would reject clients from certain countries.

Conclusion

NumerousFX offers leveraged trading as high as 1:1000 on FX, precious metals, CFDs, and cryptocurrencies from the MT4 platform. Traders can choose from five separate account types, all of which offer commission-free trading. Deposit minimums range from $100 to $50,000, and the Basic account type is the only option for less than $1k. Spreads are floating, starting from a below-average 1 pip all the way up to an above-average 2.5 pips, with starting spreads being dependent on the chosen account type.

Funding is iffy with this broker – there is no information listed about the associated fees on deposits and withdrawals, nor are processing times listed. This makes us apprehensive about making a deposit. Support is available 24/5 via phone, email, or Skype. Currently, there are no current offers or signs that the broker will be offering any bonuses or promotions any time in the future.

The website is also lacking any educational resources, including demo accounts, and tools. It is unclear whether those in the US and other commonly restricted locations would be able to get passed the registration process with this broker. One would definitely want to take all of this into consideration before opening an account.

FirewoodFX is an offshore broker, located in St. Vincent & the Grenadines and has been operating, unregulated since the year 2014. On first look, it appears to be a rather well-established broker, offering a range of preferable trading options and tools, and not only offering a palatable trading service but also a variety of IB affiliate programs that clients can make use of, in addition to profiting from the trading services. The website is clearly set out, and a live chat support team is on hand 24/5 should you require assistance.

Account Types

FirewoodFX offers 3 account types, and there is a neat account comparison table displayed on the website, setting out all main features and benefits of each. All accounts may use the leverage of up to 1:1000 and do not accrue commission charges.

Micro: 0.01 lot, min deposit: 10 USD
Standard: 0.01 lot, min deposit:10 USD
Premium 0.1 lot, min deposit: 100 USD

Islamic accounts are also available, and there is the option of PAMM accounts as well, upon request.

Platforms

FirewoodFX offers the reliable MetaTrader platform, compatible with PC, Desktop Web Trader, and MetaTrader 4 Mobile (iPhone / iPad and Android) which means clients can trade both on the go or at home, regardless of whether you are a Windows or Mac user.

Leverage

The maximum leverage clients of FirewoodFX are allowed is 1:1000. This leverage allowance is the same across all 3 account types offered. It must be noted that this is extremely high leverage and only those who have a thorough and experienced understanding of how leverage works, and how trading with high leverage especially, works, should delve into the use of it. High leverage trading can be incredibly profitable, as well as incredibly risky and can cause severe losses if you are unfamiliar and inexperienced with it.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size requirements are set out on the website and vary according to account type. This also can help prospective clients decide which account is more suitable, depending on the type of trading you like to conduct, complying with the capital you wish to deposit.

Micro: min 0.01 lot, max 200 lots
Standard: min 0.01 lot, max 30 lots
Premium min 0.1 lot, max 50 lots

All accounts have a cap of opening a maximum of 200 positions.

Trading Costs

All clients of FirewoodFX can enjoy a low-cost trading experience since all account types do not charge any trade commission fees, but swaps do apply, which can be calculated according to trade size and pair you are trading. Of course, Swap-free accounts (Islamic accounts) are available upon request if this is applicable to you.

Assets

FirewoodFX does not offer the greatest variety of assets, and certainly do not stand out competitively among the wider majority of brokers these days, with offering just two types: Forex and Metals. All Forex and Metals available are however displayed on the website, with the spreads according to each, and relevant to each account type.

Spreads

Firstly, FirewoodFX offers only FIXED spreads, not floating, which may be ideal for some traders, while for others, perhaps not. FirewoodFX also offers different starting spreads depending on the accounts type you opt for, which are as follows:

• Micro: from 3 pips
• Standard: from 2 pips
• Premium from 1 pip

Even so, each tradable hair has a different starting spread, so for each pair, it varies, as well as depending on the account option you go for. All starting spreads are displayed on the website too which is useful to refer to.

