Editor’s Verdict
Overview
Review
Headquarters | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
Regulators | CySEC |
Year Established | 2007 |
US Persons Accepted? |
RetailFX is a company that focuses on Foreign Exchange (Forex) trading. Estimated volume for that particular market is pegged over $3.2 trillion a day. Trading there can be open-ended and risky. RetailFX's founders have been active in risk management for more than 10 years. It describes its mission as providing “customers from around the world with sophisticated backend trading and hedging technology combined with personal customer service.” RetailFX Ltd. is a registered Cypriot Investment Firm (CIF) with the Cypriot Securities & Exchange Commission (CySEC). It states that it adheres to the regulatory standards of the European financial authorities and follows precise due diligence procedures and trading practices. It suggests that potential customers visit the CySEC website for verification purposes. The essence of Forex trading involves trading currency pairs and RetailFX provides a comprehensive list of those pairs and their spreads under the services tab of its main web page. The website is commendable for its simplicity and tools for signing up and trading seem to be readily available. Under its FAQ section RetailFX states that it assumes “that every trader that registers at RetailFX is trading Forex for the first time.” This could indeed be good news for the first time trader. Free guides and tutorials are only available if you are willing to surrender the company your email address. A Forex glossary is accessible at the website itself. RetailFX offers a demo account option and also states that its trading platform called WebTrader is ready for use on the web without requiring a download. That serves to differentiate it from many of its competitors. The typical claims regarding value for dollar and minimization of risk are made here as well. The disclaimer section does offer some possibly bad news to certain potential customers, however. Along with the usual warning about risk is a prominently displayed proviso: “Please note, RetailFX does not accept any trading activity from U.S based customers.”
Trading Platform
FAQs
Does Interactive Brokers or Plus500 offer lower pricing?
The 0.8 pips minimum spread at Plus500 remains more costly than the 0.1 pips plus a minimum commission of $2.00 at Interactive Brokers. While commission-free trading may sound appealing to most traders, the commission-based cost structure at Interactive Brokers, in conjunction with price improvements related to the technology infrastructure, make Interactive Brokers a superior choice for active traders.
Is Interactive Brokers or Plus500 safer for Forex and CFDs trading?
Plus500 listed on the London Stock Exchange and Interactive Brokers on the NASDAQ Stock Markets in the US, placing both on par from a regulatory perspective. Per the requirements of regulators, client deposits remain fully segregated from corporate funds. While both brokers adhere to strict capital requirements and best business practices, in-line with listing requirements, Interactive Brokers enjoys a higher degree of trust due to a series of missteps by Plus500 in 2012 and 2017.
Which trading platform is better: Interactive Brokers or Plus500?
The trading platform at Interactive Brokers is far more advanced versus Plus500, supports automated trading solutions and third-party developers, and allows investors and traders to manage their portfolios with cutting-edge technology. The manual-only webtrader at Plus500 lacks core functionalities and falls notable behind competitors.
Which is better, Interactive Brokers or Plus500?
While Plus500 delivers an acceptable solution for new retail traders who prefer manual trading, Interactive Brokers delivers on all aspects of trading. It caters to the entire spectrum and continues to invest heavily in its product and services portfolio. Plus500 remains focused on marketing its below-average offering via expensive sponsorships of professional sports teams. Therefore, Interactive Brokers represents a better choice.
How many Forex pairs and CFDs are available to trade?
Plus500 provides traders with CFDs on 71 Forex pairs and crosses and on 4 cryptocurrency pairs, all as CFDs. While Interactive Brokers does not maintain a complete list of currency pairs, it offers trading in 23 currency pairs with multiple crosses on each, taking the total number well above 71. While most retail Forex traders will determine the 1,737 equity CFDs and a total of over2,400 more than sufficient, Interactive Brokers covers 135 markets in 33 countries. It represents one of the most comprehensive selections among all brokers.
Which is the more reliable broker?
Plus500 is a publicly listed company in the UK and Interactive Brokers in the US. Therefore, both present traders with reliability. Plus500 and Interactive Brokers adhere to strict capital requirements and best business practices, aside from compliance with regulators, to satisfy their status on their respective equity exchanges. Interactive Brokers carries significantly larger regulatory excess capital than Plus500.
