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Starfinex is a China-based ECN forex and a spread-betting broker. There are a few areas that they have decided to focus on which are offering personalized customer service, reliability, the safety of funds, competitive spreads and commission, technology & tools, speed of execution and alignment of interests with the clients. Starfinex was founded by traders so they are bringing that experience and desire to the broker world. Throughout this review, we will outline the services being offered to try and help you decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

Should you decide to sign up with Starfinex, the first thing you will need to do is decide which of the 5 accounts you want to use, we will briefly outline them so you can see what they offer.

Micro Account: This account requires a minimum deposit of just $5, it can use MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 as its trading platforms. The account has variable spreads starting from 3 pips and can be leveraged up to 1:500. Trade sizes start at 0.01 lots and go up in increments of 0.01 lots up to a maximum of 20 lots. The margin call level is set at 200% and stop out level at 30%.

Standard Account: The standard account requires a minimum deposit of $50, it has variable spreads starting from around 2 pips, it can use MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 and trade sizes start at 0.01 lots with a maximum trade size of 80 lots. Leverage on the account can go up to 1:400, the account is able to trade forex, CFDs, indices, metals, and energies and it has a margin call level set at 150% and stop out at 30%.

Premium Account: The minimum deposit for this account increases up to $100, the account must be in USD as a base currency. MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 are both available to use and the account has a variable spread starting at 1.6 pips. There are forex pairs, indices, metals and, energies available to trade with leverage up to 1:300. The accounts trading stats at 0.01 lots and go up in increments of 0.01 all the way up to 200 lots as a maximum. The account has a margin call level set at 1090% and stops out at 30%.

ECN Pro Account: The ECN Pro account requires a deposit of $100, it is available on MetaTrader 4 and 5 and can trade forex, CFDs, metals and, energies. As it is an ECN account the spreads start as low as 0 pips (variable) and due to this, there is an added commission of $6 per lot on the account. Maximum leverage of 1:200 is available and trading starts from 0.01 lots and goes up in increments of 0.01 up to 200 lots. The margin call is set at 100% and stop out 30%, the account must be in USD as a base currency.

Star VIP: This is the top-tier account and so requires a larger minimum deposit of $10,000. It can be used with both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 and comes with a variable spread starting at 0 pips, due to this there is an added commission of $16 per mission traded. Trade sizes start at 0.01 lots and go up in increments of 0.01 lots, there is no maximum trade size. The account can be leveraged up to 1:200 and has a margin call level at 100% and a stop out level at 50%. The account also comes with a personal account manager and personalized services.

Platforms

As seen in the accounts overview, there are two different platforms available to trade with. These include both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. There are no 3rd party bridges nor any automated account syncs when trading with Starfinex. They offer a wide variety of features to help upgrade your MetaTrader 4 trading experience. The platform is offered for desktop, Android, and iOS. Metatrader 4 is very easy to customize and includes charting tools, scripts and Expert Advisors, market indicators, risk management, real-time market analysis and more.

Leverage

The maximum leverage that you get depends on the account you are using, we have outlined them below.

• Micro: 1:500
• Standard: 1:400
• Premium Account: 1:300
• ECN Pro: 1:200
• Star VIP: 1:200

You can select which leverage you want when opening up an account, once an account is open, should you wish to change the leverage on it you will need to send your request to the customer service team.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes on all accounts start from 0.01 lots which are 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 the en 0.03 lots. The maximum trade size available depends on the account that you use. We have outlined the maximum single trade and overall open trades below.

• Micro: Single trade is 20 lots, overall open trades is 150 lots
• Standard: Single trade is 80 lots, overall open trades is 200 lots
• Premium: Single trade is 200 lots, overall open trades are 250 lots
• ECN Pro: No limit to a single trade or overall open positions
• Star VIP: No limit to a single trade or overall open positions

While some of the lot sizes go quite high, we would not recommend trading over 50 lots in a single trade due to difficulties executing the trade quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

The ECN Pro and Star VIP account both come with commissions due to their low spreads, the ECN Pro account has a commission of $6 per lot traded which is in line with the industry standard of $6 per lot. The Star VIP account has a commission of $16 per million traded which is around $1.6 per lot traded, well below the industry standard. The other accounts use a spread based system that we will look at later in this review.

There are also swap charges, these are interests that are either positive or negative and are paid for holding trades overnight, they can be viewed within the trading platform of choice. Islamic account sare available and if using one, there are no swap charges added to the account.

Assets

There aren’t actually that many assets to trade, they have all be lumped into a single list so we have separated them out into different categories for you to easily see what is available.

Forex: EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF, AUDUSD, NZDUSD, USDCAD, EURGBP, EURJPY, EURCHF, EURAUD, EURNZD, EURCAD, GBPJPY, GBPCHF, GBPAUD, GBPNZD, GBPCAD, CHFJPY, AUDJPY, AUDCHF, AUDNZD, AUDCAD, NZDJPY, NZDCHF, NZDCAD, CADJPY, CADCHF.

Crypto: BTCUSD (Bitcoin), ETHUSD (Ethereum), LTCUSD ()Litecoin).

Metals: XAGUSD (Silver), XAUUSD (Gold.

Indices: Australia 200, German 30, Nasdaq 100 and, Dow Jones 30.

Spreads

Just like most things, this depends on the account you are using, we have outlined the minimums below.

• Micro: Variable spread from 3 pips
• Standard: Variable spread from 2 pips
• Premium: Variable spread from 1.6 pips
• ECN Pro: Variable spread from 0 pips
• Star VIP: Variable spread from 0 pips

The spreads are variable which means that they are constantly changing and during times of high volatility they can be seen a lot higher than the stated number. It should also be noted that different currency pairs will have different spreads, as an example EURGBP currently has a spread of 2.4 pips while EURNZD has a spread of 5.7 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum requirement to open an account is $5 which will get you the Micro account, once any of the accounts are open, the minimum amount to top up is set at $5. Different payment methods have different minimum deposits though. The minimum deposits are as follows:

• Bitcoin: 0.00040 BTC
• Visa / MasterCard: 5 USD
• Local Banks: 500 INR
• Neteller: 50 USD
• Skrill: 50 USD

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a few ways to get your funds into Starfinex, you can use Bitcoin, Visa and MasterCard Credit / Debit, Local Banks, Neteller and Skrill. There are no added fees when using any of the deposits, but when using Credit / Debit Cards or Bank Transfer be sure to check with the bank or card processor to see if they have any added transfer fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You are able to withdraw using Bitcoin, Local Banks, Neteller and Skrill, you are not able to withdraw using Credit or Debit card. The minimum withdrawal amount is $5 for all the methods and there is no added commission or fees from Starfinex, as usual, check with your bank or processor to see if they will charge any incoming transfer fees.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

We did not locate any information relating to withdrawal or processing times, however, depending on the method you are using you can expect withdrawals to take between 1 to 5 business days to fully process.

Bonuses & Promotions

When looking through the accounts pages, it is clear that there are no bonuses or promotions related to these accounts as they all state that there are no flexible bonuses available to the accounts, there are however a few different promotions going on, we will only briefly touch on them as they are not 100% relevant to the accounts we are looking at.

There are two demo contests, however, the pages for them are not loading so we are not able to comment on the conditions or prizes. There is a 20% bonus for people investing in a MAM account, we won’t go into this as we are not focusing on this type of investment in this review.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is an education and also a tools section of the site, the education section ahs some basic information however at the moment the pages don’t seem to be loading properly and are just coming up blank, so we are not able to comment on the quality of the educational material.

In terms of tools, there are some basic ones available, there is an economic calendar to show upcoming news as well as what markets they may affect, there is also a news section and then some calculators such as profit and trading calculators. Free FX trading signals are also provided, which is excellent (provided that they are highly accurate).

Customer Service

If you feel the need to contact Stargfinex, you can do so in a number of different ways, the opening times of the support are not specified however we would expect them to be closed over the weekends and bank holidays just as the markets are. You can use the online submission to fill in your query and you should then get a reply via email, there is also a postal address along with a number of emails.

Address: 9th floor, Kham Thien Building,195 Kham Thien, Dong Da, HaNoi
Emails:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, you can sign up for one using a simple sign up form. When opening an account you can choose a few different options, the base currency of EUR, USD or GBP, although the main account sonly have USD available, you can then select leverage up to 1:1000, again the main accounts only go as high as 1:400. You can then select a balance between 100 and 5,000 units. We do not know which of the accounts the trading conditions mimic and we also do not know if there is an expiration on the demo account.

Demo accounts are great as they usually allow new traders to test the markets and conditions while allowing existing traders to test new strategies without risking their own capital.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is present on the Starfinex website: “Forex Trading is not allowed in some countries, before investing your money, make sure whether your country is allowing this or not.” This isn’t the most helpful of information so if you are interested in signing up we would recommend getting in contact with the customer service team to see if you are eligible for an account before signing up.

Conclusion

Starfinex offers a wide range of accounts each with varying trading conditions, the conditions in the first couple accounts are a little expensive with spreads starting from 3 pips, however, as the accounts go up in tiers their costs come down to an acceptable ECN and VIP account. There is a slight lack in tradable assets, it would be good to see some additional ones added, in terms of deposits and withdrawals there are enough methods to allow most traders to participate and there are no added fees for depositing or withdrawing which is good. The main concern is the fact that some pages of the site are not loading properly, apart from that they seem like a competent broker.

Prime Markets is a forex and CFD broker based in Saint invent and the Grenadines, they are a firm offering free capital to those that want to trade, as well as offering more traditional broker services. They pride themselves on their competitive pricing in regards to spreads and commissions, in this review we will be looking into the services being offered so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

Three different accounts each with differing requirements to open and different trading conditions to offer, here is what we know about each one.

Standard Account: The standard account requires a minimum deposit of at least $2,000, it can be in a base currency of USD, EUR, GBP, CHF or JPY. It has MetaTrader 4 as its trading platform and has a minimum trade size of 0.1 lots for forex or 1 lot for CFDs. It allows for advanced charting, trailing stops and the use of expert advisors, the accounts leverage can be selected up to 1:100. There is no added commission on this account.

ECN Account: The ECN account requires a minimum deposit of $50,000 which will price out a lot of newer traders. The account can be in USD, EUR, GBP, CHF or JPY and it has spreads starting as low as 0.2 pips. Leverage can be up to 1:100 and the minimum trade size is 0.1 lots for forex and 1 lot for CFDs. It allows for advanced charting, trailing stops and the use of expert advisors and, there is no dealing desk execution.

No Cash Deposit Account: This account does not need a cash deposit as Prime MArkets will give you capital to trade with, however, they do not indicate how much it is. It can have a base currency of USD, EUR, GBP, CHF or JPY. It has MetaTrader 4 as its trading platform and has a minimum trade size of 0.1 lots for forex or 1 lot for CFDs. It allows for advanced charting, trailing stops and the use of expert advisors, the accounts leverage can be selected up to 1:100. There is no added commission on this account.

Platforms

Just the one platform on offer, the good news is that it is the popular MetaTrader 4 platform, so let’s look at what this offers.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): Prime Markets MT4 Client Terminal is designed to optimize trading performance by delivering a user-friendly and feature-loaded trading environment that can be customized to meet your personal strategy & trading requirements. The MT4 Client Terminal is the optimal trading platform for both novice and advanced traders looking to gain a competitive edge. Advanced charting technology combined with modern order-management tools helps traders to monitor and control their positions easily and quickly.

Key Features:

• Market Watch Window
• Navigator Window
• Multiple Order Types
• 85 Pre-Installed Indicators
• Variety of Analysis Tools
• Multiple Chart Setups
• Automated Trading
• Order Execution Capabilities

Leverage

Leverage on all accounts can be up to 1:100, it is flexible so you can select how much you want when opening up an account, you can also change it when you want if you are not sure how you can get in contact with the customer service team to perform the change for you.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes for Forex pairs start at 0.1 lots (known as a mini lot) and go up in increments of 0.1 lots so the next trade would be 0.2 lots and then 0.3 lots. If trading CFDs then the trade sizes start at 1 lot.

There is a little discrepancy though as the product specification PDF states that the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots (micro lot) so we are not sure which one is the real number. We are also not sure what the maximum trade size is, whatever it maybe we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

Prime Markets mention low commissions on their marketing, however looking through the site we can not see anything to do with commissions at all, considering there is an ECN account we are fairly sure that commissions will be on that account, but we just don’t know how much, it can be a bit suspicious that it isn’t advertised, because if a broker was proud of their low commissions, you would advertise what they are. The other accounts use a spread based system and so there are no added commissions on those accounts.

There are also swap charges which are for holding trades overnight, they can be both positive or negative and can be viewed within the MetaTraddre4 trading platform.

Assets

Prime MArkets have broken down their assets into 4 different categories, the first being Forex currency pairs, there are major pairs, minor pairs and a small selection of exotic pairs, some of them include the likes of EURUSD, AUDJPY, GBPPLN and, USDRUB. Next up are Indices, there are quite a few available including FTSE 100, SPX 500, DOW 30 and, IBEX 35. There are 5 different commodities Gold and Silver are available, tradable against both USD and EUR, then there is also US WTI Oil. Finally, there are shares, a selection of US Shares, German shares, and French Shares. Some of them include Apple, Facebook, Siemens, and Vivendi.

Spreads

Spreads seem to be starting at around 1.4 pips which is reasonable, the spreads are variable which means they move with the markets when there is a lot of volatility then they are often seen bigger. Different instruments also have different starting spreads so while EURUSD may have a starting spread of 1.4 pips, other instruments like EURAUD have a starting spread of 3.8 pips.

Minimum Deposit

You are able to open an account without a deposit however we are still unsure of the exact terms of how that works. In order to open a funded account, you will need a deposit of at least $2,000 for the standard account or $50,000 for the ECN account both of which are quite high starting amounts and could price out a number of newer traders.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Unfortunately, there does not appear to be any information around deposit methods or the fees that come with them. The terms of use also do not mention them which is a real shame, as a forex broker deals with our money, knowing how they will deal with it and also any costs related to it is vital for us to know, so not having that information available can really put off potential clients.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same goes for withdrawal methods and fees. There is no information available so it is not something that we are able to comment on at the moment.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Just like the previous 2 sections, there is no information so we are not able to make a comment or judgment on this part of the review, apart from the fact that this information should have been available and easily accessible.

Bonuses & Promotions

We could not locate any information surrounding bonuses or promotions so at the time of writing this review it does not appear that there are any running. If you are looking for bonuses you could always get in contact with the customer service team to see if they have any upcoming bonuses or promotions planned. There is a bonus PDF at the bottom of the page relating to a deposit bonus, however, we would no tell if this was an active bonus or just an out of date document.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few basic articles surrounding Forex and CFD trading, but not much else in the way of educational tools. Trading tools are limited to those that are built into the trading platform. The addition of a bit more in this area would be nice to see.

Customer Service

Prime Markets have made it easy to get in touch with them, you can do it in a number of different ways. There is a phone number and email address for various different departments such as Sales, Support, and Partnerships so you can get in touch directly with the department you need. There is also a physical address available and if you are on social media, you could tweet at them on Twitter.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available and have the following features: $100,000 to start up your virtual account or adjust the amount to your preference, get firsthand experience of the sophisticated MT4 Platform, simulated market conditions with live spreads & prices, accessible for new traders to develop their trading knowledge, great for experienced traders to practice trading strategies and risk-free with only virtual funds used – real funds are not needed in demo. There is no mention of how long the accounts last though which would be nice to know as some brokers are putting time limits that cause the demo accounts to expire.

Countries Accepted

We could not locate the information surround who can and cannot sign up, so if you are interested we would recommend getting in contact with the customer service team to check if you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

Prime markets started out well offering decent trading conditions and options, however, that quickly fell apart when we started looking at the deposit and withdrawal methods, there is no information available at all which is one of the biggest letdowns a broker that provides, for that matter alone we can not recommend Prime Markets as a broker to use at this point in time.

OMC Markets is a trading platform based in Sofia, they aim to build trust and relationships with their clients and partners, continuously develop and improve their software and organizational processes, and to constantly strive to improve. In this review, we will be looking into the services being offered to see if they achieve this and so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are 6 different accounts on offer, each with slightly different features, however, the features offered are not related to trading conditions, however, let us see what they are.

Basic Account: A minimum deposit of $250, a 30% welcome bonus, 24/7 support, access to the education center, daily market review, PRO webinars and, price alerts.

Bronze Account: A minimum deposit of $10,000, a 40% welcome bonus, 24/7 support, access to the education center, daily market review, PRO webinars, price alerts and, access to a junior account manager.

Silver Account: A minimum deposit of $25,000, a 60% welcome bonus, 24/7 support, access to the education center, daily market review, PRO webinars, price alerts and, access to a senior account manager.

Gold Account: A minimum deposit if $50,000, an 80% welcome bonus, 24/7 support, access to the education center, daily market review, PRO webinars, price alerts, access to a VIP account manager and a personalized trading strategy.

Platinum Account: A minimum deposit of $100,000, a 100% welcome bonus, 24/7 support Education center Daily market review PRO webinars Price alerts, access to a VIP account manager and a personalized trading strategy.

VIP Account: This account is for exclusive clients only, in order to access it you will need to contact your account manager.

Platforms

OMC Markets use their own trading platform, they do not provide much information about it, what we do know is that it is an online WebTrader, apart from that we do not know much about it.

Leverage

Available leverage is not mentioned on the site so unfortunately, we cannot comment on this section of the review.

Trade Sizes

We do not know what the minimum trade size it, but we do know that the maximum trade size is between 250 currency and 1,500 currency depending on the method used and instrument traded.

Trading Costs

It is unknown what the trading costs are as they are not mentioned on the site, and without a demo, account to test the software we can not find out that way either.

Assets

There isn’t a full breakdown of assets, instead, the asset overview page simply states that there are over 1,000 different financial assets available to trade. This includes forex currency pairs, indices, commodities, and stocks. We would give some examples but there isn’t much mentioned on the site, it seems like there was meant to be a full breakdown of assets but the page is not loading correctly due to an error in the coding of the page.

Spreads

As we do not have the information around the assets, we unfortunately also do not have the information about spreads, we suspect they were meant o load with the assets but due to the error, they are also not loading.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit available is 250 EUR, USD or GBP. This is the minimum for all deposits including account opening and top-ups.

Deposit Methods & Costs

OMC Markets only has two methods for depositing,m these are Bank Wire Transfer and Credit / Debit Card. There isn’t any mention of any fees so it is unknown if this is present for deposits, be sure to check with your own bank or card issuer to see if they add any fees of their own.

It is strange as at the bottom of the page there is a lot of images of various finance processors, but no mention of them elsewhere on the site, so we are not sure if they are usable or not.

 

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same two methods are available for withdrawal, these are Bank Wire Transfer and Credit / Debit Card. There are no added fees for withdrawing with OMC Markets, however, be sure to check with your own bank or card issuer to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

OMC Markets will process withdrawal requests within 2 working days, the amount of time it takes for you to receive your funds will depend on the method used. Credit card withdrawals can take between 5 – 10 working days. Bank Wire Transfers can take between 5 to 9 working days.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is a deposit bonus available with all account types, the amount you get varies depending on the account and deposit amount. You can receive up to 100% deposit bonus, in order to convert the bonus funds into real funds you must trade a certain volume, you receive Volume x 0.0025 as points each time you trade, you must make 12.5% of the bonus funds in points in order to convert them into withdrawable funds, an example: When a bonus of €100 is granted 12.5 points must be collected hence a trading volume of €5000 must be reached before any withdrawals from your account can be made. The calculation is as follows: €5000 X 0.0025 = 12.5 Points. This is extremely expensive and difficult to achieve.

Educational & Trading Tools

The education center is full of information, the first section is around videos, which unfortunately is empty and there are no videos there at this point in time. The Ebook section has a number of different books covering various subjects such as How Bitcoin Works, Mining and other crypto-related things. The news section has recent news events, it looks like it is taken from another site but we cannot be sure. Next up are some charts where you can see up to daye forex charts and finally there is a list of current currency prices.

Customer Service

The contact us page offers a number of different ways to get in touch, you can use the online submission for to fill in your query and then get a reply via email, you can also use a number of different telephone number,s but we do not know what the difference between the three numbers are. There are also 4 different email addresses for Support, Compliance, Compliance Main, and Information. The support department is open Money to Friday 8:00 GMT to 2:00 GMT.

Demo Account

There doesn’t seem to be a demo account on offer, or at least we could not find any information about one. This is a shame as demo accounts allow potential new clients to test out the trading conditions and servers while it allows current clients to test out new strategies without risking any of their capital. This is an area that should be invested in and demo accounts should be made available.

Countries Accepted

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

Conclusion

There is a lot of information not available to us which is a little concerning, there are also some discrepancies in the information provided, such as the case with the deposit and withdrawal methods, with there being multiple processors shown at the bottom of the site, but only 2 mentioned anywhere in the information provided. Trading costs are also not available, but that may be due to the way the OMC Markets platform works if you are looking for a more traditional trading experience you may need to look elsewhere.

24option is a well-known broker that used to deal with Binary Options and now as CFD retail broker. Currently, the broker is regulated by the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) of Belize, a regulation with mild authorization and requirements many offshore brokers utilize. 24Option uses the CySEC regulator under another domain -24option.com/eu, operated by Rodeler Ltd for clients in the EU. The company behind the 24Option international is Richfield Capital Limited registered as an investment firm in Belize. Wonderbridge Services Limited is the company that facilitates financial transactions and brokers usually do this kind of circumventions once their chargeback percentages go high enough to become blacklisted.

It is no wonder this is the case, 24Option has one of the worst user ratings on reputable specialized benchmark sites, and is also one of the biggest companies in the industry. With dominant black and gold color, the website design is not complicated with just 5 sections, one being the web trader. Other domains owned by this group are GrandOption.com, ZoneOptions.com, quickoption.com, 24fx.com, binaryoption-affiliate.com, rodeler.com, richfield-trading.com, and 24OptionsOnline.com.

The homepage has carefully crafted marketing mix to target the male audience that is not risk-averse. The slider will showcase the Juventus football club partnership, marijuana companies stocks trading, 50% bonus and the leverage for the cryptocurrency. All of these are hot buzz words for CFD trading, and 24Option is very good at using this fact. Transparency could be an issue as there are no products listing with the swaps or other trading conditions info.

The web trader is accessible with a simple click without the need of registration where it does show key additional information aside from the bid/ask price, by clicking the “i”. It is noticeable that the broker has many fee structures and also documents like the “Complaints Procedure for Clients”, “Max Trade Size”, “Trading Alerts” etc, all visually hard to read using awkward letters spacing.

This 24Option review will reveal what traders can use out of this broker given all the negative reports.

Account Types

24option has 4 account types scaled by the minimum deposit requirements, spreads values and some other additional values. They are named Basic, Gold, Platinum, and VIP. The Basic account has the smallest minimum deposit requirement but also the widest spreads offered. Moreover, the account has only one free withdrawal, one basic lesson, no webinars, and two Daily Trading Central SMS Alerts. To many, these additional services would not be necessary but when it comes to spreads, they are one of the most important conditions for scalpers or other high-frequency traders.

Gold Account has a further reduction in the spreads, but steep higher deposit requirement with additional benefits like 1 Monthly Free Withdrawal, 2 Daily Trading Central SMS Alerts, 2 basic lessons, etc.

Platinum Account requires a double deposit for the Gold account, the spreads are not 2 times tighter though. Additional benefits are increased to 3 advanced lessons, two monthly webinars, 4 Daily Trading Central SMS Alerts and 3 Monthly Free Withdrawals.
The final, VIP account has no fees for withdrawals, 7 Daily Trading Central SMS Alerts, 5 Monthly Webinars, 5 Advanced Lessons, the lowest spreads and a minimum deposit requirement few traders can afford. As for what the “lessons” are about, their quality or topics cannot be evaluated as nothing is described on the website.

The leverage level is the same for all types, also there is a notification that the minimum deposit is subject to change. If you select a country in the EU, you will be notified to be redirected to the EU 24option domain under CySEC. The account currency is determined based on the country you select during the registration.

Platforms

24Option offers the MetaTrader 4 platform from MetaQuotes and their own easily accessible Web trader platform also called the Scipio Trading Platform. The MT4 is the world’s most used platform for retail CFD trading with purchased licenses by many brokers, although new licenses for the MT4 have been discontinued in favor of the newer MT5. It is available for Windows, Mac and smart devices running on iOS or Android.

24Option will not allow you to download the MT4 client without registering for an account first. Once the registration is complete the MT4 will show two servers, RichFieldCatital demo and RichFieldCapital Live, the demo has a ping rate of 89ms and live 51ms, which is very good. The default template will show 4 major forex pairs charts set on the H4 timeframe suggesting the MT4 is by default settings. About window shows Richfield Capital Limited company registered in Belize and the lasts version of the MT4 client.

The symbols list shows only Forex related instruments grouped into Forex majors, Forex1, Forex2, and EUR/USD. As we are informed by 24Options, more assets are available in MT4 then in the Web trader platform. The instrument specification window does not show all the information needed. What is missing are trade sizes, swaps, order types, and other trading info. The execution time is around 100ms without deviations.

The Scipio Trading Platform for 24Opition is an easy to use platform with simplicity in mind for beginner traders. Simplicity does not always mean a lack of features, this platform does not support automated trading or custom made indicators but is satisfactory for most that do not have complicated strategies in mind. The platform sections are not resizeable or modular, but the chart window can be opened in full-screen mode. Chart types available are Heaikin Ashi, Bars, classic Candlestick, Line, Area which is basically Line chart with a down shadow, and Dots style. Timeframes are similar as with the MT4 – 1M, 5M, 15M, 30M, H1, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly, only H4 is missing. Zoom in and panning is supported and the range of the indicators available to add is as with the MT4 defaults.

There are over 50 indicators and they are grouped into Trends, Oscillators, Customized, and Bill Williams (3 total) categories. The Customized category does not mean you can insert custom indicators, just some options where you can customize some chart elements appearance, such as the price historic levels. The indicators have settings where you can adjust them to your trading setup although it is limited as with the MT4 default indicators. The sentiment indicator is placed right next to the chart window in a colored bar-style resembling a thermometer. The “i” button will show the exact percentages of buyers and sellers at the current price of an asset. The ordering section contains simple Buy and Sell buttons with options to execute pending orders, described as “Open trade when rate reach” for easier understanding.

Stop Loss and Take Profit orders are also offered and calculated in two ways, in pips or rate. The instrument specification can be seen by clicking the “i” button next to the asset name. Here, traders will see trading sizes, leverage, contract size, swaps, trading time and also margin requirements in the asset currency and the account currency. Stops Level is not presented but according to our testing, it is under normal levels, like 10 points for Forex majors. Asset Watchlist is on the far left featuring Ask/Bid prices, percentage change, and High/Low range. The spread is shown between the Buy/Sell buttons. The asset search box does not exist but a filter is available that can help navigate through the instrument categories.

Selecting an instrument as a favorite will also enable traders to have their instruments list from the Favorites category in the filter. Positions and stats window will show Open Trades with columns showing the swaps, Profit, lots and so on. Trading History tab is also available. Economic Calendar is integrated with very good filtering options and design. Traders can choose the country, event impact, timeframe, and local timezone. Clicking on the event will open the description with previous, forecast and actual figures, but without a historic values chart. The most interesting section is the Daily Market Update featuring Trading Central analysis on many assets. It is updated daily, the content is listed in a single page without any options to filter, so traders interested in the Gold analysis, for example, will have to scroll, which may be inconvenient, especially because the window is rather small and not resizable.

The analysis charts from Trading Central are also too small, although they are not very detailed. Note that the analysis is very basic, stating the Pivot, short advice, alternative scenario, short comment and investment time horizon. Indicators used are mostly RSI and Moving Averages, with support and resistance lines. Margin levels, Balance, Equity, etc, are all presented like in the MT4.

Leverage

Depending on the client country, 24Option will redirect you to the International domain or the EU domain. Therefore, the leverage can be 1:30 for Retail clients and 1:400 for professional clients if under the CySEC, EU regulation adhering to ESMA directives. For clients out of the EU region, they are redirected to the international 24Option domain under the regulation by IFSC of Belize, where the leverage is 1:400 for all account types. Of course, the leverage will vary depending on the asset.

For the major Forex currency pairs, the leverage is maintained at 1:400 level but for exotics, it is 1:100. Cryptocurrencies have 1:10 leverage as shown in the Web trader platform. Precious metals have mixed levels, Gold and Silver are at 1:200 while Platinum and Palladium have 1:100 leverage. Crude and Brent Oil assets are set to 1:200 while other commodities have 1:100. For Indexes, the leverage can be from 1:30, 1:50 to 1:200 depending on the tier.

Trade Sizes

24Option offers micro lot sizes or 0.01 lots for all offered assets. The maximum trade size for major forex assets is 30 lots, while for exotics is 10 lots. Volume steps are also 0.01 lots allowing precise addition of trades known as Scaling In and Out. Cryptocurrencies’ trade size is uniform and is 0.01 lots minimum and 20 lots max.

Note that cryptos also have a mini lot of contract variants but they are not standard as the contract size is 1 unit, which is normally regarded as default in the industry. Non-mini cryptocurrency assets have 100 units for one contract (lot). We are unsure of the purpose of this kind of deviation from the standard and traders need to pay attention not to open an extremely large position.

Mini crypto assets have an “m” before the currency designation. Precious metals have mixed trade sizes, Gold and Silver have 100 lots maximum while Palladium and Platinum have 20 lots. Most of the Index range has 50 lots maximum trade size.

As for the Margin requirements, all account types have a 100% Margin Call level as stated on the 24Option’s website. The broker also states in their Margin legal document that the Margin Call is 125% and the Stop Out Is between 20 to 100% level according to the table. On some other lines, the Margin Call is 100%. 24Option is not obliged to notify the trader if their margin level breaches a 100% threshold. It is advised to keep this ration above 100% at all times.

Trading Costs

24option does not charge commissions for trading. As for swaps, they are calculated in currencies applicable for the asset traded. Forex currency pairs have swaps presented in the web Trader platform. To give some insight, EUR/USD has -9.49 EUR on long and -2.74 EUR on a short position, USD/JPY -3.01 for long and -9.86 USD for short position per lot, AUD/CHF -0.68 AUD for long and -10.27 short, and NZD/CAD -4.79 NZD short and -0.68 NZD short. None of the currency pairs have a positive swap, which means the broker has integrated additional costs for traders that hold positions overnight.

For the exotic pairs, the swap is higher as expected, for example, USD/TRY has -58.90 USD long position swap charge and -36.99 USD for short, EUR/PLN -15.07 long and -6.85 EUR for short, USD/INR -19.59 USD long and -2.33 USD short, USD/MXN -26.71 USD long and -4.79 USD short, and the biggest swap is for the USD/TRY with -58.90 USD for long and -36.99 USD for short. These swaps rates may not be favorable for mid and long term traders. As for cryptocurrencies, the swaps are more extreme.

For example, “BTC.mEUR” (note the “m” signifying the 24Option mini CFD as only they have 1 unit contract size) has -7.23 USD on both sides, Litecoin.mUSD -0.07 USD on both and ETH.mUSD -0.24 USD. Precious metals also have all negative swaps, Gold is set to -15.89 USD for long and -3.18 USD for short, Palladium -21.16 USD for long and -3.02 USD for short and Platinum -12.38 USD on the long and -1.77 USD on the short position. All swaps are tripled on Wednesdays.

The inactivity fee 24Option charges is among the highest we have seen in the industry, and one of the most aggressive. The scheme is published in the General Fees document available on the website. The whole document is unprofessionally hard to read, probably deliberately to turn the readers away. The fee will increase after each month according to the following: 1 to 2months -80 EUR or equivalent, .2 – 6 months -120EUR, 6 – 12 months – 500 EUR. Over 12 months the account is dormant. Dormancy fees are 1,000 EUR or equivalent amount per month. Moreover, if the client wishes to reactivate his account, a fee of 2,000 EUR is charged.

Assets

24Option has a very good range of available assets, spreading across 7 categories, Forex, Commodities, Indexes, Stocks, ETFs, Precious metals, and Cryptocurrencies. Forex range is very good consisting of 46 currency pairs, all majors and crosses included. The broker extends this range with the following exotics: EUR/HUF, EUR/SEK, USD/SEK, EUR/NOK, USD/HUF, EUR/DKK, USD/HKD, USD/NOK, EUR/TRY, USD/TRY, USD/DKK, USD/ZAR, EUR/PLN, USD/PLN, USD/SGD, USD/INR, USD/MXN, and USD/RUB.

Precious metals and general metals are at maximum possible range. All precious are listed, Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium with the addition of commodity class Aluminium, Zinc, Nickel, Copper all denominated in the USD. For all metal traders, this is the ultimate offer.

Commodities are also numerous. A total of 15 are listed excluding the metals mentioned above. Notable are Rice, Livestock, Cotton, Coffee, Cocoa, Orange Juice, Milk, Gasoline, and Sugar. Specialty traders will like this range.

The indices range is mixed with the futures CFDs making a total of 22 instruments placed in this category. The symbols representing each index can be different than what is standard. Uncommon Indexes are TA-35 Index (Tel Aviv index), FTSE MIB, IBEX 35, US Dollar Index Futures, MSCI Tadawul 30 Index, Jamaica Stock Exchange Index, OMX Stockholm 30, and some other ETF indexes.

Stocks range is filled with rarities and popular stocks like the cannabis pharmaceutical companies. These are Weed and Aurora listed on the Web Trader platform. Other big companies’ names are present from all economic sectors. The range is very diversified.

ETFs category is unfortunately completely shutoff since mid-2019. The only ETFs available for trading are inside the Index category. There are 5 in total that we have found actual.
The Cryptocurrency range is good enough with multiple currency quotations, GBP, USD, and EUR. The major 4 are listed with the addition of Dash, Litecoin, BTC Gold, Ethereum Classic, Ripple, Monero, and Stellar. The list is longer than the actual coins range as they are also offered in “mini” contracts featuring 1 unit per contract, which is, actually, the standard in the industry. Cryptocurrencies are available for trading during the weekends.

Spreads

The spreads are a floating type and their levels depend on the selected account type. According to the broker account types table, the spread for EUR/USD starts from 2.5 pips for the Basic Account to 1.1 pips for the VIP. GBP/USD starts from 2.8 pips to 1.4 pips for the VIP and USD/JPY from 2.8 pips to 1.4.

What we have encountered in the Web Trader platform is 4.4 pips for the EUR/USD, 5.9 pips for USD/JPY and 21.4 pips for the GBP/USD. Cryptocurrencies spreads are better than with other assets, for the BTC/USD it is around $36 or 3624 points, ETH/USD is at 121 points or $1.21, Ripple is at 33 points and Litecoin at 138 points. Note that the spreads will rarely be as presented on the website according to our readings and expect 1 to 2 pips higher for each account type.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit for the Basic is $250, Gold Account requirement jumps to $5,000, Platinum 10,000 and the VIP account requires at least $50,000. We have noticed that there is great flexibility to these amounts as, for example, traders registered from Russia will have local currency accounts or in Russian Ruble. The minimum is then 10,000 rubles or roughly $160 for the Basic account. These packages are not offered when making a deposit and they could be just a part of unreal marketing. Therefore, other countries will have different minimum deposit requirements.

Deposit Methods & Costs

24Option offers more than an average number of deposit channels. Some of them may not be available in all countries. What we have noticed are Credit/debit cards, Wire Transfers, Neteller, Skrill, and Qiwi, and PerfectMoney. The broker does not charge any fees for deposits.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

24Options is harsh when it comes to fees, it is the same case for withdrawals. As stated in the General fees document, the broker reserves the right to charge a withdrawal fee at an amount equal to 80 EUR or equivalent. The fees for withdrawals vary depending on the channel used and are 3.5% for Debit/Credit cards, 30 CHF, 30 USD, 30EUR, 1800 RUB, 30 GBP, 3000 JPY or 183 CNY for Wire transfers depending on the country, 3.5% for Netteler, 2% for PerfectMoeny and Skrill, 3.5% for Qiwi, and Webmoney fee is $0.9. For VIP account holders every withdrawal is free, and for other account types, there is a monthly quota already mentioned in the Account Types section.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The processing is done only during the broker business hours which are Monday-Friday, 9:00 am-6:00 pm GMT+2. The exact timeframe for any of the withdrawal channels is not disclosed. 24Options remain vague with statements like “aim to process all withdrawal requests as quickly as possible and without undue delays” and that it depends on the AML procedures.

Bonuses & Promotions

24Option currently offers the 50% bonus scheme to live account traders. Up to 50% of the Deposit amount or up to $5,000, whichever is the lowest. The broker has a special legal document about the bonus conditions. Clients can cancel the bonus at any time. The required trading volume formula is Bonus in USD*10,000, time-limited to 90 days. For example, a trader who deposited $5000 will receive a $2500 bonus and for the bonus to be released, a trader needs to trade 500 currency pair lots (100,000) in 90 days.

Educational & Trading Tools

Aside from the mentioned tools integrated into the 24Optoin web platform, there is a dedicated Educational section and an Assets calculator. The Educational section contains the Daily Market report, Trading Central, Daily Market Analysis, FAQs, Asset Index, Technical Analysis, Fundamental Analysis, Economic Calendar, Advanced Interactive Ebook, VOD and Webinars. One of the most useful sections is the Daily Market Report which contains a nice overview of global markets across categories, with short descriptive content but without any backstories.

Daily Market Analysis is the same feedback from the Trading Central service as within the Web trader platform. Other sections are not worth mentioning except for the Ebook. The Ebook contains 34 pages with elementary trading topics like Trading Psychology, Capital Management, Technical Analysis and similar. Most of the content is not deep enough for anyone serious about studying the market. The Ebook is free and contains some exercises after each chapter.

The backbone of 24Option tools/information values comes from the Trading Central. This service is well known for its technical analysis available for 24Opitn clients, even on the demo account.

Customer Service

24Option does not have a phone line for contact. The clients can still request a callback by email or chat. The chat service is not 24/7, their work time is Monday-Friday – 8 AM – midnight; Sunday – 10 AM – 5 PM Cyprus time. The staff is reachable after a minute or two waiting, the response is not full enough, in our opinion, and it seems they will push for direct phone contact by their sales agents on the first opportunity.

Demo Account

The demo account is easy to open for the Web trader, for the MT4 platform it is hidden. MT4 requires login details, the account ID and password. These are not presented once you register with a 24opition demo account, just your credentials for the website portal, and they are not the same for the MT4. The portal is not providing you with any information for the MT4, just to deposit and verify your account by uploading the required documents. Your account ID is not related to the MT4.

It is not possible to open the demo within the MT4 platform. To circumvent this issue that prevents you to try MT4 demo, you need to open a real account from the MT4 selection menu and type in the fields required. Once done you will be provided with MT4 account credentials. The account will not have any funds and therefore it is almost useless. This procedure is not standard by any mean nor it is logical. The reason behind this is probably to turn traders away from opening the demo accounts and push the real.

As we have approached 24Option support about this issue, we are informed that the MT4 demo is available only if you register for a live account, or in other words, you cannot try their service for free, the only free demo is available on the Web Trader platform. The demo account will reflect the trading conditions of a Platinum account type.

Countries Accepted

The broker does not disclose the list of blocked countries. What we have been able to obtain from their support are these countries: Canada, Israel, Iraq, Belgium, Bosnia And Herzegovina, Australia, U.S.A, Virgin Island, Puerto Rico, America Samoa, Algeria, Ecuador, Iran, Serbia, Myanmar, North Korea, China, Panama, Uganda, Ukraine, New Zealand, and Japan.

Conclusion

This section of the 24Option review will disclose other important information for visitors that seek to open an account. 81.27% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider under the EU domain. This percentage is higher than the industry average of 77% and is among the top tier. 24options and the brand parent companies are fined several times.

On January 27, 2016, CySEC fined Rodeler Ltd. €156,000 for multiple violations, some of them are for “Failure to adhere to the interests of clients when providing bonus promotions”, “Failure to assess the eligibility of its clients to engage in investment activities” and lack of compliance controls. The Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) fined 24options €140,000 for marketing breaches. In August 2016, the French AMF has banned 24Options from doing business in France. Among the reasons was not acting honestly or fairly in the interest of its clients.

This list of unethical behavior is definitely cause for concern. On the other side, 24Option provides better than average information to traders by utilizing the Trading Central service for free.

TopTrade is a world-leading online trading provider, giving you access to opportunities across thousands of financial markets through our intuitive platforms. That is what they say on the website, this review is intending to look at the services on offer to see if they really do provide world-class service and to make it easier for you to decide if this is the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are three accounts available from TopTrade, each having their own features, trading conditions arent really mentioned around the account page so we will be looking into them throughout this review, so let’s see what the accounts are.

Silver Account: This account comes with daily market briefings, access to web, tablet and mobile platform,s video tutorials, excluding Ebooks, 24-hour trading assistance, expert run webinars and seminars, a personal a dedicated account manager, value-added risk management tools, rapid, reliable withdrawals and payments, trading courses with your account executive, real-time remote assistance and leverage up to 1:500.

Gold Account: The gold account comes with daily market briefings, access to web, tablet and mobile platform,s video tutorials, excluding Ebooks, 24-hour trading assistance, expert run webinars and seminars, a personal a dedicated account manager, value-added risk management tools, rapid, reliable withdrawals and payments, trading courses with your account executive, real-time remote assistance and leverage up to 1:500, SMS news and signals, premium daily research and analysis, fixed spreads, live coverage on market watch, direct access to the trading room and their research and access to a panel of experts.

Platinum Account: The platinum account comes with daily market briefings, access to web, tablet and mobile platform,s video tutorials, excluding Ebooks, 24-hour trading assistance, expert run webinars and seminars, a personal a dedicated account manager, value-added risk management tools, rapid, reliable withdrawals and payments, trading courses with your account executive, real-time remote assistance and leverage up to 1:500, SMS news and signals, premium daily research and analysis, fixed spreads, live coverage on market watch, direct access to the trading room and their research, access to a panel of experts, premium customer care and 1 on 1 market strategy sessions.

Platforms

TopTrade market their trading platforms as their own, however on opening we can find that it is simply MetaTrader 4, so what does this platform offer? The multi-interface platform is well-known for its functionality, limited requotes, low latency and optimal pricing. The platform offers professional style, interactive charts, modern technical indicators and live streaming quotes via its easy-to-navigate interface. Traders can tailor their trading actions to suit specific preferences by customizing the screen. It can display any chosen Expert Advisors, along with preferred assets and any preferred candlestick, bar, or line chart display options.

Leverage

Leverage can go as high 1:500 on all account types., Leverage can be selected when opening up an account and should you wish to change it on an already open account, you can do so by getting in contact with the customer service team with your request.

Trade Sizes

It is not specifically stated on the site but it seems that the minimum trade size available is 0.01 lots and goes up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next trade would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. There is no mention of a maximum trade size so whatever it is, we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage. There is also no mention of the maximum number of trades allowed open at any one time.

Trading Costs

TopTrade does not add any commissions to their trades, instead they make all their profits through the spreads, an aspect that we will look into later in this review. There are swap charges though, these are interest charges that are incurred for holding trades overnight, they can be both negative or positive and can usually be viewed from within the trading platform of choice.

Assets

Sadly there doesn’t seem to be a full product specification available from TopTrade so there is just a little information available for each asset type. There are Forex pairs, no mention of how many there are or which ones there are though, the forex majors such as EURUSD will surely be available though. There are also commodities that include items such as Coffee, Corn, and energy products like oil and natural gas.

No specifics were given though. CFDs are also there, not any specifics but examples were given in the form of crude oil, gold, and wheat. The last category is the indices, again there is not a full breakdown instead there are just a few different ones mentioned such as the American Dow Jones, the Hong Kong Hang Seng, the German DAX, the British FTSE, the Japanese NIKKEI and many more.

Spreads

Unfortunately, there is no mention of the spreads on the website, there are various statements of tight spreads or low spreads but nowhere does it actually display them, you would have thought that they would include their spreads on their site as a marketing method if they really were low and tight.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount that can be deposited to pen up an account is 200 EUR, USD or GBP. There isn’t any mention as to whether subsequent top-up deposits are reduced though, which is the usual case when minimum deposits are more than a couple hundred unite.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The TopTrade FAQ explains how to make a deposit, however, it does not mention the methods available, instead just saying to log in, this is a little disappointing as it is important to potential new clients to know how they can deposit their funds into the broker they are using. There is a mention of banks, separate to the deposit section which indicates to us that bank wire transfer will be one of the available methods for depositing.

The FAQ on the website states that there are no added fees by TopTrade, however, you should always check with your card issuer or bank to see if they add any transfer fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Just like with the deposits there is no mention of which methods are actually available apart from the note about banks elsewhere on the site, while it is bad not to know how you can deposit, it is worse to not know how you can get your money back out, failing to disclose this information can really put off potential clients.

The FAQ on the website states that there are no added fees by TopTrade, however, you should always check with your card issuer or bank to see if they add any transfer fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawal requests should be processed within 3 business days, however, this is subject to TopTrade being satisfied with your financial paperwork and ID documentation. It will then take between 1 to 5 working days for your money to be available to you dependant on your processor or bank processing times.

Bonuses & Promotions

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

Educational & Trading Tools

The education section of the site is pretty basic, it is comprised of 4 individual videos, one telling you what ‘CFDs are, one what Commodities are, one what Indices are and finally one simply telling you what the most traded stocks are in the world. Not anything that will make you an expert, if you are looking to learn, you will need to go elsewhere.

In terms of tools, there is a pip calculator which helps you understand what a pip in different instruments is worth, there is also the usual economic calendar which tells you of upcoming news events along with the markets they may affect. Finally, there is something called a Forex Market Review which gives a report on what happened over the markets which can give you ideas of potential future moves.

Customer Service

You can get in touch with TopTrade in a number of ways and their email support is available 24/5 (closed over the weekends), their phone and chat support is available Monday to Friday between 8:00 am GMT +2 and 17:00 PM GMT+2.

You can get in touch using an online submissions form to fill in your query and you should then get a reply back via email. You can also email them directly wither using their support email or their partner email depending on your query. There is then also a phone number should you wish to speak with someone directly over the phone.

Demo Account

We could not locate any information surrounding demo account so it currently does not look like they are being offered, this is a little disappointing as demo accounts can help new traders to test the markets and trading conditions and allows existing clients to test out new strategies without risking their own capital. If demo accounts are in fact not available, this is something TopTrade should look at getting.

Countries Accepted

There is a notice on the website stating: “Products and services may not be available in certain jurisdictions” This isn’t the most helpful so if you are looking to open an account, you should get in contact with the customer service team first to check if you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

TopTrade make a point of saying how they are a world-class broker, however, what we have seen doesn’t give us the same impression, there is a lot of information missing from the website, we have no idea what the spreads are for the account, nor do we know if there are any added commissions. Worse than that is that we do not know how we can even deposit funds into the broker or get them back out if we wanted to, this information is vital and not having it makes it hard to put any trust into the broker, to begin with. Until this information is readily available we can not recommend TopTrade as a broker to sue at this point in time.

We hope you like this Top Trade review. If you did, please be sure to check out some of the other reviews here at Forex Academy to help find the broker that is right for you.

Fort Trades is a Forex broker, stock indices and precious metals created in 2017. This broker offers its customers various types of accounts and leverage as high as 1:500. Accounts can be opened in a variety of currencies, USD, EUR, CAD, AUD, GBP, CHF, NZD, and JPY, and as a novelty, offers accounts denominated in Bitcoin. As a trading platform, it uses MT4, however its Demo version seems to be unavailable. Another issue that surprises us is the high initial deposit requirements they ask to open an account.

Looking at the Fort Trades website, the broker claims that it is a global company based in China, but the address we see is from Hong Kong, specifically this: 1902 Bonham Trade Center, 50 Bonham Strand, Central, Hong Kong. On the other hand, their license comes from Belize, from the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC), so we’re talking about an offshore broker.

Fort Trades also reports that it is regulated by the China Securities Commission (CSRC) and the China Asset Management Association [AMAC, but there is no license number in any case.

ACCOUNT TYPES

Fort Trade surprises us because it offers its customers up to 9 different account types.
All accounts (the broker calls them “investment plans”) are accompanied by monthly earnings percentages ranging from 45% to 85%. We consider that these promises made by the broker are neither realistic nor serious. Let’s not forget that in Forex, the percentage of losing operations ranges between 65-85%, realistically.

Here is a summary of each account:

Fort Micro Account
Minimum Account Funding: $ 10,000
Spreads from 1.5 pips
Minimum Trade: 0.01 (Micro lots)
Leverage: Up to 1:500

Fort Standard Account
Minimum Account Funding: $ 20,000
Spreads from 0 pips
Minimum Trade: 0.01 (Micro lots)
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Standard Commission: $5 per 1,000 USD

Fort Pro Account
Minimum Account Funding: $ 30,000
Spreads: From 1.5 pips (core spreads)
Minimum Trade: 0.10 lot
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Pro Commission: $5 per 5,000 USD

Fort VIP Account
Minimum Account Funding: $ 50,000
Spreads: From 0 pips (core spreads)
Minimum Trade: 0.10 lot
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Commission: $3.5 per 10,000 USD traded

Fort Premium Account
Minimum Account Funding: $ 100,000
Spreads: From 1.5 pips (core spreads)
Minimum Trade: 0.10 lot
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Commission: 10% commission instead of 25%

Fort Gold Account
Minimum Account Funding: $ 250,000
Spreads: From 1.5pips (core spreads)
Minimum Trade: 0.10 lot
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Commission: 10% commission instead of 25%

Fort Mega Account
Minimum Account Funding: $500,000 – 1,000,000
Spreads: From 2.5pips (core spreads)
Minimum Trade: 0.10 lot
Leverage: Up to 1:500
Commission: 10% commission instead of 25%

Fort BTC 1 Account
Minimum Account Funding: 1BTC
Spreads From 0.01 (core spreads)
Minimum Trade: 0.25 lot
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Not reported on the commissions

Fort BTC 2 Account
Minimum Account Funding: 2BTC
Spreads: From 0.01 (core spreads)
Minimum Trade: 0.25 lot
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Not reported on the commissions

PLATFORMS

The broker’s website reports that the platform they use is MT4, but we have not located any download links throughout the web. Fort Trades does not seem to offer free demo accounts, this really leaves a bad impression. All decent brokers offer their potential customers a free demo.

LEVERAGE

Leverage ranges from 1:200 to 1:500 depending on the type of account.

TRADE SIZES

The trade sizes range from 0.01 lots to 0.10 lots if it is an account denominated in currencies. If the account is called in Bitcoins the trade size is 0.25 lots. Margin Call is set to 100% and 50% for All trading plans, Standard accounts. Standard and VIP accounts have a margin call at 100% and 80% stop out.

TRADING COSTS

Depending on the type of account, the trading costs can be up to 5 USD per 1000 USD operated. (See the section “Account Types”).

ASSETS

The Broker reports that the customer can invest in Forex, stock index, and precious metals. Fort Trades does not report the currency pairs available, nor how many stock indices or metals can be traded.

SPREADS

Depending on the type of account, spreads can vary between 0 and 2.5 pips. Spreads do vary by account type, so please refer to the account information to see the starting spread for each.

MINIMUM DEPOSIT

The minimum deposit varies depending on the account type, but the account that requires the least amount is 5,000 USD. We do not understand this kind of high demand.
To know the minimum deposit you require on each of the accounts that Fort Trades offers, see the “Account Types”.

DEPOSIT METHODS & COSTS

The deposit methods available at this broker are Bank transfer, Money Gram, Western Union, Perfect Money, and Bitcoin. Fort Trades does not report the costs inherent in the deposits.

WITHDRAWAL METHODS & COSTS

The terms and conditions inform that withdrawals must be processed by the same system that was used to make the deposit. The broker reports a commission that, we consider abusive, says: Fort Trades will charge you a 20% fee for withdrawals. This is something very unusual in a broker.

WITHDRAWAL PROCESSING & WAIT TIME

The time the bróker takes to process a withdrawal varies between 2 and 5 business days. Once the withdrawal is processed the estimated times are usually instantaneous through ePayments, and may take several days in the case of bank transfers.

BONUSES & PROMOTIONS

All accounts have an economic bonus with the processing of the first deposit. Bonuses currently available in each account are:

• Fort Micro Account: Bonus 55%
• Fort Standard Account: Bonus Up to 10% Insurance
• Fort Pro Account: Bonus $3000 add-on
• Fort VIP Account: Bonus $5,000 add-on
• Fort Premium Account: Bonus $10,000 USD
• Fort Gold Account: Bonus $15,000 USD
• Fort Mega Account: Bonus $20,000 USD

There are no promotions for accounts denominated in Bitcoin.
We have not found any information on how the bonus reported here are materialized.

EDUCATIONAL & TRADING TOOLS

Fort Trades does not have an educational area or trading tools. We think that a broker should have at least an economic news section and an economic calendar on his website. Having said that, they do offer both automated trading and managed account options for those who are interested in a more hands-free approach. Professional traders are also invited to create their own PAMM accounts and invite followers to those accounts. For more information on managed trading, please visit the Fort Trades website.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

There are several ways to access customer service: telephone, email, fax, and a contact form.

Phone: +860-2151-021972
Fax: +860-2151-021972
Email: [email protected] ; [email protected]

DEMO ACCOUNT

Fort Trades does not offer any demo account. We consider this a mistake, as it is very important for the novice trader to be able to practice with the platform to learn how to handle it and gain experience with the trading of the different assets.