In general, if we compare the starting spreads to competitor brokers, the spreads offered by FirewoodFX are not entirely competitive for all pairs, and in fact, are a lot higher than average, and this goes for all account types.

Minimum Deposit

As mentioned earlier, the minimum deposit requirements depending on the account type you choose. All minimum deposits are low in comparison to what some brokers require, which makes this broker more appealing to perhaps the newer traders who are wary about depositing large sums, to begin with.

• Micro min deposit: 10 USD
• Standard min deposit:10 USD
• Premium min deposit: 100 USD

Deposit Methods & Costs

FirewoodFX should be given credit for the wide array fo funding methods they offer, including Visa/Mastercard Debit/Credit Card ($0.5 + 5% fee), Skrill (3.9% fee), Neteller (4.4% Min $1 + $0.29 fee), UnionPay (2.6% fee), ACB, FasaPay and a handful of bank wire transfers are available.

Note that if you are making a bank wire deposit, fees may be applied by your banking provider, so it is always best to check beforehand. As stated above, there are few methods with fees attached, so clients have a good selection of options to choose from.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

As with the deposit methods, all withdrawal methods available are set out on the website with their applicable costs, which are the same, if not similar to the deposit fees. Of course, as per the above suggestion, for wire transfers, you should check with your provider as you may be liable for some fees.

• Mastercard Visa card fees: $10
• Neteller: Neteller Fees
• Skrill: No Fee (For max $5000 withdrawal within 30 days) and 1% (For over $5000 withdrawal)
• OK Pay: OKPay Fees
• FasaPay: Fasapay Fee 0.5%, max $5

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

All withdrawal processing times are shown on the website, with all aside from wire transfer and card withdrawals (which are within 48 hours), are processed within 24 working hours. Of course, the time is taken for you to actually receive your funds may vary depending on your banking provider or third party processors.

Bonuses & Promotions

FirewoodFX offers a handful of bonuses and promotional schemes including a Deposit Bonus which all clients can take advantage of. This bonus scheme gives 20% of your deposit, on top of what you fund your account with. For example, if you make a $100 deposit or more, you will be eligible for a 20% bonus. Bonuses must not, however, be understood as giving you true extra margin and equity, and the policy to withdraw them are rarely met, therefore very very few traders actually ever get to withdraw their profit.

For Standard and Micro account holders, there is also a promotional offer whereby clients can receive up to $5000 Trading Reward. The slogan, which is highly encouraging for clients to rapidly deposit large sums, reads: ‘The more you trade and deposit, the more bonus you get’. This in itself depicts the type of broker this is, seeking only large deposits form clients, using ploys like this to make this happen.

Educational & Trading Tools

FirewoodFX does offer regular daily news articles which are most helpful in one’s everyday trading, while charting up, for example. In addition, a Forex Glossary and Margin Calculator can be found directly on the website, so there are ample tools for both the newer and more experienced traders to benefit from.

There is no specific trading educational material or packages to be found, however, this is not an issue for the newer traders out there, as you can easily find training material online, paid courses as well as free.

Customer Service

FirewoodFX offers a customer support team on a 24/5 basis should you require assistance. You may contact them via live chat or email, as you prefer. This broker does not offer a telephone line for support contact, however, the live chat prompt responds and is in fact, a more effective method of contact in the case of a trade query or issue.

In regards to the quality of client support, this broker offers typically a fast response rate, and consistently a professional and comprehensive answer. In fact, it can be said that the support team is a stand out element of this broker!

Demo Account

As standard goes, FirewoodFX does offer a demo account, which is compatible via the MT4 platform. Ensure to make use of the demo to backtest your strategies alongside the trading conditions offered by this broker, prior to opening the live account, to avoid any nasty surprises.

Countries Accepted

In respect of FirewoodFX unregulated status, it should be known that traders from the USA would not be accepted to use these trading services, which is in fact stated in a disclaimer at the footer of the website.

