Forex.com Broker

Forex.com Broker Review

When it comes to the trading of Forex and CFDs, there are so many online trading brokerages to choose from, it can be a daunting task. However, an option that seems to stand out from the crowd and has gained significant popularity over the years, is Forex.com. Forex.com has attracted the attention of everyone in the financial trading industry. The brokerage has come a long way since its inception in 2001 and has proven to be quite lucrative for many traders. We have discovered that many traders recommend the platform, and see it advertised all over the web. Now let’s find out if Forex.com is all that it’s cracked up to be in our in-depth review.
79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Company Information

Forex.com has been in the game for quite a while now since it was first established in 2001. The brokerage has gained tremendous interest and growth over the years and now offers their services world-wide. Forex.com is owned and operated by the company known as GAIN Capital Group LLC which is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker: (NYSE:GCAP). The company meets the highest standards of corporate governance and financial reporting, making Forex.com one of the most trusted and secure online trading brokerages in the entire world. Their headquarters are located in the United States at 135 US Hwy 202/206 Bedminster NJ 07921, USA.

Being located in the US, the broker is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is a registered member of the National Futures Association (NFA # 0339826). Even more, Forex.com is an international trading brokerage with global leader status and is registered and regulated in 6 other jurisdictions such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Canada’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). As you can see, Forex.com is a true global market leader as they can legally offer their services to nearly every country in the world.

While this amount of regulation is a great achievement in which very few online trading brokerages achieve, the number of awards Forex.com has been awarded over the years is staggering. In total, Forex.com has been awarded over 30 of the most prestigious online trading brokerage awards from the most reputable sources. Forex.com continues to outperform their competitors and provide traders with top of the lines services in the financial trading industry.

Assets Available

Forex.com has an extensive product list of over 200 trading products across 5 markets. The products offered by Forex.com vary from country to country, with the largest product offering being from the UK branch. The markets in which these tradeable products are available include Forex, Indices, Shares, Commodities, and Cryptocurrencies*. See their details outline below:

Forex

• 80+ currency pairs including Majors, Minors, and Exotics
• Leverage up to 40:1
• Competitive spreads as low as 1.4 pips
• Exceptional execution quality
• Trade 24 hours a day, 5 days a week
• Earn cash rebates on your trading volume

Commodities

• Trade the world’s most popular equity indices across American, European, Asian, and Australian markets
• Trade commodities on variable or fixed spreads and 1% margin
• Metals, energies, and softs can be traded as CFDs
• 12 commodity CFDs
• Trade on leverage of up to 16.67:1

Indices

• The most popular stock portfolios available for trade across the American, European, Asian, and Australian markets
• 10 index CFDs
• Trade on leverage of up to 33.33:1
• Trade with fixed spreads from as low as 1 pt. during market hour
• Global economy exposure

Shares

• Access to over 90 of the most popular US and UK company shares
• Competitive spreads from 1 pt. on UK shares
• Go long or Short on the top companies from around the world

Cryptocurrencies*

• Speculate on the price of the volatile cryptocurrencies* without actually buying them
• Take both small or large positions
• Hold long or short positions
• Trade Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP)
• Margin rates from 25%
• Spreads from $1
• Overnight financing of 0.08219%

*Availability is subject to regulations

Bonuses & VIP Program

Forex.com does not feature any bonuses or promotions for signing up for an account and depositing funds. Many online trading brokers will reward traders with cash bonuses which are dependent upon the amount they deposit, but Forex.com does not feel the need to entice traders on signing up and trading with them. Forex.com is confident with their services and know they will receive many new clients without the need to promote their services through bonuses and promotions.

However, one aspect of Forex.com which can be considered a bonus or promotion is their FX Rebate Program. This program allows traders to earn cash rebates on their monthly forex trading volume and can be quite substantial for trader with very large trading volumes. See below, the details regarding the different trading volume tiers for the FX Cash Rebate Program.

Tier 1 ($50 million – $150 million)

Traders receive a $5 cash rebate per million. So, if they trade $150 million they receive a $750 cash rebate for that month.

Tier 2 ($150 million – $500 million)

Traders receive a $7 cash rebate per million. So, if they trade $500 million they receive a $3500 cash rebate for that month.

Tier 3 ($500 million – $1.5 billion)

Traders receive a $10 cash rebate per million. So, if they trade $1.5 billion they receive a $15,000 cash rebate for that month.

Tier 4 ($1.5 billion – $2.5 billion)

Traders receive a $12 cash rebate per million. So, if they trade $2.5 billion they receive a $30,000 cash rebate for that month.