COUNTRIES ACCEPTED

Apparently, Fort Trades accepts citizens of any country to open an account with them. We have not found any exceptions in the legal documents.

CONCLUSION

If you’re not accustomed to trading with Forex, it’s important to say that business with offshore brokers can be dangerous. Note the document “Customer Agreement”, as in point 1.2 it says: The Company has the right to file the Customer’s business account with a balance of less than 1 (one) USD $10,000 (ten thousand dollars) if the Customer has no activity in this account during the last three months. We consider this to be a very abusive and ill-considered clause.

The initial investment required seems excessive. The most basic account types that Fort Trades offers require an initial deposit of $5,000 USD. Most brokers, including reliable and regulated brokers, often require a minimum deposit of $100 USD or less to start trading. Without any guarantees in place, $5,000 simply seems too high.

This broker is in fact regulated, so that is certainly a plus. As always, the choice is up to you, but in the case of Fort Trades, we highly recommend that you do your homework and read through any legit online reviews that you can find before signing up.

BDSwiss is a forex broker based in Zurich, Switzerland, however, it is now located in Mauritius and was founded in 2012. Claiming to have over 1 million registered accounts, 30+ billion forex volume per month and 10.2+ million yearly transactions BDSwiss aims to provide competitive trading environments and top quality support. In this review, we will be diving into what BDSwiss really offers so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are three main account types on offer from BDSwiss and each offer different features and have different entry requirements, we will take a little look at them below.

Basic Account: The basic account is the entry-level account from BDSwiss, it has spread starting from 1.5 pips and has no commission on CFDs, there is also no subscription plan for this account. There are over 250 different instruments to trade and lot sizes start from 0.01 lots and go up to 50 lots, leverage on the account can be as high as 1:500. The account can use all trading platforms (we will look at these in the next section of the review) and has access to some basic education and trading tools. There are 150+ payment options and no deposit fees, withdrawals are also instant with this account. Finally, there is 24/5 support in over 20 native languages.

Raw Spread Account: The raw spread account has a few different variations due to a subscription model, we will go over the basics and then look at that, the account has raw spreads so they begin at 0 pips, there is also no commission on CFDs. The account can trade on forex and gold pairs and has a starting lot size of 0.01 lots and a maximum of 10 lots, leverage can be as high as 1:500. The account can use all trading platforms except for MetaTrader 5 and has access to some basic education and trading tools. The account has no deposit fees and instant withdrawals and has access to a 24/5 support team in 20+ native languages.

When using a raw spread account there are three different subscription models which are based on your monthly transaction fees, between $0 – $50,000 there is an estimated $1/m fee (Raw Trial), between $50,001 – $1,000,000 there is an estimated 29/mo fee (Raw Grow) and between $1,000,001 – $3,000,000 an estimated $79/mo fee (Raw Pro). All accounts come with zero commission and zero funding fees, the Raw Pro, however, comes with a free VPS and historical tick data. The Raw Trial account has access to only major forex pairs, the Raw Grow and Raw Pro accounts have access to forex majors, forex minors, and Gold.

Black (VIP) Account: The Black account goes back to a more traditional style of account, it has a starting spread of 1.1 pips and does not have any commissions or subscription plan. It has access to over 250 assets and trades start at 0.1 lots with a maximum of 50 lots. Leverage remains the same as 1:500 as a maximum, the account can use all available trading platforms to trade with. This account comes with a vast amount of analysis, trading too,s and educational tools, it also has no fees for deposits and instant withdrawals. The account comes with 24/5 support as well as a dedicated account manager.

Platforms

There are a few different options available when it comes to trading platforms, let’s have a little look at what they are.

MT4: MetaTrader 4 continues to rank as the #1 platform in the world. In addition to the benefits mentioned below, the platform offers many other features such as a variety of trade execution features, trade alerts, email notifications, and more.

• An easy to use interface
• Regularly updated news feeds directly on the platform
• Free preprogrammed analytical tools
• The ability to overlay analytical studies
• Multiple charting and analysis options
• Multi-language features
• Daily account statements
• Real-time client account summary
• Including account equity, floating profit and loss, etc.
• Being compatible with BDSwiss Web Trader and mobile apps

MT5: While MT4 might be the top-rated Forex platform, for the time being, MetaTrader 5 is currently the world’s most advanced FX platform. The BDSwiss version of MT5 is the latest and most advanced of the MetaTrader platform family. It offers all the most important features of MT4, but adds even more advanced trading tools and indicators to enable traders who wish to maintain more control over their trades while making more informed trade decisions using cutting-edge market analysis.

BDSwiss Mobile App: The BDSwiss Mobile App is a multi-awarded Mobile App that features a user-friendly trading interface that allows you to place and manage your trades on the go while using the same tools and features as those available on our desktop platform.

BDSwiss WebTrader: The BDSwiss WebTrader Platform was exclusively developed in house, to better cater to the needs of our growing client base. Focusing on simplicity, reliability, and speed, the new BDSwiss WebTrader delivers an unparalleled trading experience accessible from all browsers and operating systems.

Leverage

Leverage on all accounts can go as high as 1:500, the leverage can be selected when opening up ana account from a selection of different amounts, once an account is open, if you wish to change the leverage on the account then be sure to get in contact with the customer service team who should be able to assist you.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes vary from account to account, if using the basic account then the trade sizes start at 0.01 lots (also known as a micro lot) and go up in increments of 0.01 lots so the next trade would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. There is a maximum trade size of 50 lots which is a good amount and not too high to make it harder for liquidity providers to execute the trades quickly and without any slippage.

When using the Raw Spread account then the trades also start at 0.01 lots and go up in increments of 0.01 lots however the maximum trade size is now 10 lots. The Black account has a minimal trade size of 0.1 lots (also known as a mini lot) and goes up in increments of 0.1 lots so the next trade would be 0.2 lots and then 0.3 lots. This account has maximum trade size of 50 lots.

Trading Costs

The basic and black accounts do not have any additional trading costs on top of the spreads which we will look at later in this review. The Raw Spread account has a different payment structure and is based on a subscription model. The amount that you pay will depend on the account type you have and also the trading volume, only estimates are given and are as follows:

Raw Trial: Transaction volume between $0 – $50,000 will have an estimated fee of $1 per month.

Raw Grow: Transaction volume between $50,001 – $1,000,000 will have an estimated fee of $29 per month.

Raw Pro: Transaction volume between $1,000,001 – $3,000,000 will have an estimated cost of $79 per month.

Swap fees are also present and are a few that can be either negative or positive and are charged for holding trades overnight, these fees can be viewed wither on the BDSwiss website or within your selected trading platform. It should also be noted that if no trading activity occurs for over 90 days, we charge a monthly fee of 10% which will be deducted from your account balance.

Assets

Plenty on offer when it comes to assets and instruments, they have been broken down into 5 different categories which we will take a look at a few different examples of them.

Forex Pairs: 50+ pairs in total which include major pairs, minor pairs and a selection of exotics, some examples are GBP/USD, EUR/JPY., EUR/USD and EUR/CHF.

Indices: Major stocks from Wall Street to the Netherlands are available, the site states 10+ are available, some examples are Ger 30, US 30, NAS 100 and GBR 100.

Commodities: A wide range of commodities is what the site states, but it also states 5+ which is not a wide range, some examples are Gold, Silver, US Oil, and Coffee.

Equities: Hundreds of shares from some of the best-performing companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft, the site states that there are 140+ equities on offer.

Cryptocurrencies: The site states that there are over 20 cryptocurrency pairs to trade including BTCUSD, ETHUSD, XRPUSD, and LTCUSD, it is great to see cryptocurrencies making an appearance as they are quickly becoming a popular trading asset due to the high volatility and profit opportunities.

Spreads

Spread swill depends on a few different aspects, the first being the account type that you are using. The Basic account has spreads starting from 1.5 pips, the Black has spreads starting from 1.1 pips and the Raw Spread account has spreads starting from as low as 0 pips.

Different assets and instruments also have different starting spreads, so while the spread for an asset like GBP/JPY maybe 1.4 pips, for a pair like AUD/NZD it maybe 1.9 pips, so be sure to check the asset that you are trading for their individual spreads. The spreads are also variable (also known as floating) which means they move with the markets when there is a lot of volatility in the markets they will be seen higher as they widen with movement, so while the minimum may be stated as 1.5 pips, in reality, they will often be seen higher.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount to deposit ios $100, this is for both opening accounts and for any subsequent top-up deposits.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are a few different deposit methods available including Credit / Debit Cards, Trustly Online Banking, Skrill, Neteller, Wire Transfer, Credit Card, Bitcash, Ethereum, and Bitcoin. BDSwiss does not charge any fees for depositing, but be sure to check out the processor that you are using to ensure that they do not add any fees of their own. It is great to see a couple of cryptocurrencies being available as many newer traders are using digital currencies as their preferred method of deposit and withdrawal.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw as they were to deposit, for clarification, these are Credit / Debit Cards, Trustly Online Banking, Skrill, Neteller, Wire Transfer, Credit Card, Bitcash, Ethereum, and Bitcoin. There are also no fees for withdrawing which is great to see, however, be sure to check with your bank or processor to ensure that they do not add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

BDSwiss aim to process all withdrawals within 24 hours of receiving the request, the amount of time after that depends on the method used, for cryptocurrencies it will take as long as it does for there to be enough confirmations on the network, for e-wallets it is normally around 30 minutes after processing and for Credit / Debit cards as well as Bank Transfers it can take up to 1 – 5 additional working days for the money to become available to you.

Bonuses & Promotions

We could not see any mention of bonuses or promotions on the BDSwiss website so it does not appear that there is any action at this point in time, 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 or get in contact with the support team to see if there are any upcoming promotions.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is quite a lot on offer in regards to education and tools which is great to see, we will try to give a very brief overview of what is there.

Education: There is a trading academy which is broken down into further categories, there are basic, intermediate and advanced courses. These courses look at different aspects of trading such as what forex is, different types of analysis and how to use different trading platforms and tools. It seems to be quite in-depth so if you are just starting out it could potentially be quite helpful. There are also educational events which are just another name for webinars and seminars. These webinars are daily so you should be able to catch them quite regularly, they are also recorded so you can view the past webinars on the site also.

Analysis: The analysis is also broken down into a few different sections, there are daily trading alerts that are done via telegram and these can give you ideas of which trades to take. There is then an economic calendar that tells you of any upcoming news events and which markets they may effect along with a news section which tells you what actually happened in the news. Autochartist which is a user-friendly and intuitive interface that monitors markets 24 hours a day and automatically alerts traders whenever new trading opportunities are identified!

There is also a free VPS available to those on a Black account.

Customer Service

BDSwiss has made it very easy to get in contact with them offering a number of different ways. You can use Whatsapp, Telegram or Live Chat in order to speak to someone digitally in a chat setting. You can also use email to send an email directly to the support team, finally, you can request a callback.

There are a number of different languages available including English, German, Italian, Spanish, French, Greek, Swiss-German, Swiss-French, Swiss Italian and Portuguese, each having their own phone number to ring.

There is also an online form to fill in and you will then get a reply via email, or you can email the support team or marketing team directly.

Demo Account

When signing up for an account you are automatically given a demo account, the account has a balance of 10,000 (base currency). The demo account is only available with MetaTrader 4 and for some reason, we were not able to change the leverage from 1:1000 which is higher than any account BDSwiss allow, so it is strange to be stuck on that amount. The accounts seem to last indefinitely and should remain active as long as you need them to.

Countries Accepted

The website does not state which counties are allowed and which are not, so we would be recommending that you get in contact with the customer service team to find out if you are eligible for an account or not.

Conclusion

BDSwiss offers some very competitive if not confusing (looking at you raw spread subscription) trading conditions, their spreads are reasonable and there is no added commission. There is a lot of transparency when it comes to the services being offered, however the only information about deposits and withdrawals was available once you had already signed up, the options available though are great and offer a lot of diversity along with no deposit or withdrawal fees. Asset wise you should be able to find something to trade and it is great to see the crypto world coming to BDSwiss too. All of this along with plenty of ways to get in contact with the customer service team can make BDSwiss an appealing place to trade.

RW Markets is a forex broker based in the Marshall Islands claiming to offer a five-star web trader platform, benefits from a personal trading coach, a selection of the best accounts to chose from and keeping your money always secure. This review is intended to look at the services to see if they live up to the expectations and so you can decide if they are the best broker for you to use.

Account Types

When signing up with RW Markets you are given a choice of 4 different account types, each one has its own requirements and trading conditions, let’s take a brief look at what they are.

Mini Account: A minimum deposit of $100 is required to open this account, it has a minimum trading volume of $250 and the account gets you to access to daily market reviews, a video library, daily recommendations, and 24-hour live support.

Standard Account: The standard account increases the minimum deposit up to $1,000, the account has a minimum trade volume of $10,000 which is 0.1 lots. The account comes with daily market reviews, access to a video library, daily recommendations, 24-hour live support, a personal trading coach, VIP trading support and exclusive updates.

Gold Account: The minimum deposit is further increased up to $5,000 and the account has a minimum trading volume of $50,000 which is 0.5 lots. The account comes with daily market reviews, access to a video library, daily recommendations, 24-hour live support, a personal trading coach, VIP trading support and exclusive updates and further access to SMS trading alerts and the MetaTrader 5 trading platform.

Islamic Account: The Islamic account is intended for those not able to accept or pay interest charges (swap charges) for holding trades overnight. The account has a minimum deposit of $1,000 and a trading volume of $10,000 (0.1 lots). The account gives you access to daily market reviews, a video library, daily recommendations, 24-hour support, and a personal trading coach.

Platforms

RW Markets offer their own proprietary version of WebTrader, as well as access to MetaTrader 4 for certain account types, let’s see what these platforms offer. RWMarkets apps are also available for Android and iOS powered devices.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): MetaTrader4, or MT4 for short, offers a variety of functionalities including advanced charting, automated trading, in-depth technical analysis and a wide variety of additional trading tools. MT4 is only made available to Premium account holders.

ParagonEx Web Trader: This award-winning, custom-designed trading platform is designed to render the FX trading experience as easy as possible. ParagonEx Web Trader works in conjunction with any internet browser, on any type of computer operating system.

Leverage

Leverage can be up to a maximum of 1:400, this is a relatively good amount and around the industry standard. The leverage can be selected when opening up an account and should you wish to change it you will need to get in contact with the customer service team, however, WR Markets seem a little inflexible so they may not be willing to change it.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size depends on the account you are using, the Mini account has a minimum volume of $250, the Standard account has a minimum trade size of $1,000 which is 0.1 lots or a mini lot. The Gold account has a minimum volume of $50,000 (half lot) and the Islamic account has a minimum trade volume of $10,000 (0.1 lots). There is no mention of the maximum trade size, however, we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

There doesn’t appear to be any added commissions on the accounts as they all sue a spread based system that we will look at later in this review. Swap charges are present, these are interest charges that are incurred for holding trades overnight, they can be both negative or positive and can usually be viewed from within the trading platform of choice.

Assets

RW Markets have broken down their assets into a number of different categories.

Currencies: There is a full breakdown of currencies on the website, it includes Majors and Minors and a few examples of them are AUD/CHF, EUR/CAD, GBP/AUD, and EUR/USD. When going through the list we also noticed that Bitcoin was noted in the currencies rather than in its own section.

Commodities: Gold, Natural Gas, Oil, Platinum, and Silver are all available to trade.

ETFs: EFTs are also present in the form of FEZ, GDX, QQQ, SMOG, SPY, UNG, USO, XLE, XLF, XLK and, XLV.

Indices: Indices are next up and the following are available for trading: DAX 30, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Nikkei and, S&P 500

Stocks: Lastly are stocks and there are loads to chose from, a small selection includes Apply, Facebook, Tesla, and Amazon.

Spreads

Spreads seem to be starting quite high around 3 for EURUSD, The spreads are variable (also known as floating) so this means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 3 pips, other assets like GBPJPY may start slightly higher, in this case, 9 pips. It is unknown if different accounts have different spreads as this information is not stated on the website.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount required to open an account is set at $100 which is needed to open up the Mini account, it is unknown whether subsequent top-up deposits have a lower minimum requirement, as this information is not clear, we will stick with $100 as the minimum for all deposits. Some confusion lies in the FAQ which states that the minimum deposit is $500, so it is unclear what the minimum actually is.

Deposit Methods & Costs

You can use three different methods to deposit with, these are MasterCard Debit and Credit cards, Visa Debit and Credit cards and Bank Wire Transfers. The FAQ on the website states that there are no added fees on any of their transfers, however, you should be sure to check with your own bank or card processor to see if they add any fees of their won.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same three methods are available to withdraw with, for clarification these are MasterCard Debit and Credit cards, Visa Debit and Credit cards and Bank Wire Transfers. Just like with deposits there are no added fees by RW Markets, however, you should be sure to check with your own bank or card processor to see if they add any fees of their won.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

RW Markets try to process withdrawals within 24 to 48 hours. Once it has been processed it can take between 3 to 5 business days for the money to clear into your bank account.

Bonuses & Promotions

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

Educational & Trading Tools

There isn’t any educational material on the website, but depending on the account that you use there is some coaching by a personal coach. “Your Personal Trading Coach will be there for you to consult for as long as you remain an RWMarkets trader. Come to us with any and all of your questions about trading and we’ll be there every step of the way to help you develop the best trading strategy to meet your needs and drive you to success.” That is the marketing of the coaches from RW Markets.

Customer Service

RW Markets have kept things simple when looking to get in touch with them, they have a department for General Inquiries and for Feedback and Complaints, each one has their own email address and phone number (although the phone number is the same for both). Both departments are open 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday and are closed over the weekend and on bank holidays when the markets are also closed.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available by simply clicking the demo account button and filling in a short form. There is no information present about the demo account such as which account type it is mimicking and so trading conditions are unknown, it is also unknown how long they last as some brokers put a time limit such as 30 days on the demo account it would be nice to know if RW Markets do too.

Countries Accepted

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

Conclusion

RW Markets offer a good selection of account types and assets to trade, there isn’t too much info on the differences of trading conditions between the different accounts but there is plenty of information about the conditions in general scattered around the website. Spreads are very high, even for accounts with no added commissions, they are double what you would expect and triple in some places making it very expensive to trade at RW Markets. Slight limitations to the ways you can deposit or withdraw but the no added fees are a big plus.

BlackStone Futures is a regulated CFD South African forex broker that has been around since 2009. The brand is operated by BlackStone Futures (Pty) Ltd. A company that holds a license to provide brokerage and investment services by the Financial Services Board (FSB). A positive point about having a broker licensed by the FSB is that the broker must keep all client’s funds in recognized South African Banks, meaning that the broker won’t mix the client’s money with the company’s money, which usually leads to major concerns for clients in the long run. Although the regulation in South Africa is not the strictest in the world, this should still provide a certain level of reliability and peace of mind when trading with this broker.

This broker offers two types of accounts with basically the same conditions, depending on the platform being used by the client, and both accounts are fee-free and with fixed spreads. At the moment, this company can only do business with clients who have a South African Bank account, but it should become more accessible for clients outside of South Africa in the coming months.

Account Types

Information about the actual accounts being offered isn’t very clearly outlined on their website so we decided to contact the broker via Live Chat for more information. They informed us that they offer 2 types of accounts, USD or ZAR. Both accounts basically have the same conditions and only the base currency is different.

To open up an account with BlackStone Futures clients must invest a minimum of R5 000 which is a bit more than $350, which is slightly high as a minimum deposit when comparing it to other brokers, but still relatively affordable. Both accounts have fixed spreads and no commission fees are applied as this broker makes its profit from the difference between the Bid and Ask price. The maximum leverage offered for both accounts is quite low at 1:100. This might seem too low for certain experienced traders, but for those just starting out, low leverage such as this broker offers minimizes the risks involved.

Platforms

BlackStone Futures uses the world-renown MT4 platform as well as its in-house CloudTrade platform. MT4 is one of the most popular and most reliable platforms available. It comes with a ton of indicators, Expert Advisors, updated news feed and the great advantage of being completely automated, allowing clients to fully automate their trading.

The other platform offered, CloudTrade is a cloud-based trading platform that seems to be quite user-friendly, relatively fast and reliable. Clients can also download Apps for this platform on both their Android and Apple devices. Unfortunately, this platform does not have EA’s, so some clients might still prefer using the MT4 platform rather than the broker’s own.

Leverage

The leverage is set quite low with this broker, namely 1:100. Taking into consideration the fact that some brokers offer leverage up to 1:500, this broker might seem to be holding back, but in reality, this leverage minimizes the risks involved with high leverage ratios. Still, seasoned traders might see this is a major disadvantage.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size for all Forex pairs, Indices and Commodities is R5 when using CloudTrade and 10c on the MT4 platform. The maximum trade sizes for all the above-mentioned assets vary depending upon market conditions. Clients can speak to the broker directly for more information regarding the maximum trade sizes available.

Trading Costs

As we’ve mentioned before, both accounts offered by this broker are fee-free, so clients should only expect to pay the spread. We will speak about any fees clients may encounter when depositing or withdrawing their funds later on in the review.

Assets

BlackStone Futures have quite a large number of assets available for trading, and you can find a full list on their Market Information Sheets. If you want to trade Indices, you can choose between the 19 available ones including; Euro Stocks 50, France 40, Germany 30 and US Tech 100 (Daily Rolling Cash) just to mention a few.

Clients wanting to trade Forex can choose from over 30 pairs available, including Major pairs such as USD/CAD, EUR/USD and USD/JPY, and Minor pairs including EUR/AUD, GBP/ZAR and EUR/NZD.

This broker also has 10 Commodities available including both precious metals as well as oil including Gold, Silver, US Crude Rolling Spot and US CRUDE Future including others.
This broker does not seem to have any cryptocurrencies available for trading at the moment.

Spreads

This broker claims to offer seriously low spreads, and it seems like this is the case, especially when using the MT4 platform. From their Market Information Sheets, which should match the current market conditions, we saw that the popular EUR/USD pair had a spread starting from 0.6 pips which is quite good. Other Forex pairs had higher spreads, for example, the EUR/NZD has a spread of 2.5 Pips and GPB/CHF has a spread of 2.8 Pips. You can find the full list of assets and their corresponding spreads on the Market Information Sheets found in the footer of this broker’s website.

Minimum Deposit

BlackStone Futures recommends a minimum deposit of around R5,000 or more even though their minimum deposit amount is R1, 000 which is equivalent to $100. This is quite average and affordable for a number of beginner traders. The broker also mentions that a very low deposit might make clients disheartened once they encounter their first losses, causing added pressure resulting in a negative trading experience. This is why they recommend a slightly higher minimum deposit.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Clients can use 3 methods to deposit their funds into their accounts, i-Pay Instant EFT via Client Portal, Credit/Debit/Cheque Card via Client Portal or by Regular EFT via the client’s online banking. As we mentioned before, this broker can only accept funds from clients who have a South African bank account. There are no fees applied when depositing with this broker.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

All withdrawals are sent to the client’s nominated bank account, irrelevant of what method the client used to initially deposit his/her funds. Like all deposit methods, this broker does not charge any withdrawal fees.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

All withdrawals by BlackStone Futures are made via EFT (electronic funds transfer) and these can be transferred to all banks in South Africa as well as bordering countries with the same banks.

All withdrawals requested before 15:00 GMT+2 on business days are processed and sent out on the same day. Once the money leaves the bank account it is not up to the broker to deliver them on time. Depending on the bank and location, clients may have to wait 42-74 hours to see their funds deposited into their bank account.
Obviously accurate and clear banking documentation is needed for deposits and withdrawals to be completed quickly and simply.

Bonuses & Promotions

At the moment, this broker has a 30% booster promotion on offer. New clients are eligible for a 30% credit on their initial deposit. The maximum deposit credit is 30% with a maximum of R5, 000 and it is subject to a number of conditions.

Accounts must be FICA approved to be eligible for the Bonus and the bonus funds cannot be withdrawn. The promotion is only available for residents of South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia, and Lesotho. Clients can find more information about this in the FAQ page under Blackstone Futures Booster Promotion Terms and Conditions.

Educational & Trading Tools

BlackStone Futures have an extensive education segment on their website. They have a Knowledge Base section which includes a number of articles and videos that should allow beginner traders to get a good basic understanding of the MT4 as well as their own Cloud Trade platform to make educated decisions when trading. Another number of articles and videos are dedicated to helping clients garner a broader understanding of how the market works and how they can implement indicators alongside price action.

Apart from this, clients can also find a number of videos and articles that will help motivate them and identify good strategies that they can use. The amount of educational material provided by this broker is actually quite engaging and should be extremely beneficial to those just starting out. Apart from those mentioned above, clients will also have weekly webinars that discuss the current market conditions.

When it comes to trading tools, this broker has a number of them offered namely; Market Sentiment which basically shows clients how many traders are buying and selling and their overall feeling about certain currency pairs and an Economic Calendar. Clients can also view a weekly Dividend adjustment which is helpful for those trading Shares and Indices.

Customer Service

Clients wanting to get in touch with this broker can do so either via live chat, telephone or email. We spoke to the broker via Live Chat and we were given feedback within seconds on a number of different occasions. Their customer support agents are extremely helpful and seen to be very aware of all the company’s conditions. You can find the company’s contact info down below:

Address: The Mall Offices, 5th Floor,
11 Cradock Avenue
Rosebank 2196, South Africa
Telephone: + 27 08600 111 563
Email: [email protected]
You can reach this broker from Monday to Friday 08:00 – 18:00

Demo Account

This broker offers a demo account to potential clients who wish to practice their trading strategies, as well as test out tips offered in their educational section. The Demo account comes equipped with Demo funds that clients can use to simulate the real market. The broker suggests clients should practice with amounts similar to what they will use when going live, in order to garner a real-life experience and eliminate any disappointment once they switch to a real account.

Countries Accepted

As we’ve mentioned before, this broker is quite limited as it can only open accounts for clients residing in South Africa or neighboring countries which have the same banks like Swaziland, Namibia, and Lesotho. Their Live Chat agent informed us that they are currently working on this and that they should be accepting clients from other countries within a few months.

Conclusion

BlackStone Futures is a regulated South African broker that offers trading on 2 platforms, their own Trade Cloud or the popular MT4. This broker does not charge any commission and they offer medium to low spreads on most of their Forex pairs. A major drawback is obviously the restriction that it can only trade with South African clients or those from neighboring countries which makes them extremely limited. They’re also quite limited when it comes to depositing and withdrawing methods, offering only 3 deposit methods and only 1 withdrawing method.

Clients who are used to having a multitude of options such as Skrill, Neteller e-Wallets, etc. might find this broker to be too limited. They have an extensive education segment on their site, which has a very large number of articles and videos that should help beginner traders get the hang of the market. Apart from this they also have weekly webinars as well as a number of trading tools that clients can make use of.

At the moment they have a 30% bonus on all new clients’ initial deposits and they’re customer support response (through live chat) is fast and informative, which makes up for the fact that simple account information is a bit hard to find on their website. They also offer a demo account for potential clients to test out, so if you’re interested in this broker, create a demo and see how you like the conditions Blackstone Futures has to offer.

SMARTBTCFX offers several account types, with decent leverage and a wide range of tradable assets available. Having been created in 2013, this company, which in fact is run by the offshore company Game Capital Ads Limited, has been blacklisted by the CONSOB (Italian Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa) for luring in Italian customers without the authentic licensing and registration needed.

Apart from this major setback, this broker claims to offer 5 specific components namely; outstanding customer support, a multi-product bouquet, advanced trading platforms, tight spreads, and an experienced founding team. On their website footer, they also have 5 medals on show including one stating that this broker won top broker in 2013 and another claiming that SmartBtcFx is an SSL trusted website. The bad quality of the images, and the fact that they’re way down at the bottom, makes us think that these aren’t legitimate and are put there to impress clients rather than to state facts.

Join us as we go through SmartBtcFx’s website and determine whether they could be a good broker for you.

Account Types

This broker has 4 accounts available namely; the Standard Account, the Classic, the Premium and finally the Gold Account. These accounts vary in their minimum deposit amount and spreads whereas the leverage for the Standard, Classic and Premium is set at 1:200 whereas the Gold account has adjustable leverage.

All accounts receive 24/7 support, all can trade forex pairs and all come with an account manager. The Gold account is the only one that enables clients to trade all available instruments that SmartBtcFx has to offer, whereas the Premium can trade all currencies, indices, and shares, the classic can trade Base currencies, Gold, Silver and Oil, and the standard account can only trade base currencies, which makes it quite limited.

As we’ve mentioned before, the minimum deposit is different for every account and the price ranges from $250 for the Standard account to $50,000 for the Gold account. On their terms and conditions page, the broker explains that after receiving an application to open an account, they may run checks, including credit and or checks they find suitable and they may also get references from the client’s bank, credit agencies and previous employers where applicable. Because of this, we assume that clients may have to wait a while before getting the go-ahead to start trading.

Platforms

When trading with this broker, clients can choose between 3 platforms. By far the most popular platform clients can use is the MT4 which offers some of the most powerful trading in the world. The MetaTrader 4 offers 30 built-in technical indicators, over 2000 free custom indicators and a further 700 that are only available on payment. Another great plus of the MT4 is that it is fully customizable and ideal for traders of every level. Its user-friendly interface and Expert Advisors, which are basically specially programmed software that completely automates trading, make it a great platform to trade on, even if you’re just starting out.

Clients of SmartBtcFx also have access to Game Capital Ads Limiteds xStation, which according to the broker, is a hybrid internet-based trading platform that merges encryption, real-time analytics, and trade sophistication. The broker does not offer any more information regarding this platform so we cannot comment any further.
For those clients that would like something that would enable them to trade on the go, SmartBtcFx offers the xMobile and Tablet Trader Platforms. These platforms give their customers access to their trading accounts from any location and at any time.

Leverage

The Standard, Classic and Premium account all offer leverage of 1:200 which is quite standard. Their Gold account, however, has adjustable leverage. We could not find any more information regarding this, so we tried to contact the broker via email since they do not offer live chat, but so far, we haven’t received an answer. We assume that the leverage offered for the Gold account depends on the funds of the clients and the particular asset being traded.

Trade Sizes

The broker doesn’t have any information regarding the minimum and maximum trade sizes available for trading so we cannot comment any further on this.

Trading Costs

This broker does not make it very clear whether they have any fees associated with their accounts. Although there is no mention of any commission on their account page, on their terms and conditions document, we did find mention of fees. The broker only states that clients wanting to close down their accounts may have the fees of the previous month refunded to them, but nowhere did they mention what these fees actually are. This is quite common with unregulated brokers and this is, unfortunately, something clients encounter a lot when dealing with this type of broker, namely not knowing what fees are applied.

Assets

From what we could see on their website, this broker offers a variety of assets available for trading, namely; forex currency pairs, Indices, and Shares. We could not locate a full list of what these assets are as there doesn’t seem to be one on their website. SmartBtcFx does explain that the different accounts have different assets available for trading, with only the Gold account having access to all tradable assets. The Premium account has all currencies, indices, and shares available for trading, the Classic has the base currencies, Gold, Silver, and Oil whereas the Standard account has only base currencies available for trading.

Spreads

The Standard account is the only one that comes with fixed spreads, which seems to be quite high. On their accounts table, this broker offers a typical forex spread value, and for this account, one of the most popular currency pairs EUR/USD has a spread of 2.4 which is more than double what other brokers offer. They also give an example for AUD/USD which has a spread of 3.3 Pips and USD/JPY which has a spread of 2.8.

All other accounts come with a choice of having either fixed or floating spreads. The lowest spreads we saw were on the Gold Account, where EUR/USD has a spread of 0.6 Pips, which is quite good, AUD/USD 1.3 Pips and USD/JPY 0.6 Pips. Obviously, for clients that do not have $50,000 to deposit, these spreads are not available, as they are only available through the Gold account.

The values provided here are only the typical forex spread offered by the broker, so clients should not depend on these figures as these are bound to fluctuate.

Minimum Deposit

All accounts have a different minimum deposit requirement as follows; Standard Account $250, Classic Account $2500, Premium Account $20,000 and the Gold account has a $50,000 requirement. We would advise potential clients to do their own background research before depositing any money into any SmartBtcFx account as we found numerous online complaints regarding the withdrawal of funds, apart from the fact that is broker is blacklisted.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Like with many other things, information regarding depositing funds is nowhere to be found on the website apart from a brief section in their terms and conditions. Here the broker states that there is a $10,000 maximum deposit per credit card transaction, and a $250 deposit per credit card transaction.

The logos of Maestro, Mastercard, and Visa at the bottom of their website, lead us to believe that this broker offers these methods for depositing funds. Interestingly, this broker does not offer Skrill, most probably because of recent regulations that forbid any unlicensed brokers to offer their (Skrill) services to their clients.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

There is no information regarding withdrawal methods and costs with this broker so we cannot comment any further about this, but they do however have a complicated bonus system, which we will discuss further on in the review, that might affect clients’ withdrawals. This is because, if a client accepts a $300 bonus, s/he will not be able to withdraw any of her/his funds until they reach a trading volume of at least $10,000000, which is challenging, to say the least. We do not know if there are any hidden fees when withdrawing with this broker, and our questions regarding this were not answered.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Like we’ve mentioned before, we do not have the information to comment on this.

Bonuses & Promotions

SmartBtcFx does have quite a complicated system of bonuses available. This is what is explained on their Terms and Conditions page; Traders must buy or sell at least 3.3 lots (in real money mode) for each unit $10 bonus which is granted by the broker before submitting any withdrawal requests. Each lot accounts for 100,000 currency units. For example, if a client receives a bonus of $30, their trading requirement is 10 lots, which equals 1,000,000 currency units. The broker does not explain how or to whom bonuses are offered, and this is rather strange as these bonuses have a major effect on the client’s withdrawals, which is definitely a major issue. We asked the broker how clients can decline these bonuses, but like all our other questions, this was left unanswered.

If you’d like more information about these bonuses, you can find more information about it on the broker’s Terms and Conditions page.

Educational & Trading Tools

At the moment, this broker does not offer any educational content on their website. The same goes for the trading tools, as it seems this broker relies on the tools offered by the popular MT4 platform, or their own web-based platform.

Customer Service

Clients wanting to contact SmartBtcFx can do so either via email, telephone or by filling in an online form. From our own experience, this broker does not offer impressive customer service as our emails were left unanswered. The emails were sent on 2 different occasions, on weekdays during office hours. There is no live chat option, which is unfortunate as it is the most popular method of contacting brokers as it is fast and efficient. If you’d like to contact this broker yourself, here are their contact details:

Company Address: Bujorilor St.
No. 44 Bucarest
Romania
Email- [email protected]
[email protected]
Telephone: +44 2030 6082 593
+97316195023

Demo Account

For those wanting to test out what conditions SmartBtcFx has to offer, they can only do so by investing their money and opening up a live account. This is because, at the moment, this broker does not offer any type of Demo account, which is inconvenient for those wanting to experience this broker without actually spending any money.

Countries Accepted

Although we did not find any mention of banned countries on SmartBtcFx, we did find that the USA is not listed as an available country for trading on their online account form. If you are having trouble finding your own Country of Residence to open up an account, we suggest trying to contact the broker for further information.

Conclusion

From what we could see, SmartBtcFx’s website is extremely similar to all the other brands associated with the mother company Game Capital Ads Limited. The broker is registered in Romania, meaning it is not regulated and it has also been blacklisted by the Consob. Apart from this, we suspect that the broker is making false claims, namely that they won awards including the best broker of 2013, which is highly unlikely considering everything we’ve discovered about them.

Spreads and initial deposits are quite high, especially for some of their accounts but on the other hand, they seem to have a wide variety of assets available. SmartBtcFx also offers a bonus, but again this is not very clearly outlined on their site.

Their website is quite bland when comparing it to others on the market, and we did find a big lack of info on certain subjects which are essential for potential clients to make a decision whether to trade with a broker or not. Overall, we do not feel like this broker would be a good one to do business with, because the risks seem a little too big. If you’d still like to get to know more this broker, head on to their website and discover more about them.

Finmax FX is an FX and CFD broker that offers more than 500 tradable instruments from five separate account types. The broker is primarily located in St. Vincent & the Grenadines, although their direct contact number is based out of London. Since being launched in 2015, Finmax has claimed to strive towards helping their traders realize their full potential. As a whole, the company does have some advantages, but there are also disadvantages that potential clients will want to consider closely. Stay with us to find out everything you’ll need to know about this broker.

Account Types

Finmax offers five separate live accounts; Micro, Mini, Standard, Premium, and VIP. It is also possible to apply for an Islamic version of any of these accounts. The broker mentions that choosing one of the accounts with the larger deposit requirement would reward traders with a larger number of tradable instruments. This doesn’t seem to be true, as accounts share the same leverages and tradable instruments. Differences mostly revolve around each account’s price, while most of the accounts actually share the same spreads. VIP account holders will be provided with a 24/7 manager and personal analyst, and these account holders will be the only ones that are offered a lower spread.

Take a look at the conditions for each account below.

Micro Account
Minimum Deposit: $250
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Spread: As low as 3 pips
Commission: NA

Mini Account
Minimum Deposit: $1,000
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Spread: As low as 3 pips
Commission: NA

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: $5,000
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Spread: As low as 3 pips
Commission: NA

Premium Account
Minimum Deposit: $25,000
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Spread: As low as 3 pips
Commission: NA

VIP Account
Minimum Deposit: $100,000
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Spread: As low as 1-2 pips
Commission: NA

Platforms

Any trader that opens an account through this broker will be trading from the ever-popular MetaTrader 5 platform, available on PC, Mac, mobile devices, or through the web-based application. MT5 is the best choice for the modern trader, as it was designed to be powerful and multi-functional by providing multiple analysis tools and pending order types, while supporting Expert Advisors, one-click orders, multiple languages, etc. All of these features, combined with the program’s navigable interface, make MT5 an ideal trading platform for any type of trader.

Leverage

Leverage options range from 1:10 up to 1:200, regardless of which account has been chosen. The leverage cap is set at a different level on separate instruments. For example, most currency pairs allow the maximum cap, while some of the exotic options have a limit of 1:25 or 1:50. Leverage on cryptocurrencies goes up to 1:2 and options on stocks is set at 1:10. On commodities, the leverage cap is 1:100, except on Rice. Options vary more widely on indexes and metals. The leverage on all bonds goes as high as 1:100. Overall, we must say that the maximum cap offered by the broker is somewhat restrictive when compared to other options.

Trade Sizes

The company reserves the right to limit the number of open positions that any client can have at any time, but the website doesn’t mention an exact limit. There is no mention of minimum or maximum trade sizes on the website, although we assume that the Micro account would support micro-lots and the Mini account would support mini lots. Traders will be notified in advance when the account is approaching a 100% margin and it is possible to make a deposit in order to avoid reaching stop out. Once the margin level falls below 50%, the broker will begin to liquidate open trades.

Trading Costs

Finmax profits from traditional spreads and swaps, in addition to extra fees, including inactivity fees, additional fees on bank wire withdrawals, and account cancellation fees. The website doesn’t mention commissions, but the high spreads are enough to make one assume that commissions are nonexistent. Swaps are charged on positions that are held open past market closing time.

The company charges a ridiculously high inactivity fee of $80 USD once an account reaches 2 months of no trading activity. If the account reaches 3 months with no activity, the broker will charge a $120 inactivity fee and $200 USD will be charged after 6 consecutive months with no activity.

Those that deposit via bank wire who fail to reach the turnover amount equal to the amount of the deposit will be charged a $25 fee on top of the standard $25 withdrawal fee. Accounts with a balance of less than $5 will have the amount reduced to zero after a one-month period of inactivity. Traders that request a deposit with no trading activity will be charged a 5% fee on top of the already high withdrawal fees.

Assets

The broker offers investment opportunities in currency pairs, stocks, commodities, indexes, cryptocurrencies, metals, energies, and bonds. In total, there are 59 available currency pairs, which are made up of majors, minors, and exotics. There are 370+ stocks available in many well-known American companies like Google and Apple. Commodities include Corn, Wheat, Coffee, Sugar, Soybean, Cotton, Rice, and Cocoa.

There are more than 25 indexes and we see popular options like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, Ripple, etc. under the cryptocurrency category, with 40 options altogether. Metals include the most popular options Gold and Silver, in addition to Copper, Platinum, Pallidum, Aluminum, and Zinc. Energies include Gas, Crude Oil, and Brent Oil. There are also 5 bonds available for investment. The large number and variety of available assets are one of the broker’s most advantageous features.

Spreads

Spreads on the Micro, Mini, Standard, and Premium account types start from 3 pips on majors. It’s almost shocking to see that all of these accounts are offering spreads that are much higher than the industry’s average 1.5 pips, especially considering that it costs $25k to open a Premium account. On minors, we even see spreads as high as 6 pips or more. The only way to access average spreads through this broker would be to make the $100k deposit to open a VIP account and even then, spreads start from 1-2 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The Micro and Mini accounts are the broker’s more affordable options, although many won’t find the Micro accounts $250 deposit requirement and the Mini account’s $1,000 requirement very affordable. Others do offer much lower starting amounts, especially for these account types. Opening a Standard account is also expensive, as it costs $5,000 to open one of these basic accounts. The broker does offer some special perks to Standard account holders as a possible incentive for making the larger deposit. On the higher end of things, the broker requires a $25,000 deposit to open a Premium account and a $100,000 deposit for a VIP account.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded through credit card, bank wire, Yandex, QiWi, ePayments, WebMoney, Skrill, and Neteller. All deposits are fee-free and credited instantly, with the exception of a bank wire. The broker doesn’t charge fees on incoming bank wires from their side, but many banks may charge on their behalf. It can also take up to 3 business days for funds to be credited if sent through wire transfer.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

All of the available funding methods are available for withdrawals with a $10 withdrawal minimum on most methods and a $50 USD minimum when withdrawing cryptocurrencies. There is also a condition stating that withdrawals must be processed back to the original deposit method. Withdrawal fees will vary based on the account type that has been chosen. Micro and Mini account holders will always pay withdrawal fees, while Standard account holders will be allowed one commission-free withdrawal per month. Premium and VIP account holders will benefit from unlimited fee-free withdrawals.

Those that deposited via bank wire and failed to reach the turnover amount will be charged a $25 fee on the withdrawal day. Those that request a withdrawal with no trading activity will be charged a 5% fee on top of the standard withdrawal fee. We’ve listed the standard withdrawal fees for each method below.

• WebMoney: 0.9%
• Perfect Money, Skrill: 2%
• Credit Card, Yandex, Neteller, OkPay, Qiwi: 3.5%
• Bank Wire: 25 USD/EUR (+$25 if trading turnover isn’t reached)
• Bitcoin: 7%

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

It takes up to 48 hours for the broker to finish processing withdrawals for most account holders, while special 5-hour processing time is offered to VIP members. Although the broker’s terms do mention that it can take some time for funds to be credited once sent, they do not give an exact timeframe. The website’s wording makes it sound as though clients would be waiting for the longest to receive funds via bank wire, which is typical.

Bonuses & Promotions

The broker has implemented a bonus policy where clients can earn a deposit bonus between 30% and 100% on initial deposits. Conditions state that the trading account’s balance must maintain at least $100 and the client can only trade with the bonus after trading with their deposit. Withdrawals of the full bonus amount are nearly impossible, as the client would need to trade a volume of $10,000 per $1 of the bonus and the withdrawal must be made within a 60-day period. The exact amount that can be earned back on the first deposit is listed below, as the broker sets the limit by account type. The second deposit bonus is either 10% or 15%, depending on circumstances.

• Micro & Mini Account: Up to 30%
• Standard Account: Up to 50%
• Premium Account: Up to 80%
• VIP Account: Up to 100%

Educational & Trading Tools

Finmax brings its clients a number of educational resources in the form of e-books, video lessons, webinars, and a forex glossary. It is necessary to register for an account to unlock some of these resources, but we can see that there are several lessons and categories under each section. For example, there are 16 forex trading lessons, 11 market analysis lessons, 10 trading strategy lessons, and so on. In addition, the broker has provided multiple tools on its website, all of which help to provide a convenient experience. We’ve listed some of those highlights below.

• Forex, Cryptocurrency, Pivot Point, and Margin Calculator
• Economic Calendar
• Currency Converter
• Live Quotes
• Financial News
• Technical Analysis & Market Reviews
• Trader Advice
• Investment Strategies

Demo Account

Surprisingly, Finmax does not offer free demo accounts to their traders. We would expect to see these accounts available, considering that the broker has so many other educational resources. Traders will be able to learn a lot from the website, but we do feel that trading from a real demo account provides more of a realistic experience that can’t be made up for with video lessons or Ebooks.

Customer Service

At the bottom of the broker’s website, traders will find a button that connects one to instant LiveChat support, in addition to a button that allows one to instantly request a phone call at a certain time of the day. On the Contact page, the broker also provides a direct phone number and email address. Traders would also be able to fill in a quick contact form for an email response on that page.

The sheer number of contact methods makes it extremely convenient to get in touch with a member of support. The only downside would be the fact that support hours are from 08:00 – 20:00 (GMT+3), where many other brokers offer 24-hour support on weekdays. All contact information has been listed below.

Phone: +44(208) 089-25-75 (London)
Email: [email protected]

Countries Accepted

On their website, Finmax lists Australia, Belgium, Canada, Crimea, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Japan, North Korea, Puerto Rico, Sevastopol region, Singapore, Syrian Arab Republic, Sudan, the United States, Virgin Islands, and Turkey as being restricted countries. Once we opened the account registration page, a bar appeared at the top of the page informing us that registration from our country (US-based offices) was not allowed. The US is available as a selectable country, but filling out the account details and clicking register will only bring clients back to the same page. Unfortunately, it seems that these restrictions are upheld.

Conclusion

Finmax FX is an FX and CFD broker that offers leveraged trading of up to 1:200. One of the broker’s main draws would be their impressive asset portfolio, which consists of 520+ instruments, including 40 cryptocurrencies. Opening an account is expensive, as it costs $250 to open a Micro account and $1,000 to open a Mini account. Spreads start from an above-average 3 pips on most of the account types and the only way to access average options would be to meet the VIP account’s $100k deposit requirement.

Finmax also tacks on extra fees for inactivity, account cancellation, etc. Several funding methods are available, including bank wire, cards, and some e-wallets. Those that have accounts below the Standard level will find themselves paying high withdrawal fees. Getting in touch with a member of support is extremely convenient, so long as it is within business hours. Clients can earn deposit bonuses between 30% and 100% and there are a huge number of educational resources and trading tools available on the website, including video lessons, webinars, Ebooks, and more. Several countries are restricted from opening accounts.

This broker goes out of their way to reward those that can afford the $25k and $100k Premium and VIP accounts, by offering those clients fee-free and expedited withdrawals, larger bonuses, and other rewards. All of these fancy details seem to be meant as distractions from the broker’s high spreads and extra fees.

Proper Trade is a broker owned by B-Market Limited. It is registered in the Marshall Islands (registration number 100141) and regulated under the Marshall Islands Commercial Corporation Act. Company address: Ajeltake Road, Ajeltake Island, Majuro, Marshall Islands MH960.

Proper Trade is registered and headquartered in the Marshall Islands, making it an offshore broker. The broker offers its clients a maximum leverage of 1:200 to trade in Forex and CFD. The broker does not have an acceptable regulation, yet he wants to direct his services to customers resident in the United States, Europe, and Australia. If you are considering opening a forex account and you are reading this review, I advise you to read everything to the end.

ACCOUNT TYPES

Proper Trade offers only one standard account type. When making the initial deposit, traders can start trading and exchanging currency pairs or other assets offered by Propertrade. We need to warn that certain assets require a minimum deposit in order to be able to operate them, for example, metals.

PLATFORMS

Proper Trade offers its own trading platform, MetaTrader4 is not available.
Proper Trade offers us a web-based trading platform, but it is very simple, and it also lacks many features. This platform is well below MT4, which is certainly the trading platform most used by a wide community of traders.

MT4 is easy to use, has a wide set of management tools, advanced graphics, and a multitude of market indicators. It also has commercial robots with all kinds of strategies for users. With the use of these robots, you can be traded in an automated way.
All of the above is not possible with the web platform offered by Popertrade.

LEVERAGE

Leverage as high as 1:200. More and more offshore brokers offer high leverages. After the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) limited leverage for Forex transactions to 1:30, many traders are looking for larger leverages, and so offshore brokers are proliferating, offering leverages higher than those determined by ESMA.
The US and Japan have long since limited leverages to traders in order to protect them from capital losses and reduce the financial risks of the customer.

However, if a trader wants to trade with higher leverage, he can always look for regulated brokers in Australia. Australian regulation is very important and allows higher leverages, this is possible because this country remains unrestricted.

TRADE SIZES

We have not found information about accepted commercial sizes. Normally in this type of brokers are allowed to open positions as small as 0.01 lots, which is a micro-lot or 1000 units of the base currency. Operating with micro-lots provides flexibility and is ideal for traders who want to trade with a small volume and accepting smaller risks.

TRADING COSTS

Account-holders only have to pay the differential (the difference between supply and demand prices). Proper Trade does not charge any commission when opening or closing a position. However, through almost any broker, traders must pay an exchange charge (interest) when a transaction is kept open overnight. Because this interest expense is based on the economic conditions and policies of the central bank of the currency’s country of origin, swaps are out of the brokers’ control. however, please note that swaps could be positive, such as when short selling a particular currency pair. In these cases, account holders make money.

ASSETS

Proper Trade has an advantage, it is the wide variety of assets with which it is possible to trade. In Forex we find more than 50 currency pairs, including exotic pairs like USDZAR, USDRUB, USDPLN, USDNOK USDTRY, USDSGD, USDSEK, USDMXN, USDILS, USDHUF, USDHKD, y USDDKK. It also offers CFD in silver, gold, Brent platinum, WTI Raw, natural gas, palladium and copper, agricultural products such as cocoa, cotton, orange juice, coffee, corn, soy, sugar, and wheat. The broker also offers trading in 23 stock indices, 30 ETF s, stocks, and bonds. For lovers of cryptocurrencies, Propertrade offers trading on a number of digital coins, including Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, IOTA, Litecoin, NEO, Qtum, Tron, Stellar, Monero, Ple, Zcash, Cardano, Bitcoin, Dash, and Dashgold.

SPREADS

We have tested the web trading platform offered by Propertrade to find out the spreads. We have seen how the spread in EUR / USD was around 3.5 pips. Actually this spread is very high, at least 3 times more than the spread levels that most brokers offer for this currency pair.

MINIMUM DEPOSIT

We have been unable to figure out the minimum deposit required by this broker to open an account with them. Normally these types of offshore and unregulated brokers usually admit small deposits to start trading, but this fact is not confirmed.

DEPOSIT METHODS & COSTS

The broker accepts, credit cards/debit, Mastercard, Visa, and American Express. It is also possible to deposit in the following e-wallets, Perfect Money, Skrill, QIWI, Webmoney, Neteller, and Okpay. All that remains is for this broker to accept bitcoin as a means of payment, but even this is not possible. No commissions apply to account deposits.

WITHDRAWAL METHODS & COSTS

Withdrawals will always be made to the method of payment with which we made the deposit.

The withdrawals have a commission charge, as follows:

Notwithstanding the above table, the Company reserves the right to charge a withdrawal fee equal to EUR 50. There is an inactivity fee. The monthly inactivity fee will increase as the total downtime increases:

A maintenance fee will be charged each month, regardless of whether there are transactions (deposits, withdrawals or business activity) in your commercial account or not. The commission shall be EUR 10 per month.

WITHDRAWAL PROCESSING & WAIT TIME

Withdrawals will always be made to the method of payment with which we made the deposit. Withdrawal waiting time ranges from 1 to 5 days.

BONUSES & PROMOTIONS

The Broker does not currently have any bonus or promotion available to its clients.

EDUCATIONAL & TRADING TOOLS

Proper Trade has an area of educational tools and of interest to the trader. It has an economic news section, this is good for all traders who like to trade with fundamental. It also has a technical analysis area of several currency pairs. This is a positive aspect for all traders who want to have a different vision about these assets, and also to have investment ideas.

In the educational section, there is also a section of videos. In these videos, different currency pairs are analyzed. Video can have a dual function, on the one hand educational, to learn how to analyze assets, and on the other hand, by being updated analyses, they can help us make investment decisions.

Finally, it has an economic calendar. Viewing the economic calendar on a daily basis is a good practice as it will help us detect all those news or events that may affect certain assets, so we consider this service very interesting.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

The customer has 3 ways to contact the customer service: Telephone, e-mail, and contact form. We note the absence of a live chat that usually provides a method of communication between the client and the broker.

The forms of contact are:

B-Market limited,
Kemp House, 152 – 160 City Road, London EC1V 2NX
Phone : +442039669160
[email protected]

DEMO ACCOUNT

Propertarde does not have a demo account for its clients. We consider this a negative aspect. Having a demo account is important, especially for all those novice traders who need to simulate a real operation without taking risks and gain experience in different markets.

COUNTRIES ACCEPTED

This FX broker does not offer services within certain other jurisdictions such as the USA, British Columbia, and Canada.

CONCLUSION

Trading with an unregulated and unlicensed intermediary like Proper Trade could present a higher level of risk. On the website, we can see from the contact details that Propertrade claims to be based in the United Kingdom, and provides us with the name of a company called B-Market Limited. We repeat that this company is registered in the Marshall Islands, a tax haven.

And as we have already commented, we are dealing with a broker without the necessary license to trade in the European Union, Australia, Canada or the United States.
Brokers wishing to operate in the United Kingdom must be authorised by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), or at least by the Cysec (Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission).