Conclusion

This broker gives off a mixed signal in the sense that there are some aspects that are very appealing and preferable to traders, while other aspects may be questionable. For example, this broker offers a very small selection of tradable assets and fixed spreads (and they start high), while on the other hand, there are no trade commission fees, decent leverage options, and low minimum deposits. The more questionable side of things is when you consider the deposit bonus scheme which encourages clients to trade, at times, aggressively and without thinking clearly which more often than not, results in hefty losses. This is also made more than possible with the wide spreads and high leverage.

All things considered, this broker does do what it says on the tin, so to speak, and their transparency cannot be denied. In addition, their website is very clearly set out, and the customer support team is prompt and professional, and easily contactable. Having said that, this broker’s trading conditions would seemingly be more suitable and appropriate for experienced traders, and not total novices.

Z.com Trade is a forex broker that was founded in 2005 as GMO Click and was rebranded in 2015 as Z.com. They are authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and offer powerful technology, STP NDD execution, ultra-tight spreads, and comprehensive account service. That is according to the website, in this review we will be taking a look under the hood to see if they really do offer what they say.

Account Types

There are 4 different accounts on offer from X.com Trade, these are the Classic, ECN, ECN Plus and the professional account. Let’s take a little look at what each account offers.

Classic Account: The classic account is like other accounts you will see on most brokers. It has a minimum deposit of $10,000 and the base currency can be in USD, EUR or GBP. It has leverage up to 1:30 and the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots. It has a floating spread which starts at 1 pip and there is no added commission when trading. The maximum trade size os 50 lots and the server is located in London.

ECN Account: The ECN account also has a minimum deposit of $10,000, this account can have a base currency of USD, GBP, and EUR. This account has a leverage of 1:30 and has a floating spread starting at 0 pips, due to the low spread there is an added commission of $4 per lot traded. There is also a maximum trade size of 50 lots and the server is also located in London.

ECN Plus Account: This account is slightly different as it is based on a minimum balance or trade volume, it requires a minimum deposit of $10,000 or a trading volume of 100 million. It has a leverage of 1:30 and the minimum trade size os 0.01 lots and the maximum is 50 lots. It can have a base currency of USD, EUR or GBP and it also has a spread starting from 0 pips, the commission is slightly reduced and now sits at %2.5 per lot traded.

Professional Account: The professional account is very similar to the ECN Plus account in the fact that it requires a minimum balance of $10,000 or a trading volume of 100 million per month. This account has larger maximum leverage though as it has now increased up to 1:200, the spread remains as a floating spread starting at 0 pips with a commission of $2.5 per lot traded added to the account. The minimum trade size remains at 0.1 lots and the maximum is still 50 lots. The account can also use USD, EUR or GBP as the base currency.

Platforms

X.com Trade only has one main trading platform which is MetaTrader 4, it also uses an API function should you wish to trade that way.

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

API: There isn’t too much information provided regarding the API functions but this is very advanced and you will already know all about it should you be attempting to use it. It allows you to access the markets through your own software using Z.Com Trades APIs settings.

Leverage

The maximum leverage available for the Classic, ECN and ECN Plus accounts is 1:30 this is due to the regulations that Z.com Trade has. The professional account allows you to have maximum leverage up to 1:200. The leverage can be selected when opening up an account, once an account is open you can request for it to be changed by getting in contact with the customer service team, there must be no active trades when requesting to have the leverage on an account changed.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes for all accounts start at 0.01 lots which are also known as a micro lot, trades 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 50 lots, this is relevant for all account types and is at an appropriate level as we never suggest making trades larger than 50 lots anyway.

Trading Costs

The classic account uses a spread based payment system that we will look into more later in this review. The ECN account has an added commission of $4 per lot traded, the ENC Plus and Professional account have a commission of $2.5 per lot added to the account, both of which are under the industry average of $6 per lot traded. There are also swap charges which can be both positive and negative for holding trades overnight, the swap charges can be viewed from within the trading platform itself.

