Forex.com Review
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Founded in 2001 FOREX.com offers clients access to forex, equities, commodities, indices, bonds, ETFs, industry sectors, cryptocurrencies and more. U.S based customers are offered leveraged access to 90 currency pairs with competitive spreads across multiple account types. In terms of customer funds FOREX.com is the #1 in the U.S. FOREX.com boasts good security for their clients funds, they are registered with the CFTC (U.S.), NFA (U.S.), FCA (U.K.), IIROC, ASIC, MAS, FSA, and CIMA .
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Pros / Cons
- Over 19 years in business
- Segregates clients funds
- Regulated by FCA (U.K.) & CFTC, NFA (U.S.)
- Wide range of product offerings
- Trade over 80 currency pairs
- Choose between standard and commission accounts to minimize fees
- Multiple platforms including MetaTrader
- Rebates for high-volume traders
- Impressive, easy-to-navigate platform
- Leverage available up to 50:1
- Used by over 150,000 Forex.com users and traders
- Min. deposit from $100
- Inactivity Fee
- High stock CFD costs
- Low leverage rate
- Limited assets outside of foreign exchange
- Limited deposit&funding method
- Low account verified period.
- Not CySEC Regulated
- Demo account isn't linked to the live one
Account Types
The three account types at Forex.com are the commission-free Standard Account, the Commission Account and the Direct Market Access (DMA) Account. The commission-free option is only available on MT4, while both commission-based alternatives require the proprietary web-based trading platform at Forex.com. All traders receive equal treatment, except for the cost reduction for active and high-frequency traders. The DMA account is exclusively for Forex traders but features fewer currency pairs plus gold and silver. While the minimum deposit is $100, Forex.com recommends $1,000, except for the DMA, where the minimum is $25,000. The maximum leverage depends on the trading jurisdiction and asset type, which for Forex traders can range between an uncompetitive 1:30 to a competitive 1:500 and for equity traders an average of 1:20.
Trading Platforms
Forex.com offers clients the out-of-the-box MT4 and MT5 trading platforms, best-suited for automated traders. The well-designed Advanced Trading Platform, available as a desktop client and a web-based option, presents an excellent alternative. It supports algorithmic trading solutions and features 100+ templates and a Development Studio to create custom solutions. All trading platforms also come as mobile apps, popular among millennial retail traders. The competitive choice of trading platforms receives an upgrade through Autochartist, and Recognia, a Trading Central company. Forex.com ensures that its clients access financial markets with a competitive edge.
A Brief History
Before we get into the details of Forex.com min deposits and pricing, it can help to have some context about the one of the world’s largest retail forex brokers. The company was founded in 1999 and is now part of StoneX, who are regulated in numerous locations, including:
- US
- UK
- Canada
- Japan
- EU
In fact, StoneX serves over 500,000 global customers. This history is important because it should negate concerns over scams, as Forex.com is owned by a legitimate and trusted company with decades of experience meeting traders needs.
The company also offer the international ‘City Index’ brand for spread betting.
StoneX is a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SNEX.
Spreads & Commissions
Forex.com do not charge a fee on forex trades. Instead, they are compensated via the spread. When it comes to some of the largest forex pairs and shares, Forex.com has average spreads. But the broker offers below average costs for index and commodity CFDs.
The company has four different pricing models. Which one you will fall into will depend on the type of account you hold and the volume you trade. Typical spreads range from 1.9 pips to 0.84 pips.
It’s also worth noting that if you hold a premium account and deposit at least $10,000 while trading 30 standard lots per month, you can receive up to 15% off standard pricing.
Overall, if you were to compare Forex.com vs FXCM, Oanda, TD Ameritrade and other competitors, live pip spreads would be about the same, particularly for major pairs such as the EUR/USD.
Leverage
You can also trade on margin to capitalise on potential investing opportunities. However, this is effectively a loan which if not used carefully can amplify losses.
The maximum leverage you can take out will vary on your account type and activity. So head over to their website to use their margin calculator and find out what leverage ratio you can get.
Professional traders can however, operate with higher levels of leverage.
Other Trading Fees
Minimum Initial Deposit
Before you sign up with Forex.com, login, and download any software, you need to make sure you are aware of all account requirements and trading fees.
The minimum initial account deposit is 100 units of the base currency of your account (e.g. £100, €100 or $100).
Whilst you can find brokers offering lower minimum deposit requirements, you can also find some offering far higher, so Forex.com is fairly industry standard in this regard.
Range of Offerings
Globally, FOREX.com provides access to a broad selection of financial instruments across a wide range of different asset classes, including:
- 80+ currency pairs
- 4,500+ popular stocks
- Commodities
- Indices
- Bonds
- ETFs
- Sectors
- Cryptocurrencies
- Gold & Silver
- Futures & Futures Options – U.S. (FuturesOnline)
In the U.S., its product line caters solely to spot forex trading, unleveraged gold & silver, and futures through its affiliate, FuturesOnline.
Customer Service
FOREX.com offers phone support, live chat, and email support.
Phone support was fast to answer and is available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Email support was slower to answer but provided complete and relevant answers. Live chat wasn’t easy to find, but once we found it, it provided complete answers in a timely manner.
Overall, support was good, but not great. We’d recommend improving phone support availability to 7 days a week and making email support faster.
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Final Thoughts
While its pricing is not rock bottom, FOREX.com delivers a great experience to forex traders of all experience levels.