The bottom line is that traders may want to investigate this FX broker more before creating and funding an account with them.

SimpleFX is a robust online trading provider, offering to trade with Forex CFDs on Bitcoins, Litecoins, indices, precious metals, and energy. Their mission is to keep our offer and trading conditions simple and transparent. Company motto: “Keep it simple!” In this review, we will be looking into the services being offered by SimpleFX so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There is only one account type available to sue with SimpleFX, this review will be going over a number of different aspects around trading conditions, so any information provided will be relevant to the account that you would be using should you sign up with SimpleFX.

Platforms

Simple FX use their own platform as well as MetaTrader 4 as their trading platforms of choice and its a good choice, let’s see what MetaTrader 4 offers.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): Analytical functions are one of the strongest selling points of the SimpleFX MT4 platform. End-users can select from 23 different analytical objects to draw formations on the chart, along with 30 built-in technical indicators that greatly simplify this task. Thousands of additional indicators are available for download from the free Code Base. Built-in Market are making analytical capabilities work to make SimpleFX’s version of MT4 basically limitless.

SimpleFX Platform: The SimpleFX platform is a web-based platform that gives you the opportunity to trade on the go and in your browser, there is not a lot of information provided about it which is strange but it looks clean and intuitive, giving you all the tools you need to trade.

Leverage

The leverage that you have with SimpleFX depends on the balance of your account, we have set out a list below detailing this.

• Under $5,000 – 1:500
• $5,001 – $7,000 – 1:400
• $7,001 – $10,000 – 1:300
• $10,001 – $20,000 – 1:200
• $20,001 – $30,000 – 1:175
• 30:001 – $50,000 – 1:150
• $50,001 – $100,000 – 1:125
• Over $100,001 – 1:100

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size available is 0.01 lots which are 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 maximum trade size is 100 lots, however, we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

There are no added commissions which is great, as the account uses a spread based payment structure that we will look at later in this review. Swap charges are present though, these are interest charges that are incurred for holding trades overnight, they can be both negative or positive and can usually be viewed from within the trading platform of choice.

Assets

There are a number of different assets available, SimpleFX hasn’t broken them down into different categories, instead, they have just lumped them all into one category of tradable assets and put them in alphabetical order. Let’s see what they are:

ASX 200, AUDCAD, AUDCHF, AUDJPY, AUDNZD, AUSUSD, BTCUSD, CAC 40, CADCHF, CADJPY, CHFJPY, DAX 30, DJI 30. EURAUD, EURCAD, EURCHF, EURCZK, EURDKK, EURGBP, EURHKD, EURHUF, EURJPY, EURMXN, EURNOK, EURNZD, EURPLN, EURSEK, EURSGD, EURTRY, EURUSD, EURZAR, FTSE 100, GBPAUD, GBPCAD, GBPCHF, GBPHKD, GBPJPY, GBPNZD, GBPUSD, HAS 50, IBEX 35, LTCUSD, NDX 100, NIKKEI 225, NZDCAD, NZDCHF, NZDJPY, NZDUSD, SMI 20, SPX 500, STOXX 50, UK OIL, USDCAD, USDCHF, USDCNH, USDCZK, USDDKK, USDHKD, USDHUF, USDJPY, USDMXN, USDNOK, USDPLN, USDRUB, USDSEK, USDSGD, USDTRY, USDZAR, US OIL, ZAGAUD, ZAGUSD, XAUAUD, CAUEUR, XAUUSD, XPRUSD, XPTUSD, EURRUB, Natural Gas, USDILS, CHFPLN.

Then there are a number of different stocks including the likes of Amazon, Google, Apple, Tesla and many more.

Spreads

The spreads that you have are dependent on a few different things, firstly they are variable (also known as floating) so this means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 0.9 pips, other assets like GBPUSD may start slightly higher, in this case, 1.2 pips.

Minimum Deposit

You can start investing with any amount that you want, there is no set minimum deposit, while you can deposit as low as $1, we would recommend depositing at least $500 to allow for proper risk management and it also increases the potential for profit.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There is a wide range of ways to deposit with SimpleFX, we have outlined them below along with the currencies available to each deposit method.

• Bitcoin – BTC
• Bitcoin Cash – BCH
• Dash – Dash
• Ethereum – ETH
• Ethereum Classic – ETC, Fasapay – USD, IDR
• Litecoin – LTC
• Buy Crypto – BCH, BIT, DIT, EIT, LIT
• Monero – XMR
• Neteller – AUD, CAD, CHF, DKK, EUR, GBP, JPY, NOK, PLN, RUB, SEK, USD

As you can see they are strongly focusing on the crypto market when it comes to depositing, but there are a couple of e-wallets available too. There are no added fees for deposits, but as usual, be sure to check with your processor to ensure they do not charge any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw with the exception of Buy Crypto as that is a purchasing service only. There are no fees for any of the withdrawal methods apart from Neteller and Fasapay which as a 3% fee and 1% fee respectively. You should, however, check with your processor to ensure they do not add any fees of their own. Withdrawals must be made to the same method used to deposit if you have multiple deposits you must withdraw to the method that has the biggest deposit.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

We could not locate any information surrounding how long it takes fro SimpleFX to process withdrawals, we would expect it to be within 48 hours, once it has been processed the amount of time it takes for your money to available for use will depend on the processing time of the method you used, as an example, Bitcoin will take a number of confirmations before it is available so it will depend on the speed of the network.

Bonuses & Promotions

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

Educational & Trading Tools

There doesn’t appear to be anything in regards to education, but there are a few trading tools such as automated trading, signals, and the standard analytical tools that come with the platform. This is a shame that there is nothing in the education department, as a lot of brokers these days are looking to help their clients improve and become more profitable with educational courses or tools to help them trade or analyze. It would be nice to see Simple FX do something similar for their clients.

Customer Service

The customer service page includes an FAQ page, and that is it. Luckily, at the bottom of the page in the website footer, there is an email address for the support department as well as the partnership department. It is a little disappointing that there are so few options to get in contact with SimpleFX, it is always nice to bale to speak to someone directly, unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case with simplex and it is something they should look at improving.

Demo Account

Looking through the site we could not see any information surrounding demo account so they may not be available, demo accounts allow potential new clients to test out the servers and trading platforms and it also allows regular clients to test out new strategies without risking any of their own capital. This is something that SimpleFX should look at adding in the future.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is found on the website: “SimpleFX Ltd. does not provide services to citizens and residents of the United States or any country where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation.“ If you are unsure of your eligibility, we would recommend getting in touch with the customer service team to find out.

Conclusion

SimpleFX is a little different to the usual broker, they only offer the one account and have their own trading platform, they do offer MetaTrader 4 as well, but they seem to be focusing on their own platform a lot more. Spreads are relatively low for a non-commission based account which is great and there are a number of different ways to deposit, however, it seems that the usual credit/debit cards and bank wire transfers are not, low fees are also a big plus. No demo account smake it hard for us to test things properly and the lack of ways to get in contact with eh customer service team can be a little offputting.

Alvexo is a forex and CFD broker based in Cyprus, offering over 450 trading assets, their vision is to empower and educate their client base by providing access to leading technologies, security of funds, providing a top-quality customer support team and to excel in delivering a comprehensive array of signal,s market news, analysis and more. In this review, we will be looking into the services being offered to see if they manage to achieve this vision.

Account Types

There are five different account son offer when signing up with Alvexo, each one has its own entry requirements and trading conditions, here is an overview of each one.

Classic Account: The classic account has a minimum deposit requirement of 500 EUR, it has spread starting from 3.3 pips and can be leveraged up to 1:30. Stop out level is set at 50% and the minimum trade size is 0.01 lots. In terms of instruments to trade, it has access to forex, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies. It provides you with one 1 on 1 support sessions as well as technical analysis and trading signals.

Gold Account: The gold account has a minimum deposit requirement of 5,000 EUR, it has spread starting from 2.2 pips and leverage can go as high has 1:300 for professional traders. The stop-out level is set at 15% and the trade sizes start from 0.05 lots. It has access to forex pairs, commodities, indices and cryptocurrencies. The account also comes with up to 2 1 on 1 session per month, technical analysis, trading signals, trading signals via SMS and daily market reviews.

Prime Account: Minimum deposits are increased to 10,000 EUR, it has spread starting from 1.8 pips and leverage can go as high has 1:300 for professional traders. The stop-out level is set at 15% and the trade sizes start from 0.25 lots. It has access to forex pairs, commodities, indices and cryptocurrencies. The account also comes with up to 4 1 on 1 session per month, technical analysis, trading signals, trading signals via SMS, daily market reviews and, email alerts regarding margin calls.

ECN Gold Account: The ECN Gold account increases the minimum deposit further up to 20,000 EUR, it has spread starting from 0 pips and leverage can go as high has 1:300 for professional traders. The stop-out level is set at 15% and the trade sizes start from 0.05 lots. It has access to forex pairs, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, bonds and stocks. The account also comes with up to 6 1 on 1 session per month, technical analysis, trading signals, trading signals via SMS, daily market reviews, email alerts regarding margin calls, margin call SMS alerts and daily live reviews.

ECN VIP Account: This is the top-level account and so in order to get this account, you will need to get in touch with the team at Alvexo. The account comes with spread starting from 0 pips and leverage can go as high has 1:300 for professional traders. The stop-out level is set at 15% and the trade sizes start from 0.25 lots. It has access to forex pairs, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, bonds, stocks and cannabis stocks. The account also comes with unlimited 1 on 1 session per month, technical analysis, trading signals, trading signals via SMS, daily market reviews, email alerts regarding margin calls, margin call SMS alerts, daily live reviews, meeting sessions and a direct line to senior account executives.

Platforms

Alvexo uses MetaTrader 4 as its sole trading platform. MT4 is very well-known and highly respected by FX traders. A few of the key features of the platform include:

• Navigational window and multiple order types
• Available through desktop, mobile and tablet interfaces
• 30 technical indicators and 9 timeframes
• Customization tools for more engaged strategy specific trading
• Graph and chart tracking

Traders can also choose to remain connected to their trading account and the global markets by using the MT4 App. The app offers a powerful and intuitive interface that allows you to buy and sell a wide variety of assets directly from the convenience of your mobile device. Alvexo provides real-time market quotes and price feeds to help render your trading experience even more effective and accurate.

Leverage

Alvexo follow the recommendations of the ESMA in regards to leverage, this means the following:

• 30:1 for major currency pairs
• 20:1 for non-major currency pairs, gold, and major indices
• 10:1 for commodities other than gold and non-major equity indices
• 5:1 for individual equities and other reference values
• 2:1 for cryptocurrencies

However, if you are considered a professional trader, then the maximum leverage with Alvexo is increased up to 1:300. Leverage can be selected when opening up a new account.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size that you have depends on the account you are using, we have outlined. them below.

• Starter: 0.01 lots
• Gold: 0.05 lots
• Prime: 0.25 lots
• ECN Gold: 0.05 lots
• ECN VIP 0.25 lots

We are not 100% on the maximum trade size, however, whatever it is, we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

The ECN account and the ECN VIP account both come with added commissions, the commission depends on the currency being traded, for example, if we take AUDCHF as a pair, there will be a commission added in CHF, so for the ECN account, it is 18 CHF, while for the ECN VIP it will be 14 CHF, for AUDNZD it is 18 NZD for the ECN account and 13 NZD for the ECN Pro Account. The commissions are pretty high when you compare them with the usual $6 per lot traded.

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

Assets

There is a large number of assets available from Alvexo, too many for us to list (over 450), they have been broken down into 5 different categories, we will outline some examples from each.

Forex: Plenty to chose from including AUDCAD, EURCHF, EURRUB, GBPPLN, EURUSD, USDCZK, USDRON and, USDZAR.

Indices: Some examples include DAX, Dow Jones, IBEX, FTSE 100 and, Nasdaq.

Commodities: Quite a few on offer including Gold, Silver, Corn, Natural Gas, Coffee, and Light Sweet Crude Oil.

Shares: All the major players are available from the likes of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Tesla, and Tesco.

Crypto: A nice selection of cryptocurrencies is also available including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Ripple, Litefoin and, Ethereum.

Spreads

The ECN and ECN VIP account some with raw spreads which can be as low as 0 pips, the other accounts all have spreads which we have detailed below:

• Classic: Starting from 3.3 pips
• Gold: starting from 2.2 pips
• Prime: Starting from 1.8 pips

The spreads are variable (also known as floating) so this means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 3.3 pips, other assets like GBPJPY may start slightly higher, in this case, 8.3 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount required to open an account if 500 EUR, normally after an account is ok you can deposit slightly smaller amounts as top-ups.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Strangely, with all the information they provide about other aspects of their services, they do not make it easy to find out things about their deposit and withdrawal methods. Luckily after a lot of digging, we did find a little info.

In terms of methods, you can use Bank Wire Transfer, Visa, MasterCard, and American Express credit cards, Visa, MasterCard, Visa Electron, Maestro, Cash-U and V-Pay debit cards and QIWI Wallet as an E-wallet.

There are no fees added by Alvexo, but be sure to check with your bank or card issuer to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The FAQ where we got the information doesn’t specify which methods are available for withdrawal, but the majority of the same will be, just like with deposits there are no added fees,m but you should check with your bank or card issuer to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals take a minimum of 3-5 business days upon completion of compliance requirements. For methods such as Bank Wire Transfer, it will take some additional time, usually between 2 to 5 working days for your own bank to process the transfer.

Bonuses & Promotions

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

Educational & Trading Tools

There is a trading academy available which seems to contain a number of different things such as a glossary of forex terms and some articles and tutorials. It goes into detail on trading strategies and other advanced aspects of trading so it could be worth a look, especially if you are a client of theirs. There are also trading signals available that claim to be 82% accurate, we have no way of knowing unfortunately so we will need to take them at face value. There is also an economic calendar detailing upcoming news events and the markets that they may affect. Finally, there are trading calculators that you can use to calculate things like pips, margins profit and convert currencies.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in contact with Alvexo you can via an online web form, fill it in and you should get a reply back via email, you can also call via telephone, they have number sin Cyprus, United Kingdom, France, Romania, Spain, Soth Africa, Italy, and Sweden. You could also get in touch via Twitter or other social media should you prefer to do it that way.

Demo Account

There doesn’t seem to be a demo account on offer, or at least we could not find any information about one. This is a shame as demo accounts allow potential new clients to test out the trading conditions and servers while it allows current clients to test out new strategies without risking any of their capital. This is an area that should be invested in and demo accounts should be made available.

Countries Accepted

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

Conclusion

Alvexo offers a lot when it comes to choice, at least with accounts, both STP and ECN accounts are available to choose from. Spreads can be quite high when it comes to the lower-tier accounts, and the commission is quite high when it comes to the ECN accounts, so the only accounts really worthwhile are the mid-tier ones. There are plenty of assets, so you will always be able to find something to trade. The only downside to the site is the lack of info easily accessible on the site regarding deposits and withdrawals. We had to dive deep into the back pages to find it, something that most potential clients won’t do and could leave not knowing this information.

AAA Trade is an online broker that offers leveraged trading of up to 1:200 on 1,000+ instruments, including FX, Metals, Indices, Futures, Shares, Bonds, Options, ETFs, and Cryptocurrencies. The company was established back in 2014, with a central location in Cyprus and regulation through the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). The broker’s main goal is to help their clients harness the potential of the financial markets by providing all-inclusive investment services, including unrivaled customer support, according to their website. Keep reading to fund out if the broker manages to uphold their mission statement.

Account Types

AAA Trade markets its CFD account types based on the trader’s skill level, with options being Novice or Experienced accounts. Alternatively, the CryptoExchange account is available for traders that would like the ability to trade Cryptocurrencies. Currently, the broker does not offer Islamic accounts, although demo accounts and corporate accounts are available in addition to the main individual account types. All accounts share the same deposit minimums and leverage options, although there are some small differences for trade sizes.

The main difference seems to revolve around the way that trading costs are paid, with a commission-free, higher spread option on the Novice account, or an option to pay low commission costs in exchange for lower spreads on the Experienced account type. The broker does not provide details about the costs on the CryptoExchange account type and it seems that one would need to reach out to support to open one of these account types since the option isn’t available on the main registration page. We’ve provided a quick overview of the account types below.

Novice Account
Minimum Deposit: $500 USD
Leverage: Up to 1:200 (See “Leverage”)
Spread: N/A
Commission: None

Experienced Account
Minimum Deposit: $500 USD
Leverage: Up to 1:200 (See “Leverage”)
Spread: From 1 pip
Commission: $4 per Standard Lot

CryptoExchange Account
Minimum Deposit: $500 USD
Leverage: Up to 1:200 (See “Leverage”)
Spread: N/A
Commission: N/A

During the registration process, traders will be required to fill in a short questionnaire that helps provide the broker with some insight into that trader’s experience level and knowledge of the financial markets. If one fails the questionnaire, the website will direct them to open a demo account and a 7 day wait period must be incurred before the test can be retaken. The broker will also require the client to take a selfie holding their passport/ID with a note stating the following; today’s date, telephone number, email, and signature. In addition, a copy of a recent utility bill, bank statement, local authority tax bill, bank reference letter, landline telephone or internet bill, etc. must be uploaded. As long as the submitted documents are acceptable, verification can be completed within minutes.

Platform

This broker provides three separate trading platforms; MetaTrader 5, AAA Trade, and CryptoExchange. For the Novice and Expert Account types, the broker’s own AaaTrade platform and MT5 are supported for download on Desktop or mobile. AAA Trade’s platform is also accessible through the browser-based WebTrader. The CryptoExchange account type supports the CryptoExchange platform, which is accessible through the browser, or for download through the App Store or Google Play.

While the website doesn’t offer a lot of details about their own supported platforms, the broker does mention that both platforms were designed to allow users to trade seamlessly across the global investment universe. One advantage of trading on MT5 with this broker would be the fact that this platform offers more available instruments than the others, although the broker doesn’t specify exactly how many more options would be available through MT5.

Leverage

Average leverage caps are limited based on the instrument that is being traded. The cap is set at 1:30 for major currencies, 1:20 for minor ones, and 1:10 for Commodities. Traders shouldn’t let the advertised 1:200 leverage cap be misleading and will need to know that this option is only available for clients that are considered professional. In order to increase the account’s leverage from the average options, traders must submit a request and complete the fitness test that was required at registration. In order for the broker to process the request, the trader will have to be considered a “professional” client and would likely need to earn a high score. Leverage can be lowered at any time from the settings within the client zone.

Trade Sizes

Minimum trade sizes for CFDs can vary based on the instrument that is being traded. The minimum is 0.01, or one micro lot, for FX options, and the broker suggests clients reach out to support for further information. For Cryptocurrencies, the minimum trade size varies based on the exact instrument. For example, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Melon have a minimum trade size of 0.011 lot, while Dash, Ethereum Classic, Gnosis, and ZCash have minimum trade sizes of 0.035 lot. On CFDs, the margin call level is 50% and stop out occurs at 25%. On Securities, the margin call level is 70% and the stop out occurs at 25%.

Trading Costs

This broker profits through commissions (if applicable), spreads, and swaps. Commissions of $4 per Standard Lot are charged on the Experienced account type, while the Novice account is commission-free. Spreads seem to be competitive on the Experienced account, while the spreads are not listed for the Novice account type. All of the swap rates for each instrument can be viewed within the trading platform by clicking on the symbol in the market watch window, selecting symbols, clicking on the + beside an instrument, and then selecting “properties”. Traditionally, swaps are charged at a triple rate for positions that are held open on Wednesdays; however, this broker has responded to client feedback and only charges triple swaps on the weekend, starting from midnight on Friday.

Assets

This broker’s asset portfolio includes more than 1,000 FX, Precious Metals, Bonds, Futures, Indices, Shares, Options, ETFs, and Cryptocurrencies. FX options divided into 15 majors, 47 minors, and 11 exotics, for a grand total of 73 available currency pairs. Precious Metals include Gold, Silver, Platinum, Nickel, Pallidum, and Aluminum. In total, nine bonds are available from the US, Europe, and Asia.

The Futures category consists of 9 Agriculture majors and minors, in addition to 5 Energy majors and exotics. Indices are made up of 9 Asian, 2 Australian, 17 European, 2 Russian, and 7 USA options. 520+ Shares are also available from America, Australia, Japan, and many others. 80 total instruments are available from the Options category, including the sub-categories OPRA and the Eurex Exchange.

The ETF category is made up of 85 options and sub-categories include Bonds, County Index, Currency, Gold and Silver, US Sector & Industry, US Stock Indexes, and Volatility. The broker offers 50+ Cryptocurrencies, including popular options like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and more.

Spreads

This broker offers floating spreads that vary based on market volatility and liquidity. The current spreads can be viewed from within the trading platform, or by checking the “Products” page of the website. We were alarmed initially to see that the broker didn’t provide a figure for spreads on their “Account Types” page, which could be a sign that spreads are higher than average. The broker does not provide exact options for the Novice account on their website, so this does leave some questions as to why 12where spreads can be checked directly. We saw examples of typical spreads like 0.00018 on AUDCAD, 0.002 pips on EURAUD, etc., although options can differ based on the exact instrument that is being traded.

Minimum Deposit

Instead of asking for a separate deposit amount for each account type, this broker separates each account into three tears; Basic Services, Advanced Services, and Premier Services. Traders must deposit at least $500 USD in order to open a Basic level of each account type, there is a $25,000 requirement for an Advanced level account, and a $100,000 deposit is required to open an account that is of Premier status.

Advanced level accounts are eligible for a 5% commission rebate on every trade, one-on-one training with a certified technical analyst, and a 0.25% positive interest rate. Premier account holders are eligible for a 10% rebate on every trade, a dedicated account manager, and concierge services. Aside from those perks, trading conditions will be the same, regardless of status level. Even if one wasn’t concerned about the account status, they would still be subject to the $500 deposit requirement, meaning that this broker is not as affordable as many of their competitors.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded through Bank Wire, Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, Crypto Wallets, QIWI, Neteller, Skrill, FasaPay, and Union Pay. Prior to sending any funds from a Crypto Wallet, one would need to provide a screenshot that shows the user logged in with their full name and the wallet address. There is a maximum funding limit of 20,000 EUR for deposits via Neteller, Ideal, GiroPay, Yandex, and QIWI. A 50,000 EUR limit is placed on Visa/MasterCard/Maestro deposits. Deposits via card are processed instantly, while it can take a few days for the broker to process Bank Wire Transfers. Transfer fees are applicable to all deposit methods and those fees have been listed below.

• Wire Transfer: 10+ Euros
• CommercialMT1xx (Charging Option OUR): 25+ Euros
• CommercialMT1xx (Charging Option BEN): 10+ Euros
• Credit/Debit Cards: 3% + foreign charges
• Alternative Methods (Excluding Cryptocurrencies): 5% + foreign charges
• Cryptocurrencies: 0.2% (Minimum Fee Applies)
• Internal Fund Transfers: 2.5

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

All available funding methods are also available for withdrawals. Typically, funds will be withdrawn back to the method that was used to fund the account. In the case that this isn’t possible, clients can contact support to explore alternatives. Profits will be withdrawn back to Bank Wire. The broker does not charge fees on Visa/MasterCard/Maestro withdrawals, while a 10 Euro charge will be applied to any bank transfers on the bank’s behalf.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals are typically processed within a maximum of 24 hours once the request is received, although it can take a few days for the funds to reach the account. In the case of Bank Wire, it would be wise to expect a longer wait time, which is typical. Withdrawals through cards or Cryptocurrencies would likely be received much more quickly.

Bonuses & Promotions

Promotional opportunities are limited to positive interest rates and commission rebates, with no bonus options available. As we mentioned earlier, one would need to meet the deposit amount for the Advanced or Premier status in order to qualify for either of these. For the Advanced status, a $25,000 USD is required and traders would be rewarded with 0.25% positive interest rates and a 5% commission rebate back on every trade. To achieve Premier status, one would need to deposit at least $100,000 USD in order to access a 10% commission rebate and a 0.25% positive interest rate. Clients must keep accounts active, with at least one trade being open or closed every 30 days, otherwise accrued interest may be lost.

Educational & Trading Tools

This broker offers several resources under the “Tools & Academy” section of their website. Academy options include webinars, video tutorials, e-books, online academy, and sessions with the market research department. This should certainly be enough to help beginners get on their feet and traders should be able to learn enough through this section to pass the broker’s registration test. Looking at tools, we see an economic calendar, Market Analysis, live market events, AAA Trade Analysis, and trading calculators.

Demo Account

Risk-free demo accounts can be opened from the same window used for live account registration and the same initial details are required upon sign-up, including name, email, phone number, country, currency type, and account type, with the choice between the Novice or Experienced accounts. Alternatively, traders can sign-up using their Facebook or Google accounts. Demo accounts will remain active indefinitely, or for a period of up to 1 year with no trading activity. If you could use some experience, we would highly recommend taking advantage of this free option, since conditions mimic those experienced in a live trading environment so closely. If you don’t think you’ll pass the broker’s registration questionnaire, it may be a good idea to practice ahead of time on a demo account.

Customer Service

This broker advertises 24/5 support, available via LiveChat, phone, email, or by filling out a contact form on the website. While the hours do seem flexible, we didn’t get the advertised experience when we tested out the broker’s LiveChat. Initially, we were informed that support wasn’t available, even though it was during business hours. Five hours later, the chat was displaying the same message, even though an agent should have been available at that time.

It would certainly be more effective if the broker would at least take email addresses in order to get back to clients at a later time, especially if this is a common problem. If you also find that support is offline, the next fastest contact option would be a phone call, followed by email. Although the company is located in Cyprus, several contact numbers are provided for clients from different locations. We’ve listed the primary numbers below, although numbers for different countries can be found on the contact page.

Email: [email protected]

Phone:
Cyprus: +357 250 300 60
Australia: +61 283 173 544
Brazil: +55 1131 8174 09
Japan: +81 345 704 320
Russia: +7 499 609 4203
United Kingdom: +44 203 769 2245

Countries Accepted

While the broker tries their best to offer services to everyone, certain restrictions prevent residents from the following countries from opening accounts: Zimbabwe, Iceland, Mongolia, Ethiopia, Syria, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Panama, Tunisia, Trinidad, and Tobago, The Bahamas, Botswana, Ghana, Iran, North Korea, American Samoa, Guam, Samoa, US Virgin Islands, Sudan, US, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guyana, Algeria, Bolivia, Morocco, Nepal, Iraq, Lao PDR, Uganda, Cambodia, and Vanuatu. We did double-check the registration page to see if any of these options could be selected; however, the broker does seem to reinforce these restrictions.

Conclusion

Right off the bat, we noticed that one of the primary advantages offered by this broker would be the 1,000+ tradable instruments that are available from several different categories, including Bonds, Shares, Cryptocurrencies, and more. It costs $500 to open the most basic level of any account type, with larger requirements for Advanced or Premier status levels. This broker does set some restrictive limitations and requires traders to pass a test in order to open an account or to access leverage that would typically be available through another broker. Unless you’re a professional client, you’ll be limited to a stricter leverage cap, of up to 1:30 on major currencies.

Some details are also missing from the website, including exact spreads on the Novice account type. Accounts can be funded through a wide variety of methods and the broker has quick processing times for withdrawals. Promotions in the form of rebates and positive interest are limited to Advanced or Premier level status accounts, which requires a deposit of at least $25,000. The broker offers multiple educational resources and trading tools, making for a seamless learning environment. Support is available 24 hours a day on weekdays, although there were no agents online when we reached out via LiveChat during business hours. Overall, the broker does seem to be offering some advantages, although one would need to weigh those against potential disadvantages.

GBC FX is a forex broker based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. In their “Why Us2 section they claim to offer competitive spreads, advanced trading platforms, the fastest withdrawals, promotions, learning center, trading tools, and expert forex help. In this review, we will be looking into the services offered to see if they live up to these expectations and so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are three different accounts available should you sign up with GBC FX, here is a brief outline of their features and requirements.

Micro Account: This account requires a minimum deposit of $200, it must be in USD. It has leverage up to 1:400 and a floating spread starting from 2 pips. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots with them going up in increments of 0.01 lots. Scalping is available as is the use of expert advisors. It uses market execution and tradable assets include Forex, CFDs, and Metals.

Mini Account: The Mini account increases the minimum deposit up to $2,500, as with the other accounts it much be in USD as a base currency. It has leverage up to 1:200 and a floating spread starting from 1.5 pips. The minimum trade size is 0.1 lots with them going up in increments of 0.01 lots. Scalping is available as is the use of expert advisors. It uses market execution and tradable assets include Forex, CFDs, and Metals.

Standard Account: The top tier account has an entry requirement of $10,000 and the base currency must be in USD. It has leverage up to 1:100 and a floating spread starting from 1 pip. The minimum trade size is 1 lot with them going up in increments of 0.1 lots. Scalping is available as is the use of expert advisors. It uses market execution and tradable assets include Forex, CFDs, and Metals.

Platforms

GBC FX uses MetaTrader 5 as its sole trading platform. MT5 is designed for the active trader who desires access to comprehensive news and analytics, real-time price charts and live quotes. The platform also contains a loaded suite of management tools, expert advisors (EAs) and indicators. A few of the prime features of the platform are as follows:

• Full account management
• Market Watch Window
• Navigator Window
• Analysis & Charting Tools
• Automated trading (Expert Advisor)
• Newsfeed & alerts
• Account history report center
• Order execution capabilities
• One-Click Trading

Leverage

The leverage that you are offered is dependant on the account you are using, the maximum leverage levels are as follows.

• Micro Account: 1:400
• Mini Account: 1:200
• Standard Account: 1:100

Leverage can be selected when opening up an account, should you wish to change it on an already open account you can do so by getting in touch with the customer service team.

Trade Sizes

The trade sizes that you have depends on the account you are using, they each have different minimum and increments to their trading sizes. The Micro account has a starting trade size of 0.01 (also known as a micro lot) lots and goes up in increments of 0.01 lots, so the next trade would be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots.

The Mini account has trade sizes stating from 0.1 lots (known as mini lots) and goes up in increments of 0.01 lots, so the next trade available will be 0.11 lots and then 0.12 lots. The Standard account starts with trade sizes of 1 lot (known as a standard lot), it then goes up in increments of 0.1 lots so the next trade is 1.1 lots and the 1.2 lots.

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

Trading Costs

There does not seem to be any added commissions as the accounts use a spread based system which we will look at later in this review. There are swap charges though, and these are interest charges that are incurred for holding trades overnight. They can be both negative or positive and can usually be viewed from within the trading platform of choice.

Assets

We could not locate a breakdown of assets or any real information of assets apart from the fact that the account page states that there are Forex, CFDs, and Metals available to trade. It would be good for a breakdown to be added as a lot of potential clients will look at what assets are available to trade to ensure the ones they like are available, without it, they may look elsewhere.

Spreads

As there is no breakdown of the assets, we can only go by what the account page states which is as follows:

• Micro Account: Starting from 2 pips
• Mini Account; Starting from 1.5 pips
• Standard Account: Starting from 1 pip

This is reasonable for non-commission based accounts, we also know that the spreads are variable (also known as floating) which means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 2 pips, other assets like GBPJPY may start slightly higher.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required o open an account is $200 which gets you the Micro account, if you want a different account you will need to deposit at least $2,500. It is unknown whether the minimum deposit decreases once an account is already open.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There isn’t a whole lot of information on deposit methods, the methods available are Bank Wire Transfer, Visa, Skrill, and Neteller. We would expect MasterCard to also be accepted seeing as Visa is. There is no mention of any fees, but also no mention that there aren’t any so we cannot say for sure. We can say to check with your own bank or processor to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Just like with deposits, there isn’t much information on withdrawals, all that we do know is that Bank Wire Transfer, Visa, Skrill, and Neteller are available for withdrawals. As with the deposits, there is no mention of any fees so we cannot say if there are any or not, but again, be sure to check with your own bank or processor to see if they add any transfer fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

We also have no information on this aspect of the withdrawals, we would hope that they would be processed by GBC FX within 48 hours. However long they take,m once it has been processed it will normally take between 1 to 5 business days for your funds to become available based on the processing time of your bank, card issuer or e-wallet provider.

Bonuses & Promotions

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

Educational & Trading Tools

There is a small introduction section to trading which outlines what different aspects are such as what CFDs are or what a pip is. There is also a page on both technical analysis and fundamental analysis, this isn’t providing you with any, instead, it is just page detailing what it is and what is involved, not anything that will make you an expert at it. There is also a section on trading mechanisms and trading systems, again this is just basic information and not something that will improve your knowledge unless you are completely new.

Customer Service

If you want to get in contact with GBC FX there are a limited number of ways to do this, you can use the online submission form to fill in your query and you should the get a reply via email, there is also a direct email address available, then there are a number of different physical addresses provided. There is no phone number to use which is a little bit of a shame. There is a chat window in the bottom right of the screen but we have only ever seen it say offline so we are not sure if it is even functional.

The opening times of the support are also not mentioned but we would assume that they are closed over the weekend and on bank holidays just like the markets are.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, if you click the open demo account button it will instantly start downloading MetaTrader 5, you need to install this and then open a demo account from within there rather than within the GBC FX website. The trading conditions are unknown and which account it mimics is unknown and there is also no information on potential expiration of the demo accounts.

Countries Accepted

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

Conclusion

The trading conditions offered by GBC FX actually seem quite reasonable, the spreads are in line with many other brokers that also do not offer commission-based accounts. Leverage is acceptable at 1:400 for the Mini account. The main downsides are the lack of information regarding deposit and withdrawals, this info is vital as people need to know how they can get their money in and out of the broker and also how much it is going to cost them, without this, it can be hard to build a certain level of trust.

There are also limited ways to get in touch with the customer service team which is a little concerning but nothing that will prevent someone from signing up. The main decision is on the deposit and withdrawal info, we would not recommend them based on this information missing, but if you are able to ascertain this then they could be a potential broker to use.

Templer FX is an online forex service provider. Located in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Templer FX aims to provide a superior level of service to retail and institutional customers to sustain long-term relationships that will enable us to respond more efficiently and proactively to their changing needs. Templer FX’s goal is to provide its customers with the very best trade execution and service in the FX industry. In order to meet its goals, Templer FX employs three strategies that are the backbone of their success: Customer Service, Research and Execution. That is according to them, this review will be looking into the services being offered to see if they manage to achieve their three main targets.

Account Types

There are 5 different accounts available should you decide to sign up, each having their own requirements and features, so lets briefly look at what they are.

Universal FX: This account requires a minimum deposit of $25, the base currency must be in USD and it comes with spreads starting from 0.1 points and there are no added commissions. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots with the maximum being 50 lots, there is also a maximum of 100 open trades at any one time. Leverage can be between 1:1 and 1:2000, a hedge margin is present at 50% and the margin call and stop out levels are 80% and 30% respectively, Expert Advisors are ok to use on this account.

Cent FX: This account requires a minimum deposit of $1, the base currency must be in USD and it comes with spreads starting from 0.1 points and there are no added commissions. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots with the maximum being 50 lots, there is also a maximum of 100 open trades at any one time. Leverage can be between 1:1 and 1:2000, a hedge margin is present at 50% and the margin call and stop out levels are 80% and 30% respectively, Expert Advisors are ok to use on this account.

MAM: This account requires a minimum deposit of $1,000, the base currency must be in USD and it comes with spreads starting from 0.1 points and there are no added commissions. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots with the maximum being 50 lots, there is also a maximum of 100 open trades at any one time. Leverage can be between 1:1 and 1:2000, a hedge margin is present at 50% and the margin call and stop out levels are 80% and 30% respectively, Expert Advisors are ok to use on this account.

Muslim FX: This account requires a minimum deposit of $25, the base currency must be in USD and it comes with spreads starting from 0.1 points and there are no added commissions. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots with the maximum being 50 lots, there is also a maximum of 100 open trades at any one time. Leverage can be between 1:1 and 1:2000, a hedge margin is present at 50% and the margin call and stop out levels are 80% and 30% respectively, Expert Advisors are ok to use on this account. There are no swap fees or charges with this account.

Segregated Account: This account requires a minimum deposit of 50,000 EUR, the base currency must be in EUR and it comes with spreads starting from 0.1 points and there are no added commissions. The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots with the maximum being 50 lots, there is also a maximum of 100 open trades at any one time. Leverage can be between 1:1 and 1:2000, a hedge margin is present at 50% and the margin call and stop out levels are 80% and 30% respectively, Expert Advisors are ok to use on this account.

Platforms

Templer FX is offering two platform versions to help meet the needs of their clients. These include MetaTrader 4 and Templer Trader Professional. Below, we take a look at each.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4): This FX broker offers MT4 in both Android and iOS app formats. There is no shorts of information surrounding the MetaTrader platforms online, but we’ll still point out some of the key features below.

• Trading from a real-time live tick chart
• Ability to use all symbols available
• Place Buy and Sell orders
• Place Pending orders
• Set Stop-Loss and Take-Profit
• Close and Modify Existing Orders
• View Real-Time Profit/Loss of Live Trades
• View Past history
• Real-time interactive currency charts
• Real-time market price overview
• Technical analysis tools

TemplerFX Trader Professional: The broker’s very own proprietary trading platform, this terminal successfully combines important functionalities that allow for effective FX trading with exceptional usability. Templer FX Trader Professional is among the fastest within the industry and boasts the following key features:

• Unlimited chart-analysis possibilities
• Support of different time series
• A high number of technical indicators and surveys
• Creation of automated trading systems (Expert Advisor)
• Real-time data export about DDE record
• Internal e-mail system
• Generation of confirmations and accounting in real-time
• Available for Windows, Linux, Mac, WebTrader, and Blackberry

Leverage

The leverage available ranges from 1:1 all the way up to 1:2000 which is a ridiculously high amount. We would recommend not trading on such a high amount and would limit yourself to 1:500 as a max. The leverage can be selected when opening up an account and should you wish to change it on an already open account you will need to get in contact with eh customer service team with your request.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes on all accounts start from 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 are appropriate as we never recommend going over 50 lots in a single trade. There is also a limit of 100 open trades at any one time.

Trading Costs

There are no added commissions on any account as they all use a spread based system that we will look at later in this review. Apart from the Muslim FX account, swap charges are present on all other accounts, these are interest charges that are incurred for holding trades overnight, they can be both negative or positive and can usually be viewed from within the trading platform of choice. The Muslim FX account does not have these charges.

Assets

The assets on Templer FX have been broken down into 5 different categories within each are a set of different instruments, we have outlined what they are below.

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

Precious Metals: Just Gold (XAUUSD) and Silver (XAGUSD).

Energies: Brent Crude Oil seems to be the only energy available to trade.

Cash Indices: US 30, NAS 100, SPX 500 and German 30 are the only available indices.

Shares CFDs: There isn’t a breakdown of shares available, the website states that there are over 40 different shares available to trade.

As you can see, the asset index is sufficient, but many forex brokers do offer much larger asset indexes.

Spreads

The account comparison page states that spreads can start as low as 0.1 pips, however, looking at the contract specification it doesn’t look like any are under r0.8 pips. The spreads are variable (also known as floating) so this means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 0.8 pips, other assets like EURCAD may start slightly higher, in this case, 2.2 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required to open an account is $1, this will get you the Cent FX account if you want a different account you will need to deposit at least $25. No matter which type of account you have, any subsequent deposits have a minimum of $1.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are plenty of different methods available to deposit with, we have outlined them below in an easy to read table.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

There isn’t any differentiation between the deposits and withdrawals, so we believe that the information provided above for deposits is also relevant for withdrawals. When using Ban Transfer be sure to check with your bank for any possible fees added by them.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

There wasn’t any set information in regards to processing time, we would hile that Templer FX would process withdrawals within 48 hours. The total amount of time it will take will depend on the method used but you could expect some withdrawals to take between 1 to 5 business days to clear.

Bonuses & Promotions

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

Educational & Trading Tools

The educational section contains three very basic sections, the first is three steps to becoming a trader, the page consists of just three sentences so nothing groundbreaking. The expert tips section contains three paragraphs on trading, again nothing amazing. Finally, there is a glossary of trading-related terms just uncase you come across something you don’t know the meaning of. Nothing here ill make you an expert or be too helpful if you are new to trading too so you will need to go elsewhere to satisfy your educational needs.

Customer Service

There are three different ways to get in contact with Templer FX, the first is to request a callback, simply put in your name, number and message and you should get someone giving you a call regarding your message. You can also email, using the online submission form, fill it in and you should get a reply via email. There is also a live chat available should you wish to communicate that way.

At the bottom of the page there is some additional contact information:

Address: Suite 305, Griffith Corporate Centre Beachmont P.O.Box 1510, Kingstown, SVG
Tel: +44 20 33557076
Fax: +44 02 071128046
Email: [email protected]

There is no information about opening times of the customer support team but we would expect them to be closed at the same time as the markets over the weekends and on bank holidays.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, but there isn’t any specific information about them such as trading conditions or if there is an expiration time. Demo accounts allow potential new clients to test the servers and trading conditions while allowing existing traders to test out new strategies without risking any of their own capital.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is present on the Templer FX website: “We do not provide services for US, UK, EU, Canada, Turkey, Israel, and Japan residents and entities of any kind.” If you are unsure of your eligibility we would recommend getting in touch with the customer service team to check.

Conclusion

You get a good selection of options when choosing an account, however, a lot of the trading conditions for the accounts are all the same, so the only difference seems to be the cost of entry. Leverage can be up to 1:2000 which is far higher than most brokers, but also far higher than anyone would recommend, it is nice to have the option though. Plenty of ways to get in contact with the customer service team and the spreads along with no commission can make the trading experience a non-costly one. There is a slight lack of tradable assets, the instrument list is not too big, which could mean that there are times of no trading due to there being no suitable assets. The trading conditions seem good, so the decision is now up to you.

UAGTRADE is an STP broker with no dealing desk that provides trading services for fund managers as well as retail traders. This company was founded back in 2015 and it is currently based in Dubai. This company is registered in Ajman Free Zone in Dubai with the registration number AFZ/OS/1454. For those who have never heard of it, Ajman Free Zone is a free trade zone in the United Arab Emirates offering offshore company setup and operation to investors.

AUGTRADE is also authorized and regulated by the Cambodia Securities Exchange under the reference number 160/18 SECC/ D. We always advise clients to be highly cautious when dealing with offshore brokers as there are risks which one should take into consideration.

This broker claims to be secure, transparent and profitable whilst trading currency pairs, precious metals, index CFDs and commodities. They offer a variety of account options with varying spreads and minimum deposits plus they also cater to Islamic clients as they have the option of having a swap-free account. Join us as we unveil what this broker has to offer and determine whether this broker is the right one for you.

Account Types

UAGTRADE offer their clients a choice of 3 accounts namely, the Pro Account, The Supreme Account and finally the ECN account. The cheapest account to open is the Pro as it has a $100 minimum deposit. Spreads for this account are quite low since they start from 0.3 Pip which is the same for the ECN account. On the other hand, the Supreme account has spreads starting from 1.3 Pip which is rather high.

To make up for the high spreads, the Supreme account comes fee-free whereas both the other accounts have a commission fee applied namely; $17 per lot for the Pro account and $5 per lot for the ECN account. Minimum and maximum trade sizes are the same for all accounts; Minimum lot 0.01 and Maximum 100 Lots and the stop out level and margin calls are also identical for all accounts. The stop-out level is set at 50% whereas the margin call is set at 150%. All accounts have USD as their currency.

In order to open up an account with UAGTRADE, it is of utmost importance to have an introducer. For those who do not have an introducer, the broker suggests to contact them via live chat or email to discuss getting one. Since no other information is given regarding what the Introducer actually is, we decided to take a look at their FAQ page which generally houses information such as this, but to our disappointment, the FAQ page of this broker is either not working at the moment or non-existent. We also tried to contact the broker via live chat to ask about the introducer but we were not given a reply so we cannot comment any further about this for the time being.

As we mentioned before, this broker also caters to clients who follow the Sharia Law as it has a swap-free account. We are not sure of the trading conditions for these swap-free accounts as they are not explained on their website.

Platforms

This broker offers the MT4 trading platform which is a very popular, user-friendly interface with fast executions and numerous technical indicators and charts that help traders make the right choices. Some advantages of this platform include; detailed analysis of quote dynamics, the ability to view multiple charts simultaneously, pre-programmed analytical tools and a frequently updated news feed to keep users up to date. This platform can be used on a number of devices including Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS. You can find MT4 download links on UAGTRADE’s Platforms page.

Apart from the MT4, this broker also has its own UAGTRADE mobile application. This app enables you to access your account wherever you are and effectively manage your portfolio. At the moment, this application is only available for Android but it will be made available to download for iOS in the future.

Leverage

The maximum leverage offered by this broker is 1:200 (0.5% margin requirement). This ratio is industry standard as most brokers offer it as maximum leverage.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size available with AUGTRADE is 0.01 lots and the maximum is 100 lots.

Trading Costs

Unless a client opts for an Islamic account, he/she will have to pay the swap rate and overnight fees. It is good to note that Wednesdays are a triple swap day for all trading instruments due to the markets being closed on Saturday and Sunday. Obviously this can go both ways as clients can either make a good sum out of it or lose more money than they intended to.

Apart from the swap rates, the Pro and the ECN accounts both have a commission namely; $17 Per lot for the Pro, which is quite high, and $5 per lot for the ECN account. Although the Supreme account comes fee-free, the spreads of this account are way higher than the others, so clients should choose wisely before opening up an account.

Assets

UAGTRADE has quite a variety of trading instruments available including Forex, precious metals, energies, and Index CFDs. On their Trading Instruments page, we counted over 25 currency pairs including AUD/NZD, AUD/CAD, EUR/USD and GBP/CAD just to name a few major pairs whilst they also have a decent number of minor and exotic pairs available for trading.

Clients can choose between Gold and Silver as precious metals and BRENT or WTI as energies. This broker also offers over 10 Index CFDs including Nasdaq, Dow Jones, and CAC FRANCE among others. You can find a detailed list of all available assets and their average spreads, contract sizes and trading hours on their Trading Instruments page.

Spreads

UAGTRADE offers variable spreads for all their trading instruments, so expect spreads to widen or tighten based on the overall market volatility. Since this broker is an STP broker, meaning they do not have a dealing desk, there will be no requotes and pricing is more transparent. On their Trading Conditions page, they state that their spreads start from 0.3 Pips for the ECN and the Pro Accounts, whereas the Supreme account has higher spreads starting from 1.3 Pips.

When going through their list of available assets and their spreads, we found that the most popular currency pair EUR/USD has a spread of 0.7 for the Pro and ECN accounts and 1.3 for the Supreme account, which is quite standard. Other less popular pairs such as CAD/CHF has a spread of 2.4 for the ECN and Pro Accounts and 2.5 for the supreme. You can find all this information on their Trading instruments page.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit required varies from account to account. The cheapest entry amount is $100 which is required to open up either a Pro account or the Supreme account. The amount increases drastically for the ECN account as clients are required to deposit $10,000.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Clients can deposit funds to their UAGTRADE accounts by Direct bank transfer, Paypal or through a bitcoin wallet, strangely they do not offer credit/debit card deposits for some reason. This broker processes all deposits within 24 hours upon a successful transaction and they do not have any fees applied to their depositing methods.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Clients can withdraw their money using the same method they used to deposit it. Although UAGTRADE does not have any fees for withdrawals, clients are still susceptible to transfer fees which are independent of the broker. Any fees will be deducted from the client’s withdrawal amount.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

UAGTRADE processes all withdrawal requests within 1-3 working days and any requests coming in during the weekend will be processed on the next working day.
For faster processing, all account holders of UAGTRADE are now required to submit deposit and withdrawal requests from the members’ dashboard which clients can find on their trading platform.

Bonuses & Promotions

At the moment, this broker doesn’t seem to have any ongoing bonuses or promotions on offer. We also found no mention of any previous bonuses or promotions, so this broker might not be interested in offering anything similar to a welcome bonus.

Educational & Trading Tools

On their website, clients can find a Resources and Education segment which includes weekly technical analysis by Muhd Haniff (Hanzo). According to their website, Hanzo is a full-time trader and fund manager with more than 5 years’ experience (which might not seem like a lot to clients that have been trading for longer than that themselves). Going through their analysis articles, we were pleased to find that these are in fact uploaded weekly. The analysis comes in the form of videos, approximately 12 minutes in length, with Hanzo himself analyzing charts and giving tips on how to trade during certain market conditions. These can be very helpful for those who are still starting out. Apart from these videos, clients also have access to UAGTRADE’s Fundamental News & Report.

In this section, the broker takes into consideration factors like interest rates, productions, earnings, employment, gross domestic products, housing, manufacturing, and management in order to forecast the overall state of the economy. Although the idea is pretty cool and quite useful, these articles aren’t uploaded very frequently, with the latest one being uploaded back in September 2019.

UAGTRADE also provides training, education & preview sessions, seminars, and classes for their clients to suit their individual skills, strategies and overall knowledge of the subject, or at least that is what they state on their website. When we opened up their calendar to take a look at what sessions or seminars are available in the near future, we found the calendar to be completely empty, so although they claim to offer some seriously useful guidance and education, at the moment they don’t have anything to offer apart from the weekly analysis.

Customer Service

UADTRADE’s customer service isn’t the best out there for sure. We tried to contact them via live chat and even through e-mail (on two separate occasions, both on weekdays during office hours) but we weren’t given any answers to our questions. We are unsure whether there were any technical issues with the live chat, as our messages remained pending, or whether this broker needs to invest more into their customer service. This is their contact information:

Address: P.O Box 337188, Office N 706
Jumeriah Bay X2 Tower, Cluster X, Dubai
United Arab Emirates
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

If you’d like to test out UAGTRADE’s trading conditions, you can sign up for a free demo account that can be created through their website. Clients are required to fill in a simple form, choose what leverage they want to try out with (maximum offered is 1:200) as well as how much they’d like to deposit. The demo account uses the USD currency. We found no information regarding how long clients can test their skills out on their Demi account. We did reach out to them via e-mail and live chat but we weren’t given any answers.

Countries Accepted

There is no information on whether UAGTRADE has any restrictions regarding countries that might be banned from doing business with them. We did try to contact the broker via E-mail and via Live chat, but no answers were provided. We did go through the list of available countries when filling in the open account form, and it seems like all countries are accepted as we didn’t notice any that are missing.

Conclusion

This broker has a decent variety of assets available for trading on 3 different account types that cater to a variety of trading enthusiasts. Spreads are average on some accounts whilst being quite high on others and minimum deposits vary from $100 to $10,000 which means this broker is suited for new traders as well as more professional ones. Their website has a cool layout and quite a lot of educational information, but we did find the FAQ section to be non-existent, which is frustrating since this section usually holds a lot of important information, and their customer support leaves much to be desired as we were left without answers after multiple attempts at getting in touch with the brokerage. They do offer a demo account, so if you’re interested in what this broker has to offer, try the demo out and decide whether this broker could be the one for you.

NaviFX is an STP broker that uses the popular MT4 platform. On their website the information regarding the company is slightly confusing as on one hand they speak about the NAVIFX company and its claims and on the other hand they also mention the company CHF CLEARING which in fact is a member of the Financial Conduct Authority. They boast that CHF clearing won a number of awards including Best Liquidity Provider, Finance Magnates awards 2014/2015/2016/2017. The relationship between the two is unclear, and we when tried to find the connection, we didn’t find any relationship between NaviFX and CHF clearinghouse. We also found it quite strange that NAVFX does not state where they are located as no address is provided.

Moving on from this worrisome information, this broker offers 1 type of account with a variety of assets to choose from. Their website seems to be a bit outdated and it is translated from Chinese so getting a clear idea of what this broker has to offer might be slightly challenging. Join us as we delve into their website to discover more of what this broker has to offer.

Account Types

Surprisingly information regarding their available accounts is not available on this broker’s website. We went on their Create Account page to find out some more information and there seems to be only one type of account available. It is indicated that the minimum deposit required to open up this account is $1000, but apart from this, nothing else is mentioned.

Platforms

This broker uses the most popular platform available, the MT4. This is a well-equipped trading platform that provides analytical tools, detailed charts, Expert Advisors, real-time transactions and many more. From NaxiFX’s website, clients can download this platform for their Desktop, Iphone or Android device.

Leverage

On their Traded Product List, clients can find the leverage offered by this broker, but it is written under the title Margin. It seems like the highest leverage offered it 1:100 and this is available on certain currency pairs such as EUR/USD, USD/CAD AND AUD/NZD just to mention a few. The lowest leverage we could see was 1:10 and this was available for EUR/TRY and USD/TRY. Other pairs have a leverage of 1:50, 1:25 and 1:33. Although there is a variety, the leverage offered seems to be quite low in general. Clients can find the full list of available leverages on their Product list page.

Trade Sizes

On the same list, clients can see the contract specifications for each asset available for trading. The broker does not specify whether the amount listed is the maximum or the minimum but we assume it is the maximum. For example, a large number of currency pairs such as EUR/CHF, AUD/JPY and GBP/JPY have a contract specification of 100,000 whereas XAU/USD has a contract specification of 100. On their Advantages page, we found a small mention that the broker allows trades as low as 0.01 mini lots, but we are unsure if this is the case for all available assets.

Trading Costs

Although this broker claims to offer very low trading costs, we could not find any information regarding the type of spreads that this broker has to offer so we cannot comment on this at the moment.

Assets

NaviFX has 4 types of assets available for trading namely; Forex with up to 43 currency pairs including Us Dollar, Euro, British Pound, Japanese Yen, Australian Dollar, Swiss Franc, etc, Precious metals including Gold and Silver, CFDs including Brent Crude Oil, and Us Crude Oil and lastly Stock Index. Their Stock Index page was empty so we cannot specify which indices are available for trading.