Assets

Z.com Trade has broken down their assets into 8 different categories, however, a number of them interlink with each other so there aren’t actually as many.

Forex Majors: The forex majors include pairs such as CAS/CHF, EUR/GBP and EUR/USD, these are the major trading pairs that have the most liquidity and so the markets are more stable.

Forex Minors: The forex minor pairs include currency pairings like GBP/AUD, NZD/CHF and AUD/USD, these pairs have slightly less liquidity and so offer a slightly more volatile trading experience.

EUR Exotics: These are exotic pairs that are traded against the Euro, they include pairs like EUR/PLN, EUR/RUB, and EUR/CZK, these are much less frequently traded pairs so offer a lot of volatility, especially during news events.

GBP Exotics: Just like the EUR exotics, theses are less traded instruments which offer a lot of volatility, some examples are GBP/SEL, GBP/ZAR, and GBP/NZD

USD Exotics: Exactly the same except these ones are traded against the United States Dollar, they include pairs such as USD/MXN, USD/HUF, and USD/DKK

Commodities: There aren’t as many commodities as you would expect, there are the usual metals of Gold and Silver and then some other commodities such as Coffee, however, the majority are other metals such as Copper and Nickel.

Indices: There are 10 different indices which include the usual suspects of UK 100, US 500 and DE 30.

Cryptocurrencies: The final category is cryptocurrencies which is great to see, coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash are available to trade against the US Dollar.

Spreads

The spreads that you receive are dependant on the account that you trade with and the instrument that you are trading. When trading on the classic account you have spreads starting from 1 pip, this means that they will not drop below this level, with all other accounts they are as low as 0 pips.

The spreads on all accounts are variable (also known as floating) which means that they move with the markets, when there is a lot of volatility in the markets the spreads will often be seen higher than the stated amount. It is also important to note that different instruments have different spreads, so while one instrument such as EUR/USD may have a spread starting at 1 pip, another currency pair may have a spread starting at 1.6 pips, so it is important to check the pair you are trading.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required to open an account seems to be $10,00 which is relatively high and could price out a lot of potential new clients. Normally when a broker requires a large amount to open an account any subsequent deposits into the already opened account have a reduced limit, however, we could not see any information regarding this on the website.

Deposit Methods & Costs

A few different ways to deposit your money into Z.com Trade, we have set out the table below in regard to the method and currencies available.

MasterCard – USD, EUR, GBP
Visa – USD, EUR, GBP
Co-branded Cards – USD, EUR, GBP

Neteller – USD, EUR, GBP
Skrill – USD, EUR, GBP
WebMoney – USD, EUR
2C2P – USD

Bank Wire Transfer – USD, EUR, GBP

There are no added fees for deposits as Z.com Trade has decided to cover all transfer costs when depositing funds.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available for withdrawing, unfortunately, there are some added fees for withdrawals and we have outlined them for you below.

MasterCard – 2.6%
Visa – 2.6 %
Co-branded Cards – 2.6%

Neteller – 2%
Skrill – 1%
WebMoney – 1.85%

Bank Wire Transfer – 0GBP, 20 EUR, 25 USD

Withdrawals must be made to the same method that you used to deposit.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Requests made before 12:00 UK time will be processed the same day, any requests after this time will be processed on the next working day. You can only make one withdrawal request per day. Neteller, Skrill, and WebMoney will arrive in your account around 15 minutes after the request being processed, credit/debit cards and bank wire transfers will take between 1 – 5 business days to appear in your bank account.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is the usual affiliate program and introducing broker program but we will not be going into that in detail, apart from these there does not appear to be any active promotions, there may have been in the past and there may be new ones in the future so be sure to check back regularly if you are looking for bonuses.

