IC Markets Review
[wpdatatable id=4 table_view=regular]IC Markets started offering online trading services since 2007 and managed to maintain a good reputation as one of the regulated brokers in Australia with a focus on Forex and CFD trading.
IC Markets has several branches and is regulated by the top-tier authorities:
ASIC, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Also is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Seychelles Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA).
Even though IC Markets is not publicly listed on any stock exchange, the company maintains a good reputation as a low fee trading platform.
Unfortunately, their portfolio is not that strong and The services that IC Markets offers are mainly around Forex, CFD, Crypto. We have analysed online brokers & online trading platforms and rated IC Markets as an option for:
- Low Non-Trading Fee broker
- Low Forex Fee broker
- Decent broker for crypto
You can also find other options and reviews of the best forex brokers or glance through our list of best CFD brokers that our editorial team has reviewed this month, alongside other online brokers.
IC Markets offers you their online trading platform in all 3 forms of web, mobile and desktop (the platform is not as strong as other competitors like IG and eToro but Meta Trade is well known to all online traders).
On the other hand, it offers charting features with decent customization capability.
A good side of the fact is that its trading fees are low and there is no extra fee for withdrawal. They also allow you to choose 10 different base currencies.
How much is IC Markets Fees?
IC Markets Spreads & Commissions
you might be thinking whether AxiTrader is a good broker for trading foreign exchange or not.
The fees for S&P 500 CFD, Europe 50 CFD, EUR USD are built into the spread.
✓ For S&P 500 CFD the fee is 0.6 average spread cost, which is considered to be low.
✕ For EURUSD the fee is $3.5 for each lot, which is considered to be low.
✓ For GBPUSD the fee is $3.5 for each lot, which is considered to be low.
✓ There is no inactivity.
Some other positive points are:
- Low Non-Trading fee and free withdrawal
- Multiple base currencies
- Low Forex Fee
- Easy and fast account opening
If you search about all fees that a broker will charge you for that, you can choose the right broker to trade on it depends on your circumstances.
Generally, a broker charges you a fee when you perform any trade on their platform. This is called “Trading Fees” and come in forms of:
- Commissions
- Spreads
- Financial Rates
- Conversion Fees
IC Markets is primarily known as a Forex and CFD broker, offers low rate trading fees. There are different costs for different account types. We will go through the IC Markets trading fees for forex and CFD.
The Scenario is running this way: A typical trade means buying a leveraged position, holding it for 7 days and only sell after that period. Let’s have a look at a typical trade for a selected product.
* Volume: a $2,000 position for the stock Index
* Volume: a $2,000 position for CFD
* Volume: $20,000 for the forex transactions.
The leverage in these scenarios is:
• 20:1 stock index CFDs • 5:1 CFD • 30:1 forex
Compare IC Markets Fees
IC Markets Alternatives and fees
[lt id=31] [lt id=32]Some brokers also charge you “Non-trading fees” such as withdrawal fees and inactivity fees. : These charges are not 100% related to what currency, share or options you trade.
IC Markets has low trading and non-trading fees. There is no inactivity or withdrawal fee, but on the other side, financing rates for CFDs are high.
What is IC Markets’ Trading Platform
IC Markets offers 10 base currencies
The good thing about IC Markets is that it operates in the majority of countries with a $200 minimum deposit.
At IC Markets, you are allowed to choose from these 10 base currencies: SD, GBP, AUD, CHF, NZD, JPY, SGD, CAD, HKD.
• Your default Base currency is British Pound.
To start trading IC Markets does not charge any deposit fees, but you ought to remember that in order to deposit money you have to use funding sources that are in your own name. If you are ready to trade, go ahead and use the live account, If not, they offer a demo account to practice.
There are 3 different platforms available on IC Markets for traders. Web trading platform, Desktop and Mobile trading App.
IC Markets doesn’t have a self-developed trading platform for itself, but mostly uses MetaTrader4 as a third party trading platform, which is quite customizable and is available in many languages with a clear fee report.
Also, you can set-up alerts and push notifications on desktop and mobile platforms, respectively. But, unfortunately, this service is not available on web trading platforms.
At a glance its trading platform looks like this:
How to Open Trading Account with IC Markets
What trading account type is best for beginners?
When it comes to trading, customer service plays a good role.
