IC Markets Broker Review
” IC Markets lifted up the standard of the forex brokers from their level of regulation”
IC Markets offer low forex cost and is a very effective broker. Even the deposit and withdrawals are also free of cost. IC Markets hold a good reputation and the overall trust score is good because of the regulations it holds.
Is it good enough? / Is IC Markets Good and reliable?
IC Markets has all the required licenses such as CySec, ASIC, and IFSC are one of the most valuable legal bodies. Along with that, they are in the market for more than 13 years now, so the broker is reliable.
Which Licenses does IC Markets Hold?
The below mentioned are the licenses that IC Markets hold.
International Capital Markets Pty Ltd with registration number 123 289 109, is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission with License No. 335692.
IC Markets (EU) Ltd is a limited company registered in Cyprus and is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission with License No. 362/18.
Raw Trading Ltd registered in Seychelles with registration number: 8419879-2, is regulated by the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles with License number: SD018.
What is the maximum leverage IC Markets offers?
The maximum leverage of IC Markets is 1:500
Pros and Cons of IC Markets
Pros
- Commission-free trading available.
- Impressive library for educational videos.
- Meta Trader and cTrader both platforms are available on mobile as well as desktop.
- Raw spread account has the minimum spread.
- Wide range of trading instruments
- 24*7 customer support availability and they provide resolution to all types of problems.
- Traders can stay up to date with market developments through the IC market blog page, called the information hub.
- Execution speed is a fraction of seconds
- One-click trading is available
Cons
- The webpage takes a lot of time to load pages.
- No bonuses and promotional offers.
- Swap Short and Long both are negative
What is the best thing about IC Markets?
The best thing about this broker is that the broker holds the most valuable license, has low cost and their support service is quite helpful along with that they provide an impressive library for educational videos from which newbies can learn well.
IC Markets Headquarters is located at?
IC Markets headquarters is located at Level 4, 50 Carrington Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
IC Markets Account Types and Account Comparison
On MT4 Platform they have two types of accounts first is Standard and the second is Raw Spread. And for the cTrader platform, they have a cTrader Account.
Let’s have a look at account features in the below table:
| Account type | Definition | cTrader | Raw Spread | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trading platform | The platform on which this account can be traded | cTrader | Meta Trader | Meta Trader |
| Commission | The fees charged by broker in order to open trades with them | Differ per currencies | USD 7 per lot | 0 |
| Spread | This is the difference between bid and ask price | Differ per currency | Differ per currency | Differ per currency |
| Starting Deposit | The amount required to open the account with | They say to deposit USD 200 but it is not mandatory, you can deposit as much as you want | They say to deposit USD 200 but it is not mandatory, you can deposit as much as you want | They say to deposit USD 200 but it is not mandatory, you can deposit as much as you want |
| Leverage | It is the ratio of the amount which can be borrowed with the broker | 500:1 | 500:1 | 500:1 |
| Minimum Lot Size | The minimum size of the lot which is required to open trade | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
| Suitable for | Which type of traders are best for the account types | Day Traders and scalpers | EAs and scalpers | Discretionary Traders |
They have mentioned USD 200 to deposit at start but it is not mandatory to do so, you can invest as much as you want but please keep in mind that according to your deposit only you will be able to trade.
Comparison based on Spread, Swap and Commission
IC Market Spread:
Spread is basically the difference between the bid and ask value. As far we also know the spread of different broker is different and thus the average calculation differs, here we have collected a week of data and have calculated the average spread.
|
Currencies |
Standard |
Raw Spread |
|
XAUUSD |
23.33 |
15.44 |
|
EURUSD |
10.55 |
0.44 |
|
GBPUSD |
11.22 |
1 |
|
AUDUSD |
10.33 |
1.22 |
|
USDCAD |
12.44 |
1.88 |
|
USDCHF |
11.22 |
0.66 |
|
USDJPY |
10 |
0.55 |
|
GBPJPY |
15.33 |
4.66 |
|
EURJPY |
11.77 |
2.22 |
|
NZDUSD |
12.77 |
3.44 |
As per the above table, we can see the difference in a spread in both types of account, the table signifies to tells us about the average spread, we have calculated the same by analyzing data. The spread of raw account is the cheapest.