Educational & Trading Tools

We could not locate any educational tools or trading tools on the website so it does not appear that there are any which is a shame as a lot of more modern brokers are actively trying to help their clients become better traders so it would have been nice to see X.com Trade do the same thing.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in contact with Z.com Trade you can do so in a few different ways, you can use the online chat feature where you can talk to a representative through a chat client. This support is open between 09:00 and 17:00 UK time from Monday to Friday. You can also get in touch via phone, there is a UK phone number which has the same opening times of 09:00 to 17:00 UK time from Monday to Friday. Finally, there is a postal address should you wish to send a physical letter.

It is a shame that the support is not available 24 hours a day as many traders may have issues during the night and there would be no way to get any assistance until the morning.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, you can sign up by clicking the try demo button, but at this point in time Z.com Trade is not accepting new clients, the demo account can mimic any of the trading conditions of the 4 available account types. There was not any information in regards to how long they last though as some brokers allow them to work indefinitely and others put time limits such as 30 days before they expire so it would have been nice to know this information.

Countries Accepted

We could not locate any information in regards to eligible or excluded countries so if you are unsure we would recommend getting in touch with the customer service team in order to get a definitive answer.

Conclusion

The service being offered by Z.com Trade seems competitive and competent, the main downside right now is that Z.com Trade is not currently accepting new clients, we spoke to the customer service team and this may change in the future but at the moment no new clients are able to join. The trading conditions are good with decent spreads and very low commissions, they also have plenty of tradable assets and the main downside being the reduced maximum leverage for all accounts except the professional account. If you are interested in joining X.com Trade we would recommend keeping an eye out for when (if) they open up for new clients again.

We hope you like this Z.com review. If you did, we invite you to check out some of the other reviews on Forex Academy to help find the broker that is right for you.

RCPro was founded in 2010 and is based in Estonia. Their vision is to build a new generation of professional traders through training and education. They try to offer a high-quality service in terms of trading environment and platforms as well as a lightning-fast support team. In this review, we will be looking at what is on offer to see if they live up to their vision.

Account Types

There are four different accounts on offer, the Classic, Silver, Gold and Islamic accounts, let’s take a look at what each of them offers.

Classics Account: The classic account is the entry-level account, it has a minimum deposit requirement of $500, and this account uses the MetaTrader 4 platform, it has forex, metals, equities, indices bonds and commodities available to trade. The account currency must be in USD and there is no added commission on the account. The margin call level is 150% and the maximum trade size is 50 lots. A few additional features include an account manager with a professional degree in economics, a plethora of materials that help you understand trading, free tutorial trading sessions consisting of 3 lessons, the trading platform is compatible with a mobile phone and, daily recommendations from your account manager

Silver Account: The silver account requires an increased deposit amount of $2,500 and also uses the MetaTrader 4 trading platform it has forex, metals, equities, indices bonds and commodities available to trade. The account currency must be in USD and there is no added commission on the account. The margin call level is 150% and the maximum trade size is 50 lots. The following features are also available for this account: Account manager with a professional degree in economics, a plethora of materials that help you understand trading, free tutorial trading sessions consisting of 5 lessons, daily recommendations from your account manager and, a trading platform is compatible with mobile phone.

Gold Account: The gold account increases the minimum deposit further up to $10,000, the account also uses MetaTrader 4 but now there are fewer assets to trade with only forex, metals, indices, and commodities being available. The account currency must be in USD and there is no added commission on the account. The margin call level is 150% and the maximum trade size is 50 lots. A few additional features include an account manager with a professional degree in economics, more advanced materials that are designed for you to learn the most advanced strategies, free tutorial trading sessions consisting of 7 lessons, free access to all sorts of video tutorials, daily review by your market analyst, daily recommendations from your account manager and, a trading platform is compatible with mobile phone

Islamic Account: The Islamic account is for people who can not pay or receive interest in holding trades overnight, also known as a swap-free account. The account comes with the following features: Buying and selling occur immediately and there is no postponement clause, all currencies are properly documented between the buyer and the seller, the deal must be paid for in full without any delay if there are any usurious rates the contract is invalid.