Trading Platform

Forex.com provides traders the choice to choose from 2 different and highly advanced trading platforms. The renowned MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform, and their very own proprietary FOREXTrader platform. Both platforms offer advanced tools and features and are intuitively designed and user-friendly to accommodate both beginner and advanced traders. See the platforms overviewed below.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

This platform is the world’s most popular trading platform and for good reason. It comes complete with a highly advanced charting package with numerous analysis tools and technical indicators. Forex.com’s MT4 platform features a wide array of integrated tools and analysis features which are unique to Forex.com and the platform receives real-time account data for the fastest possible trade execution. Another great feature is the integration of “Expert Advisors” (EAs), which are programmable scripts and indicators for automated trading. Overall, the Forex.com MT4 trading platform is an excellent platform.

FOREXTrader

This is Forex.com’s proprietary trading platform and is designed for professional traders as it integrates top-notch research and analysis tools for trading successfully. The platform is high performing and has fast execution speeds. The dashboard interface is fully customizable and traders can easily switch between multiple order types. Traders also have access to 15 pre-defined trading strategies and can customize and create their own using the built in Strategy Wizard. The platform includes over 70 technical indicators and a wide array of advanced trading tools and chart types.

Mobile

The Forex.com desktop trading platforms are highly sophisticated and so are Forex.com’s downloadable mobile trading applications for Apple and Android smart devices. Traders can manage their portfolio and trade on the go with the highly advanced and fully optimized Forex.com trading application. The mobile trading app features all the same advanced tools and features as the desktop platforms such as full featured trading and advanced risk management options, advanced charting and analysis tools, real-time trade & order alerts, and integrated fund management. Apart from the advanced features the app incorporates, the mobile user interface is very well designed and user-friendly. It’s difficult to take a desktop trading platform and make it fully compatible with mobile devices, but Forex.com seemed to do the trick fairly well. The interface is even customizable so that traders can easily access features important to them. While the mobile trading application is highly advanced and intuitively designed, traders will need to get used to it, as it can be difficult to use. However, the mobile trading application by Forex.com is still an excellent mobile trading solution.

Deposits & Withdrawals

One of the limiting aspects of Forex.com is the number of available deposit and withdrawal options. Forex.com currently supports only two methods for money transfer; Debit/Credit Cards and Bank Wire Transfers. Both options are very simple and easy to use and provide fast deposit and withdrawals with no fees imposed by Forex.com. See below, the details pertaining to these two money transfer methods.

Bank Wire Transfer

• No minimum transaction amounts
• No maximum transaction amounts
• Accepted currencies include USD, EUR, CAD, JPY, CHF, AUD, and GBP
• Typical processing time for deposits is 1 – 2 business days for domestic wire transfers, and 2 – 5 days for international wire transfers
• Processing time for withdrawals is up to 48 hours
• No fees charged for deposits or withdrawals

Debit/Credit Card

• Minimum transaction amount of $50
• Maximum transaction amount of $10,000
• All transactions are automatically converted to USD
• Accepted cards: Visa, MasterCard and Discover
• Typical processing time for deposits is immediate
• Processing time for withdrawals is up to 24 hours
• No fees charged for deposits or withdrawals

Customer Support

The customer support offered by Forex.com is truly phenomenal. Clients can reach support representatives through a variety of methods including telephone, email, live chat, and through their social media channels. Support via these methods are available 24/7 and in multiple languages as Forex.com is an international trading brokerage. All the above-mentioned support methods work very well and respond in a timely fashion. The support representatives are generally very professional and friendly and provide the best supportive answers to any questions via email. Additional methods of support include the extensive and comprehensive FAQ page. The FAQ page has loads of information and is categorized into numerous categories and comes complete with a search bar for narrowing down what you are looking for. The website in general has loads of content which is there to answer the majority of questions a user might have. All in all, the customer support provided by Forex.com is excellent.

Extra Features & Resources

Once again, Forex.com outdoes themselves by providing a massive number of additional features and resources such as their comprehensive education centre and their extensive market analysis and research centre. Both these extra resources are packed with informative content that’s beneficial to the user. Traders of all levels will appreciate the education centre as Forex.com has trading courses for beginner, intermediate, and advanced traders. As well, traders can simply view and study a variety of trading strategies, glossary terms, and other trading related topics and material.

The other extra resource is the market analysis section. This resource provides traders with the latest market moving news which has been compiled from Forex.com’s award winning global research team. Also, traders have access to a variety of analysis tools including advanced charting, trade alerts, an economic calendar, pivot points, and more. One more extra feature in which traders can gain access to is a highly trained market strategist to work with. Also, traders can receive up to 3 free live trading sessions with Forex.com’s global analysts.

Verdict

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