Spreads

The only mention of spreads on their website is a generic question about what spreads are on their FAQ page, so we are unsure about the type of spreads one can expect when dealing with NaviFX.

Minimum Deposit

Although it is not clearly outlined, from their Create an Account page we found that clients must deposit a minimum of $1000 to open up an account with NAVIFX.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Unfortunately, the deposit and withdrawal page found on NaviFx’s website is either not working at the moment, or nonexistent. Apart from claiming to have fast and secure deposit and withdrawal methods, we found no other mention of what methods are available.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

We cannot comment on this as no information is provided.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Same as before, we cannot comment about withdrawing processing and time. We did try to contact the broker via e-mail but we did not receive any information.

Bonuses & Promotions

From what we could see from their website, NaviFx does not have any bonuses or promotions on offer at the moment.

Educational & Trading Tools

NaviFX has a Learning Center on their site which has a number of articles which explain what certain terms such as Spreads and Margins mean, how certain fundamentals affect the trading market as well as information about how to read charts and determine the best trading strategies to go with them. NaviFx also has a video page under their learning center, but this seems to be empty at the moment.

When it comes to Trading tools, clients can find updated news articles as well as an updated financial calendar on NaviFx’s homepage.

Customer Service

Clients who’d like to contact NaviFx can do so via email or through a message form found on their website. They do have a live chat button on their website but the button seems to not be working at the moment. We did try to contact the broker via email but we haven’t received any feedback yet. We find it quite strange that NaviFx can only be reached through e-mail and no telephone numbers or addresses are provided.

Demo Account

For those who would like to test out the trading conditions offered by this broker, a trial demo account is available. Potential clients can open up this demo account by filling in a simple online form. On this form, clients have to choose their deposit amount which varies from 3000 – 5000000 (the currency is not specified) and also the group which can either DemoNGL or DemoNGL02. Unfortunately, the difference between the two groups is not explained anywhere on the site, so we cannot comment on what this means.

Countries Accepted

Although we found no information about banned countries, on their Create an Account form we found no countries missing on their list. If you cannot find your country of residence, we suggest speaking directly to the broker.

Conclusion

As you’ve probably noticed, this broker seems to be involved in a shady brokerage business and there are multiple reasons why we got this impression. The information about the brokerage itself, such as registration, license and contact info such as address or telephone number is nowhere to be found. NaviFx also mentions the CHF Clearing company which is in fact a regulated company, but we could not find the relation between the two. Apart from this, there are certain buttons on their website that are either not working at the moment or are simply put there to impress potential clients.

Information about Accounts provided and their specifications such as spreads and minimum deposits required are nowhere to be found. We also realized that this broker does not have a terms and conditions page and their FAQ page only has generic questions and not specific to the broker’s own trading conditions. Obviously, this lack of information should trigger warning signs for any potential customer thinking about opening up an account with this broker. However, if you still think this broker might be the one for you, test out their demo account before actually investing your money with NAXIFX.

GEMFOREX presents itself as a Japanese brand broker that has interesting beginnings and a special way of doing business. The broker has started in 2010 as an automated trading software company for the MT4 platform (EAs) under the name of Gem Trade. This service was recognized among all tech-savvy Japanese clients that boosted the popularity of the company. The main selling point was the free EAs available, a breakthrough window for the market that was seeking for such service.

Later in 2013, Gem Trade went on and recognized the popularity of copy trading service that was adopted to complement the already popular EAs aimed at clients who just want to copy other traders without involvement in EAs or manual trading. In 2014, the company merged all the best features of Forex trading and created GEMFOREX brand allegedly based in New Zealand, under the name of GEM GROUP NZ LIMITED. License from the New Zealand Financial Services Provider – NZ FSP is legit although with some inconsistencies with the company history.

Currently, the broker has the main office in Auckland, and branches in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Vanuatu, and London. Their website has a simple style and a great amount of useful information on every category. Transparency and trust are used as the main marketing, especially evident with statements such as that GEMFOREX do not investigate client backgrounds as long the clients is 18 years old, self-responsibility is encouraged. This statement could even be false as the ID documents have to be uploaded at one point.

Following Japanese ethics, the website contains ads, although we could say the main promotion effect is the open-handed approach to the visitor that is backed up with actual services and products. Their EA and mirror trading are still available under certain requirements. Transparent on their trading conditions, GEMFOREX also strives to bring competitive spreads, fast withdrawals, and deposits.

As their main drive is the Global-Expansion-Method – GEM, this broker is competitive but not in every category. This GEMFOREX review will reveal what is best about this broker, possible issues, and are the overall conditions good to your trading style.

Account Types

Before opening any live account, the broker advises trying the demo first. This practice is a good sign the broker is not pushing for deposits. Traders ready for live experience can choose 2 account types, All-in-One and the No Spread Account. The first account encompasses all the automated and mirror services without any limitations although the spreads are somewhat wider than using the No Spread Account. EAs are not available with the No Spread Account, it is dedicated for manual trading. Traders will allegedly enjoy 0 pip spreads for major currency pairs but will have increased minimum deposit, unlike the All-in-One account which does not require any specific amount.

GEMFOREX published a good comparison table although more information about trading instruments could be included. The account opening process is fast indeed as the broker promotes. No documents verification is needed for the actual account opening, just the email. Of course, ID verification is necessary for deposits and withdrawals. All account types are denominated in JPY or USD. Traders can have up to 4 different accounts at their disposal if they want different types.

Platforms

GEMFOREX offers only the MetaTrader 4 platform in all versions. MT4 is available for Windows and Mac operating systems as well as for smart devices running on Android and iOS. The installation package is not exact as the default, some visuals and text are different and the platform startup is automatic after installation is finished. The log in screen will show three GEMFOREX servers, Live 1, Live 2 and Demo. All of them show around 210 ms ping rate. Interestingly, the about window shows GemTrade company and the address location in Seychelles and the updated version of MT4 client.

The starting template is by defaults, showing 4 major forex charts on the H4 timeframe with One-click buttons visible. There are no added custom indicators, EAs or templates. The symbols are grouped into 3 classes, Forex, CFD Indexes, and CFD Futures. The No Spread account instruments will have a “cn0” suffix. Opening a specification window will show enough trading information for each instrument. The trading terminal will show commissions and swaps columns even though GEMFOREX is a commission-free broker.

As for the execution times, they are 270 ms on average with small deviations from 260ms to 278ms. Note that the latency may be better if you are located in Asia-pacific. On some occasions, the orders were given an Off quotes message that did not repeat on retry. This may be signs of low liquidity caused by inadequate liquidity providers. Note that if the EA used has a high frequency of trading, trading could be suspended or limited by the broker.

Leverage

GEMFOREX is offering 1:1000 leverage and we have confirmed this in the MT4 platform. This leverage is true even for exotic currency pairs. For indexes, the leverage is 1:100 except for the Nikkei 225 at 1:200 and Hang Seng 50 at 1:66. For commodities, the leverage is 1:66. Spot Gold and Silver also employ the maximum leverage of 1:1000, which is very rare to see. These levels are one of the highest in the industry, especially if we know that the Margin Call does not exist and the Stop Out level is at 20% closing the biggest position first.

Trade Sizes

GEMFOREX sets micro-lot minimum trading sizes on all forex assets or 0.01 lots. The maximum trading size is 100 lots while additional volume steps are also in micro-lots. This setup is very good for scaling in and out trading allowing for maximum position precision. For Indexes, the minimum volume is increased to 1 lot, 12500 lots maximum and 1 lot for volume steps. Commodities have the same sizing policy as Indexes but precious metals assets are using 0.01 lots as the minimum trading volume size and 100 lots maximum.

Trading Costs

GEMFOREX does not charge a commission for any of the account types they offer. Trading costs emerging from the overnight open positions, or swaps, are the only trading costs if they are negative for that side of the position. The swaps do not have many positive figures on one side, many currency pairs feature only negative swaps. They are calculated in points and tripled on Fridays.

For example, the EUR/USD has -3.68 points for long and -1.78 points for a short position swap. Similar is with USD/JPY -2.88 points for long and -4.28 for short. Other majors have similar figures except for AUD/USD with a positive swap for long position 1.63 points and -6.37 for short. In fact, many AUD pairs have a positive swap. Exotics have a double-digit swap but in case of USD/MXN, the swap is -196.74 points for long and 33.29 for short. Precious metals swap is only negative but very low. XAU/USD has -2.17 points for long and -1.04 points for short and XAG/USD -4.68 long and -0.23 short. Swaps for Indexes are tripled on Wednesdays, all are negative although much lower than with forex currency pairs.

GEMFOREX uses the inactivity fees policy. For live accounts without transactions for the past 3 months, a fee of $15 will be charged on January 1st, April 1st, and October 1st. Note that the account balance will not into negative this way. Other fees may apply under certain conditions such as for withdrawals. More on this in the Withdrawal Methods & Costs section. Also, the broker may charge traders a fee for breaking the Terms and Conditions. Traders should still be aware of all of the limitations in that legal document.

Assets

The only category where GEMFOREX is not competitive with the largest forex brokers is the asset range. The broker offers only 4 categories and some of those are modest. These are Commodities or better to say Energies, Precious metals, Forex, and Indexes. Forex has exotics pairs but there are only 34 in total. Although all majors and minors are present, some may notice Scandinavian currencies missing. Exotics are USD/MXN, USD/TRY, ZAR/JPY, USD/ZAR, USD/HKD, USD/CNH, and EUR/ZAR.

Precious metals are limited to Spot Gold and Silver against the USD. Again, GEMFOREX does not offer anything special here. The Indexes range is similar, with modes with 10 listed in MT4. They are all majors except for the Spain 35. Interestingly, the Index symbols have EUR or USD suffix to denote what currency is used. Commodities are limited to two Oil types, Brent and WTI. And this is the end of GEMFOREX’s assets offer to leave a very thin impression compared to other brokers.

Spreads

GEMFOREX has floating spreads applied for all trading instruments. All-in-One account has noticeable wider spreads then the No Spread account. According to the dedicated page on spreads, EUR/USD has an average of 1.2 pips spread. During the day ending, when the spread is usually wider, we have observed a 3 pip spread for this currency pair and then going back to 14 points soon after. The spread figures on the GEMFOREX website are precise and are competitive. The broker openly stated that they do not wish to engage in overspread dumping to keep the trading service in balance with other issues like liquidity, execution time and so on.

None of the major currency pairs have spread over 3 pips and minors largest average spread is with the EUR/NZD – 3.2 pips, GBP/AUD – also 3.2 pips, GBP/CHF – 3.1 pips, GBP/NZD – 3 pips, and GBP/CAD with 3.3 pips. During our observation during the high volatility period for the day end, none of the non-exotic currency pairs pushed the spread above 7 pips. For the exotics, the average spread is 17.4 pips for the USD/CNH, 15 pips for USD/HKD, 22 pips for USD/TRY, 16 pips for USD/ZAR, and the highest was for the USD/MXN 55 pips on average. XAU/USD average spread is 21 pips as stated by GEMFOREX, and from the MT4 it is 60 pips. Later, during the London trading session, we have expected spread narrowing. The spreads were lower up to 1 pip.

No Spread account showed similar if not the same spread levels during the high volatility period. It looks like the only difference between these accounts is the lower minimum limit. According to the broker’s website, the average spread for USD/JPY and EUR/USD is 0.3 pips, and a minimum of 0.0. Periods, when the minimum is achieved, is probably between trading sessions, but this never happened in our testing. For the rest of currency pairs, the average spread is mostly under 3 pips, except for the GBP/AUD at 3.1 pips and EUR/NZD also at 3.1 pips. XAU/USD average spread is 21 pips.

Generally, No Spread Account features 0.1 to 2 pips lower spreads under normal conditions than the All-in-One account, but this is inconsistent. The broker went a step further and promoted their research on spreads with other brokers that do business in the area. The article presents a comparison table with major forex brokers and their spreads for major currency pairs. The writer went ahead and even explained the execution models such as NDD (Non-dealing Desk) and DD.

In our opinion, the spreads given by this account type were nowhere near 0.0 pips at any time. In fact, we have observed XAU/USD having wider (44 pips) spread than with the All-in-One account (30 pips) during the normal trading volatility period.

Minimum Deposit

For the All-in-One account, the minimum deposit is $1, although this amount may not be possible for all deposit methods. For the No Spread Account, the minimum initial deposit is $3000 or 300,000 Yen. The broker has published all the traits for each deposit method. So, for Credit Card payments the minimum is $50, as well as for Netteler and Skrill. Bitcoin and Ethereum have 0.01BTC and 0.1 ETH respectively, PayPal, PerfectMoney, MegaTransfer, PAYEER require $100. UnionPay, China domestic bank, Wechat deposits require 500 CNY. Bitwallet method is currently unavailable but it requires 10,000 JPY. MASTER / JCB, China domestic bank, STICPAY, and FastPay require $50. Note that deposits that are not made in US dollars will automatically be converted.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The broker does not charge any fees for deposits. Some transaction fees could exist with payment processors. There are more than the usual number of deposit methods available. Deposits by Credit Cards, Neteller, Skrill, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, PayPal, PerfectMoney, MegaTransfer, PAYEER, UnionPay, STICPAY, FastPay, and China domestic banks. The deposit will not be executed if positions are opened in the trading account, so they have to be closed first.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

GEMFOREX does not charge a fee for the first withdrawal in a month. The fee for the second and subsequent requests in a month is 2% of the withdrawal amount. Also, in case of withdrawal without opening any positions after a deposit, the fee of $45 will be deducted from the withdrawal amount. Withdrawal amounts of more than $5000 in a month will be either processed by wire transfer to the specified bank or traders will have to wait for 30 days expiration.

Currently, 5 possible methods are available for withdrawals. Note that the broker will accept only domestic financial institution accounts where the client belongs to or with a matching nationality of the account holder. Any fees related to the transaction can be covered by the broker, traders will need to send a picture of the transfer and fee statement. The methods offered are Skrill, Neteller, Bitcoin, Bitwallet, and Wire transfer.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals and fund transfer are not possible until all current positions are closed. In case of withdrawal, the bonus amount also disappears from the account. Wire transfers take from 3 to 5 working days, Skrill and Neteller 2 to 3 working days and Bitcoin or Bitwallet 1 to 3 working days. Note that Bitcoin withdrawal minimum amount is 0.1 BTC, or at the current rate about $750. The maximum amount for the BTC method is $30,000, while for e-wallets is $5000 monthly.

Bonuses & Promotions

The bonus is mentioned several times on the broker’s website although we could not find any promotions of this kind. Introducing brokers and white labels are available. Currently, the bonus of 200$ is on right now. However, the bonus campaign is limited to the Japanese market where Japanese or foreigners work and live in Japan.

Educational & Trading Tools

GEMFOREX is known for its allegedly free EA and Mirror service. In practice, to use the EA service you will have to meet the requirements. First, you need to open an account with GemTrade at another domain. After linking the two accounts from the member’s area and meet the minimum deposit requirement you will be able to use EAs according to the following scheme: From $500 to $ 1,000 – one EA can be used per month, $1,000 to $ 2,000 – 3 EAs, $2,000 to $ 3,000 – 5 EAs and from $3000 deposit unlimited number of EAs.

Moving EAs between account is not supported and if your balance drops below the category requirements, you will have to deposit to maintain that service level. The selection of EAs is very good, with many to choose from and it is also great to have filters to narrow the search. You can filter EAs by trading strategy (scalper or swing), low drawdown, trading frequency, profitability and so on.

The Mirror service need to be linked the same was as the EA service. Traders will have to register an account at a new domain and then link the accounts. The service is not advanced and it is not on par with some other brokers offering this service. Mainly it is for beginners.

GEMFOREX does not have an Economic Calendar or any other trading tools. Educational material is limited and is mostly guides and how-to content related to the page visitor is on. FX Column section has a few reports on the trader’s performance for the mirror service. None of which has any interesting information. FX Dictionary is published and also on the homepage some research articles that feature comparisons of GEMFOREX with other brokers. The data presented in these articles are not consistent with what we have observed.

The News section available form the homepage of GEMFOREX’s website contains just important notifications about trading and the company. These are updated regularly but do not have anything related to fundamental or technical research. GEMFOREX also provides VPS service under certain volume and other requirements. For those who cannot meet the criteria, the paid option is offered.

Customer Service

The company is reachable by email, phone line and by chat service if it is open. Our query by email was not answered in 24 hours and chat service is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on weekdays local time. Their representatives are very fast, you will not have to wait for more than 30 seconds for an answer, and their English is very good. Although they could not answer us to some more demanding questions, they answer in full. Generally, the support service is acceptable, but not top-notch as advertised.

Demo Account

The demo account is available only for the All-in-One account and the expiration date is 90 days from the opening. The demo is accurately representing live trading conditions but not that you will not be able to test GEMFOREX EAs unless they have the minimum balance requirements. Traders will not be able to open the demo within the MT4 platform, the only login with the credentials sent to the email address they have provided. The demo will have $10,000 in practice money.

Countries Accepted

GEMFOREX does not have any records of restricted countries. The broker support replied to us that they accept all counties, even the US. Now, this is against many of the regulation protocols and there are specific restrictions on financial products outside the USA, that apply to USA citizens or persons resident in the USA. The broker recommends that you read the information about Terms and Conditions of financial products outside the USA, before making any decisions.

Conclusion

In this section of the GEMFOREX review, we will present important facts not stated above. We have found a few inconsistencies while investigating the GEMFOREX New Zealand FSP license. Namely, the company has changed the name from EFS GROUP LIMITED to GEM GROUP NZ LIMITED in June 2019, something that is not disclosed by the broker. Also, the directors are changed frequently and do not have Japanese origin as stated by the broker on their website. Furthermore, there are inconsistencies with the address in the MT4 platform where the broker is located in Seychelles, a location not mentioned in the company history or other web pages.

Upon further investigation, we have seen many changes and reports by the reputable broker benchmark sites about the broker and some negative reviews. The broker does not have any offices in Japan but uses the “made in Japan” ad. Trading conditions are also not as they are promoted, the spreads are not even close to 0.0 pips, during our testing, the EUR/USD pair spread never went below 1 pip. Traders are also not aware of the deposit requirement for their EA and copy trade service and that the procedure is overcomplicated.

Given all this, it is hard to shake the feeling GEMFOREX is not as good as it is presented on the first look. The regulation does not have any weight in this case even though the license is valid.

This is a Japan-based broker offering OTC Binary Options and OTC Forex leveraged derivatives. It is founded in 2006 as FXFOR JAPAN K.K. and rebranded into FXTF (FXTrade Financial) – Goldenway Japan Co., Ltd recently in 2019. The company is very transparent with the history and the way it is conducting business. Visitors to their website will notice the effort put into to disclose more key facts about the company than many other brokers in the industry. Financial statements are published for the latest quarter where potential investors can see Capitalization ($5.80M), sales performance, Net Income, Shares ratios, and key financial figures, ROE, all for the last four years.

FXTF risk disclosure is also one of the longest we have seen in the website footer. Here it is also explained in detail what traders are involved with without regard that it may be too confusing for them or that it could turn them away. For some, this is a good signal about the broker’s clear ethics and business practices. FXTF holds several licenses, Type I Financial Instruments Business Operators, Director-General of the Kanto Local Financial Bureaus (Financial Instruments) No. 258; Financial Futures Association of Japan Registration No.1570 and Japan Investment Advisers Association No.012-02639.

The website is devoid of any typical design works to make it pretty, the focus is put on functionality but also on transparency. The English version of the website is less developed, without the call to open the account or any kind of marketing. Whatsmore, the Contact page is intended only for B2B, with a clear no solicitation statement. This shows that FXTF is a domestic-only broker.

FXTF is formed based on a distinct culture, so traders will notice the difference in the broker philosophy, typical for Japan’s discipline, morals, and precision. Not much can be found about FXTF on the internet or any kind of user reviews on benchmark sites. This FXTF review will present to you what makes this broker different across the services provided.

Account Types

FXTF does not offer any packages, traders can select MT4 Account or MT4 Account with Binary Options. These are also available for Corporate Accounts. The broker promotes them as without any fees. Upon registration, new clients will have to consent to several legal documents, some of which are very interesting, like “Consent not to be anti-social”, “Confirmation” documents and the promise check beside it. None of these legal documents are in English so we assume the broker is focused on the local, Japan market. Additional information is required, such as trading experience, Tax-included annual income, Bank Account info for withdrawals, Occupation and a lot more. The application procedure is very extensive. The broker also offers Cent account where 1 lot is 10,000 currency units.

Platforms

According to the information we have from FXTF’s website, only the MetaTrader 4 platform is available for CFDs. MT4 is adapted to work on Windows, Mac and also on mobile devices running on Android or iOS. For those who want to access trading without any installation, it can be also done with the MT4 web-accessible client. Once installed, the MT4 will show two servers, FXTF Demo and Live, both with a 280 ms ping rate. Note that FXTF’s servers are located in Japan and they are proud to be domestic. The platform is not set to defaults, the first thing we have noticed is a slightly different chart layout.

There are four chart windows with major forex pairs but all are JPY quoted except for the EUR/USD. Also, the colors are changed from the default black/green setup with One-click trading buttons visible. Once you look into the custom indicators list, it will be clear that this is not the default installation package. There are 21 custom indicators from FXTF with a prefix. These indicators are very useful from what we could see, some of the indicators have advanced settings, although in Japanese characters, and some are intended to enhance the trading experience with positions info, Japan time, Price Action and similar.

Some of these work only on Live accounts. Especially interesting are the MACD versions and the one called Daijunkan MACD which provides multiple category signals. The same is with the templates pack, multiple FXTF custom templates are found named after some of the indicators included. They seem to be well designed and ready trading systems. Symbols list has only one group – “Forex-cd”. The group also contains some of the commodity assets that obviously do not belong to Forex.

All assets have a cd suffix. The instrument specification window will show enough information but we have expected more on the leverage or margin requirements. The Terminal window will show all trade costs including swaps and commissions. The execution times are inconsistent, on average are about 650 ms with ranges from 400ms to 1300ms. These execution times are probably not relevant as the servers are located in Japan.

The other platform is called the “Bite trading system”. This platform is designed for Binary options trading.

Leverage

FXTF stated the leverage of up to 1:25 for most tradeable assets. For TRY/JPY and ZAR/JPY, the leverage is 1:12.5. We have confirmed this leverage in the MT4 platform. This is lower than the industry average but the broker is transparent on the regulatory requirements for the leverage. The leverage is calculated by taking account only the largest position in a hedge scenario. Whatsmore, there is a very detailed explanation of how it is calculated, with visuals and methods. By the view of most broker houses, this information would be regarded as unwelcoming for complexity reasons.

Trade Sizes

FXTF is a micro lot broker, allowing minimum trade sizes of 0.01 lots. This is true for all tradeable assets. The maximum trade size is 10 lots. Stops level is set to 50 points for all forex pairs. This means all Stop Loss or Take Profit orders will have to be set outside 5 pip range from the bid/ask price. As for the Margin Call and Stop Out levels, they are set to 100% and 50% margin level. Note that the broker has a different practice on selecting the Stop Out level. Namely, FXTF has a certain period when the Margin requirement is observed. The so-called “Margin Judgement Time” is from 15:30 to 15:45 Tokyo time when the Stop Out level is 100%. Outside this period the Stop Out is 50%. The largest position will be closed first. Additional information is presented with visuals.

Trading Costs

FXTF is a commission-free broker. As for swaps they are under normal levels and calculated in currencies. The swaps are tripled on Wednesdays and positive values are common. For the most traded pair – EUR/USD the swap is -9.77 EUR for long and a positive 1.64 EUR for short. USD/JPY has -10.97 on short and 1.92 USD on long while other JPY quoted major pairs have single-digit negatives. It is rare to see a pair without a positive swap But this is true for example EUR/JPY with -2.38 EUR for long and -1.56 EUR for short position. NZD/CHF has a double-digit negative swap on the short side, -11.84 NZD and 0.98 NZD on the long. The other pairs that have double-digit swaps are the two exotic pairs, TRY/JPY with 27.01 TRY for long and -40.52 TRY for short, and MZX/JPY with 19.04 MXN for long and -22.51 MXN for short position swap. There are no other trading costs.

Assets

FXTF is a Forex only broker. We have counted a total of 40 currency pairs, but what makes this offer even better is the uncommon JPY quoted pairs. All the majors and crosses are listed, as expected, JPY pairs are more present. Interesting ones are TRY/JPY, MXN/JPY, and ZAR/JPY. These are the only exotics we have found in the MT4. Aside from Forex, the list contains Japan 225 and US 30 Index, US Oil, Spot Gold against the USD, and some cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies listed are also uncommon because they are all quoted in JPY, we have found BTC/JPY, XRP/JPY, Bitcoin Cash and Mona Coin. Unfortunately, these assets were disabled for trading and indicative only. The broker could open them for trading soon.

Spreads

Spreads are probably the main selling point of this broker. FXTF even promotes its effort to break the record in Japan and offer the tightest spreads in history. The spreads are both fixed and variable types depending on the period. The fixed spreads period is from 8:00 am Japan time to 5:00 am the next day. Outside this timeframe, the spreads can vary according to the volatility or liquidity. We have observed the spreads during the session ending and the spreads were very tight across all trading instruments. For example, the most liquid currency pair EUR/USD has only 2 points spread but the liquidity is even better with the USD/JPY having only 1 point spread. Since the broker has 5-digit pricing, this means it is 0.1 pips as advertised.

FXTF is even stating that the ad spread may not be reached outside the fixed spread timeframe. Other pairs had somewhat wider spreads but to a small degree. For example, GBP/USD – 0.7 pips, AUD/JPY – 0.4 pips, EUR/CAD – 2.1 pips, GBP/NZD – 3.9 pips, and the widest spread for the non-exotics belongs to the GBP/CAD at 4.2 pips. The three exotic currency pairs surprised us with the spreads.MXN/JPY has only 3 points spread and ZAR/JPY 9 points. TRY/JPY has 150 points spread although even this value is one of the best offers in the industry, especially during the session end time.

For other instruments not available for trading, XAU/USD had 50 pips spread, and BTC/JPY just 1 point

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit is 1000 Yen (roughly $10) for quick deposits and 1 Yen for bank transfers as stated by FXTF. In other words, there is no required minimum but considering the leverage of just 1:25 traders should have at least $500 balance to maintain normal risk management trades.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The broker states two deposit methods, Quick and Transfer. These are all local Japan financial payment processors and banks as the broker deal locally only. Quick deposits do not have any fees and what you deposit is reflected on the account in 24 hours. For Individual Accounts, the banks that are partners with FXTF and support this kind of deposits are MUFG, SMBC, Mizuho Bank, JP-Bank, Rakuten-Bank, Japan Net Bank, Sumishin SBI Net Bank, Aeon bank, and Seven Bank. The page describes in detail how to deposit this way. Regular transfers include ATM, Teller and other bank procedures and each trader will have a different account number for this deposit. Charges may exist for this type of deposit but FXTF does not apply any fees.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

FXTF does not charge any commissions or fees for withdrawals. The minimum amount for a withdrawal is 1000 Yen if the account is not closing. The method used for withdrawal is the same as the one used for the deposit.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals processing depends on the time of day, holidays and the amount requested. Requests made after 9 am will be accepted the next business day. The withdrawal amount will not be immediately withdrawn from your account after the request. The amount will be subtracted once the broker finishes the process of the request. Therefore, if the withdrawal request amount is not available in your account at the time of withdrawal processing work, the withdrawal request will be canceled. It will take 24 hours or less for processing the amounts lower than 2 million yen, while 10 million or more will require 2 working days.

Bonuses & Promotions

At the moment of writing this FXTF review, the broker offers 3 campaigns. These are “FXTF MT4 start campaign”, “FXTF MT4 comeback campaign”, and “Uniform cashback according to FXTF MT4 trading volume rank”.

FXTF MT4 start campaign is for those who opened the MT4 account in December 2019 and January 2020 for the first time. This is a cashback program that offers 3000 yen cashback for 2 lots traded in two months. Other conditions may apply and this campaign can be mixed with the Uniform MT4 cashback.

FXTF MT4 comeback campaign is also a cashback program for those that resume trading after the period from 7th January 2019 to December 31st, 2019. The cashback amount is 1000 yen for 2 lots traded. This program can be mixed with the Uniform MT4 cashback for up to 51,000 yen cashback.

Uniform cashback according to FXTF MT4 trading volume rank is available for those who apply during the campaign period and trade more than 2 million round trips or 20 lots, a uniform cashback of up to 50,000 yen will be credited depending on the rank. The ranking is published on the FXTF website.

Educational & Trading Tools

FXTF offers some unique tools and is very professional in terms of education. Apart from the mentioned proprietary indicators that go with the MT4 installation package, The broker also has a “Mini Terminal” tool that complements the MT4 platform. This is convenient, ease of use tool that enhances decisions and risk management. Mini Terminal can be used for Profit, Risk and loss calculations, Stop Loss and Take Profit orders adjustment and info, batched ordering on set criteria, hedging, chart and order detachment from MT4, trade graphs, one-click trading, and so on.

FXTF Live is another tool available only for live accounts and is purely made by the broker using the web service. FXTF Live is used for trade analysis, charting, position overview, ratio and other calculations, and position type filtering. It is complementary to the Mini Terminal tool. There is a long, dedicated page on how to use this tool along with practical applications.

Alarm Manager is a custom-developed tool by the broker that is rich in features for alarming the trader to various types of activity. Conditions trigger on new market events or changes, account balance, etc., and notify the pop-up notification on the MT4 screen, e-mail notification, and twitter. Various conditions can be set and combined for each alarm making this tool invaluable and versatile for customization. The broker has a long page dedicated to usage instructions. This tool required a lot of professional work for all of its complexity.

FXTF Future Chart is a tool accessible from the My Page section and is used for predictions or as a signal service. It is stated that this is the first such tool to support the 1-minute chart period. The tool also features a signal panel, loss/profit display, and opportunity overview in a ranking style.

Other highlighted indicators included in the package is the Span Mode and Super Bollinger developed by Toshihiko Masaki. The broker has published his biography, blog and his webinars on the trading system. The content has high quality and is deep into the subject, made for professionals but also appropriate for enthusiastic beginners.

Koji Yamanaka is another financial professional featured by the broker. There are many videos on trading and how to use the tool provided. A complete biography is published along with the written material about the trading methodology used by this man.

As far as education goes, there are numerous courses, webinars, and written material that go deep into interesting trading subjects. For example, the GMMA chart provided with the MT4 as an indicator has multiple uses for various strategies. For example, these are “Sardine Eating Signal”, “Firefly 1 and Cashilot 1” and similar interesting strategies made by Chen Masato.

Additional material is provided for many more indicators that are even standard with the MT4. More seminars exist on other trading subjects. An economic Calendar is published on the FXTF website but it is a very basic design, without any filtering options.

Customer Service

To contact FXTF you can use email, phone line in the Japanese language only or use the chat service. The Chat is provided using the LINE Chat program only. Similarly, as with other tools, this program is specialized and rich in features. Even though it is more complicated to use, users can also use this program to chat with other users, create groups, upload images, screenshots and so on. The application is on par with other major social networks company products.

Demo Account

FXTF states that the MT4 demo transaction is different from the FXTF MT4 live service, the MT4 demo and MT4 live do not always match in terms of delivery price, execution time, etc. From our experience, the demo account usually uses the same servers and the actual difference is minor if not intentionally caused. The Demo does not have an expiration date and is easy to set up form the MT4 platform directly. You will have 1 million yen as practice money.

Countries Accepted

FXTF is a Japanese-only forex broker.

Conclusion

This section will provide additional information not described above for the better image and understanding of this FXTF review. FXTF does not have a great asset range but is great in so many other areas. The key selling points are the tight, semi-fixed spreads and an amazing unique tools offer. This is further complemented by strong business ethics towards providing supreme service and setting promotion and marketing as secondary.

Many of the tools mentioned are offered for free on the demo account MT4, the effort needed to make this surpasses what many big brokers will even try. Whatsmore, they are truly intended to develop profitable traders, without any kind of solicitation for investment or other types of promotion. This approach is felt throughout the website content, even the ads must contain precise spreads numbers without any deviation from the real trading conditions.

Many traders would be left disappointed knowing the broker offers their service only to Japan, but still the tools and other trading material are certain to attract attention and could be used for trading ideas. The broker received recognition in Japan and was awarded as the Best Binary options broker in 2015. FXTF is a great representative of Japanese philosophy about the brokerage as with many other businesses.

FX NextGen is a foreign exchange broker based in the Republic of Georgia, their values are to show integrity, be competitive and to be transparent, they focus on building strong and long-lasting partnerships with their clients and focus on what it means to be a trader. This review will look through the services being offered by FX NextGen so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There seem to be two different account types, a Standard account, and an ECN account, however, we can not find anything that differentiates between the two apart from the commission charged. Throughout this review, we will be looking into different parts of the trading conditions and so any differences between the two will be mentioned, for this section, we will outline the small info we know about the accounts.

The account has a minimum deposit requirement of 100 USD or EUR, minimum trade sizes start from 0.01 lota and hedging is allowed. Swaps are charged for holding trades overnight and it can use either MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 as a trading platform. The margin call is set at 100% and stop out is set at 50%, leverage can be anywhere between 1:1 and 1:500. The account also comes with a commission of $4 on a standard account or $12 on an ECN account.

Platforms

FX NextGen offers two platforms from the MetaQuotes company, MT4, and MT5. While MetaTrader 4 continues to be the preferred trading platform for the vast majority of traders, the slow but steady shift over to MT5 continues. A comparison of these two widely popular FX platforms can be viewed in the photo below.

Leverage

Leverage can be between 1:1 and 1:500, this can be selected when opening up an account, should you wish to change it on an already open account you can do so by getting in touch with the customer service team.

Trade Sizes

Trade sixes start from 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 do not know what the maximum trade size is, however, we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage. We are also not sure what the maximum number of open rates is at any one time.

Trading Costs

There is a commission charged on both account types, the Standard account has a commission of $4 per lot traded and the ECN account has a commission of $12 per lot traded. Considering the industry standard is around $6 per lot traded, the EC account seems quite expensive at double this amount.

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

Assets

Unfortunately, there wasn’t any information about the assets or instruments that are available t trade so we can not give any breakdowns or examples of what they are, in fact, there is no mention of any anywhere on the website which is a little strange. A lot of potential new clients will look at what instruments are available before deciding where to trade, so not having it available could really put them off.

Spreads

Spreads are another aspect that there is no information on, on the trading conditions page there is a section that says “Click Here” for spreads however clicking it doesn’t seem to do anything. There are parts of the website that mention low spreads and spreads starting from 0 pips, which we would assume is in relation to the ECN account, but without any actual numbers, we cannot comment on what the spreads start at. What we do know though is that the spreads are variable (also known as floating) so this means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at a certain pip, instruments like GBPJPY will be starting slightly higher.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit value is 100 EUR or USD, this is what is required to open an account and is also the minimum for any further top-up deposits.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There are three different methods for depositing into FX NextGen, these are Bank Wire Transfer, Bitcoin, and Sofort. There are no fees for depositing with Bank or Bitcoin, however, using Sofort there is a processing fee of 2.5%. When using Bank Wire Transfer, be sure to check with your bank to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You can use either Bank Wire Transfer or Bitcoin to withdraw your funds, when using Bitcoin there are no added fees, when using Bank Wire Transfer there is a fee of 10 USD or EUR for withdrawals under 250 USD or EUR, you should also check with your bank to see if they charge a fee for incoming transactions.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Processing for both Bitcoin and Bank Wire Transfer states that withdrawals will take between 3 to 5 business days, this will vary on a number of factors such as the speed of the blockchain (for Bitcoin) and the processing time of your banking institute.

Bonuses & Promotions

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

Educational & Trading Tools

The educational side to the website simply comprises of a type of FAQ on what different elements of trading are, it is extremely basic and won’t be making anyone an expert trader. This is a shame as a lot of brokers these days are looking to help their clients improve and become more profitable with educational courses or tools to help them trade or analyze. It would be nice to see FX NextGen do something similar for their clients. They do, however, offer managed accounts for those who prefer to have their funds managed by someone other than themselves.

Customer Service

The contact us page has a couple of different ways to get in touch, you can use the online submission form to fill in your query and you should then get a reply via email. You can also use the mail address provided directly. Physical addresses are also available should you wish to send a physical letter.

Demo Account

There doesn’t seem to be a demo account on offer, or at least we could not find any information about one. This is a shame as demo accounts allow potential new clients to test out the trading conditions and servers while it allows current clients to test out new strategies without risking any of their capital. This is an area that should be invested in and demo accounts should be made available.

Countries Accepted

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

Conclusion

There is a lot of information missing from the FX NextGen website, firstly there is no differentiation between the Standard account and the ECN account apart from a different commission amount, the links to swap charges and spreads doesn’t do anything so there is no clear indication of what the spreads are, along with this there is no list or breakdown of tradable assets, so any potential clients looking for certain assets will need to look elsewhere. Deposit methods are limited, as are withdrawals but there are no added fees for the majority, and those that do are quite low.

Triumph FX is an international forex and CFD broker, it is registered in a number of different places including the British Virgin Islands and Vanuatu. Their commitments are to maintain a long term relationship with their clients by offering efficient services. Throughout this review, we will be looking at the services being offered to see if they are able to do that and also so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There are 5 different account types on offer along with 2 different Islamic account types, we will now outline the different requirements and features of each account type.

Standard Fixed: The account requires a minimum deposit of $100 to open, it has a fixed spread starting from 1.6 pips. There are no added commissions on this count and the maximum leverage is up to 1:500. The account is able to use the community trading features as well as referral rebates, trader rebates and something called Lot of Rewards.

Standard Variable: The account requires a minimum deposit of $100 to open, it has a variable spread starting from 1.6 pips. There are no added commissions on this count and the maximum leverage is up to 1:500. The account is able to use the community trading features as well as referral rebates, trader rebates and something called Lot of Rewards.

Premium: The premium account increases the minimum deposit up to $500, it has a floating spread starting from 0.6 pips and there is an added commission of $6 per round lot traded. The account can have leveraged up to 1:500 and it is able to use the community trading features as well as referral rebates, trader rebates and something called Lot of Rewards.

Platinum: The Platinum account increases the minimum deposit further up to $2,000. It has a floating spread starting from 0.6 pips and has a reduced commission of $3 per round lot traded. It can be leveraged up to 1:500 and has access to the referral rebate and a lot of rewards system.

VIP: This top tier account has a minimum deposit requirement of $5,000. It has a floating spread starting from 0.5 pips and there are no added commissions. The leverage remains t 1:500 and it only has access to the lot of rewards system.

Islamic Variable: The Islamic variable account has an entry requirement of $100, it has floating spreads of 1.6 pips with no commission. The account does not have any swap charges and can be leveraged up to 1:500. It has access to the referral rebate, trader rebate and lots of rewards programs.

Islamic Platinum: This account requires a minimum deposit of $2,000. It has a floating spread starting at 0.6 pips and does not have a commission or swap charges on the account. Leverage is 1:500 and it only has access to the lot of rewards system.

Platforms

Just MetaTrader 4 is on offer as a trading platform, and that platform is offered in PC, iOS, and Android formats. The PC format is designed for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 systems. The iOS application is for both iPhones and iPads, while the Android application is for any type of Android device. For clients residing in China without access to Google Play Store, there is the option to download the APK file directly from the broker’s website.

Leverage

Leverage on all accounts can go as high as 1:500, however, you will need to perform an appropriation test and risk evaluation before it will be allowed to go so high, these are normally just a few questions and is very easy to pass. Leverage can be selected when opening up ana account and should you wish to change it on an already open account you can do so by contacting the customer service team with your request.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is 0.01 lots which are known as a micro lot, trades then go up in increments of 0.01 lots and so the next trade will be 0.02 lots and then 0.03 lots. The maximum trade size is 50 lots which are fine as we never recommend trading over this amount anyway as the bigger the trade, the harder it is for the markets and liquidity providers to execute it quickly and without any slippage. You can have a maximum of 200 trades open at any one time which is more than enough for the majority of traders.

Trading Costs

The majority of the account use a spread based system that we will look at later in this review. The Premium account has an added commission of $6 per round lot traded which is in line with the industry standard of $6 per lot while the Platinum account has a reduced commission of $3 per round lot traded which is half the industry standard and is of good value. Unless you are using the Islamic accounts then there will also be swap fees, these are interest charges that are incurred for holding trades overnight, they can be both negative or positive and can usually be viewed from within the trading platform of choice.

Assets

The range of markets on offer is a little low, we have displayed them for you below.

Forex Majors: AUDUSD, EURUSD, GBPUSD, NZDUSD, USDCAD, USDCH, FUSDJPY,

Forex Minors: AUDCAD, AUDCHF, AUDJPY, AUDNZD, CADCHF, CADJPY, CHFJPY, EURAUD, EURCAD, EURCHF, EURGBP, EURJPY, EURNZD, GBPAUD, GBPCAD, GBPCHF, GBPJPY, GBPNZD. NZDCAD, NZDCHF. NZDJPY

Forex Exotics: EURDKK, EURHKD, EURHUF, EURMXN, EURNOK, EURPLN, EURSEK, EURTRY, GBPHKD, GBPNOK, GBPSEK, GBPSGD, HKDJPY, MXNJPY, NOKJPY, NOKSEK, NZDSGD, SGDJPY, USDCNH, USDCZK, USDDKK, USDHKD, USDHUF, USDMXN, USDNOK, USDPLN. USDRUB, USDSEK, USDSGD, USDTRY, USDZAR.

Precious Metals: Just Gold and Silver are available to trade.

Spreads

There are a number of different spreads on offers and each account has a different starting spread value, here is what they are.

• Standard Fixed: 1.6 pips fixed
• Standard Variable: 1.6 pips variable
• Premium: 0.6 pips variable
• Platinum: 0.6 pips variable
• VIP: 0.5 pips variable
• Islamic Variable: 1.6 pips variable
• Islamic Platinum: 0.6 pips variable

Variable (also known as floating) spreads mean that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. Fixed spreads mean that no matter what is happening in the markets, the spreads will remain the same. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 0.6 pips, other assets like GBPJPY may start slightly higher.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount required to open an account is $11, it is unknown if this amount changes once an account has been opened or if this remains the minimum for further top-up deposits.

Deposit Methods & Costs

It appears that Bank Wire Transfer is the only deposit method available, at least it is the only one mentioned on the Deposit & Withdrawal pages. While Triumph FX may not add any fees of their own, they have made it clear that any fees incurred from errors or transfers will be the client’s responsibility to pay. You should also check with your own bank to see if there are any added transfer fees from them.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Bank Wire Transfer is the only method available for withdrawal, the bad news is that there is an added bank charge of between 25 USD and 75 USD for every withdrawal transfer. You should also check with your own bank to see if they add any incoming transfer fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals will take 2 – 5 business days to process, it could take longer depending on your bank’s own processing time.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are bonuses and promotions available, as mentioned in the account section, each account is eligible for any number of Referal Rebates, Trader Rebates or something called Lot of Rewards, however, going through the site we are not able to locate any information about them. So we know they exist, we just cannot comment on the terms or how worthwhile they may be.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few different educational or analysis type sections of the site, there is a section called Forex Essentials which goes over some of the absolute basics of forex trading including different instruments and what trading actually means and how to do it. There is also a glossary section detailing different trading-related terms, an economic calendar detailing upcoming news events and which markets they may affect. Finally, there is a news and analysis section which looks at different charts and news events to give you ideas on what to trade, these seem to take place every few days.

Customer Service

The support page is a little alarming, it states that they have removed the form due to spam, now there is a message saying to log in to submit a ticket or they give just a single email address to contact them with. There is no phone number or any other information, so that single email is all that there is, while we understand spam is a pain, there need to be more ways to get in contact with them.

Demo Account

Demo account s can be created using a simple registration form, you can select a leverage and account size to suit your own. Other trading conditions re not specified so it is unknown which account they actually mimic or if there is an expiration on the accounts, so it would be nice for this information to be added.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is found on the website: “Please note TriumphFX 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 TriumphFX 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 of your eligibility, we would recommend getting in contact with the customer service team to find out.

Conclusion

There are a lot of choices when it comes to the accounts with Triumph FX with a lot of variation in the trading costs, all of which seem quite reasonable. Commissions are kept low and are either the same or lower than the industry average, the spreads are stated as being low, however actual figures are not present on the site which is a shame. There also isn’t a huge selection of tradable assets, however, there are enough currencies available if that is all you are interested in. Just bank deposits available for deposit and withdrawals which could limit some potential clients, and the potentially large withdrawal fees are not the greatest. The biggest issue for us was the customer support page, it was non-existent and simply stated to log in or use an email address, not the kind of thing that builds confidence.

Alchemy Markets is a UK-based brokerage firm that specializes in providing account holders with desirable and competitive trading conditions. Their low spreads, combined with nonexistent commissions, make this broker ideal to almost any type of market participant. In fact, their various account types are designed to serve retail and institutional investors, alike. Just as importantly, Alchemy Markets offers hundreds of financial products that you can exchange, including exotic and major forex pairs. Above all else, this firm works with a highly reliable and technologically advanced platform, which further enhances the benefits that Alchemy Markets’ account holders enjoy.

Regardless of where you live, the broker works with traders from all around the world. In this article, we will outline the specifications of different account types, the elements that shape this firm’s trading conditions, the tools that they give users access to, and many other details. Read this article and find out how Alchemy Markets’ offerings may work to your advantage.

Account Types

The Classic, Premier, and VIP are more suitable for retail traders. The Professional Clients Account, on the other hand, enables financial consultants and firms take advantage of Alchemy Markets’s tools and offerings while trading or investing on their clients’ behalf. The spreads of the VIP Account, which has the largest minimum deposit, is lower than the Classic and Premier types. However, despite the wide differences between their minimum deposit requirements, each account type has an incredibly low and competitive spread.

Classic Account:
Minimum Deposit: $5,000
Spreads: From 0.7 pips
Commission: $0

Premier Account:
Minimum Deposit: $10,000
Spreads: From 0.5 pips
Commission: $0

VIP Account:
Minimum Deposit: $50,000
Spreads: From 0.2 pips
Commission: $4.50 or €4.00 or £3.50 per lot (100,000 of the base currency)

Professional Clients Account:
Minimum Deposit: €500,000 or $588,000
Spreads: NA
Commission: NA

Alongside the sizable minimum deposit, traders who want to open a Professional Clients Account must demonstrate that they have at least one year of work experience in the financial sector. Additionally, applicants must have executed at least 10 trades per quarter during the past year. This is because this account type is for financial consultants and firms that manage funds for their clients, rather than retail traders. Meeting two of the 3 requirements (deposit, experience, or trading frequency) would be enough. For example, someone who worked for more than 1 year for their financial management firm and made the required number of quarterly trades can open a Professional Clients account, without having to deposit half a million euros.

Regardless of which account type you choose, Alchemy Markets boasts the fact that it only takes 30 seconds to get registered. In addition, you can choose between one of six options as your account’s base or default currency. Namely, they are the Australian Dollar, British Pound, Euro, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, and US Dollar.

Platforms

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is a sophisticated, globally leading, and profoundly user-friendly platform. You can customize your trading experience by utilizing the platform’s charting tools, technical indicators, and news alerts. In addition, the MQL coding language enables traders to create their own automated algorithm, which is programmed to buy/sell forex pairs (and other financial instruments) when they meet certain conditions. Needless to say, MT4’s variety of technical indicators and chart timeframes can make this process even more efficient and customizable.

If you prefer the fundamentals, MT4 will provide you with a timely newsfeed for each instrument and forex pair. You can also get notifications on your phone or email alerts, two aspects that users may also customize. This platform, which Alchemy Markets’ account holders will trade through, can be installed on desktop devices and smartphones (both Android and iOS).

Leverage

The Classic has a leverage of 30:1, a relatively limited number when compared to the rest of the industry. Premier, on the other hand, has a buying power of 200:1. VIP account holders have more flexibility and they can pick or change their own leverage. In general, when a broker increases your buying power after you deposit a larger amount of funds, they will likely look at an account applicant’s trading experience before approving them.

Alchemy Markets might give beginners that have the $50,000 minimum to open a VIP Account a lower buying power in order to minimize the trader and the broker’s own risks. Keep in mind that using a lot of leverage is very risky during volatile and abrupt market conditions. In fact, many other brokerage firms will lower the buying power that an account holder has when they deposit more funds, regardless of their experience.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size is a micro-lot (0.01 lots or 1,000 in the base currency) for both of the Classic and Premier account types. The smallest position size for the VIP Account, on the other hand, is a mini lot (0.1 lots or 10,000 in the base currency). The standard size of 1 lot is 100,000 in the base currency. For example, in the USD.GBP pair, the US Dollar is the base currency against the British Pound. One lot is $100,000. If you have a Classic or Premier Account, you can put as low as $1,000 (0.01 of $100,000) towards a USD.GBP trade. With a VIP Account, the minimum position must be $10,000 worth of British pounds. The maximum trade size is 100 lots (or 10,000,000 in the base currency), which applies to all 3 accounts.

Margin Call: 100%
Stop-Out: 50%

Trading Costs

The Classic and Premier don’t pay any commissions, but the VIP Account incurs $4.50/€4.00/£3.50 (based on the base currency) on each trade. While the spreads are low for each of the 3 account types (especially VIP), traders should account for currency conversions. If your account’s default currency is the EUR, as an example, and you open a GBP.USD trade, any fluctuations in the Euro’s value against one of those two currencies will impact your returns after the position is closed. There is also an interest or swap fee, which is charged when you keep a trade open overnight. It accounts for the interest rate of the currency that you’re trading.

At times, however, the swap could be positive and overnight positions would earn, instead of pay, the interest. This commonly happens with short-selling, but longing can also earn a positive swap. If you’re a client of a financial firm that manages your money through Alchemy Markets’s Professional Clients Account, you may incur extra commissions. In fact, it is a common practice in the brokerage industry to incentivize financial firms by offering commission revenues on each trade that they execute through their clients’ accounts.

Assets

There are more than 80 forex pairs that are available to this broker’s account holders. Alchemy Markets’ selection includes major, minor, and exotic currencies. Similarly, the firm offers cryptocurrencies. You can trade Bitcoin against each of the US Dollar (BTC.USD), British Pound (BTC.GBP), Chinese Renminbi (BTC.CNH), and Euro (BTC.EUR), Account holders may also exchange indices that track each of the American, Australian, German, French, and Spanish stock markets.

In a very distinctive manner, Alchemy Markets will let you trade commodities as either futures contracts or as a pair with a currency. Most of the time, forex brokers only offer these instruments as CFDs. Alchemy Markets’s precious metals selection includes gold (XAU.USD or XAU.EUR) and silver (XAG.USD or XAG.EUR). Palladium and Platinum are only paired against the USD. Energy futures, namely Crude and WTI Oil, are also available. Lastly, this broker offers shares of different global companies.

Spreads

If you look at Alchemy Markets’s competitors, most of them will have an average spread that ranges between 1 and 3 pips. The gap between the bid and ask prices, as far as this broker is concerned, is very minimal and competitive. The Classic Account’s spreads start at 0.7 pips, they go down to 0.5 pips and 0.1 pips for Premier and VIP, respectively. In many traders’ eyes, the incredibly tight bid/ask variation of the VIP Account will certainly make up for the commissions that it incurs. Having said that, Alchemy Market has variable spreads, which can get much larger during volatile situations, even when it comes to major and widely-traded currency pairs.

Minimum Deposit

As previously outlined, traders need to deposit $5,000, $10,000, and $50,000 for the Classic, Premier, and VIP Account, in that order. After that, there are no minimum deposit requirements on transactions through any of the payment methods that this broker accepts.

Deposit Methods & Costs

To fund your account, you may transfer money through a MasterCard or a Visa debit/credit card. Neteller and Skrill are also options. It doesn’t cost anything to deposit money, regardless of which methods you choose. MasterCard transactions are processed instantly. Skrill and Neteller transfers only take 10 minutes or less, but Visa debit or credit card users may have to wait for up to 5 days. Strangely enough, bank wire transfers aren’t listed as an option.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You can use the same method above for withdrawals, but Alchemy Markets doesn’t specify if they charge any transfer fees.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Outbound transaction times aren’t listed on the broker’s website, either. However, most debit/credit card transfers and electronic payments tend to be processed instantly.

Bonuses & Promotions

When you open a new account, Alchemy Markets will give you $30 as a welcome bonus. The money can be used for trading. There is also an Introducing Brokers (IB) promotion. When participants refer other traders to Alchemy Markets, they will start making commission revenues every time the referral makes a trade. Alchemy Prime is a partnership program that is only offered to large traders, including banks, hedge funds, money management firms, and even other brokers. In many ways, the Alchemy Prime program retains similar functionalities and features that the Professional Clients Account has.

Educational & Trading Tools

If you appreciate trading tools, then Alchemy Markets’ selection will certainly impress you. First, they offer your traditional economic calendar, which provides traders with a daily list of international events and data releases that tend to impact market prices. Alongside the country, day, and time of each economic event, it shows how important the announcement is (labeled as having an either ‘Low’, ‘Medium’, or ‘High’ impact) and what the previous month’s reading was.

