Forex.com Review

Point Summary

Is FOREX.com safe or a scam

FOREX.com is Regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority under the Securities Investment Business Law of the Cayman Islands. Its parent company, GAIN Capital is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It is a big plus for safety as FOREX.com releases financial statements regularly and in a transparent manner.

They are also regulated in six other jurisdictions worldwide through their affiliates such as the Financial Conduct Authority FCA regulates the UK entity, while ASIC regulate the Australian operation, the US entity is overseen by the NFA and CFTC, and by the Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA). Finally, Canadian operations are regulated by IIROC.

This comprehensive regulation around the world, exceeds what is offered by many brokers, and demonstrates the seriousness with which FOREX.com takes your trading experience. Further to this, you will have the benefit of negative balance protection which stops you from ever losing more than you deposit. but only for retail clients from the European Union. Professional and non-EU clients are not covered with any negative balance protection

How are you protected?

All customer deposits are kept separate from thier own operating funds and distributed across a global network of custodian banks

Your money is held with top-tier banks and They have trust letters in place to ensure your money remains segregated from the assets of the bank which means they are fully protected in the event of any serious financial problems on the broker end. But FOREX.com operates several subsidiaries worldwide; which of these will serve you depends on your residency. The investor protection amount youre eligible for depends on the country where the subsidiary serving you is located.

They never engage in proprietary

FOREX.com investor protection

Country of clients	Protection amount	Regulator	Legal entity
EEA	£85,000	Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)	GAIN Capital UK Ltd.
USA	No protection	Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED) Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) National Futures Association (NFA)	GAIN Capital Group LLC
Canada	$1,000,000	Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC)	GAIN Capital - FOREX.com Canada Limited
Japan	No protection	Japanese Financial Services Authority (FSA)	Gain Capital Japan Co.
All other clients	No protection	Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA)	GAIN Global Markets Inc.

Accounts

FOREX.com provides three account types, which differ in their pricing structure and in the trading platforms available. It also has a free demo account to test out FOREX.com without committing real funds.

Below is the comparision of each live accounts:

	STANDARD	COMMISSION	DMA
FOREX.com TRADING PLATFORMS
FOREX.com Advanced Desktop Platform	✔	✔	✔
Web Trading	✔	✔	✔
Mobile Apps	✔	✔	Top of book trading
METATRADER 5	✔
METATRADER 4	✔
CURRENCY MARKETS	80+ FX pairs plus spot gold silver	80+ FX pairs plus spot gold silver	58 FX pairs plus spot gold silver
CRYPTO MARKETS	Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin Ripple	Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin Ripple	None
SHARE MARKETS	4,500+ on FOREX.com platforms, 400+ on MT5	4,500+ on FOREX.com platforms	None
INDEX MARKETS	15+ indices	15+ indices	None
COMMODITY MARKETS	12+ commodities	12+ commodities	None
PRICING
Spreads only	✔
Spreads plus commissions		✔
Commissions only			✔
MARKET-MAKER MODEL	✔	✔
STP MODEL			✔
DIRECT MARKET ACCESS			✔
CASH REBATES	For accounts that qualify	For accounts that qualify
WAIVED WIRE FEES	For accounts that qualify	For accounts that qualify	✔
DEDICATED MARKET STRATEGIST	For accounts that qualify	For accounts that qualify	✔
EARN INTEREST	For accounts that qualify	For accounts that qualify	✔
API TRADING	✔	✔
RECOMMENDED BALANCE	$1,000	$1,000	$25,000

Standard account

The standard account is best for the average user and new foreign currency traders. It has higher spread costs and no commissions.

Commission account

The commission account is for traders who are seeking ultra-tight spreads with fixed commissions.

Direct market access (DMA) account

For serious high-volume FX traders, this account has a recommended minimum balance of $25,000, trade size 100K. It has higher volume requirements for the lowest commissions, after rebates.