Platforms

RCPro uses MetaTrader 4 as their sole trading platform, if there is only one platform available then there could be a lot worse ones than MT4.

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

Leverage

The maximum leverage available depends on the instrument that you are trading, we have set out a simple list below detailing the maximum leverage available by asset type.

Forex Majors: 1:200
Forex Crosses: 1:200
Indices: 1:100
Metals: 1:200
USA Shares: 1:20
Commodities: 1:100
Energy Futures: 1:100
Europe Shares: 1:20

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes for all instruments start at 0.10 lots (also known as mini lots). There is no indication as to what the increment size is for trades so we can not tell you if the next trade size would be 0.11 lots or 0.20 lots. The maximum trade size is 50 lots which is a good amount as any higher and it becomes harder for the markets and liquidity providers to execute the trades quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

There are no commissions added to any of the accounts as they all use a spread based system which we will look at later in this review. There are swap charges on all accounts except for the Islamic account, these are charged for holding trades overnight and can be both positive or negative. The swap charges can be viewed directly within the trading platform.

Assets

Assets are broken down into various categories including Forex Majors, Forex Crosses, Indices, Metals, USA Shares, Commodities, Energy Futures and, Europe Shares. Selections of available assets include EUR/USD, NZD/USD, CAD/JPY, EURCHF, NASDAQ, S&P 500, Gold, Silver, Apple Shares, Google Shares, Corn, Coffee, Natural Gas, Brent Crude Oil, BMW and, FIAT.

Spreads

Spreads are dependant on a number of different things, for example, the asset that you trade will have a different natural starting spread, if we look at EUR/USD, it has a starting spread of 3.2 pips while CAD/JPY has a starting spread of 4.9 pips. It should also be noted that these spreads re variable (also known as floating) so when the markets are volatile, the spreads will be higher due to movement in the markets. The stated numbers are the starting spreads and they will often be seen higher.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount required to open an account is $500 which gets you the classic account, if you wanted a different account then you would need a deposit of $2,500 or $10,000. Often when you open an account, any further deposits requirements are reduced for top-ups but there is no indication as to whether this happens with RCPro or not.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There isn’t a whole lot of information on deposits, the information that is available is pretty basic but gives us an idea of available methods. You can currently use Credit / Debit cards, both Visa and MasterCard, you can also use Bank Wire Transfer and E-wallets, however, which e-wallets are not indicated on the website. RCPro does not charge any fees on deposits, however, it is important to check with your processor to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You can use the same methods to withdraw as you did to deposit, you must withdraw to the same method used. You may be asked to provide additional documentation when requesting a withdrawal which is a shame to see, as the broker is making it easy to deposit and hard to withdraw, a practice we never like to see. There is no mention of any fees or the lack of them.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals requests at RCPro will take up to 24 business hours to process, once this process is complete the amount of time it takes will depend on the method used, most e-wallets will receive funds within 30 minutes, others such as bank transfer can take up to 7 days to be available in your account.

Bonuses & Promotions

The only bonus mentioned on the RCPro website is regarding a cashback program. The amount of cashback that you get depends on the balance of your account. You can receive up to $10 per lot traded as cashback each time you trade. The cashback is paid as cash and the funds can be withdrawn if desired. There does not seem to be any other bonuses or promotions active at this time.

Educational & Trading Tools

In terms of trading tools, there is the basic economic calendar that tells you of any upcoming news events and which markets they will affect. Then for education, there is a section based around trading strategies however it is very basic and does not go into much detail about any of them. There is a trade copying service, however, there are no examples of them so we can not comment on the accuracy or profitability of them.