Additionally, this broker has a forex calculator that enables users to measure their margin, the pip size of a trade’s movement, and other information after they identify the currency pair and the position’s size in lots. If you want to program your own automated trading algorithm, Alchemy Markets will provide a VPS (Virtual Private Server) that runs your programmed code. Through the MT4 platform, account holders can enjoy a one-click trading experience that allows them to place immediate orders directly from the chart screen. Lastly, but certainly not least, MyFXBook is a social streaming service that lets you see the trades of other market participants. People use these tools to emulate the positions and strategies of successful traders.

Customer Service

Alchemy Markets’s customer service team can be reached through phone calls and email messages. Their headquarters are in London, the United Kingdom.

Phone: +44 (0)2070978794
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

The demo has access to live market quotes, all of MT4’s trading tools, and the same currencies that the actual accounts can trade. There are many ways to take advantage of this. First, regardless of how many years of experience you have, anyone who is new to MT4 should get comfortable with its order execution tools before risking their money. The same applies if you want to learn how to trade new assets (such as cryptocurrencies and commodities) or financial instruments (like futures and CFDs). Needless to say, beginners should also try out different strategies and pick a profitable approach through a demo account. This is a much less risky way to learn about the markets and practice because you’re only exchanging paper funds and not your real money.

Countries Accepted

CFD contracts and cryptocurrencies are seen as risky instruments by many countries’ governments. In some jurisdictions, digital currencies are treated as commodities, while others regulate and classify them in their own ways. The same applies to other assets that Alchemy Markets offers. Because of this, just as with any other brokers, traders must make sure that the firm’s services are available in their country. Alchemy Markets doesn’t provide a lot of information about this, but customer service will most likely be able to assist in this area.

Conclusion

First, after opening an account, traders would manage their portfolio through the MT4 platform. Because of this, their trading experience will be shaped by MT4’s highly user-friendly features, the customizable technical indicators, and up-to-date news feeds. Equally as important, not only does MT4 allow you to code your own automated trading algorithm through the MQL code, but Alchemy Markets will supplement that by providing you a VPS network that further enhances the feature. This, of course, comes with one-click trading capabilities, forex calculators, economic calendars, and other tools. In fact, even beginners can use the MyFXBook platform to copy the positions of successful and profitable traders. Above all else, these features and offerings are available to users from all over the world.

Alchemy Markets also has a variety of bonuses and promotions. While the Alchemy Prime program is only offered to institutional investors (like banks and hedge funds), the fact that this broker works with such large market participants further demonstrates the reliability and expertise of its team members. Their professionals are there to support and advise retail traders, as well. Similarly, by browsing Alchemy Markets’s different account types, traders will almost certainly find one that suits their needs and objectives. All accounts come with the same desirable low spreads. With over 200 assets, you can trade many forex pairs, alongside the CFDs and futures contracts of other financial instruments. Lastly, you can pick between several transaction methods to deposit money without paying any fees. Inbound transfers are also instant, but the firm’s website doesn’t specify what the withdrawal costs or processing times are.

Nonetheless, we found Alchemy Markets to be one of the leading and most competitive brokers in the industry. While it has its own downsides, the pros will almost definitely outweigh the cons.

BormanCorp is a registered online broker that offers leveraged trading of up to 1:400 on FX and CFD options. According to its website, the company was established by veteran traders, with the goal to provide a groundbreaking trading platform, progressive analysis tools, industry-leading education, and one-on-one account management services. The broker also lists transparency as a major point in their agenda. Our research revealed some interesting facts about this choice, so stay with us to find out exactly what this broker has to offer.

Account Types

BormanCorp offers five different accounts: Basic, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. From the start, traders will notice that the broker doesn’t provide exact details related to each account type. Instead, the account types page focuses on some of the extra advantages associated with each option. From the Gold account and on, the broker advertises lower spreads, access to senior account managers, etc. Some advantages related to the platinum account would be VIP webinars and live trading with an expert.

This leaves out any of the real conditions for any of the account types, which is our first indication that the broker isn’t as transparent as they claim to be. Some of the only information we could find was that there are no commission charges and that leverages go as high as 1:400. The broker requires proof of identity and proof of residence document to be submitted within 5 days of account registration for account verification.

Platform

The broker supports the infamous MetaTrader 4 platform on mobile, PC, and MAC devices, in addition to their own trading platform that is offered for mobile devices. MT4 is the most commonly available platform offered by forex brokers, as it comes equipped with multiple features and tools that would satisfy even the most professional traders. The user-friendly interface is also easy to navigate, making for a seamless experience for beginners that have never used it before. As for the broker’s own platform, we get access to more than 1,000 assets, the ability to sort instruments by favorites, one-click trading, price alerts, etc. Both seem to offer enough to stand alone as worthy choices.

Leverage

One of the broker’s main advantages would be their higher than average leverage cap that goes up to 1:400. Compared with their competitors, this cap is significantly higher than many other offers. However, traders won’t want to choose the broker based on this alone, since it is possible to find others offering leverage caps that are as high as, or occasionally higher than this option. A word of warning to beginners – trading with high leverages can lead to substantial losses, as it is a risky experience better suited for those that have a lot of capital to risk. On another note, traders should be aware that this option isn’t available on every instrument. For example, XRPUSD, BTCUSD, and other similar options have a cap of 1:5.

Trade Sizes

Once again, the website doesn’t offer any information about minimum or maximum trade sizes, stop loss levels, etc. Although the website advertises 24/7 customer care, we were still waiting to hear back from an agent with more information related to this category after more than one business day.

Trading Costs

Traditional profits come from spreads and swap fees with this broker. Fortunately, commission fees are not charged. The broker also tacks on additional profit clearance fees, maintenance fees, verification fees, and dormant fees. Aside from inactivity fees, you’ll rarely have to worry about these charges with other brokers, so this may warrant choosing a cheaper option. The profit clearance fee is charged, at $1.50 for profits of $250 or less, $2.00 for profits less than $501, $3.00 for profits less than $1,001, $4 for profits less than $2,500, and $5.00 on profits of $2,501 or more. Maintenance fees of $20 are charged on the last day of each month, starting from the first trade that is made.

If one begins trading later in the month, then the fee will be prorated based on how many active trading days were in that month. As if that wasn’t enough, the broker will charge a $100 reoccurring monthly verification fee on accounts that aren’t completely verified. This means that the broker could basically refuse to verify the account in order to collect these steep fees, while traders that make an initial deposit and later realize that they don’t have the necessary documents to complete verification would be trapped. The dormant fee of $50 per month is charged on the 61st day that an account has remained active and occurs monthly from that date until the balance reaches 0, or trading resumes.

Assets

Available instruments are made up of FX, commodities, indices, and stocks. FX includes 55 total options, including majors, minors, and some exotics as well. Mingled in among those options one will also find some cryptocurrency pairs, like BTCUSD. The commodities category is made up of 15 instruments, including popular options like Silver & Gold, Oil, Corn, Sugar, Soybean, and more. An impressive 35 options are listed under the indices category. Finally, the available stocks are made up of 63 options, including many popular and easily recognizable US companies. Facebook, Apple, Disney, and Microsoft are just a few examples.

Spreads

On the “Asset Index” page, traders will find a list of all of the available instruments offered by the company, including live spreads. What isn’t clear is whether these spreads are exclusive to one account type, or if they are universal. According to another page on the website, the Gold, Platinum, and Diamond accounts offer better spreads, but the broker never backs up this statement by providing access to those options. On EUR/USD, the listed spread was 0.000300000 pips, while options varied significantly on other assets.

Minimum Deposit

Our frustration continued when it came time to check the minimum requirements for each account since the broker fails to offer us any information. Naturally, we’re going to assume that the Basic account would be the cheapest, while the Diamond account would be on the highest end of the spectrum. This is based on the fact that accounts supposedly offer better conditions once one upgrades and brokers typically require larger deposits in return for these advantages. Some information suggested that it costs $5,000 to open a Silver account through the broker, but support never verified whether this information was correct.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded through credit/debit cards, Neteller, Giropay, Sofort Banking, PaySafeCard, or Bank Wire Transfer. The website doesn’t mention any fees charged on incoming deposits, although banks may charge their own fees for sending funds. We would hope that the broker doesn’t charge deposit fees, considering that fees are charged on all withdrawals. Traders should definitely finish completing the verification process before making the first deposit since the broker charges those aforementioned $100 verification fees on accounts that remain unverified.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

For regulatory reasons, the broker can only process the amount of the original deposit back to cards and profits must be returned through Wire Transfer. A service fee of 3.5% will be charged on withdrawals, in addition to any beneficiary fees charged on the bank’s behalf. In the event that this equals $30 or less, the broker will charge a standard $30 fee. The maximum service fee is capped at a ridiculously high $3,500, an amount that we hope no trader would never have to pay.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

It takes the broker 1 business day to begin the withdrawal process and funds should be credited back to the client’s account within 3-7 working days. Be sure to complete the verification process ahead of time, in order to avoid any delay having withdrawals processed.

Bonuses & Promotions

On the account types page, the broker mentions that a bonus is applicable on Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond accounts, but does not list the exact amount of the bonus. Under the broker’s terms, we do see a condition that mentions that in order to withdraw any bonus from a trading account, one must execute a minimum trading volume that is 25 times the size of the bonus.

Educational & Trading Tools

Immediately from the website, traders can access a glossary, daily/weekly/monthly market summary, economic calendar, and financial news. According to the account types page, additional advantages can be accessed once one has signed up for an account, but those advantages depend on the account type that has been opened. Educational webinars are advertised on Basic accounts, while one-on-one tutorials are offered from the Silver account type and up.

From the Gold account up, there is a one-on-one MT4 course (which would have been very useful for beginners), and we see daily market briefs and VIP webinars on the Platinum and Diamond accounts. Overall, the broker seems to be offering some very interactive resources, although we wish these options were available for everyone, regardless of which account type can be afforded.

Demo Account

Oddly enough, the broker doesn’t offer risk-free demo accounts. This is a strange choice, especially considering that most forex brokers do make these accounts available. We’d also expect to see BormanCorp offering demo accounts based on their statement that they are focused on education. Some may not miss the lack of demo accounts, but this is certainly a wasted opportunity for beginners that could benefit from the accounts.

Customer Service

BormanCorp’s customer service team is supposedly available 24 hours a day on weekdays; however, another section of the website claims that support is offered 24/7. Getting in touch with an agent should be relatively convenient, with contact options being LiveChat, phone, email, or filling out a contact form. However, support wasn’t always online on LiveChat when we tested the service, even during business hours. If you also try to chat when support isn’t online, the chat will ask for a name, phone number, and email address so support can reach out. More than 24 business hours later, support still hasn’t managed to respond to our inquiry, so we can’t give the broker much credit in this area.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: +442036080432

Countries Accepted

If you load into the broker’s website from the United States, you’ll be met with a pop-up message claiming that residents from that jurisdiction are not accepted. It is possible to exit that window and access the website otherwise, the restriction can be avoided by selecting the “US Minor Outlying Islands” as one’s country of residence.

Conclusion

Some of the advantages of choosing BormanCorp would be the lack of commission fees and the leverage option that goes as high as 1:400. Another plus is the availability of MetaTrader 4, which is arguably the best trading platform on the market, in addition to the 150+ instruments offered by the company.

On the downside, the website is extremely vague and fails to mention their exact spreads, minimum deposit requirements for each account type, trade sizes, etc. The broker’s inescapable $30 withdrawal fee (with a ridiculous $3,500 withdrawal cap), profit clearance fees, $20 monthly maintenance fee, $100 monthly verification fee on non-verified accounts, and $50 dormant fee can quickly eat up any profits that traders are actually able to make. Another red flag would be the lack of information about where the company is based or regulated.

At first glance, customer support seems to be easy to contact; however, the website lists conflicting information about their business hours, agents are not usually on LiveChat, and it takes more than a business day for email responses to be returned. On the bright side, interactive educational resources are offered, but the broker reserves the best resources for those that open the better account types, presumably by making a larger deposit.

Oddly enough, demo accounts are not included with the other educational resources. Bonuses are supposedly offered on the Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond accounts, but the website does not give us an idea of how much those bonuses are. Our final verdict is that BormanCorp seems to be offering a couple of advantages while failing to uphold its goal of transparency.

Range Markets is a broker that is based out of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The firm’s mission revolves around addressing the flaws in the at-large brokerage industry by providing account holders with exceptional trading experience and unique offerings. Namely, they allow you to easily transfer funds, pick between a variety of transaction methods, and almost instantly deposit or withdraw money. Apart from that, Range Markets’s different account types are designed for different types of investors, including both retail and institutional traders.

What type of platform does this broker use? How can you deposit funds? Are there any commissions? What do the spreads look like? Does the firm offer promotions or educational material? We answer all of these questions and more in this article.

Account Types

This broker’s account selection suits traders with different preferences, market approaches, and risk tolerance levels. While the minimum deposits vary, their close proximity means that most users have the flexibility to choose an account type that fits what they need (as opposed to being restricted by minimum deposit requirements).

Silver:
Minimum Deposit: $100
Spreads: From 1.6 pips
Commission: $0

Gold:
Minimum Deposit: $500
Spreads: From 1.4 pips
Commission: $0

Platinum:
Minimum Deposit: $5,000
Spreads: From 0.5 pips
Commission: $0

Palladium:
Minimum Deposit: $100
Spreads: NA
Commission: $0

Islamic:
Minimum Deposit: $100
Spreads: From 1.6 pips
Commission: $0

The main differences between the 5 account types are the spreads, leverage (which decreases as capital goes up), margin call requirements, and lot sizes. It is important to note that the Islamic Account retains the same features and asset selections that the other account types have. However, Islamic doesn’t incur any swap fees on overnight trades, while each of the Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Palladium requires account holders to pay the interest on these positions. Yet, Islamic also has limited leverage because of this. In other words, through using a lot of buying power, traders who have this account type can accumulate a large interest fee when they hold on to a trade for 24 hours or more. The broker, when it comes to swap-free accounts, want to limit their losses.

Platforms

Range Markets utilizes the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform, a popular choice amongst technical analysts and fundamentals traders alike. Users have access to dozens of technical indicators, various charting timeframes, and a live newsfeed with the latest stories and reports. This technological efficiency is also prominent across MT4’s other characteristics. For example, they offer accurate prices and immediately execute orders, even when it comes to large positions and trade sizes. Above all else, MT4 is available on Windows, iPhones, and Android smartphones. MacBook users can also install the platform’s app, but they must first download a specific software (for free) to access their account.

Leverage

In short, the more money that you deposit, the lower that your leverage gets. The Silver Account, which has the smallest minimum deposit requirement ($100), starts with 500:1 in buying power. After that, Gold’s $500 deposit requisite comes with a 400:1 leverage. Platinum (for traders with $5,000+ in capital) limits the buying power to 300:1. As mentioned earlier, the Islamic Account’s leverage is 300:1 because the broker wants to control overnight interest expenses, even though the minimum deposit for this type is only $100.

Similarly, Palladium has the lowest buying power on Range Markets (100:1). Yet, the account has a much larger maximum trade size and is intended for traders who have a large amount of capital. Giving them too much power is risky for a broker during volatile and unpredictable market conditions.

Having said all that, this broker may let you use up to 1000:1 in leverage, which puts them amongst the very few firms in the industry that offer more than 500:1. Traders can adjust this level by going to their user dashboard.

However, Range Markets will still limit your leverage as you deposit more money in order to control their risks and protect your account from incurring significant losses (especially when an unprepared trader makes errors or engages in risky strategies). If an account’s balance reaches $50,000 (regardless of the account type), leverage goes down to 200:1. It is further lowered to 100:1 at $100,000 in capital.

Trade Sizes

Silver, Gold, and Islamic can buy/sell a maximum of 65 lots (6,500,000 in the base currency) in a single trade. Platinum and Palladium, on the other hand, are permitted up to 100 lots in one position.

Margin Call: 50%
Stop-Out: 30%

When your account reaches the margin call level, Range Markets will inform you via email and/or on your MT4 account dashboard. However, the broker doesn’t close any of your trades or positions at this time. Similarly, unlike many other firms in the industry, Range Markets will not ask account holders to deposit additional funds and bring their balance above the margin call level. At the stop-out point, on the other hand, they will start closing your positions, beginning with the biggest loser and up until the account has enough funds to go above the 30% stop-out level. Many other brokers tend to liquidate all trades at this point, regardless of whether they are winners or losers. Range Markets, meanwhile, is less restrictive.

Trading Costs

We find that the absence of commissions on Range Markets to be a positive aspect. In fact, none of the account types even incur these fees, regardless of how much money a trader deposits. Their spreads are also competitive, but only for the Platinum Account. Silver, Gold, and Islamic have bid/ask gap of 1.4 pips or more. Swap charges apply when a trade is held overnight, which depends on the currency’s interest rate and whether you bought or sold the forex pair. Islamic might incur a fixed fee instead of the swap, which is typically the case in the brokerage industry (as far as interest-free accounts are concerned).

Keep in and mind that the swap rate is tripled on Wednesday in order to account for the weekend, another common practice amongst brokers. The Islamic Account will likely pay triple the regular overnight cost. Lastly, Range Markets has a dormant fee that they charge inactive traders. More specifically, if someone doesn’t buy or sell any instruments for 90 days, they would pay $5. However, when the account has less than that, the broker will only charge you that amount to avoid a negative balance. For example, inactive traders who have $3 will only be charged that amount instead of $5 (so that they don’t have -$2 balance).

Assets

Range Markets’s financial instrument selection includes more than 60 forex pairs, alongside gold, silver, oil, and stock indexes. Commodities are traded against the USD. For example, gold’s ticker symbol is XAU.USD. You exchange indices, on the other hand, as CFD contracts. Keep in mind that each of those instruments has its own spread, leverage, and standard lot size. This is because they vary in terms of volatility, risk, and trade volume. To illustrate, gold and silver are both commodities, but 1 lot equals 100 ounces and 5,000 ounces, respectively. In addition, gold’s spread ranges between $0.15 and $0.45, while silver’s bid/ask gap is only $0.03 to $0.09. When compared to oil, which has a 200:1 leverage, the two precious metals’ buying power is constrained to 100:1.

Spreads

The price difference between the bid and ask quotes depends on your account type. This applies to currency pairs and other assets that Range Markets offers. Platinum enjoys the lowest spread, starting from 0.5 pips for the EUR.USD (Euro vs. US Dollar). The forex pair has a 1.6 and 1.4-pip spread when it comes to each of the Silver and Gold Account, respectively. Islamic also has a 1.6-pip bid/ask variation.

It is important to remember that Range Markets has a variable spread, which is subject to abrupt changes or larger than expected price differences when the markets behave in a volatile or erratic way. However, many traders prefer a variable spread because it is especially tight during regular conditions. Just as importantly, many market participants avoid trading after major news announcements or price-moving events.

Minimum Deposit

While the 5 account types have their own funding requirements, the Islamic one enjoys more flexibility. The broker’s website shows a $100 minimum deposit, but in reality, any of the accounts can have Islamic features, which can be easily requested online. For example, a trader deposits $6,000 and gets the Platinum Account – which requires a minimum of $5,000. After their application is approved, they can contact the broker’s team and they will switch it to a swap/interest-free Islamic Account.

When it comes to transfers, the minimum deposit depends on the method that you choose to find your account through. Bank wires and Neteller’s are $500 and $10 per transaction, respectively. The former has an unlimited maximum deposit, while transfers through Neteller are constrained to $50,000 or less in one transaction.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Alongside the two methods mentioned above, you can fund your Range Markets account through Visa and MasterCard. Strangely, and perhaps undesirably so, this broker will charge you fees for depositing money, which is uncommon. Bank wires, which take between 2 and 5 days to process, cost $25 per transaction. Range Markets will also charge you 1.8% of the deposit size for Neteller transfers.

Funding your account with $1,000, as an example, costs you an $18 transaction fee. However, on the plus side, Range Markets refunds you all of these charges in the future after you deposit money. In the instance above, when you withdraw your original $1,000, the full amount (including the $18 deposit fee) is returned. The broker’s website doesn’t specify any fees related to debit and credit card transfers.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You can use the same deposit methods when making a withdrawal. However, keep in mind that the funds have to be transferred to the same account. If you deposit money through a bank account, as an instance, it must also be used when you decide to make a withdrawal. Since Range Markets refunds account holders the initial transfer fee, they return the amount alongside the rest of your withdrawn funds.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

It takes this broker up to 24 hours to process an outbound transfer request. To initiate a withdrawal, traders would do so through their user dashboard. In many cases, however, withdrawals are processed instantly.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are over 5,000 participants in Range Markets’s Introducing Broker (IB) promotional program. First, an IB refers a friend, family member, or associate to the broker. After that, the IB receives a commission every time their referral makes a trade. Payments are made once a month (on the first). IB participants enjoy access to a 24-hour support team that is available on the weekends. They can also get help in more than one language.

Educational & Trading Tools

Each of Range Markets and MT4 offers a strong selection of educational content and live trading resources. The broker’s website covers basic introductions into the forex markets, but it also delves into educating traders about utilizing order execution tools (such as ‘one-click’ buying/selling) and the types of fees that they might incur.

In addition, Range Markets has a list of beneficial aspects that forex market participants enjoy. If you are an experienced trader, then the broker’s economic calendar and market analysis are rich with resources and organized information. This is especially crucial at the beginning of the day or after the markets close. MT4 also offers these tools, alongside more educational content and a variety of competitive charting features.

Customer Service

Range Markets can be contacted via email or through an online form on their website. Most of their departments (customer support, IB program, finance, …etc.) are only available on weekdays, but Introducing Brokers can get help during the weekends. However, this firm is still reachable 24 hours a day to all of its account holders and other affiliates.

Phone: NA (not listed on the website)
Email: [email protected] (general support); [email protected] (current account holders); [email protected] (IB promotion)

Demo Account

You can open a paper/fake account and trade on MT4’s platform. Through a demo, Range Markets’s account holders will access live market prices and trading conditions. As a result, it helps beginners test their strategies and define a profitable trading method. Similarly, if you have plenty of market experience but are familiar with another platform (such as MetaTrader 5/MT5), the demo account gives you the time that you need to familiarize yourself with MT4. Above all else, whether you are a new or an experienced trader, demos allow you to learn what you need before putting your real money on the line.

Most noteworthy, Range Markets’s demos don’t come with an expiration date. Other brokers, meanwhile, may only give you up to 60 or 90 days. Some may even restrict the demo’s lifetime to a mere 30 days. Range Markets doesn’t just remove these deadlines, but they also allow traders to open up to 8 different paper accounts. Keep in mind, though, that the demo will be automatically closed when you don’t log in for a period of 90 days.

Countries Accepted

American traders and residents cannot open an account with this broker. This is mainly because of federal laws that limit or prohibit certain financial instruments and trading methods. Other than that, the broker is registered in Saint Vincent (an island country in the Caribbean) and serves traders from different parts of the world.

Conclusion

Range Markets’s account holders certainly appreciate the variety of account options that they have. In addition, this broker’s IB promotion can be utilized by marketers and those who have a strong referral network of traders. Just as importantly, there are many assets that Range Markets will give you access to, including about 60 forex pairs, alongside commodities and indices.

There are 5 different account types and we find that their affordable/reachable minimum deposit to be a huge plus. More specifically, traders have the freedom to choose an account that suits their personal strategy and preferences. You can also open an Islamic account either directly or by integrating swap-free features into one of the different portfolios that this broker offers. The demo account is also easy to use and doesn’t come with an expiration date, an aspect that differentiates Range Markets from the rest of the brokerage industry.

Traders may access educational content, economic calendars, and other practical resources on Range Markets’s website. If you don’t find what you need, MT4 also has its own tutorials, training programs, and valuable tools. While transfers are almost instant (with a few exceptions), this broker will charge you a fee for depositing money. The trading conditions may vary based on your account type. Some portfolios have a very low and competitive spread, but most of Range Markets’ accounts have a spread of 1 pip or more. This is about average in comparison to the rest of the industry.

Support is available 24 hours during weekdays. To summarize, this broker’s main positive aspects include the diverse account types, strong leverage, fewer restrictions at the margin call/stop out levels, the nonexistent commissions, and the almost instant transaction processing times. Meanwhile, the negatives are the deposit fees and, at times, an undesirably wide variable spread. However, at the end of the day, the cons are minimal when compared to Range Markets’s pros.

JAFX belongs to the new age broker types where the focus is put on cryptocurrencies, not just as a trading asset by also as the method of doing financial transactions. Located in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, JAFX started in 2016 as a team of traders that have recognized the cryptocurrency as the future form of money and utilize the advantages for deposits and withdrawals. As they want to deliver “by traders for traders” experience by knowing what are the main issues and deliverables, JAFX set the right conditions for fast trading strategies. These strategies require low spreads and fast executions the broker aims to deliver.

JAFX website is well designed, without any redundant content. The first thing traders will see are the key figures important for any trader, such as the leverage, assets range, minimum deposit, and trade sizing. The idea of Bitcoin and crypto is the absolute freedom for the capital flow globally, but to support this, trust has to be established. The broker foreseeing this has established automated deposit systems and numerous security protocols.

This JAFX review will give readers insight into what level of service and trading conditions can be expected when trading with this broker.

Account Types

There are no special packages offered. Opening an account any trader will have the best what the broker can offer for a very low minimum deposit. The account opening process will require your email, phone and additional KYC (Know Your Client) documents such as Photo/scan of Utility Bill, Bank Statement, etc for confirming your address, and Photo/scan of Passport, Driving License or National ID card. As for privacy concerns, none of this information is shared with third parties, also stated in the JAFX Privacy Policy document.

To register a Corporate Account, traders will need to go to a different portal, portal.jafx.com/account/live, where the account type can be selected as well as other specifics like the language, managed or simple trading account, etc. Therefore, JAFX supports MAMM and PAM accounts. It is probably possible to have custom conditions account as the broker states it is open for tailor-made solutions.

Islamic account is offered for 3 types of trading instruments. For forex, swaps are substituted with administration fees so it is according to the Sharia law. Metals trading is backed up with real bullion as stated, to make it in line with beliefs. Oil assets are without swaps. As many traders who open an account with JAFX, they are expecting favorable trading conditions for scalpers, as they make the most of the client pool. Therefore, scalping, hedging and news trading is allowed.

VPS is available but JAFX does not offer its solution. Although the broker suggests Equinix NY data center location VPS. They regard this service as the best for reducing the latency.

Platforms

JAFX offers MT4 platform only and it is available for Windows, Mac and mobile devices running on Android or iOS. For those that want to access trading without any installation through a browser, a web-accessible MT4 is available. Once installed the PC version of the MT4 platform will show 2 JAFX servers, one for Demo and one for live trading. The demo shows the latency of 129ms, and the live server is a bit slower with 136.2ms. JAFX MT4 platform is not by its default settings and shows 5 window charts with customized looks. The color scheme is set to a black background with a bright green and red candlestick type chart all set to the H1 timeframe.

BTC/USD is added in the fifth window with the One-click trading button visible, showing off that JAFX is a cryptocurrency broker. While the other 4 major forex charts do not have One-click trading buttons visible it can be easily done with the right-click context window. There are no added indicators or templated by JAFX in the installation, everything is by defaults here. The About window shows the platform is updated to the latest version and the address of JAFX in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The symbols lists are very neatly organized with several groups named after the asset categories. Forex is divided into subgroups for Minors, Exotics, Crosses, and Majors, while other assets have their corresponding groups. None of the trading instruments have any suffix or prefix, they have clear names and traders will know exactly what symbols represent.

The instrument specification window will show all relevant trading information except for the commission which is presented in the Trading Terminal once a position is open. Swaps are also presented there and in the specifications. The execution time we have tested on the BTC/USD is just a bit over 200ms on average with very small deviations of 15ms. This is a very competitive and stable trading environment suitable for more demanding scalping strategies or EAs.

Leverage

There is no official leverage list or webpage where visitors can know more about the leverage except that the maximum offered is 1:500. This is enough, especially for those who come from brokers that adhere to the ESMA directives. This leverage is true for all major Forex currency pairs but not for all. We have observed the leverage of 1:100 for exotics like USD/TRY but the leverage for USD/RUB, for example, is the maximum 1:500.

We have found that TRY related currency pairs were the only with the reduced leverage to 1:100. Indexes leverage is 1:200 for all, including less common ones, while precious metals all have a maximum of 1:500. Commodities are limited to 1:200 and stocks, from what we have seen in the MT4 have 1:20. Cryptocurrencies leverage is also limited, what we have calculated for the BTC/USD is 1:10. Generally, these leverage levels are more than enough to reduce commission costs using proper Money Management.

Trade Sizes

JAFX is a micro lot broker meaning the minimum trade size is 0.01 lot as well as the minimum step volume. This configuration allows the best precision for scaling in and out of position management. The maximum trade size is 1,000 lots and from what we could see, this trade size policy is true for all trading instruments offered. The difference lies in the Stops Levels. For those that are not familiar, this level defines the range around the asset price where putting Stop Loss or Take Profit orders is not possible. Stops Levels for all Forex pairs and Indexes is 0.

For stocks, this level can go up to 2 pips depending on the company. Out of commodities range, only Natural Gas has a Stops Level of 20 points, others have none. Precious metals do not have any limitations while cryptocurrencies have 1 pip Stops Levels. These levels are low enough not to interfere with fast trading methods. The broker has set out Margin Call at 100% and Stop Out at 70%.

Trading Costs

The commission of $4 per lot traded is charged for all assets offered. This commission rate is very competitive compared to other brokers that charge commissions. Other costs like swaps are under normal levels and calculated in points except for crypto. For the most traded pair, EUR/USD the swap is -9.85 points for long and a positive 4.06 for short position. For USD/JPY the long side swap is also positive at 2.97 points and -8.67 for short while GBP/USD has -6.66 points for long and a positive 0.95 points for short. Most of the currency pairs have one side in positive and those that are both negative are low on both sides, for example, EUR/CHF with -0.15 points for long and -2.35 points for short position swap.

For the exotics, the swaps are higher, especially for the EUR/MXN with -632.4 points for long and 262 points for short position, EUR/TRY with -323.3 points for long and 142 points for short, USD/CHN with -46.5 for long and 15.06 points for short. The biggest swap belongs to the USD/RUB, -1387.9 points for long and 523.6 for short position positive. XAU/USD, Spot Gold against the USD has acceptable -12.1 points for long position and 4.22 points for shorting Gold. For Spot Platinum, the swap is -11.28 points for long and 1.41 for short against the USD.

Cryptocurrencies have swaps calculated in percentages per annum. So, BTC/USD has -25% on both sides as well as other crypto listed in MT4. Swaps are tripled on Fridays for crypto, Commodities, and Indexes, while for Forex and precious metals it is tripled on Wednesdays.

Aside from these costs JAFX also has an inactivity fee of $10 for clients who have not traded in the past 30 days.

Assets

JAFX covers the most popular categories, Crypto, Forex, Indices, Commodities, and Stocks. From what we have seen so far in the MT4, none of the categories is listed with minimal assets. Forex category has a total of 50 currency pairs as wh have counted in the MT4, even more than stated on the JAFX website. The most interesting and uncommon pairs are USD/ILS, EUR/CZK, EUR/MXN, EUR/HKD, EUR/PLN, EUR/TRY, EUR/ZAR, USD/CNH, USD/HUF, USD/MXN, USD/RUB, USD/TRY and USD/ZAR. This offer is better than the average in the industry.

Precious metals are not limited to Gold and Silver. Metals traders will also find Gold quoted in EUR, Platinum, and Palladium against the USD. At the moment of this review, JAFX has disabled XPD/USD for trading. Having extended precious metals offer along with the great forex range makes JAFX one-stop broker that can cover the majority of trader types and typical hedging.

Commodities are JAFX weakest category offer, having only energies listed. Traders can find both Oil types, Brent and Crude US Oil with the addition of Natural Gas.

Indexes offer is very good with 13 listed total including the Dollar Index. All the majors are on the list lie SPX 500, NASDAQ 100 (listed as UT 100), etc. The uncommon ones are IBEX HK 35 Index, S&P ASX, Hang Sang Index, and Euro Stoxx 50 Index.

Stocks are listed but not as extensive as we can see at some larger broker with over 300 companies. JAFX covers all popular companies like Microsoft, Apple, eBay, and some non-US like BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Ferarri, Siemens and so on. The list still contains a total of 107 companies that is enough to cover most of the people’s interests.

JAFX is a cryptocurrency-focused broker and most should expect a wide range in this category. And this is correct, with over 31 tradeable instruments, one more than what is stated on the website. All major coins of today are listed, with BTC and other majors quoted only against the USD. Meaning the range is not extended with the same crypto denominated in EUR or GBP as is the case with some other brokers.

Although some crypto is quoted against the Bitcoin, we found rarities like Eidoo against BIT and the USD, Dash, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, ETP, IOTA, Litecoin, Neo, OmiseGO, Santiment, Tron, Monero, and Zcash. All of these have versus BTC version too, thus opening different trading opportunities regardless of the USD performance.

Spreads

JAFX spreads are a variable type and are competitive compared to other brokers. Even though not the best we have seen for this broker type, they are still tight enough to allow scalping on lower timeframes. To give some insight, the most traded currency pair – EUR/USD has 7 points spread, USD/JPY 5 points, GBP/USD 12 points and AUD/USD 9 points.

A bit higher spreads are for EUR/AUD with 2 pips, GBP/CHF 19 points, CAD/JPY 2 pips, and EUR/CAD with 21 points. Exotics spreads are a bit better than with other brokers that offer these pairs. For example, EUR/MXN has 1091 points, GBP/SEK 1022 points, USD/CHN 68 points, USD/HKD 73 points, USD/TRY 535 points, USD/HUF 301 points and similar. The biggest spread is for the USD/RUB with 13150 points and EUR/CZK at 1940 points.

Precious metals spread is better than the industry average with just 12 pips for the XAU/USD. Other metals follow similarly tight spreads, Platinum with 221 pips, Silver at 16 pips and Palladium at 436 pips.

Cryptocurrency spreads should be tight since JAFX uses BItfinex as a liquidity provider. For BTC/USD the spread is $17 or 1744 points precisely. XRP/USD has 63 points, Litecoin/USD 15 points and ETH/USD just 6 points. The widest spread was for the Santiment against the USD at 168900 points, although this is a 5 decimal price.

Minimum Deposit

JAFX requires a minimum of $10 for deposits. This amount is low, although to have the most optimal conditions, even with this leverage and micro-lot trade sizes, it is best to start with $100 and try their live service. To just try the withdrawals the minimum does not present a barrier.

Deposit Methods & Costs

JAFX used to receive wire transfers but at the moment of this review, this method is suspended. JAFX accepts cryptocurrency only at this moment. Traders can deposit via the Bitcoin network directly or using the credit/debit card to buy Bitcoin via Instacoins. In that case, an account with Instacoins will have to be created and verified. Note that a card transaction chargeback cannot be initiated with the broker directly using this way. Bitcoin transactions are also irreversible, the costs for a Bitcoin network transaction is 0.0005 BTC. Your deposit will be automatically credited to your account upon Blockchain approval, 6 confirmations may take up to 6 hours depending on the network load.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Same as with the deposits, the only method, for now, is the Bitcoin withdrawal. To withdraw your affiliate/IB commissions, it will first need to be transferred into your main trading account. JAFX cannot process withdrawals directly from affiliate/IB accounts. Of course, your account needs to be verified for withdrawals. Skrill or other e-wallets are not supported as stated by the JAFX staff.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals are made from the JAFX portal or client’s area within the Transfers tab. The withdrawal process will take up to 48 business hours for approval by the broker, and some additional time for the Bitcoin network. If you have positions open, it is still possible to initiate a withdrawal request, although you can only withdraw funds from your “Landing Account”. First, you have to transfer funds from your “Trading Account” to your “Landing Account”.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are no bonuses or promotions. Introducing Broker (IB) and affiliate programs exist. For those interested will have to contact JAFX. If you have created a trading account, you will need to use a different email address to sign up for the affiliate account.

Educational & Trading Tools

Although the FAQ section mentions additional services by JAFX such as webinars, guides and similar, these are not offered as stated by JAFX staff. No tools are found on their website. There are, however, trading tools that can be accessed from within the platform. These include built-in technical indicators, as well as alerts that will inform you of a variety of changes in market conditions.

Customer Service

JAFX invested in customer support availability and quality. The broker has two phone lines, one with the UK calling code and one to Australia. JAFX uses a ticket system for dealing with the trader’s issues and also has established a 24/7 chat service. Waiting time for the chat is less than a minute, support agents have enough knowledge to answer more demanding questions with a small delay. Courtesy is noticeable, although to some it may be too much. Client Support seems to be one of the broker’s key methods for gaining trust and it is well organized.

Demo Account

The Demo account is made through the MT4 platform directly, be it from the MT4 web-accessible platform, through the MT4 on a computer or a smart device. You can select your leverage and the amount of practice money. The demo account will last indefinitely, if traders do not open any new positions for a month, the demo will expire.

Countries Accepted

JAFX had stopped accepting clients from the United States. Currently, applicants form this country will not be able to create an account. The rest of the countries that are not accepted are Ghana, Burma, Ivory Coast, Congo, Cuba, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, United States, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

Conclusion

JAFX received attention from The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on July 31st, 2018 and as a result, no longer accepts U.S. based clients. Why did they choose to target JAFX when so many other offshore brokers are open for business and accepting U.S. clients? Simply because JAFX was among the biggest, best, and most popular Forex broker in operation at that time. They boasted some of the best trading conditions and customer service in the industry, and the number of clients they had earned as a result was staggering. Presumably, the CFTC opts to start from the top and work its way down.

JAFX did reach an agreement with the commission and today has recovered quite nicely. While certainly not as large as they once were, they carried on with business as usual and just as before, they continue to provide excellent customer service and highly competitive trading conditions. Those looking to trade with a well-established and experienced broker would do will to consider JAFX as a viable brokerage option.

 

Founded in 2014, Salma Markets prides itself on its international presence and ability to provide account holders with access to highly accurate prices. In fact, this broker works with globally-leading liquidity providers, including Barclays, CitiBank, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and UBS. Above all else, we found that Salma Markets’s powerful leverage, various bonuses, minimal fees, and diverse transfer methods make this broker amongst the best in the industry. Believe it or not, but Salma Markets awarded account holders with sports cars in the past and they currently have an ongoing Lamborghini sweepstake. Read our comprehensive review to learn more about the firm’s unique offerings and advantageous trading conditions.

Account Types

Salma Markets only offers its standard STP Account. However, after looking at the broker’s website, it seems that they used to offer several account types, but they aren’t listed online. Because of this, if the STP doesn’t suit your style, inquiring about other account types and options may be worth the effort, especially in light of the highly competitive features that Salma Markets provides traders with.

Minimum Deposit: $100
Spreads: From 0.2 pips
Commission: None

Alongside their nonexistent commissions, this broker offers a swap-free trading experience. Salma Markets is based out of Indonesia, which is a majority Muslim country. Therefore, their standard account type comes with no interest on overnight positions (swaps) and has Islamic features by default.

Platforms

The broker’s account holders trade and manage their portfolios on MetaTrader 4 (MT4). This platform will give you access to all of the forex pairs and assets that are available on Salma Markets. Moreover, whether you are new to trading or have years of experience, you will certainly appreciate MT4’s superior tools and customer support features.

Beginners can access tutorials and work one-on-one with a dedicated account manager. Similarly, professional traders may program their own algorithm, utilize a variety of technical indicators, and receive guidance from MT4’s customer support team (if needed). Above all else, MT4 is famous for its highly accurate prices and immediate execution of orders, which adds another layer of protection to traders during volatile markets (when quotes move quickly and unexpectedly).

Equally as important, this platform’s software can be installed on Windows devices, iPhones, and Android smartphones. Regardless of which one you choose, the apps will allow you to manage your portfolio, place orders, and open/close positions. MT4’s software is also available to MacBook users. However, they have to first download an external app (for free) before installing MT4 on their Apple laptop or desktop device.

If you have a Windows computer, an iPhone, or an Android, MT4 can be downloaded directly from Salma Markets’s website. As far as MacBooks are concerned, traders would have to download the supplemental software from the Mac Store. After that, they may install MT4 by visiting the platform’s website.

Leverage

This broker will give you up to 1000:1 in buying power, which is very large when compared to the rest of the industry. However, 1000:1 is the maximum leverage level, which is offered to traders that have less than $500 in their account. Meanwhile, your buying power goes down to 700:1 and 500:1 when your balance reaches $500 and $1,000, respectively. The leverage will further decline to 300:1 for accounts that have between $1,500 and $2,000. After that, buying power becomes 200:1 when your funds go over the $2,000 threshold.

There are two things to note about this: First, even at 500:1, Salma Markets’s leverage is still much higher than what most brokerage firms will offer. Second, brokers will lower your buying when you deposit additional funds in order to minimize their risk. For example, if a trader has $2,000 and 1000:1 in leverage (as an example), they can invest up to $2 million. When the markets go down, the account holder may lose all of their $2,000 deposit. Even the smallest price movement can turn their balance negative. As a result, Salma Markets lowers account holders’ leverage when their balance increases in order to protect the trader and themselves (the broker). Keep in mind that Salma Markets also has a negative balance protection policy.

Trade Sizes

The smallest trade you can execute is 0.01 lots (1,000 in the base currency). Keep in mind that the standard lot size, industry-wide, is 100,000 units of the base currency.

Margin Call: 50%
Stop-Out: 30%

Salma Markets’s policy is to close all open positions when an account reaches the margin call level. Moreover, traders cannot place any new orders until their balance goes above the 50% margin requirement. Yet, this broker’s website doesn’t specify the difference between the margin call and stop-out levels. In most cases, firms will close your biggest losers at the margin call level, up until your available cash satisfies the margin threshold. They only liquidate all trades at stop-out. Nonetheless, Salma Markets has a useful guide on what happens when you reach the margin call and ways to prevent your balance from getting to that level.

Trading Costs

As previously outlined, this broker doesn’t charge traders any commissions, swaps, or other fees. You may have to incur the spread cost (the difference between the bid and ask prices). Given how tight Salma Markets’s spreads are, these fees will be minimal.

Assets

You can trade stocks, commodities, and indices through Salma Markets. These instruments are exchanged as CFD contracts, but precious metals are traded against the US dollar: Gold (XAU.USD) and silver (XAG.USD). In addition, account holders have access to almost 30 major currencies and two BitCoin pairs (BTC.USD and BTC.EUR). There are no exotic forex pairs, but Salma Markets’s asset list does encompass all of the majors. Furthermore, the market indices include those of Australia, Britain, France, Germany, and others, alongside major US stock indexes.

Spreads

This broker’s spreads are floating and not fixed. In other words, they are subject to change based on market conditions and the bid/ask gap varies from one forex pair to another. Just as importantly, non-currency financial instruments have different spreads. More specifically, indices, commodities, and stocks have a larger spread than forex pairs. However, Salma Markets’s currency spreads start at 0.2 pips, which is very low and competitive. Most of their forex pairs have a bid/ask price gap that is less than 1.5 pips. Some, though, may exceed 3 pips.

Minimum Deposit

Salma Markets requires you to deposit $100 in order to open an account. To receive some of their awards, traders must deposit additional funds. This will be discussed in more detail under the ‘Bonuses and Promotions’ section. When it comes to the minimums for individual transactions, you would have to look at your deposit method. The broker will let you transfer an amount that is as small as $1 only in a single transaction. However, this is only the case for deposits from certain banks. A standard wire transfer has a minimum of $100. Transactions via Visa, MasterCard, and FasaPay must be greater than $10, while Skrill and Neteller deposits have a minimum of $50 per transfer.

Deposit Methods & Costs

One of the best features that Salma Markets offers is that traders can choose between many methods to fund their account. The broker works with banks from all over the world. You may also transfer money via Visa, MasterCard, FasaPay, Neteller, and Skrill. Above all else, this broker doesn’t charge any transaction fees when you deposit funds. The only exception is Skrill, which has a commission that equals 7.50% the transfer size. For example, if you deposit $100 through Skrill, Salma Markets will charge you a $7.50 fee. All transfers are processed instantly, but bank wires may take between 1 and 5 business days.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Most withdrawals are for free, too. However, the 7.5% Skrill commission still applies to outbound transfers. Similarly, Visa/MasterCard transactions cost $5 each, while withdrawing through Neteller has a 2% transfer size fee (with a $1 minimum and $30 maximum). Bank wires will cost you 0.2% of the withdrawn amount, with a minimum of $30 per transaction fee. All the available deposit methods can be used for withdrawals.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Unlike deposits, withdrawing money out of your Salma Markets account isn’t instant. Instead, regardless of which method you choose, the broker will processes withdrawals within 1 to 2 days, but outbound transfers take no longer than 48 hours. Bank wires, though, will still take between 1 and 5 business days to process.

Bonuses & Promotions

Salma Markets’s bonuses and promotions are two of this broker’s greatest assets. First, this firm has a 50% rebate bonus. Here is how it works: When you deposit money into your account, Salma Markets gives you half (50%) of the amount in trading capital. However, the bonus isn’t instantly available. Instead, the broker gives you $2 for every lot that you trade.

For example, if a trader deposits $5,000, they get a $2,500 credit (50% of the deposited amount). After they close a position that has 10 lots, they will receive $20 ($2 per lot), which keeps adding up for each lot until the full $2,500 is deposited in the account. The maximum bonus amount is $10,000, which is still relatively large and generous. Additionally, Salma Markets has several other ongoing promotions.

First, they will give away free t-shirts, iPhones, and Samsung Note devices to active traders. Getting the broker-branded shirt is easy. After traders open an account, deposit at least $500, and close positions that are worth 2 lots or more, Salma Markets will send them the shirt. As for the Samsung Note, account holders who deposit $20,000 or more and trade a minimum of 50 lots will receive the device for free. To get the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro, you have to deposit $30,000 and $50,000, respectively.

After trading 70 lots (iPhone 11) or 150 lots (iPhone 11 Pro), the broker sends you the complementary Apple smartphone. Equally as important, Salma Markets had an ongoing promotion that expired on December 15th. Account-holders who deposited $100,000 and traded 200 lots or more got a free Umrah (Islamic pilgrimage) trip on Salma Markets’s expense. While this promotion ended, the broker may offer the same one next year during the annual pilgrimage season. Previously, Salma Markets had offered a free trip to South Korea. They may bring it back after the pilgrimage season is concluded.

Lastly, Salma Markets offers a variety of partnership and promotional programs. As an Introducing Broker (IB), you would be tasked with incentivizing family members, friends, and associates to open an account. Every time your referral makes a trade, Salma Markets awards you a $5 commission. Even though many brokerage firms have an IB promotion, Salma Markets’s commission revenues are amongst the highest in the industry.

Meanwhile, the ‘White Label’ partnership program is for traders who are more serious about working with the broker. More specifically, for an initial setup fee of $5,000, Salma Markets will allow you to act as an independent broker that can get their own clients and account holders, just as a business would. However, this broker will give you their brand, promotional materials, and valuable MT4 account management tools, alongside commissions and other profits when your clientele grows.

Fourth, as a Salma Markets Payment Agent, a trader may work with local account holders and facilitate deposits/withdrawals. After that, this broker will award them with revenues from the transfer fees. Last, but certainly not list, if you deposit over $1,000 when opening an account, you are entered into a draw where the winner gets a Lamborghini Huracan. As lucrative (and somewhat difficult to believe) as this sounds, Salma Markets has awarded traders 6 sports cars in the past.

Educational & Trading Tools

There are several trading tools that this broker’s account holders can utilize on a daily basis. First, Salma Markets has a daily news feed. Every morning, they post a new article that highlights the important developments and stories of the day. Second, the forex economic calendar, which lists major releases and announcements from all over the world, allows you to prepare for the day and identify potential market-moving events. The economic calendar can be customized based on the trader’s timezone and the date range that they want to look at (1 day, 5 days, 2 weeks, …etc.). Third, Salma Markets’s ‘Market Summary’ allows you to access live market prices. It covers stocks, indices, bonds, commodities, and, of course, forex pairs.

Lastly, this broker’s Market WebTV feature entails analytical YouTube videos that are embedded on the website. However, most of their featured footages were posted over 3 years ago, which makes this tool less reliable than the economic calendar, news feed, and live prices. When it comes to education, beginners may not find plenty of tutorials or guides on Salma Markets’s website. Yet, the MT4 platform has more than enough educational content. In fact, MT4 even offers live support and one-on-one mentorship to account holders for free.

Customer Service

Salma Markets has a customer service team that is available 24 hours during the weekdays. Moreover, they can be reached in many ways, namely, via phone, email, Skype, live online chat, WhatsApp, and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). The broker’s phone number isn’t listed on the website, but there is a call-back request form that you can fill out. Their team offers support in 5 different languages: English, Indonesian, Japanese, Malaysian, and Vietnamese.

Demo Account

A demo (fake) account can benefit you in two ways: Learning about the markets (for beginners) and getting accustomed to MT4’s tools (for those who are new to the platform). To clarify, this gives traders plenty of time for trial and error, a process that they can undertake by exchanging paper/fake money. In turn, beginners would only risk their real funds after defining a proven strategy. The same applies to experienced traders that never used MT4 in the past.

Countries Accepted

As of 2016, Salma Markets served almost 2 million traders in 4 different countries in Asia. They have a strong international presence. However, traders in the United States and other countries that heavily regulate or restrict certain financial instruments (namely CFD contracts) should make sure that the firm is available in their location before opening an account. The US is listed as a residence/location option in the account signup form, but it doesn’t hurt to double-check if they serve American traders.

Conclusion

Salma Markets’s pros definitely outweigh the cons. Opening an account is fast and easy. Installing the globally-popular MT4 and getting started on the platform is also simple, especially because it is available on desktops and smartphones, alike. In addition, this broker’s 1000:1 leverage is incredibly competitive and unmatched in the industry, while their trading commissions are nonexistent and the spreads are minimal. Just as importantly, you can deposit money into your account through a debit/credit card, a wire transfer, or electronic payment system. Transactions are processed instantly and most of the methods will not charge you fees on deposits. One of the main advantages of going through this broker is the lucrative 50% rebate bonus, alongside smartphone giveaways, free trips, sports car sweepstakes, and highly rewarding partnership programs. Customer service is also easy to get in touch with.

Having said all that, Salma Markets offers useful trading tools but little-to-no training material. Similarly, withdrawing money may take longer than 24 hours and most outbound transfers come with fees. This broker’s forex pair selection is limited to major currencies, but they do have commodities and indices that you can trade. In short, every business and broker has its own downsides. When we look at Salma Markets, many traders will appreciate the positive aspects that are associated with utilizing this firm. Most are going to even overlook the negatives when weighing them against all of Salma Markets’s advantageous and competitive offerings.

This Malaysia-based broker allows you to trade different forex pairs and CFD contracts. They have a physical presence in Singapore and their website is available in multiple languages. With an established international client base, SG Global FX utilizes the most popular trading platforms and liquidity providers. This firm provides account holders with incredibly competitive trading conditions, ranging from the tight spreads to the firm’s acceptance of transfers from an array of financial institutions, regardless of your bank’s location or home country’s currency.

Does this broker offer fixed or floating spreads? What type of platform do they use? Are there any margin restrictions? What are the available trading tools? Above all else, how do their pros weigh against the cons? To find out, read this article and get the information that you need to properly evaluate SG Global FX’s offerings.

Account Types

SG Global FX’s account holders enjoy access to a variety of strong features, including pricing from liquidity providers and immediate order executions. This broker only has one account type.

Minimum Deposit: NA
Spreads: Floating
Commission: NA

The website doesn’t include any information about commissions. As far as spreads are concerned, their home page boasts that SG Global FX has both competitive and minimal bid/ask price gaps. Moreover, since they use liquidity providers for quotes, account holders may enjoy very advantageous spreads.

Platforms

If you open an account with this broker, your trading would be done through MetaTrader 4 (MT4), which is one of the most reliable and user-friendly platforms in the industry. You can download the MT4 app on your Windows desktop device directly from SG Global FX’s website. Mac users, on the other hand, must first install certain software before being able to download MT4 on their device. The software is free and you can also get it through the broker’s website. Equally as important, the MT4 app is available for iPhone and Android users, alike, allowing them to manage their accounts and enter/exit trades from their phones, just as they would on a desktop device.

There are several advantageous aspects that traders who use MT4 enjoy. First, their prices and spreads are incredibly accurate. Second, you can utilize many technical indicators and chart timeframes when trading forex pairs, CFDs, and other financial instruments. Third, MT4 has a live news feed that offers the latest stories and analytical reports related to each asset. Fourth, their demo accounts, which traders can easily register for, allow account holders to learn about the platform and test different strategies before trading their actual funds. Fifth, customer support is reliable and knowledgable. Most, if not all, of these features can be accessed directly through SG Global FX’s website.

Leverage

This broker doesn’t mention anything about leverage and buying power on their website or user agreement document.

Trade Sizes

SG Global FX has relatively strict margin call and stop-out requirements. In other words, this broker prefers cautious and conservative trading methods over strategies that rely on using a large amount of buying power, which can be very risky.

Margin Call: 150%
Stop-Out: 100%

The 150% margin call level requires you to back your investments/positions with capital. For example, if you want to trade a certain amount, your balance must have enough money to cover the losses in case the markets go down (or up if you’re short selling). When an SG Global FX account reaches the margin call, traders must deposit additional funds or close enough losing positions to bring their balance back to the required 150% level. Until that happens, you can’t engage in any additional trading (unless it is to close a position). Moreover, at the 100% stop-out level, SG Global FX will close all of your trades automatically to prevent the account from having a negative balance.