Overall, IC Markets customer support team respond at normal pace via email, but they do a good job on phone calls.
As for live-chat, we did not like their approach as it was not that relevant. By the way, they have established a 24/7 support process (So you can count on weekends).
This brokerage has a live-chat and offers help in English and the good thing about it is short time queues.
Let’s have a look at different types of accounts that are available at IC Markets.
- The first level is called True ECN with cTrader account with low spreads and $7.83 commission per lot
- The second type is called True ECN with MetaTrader account with low spreads and $7 commission per lot
- The Standard account has no commissions but spreads are high
- P.S All accounts are available for all account types. Then we have Premium trader with the same leverage but min deposit of 10,000 pounds.
You can expect a very easy, smooth and professional process to open your account with IC Markets.
All you need is an email or a social platform login. You don’t want to waste time, so do they. therefore, you will get your account opened in 1 day, and you can use your demo account immediately.
If you decide to move forward as a trader and work with real money, shares or trades, get ready to provide your passport or ID along with proof of residency (something like a utility bill or bank statement).
Well, its more than easy to place an order and you will be guided throughout the process. Then you will be prompted with easy to use wizard for getting onboard with IC Markets.
In terms of alerts and push notification, it varies based on your trading platform.
No matter you use desktop, web or mobile for your trading, you can get a different kind of notifications, but not price related.
IC Markets is providing trading ideas for traders but it doesn’t offer any information about fundamental data.
Whether you need a chart or list of assets, you can easily generate it and track the performance of your portfolio in IC Markets, It’s easy and you can see a clear profit/loss or commissions paid reports.
What Products can you trade with IC Markets
Trading Instruments & offers
The options that are available to you at IC Markets are:
- Forex
- CFD
- Cryptos
When you buy with no leverage (leverage=1) you buy real stocks and not contract for difference. That’s why Non-leveraged buy positions for equities, ETFs and cryptocurrencies (digital currency) are traded as real assets.
| Currency Pairs | 60 |
| Stock Index CFD | 16 |
| Stock CFDs | 120 |
| ETF CFDs | 0 |
| Commodity CFDs | 9 |
| Bond CFDs | 12 |
| Future CFDs | 0 |
| Crypto | 10 |
IC Markets Analysis, Tools & Education…
Research Tools for FX Traders
IC Markets has great and comprehensive educational material. You will learn how to trade Forex and CFDs by reading articles and watching platform tutorial videos and webinars. Also, a demo account is available, especially for beginners to get their hands on trading.
You will find all these educational materials in the “Education” section of IC Markets website along with more relevant articles in their blog. You will learn good points of trading as it covers technical analysis and risk management topics as well. to learn how to trade, you can pay a visit to our trading blog.
- Does IC Markets offer Fundamental Data? Unfortunately No.
- Does IC Markets offer Trading Ideas? Yes.
Conclusion of IC Markets Pros & Cons
Is IC Markets safe?
4.5/5
Is IC Markets Legit?
IC Markets’s solid history and background is a proof of its safety. It’s an Australian regulated broker and working in Forex and CFD markets since 2007 which means it survived through all financial crisis during this period.
They are only offering Forex and CFD. They do not charge inactivity fees and allow you to change leverage which is great. On the other hand, it offers low fee trading fee options for Forex trading, but CFD fees are high.
You can work on Desktop, Mobile and Web trading platforms to do online trading.
If you are ready to trade, feel free to try the IC Markets trading platform and make sure you know about the risks as well. Remember that IC Markets has a $200 minimum deposit fee, too.
If you feel you’re not quite ready for trading, just use its demo account to practice on what you want to do on the trading platforms.
Is IC Markets Scam or Regulated?
Yes, This broker is regulated by:
- (ASIC) in Australia also known as Australian Securities and Investments Commission
How to open my trading account?
Follow these steps to learn how to open trading account:
1. Get ready with your email address
2. Select the country of residency.
3. Provide demographic data
4. Choose your preferred online trading platform
5. Select your account type & base currency.
6. Explain your trading experience and provide employment history
7. Provide identity and residency proof for activation.
What is the minimum deposit for IC Markets.
The minimum deposit is $0.
What are IC Markets Pros & Cons.
- Low Non-Trading fees
- Low Forex Fees
- Low CFD Fees
- No Withdrawal Fees
- No minimum deposit
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