How to open new account at FOREX.com

Before registering, choose the account with the pricing model you’re interested in. Also, note that only the standard account works with MetaTrader. The commission and direct market access accounts work on the FOREX.com platform.

For a standard account: Click the button whether you want to use Forex.coms own trading platform or MetaTrader 4(a third-party trading platform).

Demo account

The Forex market offers attractive opportunities for traders, but also involves risk. That’s why before diving into Forex trading with a live account, it’s best to open a risk-free Forex demo account. The FOREX.com Demo Account provides the same Forex trading experience as real accounts. The only difference is that the funds on the Forex demo account are simulated. You don’t trade with real money, so it is completely risk-free.

Demo accounts are intended to enable you to familiarise yourself with the tools and features of their trading platforms. Success or failure in simulated trading bears no relation to probable future results with any live trading that you may choose to engage in.

Click here to open for a demo account.

Fill in all the info above. It will redirect you to the page below:


Note
Demo accounts last for 30 days after sign up. Afterward, you will not be able to log in using the demo account credentials. Demo renewals are not available at this time.

What is the minimum deposit at FOREX.com?

The required FOREX.com minimum deposit is $50. This is a low amount as there are other brokers that require a minimum of $2,000 or more.

Note
FOREX.com accepts customers from most countries, including the US. Notable exceptions include Belgium, France, Ghana, Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Congo, Cote D’Ivoire.

Products

FOREX.com is a forex broker, also offering some CFDs.

Access 4,500+ trading products with competitive pricing and quality execution.

• Trade 80+ currency pairs, thousands of stocks, popular commodities, indices and cryptocurrencies
• Access top companies like Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft with commissions from 1.8 cents on US stocks
• Earn cash rebates when you qualify for the Active Trader program
• Speculate on Bitcoin volatility with fixed spreads and low margin

FOREX.com product selection

	FOREX.com	Oanda	Interactive Brokers
Currency pairs (#)	91	71	105
Stock index CFDs (#)	20	16	13
Stock CFDs (#)	270	-	7,100
ETF CFDs (#)	26	-	-
Commodity CFDs (#)	21	31	-
Bond CFDs (#)	-	6	-
Futures CFDs (#)	-	-	-
Cryptos (#)	9	-	2

You can change the default leverage level of the products, which is great.

Changing the leverage manually is a very useful feature when you want to lower the risk of your trade. For example, instead of trading with 5:1 leverage, you can set it to 2:1 in the case of stock CFDs.

Below is a list of just some of the markets available for trading:

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. It is not suitable for all investors and you should make sure you understand the risks involved, seeking independent advice if necessary.

Trading Platforms

Web Trading Platforms

FOREX.com has three web trading platforms, Web Trading and MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5. We tested Web Trader because it is Forex.coms own platform, while MetaTrader 4,5 is provided by a third party.

Web tradings intuitive design and rich features give you superior control of your trading strategies.

•     Smart trade ticket with advanced risk management options
•     Pre-defined and customizable layouts
•     Powerful charts with integrated one-click dealing
•     Integrated trading tools, market commentary and analysis
•     Advanced charting features, 70+ technical indicators, 50+ drawing tools and more
•     Seamless account management, funding and withdrawals

No matter what type of computer you use, the web platforms are another easy way to trade. With these, you don’t have to download anything and you still get a lightning-fast connection and user experience.

It is extremely customizable. You can easily add, remove, or change the size and position of tabs to create your own unique trading platform. It also lets you pick between a light or dark theme and between "one-click" or "two-click" trading.

Search Functions

The web trading platform has good search functions. You can search by typing the name of the product youre looking for or browsing a categorized product list.

Alerts and notifications

The alert function lets you know when an asset reaches a price target. You also get a notification when your orders get fulfilled. This is a push notification, available on both web and mobile platforms. You can easily set alerts and notifications.

Portfolio and fee reports

FOREX.com has clear portfolio and fee reports. You can find these under the Reports tab and download them in PDF, XLS, XML and CSV.