Trading Costs

Just as with the leverage, nothing is mentioned about commissions or trading fees. However, this broker has a partnership and referral program, which normally rewards participants when their friends/family members open an account and start trading with SG Global FX. In most cases, this is awarded per trade. Therefore, brokerage firms with this type of program will charge referrals who open an account, even though others who found the broker online or directly might not incur these same fees. However, interested traders that want to learn more about SG Global FX’s trading costs should contact customer support for questions and details.

Assets

Alongside forex pairs, this broker will allow you to trade CFD contracts. The available assets include commodities (more specifically, metals) and stock market indexes. Having said that, there is barely any other information about SG Global FX’s financial instruments on the website. For example, they don’t list the available currencies nor the forex pairs that you can trade.

Spreads

SG Global FX only highlights that their spreads are tight and incredibly competitive, without offering more details. They do, however, outline that their spreads are variable, which means that they change based on market conditions. Different forex pairs also have their own spreads. In general, the most liquid ones on the market, such as the EUR.USD, GBP.USD, and JPY.USD, tend to have the lower bid/ask price variations. Exotics, on the other hand, will have large spreads. However, this will almost always be the case when the markets are volatile and unstable, regardless of whether your traded currency is a major or exotic one.

Nevertheless, this broker relies on several liquidity providers for its bid/ask pricing. In addition, SG Global FX utilizes MT4, which offers very accurate and desirable quotes in its own respect. To clarify, all of this means that an account holder will likely enjoy advantageous and competitive spreads. The benefit of this is magnified when we consider how quickly the MT4 platform executes orders. Yet, if you are considering SG Global FX, the best way to find out about how much their spreads are is by contacting them directly. For example, some brokers will show a wider bid/ask gap in order to generate revenues from the price difference, especially firms that don’t charge traders any commissions. There are certain pros and cons to commission vs spread fees, but they mostly depend on how you manage the portfolio and your preferred trading style.

Minimum Deposit

SG Global FX doesn’t specify any minimum deposit requirements. In certain cases, brokerage firms may not even have one. Depositing enough money to buy the smallest permissible lot size, in itself, would suffice.

Deposit Methods & Costs

You can use a credit/debit card or bank transfer to fund your SG Global FX account. There aren’t any fees on inbound transactions, but keep in mind that your bank or credit/debit card issuer may have their own policies. Just as importantly, if your deposited funds are in a different currency than the one on your trading account, the transaction is adjusted based on the exchange rate during that time. You might be able to use other methods (such as online payment apps or checks) if they follow certain restrictions or regulatory requirements. Contacting the broker about these details would be the best way to learn more.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

When you deposit money, keep in mind that SG Global FX will only send your withdrawals to the same source. Funds deposited through a bank wire, as an instance, can only be withdrawn and transferred to that specific account. While the website doesn’t tell us what the fees are (if any), withdrawals that are made to a bank or debit card that use a different currency than the one on your SG Global FX account will be adjusted based on that day’s exchange rate.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

This broker doesn’t outline how long withdrawals take, but they do note that credit/debit card transfers are processed much quicker than bank wires.

Bonuses & Promotions

While SG Global FX doesn’t have any currently ongoing bonuses or promotions, they do offer these incentives on a regular basis. More specifically, the broker will award account holders with cash credits that they can use to trade. However, in order to withdraw these funds, traders must open/close positions that meet a certain minimum volume requirement. When you lose money on your trades, the losses are deducted from your original deposit and not the bonus, unless your traded volume reaches the specified level needed to convert the credits into a cash balance.

Educational & Trading Tools

The PAMM services are designed to help new traders make decisions based on the input of experienced advisors. They can access the trading methodologies and recommendations of other market participants. After that, beginners make buy/sell choices accordingly and follow the methods of profitable traders. Other than that, no educational or trading tools are offered on SG Global FX’s website. Nonetheless, because this broker gives you access to the MT4 platform, there are plenty of valuable resources that SG Global FX’s account holders can enjoy. On MT4, you will find an endless array of technical indicators, charting timeframes, custom graphic tools, and research reports, along with live newsfeeds that cover the at-large global markets and specific currency pairs or assets. Moreover, MT4 offers one-on-one customer support and advisory sessions with experienced account managers.

Customer Service

Even though the broker’s main office is in Malaysia, they have a separate address for customer support and inquiries, which is located in Singapore (150 Kampong Ampat #06-01, Singapore 368324). Other than that, you may contact customer service via phone or email.

Phone: +65-62818039
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

Opening a paper account is done through SG Global FX’s website, so is registering a live one. After that, you can immediately start trading fake money on MT4 while working with live market prices and real-time conditions. Many people believe that the demo is only for beginners who want to practice their trading methodology before exchanging actual funds. In reality, though, even seasoned professionals with years of experience can benefit from a demo.

If you are used to MetaTrader 5 (MT5), which is the newer version of MT4, the paper account helps you make that transition smoothly and without risking losing your real money because you used the wrong tool or order type. To give a couple of additional examples, a swing trader that wants to learn how to open and close positions during the same session can try out different intraday strategies and define a proven approach before they put real money on the line. The same would apply to a forex trader that wants to diversify their philosophy by encompassing other instruments, such as commodities.

Countries Accepted

SG Global FX is registered with Malaysia’s Labuan Financial Services Authority, the body that regulates and oversees the markets in the country. Their website is also available in Thai and Chinese, which indicates that this broker serves traders in the East Asian region. However, they also work with account holders from all over the world. SG Global FX’s website advises traders to check their local regulations and to contact customer service to see if the broker’s offerings are available in their country. In some places, like the United States, exchanging commodities, futures, and other types of assets must be done in a way that complies with certain legal requirements, which may restrict access to these markets.

Conclusion

To summarize, this broker’s main pros are as follows: Traders use a highly sophisticated and reliable platform; SG Global FX accepts deposits from banks in many countries; The firm has cashback bonuses and a PAMM trading tool for beginners; Demo accounts are easy to open and can benefit different types of traders and; Their services are available on a global level. The downsides, on the other hand, are: Only 1 account type is offered; Margin calls are somewhat restrictive; There are no current bonuses; Educational and trading tools are limited and; Regulatory requirements on traders from certain countries may apply. Meanwhile, SG Global FX’s website offers little or no information about the leverage, spreads, commissions, available forex pairs, and minimum deposit requirements.

Having said all that, because this broker utilizes MetaTrader 4, account holders who are looking for trading and educational tools can easily find valuable content through the platform. This includes news alerts, custom charts, and access to support or mentoring. However, SG Global FX’s customer service team is also easy to contact and traders can get help in multiple languages. Moreover, the firm lets you transfer money from and to your financial institution regardless of where it is located. Nonetheless, this broker doesn’t offer a lot of details about withdrawal fees or transaction processing times. The same applies to their assets. We know that, in addition to forex pairs, SG Global FX gives account holders access to stock market indices and commodities, but a list of the specific instruments that are offered isn’t available on the website.

In short, when examining SG Global FX’s pros and cons, traders must evaluate them based on their personal trading philosophy and approaches. An account holder that uses a lot of leverage or buying power may find the margin call level to be restrictive, but those who value fast order execution times will appreciate the broker’s offerings. Equally as important, since there are plenty of missing details about the spreads, commissions, and other features, contacting customer support will help you get a clearer and more comprehensive picture.

VIP Way Zone is a globally present forex broker that also offers cryptocurrencies, commodities, and indices. In business since 2012, the firm’s main mission is to assist and serve beginners who are new to the financial markets. Perhaps most noteworthy, each of VIP Way Zone’s account types comes with a dedicated account manager who offers ongoing support and mentorship sessions to traders. In fact, this broker has two analytical teams: One that specializes in technical analysis and another group that focuses on the fundamentals. While VIP Way Zone’s website has certain details that are missing, this article covers all the aspects that interested traders need to know about the firm.

Account Types

This broker has 5 different account types. Mini, Standard, and VIP are designed for retail traders, while Fully Managed and Premium Fully Managed to cater to large investors that want a financial specialist to oversee their portfolio. However, all 5 types still retain access to a personal account manager. Mini only gets one call per week with the specialist, but Standard and VIP will have an introductory one-on-one session and ongoing customized support.

Mini Account:
Minimum Deposit: $250
Spreads: NA
Commission: NA

Standard Account:
Minimum Deposit: $5,000
Spreads: NA
Commission: NA

VIP Account:
Minimum Deposit: $10,000
Spreads: NA
Commission: NA

Fully Managed Account:
Minimum Deposit: $25,000
Spreads: NA
Commission: NA

Premium Fully Managed Account:
Minimum Deposit: $100,000
Spreads: NA
Commission: NA

Unfortunately, VIP Way Zone doesn’t offer details about the spreads or commissions online. Apart from that, all accounts (except for Mini) are offered a financial plan, risk management strategy, support from a personal analyst, access to webinars, and expedited transaction times. Nonetheless, opening a Mini Account still enables you to trade through utilizing advanced and reliable software.

Platforms

Strangely enough, no information about the platform that VIP Way Zone utilizes is available on their website. In most cases, though, forex brokers will work with either MetaTrader 4 (MT4) or MetaTrader 5 (MT5). While the latter is a more modified version, both of the MetaTrader platforms come with valuable tools and resources, including technical indicators, several chart timeframes, live news feeds, and more.

Some brokers may use their own platform, but this is very rare. Having said all that, VIP Way Zone does mention that the platform that they use doesn’t require you to download any apps or software. Instead, account holders may trade directly from their browser. Yet, since this option is available on both MT4 and MT5, the information doesn’t give us any hints as to which of the two platforms this broker uses.

Leverage

VIP Way Zone doesn’t outline details about leverage or buying power.

Trade Sizes

No information about the minimum lot size, margin calls, or stop out levels is available on this broker’s website.

Margin Call: NA
Stop-Out: NA

Trading Costs

Nothing is mentioned about trading fees, either. However, across the brokerage industry, there are three types of trading costs: Commissions, spreads, and swaps. Not all firms will charge traders commissions, especially if the spreads are high. Some, however, still do, especially if they offer a low or 0-pip spread. Since VIP Way Zone’s website only includes limited information about both of these fees, it is difficult to tell which approach this broker follows (i.e whether they charge you spreads or commissions).

Nonetheless, traders should always remember that overnight positions will come with a swap fee, which accounts for the interest on holding a given currency or pair. This expense is out of any broker’s hands. The interest is set by the central bank of any currency’s home country. If VIP Way Zone offers an Islamic account, they most likely charge a fixed swap fee that is not related to the interest rate.

Assets

This firm gives you access to almost 180 financial instruments, but they are not listed online, either. However, we know that VIP Way Zone is a forex broker that also allows account holders to trade cryptocurrencies, commodities, indices, and stocks.

Spreads

No information about the spreads is available on the broker’s website.

Minimum Deposit

The required deposits are $250, $5,000, and $10,000 for the Mini, Standard, and VIP Account, in that order. Traders that have a larger amount of capital, namely $25,000 and $100,000, may open a Fully Managed and Premium Fully Managed Account, respectively.

Deposit Methods & Costs

One of VIP Way Zone’s best offerings is its wide selection of payment methods. This broker will let you deposit funds through traditional means (VISA, MasterCard, and wire transfers), alongside electronic payment systems (CloudFlake, Neteller, Sofort Banking, Skrill, Qiwi Wallet, and Neteller). The fees, however, aren’t mentioned on the website. Most of the time, brokers don’t charge account holders for depositing funds.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Similarly, transaction fees are not outlined on the website. Some firms require you to pay a fee when you withdraw money while others don’t. If this is an important feature to you, contacting customer support will help you get more information.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Even though VIP Way Zone doesn’t mention how long it takes to withdraw money, they offer all account types (apart from Mini) a “rushed withdrawal” option. Many brokerage firms will process debit/credit cards and electronic payments (such as Neteller and Skrill) instantly. Since VIP Way Zone accepts these transaction methods, transfers will most likely be processed instantly (whether inbound or outbound). Meanwhile, the website doesn’t tell us how long it takes to deposit or withdraw money through the Mini Account, either.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are no ongoing bonuses or promotions, at least as far as the information on the website is concerned.

Educational & Trading Tools

VIP Way Zone’s account holders will have access to analytical videos about the market (updated daily), economic calendars, chart signals, news updates, and articles that summarize important events. In addition, all account holders can work with a dedicated specialist. This broker’s team has over 5 years of experience in the financial markets. Their availability depends on the account type that you choose. As previously mentioned, Mini can only get one review or mentorship session per week, while the other accounts enjoy more access to customized support features.

Customer Service

You can get in touch with the broker 24 hours per day by either sending them an email, giving customer support a call or filling out a form on the website. You may also visit their office or send them a letter (VIP Way Zone’s address is: Company Complex, Ajeltake Road, Ajeltake Island, Majuro, Marshal islands MH 96960)

Phone: +44330058 2602
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

A demo account is a great way for beginners to test different techniques and define their trading strategy before they start risking real money. In fact, since this broker mostly caters to new traders, you can almost certainly open a demo though them. Even if this isn’t the case, both MT4 and MT5 will let you register a fake/paper account to practice with.

Countries Accepted

VIP Way Zone is headquartered in the island country of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. It is located in the Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. Given that the Marshall Islands have a relatively lax regulatory environment, this broker can serve traders from all over the world. However, equally as important, their services may not be available in all countries, especially those that heavily regulate commodities and cryptocurrencies. This is another feature that interested traders should contact customer support to inquire about.

Conclusion

The obvious downside to this broker is that their website doesn’t highlight important information about trading conditions and account features. More specifically, the leverage, spreads, commissions, margin calls, stop-out levels, and trade sizes are lacking in detail. If you are considering this broker, inquiring about this should be key, especially when it comes to areas that are important to your trading strategy. For example, frequent traders will care mostly about commissions.

However, those that have a large amount of capital may not be impacted by these fees as much as they would from the spreads. Otherwise, VIP Way Zone has a wide selection of accounts that cater to retail traders and passive investors. They also provide you with almost 200 different financial instruments, a variety of trading tools, and a large number of transfer methods. Just as importantly, account holders get dedicated one-on-one support and consultations while customer service is available 24 hours a day.

In short, even though this broker doesn’t clarify important details, they make up for that through an enhanced and individualized customer support experience.

Alongside access to different forex pairs and trading tools, this broker offers plenty of money management services, including overseeing clients’ portfolios and providing investment advice. As a straight-through processing (STP) broker, xPartners works with multiple liquidity providers to ensure that account holders can quickly execute orders and buy/sell at desired prices.

While the broker is registered in Cyprus, its offerings are available across Europe and the world. Whether or not xPartners suits your needs depends on the type of trader that you are. For example, if you are looking for access to all types of forex pairs (including exotics), then this brokerage firm has plenty to offer. The list of their other financial instruments is just as expansive as their currency selection.

Similarly, if you want to trade through utilizing a state-of-the-art platform, then xPartners excels in that area. Their partnership program and educational content can also be appreciated. Having said that, traders that rely on buying power and low spreads may think twice about xPartners, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the broker’s positive aspects don’t outweigh its cons. To help you make an evaluation, we put together all the important details and information that traders who are considering xPartners need to know.

Account Types

XPartners offers one account type. Meanwhile, there isn’t information about whether or not you have the option of opening a swap-free Islamic Account.

Minimum Deposit: $250
Spreads: From 3 pips
Commission: NA

When you first fund your account, the transaction must be sent as a wire transfer. However, after that, traders can choose between several payment options that we will discuss in this review.

Platforms

Through this broker, account holders trade on the MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platform. It is available on all devices, including desktops (MacBooks and Windows) and smartphones (iOS and Android). MT5’s main advantages include fast order execution times, user-friendly tools, a large selection of technical indicators, and live news updates. Additionally, every trader can work with a dedicated account manager on an individual level. This includes beginners who need guidance and experienced traders that are trying to learn how to best use MT5’s different tools and order placement methods.

Leverage

xPartners main downside is their very restrictive buying power of 30:1. In general, brokerage firms’ leverage can reach up to 500:1, some will even give traders 1000:1 in buying power. Even though xPartners leverage is very small, account holders can request to increase it. In turn, this broker will award experienced and risk-averse traders with 100:1, but no more than that in buying power.

Trade Sizes

The standard trade sizes, where 1 lot equals 1,000 of the base currency, are available on xPartners.

Margin Call: 100%
Stop-Out: 50%

This broker doesn’t automatically liquidate your positions at the margin call. In fact, they take no action apart from sending you a notification that your balance is below the margin call level. When it hits the 50% stop-out point, on the other hand, xPartners automatically closes all your trades. Just as importantly, when a margin call is issued, traders can only access it through their MT5 dashboard.

Trading Costs

On their website, xPartners doesn’t specify what their commissions are. They may even be nonexistent. Either way, this broker still charges you other trading fees. First, their relatively wide spreads can be hefty. Second, there are overnight interest fees on positions that aren’t closed at the end of the trading day. The swap amount depends on the currency that you trade, the economic conditions in its country, and what the central bank’s interest rate is. Keep in mind that xPartners will triple their swaps on Wednesday to account for weekends (where the fees aren’t incurred because the markets are closed). Tripling the rate on Wednesday is a standard practice that many brokers follow.

Assets

xPartners provides you with access to forex pairs, commodities, indexes, and stocks. They have over 60 currencies, including exotics like the Polish Zloty, Swedish Krona, and South African Rand. This broker also offers 25 commodities, putting them ahead of most of their competitors in this aspect. Undoubtedly, commodity traders will appreciate the fact that, alongside gold, silver, and oil, they can access aluminum, coffee, corn, nickel, and soybean CFDs (and more). xPartners’s indices are also very competitive, with about 15 available. The list includes the US indexes, alongside those of major European and Asian countries. Furthermore, this broker offers stocks from different markets across the world.

Spreads

While xPartners’s asset selection is one of their strongest features, the spreads aren’t. The average, industry-wide, is between 1 and 3 pips, but this broker’s spreads start from 3 pips. Some major pairs, such as the AUD.CAD and AUD.NZD, are at 20 pips. However, keep in mind that xPartners likely doesn’t charge any commissions, which may outweigh the large spread (depending on your trading style).

Minimum Deposit

To open an account, traders must fund their portfolio with $250 or more. After that, they can deposit a minimum of between $100 to $250 (based on their preferred method) per transaction.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The three options are bank transfer, credit or debit card, and Dotpay. Bank wires have a minimum of $250 in a single transfer, while each of the debit or credit card and Dotpay transactions must be $100 or more. There is no maximum, apart from a $10,000 cap on debit/credit cards. Perhaps most importantly, there are no fees on any transfers, both deposits, and withdrawals.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Traders can only withdraw money through a bank wire transfer. The same $250 minimum applies to outbound transfers.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Unfortunately, no information about transaction times is available on the website. This applies to both withdrawals and deposits. In most cases across the industry, debit and credit card transactions, as well as electronic payments, are transferred instantly or on the same day. Bank wires, on the other hand, may take between 1 to 3 days or more. However, interested traders should inquire about this by contacting the broker due to the lack of details online.

Bonuses & Promotions

xPartners has a ‘Tied Agent’ promotion that is available to traders in the EU. More specifically, the Tied Agent program is tailored towards investment advisors and firms that manage money on behalf of their clients. As a Tied Agent, your role is to refer potential account holders to xPartners and help them get registered. After that, Tied Agents would make trades and execute orders through this broker. The purpose of the promotion is to enable traders to offer the same competitive features and services that xPartners has.

In turn, a Tied Agent’s clients will access the fast order processing timeframes, different trading tools, and advanced charting features that both the broker and MT5 provide. Meanwhile, the Tied Agents, themselves, will receive support 24 hours a day and they may utilize the in-depth analytical content that xPartners’s experts prepare.

Educational & Trading Tools

Under each asset class page, xPartners’s website provides introductory guidelines about how these financial instruments are exchanged and the available tools that enable you to enjoy an efficient trading experience through this broker. Equally as important, xPartners offers tutorial webinars that cover essential aspects that traders need to master, regardless of their level of experience. The webinars go over psychological management, price analysis techniques, the best ways to read technical signals, and more. Traders who are interested in these webinars or would like to get additional information are encouraged by xPartners to contact customer service.

Customer Service

This broker’s team can be reached via phone calls, emails, and live chat.

Phone: +357 2505 5701 (general inquiries) and +357 25056498 (webinars and tutorials).
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

A demo account is essentially a portfolio with fake/paper money. It has access to the exact same forex pairs, financial instruments, trading conditions, and quotes that traders work within a live environment. The purpose of the demo is to allow you time to prepare yourself for trading actual funds. This can be done in one of two or three ways. First, any beginner who never participated in the markets should define their strategy and try different approaches to the demo. After that, they become well-prepared to exchange and risk their real money.

Second, many account holders, whether they are beginners or experienced ones, may have never traded certain instruments (such as CFDs) in the past. Again, the demo is there to help them learn about these markets and assets without the hassle of putting actual funds on the line. Third, some traders may not be familiar with MT5, especially if they are used to the platform’s older version, MetaTrader 4 (MT4). Because of this, you can open a demo directly through MT5 and familiarize yourself with its tools and order types before you actually start trading.

Countries Accepted

xPartners is registered with Cyprus’s regulatory authorities and they offer services to traders in other EU states. No geographical limitations are listed on the broker’s website. In fact, even the United States, which normally restricts trading CFDs and other financial assets, is listed as an option on the account registration form. However, if your country is not specifically mentioned on xPartners’s website, you should contact customer service and ensure that their services are available in your location.

Conclusion

First of all, the fact that xPartners utilizes the MT5 platform, in itself, makes this broker good enough to many traders. Even though the initial deposit must be made through a bank wire transfer, the $250 minimum is relatively small and allows many traders to easily access xPartners’ features. Apart from that, transfers (not including the first deposit), can be made through 1 of 3 methods. Perhaps more importantly, this broker doesn’t charge any fees, whether you transfer money in or out of your account. However, you can only withdraw funds through a wire transfer and no information is available about how long it takes to process transactions.

Account-holders may pick between over 60 forex pairs to trade, including both majors and exotics. Additionally, xPartners has a competitive selection of 25 commodities, 15 indices, and shares of companies that are exchanged in the American, Asian, and European markets. The trading conditions, though, are a two-sided sword. Firstly, this broker’s spreads start from 3 pips, which is undesirable and larger than the bid/ask gap that most of their competitors offer. Yet, some traders are willing to overlook that because, more likely than not, xPartners doesn’t charge any commissions.

The leverage is very small and the maximum buying power is only 30:1. Professional and experienced traders could request more leverage, up to 100:1, but this is a minimal number since many other brokerage firms will give you a maximum of 500:1. Nonetheless, trade sizes are relatively flexible on xPartners and account holders only get a notification at the margin call level. Most of the time, brokers may close some or all of your trades when it falls below the margin requirement.

xPartners offers diversely educated and trading tools, such as webinars that all types of traders can appreciate. The tutorials cove risk management, psychological discipline, and other in-depth aspects that will help you achieve a successful and profitable trading experience. Lastly, this broker’s Tied Agent promotion allows money managers to offer both MT5 and xPartners’s tools and features to their own clients. Additionally, Tied Agents make commission profits when they trade through their clients’ accounts.

Do the pros outweigh the cons? At the end of the day, that’s for you to decide.

If you are looking to trade without having to deal with solicitors or endless sales emails, AM Broker may be the right firm for you. While they have been in business for about 10 years, this brokerage company recently started to focus on catering to the modern trader’s needs. In other words, AM Broker prioritizes technology, innovation, and easy online tools that enable you to transfer money, place orders, and manage your account through only making a few clicks. In this article, we will cover all of the competitive and advantageous features that AM Broker has. This includes the different account types, various promotions, in-depth educational content, and more. Read this article to find out if AM Broker can suite your needs and whether or not it’s available in your country.

Account Types

AM Broker has 3 types of accounts. Traders also have the option of adding Islamic features to their account, regardless of which of the three types they choose. Users should keep in mind, though, that AM Broker will close their account if their account balance remains at $0 for a period of 30 days or longer. In other words, this broker is more suitable for active traders who consistently engage in buying or selling multiple contracts per day.

Retail:
Minimum Deposit: $100
Spreads: From 0.6 pips
Commission: None

Professional:
Minimum Deposit: $1,000
Spreads: From 0 pips
Commission: $7 per lot

Institutional:
Minimum Deposit: $100,000
Spreads: NA
Commission: NA

The spreads, commissions, and minimum deposits are outlined for the Retail and Professional Account. AM Broker’s Institutional Account, however, doesn’t have any rules or established trading conditions. Instead, they negotiate the leverage, margin call, assets, spreads, commissions, and other details on a one-on-one basis with traders. In many ways, brokerage firms do this so that they can customize their account holders’ portfolio features. For example, traders whose strategy revolves around utilizing buying power are mostly concerned about the spread (the difference between the bid/ask prices), especially because of the large amount of capital they exchange.

Those who rely on automated/high-frequency trading robots, on the other hand, prefer to avoid commissions. Just as importantly, the broker may want to assess the experience and risk-averseness of traders who apply for an Institutional Account. Giving a volatile or beginner a large amount of buying power can wipe out their entire balance if the market goes against them, especially when they already have the $100,000 or more needed to open an Institutional Account.

Platforms

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is one of the most popular and sophisticated platforms in the world. It is utilized by day/swing traders and long-term investors, alike. Moreover, MT5 offers industry-leading fundamental and technical analysis tools. Users can access an economic calendar, aggregated live news feeds, and reports from global sources, alongside other fundamental instruments. As far as technical analysis is concerned, MT5 will let you monitor 100 different charts at once.

Traders can choose between 21 timeframes to view (such as 4H, 1H, 30M, …etc.) and 80 technical indicators to examine. Moreover, you can program your own trading algorithm that automatically buys/sells a forex pair if it meets your pre-established conditions. Perhaps most importantly, traders can access MT5 on their Windows desktops, Macbooks, iPhones, and/or Android smartphones. You manage your account (including opening or closing positions) on any device and from almost all parts of the world, regardless of your location.

Leverage

AM Broker’s leverage depends on the account type, the default currency, the size of the currently open positions, and the traded asset. For instance, an account holder whose current trades (including the leverage) is worth the equivalent $7.5 million or less can enjoy the maximum access to buying power (500:1). The 7 major forex pairs on AM Broker enjoy the largest amount of leverage. They are AUD.USD (Australian Dollar), EUR.USD, NZD.USD (New Zealand Dollar), and the USD against each of the British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Japanese Yen, and Swiss Franc.

If a trader’s currently open positions exceed $7.5 million (or the equivalent in euros), the leverage declines to 200:1. It goes down again at $10 million and $12.5 million to 1:50 and 1:10, respectively. Other instruments, namely the CFD contracts of stocks, indexes, and commodities have more restricted leverage because these assets’ prices tend to move much faster than forex pairs. Lastly, Retail and Professional account types both enjoy up to 500:1. Yet, the buying power of the Institutional may depend on the trader’s strategy and balance.

Trade Sizes

You can open positions that are as small as a micro lot (0.01 lots or 1,000 in the base currency). In fact, the volume on each of the three account types can be adjusted to include a minimum of either a micro lot or a mini lot (0.1 lots or 10,000 in the base currency). AM Broker’s standard lot is 100,000 of the base currency, which is in line with the larger industry’s trade sizes.

Moreover, even though AM Broker sets a maximum amount of lots per position, users of all three account types can buy/sell as many contracts as they like by breaking up each trade in smaller portions. For example, you want to trade 30 EUR.USD lots but the maximum is 10 per position. You can still open 3 different positions, with each of them being 10 lots in size, in order to exchange 30 lots.

Margin Call: NA
Stop-Out: 50% (Retail and Professional Account), undisclosed (Institutional Account)

AM Broker’s website doesn’t mention anything about margin calls. In certain cases, firms may only have a stop-out level and not include a margin call. Nevertheless, account holders’ margin requirements on AM Broker are directly related to the leverage (which varies across different currencies and other assets). You have the option of adjusting your leverage and buying power directly from the user dashboard.

If your account reaches 50% of the margin requirement, it hits the stop-out level. In those cases, AM Broker would close the largest losing trade(s) and bring back the balance to above 50% the margin requirement. Many traders prefer this approach to overseeing their entire positions closed out, which is what most brokers do at the stop-out level.

Trading Costs

There are three main fees that traders typically incur: Spreads, interest (on overnight positions), and commissions. Spreads (the difference between the bid and ask prices) are 0 pips if you open a Professional Account. Yet, this may only be the case when it comes to major forex pairs. The Retail Account, on the other hand, starts at a 0.6 pip spread. This varies from one currency to another, but the spreads are directly tied to the actual market quotes and are not fixed. A list of the live bid/ask rates can be observed on AM Broker’s website. As mentioned earlier, the spreads, commissions, and swap fees that the Institutional Account pays are negotiated with traders on an individual basis.

Those who open an Islamic Account don’t incur the swap fee when they keep a position open overnight. This is because certain religious beliefs prohibit engaging in interest-rate related activities. If you plan on utilizing the Islamic features, bear in mind that you may still incur a fixed, non-interest fee. Otherwise, the three account types require you to pay an interest overnight. The amount depends on the economic conditions and central banking policies of the currency that you are trading. Just as importantly, swaps are not charged over the weekend. Instead, these fees are tripled on Wednesdays to account for Saturday and Sunday’s swap costs.

The Retail Account doesn’t incur any commissions on trades. This applies to forex pairs, indices, and commodities. However, the Retail will charge you $0.01 per share when you trade a stock CFD contract. The Professional Account, on the other hand, has to pay $7 on every forex or commodity CFD lot that they trade (keep in mind that the standard lot size of different assets is not the same as forex pairs). Moreover, the Professional comes with a $3 fee per traded index contract. Only the Retail Account has access to stocks.

Assets

You can trade forex pairs, commodities, market indices, shares, and ETFs through AM Broker. For that matter, this firm provides you with almost 100 different currencies. In most cases, brokers will offer around 40 pairs or, if they’re more competitive, up to 80. To put it shortly, AM Broker’s 100-currency list is incredibly advantageous. Meanwhile, account holders can also buy/sell different types of commodities, including precious metals (gold and silver) and energies (Crude and Brent oil). The indices include each of the three major U.S indexes (the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq), as well as those of European markets (like the UK’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX 30).

Similarly, you can also trade ETFs that track market indices or commodities. Perhaps most noteworthy, AM Broker will give you access to the stocks of almost 300 different companies that are traded in markets from around the world. ETFs, shares, commodities, and indexes are exchanged as CFD contracts. All account types have access to these commodities and indices (alongside, of course, the available forex instruments). However, you may only trade shares or ETFs through a Retail Account. Professional, on the other hand, doesn’t entail these instruments. When it comes to Institutional, the accessible assets are not stated on AM Broker’s website. Just as with other features, the firm will negotiate this on a one-on-one basis with its clients.

Spreads

All traders must remember that different currencies and assets have their own spreads. Having said that, some brokerage firms may offer a fixed, non-changing spread while others have a variable one that is tied to the live market prices. AM Broker doesn’t charge the Professional Account any spreads, but Retail seems to have a floating rate that starts at 0.6 pips. However, the actual market prices may be higher and lower than that during volatile and stable conditions, respectively.

Minimum Deposit

Traders must fund their account with at least $100 for the Retail Account, $1,000 for Professional, and $100,000 for Institutional. Apart from that, AM Broker doesn’t specify a minimum or maximum size per deposit.

Deposit Methods & Costs

To access your deposit options, traders must go to their account dashboard after signing up. AM Broker’s website doesn’t include any information about transfer fees or methods, apart from the fact that they accept bank wires.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

No withdrawal methods or fees are mentioned, either. However, AM Broker seems to prefer that traders use the same method to withdraw money as they did to deposit it. While costs are unspecified, users who transfer funds in a different currency than their account’s default one will have their money converted at the current market prices. For example, a trader from Japan with a USD-based account will have their Japanese Yen converted to the US Dollar upon depositing and withdrawing their capital.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

AM Broker’s website doesn’t state how long it takes for withdrawals to go through. However, they do note that transfers may be held for up to 5 days when there are missing or unverified documents about the account holder.

Bonuses & Promotions

We found that AM Broker has some of the best bonuses and promotions on the market. First, if you’re not a frequent trader and regularly leave your funds inactive, AM Broker will re-invest that money on your behalf. In fact, they even guarantee that each trader gets a 12% annual return from these passive investments. Additionally, they will give you a 25% bonus when you first open an account.

When it comes to partnership opportunities, AM Broker has a variety of offerings that suit different types of traders. The notable ones include an introducing brokers promotion (where you earn money for referring other traders to the firm), employment as a local representative, and franchising opportunities. Last, but certainly not least, you can earn up to $2,200 (2,000 euros) per client through AM Broker’s affiliate marketing program.

Educational & Trading Tools

This broker will soon start offering online courses and video seminars. In the meantime, whether you have the Professional, Retail, or Institutional type, your portfolio comes with a Professional Account Manager that provides you with one-on-one training sessions. They also help traders understand how to use and take advantage of the different tools on the MT5 platform.

When it comes to their resources, AM Broker offers an economic calendar, technical analysis signals, research reports, and a blog. Moreover, they also have a competitive and advantageous robo-trading tool. To be specific, traders can create their own automated trading algorithms without learning how to code. Instead, the firm’s software will do that for you, while also providing account holders with room to test their formula and make adjustments.

Customer Service

AM Broker is headquartered in the UK, but they also have two physical locations in Kingstown, the capital of the Caribbean island country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Their email address and phone number are universal. Traders from all over the world can use them to contact customer support.

Phone: +44 2036704699
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

Before putting their real money at risk, beginners and traders who are unfamiliar with MT5 can open a demo account. It gives them the time and space that they need for trial-and-error and testing out different techniques. While the demo’s initial capital is $10,000, traders can easily and instantaneously increase their account’s paper money online. Similarly, the demo is only valid for 30 days, but you can extend that period and use your paper account for a longer amount of time.

Countries Accepted

Strangely enough, even though AM Broker is headquartered in London, the firm’s services are not available to traders in the UK. In addition, those who live in Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, Turkey, and the United States can’t open an account. Mainly, this is because of local restrictions on trading certain assets and registration requirements.

Conclusion

Certainly, the pros of AM Broker’s features far outweigh the cons. First, their three different account types all have competitive and lucrative tools. For a start, their spreads are incredibly low or nonexistent. While the brokerage industry’s spreads tend to range between 1 and 3 pips, AM Broker doesn’t charge these fees unless you have a Retail Account. Even if you do open one, its spreads start at a really low rate of 0.6 or, at times, even less than that.

Their bonuses and promotions aren’t only diverse, but they are highly lucrative and more generous than what the rest of the industry has to offer. After all, not many firms can compete with a 25% bonus upon opening an account.

Their assets and trading tools are also various, especially because AM Broker will let you trade up to 100 different forex pairs. However, their commissions and lack of clarity about deposits/withdrawals are the only downsides to going through this broker. If you plan on regularly transferring money in or out of the account, we recommend contacting customer service to inquire about transaction fees and processing times.

Apart from that, there are many other features that users from all over the world can appreciate. Yet, AM Broker is not available in several countries and areas, including the US, UK, and Europe. If you don’t live in these locations, though, this firm’s offering and features may be more than worth it.

Klimex offers plenty of advantageous features, including a wide variety of educational tools and lucrative bonuses. However, traders who follow certain styles might prefer to examine certain offerings in more detail. To find out if this broker is suitable for you, read this article and make a determination.

Account Types

This broker offers two account types. However, apart from the spreads, almost no other details are mentioned about the differences between the two types. In some cases, one of them may act as added-on features instead of a separate account altogether.

Standard:
Minimum Deposit: $100
Spreads: From 1.6 pips
Commission: Unspecified

Raw:
Minimum Deposit: NA
Spreads: From 0.4 pips
Commission: Unspecified

Platforms

You can trade through MetaTrader 4 (MT4) from any location and on any device (including MacBooks, Windows desktops, iPhones, and Android). The platform provides you with sophisticated graphing features, detailed charts, and tools to code your own automated trading algorithm. Users can download the phone app to enter/exit trades, manage the portfolio, and access the same features that are available on the desktop software. Lastly, Klimex’s account holders look at other people’s trades and copy the positions of their most profitable peers through the MyFXBook platform.

Leverage

The maximum leverage that Klimex gives account holders is 500:1. However, the more funds that you deposit, the lower your bower power becomes. Brokers do this to control risk. For example, a trader that has $100,000 in their account could access up to $50 million in capital with a 500:1. leverage. Losing just 3% of it would equal $1.5 million (or the account balance times 15). In many cases, people can’t afford to bring back a -$1.5 million portfolio to a positive balance and the broker incurs these costs. Therefore, many of them will limit your buying power when your account’s capital goes up.

Klimex will lower leverage to 400:1 after a trader’s balance reaches $10,000. Similarly, it goes down to 300:1 when the account size is $50,000. This is followed by another decrease to 200:1 in leverage if your balance is $100,000 or more. At times, it can even be as low as 1:1. In some cases, though, Klimex may increase your leverage. New users would fill out an application when they first open an account and existing clients can submit the same request. To access the initial leverage of 500:1, traders must fund their account with $500 or more in capital.

Trade Sizes

First, when the margin call level is reached, Klimex will send you a warning or notification through your account’s dashboard. After that, if the balance hits the 50% stop-out point, the broker will automatically start closing your positions, starting with the trade that incurred the biggest losses and up until your account has enough funds to satisfy the margin requirements.

Margin Call: 80%
Stop-Out: 50%

One unique thing about this approach is that, in general, brokerage firms may start liquidating losing positions at the margin call. At stop-out, meanwhile, all trades are closed, regardless of how much losses/profits were accumulated. What makes Klimex stand out is that they only liquidate what’s needed to bring your account back above the stop-out, as opposed to entirely closing every trade.

Trading Costs

Klimex’s website doesn’t mention anything about how much the commissions are and how swap/interest fees are charged on overnight fees. Their spreads, however, are minimal.

Assets

Alongside currencies, Klimex account holders can trade commodities and stock indexes. Altogether, the broker offers access to 36 forex pairs, 7 commodities, and 7 indices. The currencies include majors and exotics, with examples of the latter being the Chinese Yuan (CNH, offshore), Singapore Dollar (SGD), and Swedish Krona (SEK). Amongst the indices, only 2 of the major 3 (the Dow Jones and S&P 500) are included in Klimex’s list.

However, you can trade the USD Index (which tracks the value of the greenback), alongside the Australian (S&P/ASX 200), British (FTSE 100), German (DAX 30), and Japanese (Nikkei 225) market indices. The indexes are traded as CFD contracts, so is Crude Oil. Other commodities, however, are available on the forex exchanges. Gold and Silver contracts are traded against each of the US dollar (XAU.USD/XAG.USD) and the Australian Dollar (XAU.AUD/XAG.AUD). Platinum contracts are only tied to the USD, though.

Spreads

The most popular forex majors have a spread of between 0.4 to 0.6 pips. In certain cases, it can be as low as 0 pips, but some majors have a larger than 1-pip spread.

Minimum Deposit

To open an account, traders have to deposit $100 or more. However, to access leverage, their balance must be above $500.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Klimex accepts credit/debit cards, bank transfers, and digital payment methods. You can deposit funds via Visa, MasterCard, and wire/SWIFT transfers. Additionally, the broker serves China UnionPay users and works with banks all across China. The other two deposit methods are Neteller and Skrill. Most transfers take 1 to 2 days to process. Klimex’s website doesn’t mention anything about fees.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Unfortunately, nothing is said about withdrawals or related fees, either.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The broker’s website boasts its fast withdrawal of funds, but without going into any details. Clicking on the ‘Withdraw’ link only redirects one to the login page. As such, we assume that only existing clients are privy to withdrawal details.

Bonuses & Promotions

Klimex will give you a 10% bonus on your deposit, regardless of whether you are a new user or an existing account holder. To receive this bonus, traders must deposit a minimum of A$1,000 (Australian dollars) into their account (which qualifies them for a 10% trading credit of A$100). However, the maximum credit/bonus is A$20,000, which is applicable to A$200,000 balances. Initially, the bonus is added to your account as a trading credit only. After that, A$2 of that credit is converted to cash (which you can withdraw) for every traded lot as a rebate.

For example, a trader deposits A$10,000 and receives A$1,000 in credits, which they can put towards buying or selling forex pairs. The next day, the trader opened and closed a position with 10 lots. In turn, they receive A$20 (A$2 per lot) rebate in cash, which may be withdrawn from the account. The remaining A$980 credit can only be used for buying/selling activity, but each traded lot converts another A$2 into actual cash.

This promotion has plenty of positive sides to it. The most obvious one is that Klimex will pay the rebate immediately after the position or lot is closed. Traders don’t have to wait until it becomes available for withdrawal. Just as importantly, the A$2 per lot rebate offer doesn’t expire. You can take advantage of it right after you make the minimum deposit or, conversely, wait a few months or a year before doing so.

Similarly, the broker doesn’t set a required trade size that is tied to the bonus. In other words, whether they buy/sell 1 lot or 50, account holders still receive the same A$2 a lot rebate. Similarly, the cash may be withdrawn once it becomes available (when the trade is closed). You don’t have to wait for the position to settle and there is no holding period on the funds.

Apart from the bonus and rebates, Klimex has two other promotional programs for affiliates and partners. The Introducing Broker (IB) Rebate Program is for account holders who work for an investment firm or manage the FX portfolios of their clients. Through opening a company or client account on Klimex, an Introducing Broker receives a commission every time their referral or firm’s customers make a trade. The reward is paid in the form of a rebate.

Meanwhile, the Affiliates CPA Program is for any user that wants to market the broker’s services and incentivize friends or family to open an account. Affiliates are also paid a commission on each trade that their contact/referral makes. Klimex doesn’t specify the per trade commission or rebate that Introducing Brokers and Affiliates receive. Instead, the broker encourages those who are interested in their partnership programs to contact their consultants and discuss the offerings with them.

Educational & Trading Tools

Just as with most brokers, Klimex provides traders with an economic calendar, which highlights important events from around the world that have an impact on specific currencies’ prices and the larger forex market. However, this broker’s website only gives an overview of what the calendar entails and how traders can use it when they make decisions. This helps beginners understand the role and importance of economic calendars. Nonetheless, the tool itself is not displayed on Kilmex’s ‘Economic Calendar’ page. Most likely, existing account holders will be able to view it through their MT4 accounts.

In fact, alongside the calendar, the MetaTrader platform enables you to use several other tools, such as a variety of technical indicators, account history datasets, and automated trading robots. Meanwhile, the Multi-Account Manager Solution (MAM or PAMM) is especially beneficial for account holders that manage other people’s forex portfolio. In fact, when combined with the IB promotion, financial firms and advisors are well served by this broker. When it comes to retail and professional traders, most (if not all) of Klimex’s tools can be accessed on MT4.

Beginners, however, may not find them to be that resourceful, especially since Klimex doesn’t offer any educational material or content. Yet, the MT4 platform is still rich with tutorials, forex introductory programs, and other educational content. Novice traders who are interested in this broker should inquire about the type and scope of MT4 studying/learning courses that they can utilize after opening an account with Klimex.

Customer Service

The broker has an office in George Town, the capital city of Cayman Islands (located in the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Nicaragua). They also have a physical presence in Sydney, Australia. However, Klimex’s website and social media accounts are unclear as to which of the two locations is their primary one or the headquarters. Either way, the broker has a universal email address that traders can contact them through, regardless of where they live. Their phone number, on the other hand, is Australian.

Phone: +61 2 8235 2788
Email: [email protected]

Another way to get in touch with Klimex is through completing the form on their ‘Contact Us’ website page. The customer service team is available 24 hours during weekdays, making it ideal for traders from across the world who live in different timezones. Additionally, support is available in English, Filipino, Mandarin, Spanish, and Thai.

Demo Account

You can test your strategy or learn how to use MT4’s different tools through the demo account. In turn, this allows you to familiarize yourself with the markets or MetaTrader (depending on your level of experience) before putting your real money at risk. Signing up for the demo is easy and the registration form is very simple and straightforward. After that, users can start trading with paper money under the same market conditions, quotes, and spreads as live account holders.

Countries Accepted

Despite that Klimex is only 400 miles south of Miami, Florida, traders in the United States cannot open an account with this broker. Similarly, the firm has an office in Australia and mainly uses the AUD as its main currency, but, strangely enough, traders in that country also can’t register an account with them. Residents of Afghanistan, Burma, Egypt, and North Korea can’t use this broker, either.

Conclusion

From its multiple promotional programs to the educational content and trading tools, Klimex truly encompasses different users’ needs. Having said that, we found the main downside about this broker is how unclear certain information is. if you make frequent transfers or prefer to retain large leverage alongside a sizable portfolio, you may want to contact customer support for inquiries about transfer fees, processing times, and buying power limitations.

Whether you are a new trader or have several years of experience, Prizm FX’s services and features are tailored to meet your needs. Based out of London, the United Kingdom, this broker gives you access to a verity of trading accounts, financial instruments, and lucrative promotions. These offerings are even more advantageous when combined with the sophisticated platform that Prizm FX’s account holders trade through. Just as importantly, while their leverage isn’t that high, you can enjoy a risk-free and technologically efficient trading experience. In this article, we go over all that you need to know about Prizm FX’s accounts, buying power, assets, transfer methods, and more.

Account Types

Prizm FX offers 4 different types of accounts. While the spreads are relatively large, account holders pay no commissions on trades (regardless of which type they choose).

Starter:
Minimum Deposit: $100
Spreads: From 2 pips
Commission: $0

Expert:
Minimum Deposit: $1,000
Spreads: From 2.2 pips
Commission: $0

Pro:
Minimum Deposit: $5,000
Spreads: From 2.1 pips
Commission: $0

Prime:
Minimum Deposit: $10,000
Spreads: From 2 pips
Commission: $0

Apart from the deposit requirements and spreads, the main difference between the account types is the leverage. Other than that, they all share the same trade sizes and each account can be managed through a single platform.

Platforms

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is perhaps the most advanced and up-to-date platform in the forex industry. Prizm FX’s account holders can manage their portfolio through their Windows, MacBook, iPhone, or Android device. The Windows desktop and smartphone apps may be directly installed from the broker’s website. If you want to trade on a MacBook, you must first download certain software in order to install MT5. However, the software can be found in Apple’s online store and it doesn’t cost any money to download it.

On MT5, traders may integrate a wide range of technical indicators, view charts in different timeframes, and program their own automated trading algorithm. Equally as important, every currency pair and asset has its own live news feed, alongside an aggregated information stream that covers at-large economic and market-related topics. In short, MT5 is ideal whether you prefer the fundamentals or technicals.

Leverage

Starter and Expert have 200:1 and 150:1 in buying power, respectively. Pro and Prime, on the other hand, only have leverage of 100:1 each. To clarify, Prizm FX will lower your buying power when you have a larger account balance. This practice, however, is common and standard in the industry. Brokers prefer to limit the leverage that large accounts enjoy in order to minimize potentially hefty losses when the markets are volatile.

Trade Sizes

The smallest position that you can open on Prizm FX is a micro lot. To put that into perspective, the standard lot size is 100,000 units of the base currency. A micro lot is equal to 1,000 units or 0.01 the standard lot.

Margin Call: NA
Stop-Out: NA

This broker’s website doesn’t include information about their margin call and stop-out levels. Traders who plan on using a lot of leverage should inquire about this to ensure that the Prizm FX’s margin requirements are aligned with their strategy. To be specific, at the margin call level, brokers tend to have different rules. The most lenient ones will inform you that your balance reached the margin call, without taking any further action.

Others may close some of your losing trades to bring the account back above the margin-call level. The strictest firms will close all your trades at the margin-call to limit your losses. Each broker’s policy towards the stop-out depends on their margin-call approach. Some might close all of your trades and others only liquidate the biggest losers.

Trading Costs

We found that Prizm FX’s trading costs have their own positive and negative aspects. Needless to say, their $0 commissions (applicable to all account types) is a more than a desirable feature. However, their spreads, which start at 2 pips, are very large. The broker doesn’t mention anything about the availability of swap-free Islamic accounts. Either way, traders should keep in mind that almost any broker will charge them interest on positions that remain open overnight.

While Islamic account incurs no interest, they still have to pay a fixed fee on these trades. In most cases, swap costs are out of the broker’s control. Economic conditions and the interest rate of your traded currency are what determines the overnight fee. For Islamic accounts, interested traders should contact the broker to see if this option is available and learn what the fixed overnight fee is.

Assets

Prizm FX has a very competitive and encompassing selection of financial instruments. First, there are more than 60 forex pairs. Just as importantly, this broker will let you trade 15 market indexes and commodities (namely gold, silver, and oil). Most of the time, commodities and indices are exchanged as CFD contracts. However, gold and silver may be paired against the USD, just as currencies are. For example, gold’s symbol is XAU.USD. If you are a commodities trader, inquiring about these specifications would be a good idea. All of the assets and contract types are available on MT5.

Spreads

Even though Prizm FX has plenty of superior features, the spreads aren’t one of them. Amongst the brokerage industry, spreads range between 1 pip and 3 pips. Anything below 1 pip is considered competitive while spreads that are above 3 pips are well-above average. For all 5 account types, the difference between the bid and ask prices on Prizm FX is 2 pips or more. In turn, this gives the broker a disadvantage over its competitors.

Minimum Deposit

To open an account, you must deposit $100, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 for Starter, Expert, Pro, and Prime, respectively.

Deposit Methods & Costs

You can fund your Prizm FX through a debit/credit card, bank wire transfer, Neteller, or Skrill. However, the broker’s website doesn’t list the costs associated with each deposit method. In most cases, firms don’t charge account holders for depositing money, but some of them still do.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Traders can also withdraw funds through a bank transfer, Neteller, Skrill, or Visa/MasterCard. Just as with deposits, transaction costs aren’t outlined on the broker’s website.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

No information about this can be found online. Since transfer fees and processing times are a delicate part of the trading experience, interested users should inquire about this and ensure that the transaction times and costs are convenient for them.

Bonuses & Promotions

You can become a Prizm FX partner by participating in one of their 3 promotional programs: Affiliate accounts, Introducing Brokers (IB), and White Label. Affiliate and IB promotions are similar because they allow traders to earn commissions when they refer someone to this broker. There are certain key differences, though. Affiliate programs target traders that have a large number of followers on social media or a strong professional network. Affiliates earn a commission revenue every time their referral opens/closes a position. IB is more for users who manage several accounts (usually for their clients).

By joining Prizm FX, an IB can open portfolios for each of their clients. Meanwhile, the broker will provide them with administrative support. In other words, an IB can act as an independent office/business partner that offers its clients the features, account types, tools, and financial instruments that are available through Prizm FX. After that, IBs earn commissions whenever trades are executed on their clients’ portfolios. Lastly, the White Label program is similar to IB. However, White Label mostly targets banks, medium-to-large institutions, and financial consultants.

Educational & Trading Tools

Prizm FX doesn’t have any tutorials, educational materials, economic calendars, or other trading tools on their website. Having said that, this broker prides itself on enabling traders, both beginners, and seasoned veterans, to work with market professionals for guidance and support. Additionally, account holders can still access the valuable variety of features on MT5. First, the platform has plenty of trading guides and manuals for beginners, alongside one-on-one mentorship from an experienced account manager or trader. Equally as important, you can utilize many technical indicators, access several accounts from one screen, and take advantage of other trading resources on MT5.

Customer Service

There are three ways to get in touch with Prizm FX’s customer support department: Via phone, by sending an email, or by filling out a contact form on the website. Traders who live in the United Kingdom may also visit the broker’s office location in London.

Phone: +1 (872) 981 765
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

Before opening a real account and putting your money at risk, you may want to look into a demo. This is the case regardless of a trader’s experience or level of expertise. For example, many market participants are used to the still active and globally popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4). In fact, while MT4 is an older version of MT5, it still has its own unique and useful trading tools. Because of this, if you mostly relied on MT4 in the past, a demo account gives you an opportunity to familiarize yourself with MT5’s different order types, resources, and trading methods.

When it comes to beginners, a demo lets you try out different strategies and approaches by trading fake/paper money. After that, you will develop a proven methodology by the time that you start to trade your real funds. When opening a demo, there are a couple of things that traders should consider, especially because Prizm FX has limited information on the website.

First, choose a demo that doesn’t have a short timeframe. Many brokers will only keep paper accounts active for 30 to 60 days. Second, make sure that the quotes and conditions on the demo are the same as the ones on a live account. This is most likely the case when you open one through MT5.

Countries Accepted

Prizm FX doesn’t note any country restrictions. However, most brokers that offer CFD contracts don’t work with American traders because the US government heavily regulates these types of financial instruments. Similar restrictions may apply in Canada, Belgium, and France. Yet, this may not be the case when it comes to Prizm FX. As always, traders should consult with the customer support department to make sure that the services are available in their location or country, alongside any regulatory restrictions that may apply.

Conclusion

First and foremost, before opening an account, traders should ensure that the transfer methods and costs suit their needs, especially because these details are limited on Prizm FX’s website. For example, if you frequently transfer funds, then large transaction fees are far from ideal. Meanwhile, if you prefer liquidity, fast processing times should be your priority. Apart from that, this broker has different types of trading accounts and promotions. Above all else, each portfolio type and the promotional program is designed in a manner that allows traders to pick the choice that fits their goals and market methodologies.

Commissions are nonexistent, which is always a plus. However, Prizm FX’s spreads are far from ideal and certainly above the industry average. As far as education is concerned, you can work with experts in a one-on-one setting for help with managing your account or (if you are a beginner) navigating through the markets and defining a winning strategy. Moreover, MT5 has its own selection of trading tools and educational materials. Lastly, but certainly not least, customer support can be contacted through a variety of methods.