Customer Service

The contact us page offers a way to get in touch with RCPro should you have any queries or concerns. There is the standard online submission form that you can fill in and should then expect a reply via email. There is also an email address available to use directly along with phone numbers and physical addresses. The site does not state the opening hours but we would assume that they will be closed over the weekends when the markets are also closed.

Demo Account

Looking around the site we could not locate any information about demo accounts so it appears there may not be any. Potential new clients like to use demo accounts to test out the servers and trading conditions offered, current clients like demo accounts as a way to test out new trading strategies without risking their own capital. It would be a big boost to RCPro if they make demo accounts available to their current and potential new clients.

Countries Accepted

There isn’t a statement or any information regarding who can or can not use the service if you would like to find out if you are eligible for an account or not we would recommend getting in contact with the customer service team.

Conclusion

RCPro gives their vision as a broker wanting to offer competitive environments however their trading conditions are far from competitive, the spreads are very high giving quite a large costs, despite there being no commission it is an expensive broker to use. There are enough instruments to give you things to trade but it would have been nice to see more variety. The promotion looks good but the lack of demo accounts along with the other information provided can make it hard to recommend them as a broker to sue at this point in time.

We hope you like this RCPro review. If you did, please be sure to check out some other reviews here at Forex Academy to help you find the broker that is right for you.

Acetop Financial Limited was formed in 2016 and is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). They are based in London and offer forex, CFD and spread betting services. Acetop has the vision to be recognized across the industry as the most trusted provider of trading serviced with an unparalleled commitment to offering first-class service. In this review, we will be looking at different aspects of what Acetop provides to see if they can live up to their visions and so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are two different accounts on offer from Acetop and both are very different from one another, these are a spread betting account and a CFD trading account.

Spread Betting Account: Spread betting accounts are used within the UK to help avoid paying tax, these accounts are classed by the UK government as gambling and so do not require any capital gains tax being paid. The account can use MetaTrader 4 as a trading platform and has a stop out level of 50% and the margin call level of 100%. The account can be in either EUR or GBP as a currency and there are 50 different products to trade. The minimum deposit is £100 or €150 and swap charges are present for holding trades overnight. The spreads are variable and the minimum trade size is £0.10 or €0.10 and the maximum trade size is £250 or €250. Demo accounts are available for free and as mentioned this account is tax-free.

CFD Account: The CFD is account is more like what you will see at many other brokers, this account also uses MetaTrader 4 as its trading platform and has a margin call level at 100% and stop out level of 50%. The base currency of this account can be in EUR, GBP or USD and it has 50 different instruments to trade. The minimum deposit is £100, €150 or $150 and this account has swap charges for holding trades overnight. The spread is variable and the trade sizes start from 0.01 lots which a maximum trade size of 50 lots. The account comes with a free demo and the account is no tax-free so capital gains tax must be paid on any profits (please see your accountant for more information).

Platforms

Both accounts with Acetop use the same trading platform, there is just the one available and that platform is MetaTrader 4.

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

Leverage

Leverage exists with Acetop however there isn’t any mention of what the maximum or minimum leverages are, the example given on the website states 1:50 but we can not tell if this is the maximum or if it goes further. The FAQ on the website also states that once leverage on an account is set it can not be changed. This could also be meaning that there is no choice in leverage and you must use what Acetop suggests.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes for CFD trading start at 0.01 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 trade size is 50 lots which is an appropriate level as you would not want to make trades much higher due to difficulties with executing large trades quickly and without slippage. The spread betting account has trade sizes starting at 0.10 base currency and go up in increments of 0.10 base currency. The maximum trade sizes are 250 base currency.

Trading Costs

There is no added commission on either of the accounts, they use a spread based payment structure that we will be looking at later in this review. Swap charges are present though and are charged for holding trades overnight, these can be both positive and negative and can be viewed from within the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.