Note
Web Trading is available only in English.


Desktop Trading Platforms

FOREX.com offers three desktop platforms, the Advanced Trading Platform and MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5. We tested the Advanced Trading Platform as this is Forex.coms own platform, while MetaTrader 4, 5 is a third-party platform.

Forex.coms desktop trading platform has the same functionality as the web trading platform. For example, you can use the same order types or price alerts. But It has some advanced feature Cause It Built for serious traders that demand sophisticated trading features and analytic tools in one powerful package.

•     Highly customisable dashboards and trade preferences
•     Powerful charting tools, 80+ technical indicators, extensive drawing tools and more
•     Advanced analytical tools including integrated trading strategies with 100s of predefined templates to choose from

I think this platform is suitable for beginner to expert level traders, though the most advanced traders may prefer the familiar, cutting edge MetaTrader platforms.

Note
The FOREX.com desktop platform is made for Windows computers. Mac users can run Windows apps with additional software, such as Parallels.

Mobile Platform

Similarly to the web, desktop trading platform, FOREX.com provides three mobile trading platforms: Forex.coms own, and MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 mobile trading platform. They are available on iOS and Android. In this review, we tested Forex.coms own trading platform on Android.

You are on the move and so are the markets. Manage your account and trade on the go with power and ease on FOREX.coms mobile apps.

• Full-featured trading and advanced risk management options
• Advanced TradingView charting analysis tools
• Real-time trade order alerts
• Integrated fund management

The FOREX.com app dashboard shows your portfolio summary and open positions

Charts are flexible and adaptable.


Search functions

Search functions are good. You can search by typing the name of the asset youre looking for or browse product categories.

Alerts and notifications

You can easily set price alerts on the FOREX.com mobile platform.

In my experience testing the app on my one-year-old Android phone, the app was straightforward and simple to follow and everything was fast and zippy.

Which trading platform is better for you?

Most seasoned traders will tell you that all they really want from a trading platform is something that is reliable and easy to use, intuitive, and doesn’t crash. Each platform is unique and has its own pros and cons, so it is best to understand what you want in a forex account, and platform before you get started.


How to place a trade at FOREX.com

Go to Default Workspace, Click the assets you want to trade

It will show the popup as below
You can use many order types, including some more sophisticated ones:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop-loss
• Trailing stop
• One-cancels-the-other (OCO)

Deposits and Withdrawals

FOREX.com provides multiple options for deposit and withdrawal through Credit/Debit Card, Wire Transfer , all free of charge. They do not accept payments through Western Union or Paypal.

At FOREX.com, you can choose from 3 base currencies: EUR, GBP, USD

Deposits

Each of these options has different processing times and most of them is instant, as the example screenshot below shows:

How do I deposit money into my trading account at FOREX.com?
You can easily fund your account via credit card, debit card, or wire transfer by logging in to MyAccount and visiting the Funding page.

Credit or Debit Card

MIN PER TRANSACTION	MAX PER TRANSACTION	ACCEPTED CURRENCIES	TYPE	TYPICAL PROCESSING TIME	FEES
$100 or currency equivalent	$10,000 or currency equivalent	USD, EUR, GBP	Visa	Immediate	None

Wire Transfer

MIN PER TRANSACTION	MAX PER TRANSACTION	ACCEPTED CURRENCIES	TYPICAL PROCESSING TIME	FEES
None	None	USD, EUR, GBP	Up to 1-2 business days	None

What is the minimum deposit amount at FOREX.com?

The minimum initial deposit is $100 or currency equivalent.

How long does a Deposit take?

It takes Immediately with Credit/Debit Card, but up to 1-2 business days for Wire transfer

Deposit Fees?

FOREX.com does not charge incoming deposit fees. However, your bank may charge a service fee.



Withdrawals

What is the minimum withdrawal amount?