In short, Prizm FX’s pros are its expanded selection of assets, the utilization of MT5, zero commissions, and diverse account types. The negatives include wide spreads and relatively low leverage. Apart from that, not a lot of information about margin calls, the stop-out level, and transfer methods is included on the website. Because of this, interested traders should contact the broker and inquire about these features, especially to determine whether or not they are aligned with your strategy and preferences.

In business since 2006, Mubasher Financial Services (Mubasher or MFS in short) is a Middle East-based broker (headquartered in Bahrain) that offers thousands of financial instruments. The firm doesn’t just have a highly expanded list of forex pairs, but they also enable account holders to directly trade the stocks of companies that are listed in over 25 countries’ exchanges, alongside other assets.

Above all else, Mubasher’s standard account gives you access to all of these financial instruments. Equally as important, the firm offers its own trading platforms while allowing traders to also use more popular ones. Mubasher has investment portfolios and services, where their financial experts manage the funds of clients. The different types of portfolios cater to each investor’s preferences, ranging from aggressive and risky strategies to a more preserved approach to the market.

However, most of these offerings are tailored towards those who are looking for long-term growth. When it comes to intraday and swing trading, Mubasher’s diverse and various tools will certainly suit all types of retail market participants. How? Read this Mubasher review and find out.

Account Types

While investors can choose between different portfolios, each with its own features and projected returns, traders only have a standard account type. Nonetheless, it still gives you access to forex pairs and other assets that are exchanged all over the world, ranging from the US stock market to those in the Middle East. You can also choose one of six options as the account’s default currency, including the US Dollar, UAE Dirham, and Saudi Riyal.

Minimum Deposit: NA
Spreads: From 1.8 pips
Commission: NA

The minimum deposits, spreads, and commissions for forex pairs, specifically, aren’t outlined in much detail on Mubasher’s website. However, they do have this information when it comes to stocks and indices.

Platforms

This broker directly offers two platforms, as opposed to utilizing third parties like MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). They do, however, also offer MT4 to account holders. The MubasherTrade Pro platform allows you to trade all types of instruments from a single trading desk. Their portal is user-friendly and immediately gives you access to markets from all around the world. The platform also equips traders with in-depth analytical tools, including charting features, volume monitors, calculators, detailed datasets, and others.

The second platform that this broker offers is MTrade Plus, which is available on Chrome, Firefox, and Safari browsers. Its main features include live news alerts, research reports, and a wide array of technical indicators, starting with 11 different moving averages. Just like the broker’s website, MTrade Plus is available in both Arabic and English. MT4, meanwhile, is arguably the most popular trading platform in the world.

Mubasher offers access to it for free (although this is usually the case, regardless of which broker you choose). The MT4 platform has its own custom features and trading tools, which match the two that the broker provides. MT4 is known for its fast order execution timeframes, dedicated customer support teams, and reliable research reports.

Leverage

No information about the broker’s leverage or buying power is on the website.

Trade Sizes

Mubasher offers the standard lot sizes, which are 100,000 of the base currency per single lot.

Margin Call: No information
Stop-Out: No information

Trading Costs

Similarly, Mubasher lists the commissions related to trading different financial instruments, but forex fees aren’t mentioned. However, since this broker is a Sharia-compliant firm, their accounts retain Islamic features. More specifically, they charge no interest/swaps on overnight trades, but there may be a fixed fee (which is typically the case with Islamic accounts). Mubasher calculates the rollover swap fee daily at 3 pm EST. Trades that are kept open at that time will be considered overnight positions and incur the related fee.

Assets

Mubasher’s website notes that they offer almost 2,500 different asset symbols. Remarkably, over 130 forex pairs are amongst them. This, by far, is a much larger selection than what other firms will offer and only a few brokers in the industry can match it. All major currencies are paired against each other. Uniquely enough, you can trade pairs that include two exotic currencies, and not just those that are tied against a major one. For example, account holders have access to DKK.HUF (Danish Krone vs. Hungarian Forint), NOK.SEK (Norwegian Krone vs. Swedish Krona), PLN.CZK (Polish Zloty vs. Czech Koruna), and others.

There are also additional exotic currencies that Mubasher offers, amongst them, are the Thai Baht (THB), the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD), and the Romanian Leu (RON). In short, this broker’s forex selection is more inclusive and expanded that most of its competitors. However, traders should keep in mind that exotic currencies are more volatile than majors, especially in a pair that includes two of them. Most exotics also have a large spread that can be 50 pips or higher.

You can also trade stocks in markets from all over the world. These include Middle Eastern ones (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Egypt, and others), European companies (such as those exchanged in Germany and the UK), and East Asian corporations (traded in the markets of Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and more). You may also trade US stocks that are listed in the NYSE and Nasdaq.

Mubasher will give account holders access to options, ETFs, and others. In comparison to other forex brokers, this firm, by far, has the most expansive asset selection. Even brokers that have commodities, futures, and indices will only offer them as CFD contracts, instead of enabling traders to directly participate in the exchanges of different financial instruments. Furthermore, stock brokerage firms are restricted to a few countries, while Mubasher lets you trade equities of global companies through their standard account.

Spreads

The bid/ask gap starts from 1.8 pips. Several currencies enjoy this spread, including the AUS.USD, EUR.USD, GBP.USD, NZD.USD, and others. This gap between the bid and ask prices is about average. In most cases, brokers will have a spread that is between 1 and 3 pips.

Minimum Deposit

Even though the exact amount isn’t specified, Mubasher requires you to firstly make a minimum deposit and, from there, maintain a balance that is above a certain level.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Whether an account holder uses MubasherTrade Pro or MTrade Plus, they can initiate deposits through their user dashboards. They would specify the transferred amount and the source. The only deposit method available on Mubasher is a bank transfer. However, traders that want to fund their account through sending a check should first contact the broker. The website makes no mention of what the deposit costs are. Typically, brokerage firms don’t charge traders when they fund their account.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals are also initiated online and must be sent to your bank account. No other methods are available. This broker also doesn’t specify if they have any fees on outbound transfers.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

No information about this is included on the website, either. Most of the time, though, bank transactions (both deposits and withdrawals) can take 1 to 3 days and, at times, 5. The latter is only the case when the bank or broker needs additional information or details. Keep in mind that Mubasher is based in the Middle East and they serve traders from all corners of the world. Because of this, certain regional or local restrictions on transfer times may apply, depending on where you’re sending money to or from. However, the firm’s international presence means that they are likely to be experienced in swiftly handling potential problems or delays and their team will be familiar with different countries’ transaction requirements.

Bonuses & Promotions

Mubasher partners with ADS Securities (ADSS) and gives their clients access to a cashback promotion. For each lot than an ADSS account holder trades, they receive a $3 reward. After the cash starts adding up, traders can redeem it for a smartphone, Bluetooth speaker, or a power bank. This promotion, according to the website, expired in September 2018. Interested traders should inquire if it is still ongoing.

Educational & Trading Tools

The broker’s platforms (MubasherTrade Pro and MTrade Plus) are rich with charting features, live newsfeeds, technical indicators, and many more offerings. Moreover, the same can easily be said about MT4, which is highly popular for a reason. When it comes to Mubasher’s website, they offer four categories of research services that traders can utilize during live market sessions. First, the Real-Time Advisory (RTA) feature sends account holders recommendations to buy specific assets or forex pairs, alongside the target price, stop-loss placement, and instant notifications when the trade reaches one of these levels.

Second, Mubasher has more than 15 technical signals that alert traders when it is time to open or close a position. Third, through the MubasherTrade Pro platform, you can filter and construct a custom set of tools, including news alerts, technical signals, relevant research reports, and RTAs that revolve around your current trades or forex pairs that are on your watch list. Fourth, this broker’s researchers and analysts provide account holders with fundamental reports that cover important and market-moving developments. These research reports are updated and published throughout the day, covering news stories and fundamental events from all across the globe.

Customer Service

Customer service operates based on the local time in Bahrain, which is 3 and 7 hours ahead of the GMT and EST timezones, respectively. Support is available from Sunday to Thursday, which are weekdays in Bahrain and the greater region.

Phone: +97 317 300 849 and +97 317 556 139
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

Initially, the broker will give you $100,000 in paper (fake) money to practice with before putting actual funds on the line. It seems, however, that the demo is only available on the MT4 platform. This is important because, alongside beginners who want to test different strategies on a fake account, professional traders should also get comfortable with a new platform through the demo.

If you are used to MT5 instead of MT4, as an example, the demos allow you to learn about the latter platform’s tools and features. However, because MubasherTrade Pro and MTrade Plus are exclusively offered by this broker, new account holders are likely to have never used it before. Crucially, they should make sure that a demo is available to help them learn how to use the platform before risking their real money.

Countries Accepted

Since Mubasher gives you access to financial instruments that are traded in many markets across the world, there are barely any country limitations on utilizing their services. In fact, they are even available to US-based traders. Many brokerage firms that offer CFDs and similar contracts are restricted in the American markets. Mubasher, meanwhile, lets you directly participate in different assets’ exchanges, such as by trading commodity futures or options instead of CFDs. In turn, this minimizes regulatory restrictions and enables the firm to work with traders from around the globe. However, Mubasher still gives account holders access to CFD contracts, which is another plus in itself.

Conclusion

At first glance, this broker’s bonus (only offered to ADSS clients) might make Mubasher look like an exclusive firm, even more so when we compare the various investment portfolios to the firm’s single retail trading account. In reality, though, Mubasher is one of the most inclusive and resourceful firms in the brokerage industry. Through its only account type, you can trade over 130 forex pairs and hundreds of stocks that are exchanged in global markets. They only accept wire transfers for both deposits and withdrawals.

However, considering the firm’s international presence, they are more than capable of working with financial institutions from around the world and their team understands the transaction processes of banks in different countries. Having said that, Mubasher’s trading conditions are somewhat mixed. Because they offer thousands of financial instruments, the broker doesn’t give forex pairs as much attention as they should receive.

To clarify, no information about commissions and other forex-related aspects are made available on the website. Yet, because Mubasher is an Islamic broker, most of their overnight swap fees are fixed and not tied to interest rates. Meanwhile, the spreads on forex pairs start from 1.8 pips, which is about average when we compare this broker to other firms.

Other pros to opening an account with Mubasher include access to over 2,500 assets that you can trade. Futures and CFDs are amongst the options. Similarly, there are 4 incredibly valuable trading tools that are at account holders’ disposal. Alongside trade recommendations, you can customize different aspects that shape your trading experiences, such as technical indicators, news alerts, and notifications regarding the latest research reports. Perhaps most importantly, Mubasher will give you access to 3 different platforms, which is unheard of. In fact, this broker even has its own 2 platforms: MubasherTrade Pro and MTrade Plus. Each of them has advantageous, customizable, and unique offerings.

Moreover, you can also install and trade through the globally reputable MT4 platform, which is famous for its accurate pricing and fast execution of buy/sell orders. However, because the former 2 platforms are exclusive to this broker, you should make sure that the demo is available through them. After all, any trader should get comfortable with a new platform before putting their money on the line. Customer support is available in two different languages, including Arabic and English, making Mubasher an even more inclusive and widely reliable broker.

As a newly founded firm, JDC Markets has been offering unique services that focus on combining technology with individualized support to each trader and account holder. Since 2016, this broker has worked with retail traders, beginners, and long-term investors from around the world. Above all else, opening an account with JDC Markets is easy, especially because of their small minimum deposit that almost any trader can make.

From there, account holders can access a wide selection of forex pairs and other financial instruments. Moreover, JDC Markets’ spreads, trading fees, and platform will also impress most traders. The question is, do these positive aspects make up for the firm’s downsides, such as the limited leverage and narrow transfer methods? Read this article to find an answer to this question and more.

Account Types

JDC Markets only offers one account type. By making a relatively small initial deposit, traders can start exchanging forex pairs and other instruments that this broker makes available. It is important to note that JDC Markets doesn’t have a swap-free Islamic account.

Minimum Deposit: $100
Spreads: From 0.2 pips (2 points)
Commission: None

The obvious positive aspect of using this broker is that they have a very low and competitive spread. This is even more advantageous when we consider that JDC Markets doesn’t charge account holders any commissions on trades. Additionally, your default currency can either be the USD or the Euro.

Platforms

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is a state-of-the-art and sophisticated platform that forex traders from all around the world utilize. There are several features that make MT5 especially desirable. First, the platform’s tools and displays are incredibly easy to use. Second, their prices and order executions are both accurate and instant. Third, you can integrate many technical indicators and analyze several chart timeframes on the platform. Lastly, but certainly not least, all types of financial instruments are available on MT5. Above all else, you can download the platform on any device (including smartphones) or directly trade through your browser.

Leverage

Unfortunately, JDC Markets has a relatively restricted buying power. Major currency pairs have up to 30:1 in leverage, while exotics only come with a 20:1 buying power, which is the same for major market indexes (such as the US’s Dow Jones) and precious metals (gold and silver). Similarly, because of their more volatile and risky nature, other assets have an even lower buying power. If you trade commodities (other than gold and silver) or the indices of non-major countries’ markets, your leverage is only 10:1. Stocks’ only have 5:1 in buying power.

Trade Sizes

JDC Markets’s lot size is 100,000 units of the base currency, which is the standard measurement across the brokerage industry. The smallest position size that this broker will allow you to open is 0.01 lots, which is a micro lot or 1,000 units of the base currency. While the minimum trade size is in line with what the rest of the industry has to offer, JDC Markets will let you have up to 30 lots (3,000,000 in the base currency). This maximum trade size is a bit larger than most competitors will allow.

Margin Call: 70%
Stop-Out: 50%

This broker’s margin call policy is to close some or all of your trades in order to bring your balance above the 70% requirement. In most cases, brokers will first close your biggest losing trades until your funds surpass the 70% margin level. However, at the stop-out point, the firm immediately closes all positions in order to prevent you from incurring more losses or potentially having a negative account balance. As always, using margin to trade is very risky and account holders must be cautious when they utilize their buying power.

Trading Costs

Account-holders only have to pay the spread (the difference between the bid and ask prices). Other than that, JDC Markets will not charge you any commissions when you open or close a position. Through any broker, however, traders must pay a swap charge when a trade is kept open overnight. Because this interest expense is based on the economic conditions and central bank policies of the currency’s home country, swaps are out of brokerage firms’ control. Some of them may offer a swap-free Islamic account, which would incur a fixed expense that doesn’t fluctuate based on interest rates.

However, this is not an option through JDC Markets. Keep mind, nonetheless, that the swaps could be positive, such as when you short-sell a currency pair. In those instances, account holders earn money, rather than pay a fee, on overnight positions. For example, as of the time of writing this review, short GBP.NZD trades will allow you to earn revenues while long GBP.CHF positions also come with a positive interest rate. These figures, however, are subject to rapid changes, especially if a central bank changes its interest rate policy or unexpected events disrupt the markets.

Assets

More than 60 forex pairs are available through JDC Markets. The list includes both major ones and exotics. The most prominent examples of the latter are the Chinese Yuan (CNH), Czech Koruna (CZK), Mexican Peso (MXN), Norwegian Krone (NOK), Swedish Krona (SEK), and South African Rand (ZAR). Precious metals are also exchanged against the USD, with gold and silver’s symbols being XAU.USD and XAG.USD, respectively. Additionally, you can also trade oil and natural gas as CFDs or futures contracts.

Spreads

Undoubtedly, JDC Markets’s tight spreads are amongst the firm’s leading features. When it comes to brokerage firms, in general, the average difference between the bid and ask prices will range from 1 pip (at its lowest) to 3 pips. Anything above the latter is considered too high in comparison to the rest of the industry. As far as JDC Markets is concerned, their spreads start from a fraction of a pip, or a point. EUR.USD has a 2 point spread, which is equal to two-tenths (0.2) of a pip. Similarly, the difference between the bid and ask quotes for EUR.GBP is only 0.4 pips or 4 points. Even some exotic forex pairs have a very tight spread, including the USD.SGD (Singapore Dollar), which is at 0.7 pips (7 points).

Yet, despite the incredibly advantageous and tight spread on forex pairs, there are two things that traders must always keep in mind. First, the bid/ask variation is almost always going to be larger when you trade commodities or indices. Second, and maybe even more importantly, this broker has a floating/variable spread. In other words, it is subject to change based on the market’s conditions. Under normal circumstances, the spread is small, but it can get significantly wider when prices are volatile and during economic downturns.

Minimum Deposit

With an initial deposit of only $100, this broker is almost accessible to any type of traders, even those that don’t have tens or hundreds or thousands in trading capital. When it comes to transfers, the JDC Markets doesn’t specify a minimum requirement per transaction.

Deposit Methods & Costs

It doesn’t cost any money to fund your account, whether its the initial deposit or any subsequent transfers. However, JDC Markets will only accept bank wires and electronic payments (namely Skrill). MasterCard, VISA, and other methods are not available through this broker. However, their website does note that they plan on introducing more ways to transfer money in and out of your account. They encourage traders to regularly check for updates and announcements regarding this.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

You can use the same methods (Skrill and bank wire transfers) to withdraw money. The transfer fees, though, are not outlined on the broker’s website.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Outbound transfer processing times are not specified on the website, either. However, in most cases, transactions through ePayments, like Skrill, are instant. Bank wires, on the other hand, may take a few days to go through.

Bonuses & Promotions

There are no bonuses or promotions that are currently offered by JDC Markets.

Educational & Trading Tools

This broker has a forex glossary and FAQ section that is designed for beginner traders. In fact, the FAQ page benefits any person who is interested in opening an account with JDC Markets. It includes information about the documents needed to get started, deposit methods, and more. However, the FAQs also go over basic trading concepts, such as what a pip is, how leverage can be used, the different types of contracts, and more.

Similarly, if you are new to the markets, this broker has an alphabetically categorized glossary of key forex and trading terminology. You can use it to educate yourself and as a reference while conducting research or reading news stories. As a matter of fact, JDC Markets’s website even includes a section where they post news stories and market updates. However, the page is somewhat inactive and their latest article was posted in March of 2019, which is almost a year ago.

Nonetheless, whether you are a beginner or an expert, MT5 has valuable and rich resources that are unmatched. You can certainly utilize them even if JDC Markets’s educational content and trading tools don’t satisfy what you’re looking for.

Customer Service

JDC Markets is headquartered in Cyprus, an EU member state that is located in the Mediterranean Sea. You can mail them or visit their office by finding their address on the broker’s website. Otherwise, customer support can be reached via phone, email, or an online contact form. If you prefer to communicate with them through email, keep in mind that each department (such as customer support, new accounts, payments, …etc.) has its own email address. The list can also be found online.

Phone: +357-25-260900
Email: [email protected] (customer support) and [email protected] (to open an account).

Demo Account

A demo can benefit you in two ways: You can either practice new trading techniques or learn about MT5’s different tools. In most cases, traders open a demo account so that they can trade fake/paper money before they put their real funds on the line. Anyone who is new to MT5 or the markets, in general, can test and develop their approach through a demo account with a peace of mind. Just as importantly, demos retain the same live prices and market conditions that you would be exposed to when you open a real account.

Countries Accepted

This broker doesn’t work with traders in certain countries, namely the United States, Cuba, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and potentially others. As always, traders should always ensure that JDC Markets is available in their own country before opening an account. Moreover, check your local regulations or laws regarding trading CFDs and other financial instruments.

Conclusion

In short, the main pros of going through JDC Markets are as follows: A wide range of available forex pairs/financial instruments, an incredibly low spread (starting from fractions of a pip), nonexistent commissions, free deposits, an easy-to-open account, an easy-to-use platform, and a practical glossary/FAQ section that can be utilized during live market sessions.

Meanwhile, the main downsides are as follows: A very small leverage, limited transfer options, the lack of trading tools, and country restrictions. Having said all that, this broker is continuing to expand and improve its offerings. For a start, they plan on introducing new payment methods, making their inclusive forex and asset selection even more accessible and lucrative. Support is also reliable and can be contacted through a variety of methods. Even if the firm’s educational content doesn’t suffice, you can still get plenty of advice and consultations from both JDC Markets’s team and MT5’s experienced specialists. Moreover, opening an account and meeting the minimum deposit requirement is certainly doable.

Do the nonexistent commissions and incredibly tight spreads make this broker worthwhile, especially in light of their very constraining buying power? That depends on the type of trader that you are. Will having only two transfer options (bank wires and Skrill) cause liquidity problems? Your transaction frequency will determine that.
Is opening an account with JDC Markets worth it? That, too, should be based on your preferences and methodology. Nonetheless, this JDC Markets review certainly helps you answer these questions and many more.

CK Markets is a forex broker based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and boasts that they have over 1,500,000 clients in over 196 different countries. Some other statements that they make are that they are globally renowned, focused on the client, transparent and fair and easy and convenient. In this review, we will be looking at the service being offered to see if they really do live up to these claims.

Account Types

CK Markets have 2 different live account types to choose from. We will be taking a little look at what the requirements and features of these accounts are.

Standard Account: The standard account is the basic level account from CK Markets, it has an entry requirement of $100 and this gets you maximum leverage up to 1:500. The account must be in USD and use the MetaTrader 4 platform. There is no additional commission added to this account and spreads start from 1.3 pips. The margin call is at 40% and the stop out level is set at 20%. Plenty of assets available that we will look at later and there is a maximum lot size of 50 lots and a minimum of 0.01 lots. You may only have 200 trades open at once.

ECN Account: The ECN account has a higher entry fee with a minimum deposit requirement of $1,000, the base currency remains as USD and MT4 is the only trading platform available. leverage remains at 1:500 but now there is an added commission of $6 per lot traded and due to the commission the spread has reduced down to 0.2 pips as a starting level. Margin call has moved up to 80% and the stop out level has now moved to 50%. Minimum trade size remains at 0.01 lots but the maximum trade size has now increased to 100 lots and the maximum number of open trades is now 500.

Swap-free accounts are available but only for the standard account type, these accounts do not have swap charges for holding trades overnight and are instead charged an administration fee.

Platforms

As mentioned, there is only one trading platform available with CK MArkets and that is MetaTrader 4. The platform is provided in a variety of formats, including applications for mobile devices. Experience no 3rd party bridges while utilizing all sorts of trading strategies including scalping. Gain access to free EAs (Expert Advisors), as well as free Virtual Private Server (VPS) access2 using your MT4 account.

Leverage

The maximum leverage available with CK Markets is 1:500, this is true for both account types. When opening up an account the client can select what leverage they would like, once an account is open the leverage can be changed by contacting the support team, there much be no trades open at the time of making such a request. Note the possibility of leverage reduction, as outlined below.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes for both accounts 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. For the standard account, the maximum trade size is 50 lots and for the ECN account the maximum trade size is 100 lots, it should be noted that we usually do not recommend making trades larger than 50 lots as the bigger the trade the harder it is for liquidity providers and the market to execute the trades quickly without any slippage.

The standard account can have a maximum of 200 trades open at one time while the ECN account can have up to 500 trades open at one time.

Trading Costs

The standard account does not have any added costs apart from the spreads that we will look at later in this review. The ECN account has a commission of $6 per lot traded which seems to be about the industry-standard a the time of writing.

There are also swap charges which can be both positive or negative and are for holding trades overnight, these can be viewed directly within the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. You can also have swap-free accounts should you not be able to accept interest, if you have this sort of account, then an administration fee is added to the account instead.

Assets

The assets and instruments are divided into 6 different categories, the first being forex currency pairs, there are 59 in total and range from the majors, minors and exotic pairs. Pairs such as EUR/USD, NOK/SEK and USD/JPY are available to trade. The second category ar ethe metals, there are 5 in total including the usual Gold and Silver but then there are also others such as Palladium and Platinum.

Next, are the energies, 3 instruments in total which are Natural Gas spot, Crude Oil (Brent) and Crude Oil (WTI). There are then 11 different indices available to trade including the AUS 200, GER 30 and UK 100. Stocks are also present and there are 64 in total with eh likes of Apple, Google Inc, and Netflix, inc making appearances. The final category is the cryptocurrencies, there are 18 in total which is great to see as crypto trading is quickly becoming a major trading asset for both new and experienced traders.

Spreads

The overall spread quality that you get is based on the account type that you have, the ECN account will have spreads starting at 0.02 pips due to the added commission.

The standard account which is where spreads are mainly seen states that spreads start from 1.3 pips, however, when looking at the actual spreads, they seem to start closer to 2 pips. The spreads are variable which means that they move with the markets and when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often become much larger. It is also important to note that not all spreads are equal and different instruments will naturally have higher spreads as the EUR/USD pair will always have a different spread to the AUD/NZD pair.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit needed to open ana account is $100, this will get you the standard account, for the ECN account, you will require a minimum deposit of $1,000.

Deposit Methods & Costs

There isn’t a huge amount of choice when it comes to depositing methods with CK Markets, the usual suspects are present with bank transfers, Visa, MasterCard, and Maestro cards, both debit and credit are also available. In terms of e-wallets, there is only Neteller as an option. There are also a few local banking options for clients in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and China.

The good news is that whichever method you chose, there are no added fees by CK Markets, however, be sure to check with your own processor to see if they add their own transaction fees.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The exact same methods are available as withdrawal methods to the ones for depositing. The majority of methods state that they have no added commissions or fees, however, the Visa, MasterCard and Maestro sections simply state USD under the commissions/fees section so we are unsure of what that means as it could have just been a typo. As with deposits, be sure to check with your own processor just in case they add a fee of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The following statement is on the site “All Back office transfers are processed during standard business hours, i.e. 09:00-17:00 GMT +8, Mon-Fri.” however there is no additional information. Once a withdrawal has been processed, Neteller withdrawals should arrive within 30 minutes, bank transfers should take between 3 to 5 working days and car withdrawals should take between 1 and 5 working days to arrive in your account.

Bonuses & Promotions

There is a promotion section of the site, however, there aren’t any promotions when it comes to things like deposit bonuses and things like that, instead of one states about having no fees for deposits and withdrawals and the other is regarding the opportunity to get a free VPS. Having mentioned the free VPS, there isn’t actually any information on the promotion page on how to actually get one.

Educational & Trading Tools

There isn’t anything on the website in regards to education or any tools to help you trade better which is a shame as a lot of brokers these days are looking to add value by helping their clients become better traders. This FX broker does, however, offer free VPS service to all of their clients.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in contact with CK MArkets for whatever reason there are a few different ways of doing it, you can use the online web form to fill in your query and then you can expect to get a reply via email. There is also an email address to email them directly and finally, there is also a phone number should you wish to talk to someone directly. There is no mention as to the support team are online which is strange but we expect that they will be open during the days and most likely closed during the times that the markets are also closed over the weekend.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available with CK MArkets however there is little information regarding them in terms of how long they last or what the trading conditions with them. On the accounts page, it states that they are available but there is not a clear way of opening one.

Countries Accepted

The following message is displayed at the bottom of the CK Markets website: “Restricted Regions: CK Markets Ltd does not provide services to residents of the USA, Canada, Sudan, Syria, North Korea.”. If you are unsure if you are eligible for an account or not, be sure to get in contact with the customer support team.

Conclusion

There are plenty of trade possibilities to choose from when trading with CK Markets and the fact that they state that they have over 1,500,000 clients is impressive if true. The trading conditions are not anything special but they are also by no means the worst we have ever seen, the added benefit of the number of assets including cryptocurrencies along with the limited by free deposit and withdrawal methods can make CK MArkets an enticing choice. We will leave it up to you to decide if they are the right FX broker to trade with.

GTForex is an international foreign exchange broker based in Kingstown. Offering fast deposits and withdrawals, 24/5 support, excellent trading conditions, their company values are commitment, integrity, empowerment, innovation and trust & reliability, pretty much what every other broker also says. In this review, we will be looking at the services being offered by GTForex so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

GTForex offers 4 different trading accounts, however, the information surrounding them is a little limited, here is what we know.

Mini Account: The entry-level account needing just $10 to start, its trade sizes start from 0.01 lots and tick sizes are 0.0001, it has 24/5 customer support and uses the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.

Standard Account: Needing a minimum deposit of $1,000 the standard account comes with trade sizes starting from 0.01 lots and tick sizes are 0.00001, it has 24/5 customer support and uses the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.

Classic Account: Increasing the minimum deposit further, the account needs a deposit of at least $100,000, it comes with trade sizes starting from 0.1 lots and tick sizes are 0.00001, it has 24/5 customer support and uses the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.

Professional Account: The top-level account requires a deposit of $1,000,000, a little out of most of our ranges, this account gets you trade sizes starting from 1 lot and tick sizes are 0.00001, it has 24/5 customer support and uses the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.

Platforms

Just the one platform available from GTForex which is the ever-popular MetaTrader 4 platform, let’s see what it offers.

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.

Leverage

Information on leverage is strangely not available so we cannot comment on leverage at this time.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes depend on the account that you have, if you have a Mini or Standard account then the trade sizes start at 0.01 lots (known as a micro lot) and go up in increments of 0.01 lots. If you have a Classic account then the trades start at 0.1 lots (mini lot) and go up in increments of 0.1 lots. Finally, if you use the Professional account then the trade sizes start at 1 lot and go p in increments of 1 lot.

No information around biggest trade size, however, we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

The trading costs are not actually known, they are not listed on the website and so we can not comment on this section.

Assets

Tradable assets is another bit of information that is not present on the website, this is quite important info as potential clients will be looking to see which tradable assets there are before signing up.

Spreads

Just like the trading costs, this information is not available so we do not know what the spreads start at, we would assume that the higher the account the lower the spreads but we cannot confirm that at this point in time.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount required to have an account is $10, this gets you the mini account. If you wanted a different account then you will need a minimum deposit of at least $1,000.

Deposit Methods & Costs

It seems that the only method of depositing is through Nigerian local banks, so the broker is mainly aimed towards that demographic, details on fees are not present but will most likely be the transfer fee of the bank.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Just like depositing it seems that the only way to withdraw is through Nigerian local transfers, details on fees are not present but will most likely be the transfer fee of the bank.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The website states that it can take up to 5 business days for withdrawals to be processed, once they are processed they will be available within a couple of hours.

Bonuses & Promotions

It does not appear that there are any active promotions at the time of writing, if you are interested in promotions then we would suggest getting in contact with the customer service team to see if there are any upcoming promotions.

Educational & Trading Tools

There is a page detailing some events that you can go to in order to learn some of the basics, information on where they are is strangely not there. There is also a page about education, but very little information on how to actually get the education, a little confusing and disappointing.

Customer Service

Should you wish to get in contact with GTForex with your questions or concerns there are a number of different ways to do it. You can use their phone number to speak to someone directly, you can also use a number of different emails for info or support and there is also a skype username if you prefer using that platform. Finally, there is the usual online submissions form where you can fill in your query and expect a reply via email.

The support team is open 24/5 and is closed at the same time as the markets over the weekend and bank holidays.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available to use, you can fill in the form to get up and running, information on the demo accounts is scarce, there is no information surrounding what the trading conditions are like or how long they last for, in fact, when you select to open a demo account it takes you to a website called 4xcube, so GTForex may not have demo accounts of their own and instead use another brokers demo accounts.

Countries Accepted

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

Conclusion

There is far too much important information missing for us to be able to recommend GTForex as a broker to sue, vital information such as trading conditions and financial information is required to build confidence and trust, this is not there so, for now, we have to keep this short and say stay clear.

Exante is an international investment services company established in 2011 that offers global multi-asset financial services, including direct access to a wide range of financial markets in the US, European Union, and Asia-Pacific. Exante is licensed by two European authorities (MFSA and CySEC) to provide financial services to retail and corporate clients, including trading and investment. Their main values are to provide innovation, transparency, security, and quality. This review is intended to look at the services being offered to see if they live up to these values and so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

Exante is keeping things easy with just one account type for everyone. The account comes with a number of features such as cross-margin (using previous assets to leverage new ones), flexible terms in regards to 50% off commissions when trading larger volumes, a dedicated manager, transparent conditions, customization as you can request new instrument to trade and 24/7 customer support. A lot of the trading conditions are not mentioned on this page but we will look into them as we go through this review.

Platforms

Exante uses its own made trading platform rather than using someone else’s, here is what it offers.

The Exante platform makes use of the latest trends in the world of technology. It is perfect for traders, brokers, asset managers, and analysts. The Exante trading platform provides instant access to all financial markets and instruments available from a single multi-currency account. This means that any of the 150,000+ assets are only a couple of clicks away from you. The platform works on every device: trade on the web, from a desktop application on Windows, MacOS or Linux, or right from your iOS or Android smartphone.

Leverage

We could not find any information regarding account leverage and so, unfortunately, can not comment on it at this point in time.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes are based on volume and price rather than lot sizes, so in order to trade a micro lot (0.01 lots), you will instead need to trade the value of 1,000. There does not seem to be a limit to how much you can trade at once, there does not seem to be a minimum or maximum as we tested with 0.1 cents and also with 1,000,000 and all went through ok on the demo account.

Trading Costs

There is mention of commissions, however on the assets page they talk about commissions in relation to spreads, so it may be that there is a spread-based system rather than an added commission. We cannot say for sure though, there are added commissions on different commodities and funds such as Gold having a commission of 3 USD.

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

Update: Having tested the demo account, there seems to be a commission added to all trades, when trading 100 EUR there is a fee of 0.25 EUR added to the trade.

Assets

Plenty of assets and instruments are available from Exante, they also state that if you want a new asset added, to contact them and they will add it within 24 hours.

Currencies: Over 50 different currencies currently on offer, these include things like AUDUSD, EURJPY, USDCHF, and EURGBP.

Metals: Metals are also available with the likes of Copper, Gold, Silver, Palladium, and Platinum all being available to trade with Exante.

Futures: There are over 30 different futures to trade including the Chicago Board of Trade, Osaka Exchange, Hong Kong Exchange and Eurex Exchange.

Options: Instruments like the Australian Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange, and the New York Mercantile Exchange are available to trade.

Funds and Bonds: Funds and Bonds are also there to be traded, places like the European Government, US Corporates and Euronext Bonds are all available to trade.

Spreads

Spreads are kept pretty low, they are seen to be starting from 0.3 pips, the spreads are variable (also known as floating) so this means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 0.3 pips, other assets like USDCHF may start slightly higher, in this case, 0.6 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit is 10,000 EUR which can be done in a number of different currencies (see below). This is quite high for an initial deposit and could price out newer traders or lower volume traders.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Deposits an only be done via Bank Wire Transfer, they can be done in GBP, USD, JPY, EUR, CHF, RUB, SEK, CAD, HDK, MXN, PLN, CNY, NOK, SGD or AUD. There does not appear to be a deposit fee added by Exante, but be sure to check with your bank to see if they add a fee of their own.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals can also only be done via Bank Wire Transfer, withdrawals can use the same currencies of GBP, USD, JPY, EUR, CHF, RUB, SEK, CAD, HDK, MXN, PLN, CNY, NOK, SGD or AUD. There is a fee of 30 EUR, GBP or USD added to each withdrawal, also be sure to check with your bank to understand if they add any fees of their own on top of the Exante fee.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Exante aims to process withdrawal requests within one day of receipt of the request., You should then receive your funds within 3 to 5 business days depending on your banks’ processing times.

Bonuses & Promotions

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

Educational & Trading Tools

There doesn’t appear to be any education or additional trading tools available. Many brokers these days are looking into helping their clients become better traders through education and other tools so it would be nice to see Exante go a similar route.

Customer Service

The support team is available 24/7 which is great. There are quite a few ways to get in contact with the Exante customer service team, you can request a call back using the online form. There is also an email address if you wish to communicate that way, finally, there are a number of different phone numbers that you can use to get in touch, these are available from London, Amsterdam, Moscow, Saint Pietersburg, Kyiv, Almaty, Riga, Malta, Cyprus, Sofia, and Hong Kong, so wherever you are from you should be able to find someone to help.

Demo Account

Demo accounts are available, it can be accessed by clicking the demo account button and this will bring you to the WebTrader where you can test things out. The demo account has a value of 1,000,000 EUR, the other features of the demo account are unknown and we are not sure how long the demo accounts last, refreshing the page keeps all trades and history but we can not say how long it will last.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is present on the Exante website: “XNT LTD. does not provide services for citizens of certain regions, such as The United States of America.” If you are interested in an account but are unsure of your eligibility we would recommend getting in contact with the customer service team to find out.

Conclusion

Exante is a little different from your usual trading platform, they offer their services in a slightly different way moving away from the conventional lot system. Due to this, it can be a little confusing understanding of how things work but they actually function in much the same way. We could not work out if there was any leverage and the initial deposit is quite high potentially pricing out newer traders. Bank Wire Transfer is the only transfer method and there is, unfortunately, a hefty withdrawal fee. Exante seems to be aiming towards the more experienced traders, so if you are new, it may be better to look elsewhere.

GCI Online Trading is a foreign exchange and CFD broker which was founded in 2002. They have won a number of awards including Best Forex Broker Europe 2015, Best Forex Customer Service Europe 2015 and many more. With awards being won the expectations are set high for the service being offered, so this review will be looking into the services to see if they live up to the expectations and so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

The two account types on offer are based around the two trading platforms that are available, let’s take a look at what they are.

ActTrader Account: The account requires a minimum deposit of $500, its trade sizes are slightly reduced at 10,000 units per lot. It has currencies, equity indices, crude oil and metals available to trade, offers a robust multi-account management capability and uses ActTrader as its trading software.

MetaTrader Account: This account requires a minimum deposit of $500 to open, its lot sizes return to the normal 100,000 units per lot, the has currencies, equity indices, crude oil, metals and shares available to trade. It can have a choice of ECN or more traditional execution methods, uses the MetaTrader software and there is no dealing desk instant execution for currencies, there are also no requotes or delays.

Platforms

As mentioned there are two different trading platforms on offer so lets ee what then features of both are.

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

ActTrader: Trading on the most sophisticated and secure Forex software with GCI, and benefit from:

• Currencies, Gold, Crude Oil, Indices, and more
• 1 to 2 pip spreads in major currencies
• Unlimited charts and technical indicators
• 4% interest paid on your account balance
• Instant fills. No requotes or delays

Leverage

There is flexible leverage on offer up to 1:400, flexible leverage means it can be changed at any time as long as there are no open trades a the time of the request. The initial leverage can be selected when opening up an account.

Trade Sizes

Trade sizes start from 0.01 lots which are also known as micro-lote, they then 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 unknown however whatever it is we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage. There is also no note of the maximum number of open trades allowed.

Trading Costs

There are no additional commissions on any of the accounts that GCI Online Trading offer, all costs are built into the spreads. There are, however, spread charges, and these are interest charges that are incurred for holding trades overnight, they can be both negative or positive and can usually be viewed from within the trading platform of choice.

Assets

GCI Online Trading has broken their assets down into 4 different categories which are forex, commodities, indices, and stocks, we will outline a few examples from each.

Forex: Plenty of forex pairs to chose from, these include the likes of EURUSD, USDJPY, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, EURCHF, NZDUSD, USDZAR, USDMXN, CADJPY, USDINR, EURNZD, EURTRY and, JPYINR.

Commodities: A number of different instruments are available including Crude Oil (WTI), Gold (Spot), Silver (Spot), Copper (Futures) and, Brent Crude Oil.

Indicies: A few to choose from when it comes to Indices including S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow Jones, Russell 2000, FTSE 100, SPI 200 and, DAX 30.

Stocks: A whole host of stocks to choose from, there are North American shares, European shares and Asia-Pacific shares such as Amazon, Apply, Barclays, Tesco, Nintendo and, Sony.

Spreads

Spreads start from 1 pip, the spreads are variable (also known as floating) so this means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 1 pip, other assets like GBPJPY may start slightly higher, in this case, 4 pips.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum amount needed to open up an account is $500, this will get you any of the accounts of your choice. Once an account is open the minimum deposit disappears for any subsequent top-up deposits and any amount is ok.

Deposit Methods & Costs

The following methods are available for depositing along with their respective currencies and fees.

• Bank Wire Transfer – EUR, USD – Banks Own Fees
• Credit / Debit Card (Visa / MasterCard) – EUR, USD – No Fee
• Skrill – USD, EUR – No Fee
• Neteller – SUD, EUR – No Fee
• Perfect Money – EUR, USD, Gold – Perfect Money’s Own Commission

GCI is not adding any fees of their own, but be sure to check with your bank or processor to see if they have any fees of their own, especially when using Bank Wire Transfer or Perfect Money.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The same methods are available to withdraw with, for clarification, these are Bank Wire Transfer, Visa Credit / Debit, Mastercard Credit ./ Debit, Skrill, Neteller, and Perfect Money. There is no notice about any fees or lack of, so it is unknown if there are any added by GCI, whether there are or not, be sure to check with your bank or processor to see if they add any fees of their own.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The time it takes for processing is not clearly indicated on the website, would it would be within 48 hours though, at any rate, once the request is processed, depending on the method used it could take an additional 1 – 5 working days for your bank or processor to fully process the withdrawal and make the funds available.

Bonuses & Promotions

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

Educational & Trading Tools

There are a few different educational pieces available on the website, these include a section called Forex Education which goes over a number of different topics, giving brief outlines on how things work and how different tasks can be performed. There is also a currency converter should you wish to change once currency into another, live forex quotes to see where the markets are at any point in time, daily forex news outlining news event sand any potential effects they may have, an economic calendar detailing upcoming news and the effect it will have and, finally, trading signals, however, these have not been updated since 2018 so they are not the most accurate anymore.

Customer Service

If you need to get in contact with GCI you can do so in a number of different ways, there is a phone number to call and speak to someone directly, there are also a number of different email addresses available for different departments including general, introducing brokers, technical support, trading/dealing, account funding administration, and payment administration. There are also different email addresses established for the language you want to use such as English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese and Japanese. Finally, there is also a live chat to speak to someone that way.

The customer service team is open 24/5 and is closed over the weekends and bank holidays just like the markets are.

Demo Account

You can sign up to a demo account, the demo accounts come with a choice of MetaTrader 4 or ActTrader as its trading platform, leverage up to 1:500 and access to all available trading instruments. The main bit of information missing is in regard to how long the accountants, some brokers now put an expiration timer on the account to save server space but it is unknown if there is one here.

Countries Accepted

The following statement is present on the website: “GCI Financial LTD does not offer its services if you are a citizen or resident of any of the following countries: Afghanistan, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, North Korea, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria or the United States of America. This list is not exhaustive and we may in our sole discretion decide to discontinue or restrict our services in other countries at any time and without prior notice.”

If you are unsure then you should get in contact with the customer service team to find out if you are eligible or not.

Conclusion

GCI Online Trading offers some very competitive trading conditions, their spreads are very competitive for being non-commission based accounts, there are also plenty of assets to trade so you should always be kept busy. In regards to deposit and withdrawal methods, there are plenty of options available with no added fees for either depositing or withdrawing. All of these things make GCI seem like a tempting broker to pursue, but ultimately, the decision is up to you.

CrescoFX is a UK based foreign exchange broker and is a brand of Cresco Capital Markets. There isn’t a whole lot of information about them on the website, they state that they pride themselves in being able to offer their clients tailored services and innovation, seamless trading platforms and generally make it easy for their clients to succeed. We will be looking into the services to see if they live up to this and so you can decide if they are the right broker for you.

Account Types

There appears to be just the one personal account on offer from CrescoFX, the information is set out in an easy to read format on the website so we have been looking through all pages of the site in order to find the information related to this account., Due to this we are not putting it all in this section and instead, all sections of this review are relating to this one available account.

Platforms

CrescoFX uses two different trading platforms, one is the well known MetaTrader 4 while the other is their own custom made platform, let’s see what they include.

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.

Cresco Trader: Cresco Trader offers its users a unique opportunity to benefit from 100% automatic execution, competitive and reliable pricing as well as advanced risk management tools. In order to optimize the trading experience, the platform offers fully customizable layouts, advanced trading tools, and award-winning charting as well as a mobile application. Some features include 100% automated execution, trade using unrealized profits, trade directly from the charts, access to market, limits and stop entry orders, regular and trailing stop-loss orders; take profit orders and guaranteed stop-loss orders, live support 24/5, a live Economic Calendar.

Leverage

The maximum leverage allowed is currently 1:30, however, the maximum leverage depends on the asset that you are trading, we have outlined them below in an easy to read list.

• Forex Pairs: 1:30
• Major Indices: 1:20
• Spot MEtals: 1:20
• Commodities: 1:10
• Cryptocurrencies 1:2
• Equities: 1:5

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size available is 0.01 lots which is otherwise 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.

We could not locate information surrounding the maximum trade size however we would recommend not trading in sizes larger than 50 lots, as the bigger a trade becomes the harder it is for the markets or liquidity provider to execute the trade quickly and without any slippage.

Trading Costs

Unfortunately, we could not locate information on trading costs, both spreads and commissions are not really mentioned at all on the website, this is a shame as it is one of the aspects that a lot of penitential clients look for when deciding which broker to go for, so not knowing what the cost of trading is could put a lot of new clients off opening an account.

Assets

CrescoFX has broken its assets down into 6 different categories which we will give examples of different assets available for you.

Forex Pairs: USDJPY, AUDJPY, AUDUSD, CADJPY, CHFJPY, EURAUD, EURCAD, EURCHF, EURGBP, EURJPY, EURUSD, GBPCHF, GBPJPY, GBPUSD, NZDUSD, USDCAD and, USDCHF.

Major Indices: US 30, US 500, US Tech 500, HK 50, Japan 225, UK 100, French 40, German 30.

Spot Metals: Gold, Silver.

Commoditites: Brent Crude Oil, WTI Crude Oil.

Cryptocurrencies: BTCUSD, BTCEUR, ETHUSD, ETHEUR.

Equitites: AMZN, BABA, FB, GOOG, MCD, MSDT, RACE, TSLA, V AAPL.

Spreads

We could not locate any information regarding spreads at CrescoFX, however, we do know that the spreads are variable (also known as floating) so this means that when the markets are being volatile, the spreads will often be seen higher. It is also important to note that different instruments and assets have different starting spreads, so while EURUSD may start at 2 pips (example), other assets like GBPJPY may start slightly higher, 2.5 pips (example).

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit is not noted on the website nor is it in the terms and conditions of the site. It is strange not to have this information available to potential clients, as the last thing someone wants is to sign up and find they need to deposit more than they have available to trade with.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Once again, this information is not available, we looked through the site as well as though the terms of business and we could not locate any of it. This is information that is vital, we are going to be sending our own money to this company, the least we could expect is to know how we can do it and if there are any costs attached to it.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

As there was no information on depositing we were confident that there wouldn’t be any on withdrawing either, and we were not wrong. Once again we will reiterate the importance of having this information available, many clients will not sign up without knowing about withdrawals.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

This is also unknown to us, without knowing what methods re available we can not even give an estimate on processing or the time it will take to receive your funds.

Bonuses & Promotions

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

Educational & Trading Tools

The eduction side of the website is unfortunately currently under construction. There is no method of what sort of things will or have been there so at the moment it seems that there are no educational or trading tools available from CrescoFX.

Customer Service

Should you wish to send a query or question to CrescoFX you can do so in a few different ways, you can use the online submission form to fill in your query and once sent you should receive a reply via email. There is also an email address that you can use to email directly along with the phone number should you wish to speak with someone on a more personal level. There is no mention of what the opening times of the customer support team are but we would be confident in saying that they will be closed over the weekend and on bank holidays just as the markets are.

Demo Account

CrescoFX is offering demo accounts, you can sign up by filling in a small submission form, you can choose between having a demo account on MetaTrader 4 or the CrescoFX Trader. Apart from this, there isn’t any information regarding trading conditions (although we expect them to be the same as the live account) or how long the accounts last, some brokers put an expiration time on the accounts so not to take up too much server space so it would be nice to know if CrescoFX do a similar thing on their demo accounts.

Countries Accepted

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

Conclusion

There is too much information missing for us to be able to recommend CrescoFX as a broker to use at this point in time. There isn’t a clear indication of what the account offers, things like spreads and trading costs are not accounted for which makes it hard to judge how worth it would be trading here. The worst part is that there is no information surrounding the financial aspects of the broker, we will be sending our money to home, we need to be able to know how we can do it, how much it will cost and also how we will get it back along with how long it would take. Without this information, we just can’t see ourselves treading there and so could not recommend it as a broker to use right now.

Key To Markets are registered in New Zealand, the UK and Dubai, and are both a DMCC and FCA regulated company. They offer MT4 trading services to their clients as well as PAMM accounts. In addition, they offer IB affiliate programmes and a white-label service for those wanting to expand their trading into a career or even business of their own. One thing that sets this broker apart from other forex brokers is that Key To Markets also offer their very own Savings account, which enables clients to earn interest (0.5% annual interest paid Monthly) on the money they have sat in their account, while it is not being used for trading. This idea is very forward-thinking, and a great tool to attract clients

Account Types

Key To Markets offer 3 accounts, 2 for trading, and 1 for saving and earning interest, which can then be transferred directly to the trading account and used for trading:

• ECN MT4 Standard: commission is charged using a 1 pip mark up to the inter-              banking spread, 1.0 pip + raw spread
• ECN MT4 Pro: 8$ per traded lot round turn commission, raw spreads
• Key To Savings account: 0.5% annual interest paid Monthly, savings can be used          and moved to trade account

PAMM investor and Social PAMM accounts are also available for those who wish to gain profit from essentially someone else investing their own money for them, with their management and experienced trader skills.

Platforms

Key To Markets offer the MT4 platform, and the trading services are compatible via the following platforms:

• MT4 for Windows PC
• MT4 for Mac OS
• MT4 for iPhone
• MT4 Android

Leverage

The maximum leverage that Key To Markets offers on their trading accounts is 1:500. However, the website does not specify if this is for all tradable assets available. In the absence of an FAQ page or live chat service, I called the customer support telephone number provided (during hours of operation) to find out more but was never answered after several attempts, and instead got an automated message on loop. This is very concerning that the customer support team are unresponsive, and not entirely clear on their website on what exactly they offer.

Trade Sizes

For both trading accounts, the minimum trade size requirement is 0.01 lot and the maximum trade volume is unlimited.

Trading Costs

Key To Markets charge trade commissions only on one of the two accounts, the MT4 Standard account charges 0 while the MT4 Pro account charges commissions of €0.06/$0.08 RT per 1 Microlot, so 6 EUR or 8 USD per lot (round turn). Of course, the STandard account spreads are marked up in replacement of the commission fee, so therefore the client cost on either account you choose is essentially almost the same. The commission fee of 4USD to open the trade and a further 4 USD to close the trade is actually not as expensive as it appears and is actually fairly average to what other brokers charge.

Assets

Key To Markets offers over 100 currency pairs to trade which include Forex, Indices & Commodities. Both the Standard and Pro trading accounts have access to the same markets. This broker is potentially limiting in terms of instruments offered, with assets such as cryptocurrencies not being available, which are definitely increasing in popularity to trade on margin, and not just Hold.

All available pairs are not displayed on the website, nor is there a demo account offered to view them on Market Watch, leaving the only alternative for clients to be opening a live account right away, which is not the norm, and raises suspicion and concern about the transparency of this broker.

Spreads

As mentioned earlier, the spreads offered by Key To Markets differ from the two trading accounts offered; the ECN MT4 Standard offers 1.0 pip + raw spread while the ECN MT4 Pro offers raw spreads. Bear in mind that this account does charge commissions while the Standard, does not, but the broker makes up for the cost by marking up the spreads to the clients, so client cost for trading balances out, no matter which account option you choose.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit requirement set by Key To Markets, for both the MT4 Standard and MT4 Pro accounts are both set at $100, which is a little higher than what a lot of brokers require but at the same time is reasonable and gives ample room and fair start to trade a decent volume and taking into consideration the cost of the commission charge and spread.

Unfortunately, one cannot see the spreads on the website, and a reminder that there is no demo account to check these out, so you would need to open a live account to see all spreads available to you.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Key To Markets claims to offer Instant deposit methods, which are set out on the website, as follows:

-Credit / Debit card (Restrictions are applied to certain countries)
-Skrill (Only for non-European clients)
-Neteller
-Sticpay
-Bank Wire (no fee)

All deposit methods, aside from the Bank Wire method, incur a 2.5% fee, so do bear this in mind when funding your account.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The two methods of withdrawal offered by Key To Markets are Skrill or Neteller, and both will incur a 1% withdrawal fee.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

On the website, Key To Markets claims they will process all withdrawals (Skrill and Neteller) within 48 business hours. Of course, this could vary depending on when you make the withdrawal request too; if you make the withdrawal outside of operating hours, you could be left waiting a number of days. To be clear, Key To Markets do NOT offer any INSTANT withdrawal methods.

Bonuses & Promotions

Key To Markets does not offer any bonus schemes to their clients however they do offer IB affiliate programmes for those who wish to expand their income outside of their personal trading. In addition, there is also a ‘refer your friend’ scheme, whereby you may earn income from onboarding your connections to Key To Markets.

Educational & Trading Tools

Key To Markets offer absolutely nothing in the way of trading tools or educational material. This indicated that the traders they target their services at are perhaps the more experienced traders already and do not require assisting tools provided by their broker. Of course, there is plenty of educational material freely available on many online avenues, including this very website, where ample reading and video material is available for free learning.

Customer Service

Key To Markets offers customer support service, which clients can make use of via contacting via telephone or email during the hours (UK) of 9 AM – 6 PM. There is no live chat service which may be off-putting to some potential clients as this means that to get a response, one must wait for a response, and this could vary in timescale, rather than receive an instant response. There is also no FAQ page for such short queries that a live chat alternative would be beneficial for.

In the duration of writing this review, we had no response from any customer support channel offered, which is highly concerning. How can clients feel assured of the security of their funds and trades, if the customer service is totally unresponsive?