Assets

Acetop does not provide a massive range of products, they are broken down into three different categories, Forex, Commodities, and Indices. The website states that there are 50+ forex pairs including EUR/USD, EUR/NOK, NZD/JPY, and AUD/USD. There are only four different commodities available in the form of Gold, Silver, US WTI Oil, and UK Brent Oil. Finally, there are 10 indices including UK 100, US Dollar Index, Germany 30 and US Tech 100.

Spreads

The spreads comparison between the two account types make it seem like they are almost identical, the main difference in spreads will be dependant on the instrument that you are trading. For example, AUD/CAD has a starting spread of 2 pips, while AUD/NZD has a starting spread of 3 pips. These spreads are what is known as variable (or floating), this means that they move with the markets, when the markets are being volatile the spreads normally widen and get bigger. The stated numbers are the minimum that they will be and they will often be seen much higher.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount required to open ana account with Acetop is currently set at £100, $150 or €150 depending on the currency you want the account in. Once ana account has been opened, with many brokers the required deposit for future top-ups can fall to a lower amount however there is no indication that this happens with Acetop so we will state that they remain at £100, $150 or €150 just to be safe.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The following methods are available to deposit with Acetop: Bank Wire Transfer, MasterCard Debit / Credit, Visa Debit / Credit, UnionPay, and Skrill. There are no additional fees when it comes to depositing and Acetop will cover any fees that the processors may add.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available o withdraw as they are to deposit, for clarification these are Bank Wire Transfer, MasterCard Debit / Credit, Visa Debit / Credit, UnionPay, and Skrill. Acetop offers free withdrawals and does not add any fees of their own for withdrawals. It is important to note though, that the processor that you use may add fees of their own so be sure to check with them prior to making any deposits or withdrawals.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Processing times depend on the processor that you are using and the withdrawal method used. The Acetop Financial website states that all methods of withdrawals will take between 3 to 5 working days for you to receive your finances, however, we can not see Skrill deposits taking the same time as a bank wire transfer, so we would not take the numbers stated on the website as gospel.

Bonuses & Promotions

We could not locate any information on the website in regards to bonuses and promotions so it does not appear that there are any active at the moment, this does not mean that there won’t be in the future so be sure to check back regularly if you are looking for bonuses.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few very basic things on offer when it comes to educational and trading tools. Ther is a market news section which gives you some news about what is happening in the markets, this also comes with an economic calendar which tells you of any upcoming news events and which markets they may affect.

In terms of education there re some FAQs on CFD trading as well as Spread Betting and Forex trading. There is also a section for seminars and events however at the moment there is a notice stating that there are currently none available, however, you should stay tuned for updates.

Customer Service

The contact us page outlines the different ways that you can get in contact with Acetop, these include phone numbers to the Acetop main platform as well as the client services department. There are email addresses for client services, compliance, marketing & PR and, Human Resources. The support department is open from 7 am to 5 pm (UK Time) Monday to Friday and closes over the weekend at the same time as the markets close.

Demo Account

There are demo accounts available to both of the account types, the accounts will mimic the trading conditions of the account that you are using, there isn’t any information in regards to how long they last, as some brokers let them go indefinitely while others put a time limit such as 30 days before they expire.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is present on the Acetop website: “The information on this site is not directed at residents of the United States, Belgium, Canada, Singapore, or any particular country outside the UK and is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person in any country or jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation.” If you are unsure of your eligibility, then be sure to get in contact with the customer service team to find out.

Conclusion

Acetop offers spread betting which is a little different to what you may be used to, if you are not in the UK then we would not recommend using this option and instead go for the CFD account. The trading conditions are ok, they are nothing special and while it states that spreads can be quite low, they are relatively high when comparing to the competition. Initial deposits are low which makes them appealing to newer traders however there isn’t a huge selection of assets to trade which could mean there are moments of downtime (no trading) where you could be trading on other brokers.

We hope you like this Acetop Financial review. If you did, please be sure to check out some of the other reviews on Forex Academy to help find the broker that is right for you.