The minimum withdrawal amount is 100 of your accounts base currency, or the remaining amount if less than 100.

Does FOREX.com charge withdrawal fees?

Withdrawal at FOREX.com is free of charge

How can I withdraw my profits?

1.     Log in to MyAccount
2.     Click on Funding and then select Withdraw
3.     Fill in the required amount
4.     Confirm your withdrawal

How long does it take to receive a withdrawal?

Deposited funds must be returned to the originating funding source in the following order:

•     Credit/Debit Cards
•     Wire Transfer

Excess funds may be withdrawn via Bank Transfer.

Credit/Debit Card

PROCESSING TIME	MAX WITHDRAWAL AMOUNT	FEES
Up to 24 hours	$50K or transaction up to the amount funded	None

Wire Transfer

PROCESSING TIME	MAX WITHDRAWAL AMOUNT	FEES
Up to 48 hours	Unlimited, once cards deposits are refunded	Additional fees may be applied by receiving bank.

*Processing time only reflects the time it takes FOREX.com to complete the withdrawal during normal business hours. Your bank may take additional time to credit the funds to your account.

 

Commissions and Fees

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



 

Bonuses and Promotions

Welcome Bonus - Up to $5000
Opt in to our welcome bonus promotion to receive a 20% bonus on the amount you fund into your account within your first 14 days.

Your bonus will be credited into your account when you meet the trading requirements. Max bonus $5000.


You must open a FOREX.com account before you opt into this promotion. The account number and email address you supply must relate to a live FOREX.com account for you to be eligible for this promotion.

Note
Offer excludes accounts based in the UK, US or China

Customer Support

Research Education

Educational Material

Education is an important component which can have an influence not only on your current experience at a broker, but also your future in forex trading. To this end, FOREX.com does an excellent job in providing strong educational content suited to all levels of trader which can be beneficial. They do this through providing a wide range of written content which is of a high quality and divided into topics around all areas of trading, strategies, analysis, and trading platforms. This content is further divided by level, with materials available for beginners, intermediate, and advanced traders.

Research material

Native research tools: Many forex traders use fundamental analysis tools to inform their trades. FOREX.com’s brokerage platform includes an organized and comprehensive native news feed, customizable to your favorite currency pairs. Begin by selecting your currency pair of choice and opening a new workspace. On the right-hand side of your screen, you’ll instantly see the latest news headlines concerning either of the currencies listed in your pair. Click on each news headline to read directly from your app and flip back to your workstation in a fraction of a second to execute fast, informed trades.

Live webinars: FOREX.com also hosts regular live webinars at every skill level to help you boost your trading know-how. Topics range from basic forex strategy to trading psychology and risk management. You can quickly book your space at each webinar by entering your name, email address and phone number on FOREX.com’s website. Like its trading education courses, webinars are hosted free-of-charge for all participants.

Conclusion

Compared to most FX and CFD brokers, FOREX.com offers great prices and tight spreads, especially on popular FX pairs.

Over the decades of experience, the FOREX.com team has built out platforms suitable for any level of trading experience.

Each account works with different platforms. For example, you can’t use MetaTrader with a commission account. But as you learn more about how forex works, you can work your way up the expertise ladder and try out the different tools available to you.

Although their product offering is quite limited, not offering the best trading conditions around, FOREX.com has nevertheless put together a serious package that easily competes with numerous similarly sized brokers. In addition to their market-leading proprietary trading package, the FOREX.com platform is packed full of extra features which make for unique trading experience. For this reason alone, it is well worth checking out.

If you are looking to get into the world of forex, FOREX.com is a good starting point. It’s a user-friendly platform, extensive education resources, and transparent nature make it a good choice to learn and trade. But with advanced platforms and account types, even the most experienced traders will likely find themselves happy with the FOREX.com

Yet, we would be glad to know your personal opinion about FOREX.com, you may share your experience in the comment area below, or ask us for some additional information if required.