Demo Account

It is very peculiar that an apparent FCA regulated company, do NOT offer their potential clients a demo account to backtest their service. How can you know for sure if this broker is suited for your trading style if you cannot test it fully yourself in the demo client area before opening a live trading account?

Countries Accepted

While there is no direct disclaimer fromKey To Markets regarding which countries are accepted to be clients, bear in mind that if your residency/jurisdiction does not comply with DMCC and FCA regulation policies, you will not be granted access to trade with this broker. Of course, this is your personal responsibility to check before registering to save disappointment, but of course, you will also be screened when you submit your document proof of address and Identification when you sign up for a live account.

Conclusion

Key To Markets are not wholly transparent when it comes to the ins and outs of their services. It is very disappointing to see they do not offer even a demo account, which does not allow potential clients a fair judgement on whether this broker is suitable and in line with their expectations as well s their prefered trading style and strategies. In addition, it is incredibly poor conduct for a regulated company (FCA) to be totally unresponsive when it comes to customer support. This is a clear demonstration that not all brokers can stand tall with their regulation status being their one tool to attract clients when they have no time or thought for their clients.

Java is an offshore broker that is located in Indonesia and regulated by Indonesia’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory. The key advantages of opening an account would be access to tight spreads, flexible leverage options, and 24/5 support, according to the broker’s website. As a smaller forex broker, you won’t fund much information or other user reviews about the company online. After noticing some discrepancies on the company’s website, we decided to do the research needed to paint a real picture of what this broker’s conditions look like.

Account Types

Java features one real account type, named Titan, in addition to demo accounts. If you take a look at the website in more detail, you’ll notice the broker lists three main account types as an advantage. Unfortunately, the advertised Mini, Regular, and Pro account types do not seem to exist, meaning that potential clients will only have one option. The account grants access to currency pairs, metals, futures, and energies with a maximum leverage cap of up to 1:200. The broker is asking for a $2,000 deposit in order to open an account with starting spreads from 1.8 pips. We’ve provided a quick overview of the account below.

Titan Account
Minimum Deposit: $2,000
Leverage: Up to 1:200
Spread: From 1.8 pips
Commission: None
Available Instruments: 24 currency pairs, 2 metals, 1 energy, 7 futures
Minimum/Maximum Trade Sizes: 0.1/20 lots

Platform

If you decide to open an account through Java, you’ll be trading from the infamous MetaTrader 5 platform. Usually, brokers tend to offer the earlier version, MT4, and we don’t always get the option to use the newest version, which has been designed to offer some more features and improvement in certain areas. Within MT5, traders will find a variety of trading tools, multiple timeframes, three different chart types, and more than 50 technical indicators. The platform is also easy to navigate and highly accessible – available for download on PC, Mac, iOS and Android devices, or accessible through the WebTrader.

Leverage

The broker is offering an average leverage limit of up to 1:200. Some regulators do set much lower limits, even as low as 1:30 on currency pairs, making Java’s 1:200 cap seem significant. We’d also like to point out that many traders wouldn’t even use leverage as high as the cap offered by this broker, as trading with higher leverages goes hand in hand with taking large risks. On the other side of things, some professionals may feel a bit restricted by the limit, and it is possible to find higher options, sometimes going into the thousands with other brokers if you take the time to look.

Trade Sizes

Java requires a minimum trade size of at least one mini lot, making it impossible to trade micro-lots through this broker. There is also a rather restrictive maximum trade size of 20 lots. Margin call/stop out would occur once when the account’s margin level reaches 10%. Scalping, hedging, and Expert Advisors are all allowed.

Trading Costs

The broker’s Titan account comes with basic trading costs, primarily charged through the spread, with no commissions taken. In addition, the broker would charge standard swap fees on certain positions that are held overnight. Details regarding the long and short swap fees can be viewed on the website under “Product” > “Save And Scroll Costs”.

Assets

Java’s investment portfolio is primarily made up of currency pairs, in addition to futures, spot metals, and spot energies. In total, the broker is offering 24 currency pairs, with a few exotic options. We also seem some cryptocurrency pairs on the list, including BTCUSD, DSHUSD, ETHUSD, LTCUSD, XMRUSD, and XRPUSD. The futures category is made up of 7 options, while the energies category only offers US Oil. As for the available spot metals, we only see the most basic options, Gold and Silver, with no option to trade extra metals like Pallidum or Copper. This brings the grand total of available instruments to just 34 options. Meanwhile, many other brokers offer more than 64 currency pairs and other CFDs.

Spreads

The broker’s Titan account advertises floating spreads that start from 1.8 pips. On currency pairs, this is the minimum spread, while average spreads typically range from 2 to 2.6 pips. On indexes, average spreads are 10 pips, and spreads can be much higher on more volatile instruments like metals and oil. Considering that the broker is asking for a steep deposit, we would hope to see spreads that are lower than those advertised. The industry average tends to be approximately 1.5 pips. Note that the website does advertise starting spreads of 1.5 pips in another location. This advertisement is false.

Minimum Deposit

Java is asking for a steep deposit in order to open their only account type, with the requirement being set at $2,000 USD. Elsewhere, traders would be able to find similar account types that only require deposits of $100 or less. The lack of affordability may force some traders to search for a better option, although those that were already planning to make a larger deposit won’t feel as affected.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Java does not provide any information that revolves around available deposit methods or the costs associated with making a deposit. We would assume that the broker is at least offering bank wire, and hopefully cards as funding methods. Despite their lack of transparency, Java does make an effort to make clients feel safe by speaking about funds being held in segregated accounts and protected by the Investors Compensation Fund (IFC).

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

We would expect there to be fees associated with making withdrawals through the broker, otherwise, we would likely see fee-free withdrawals advertised somewhere on the website. The complete lack of information is enough to make one apprehensive about making a deposit. Normally, we would recommend making a small deposit in order to test conditions; however, Java’s steep $2,000 deposit requirement makes it impossible to make one of these small test deposits.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Considering that Java is a smaller broker, we would expect to see processing times of at least a few business days. Once funds are sent, it can often take weeks to receive funds that are sent through wire transfer. If the broker does offer any e-wallets, then this would likely provide a faster way to withdraw funds.

Bonuses & Promotions

We couldn’t find any information on the website pertaining to bonuses or current promotional opportunities. We did notice that the broker mentioned a welcome bonus where advantages are listed, but this is the main page of the website where we found inaccurate and conflicting information. If such a bonus was available, the broker would likely advertise it more clearly. This doesn’t mean that the broker won’t provide any offers in the future, so be on the lookout for any changes.

Educational & Trading Tools

Initially, it seemed as though the broker had nothing to offer in this category, aside from an economic calendar. However, we discovered a link to an education center at the bottom of the website and were directed to an entirely separate part of the website that contains video tutorials, articles, courses for beginners, advanced traders, and experts, and practice quizzes. Educational resources are something that many brokers overlook entirely, so we feel that there is a real advantage for traders in Java’s education center. On another note, we will mention that the video tutorials are in Japanese, so some traders may not be able to benefit from this medium.

Demo Account

The broker does advertise demo accounts as being available, but clicking on the link to open a demo account only brings us the “Account Types” page. We were assured by the support team that demo accounts are in fact available, although the glitch in the website is rather frustrating and may cause some traders to abandon the notion to open a demo. Hopefully, the broker will work on the website’s link in the near future so that traders can access these helpful practice accounts.

Customer Service

In addition to being active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, the broker also offers active support 24/5 on LiveChat, via phone or fax, and through email. We did test out the website’s LiveChat feature, just to be certain that an agent would respond immediately. Fortunately, the broker’s agents do seem to be active and on standby on chat, making it incredibly easy to get in touch with a member of support. Other contact information has been listed below.

Phone: +62 21 222 32 200
Fax: +62 21 222 32 255
Email: [email protected]

Countries Accepted

There aren’t any restricted countries listed at the bottom of the broker’s website. This is usually a good sign that everyone is accepted, although we do always try to check the registration page to be sure. Surprisingly, the broker doesn’t even require the client’s address upon registration. This makes it possible for traders from all locations to open an account with no hassle.

Conclusion

Java offers leveraged trading as high as 1:200 on 34 instruments, which are made up of currency pairs, metals, and oil. The broker is only offering one real account type, which comes with a large $2,000 deposit requirement and higher than average starting spreads. Taking a look at the website as a whole, we see some red flags where the broker provides conflicting information about account types and spreads.

Once we noticed that the broker provides absolutely zero information related to available funding methods and the costs associated with making withdrawals, we felt that the lack of transparency was intimidating. Considering other things, the broker is offering a vast education center that focuses on beginners, advanced traders, and experts with different learning mediums available. This is something that other brokers don’t often make available. Demo accounts are also advertised, although a glitch on the website kept us from accessing the sign-up page.

At the time we checked, there weren’t any special promotions for traders to take part in, despite some conflicting information on the website. If you’re typically located in a restricted country, then you’ll still be able to open an account through this broker. Taking everything into consideration, it’s up to the individual trader to decide whether Java is offering enough benefits where it’s worth looking past their lack of transparency.

TurboForex is an offshore broker, based in St Vincent and the Grenadines. On first look at the website, the first thing that becomes obviously apparent about TurboForex website is that this is a broker that relies heavily on marketing to appeal to those seeking deposit bonuses, a bonus of 100% of the client deposit total. The website is a little outdated but simplistic nonetheless so navigation is straightforward. However there is no FAQ page for a quick reference guide, and this broker does not offer a live chat support service which also makes it’s appeal less likely if clients can’t reach out instantly for assistance.

Account Types

TurboForex offers a wide range of account types to choose from and all benefits to each are set out on the website so potential clients can easily decide which may be best suited for them and their trading style.

• Mini – Min deposit: 250.00 USD. Most suited for those trading smaller volume
• Standard – Min deposit: 1,000.00 USD. Suited for medium experienced traders
• Premium – Min deposit: 10,000.00 USDTargeted at experienced traders, with lower      overall trading costs
• Fixed- Min deposit: 1,000.00 USD. Offers the lowest fixed spread on the market for      long term traders
• Interbank- Min deposit: 5,000.00 USD. More suited for higher deposit clients, with        direct access to interbank markets

All account types are compatible via the MT4 platform and allow the use of the leverage of up to 1:500.

Platforms

TurboForex offers the trading platform we trust the most, which is MT4. Clients of TurboForex can trade via MetaTrader 4 Desktop, Webtrader, and Mobile/Tablet so you can trade both on the go or at home on a safe and trusted platform.

Leverage

The maximum leverage offered by TurboForex is 1:500 which in itself is highly appealing and generous, meaning clients can maximize profit by 500, on small capital and small trade sizes, on winning positions. If this leverage is a little too high for your trading style, of course, there is the option to lower it to your preferred amount.

The maximum leverage use limit does, however, vary between account types; Mini, Standard, Premium and Fixed account holders can make use of the full 1:500 while those who opt for the Interbank account may use the leverage of up to 1:200, which is still amicable and can be a handy tool to stretch profit gain in one’s trading you are familiar with how use of high leverage works.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size allowed with TurboForex is set as most do, at the standard 0.01 lot, which gives flexibility and is highly ideal for those who want to trade small volume, or scalp trade. There appears not to be any maximum trade size requirement.

Trading Costs

For the Following accounts: Mini, Standard, Premium and Fixed, there is no commission fee applied when trading Forex and Commodities. You will, however, be charged commissions if you opt for the Interbank account, where commission fees are $5 per $100.000 traded.

Assets

With TurboForex, clients have a fair wide selection of assets to trade, including:

• FOREX
• COMMODITIES
• STOCKS
• INDICES

All tradable pairs are displayed on the website, where you can also see each pair’s live floating spread.

Spreads

TurboForex offer spreads starting from 0.0, and you can see live floating spreads on the website. Each account type offers slightly different spreads on different assets, so be clear on checking which one offers what (on demo) before you go ahead and open the live account version. Both Indices and Forex pair spreads (floating) as displayed on the website are incredibly low and certainly ranked competitive to what other brokers offer.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit requirements set by TurboForex are overall, high compared to requirements set by competitor brokers. Minimum deposits are set reasonably high across all the accounts types to choose from:

• Mini – Min deposit: 250.00 USD
• Standard – Min deposit: 1,000.00 USD
• Premium – Min deposit: 10,000.00 USD
• Fixed- Min deposit: 1,000.00 USD
• Interbank- Min deposit: 5,000.00 USD

TurboForex offers deposit bonus schemes of up to 100%, so even on smaller deposit requirements, clients can essentially double their starting capital. We do recommend that you read carefully about how bonus schemes work (regardless of the FX broker you are considering using) before jumping to conclusions, thinking this will add margin that you can withdraw easily, or at all.

Deposit Methods & Costs

TurboForex FAQ page states that the following deposit methods are available:

• Bank Transfer
• Credit / Debit Card
• Skrill
• Webmoney

These choice of deposit methods given by TurboForex are diverse and should offer at least one amicable funding solution for all clients. There are no deposit fees associated with TurboForex according to the website.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

To withdraw your profits from TurboForex, you may request a withdrawal via Bank Transfer, Credit / Debit Card, Skrill or WebMoney. Although deposit and withdrawal fees are not mentioned by TurboForex, it is always best to check with your banking provider prior to making a request for a withdrawal/deposit, to see if you personally will be liable for any fees from their side to avoid any surprises.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The TurboForex FAQ page is a little ambiguous when it comes to telling us the withdrawal timescales, which are said to take anywhere between 24 hours and to ‘several days’. We could not gain any further clarification or pinpoint how on exactly ‘several days’ could be, but this uncertainty and lack of being to the point gives us an indication that this broker is not perhaps very consistent with the processing of their withdrawals, and do not want to give a timescale they cannot adhere to.

Bonuses & Promotions

If you were seeking a deposit bonus, TurboForex does offer these schemes, however, it is highly advisable to ensure you read and fully understand the terms and conditions of using such bonuses, or better still, avoid them entirely. Nevertheless, if you are interested to know what the bonus schemes are, there is information about all bonuses available, as below:

• Deposit from $500 to $999 = 25% bonus
• From $1,000 to $4.999 = 50% bonus
• From $5,000 to $9.999 = 75% bonus
• Over $10,000 = 100% bonus

Educational & Trading Tools

TurboForex offers an impressive set of trading educational material, which sheds light on MT4 separately and how it works, as well as how to navigate it. There is ample information on Trading itself and what it’s all about, in the form of webinars and free courses that you can take, while you learn to trade on the demo account.

Customer Service

TurboForex Customer service is less than satisfactory, with the agents being unresponsive and not easily reachable; the only method of contact that clients of this broker can rely on is via email. This means 0 instant contact, which is a little off-putting, especially in the case of a client panicking about a trade query and wanting to resolve it ASAP. It is furtherly concerning that we never received any response from the email customer support team, even over a full working week period.

Demo Account

A demo account is offered by TurboForex, which is especially useful if you are wanting to take the training courses offered, and learn to trade alongside trading in a practice, risk-free environment.

Countries Accepted

The website disclaimer does rightfully state that the provision of trading serviced by TurboForex will not be granted to those residing in the United States nor the European Union. This is, of course, vetted when all potential customers are required to submit a proof of Photographic Identification to prove you are over the age of 18 and then you are requested to submit a document proof of residency. If you are from the above jurisdictions, you will not be accepted to open a live account with TurboForex.

Conclusion

This broker, in reality, appeals to a specific type of trader; lacking trading experience and skill, and/or not entirely informed on how bonuses work and how detrimental they can be to one’s trading. TurboForex clearly strives to appeal to those with low capital to spare, by offering up to 100% deposit bonus schemes to alleviate that doubt that one cannot make a profit unless there is a large initial capital. This vision that a bonus will increase margin (false) is highly deceptive and wrong to assume it almost guarantees a profit.

The trading conditions themselves in respect of leverage allowance and the tight spreads offered are not to complained abut, however, the service as a whole is not wholly transparent and trustworthy on the surface; the customer support team is totally unresponsive and deposit and withdrawal timescales are not clear. These factors alone should cause you to be concerned if considering to become a client of this broker.

Eight Max Trading, otherwise known as 8max, is an online FX and CFD broker that offers leveraged trading as high as 1:1000 on currency pairs, precious metals, commodities, equity indices, and energies. The company lists its core values as putting the customer first, integrity, innovation, teamwork, and professionalism. 8Max is located in Vanuatu and provides company news to help keep their clients updated on relevant events. Keep reading to find out about some of this broker’s most significant advantages.

Account Types

8Max offers a Standard and Zero account, with a MAM (Multi-Account Manager) account offered as a third main account type. The Standard account has spreads of less than 1 pip, with zero commission charges, and leverage as high as 1:1000. There doesn’t seem to be much of a reason to choose a Zero account over the Standard account. We base this on the fact that the Zero account offers the same spreads and leverage cap, except the account asks for a higher deposit and actually charges commissions, where the Standard account does not. This account also limits the maximum trade size to 50 lots, while the Standard account allows for a trade size of 100 lots.

The MAM account offers a different experience, with its own specific conditions, including a fixed leverage, separate deposit requirement, etc. The details for each account can be viewed below.

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: $5
Leverage: Up to 1:1000
Spread: Less than 1 pip
Commission: None

Zero Account
Minimum Deposit: $100
Leverage: Up to 1:1000
Spread: Less than 1 pip
Commission: Yes

MAM Account
Minimum Deposit: 30,000 JPY
Leverage: 1:100
Spread: Less than 1 pip
Commission: 50% of the trading profit per month

Platform

Along with the majority of other forex brokers, 8Max has recognized how revolutionary the MetaTrader 4 platform is, and has made the decision to support MT4 exclusively. MT4 comes equipped with a full range of features, including full EA functionality, 1-click trading, built-in news, technical analysis tools, charting tools, support for hedging, etc. Even with the release of MT5, MetaTrader 4 has remained the most preferred trading platform to date. Another plus is how convenient it is to access the platform, which can be downloaded on PC, iOS, and Android devices. It’s also possible to access MT4 through the browser-based WebTrader.

Leverage

The broker offers a maximum leverage cap of 1:1000, an option that we don’t often see available. This option can be accessed on both the Standard and Zero account types, with limitations in place that are based on the amount of equity within the account. Accounts with an equity of $20,000 or below qualify for the maximum cap, while accounts holding amounts between $20,001 and $100,000 qualify for leverage as high as 1:200, and accounts holding more than $100,001 only qualify for a cap of 1:100.

Do keep in mind that the broker is offering exceptionally high options, which can lead to greater losses. Trading with leverages as high as the 1:1000 offer is best suited for professional traders that prefer the high-risk high-reward experience. The leverage on MAM accounts is fixed at 1:100, with no option to select a different ratio.

Trade Sizes

All accounts allow for the trading of micro lots with a 200 maximum number of open positions limit. The Standard account allows for a maximum trade size of 100 lots, while the other accounts set the limit at 50 lots. No word on the exact margin call and stop out levels set by the broker.

Trading Costs

The broker profits through standard spreads, commission charges, and swap fees. Traders will not have to pay any commissions when trading from a Standard account. These charges are applicable on Zero accounts and the broker takes 50% of the trading profit on MAM accounts each month as their commission charge. Swaps are charged in the case that positons are held open overnight. On Wednesdays, triple charges would be applied to compensate for the upcoming weekend. Checking the swap values can be done conveniently on the website by selecting a certain instrument category, or from within the MT4 platform. There do not seem to be any extra costs, like inactivity fees, reactivation fees, etc.

Assets

8Max has an investment portfolio that is made up of FX options and CFDs on precious metals, commodities, equity indices, and energies. Available currency pairs include at least 40 options, which are divided into majors, minors, and exotics. Precious metals include the most popular options Gold and Silver. Commodities include Cocoa, Coffee, Corn, Cotton, High-Grade Copper, Soybeans, Sugar, and Wheat. In total, the broker offers 10 equity indices and 5 energy instruments, including Crude Oil and Natural Gas.

Spreads

Eight Max Trading advertises the same variable spreads across all of their accounts. In addition, the broker has fractional pip pricing, which allows clients to benefit from even the smallest price movements by adding a 5th digit quoting price. The accounts offer spreads as low as 0.00021 pips, that average 0.00043 pips on most of the currency pairs. On the MAM account, traders can exchange the spreads for transaction charges. The website doesn’t provide enough information for one to determine whether this would be cheaper than trading with regular spreads.

Minimum Deposit

This broker is highly affordable, with a low deposit of just $5 required on the Standard account. Surprisingly, the Zero account also offers a low deposit minimum of $100. As for the MAM account, we see a requirement of 30,000 JPY. This amount translated to roughly $276 USD at the time that we checked. However, most of the deposit methods require a minimum deposit of $300 USD. The only way to meet the lower deposit requirements is to deposit through domestic bank wire transfer, otherwise, traders wishing to fund with cards or from overseas will have to meet the $300 limit.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Accounts can be funded through Visa/MasterCard or bank wire. The variety of available options is somewhat limited, as many brokers offer e-wallets as additional funding sources. On cards, the broker has remittance charges, which are not listed specifically. When funding through a domestic transfer, the broker only applies the transfer fee to the deposit, while overseas transfers are charged a $3 USD fee + remittance charges. If you’re planning to make a smaller deposit, domestic bank wire is the only option, as there is a $300 minimum deposit requirement on cards and overseas transfers. Note that cards also set a maximum deposit limit of $3,500.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

The only way to withdraw funds from an 8Max account is through wire transfer. On the bright side, the broker sets the minimum withdrawal amount at $5, so it should be easy enough to withdraw even the smallest of amounts from the account. On the downside, fees are inevitable. The withdrawal commission charges are between $5 and $30 USD.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The broker advertises a rather irritating withdrawal window of between 1 and 12 business days. Obviously, one or two business days would be a speedy timeframe, especially considering that those withdrawals are coming through bank wire. However, once you factor in weekends, the 12 business day timeframe seems exceptionally longer. We would recommend making those withdrawal requests in advance, in case it does take closer to the maximum timeframe to process those withdrawals.

Bonuses & Promotions

The broker offers a variety of promotions, all of which have been listed below.

• Account Opening Bonus
• Deposit Bonus
• Trade Bonus

The Deposit Bonus is a two-tier bonus, which offers up to $5,000 once combined. Deposited amounts of $500 or below are eligible for the first tear, which applies a 100% bonus. Deposits of $1,000 and up are eligible for the 100% bonus + a 20% bonus. The Trade Bonus is coming soon, but details are already explained on the website, so we can confirm that this bonus rewards trading activity with status levels and cash prizes. The Account Opening Bonus also seems to be in preparation, according to the website. Hopefully, the broker will start honoring this offer sooner rather than later.

Educational & Trading Tools

One thing that stood out to us was the fact that the website labels their education section “For Beginner”. From a glance, we were able to determine that the broker just isn’t going to provide the deep and insightful articles, video tutorials, webinars, and other resources that we love to see available. Instead, 8Max only offers a brief description of FX, describes how to start a transaction, and promotes MT4 for trading tools. Honestly, the website could do away with this section altogether and it wouldn’t feel as though anything was missing. On another section of the website, we see an economic calendar and trading signals.

Demo Account

Considering that 8Max actually mentions the importance of demo accounts, we were surprised to find the option to open a demo account missing from the website. The broker does seem to be in preparation for some areas of the website, so we would hope that adding demo accounts would be on their to-do list. However, it doesn’t seem promising, since the broker has already been around for more than 2 years.

Customer Service

Support is in the office from 9:00 to 21:00 (Japanese time) on weekdays, with the exception of public holidays. The broker doesn’t offer any instant contact options or direct phone numbers, and 8Max doesn’t seem to be active on social media. This limits the only available contact option to email, which we all know can be inconvenient. Trying to figure out a complicated issue over email can be frustrating, so we can only hope that the broker provides callbacks if they are requested. Listed contact information has been included below.

Email: [email protected]
Address: Govart Building, Po Box 1276 Port Vila. Vanuatu

Countries Accepted

At the bottom of their website, the broker mentions that residents of the United States, Canada, Israel, and the Islamic Republic of Iran are restricted from opening accounts. However, the account registration page provides us with a different answer, as the US and Canada are available as options that come with an approved green checkmark. Israel and Iran are missing from the list, so we assume the broker upholds their previous statement there.

Conclusion

Eight Max Trading is an online broker that offers investment opportunities in FX, metals, equity indices, commodities, and energies. It costs as little as $5 to open a Standard account, with affordable minimums available for both of the other account types. Accounts with equity below $20,000 qualify for leverage as high as 1:1000, while accounts with more funds are limited to 1:200, or fixed at 1:100 on MAM accounts.

Spreads are shared and remain below 1 pip (on average) on all account types, although the options are variable and could fluctuate. The broker takes 50% of the monthly profits on MAM accounts and charges unspecified commission fees on their Zero account type.

Funding methods are limited to cards and bank wire, with a sneaky $300 deposit required on all methods aside from domestic bank wire. Withdrawals are limited to bank wire, which can take up to 12 business days to be received. Getting in touch with support seems inconvenient, as the broker can only be contacted through email, on weekdays, and during certain business hours. 8Max doesn’t provide any educational material that could be considered useful, and demo accounts are also absent.

On the bright side, we do see some promotional offers, although two of them aren’t yet available. The broker is willing to accept clients from the US and Canada while restricting those located in Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Exclusive Capital is an online FX and CFD broker that offers leveraged trading on several different asset classes, including FX, commodities, cash indices, ETFs, and stocks. The broker is located in Cyprus and fully regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), making them more trustworthy than many of their unregulated competitors. The company has a commitment to provide the best customer service while providing maximum safety and security when handling their client’s funds. If you’re in the market for a broker, stay with us to find out whether that search can come to an end with this option.

Account Types

Exclusive Capital offers four different account types: Standard, Prime, Gold, and Exclusive. Islamic accounts are offered in addition, to those that can provide supporting documentation of Muslim faith. The Standard and Prime accounts are the most affordable, while the Gold and Exclusive accounts are the most expensive. All accounts come with the same leverage cap of 1:100 for clients that are considered professional. Starting spreads range from as low as 0.2 pips, up to 1.5 pips. The broker doesn’t charge commissions on their Standard account, but these charges do apply in differing amounts on the other three account types. Accounts also share various other factors, including trade sizes, stop out levels, tradable instruments, etc. Take a look at the exact specifications for each account type below.

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit: $200
Leverage: Up to 1:100 (professionals)
Spread: As low as 1.5 pips
Commissions: None

Prime Account
Minimum Deposit: $500
Leverage: Up to 1:100 (professionals)
Spread: As low as 0.2 pips
Commissions: $6 per side on FX and metals

Gold Account
Minimum Deposit: $5,000
Leverage: Up to 1:100 (professionals)
Spread: As low as 0.2 pips
Commissions: $3.50 per side on FX and metals

Exclusive Account
Minimum Deposit: $50,000
Leverage: Up to 1:100 (professionals)
Spread: As low as 0.2 pips
Commissions: $2.50 per side on FX and metals

Platform

Exclusive Capital supports MetaTrader 5 as their sole trading platform. Some may feel disappointed that MetaTrader 4 isn’t available through this broker, although many do prefer the newer features and layout of the world-famous platform’s successor. MT5 is powerful and provides everything one could need for all analysis and trading activities. Some upgrades we see from the previous platform include more pending order types, 21 timeframes, a built-in economic calendar, and a more efficient programing language. MT5 is available for download on PC, iOS, and Android devices. If you own a Mac or prefer not to download the software, the browser-based version can also be accessed through WebTrader.

Leverage

This broker limits the maximum leverage cap to 1:30 for traders that are considered retail clients. For professionals, the cap is raised to a maximum of 1:100 and awarded based on prior trading knowledge and other prequalifications. While the professional cap is decent, it is definitely possible to find significantly higher leveraged options elsewhere. Other brokers rarely tend to limit their options based on how much prior experience one has. For many beginners and even some professionals, this company’s cap may be flexible enough to manage. Others may feel that the options are more restrictive.

Trade Sizes

All accounts have a minimum trade size of one micro lot and a maximum trade size of 30 lots. Hedging, scalping, and news trading are all allowed. Accounts also share the same margin call and stop out levels, which are listed below. Traders should consider closing out some traders or making a deposit if the margin call level is reached. If the account reaches the stop out level, the broker will immediately begin to close out positions, starting with the least profitable.

Margin Call: 100%
Stop Loss: 50%

Trading Costs

Like the majority of other forex brokers, Exclusive Capital profits through spreads, commissions, and swaps. If you’re interested in a commission-free experience, the broker does offer 0 commissions on the Standard account in exchange for higher spreads. Otherwise, commissions are $6 per side on FX and metals on the Prime account, $3.50 per side on the Gold account, and $2.50 on the Exclusive account. The lower commissions on the Exclusive account certainly seem more attractive, but many traders will not be able to meet the account’s 50k deposit minimum and will have to settle for one of the higher commission costs. The latest swap rates can be checked within the MT5 platform and traders should be advised that triple swaps are charged on Wednesdays in order to compensate for the coming weekend.

Assets

All accounts offer access to 64 currency pairs, 4 commodities, 12 cash indices, and stocks. The impressive number of currency pairs is made up of 6 majors, 22 minors, and 32 exotics. We also see several indexes, industrial, regional, country, fixed income, and commodity ETFs. Commodities include the US and UK Oil, Silver, and Gold. Stocks include 47 US options in popular companies like Amazon and Facebook, in addition to ten more European options.

Spreads

All of the costs have been built into the spread on the Standard account type, resulting in higher starting spreads of 1.5 pips. Taking a closer look, we noticed that the broker does manage to keep these spreads around the same area, with options ranging from 1.6 pips to 3.1 pips on majors. On minors, the spreads tend to range from 1.5 pips up to 3.7 pips, except for on EURNZD and GBPNZD, which have spreads of at least 4 pips. As for the Prime, Gold, and Exclusive accounts spreads start as low as 0.2 pips.

The spreads don’t climb higher than 0.9 pips on majors and spreads are no higher than 1.4 pips on minors, although we do see options as low as 0.2 pips and 0.5 pips on many options. On their website, the company lists the standard and premium spreads for all instruments, with standard spreads being offered on Standard accounts and premium spreads being offered on other accounts.

Minimum Deposit

The broker offers two account types with deposits on the lower side, with a $200 requirement on the Standard account and a $500 requirement on the Prime account. These amounts are realistic, although we do wish the broker would lower the requirement on their Standard account since many competitors do offer at least one account for $100 or less. On the high side of the spectrum, we see a jump up to a $5,000 requirement on the Gold account and the Exclusive account requires a much more significant $50,000 deposit.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Exclusive Capital accepts deposits through a variety of methods, including Visa/MasterCard, Neteller, Skrill, WebMoney, bank wire, Eps, GiroPay, iDeal, Klarna, Poli, Przelewy24, Rapid, Trustly, and Nordea. In order to fund with a card, traders will need to provide a color copy of the front and back of the card, with the middle 8 digits on the front and the CVV code on the back covered. A screenshot of the client logged into an e-wallet account is also required to fund through one of those methods.

The first deposit must be verified manually by the funding department in order to verify the owner of the account, so it may take longer for the first deposit to be processed. Future deposits are credited instantly, except for in the case of bank wire, which can take 2-7 working days to be credited. There are no processing fees charged on incoming deposits.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

All of the available deposit methods are also available for withdrawals, under the condition that withdrawals must be processed back to the original card, e-wallet, or bank account that was used to deposit. The majority of these methods have a flat withdrawal fee that is set at 1.8%. Exceptions would be Bank Wire, which has varying fees imposed on the bank’s behalf. Skrill would also be an exception, as it has a higher fee of 3% of the total withdrawal amount.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

The broker manages to process all withdrawal requests within 24 hours. The website isn’t clear about how long it can take for those funds to show up once they’ve been sent, so traders will want to be prepared for a longer wait time just in case. Typically, it takes much longer to receive funds via wire, while e-wallets are often credited much more quickly.

Bonuses & Promotions

Sadly, we don’t see any extra opportunities to earn bonuses or to take part in any ongoing promotions. It’s always nice to see brokers offering deposit bonuses or cashback through rebates, so this is a little disappointing. On the other hand, many brokers do set unrealistic terms when these are offered, so traders should always look into the terms and conditions, especially if considering a broker based on this alone. If you do notice the “Promotions” section at the top of the website, you’ll notice that the broker only offers VPS in this category.

Educational & Trading Tools

The broker has dedicated two sections of their website to providing helpful resources; “Research” and “Academy”. The first category is mostly dedicated to technical and fundamental analysis, in addition to providing economic and holiday calendars. Under the “Academy” section, the broker provides several different sections, including the following:

• Upcoming Webinars and Seminars
• Forex Perception
• Commodity Insights
• Equities & Indices

These sections focus on helping traders to interpret global economics that impact the forex market, understanding the factors that drive commodity prices, and research on key concepts and ideas on global equities and indices. In addition, the broker also offers free demo accounts. If you’re interested in one of the broker’s webinars or seminars, you can visit that section of the website to view and sign up for any upcoming events.

Demo Account

Like many other forex brokers, Exclusive Capital recognizes the importance of providing free demo accounts to their existing and possible future clients. Signing up for one is easy, as there is a button labeled “Demo Account” at the top of the website, right beside the button that allows one to register for a live account. The application simply asks if one is registering as an individual or a company, before asking for some basic information like name, email address, etc.

From there, traders would be able to verify their email address and then select some more detailed specifics for their demo account, such as leverage. Any trader that could use some practice, needs to become more acquainted with MT5, would like to practice different strategies, test out the broker’s conditions, and so on can benefit from creating one of these risk-free accounts.

Customer Service

Customer service can be reached through LiveChat, via email, or by filling out a contact form. As usual, we did test out the broker’s LiveChat option in order to make sure that our expectations of the service were upheld. Fortunately, an agent responded almost immediately, so there are no complaints about the instant contact option. If you’d prefer to correspond via email, you should know that the broker provides several different email addresses for different departments, all of which have been detailed below. There are no direct phone numbers listed on the website, so it seems that filling out the contact form and leaving a telephone number is the only way to speak to someone over the phone. This is a little slower than being able to call directly, but still effective enough.

Email Addresses: 
Information: [email protected]
Backoffice: [email protected]
Funding: [email protected]
Customer Support: [email protected]
Compliance: [email protected]
Trading: [email protected]
Partnerships: [email protected]
Investment & Research: [email protected]
Marketing: [email protected]

Physical Address: 84-86 Pafou Street, 2nd floor, 3051, Limassol – Cyprus

Countries Accepted

The broker lists Canada, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Japan, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Belgium, The United States, Latvia, and Russia as being restricted regions. To be sure, we did check out the registration page to see if any of these options were listed. Sadly, the US and any other related options, and all of the other listed countries are missing from the list, making it impossible to open an account from one of these locations.

Conclusion

Exclusive Capital is a regulated broker with an asset portfolio that includes currency pairs, ETFs, commodities, indices, and stocks. The broker allows hedging, scalping, and news trading from the MT5 platform. Leverage options are more limited with this broker, with an allowance of 1:30 for retail clients. The 1:100 cap isn’t set much higher for professional clients. It costs between $200 and $50k to open an account, depending on which of the four available account types have been chosen.

Taking a look at trading cost, we see spreads that start from 1.5 pips on the Standard account, while the other accounts offer spreads that start from 0.2 pips and stay below 1.4 pips on all currency pairs. The Standard account is a commission-free option, while the other accounts charge commissions up to $6 per side on FX and metals.

Accounts can be funded through a variety of methods, with zero fees on incoming deposits and instant processing times. Most of the withdrawal fees are set at 1.8%, aside from the 3% fee on Skrill or the bank fee charges on wires.

Support can be contacted directly through LiveChat or by email and we were able to get in contact with an agent instantly. The broker’s educational resources are a step ahead of many of their competitors, with live webinars and seminars, in addition to multiple other sections that focus on providing knowledge. One downside would be the lack of bonuses or promotional opportunities, which we do see offered by some competitors. The broker restricts clients in the US and several different countries from opening accounts.

KOT4X is owned and operated by an SVG-based company with the name KOT4X ltd. It is registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a popular and well known offshore zone that is frequently used by unregulated brokers. Clients of KOT4X can use the MT4 platform with any of the four accounts offered by the broker namely; Standard, Pro and VAR and MINI.

A wide range of instruments including Forex, Indices, Stocks, and Cryptocurrencies are available for trading and spreads seem to be quite low. On their website’s front page, they claim to be a genuine broker made by professionals offering privacy and high growth possibility on a lightning – speed system. If you’d like to discover more about what KOT4X has to offer, keep reading this review as we go through their website to find out more.

Account Types

This broker has four accounts available, the Standard, Pro, VAR, and Mini. All account types follow the ECN STP trading model and all have access to high leverages of up to 1:500. The VAR account is the only one that comes commission-free, whereas the Standard and Pro account has a fee of $7 per lot and $1 per lot for the Mini account. Minimum deposits range from $25 to $500 which makes them affordable to a very wide range of potential clients. All accounts use the popular MT4 platform and their conditions are quite similar apart from the MINI account which has significantly fewer options when it comes to available instruments. You can find detailed information on how to open up a live account with KOT4X on their FAQ page. We’ve outlined the main characteristics of the four accounts down below:

Standard Account
Minimum Deposit – $ 50
Max. Leverage – 1:500
Min. Trade Size – 0.01
Spreads – from 0.8
Swaps – Yes
Avail. Instruments – FX, Indices, Commodities, Metals, Stocks, Cryptos
Commission – $7 per lot

Pro Account
Minimum Deposit – $ 500
Max. Leverage – 1:500
Min. Trade Size – 0.01
Spreads – from .4
Swaps – Yes
Avail. Instruments – FX, Indices, Commodities, Metals, Stocks, Cryptos
Commission – $7 per lot

VAR Account
Minimum Deposit – $ 250
Max. Leverage – 1:500
Min. Trade Size – 0.01
Spreads – from 1.2
Swaps – Yes
Avail. Instruments – FX, Indices, Commodities, Metals, Stocks, Cryptos
Commission – Fee Free

MINI Account
Minimum Deposit – $ 25
Max. Leverage – 1:500
Min. Trade Size – 0.01
Spreads – from 1.0
Swaps – Yes
Avail. Instruments – FX
Commission – $1 per lot

Platforms

This broker offers one of the most recognized and prestigious platforms around, the MT4. This platform offers trading on a number of devices namely; Windows, Mac, Android and IOS and you can find a download link on the KOT4X website. The platform offers 30 built-in technical indicators with adjustable and interactive charts that enable clients to stay afloat current trading market activities. Some other advantages of this platform include full customizability, Expert Advisors and multilingual service among many others. Although we now have the MT5, the ‘bigger brother’ of the initial MT4 platform, many traders still prefer the latter.

Leverage

Leverage is the same for every account this broker has to offer, 1:500 which is quite generous. This means that for every $1 that a client has in their account, this broker can trade up to $500, which can result in major wins, as well as major losses so clients, especially those just starting out in the trading world, should be cautious when dealing with such high leverages.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade size available with KOT4X is similar to most other brokers, 0.01 lots (Micro Lot). They do not state whether there is a maximum trade size on their website, so we asked their support team through their live chat and we were provided with a list of lot sizes available for all the pairs the broker has available at the moment. You can find this information on their FAQ page under the Pairs/Instruments and their Lost Sizes title.

Trading Costs

Three of the available four accounts come with a commission fee of $7 per lot for the Standard and the Pro account, while the Mini has a commission fee of $1 per lot. The VAR account is the only one that is fee-free. We also found a mention of another fee clients may encounter on the broker’s Terms and Conditions page. Here the broker states that KOT4X reserve the right to charge a commission for telephone trades, but they do not offer information regarding how much this commission will be.

Assets

KOT4X have quite an extensive list of instruments available for trading including 55 Forex currency pairs ranging from Major, Minor to Exotics, 104 stocks including Apple, Amazon, Facebook, FedEx, Google, and Cisco Systems to name a few, 31 of the most popular Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Dash, Litecoin, Ripple and EOS amongst others and 8 Indices. You can find the full list of available assets on their Trading Assets page.

Spreads

With KOT4x, spreads depend on the account type that you opt for. From their Accounts page, we could see that spreads are quite low, ranging from .08Pip to 1.2Pip. Obviously, potential clients shouldn’t take these numbers as factual as spreads are dependent on available liquidity so they are bound to fluctuate.

Minimum Deposit

This broker offers a very affordable minimum deposit requirement of $25 for their mini account, which is ideal for clients that are still testing out their trading skills. The highest minimum deposit is that of $500 for the PRO account, which is still relatively affordable when comparing it to other brokers who sometimes have deposit requirements of up to more than $5,000.

Deposit Methods & Costs

At the moment, this broker only offers Bitcoin or Instacoins as deposit methods. In order to do this, clients’ accounts must be KYC verified. This broker automatically credits the value of BTC or Instacoins that are received from deposits directly to the client’s account without taking any fees. Clients should note that the value credited to their account may differ due to either a transaction fee from the client’s own bitcoin wallet provider or because the value of bitcoin may have changed from the time of the deposit to the time the broker receives it.

The minimum Bitcoin deposit required is $10 whilst the minimum for Instacoins is $50. There is no maximum amount specified by the broker. The wait time clients should expect is between 1-3 hours as it depends on Blockchain Traffic and deposits need 3-6 confirmations to be processed.

We decided to speak to KOT4X’s live chat once again and asked for any available funding options for clients who do not have an e-wallet. They informed us that once clients are verified by KYC, they will be able to use Instacoins with their debit/credit card. In order to be verified, clients must provide certain documents. You can find the full information for this on their FAQ page under the Instacoins Deposit Method section.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals can only be withdrawn back to a Bitcoin wallet, which makes this broker quite limited especially to those clients who are not interested in Crypto.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

Withdrawals take approximately 1-3 hours as there are multiple confirmations that have to be processed before the funds go through.

Bonuses & Promotions

At the moment, this broker doesn’t seem to have any promotions or bonuses on offer. However, this doesn’t mean that they won’t in the future, so you can occasionally check their website for any updates regarding any promotions available.

Educational & Trading Tools

Unlike many brokers, KOT4X do not have a page dedicated to Education on their site. They do however have an extensive FAQ page where potential clients can find most of their questions answered simply. When it comes to trading tools, it seems as though this broker relies completely on the trading tools available on their platform of choice, namely the MT4, which should have enough tools for beginner traders as well as more seasoned ones.

Customer Service

This broker can be reached 24/7 through live chat or email. We were extremely pleased with this broker’s live chat. We were given detailed answers within seconds and the customer support provider was very helpful and informed about this broker’s conditions. The support agent also made sure that we were fully understanding their conditions and stayed with us until we had asked all our questions. Here is their info:

Demo Account

For those that are still uncertain about this broker, and would like to see how their conditions live up to actual trading, potential clients can test out KOT4X’s demo account. With this demo clients, will have an unlimited amount of funds and they can also choose leverage of up to 1:500, which means conditions will be identical to that of a live account. This is a great tool for potential clients as they can test out their strategies and get a hang of this broker’s trading conditions.

To kick start your demo account you have to fill in a simple form and choose the leverage and the balance you would like in your account.

Countries Accepted

KOT4x have quite a large number of countries that are restricted from trading with them, namely; Bahamas, Botswana, Burma, Cambodia, Congo, Cuba, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq, Iran, Japan, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, North Korea, Pakistan, Panama, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Vietnam, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. If you are from any of these countries, trading with KOT4x is impossible. This list is subject to change as new regulations come out regarding the trading industry.

Conclusion

KOT4X is an offshore unregulated brokerage registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It provides the biggest platform around, the MT4 with very generous leverage and supposedly tight spreads. The minimum deposit required is also very affordable which could make this broker ideal for those just starting out in the trading industry, but always be cautious of working with an unregulated broker.

The instruments available for trading range from Forex to Cryptocurrencies with clients having a very wide range to choose from, which is always a plus. Their website is user-friendly and they have a very extensive FAQ section that holds many of the usual questions potential clients like to ask. For those people who have questions unanswered in the FAQ section, we had a very good experience when using their live chat.

We spoke to them on two separate days (Saturday and Sunday) and we were given answers within seconds on both occasions. Both customer support providers were polite and well informed about the brokerage. Clients have the option of opening up a demo account which mimics the conditions of a Live Account, this should be beneficial for those wanting to experience what it would be like trading with KOT4x without having to spend any of their money in the process.

Unfortunately, this broker does have a long list of restricted countries, including European Countries like Malta, which makes them unavailable for any potential clients residing in these countries. Another restriction that we felt could hinder potential clients’ interest in this broker, is the fact that clients can only deposit and withdraw via Bitcoin, which is quite unusual. Although bitcoin and E-wallets are increasing in their popularity, it is obvious that there are many traders that prefer using more traditional methods to deposit and withdraw. On the plus side, we did not find any mention of withdrawal fees and this was again confirmed by their live chat support providers.

If you’d like to know more about this broker, head on to their website and go through their FAQ page, as it answers many questions, and also have a go at speaking to their Live Chat as we found their response to be efficient and knowledgeable. As we’ve mentioned before, this broker is unregulated which means there might be commingling which means the broker might mingle together with the finances of the firm and the finances of their clients, which is never a good thing. Make sure to check out customer reviews and try out their Demo account before deciding to start trading with KOT4X.

JPMarkets claim to be Africa’s biggest broker. This is quite a big statement as trading has become very popular in African countries in the last couple of years. This broker is a Financial Services Board-Approved Brokerage (FSP no. 46855) that provides the popular MT4 platform and advanced technology that comes with it for their clients in Africa to trade in the international financial markets, specifically forex currencies. The brokerage was founded in 2016 by the founder Justin Paulsen. On their website, you can find detailed information about his education and experience in the trading market on their Company Profile document.

Their operations are based in various countries throughout Africa, with their main base located in South Africa. On their Company Profile, JPMarkets state they are determined to play a crucial role in the creation of at least 30 African-owned brokerages across Africa by the year 2020. On their website you can find a list of services that this broker offers namely; ECN or STP accounts, low spreads, instant deposits, and fast withdrawals, custom JP Markets App, stable and secure servers and a wide choice of trading instruments available including Stocks and Cryptocurrencies.

Having said that, we did come across quite a large number of online complaints about this broker, with many clients claiming to have serious issues when depositing, trading and withdrawing their funds. This is quite confusing as this broker, in 2019 won the Global Business Outlook award for Best Forex Broker in South Africa as well as International Finance’s Fastest Growing Forex Broker in South Africa. It seems quite contradictory for a scam broker, as the online reviews suggest, to manage to win such awards, so join us as we review their website and the conditions that they offer.

Account Types

JPMarkets offer different types of accounts structured to suit a number of trading styles. Information regarding the actual accounts is quite limited on their platform, but it seems like they offer an ECN account, a Standard account, and a VIP account. When using the ECN account clients will have commissions charged per transaction of $10 per lot. The VIP accounts benefit from lower commission rates but we could not locate specific information regarding this.

On the other hand, on the Standard account clients will be charged on the spread. This broker states that they do not differentiate between Micro or Mini accounts like many brokers do, but they allow their clients to trade all their available pairs without any restrictions. JPMarkets do not have a strict minimum deposit for accounts to be opened, but they do recommend starting with around R3 000 especially for those traders that are still starting out. Other info, such as exact leverage and spread values are not found on their website. We assume that one must open up an account to receive this information, which is inconvenient for potential clients.

Platforms

This broker supports the popular MT4 platform which is used by thousands of traders from all over the globe. This platform offers great tools for traders to use to enhance their trading such as; advanced charting, extensive backtesting and a very wide range of technical indicators. A particular tool that is very popular is the Expert Advisors that allow users to completely automate their trades and basically let the platform handle all the trading. Unfortunately, JPMarkets does not allow automated strategies to be used by their clients.

Apart from the MT4, this broker also offers its own JPMarkets platform which comes with an App for both Andriod and Apple. This application gives clients full control over their trading account and deposits reflect instantaneously, letting clients get in on the trades quickly. According to the application description, this platform enables clients to create new Meta Trader accounts with various deposit currencies and to transfer funds between these accounts using this platform. The online reviews for this platform are overwhelmingly negative, with complaints ranging from money disappearing from accounts to a serious lack of customer support.

If you’re thinking about setting up an account with this broker and using their platform, make sure to do some background research to determine if this would be a good idea.

Leverage

The highest leverage clients can use with JPMarkets is 1:500. We got this information from a screenshot of an open account on their FAQ page, as their website lacks any information regarding accounts and the leverage offered.

Trade Sizes

The minimum trade sizes allowed with this broker is 0.01 lots. Again, no more information, such as maximum trade sizes, are found on their website.

Trading Costs

Clients using an ECN account will be charged $10 per lot. This broker does state that VIP accounts have lower commission fees, but they do not specify the exact amount. On their terms and conditions page, we did find some more information regarding commissions or fees clients may encounter namely; that commissions may be changed by the company from time to time and it remains solely the clients’ responsibility to review the relevant section on their website regularly for any changes.

Assets

Strangely, we couldn’t find any information regarding what assets this broker has to offer. We tried to contact the broker via email to ask for more information, but we were not given any answers. From online customer reviews, we did gather that they offer over 200 Forex & Currency pairs, some cryptocurrencies, Commodities, Market Indexes, and stocks but we cannot confirm if this information is accurate or not.

Spreads

When trading with JPMarkets, clients will encounter variable spreads based on market conditions. This broker claims to offer very competitive spreads, for example, they state that on average, clients can get EUR/USD for about 2 Pips under normal market conditions. Potential clients shouldn’t take this statement as fact, as it is not providing any concrete information regarding the current spreads offered.

Minimum Deposit

Unlike most brokers, JPMarkets does not have a strict minimum deposit required to open up an account. Their clients are allowed to invest whatever they can afford and are comfortable with. They do however recommend depositing an initial amount of around 200 dollars, particularly those clients that require a substantial amount of training.

Deposit Methods & Costs

Clients can deposit funds via the following methods; Visa, MasterCard, iPay, Local Bank Transfers, M-Pesa, PayFast, Skrill and SnapScan. Clients can also fund their accounts using Bitcoin, but only through Skrill.

Withdrawal Methods & Costs

Withdrawals are processed Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm, GMT +2 (South African Standard Time). For security reasons, this broker calls back clients to verify and confirm withdrawal requests. As a result, this might prolong the withdrawal process. On their FAQ page, clients can find a step by step explanation of how to withdraw funds from your JPMarkets account. This broker makes it very clear that all client documentation should be in order before submitting such a request. This documentation includes clear and scanned copies of Identity Card, proof of address and bank statement confirming the client’s individual bank details.

Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time

According to their website, withdrawals are processed immediately and paid within 4 hours provided that all documentation is in order and the client has given a verbal confirmation. As we’ve mentioned briefly before, we did come across a very large number of online complaints regarding issues with withdrawing money. We are unsure if these were the result of a technical issue, or whether this is a clear sign to stay away from JPMarkets.

Bonuses & Promotions

JPMarkets do have a bonus associated with using their Android App. Clients who trade using this method will be able to get a 100% bonus. Those who do not have an android phone can still use the online portal and be eligible. Clients who use an iPhone will be able to use the application once it is published by Apple.

This broker claims to have no tiers or scaling just a 100% bonus on all deposits up to R140,000 or equivalent in USD. The bonuses are applied automatically if clients use the JPMarket portal, so clients should be able to see the bonus immediately upon depositing. The bonus will stay in the account for 90 days and then it expires. One should note that this bonus is not withdrawable, so clients can only use it to trade. The maximum bonus clients can have at any time is 100% of their balance.

Educational & Trading Tools

JPMarkets seem to take education quite seriously as they have a packed educational section on their website. On this page, clients can find a glossary of common trading words and phrases, economic calendar, how-to documents, and a substantial Forex education course. Apart from this, they have a section called Total Trader where one can find a number of interesting articles that new traders might find useful.

They also have a blog section with a number of blog posts regarding forex trading and strategies but it doesn’t seem to be frequently updated as the latest blog was published back in March 2019.

Customer Service

This broker can be contacted either via email, telephone or via the chat feature available on their website. We did not locate any Live Chat buttons on their website at the time of writing this review. We also tried to contact this broker via email but after 24 hours no reply was received. Similarly, to their withdrawal methods and conditions, this broker claims to offer superior service to their clients, but online reviews show the exact opposite. Although we cannot confirm whether these negative reviews are based on fact or not, our own experiences show that JPMarkets customer support is lacking in many ways. This is their contact information;

Address: Black River Office Park 2 Fir Street
Observatory,
CAPE Town Gatehouse Building
2nd Floor
Telephone: 087 828 0576
Email: [email protected]

Demo Account

If you’d like to test out JPMarkets’ trading conditions, you can use their demo account by filling in an online application form. After receiving the login details of your account, you will be able to start trading with a default total of $10 000.

Countries Accepted

JPMarkets do not accept citizens from the US due to US Securities and Exchange (SEC) rules.

Conclusion

JPMarkets is a regulated, South African broker that supports the MT4 platform. We did find ourselves looking for information that should be clearly stated on their website such as; leverages, spreads, and assets, which is obviously inconvenient for potential clients. This broker does have some commissions applied with 2 of its accounts namely the ECN and the VIP, but the information isn’t very clear. Our experience with their customer service left much to be desired as we were not given any answers by their support team.

They do offer an interesting 100% bonus on all accounts, but this bonus can only be reused for trading and not for withdrawing. Although JPMarkets is regulated and the winner of prestigious awards, the number of negative reviews we found online made us question whether they are really reliable or not. If you’re interested in becoming a client of JPMarkets we highly suggest testing out their demo account and perhaps going through some of the online customer reviews to get a better idea of what you should expect when dealing with this broker.