IC Markets Commission:
Let’s have a look at commissions:
- Standard Account: This account of IC Markets doesn’t have any type of commission charges
- Raw Spread Account: This account has fixed commission values, it is USD 7 for both sides for 1 Lot. Meaning USD 3.5 for opening the order and USD 3.5 for closing the bid.
- cTrader Account: This account type has different commission value for different. It starts from USD 4 per lot for both sides.
The below shown table is of cTrader account average spread value.
|
Currency |
Commission |
|
XAUUSD |
USD 12/1 Lot |
|
EURUSD |
USD 8/1 Lot |
|
GBPUSD |
USD 8/1 Lot |
|
AUDUSD |
USD 4/1 Lot |
|
USDCAD |
USD 6/1 Lot |
|
USDCHF |
USD 6/1 Lot |
|
USDJPY |
USD 6/1 Lot |
|
GBPJPY |
USD 8/1 Lot |
|
EURJPY |
USD 8/1 Lot |
|
NZDUSD |
USD 4/1 Lot |
One thing to note about commissions is that they are charged for both sides which means for opening the bid as well as closing the bid. For example, if you open a bid for 1 lot of USDCAD then USD 3 is the commission for opening the bid and USD 3 is the commission for closing the bid overall making the commission USD 6.
|
S. No |
Currencies |
Standard |
Raw Spread |
C Trader |
|
1 |
XAUUSD |
1.1 |
1.1 |
1.099 |
|
2 |
EURUSD |
(-0.45) |
(-0.45) |
(-0.0452) |
|
3 |
GBPUSD |
(-2.68) |
(-2.68) |
(-0.2683) |
|
4 |
AUDUSD |
(-2.01) |
(-2.01) |
(-0.2009) |
|
5 |
USDCAD |
(-2.94) |
(-2.94) |
(-0.2938) |
|
6 |
USDCHF |
(-3.97) |
(-3.97) |
(-0.3972) |
|
7 |
USDJPY |
(-3.13) |
(-3.13) |
(-0.3128) |
|
8 |
EUJPY |
(-1.34) |
(-1.34) |
(-0.1341) |
|
9 |
NZDUSD |
(-2.37) |
(-2.37) |
(–0.2371) |
|
10 |
GBPJPY |
(-4.8) |
(-4.8) |
(-0.4801) |
The below Table shows the swap long values for different currency pairs.
|
S. no |
Currencies |
Standard |
Raw Spread |
C Trader |
|
1 |
XAUUSD |
(-3.79) |
(-3.79) |
(-3.789) |
|
2 |
EURUSD |
(-4.26) |
(-4.26) |
(-0.426) |
|
3 |
GBPUSD |
(-3.13) |
(-3.13) |
(-0.3128) |
|
4 |
AUDUSD |
(-1.96) |
(-1.96) |
(-0.1959) |
|
5 |
USDCAD |
(-2.94) |
(-2.94) |
(-0.2727) |
|
6 |
USDCHF |
(-0.04) |
(-0.04) |
(-0.01) |
|
7 |
USDJPY |
(-1.58) |
(-1.58) |
(-0.1575) |
|
9 |
EURJPY |
(-3.58) |
(-3.58) |
(-0.3583) |
|
9 |
NZDUSD |
(-1.95) |
(-1.95) |
(-0.1946) |
|
10 |
GBPJPY |
(-2.26) |
(-2.26) |
(-0.2262) |
A swap is the interest rate that is charged when the trade is open over midnight, you may be able to understand that different currency pair has different swap values but there is no change in a swap for different account meaning the EURUSD swap is the same for all the account, similarly, GBPUSD has the same swap in all the types of account.
One thing to note here is that the swap short and long both are negative.
IC Markets Bonus
IC markets don’t have the feature of providing bonuses.
IC Markets Trading Platforms
IC markets offer different trading platforms named MT4, MT5, and cTrader on which users can trade as per their interests. MT4 is one of the most used platforms across the globe as it is suitable for both beginners and professionals and I also have used this platform for my trading. Apart from that MT5 is mostly used by professional traders who have a lot of experience in trading.
However, cTrader is a platform in which ECN account is only traded. This platform is famous because of its visuals and effects. To trade on mobile IC Markets offers a variety of applications which includes the common MT4 application and the other two applications are of IC Markets itself. To know in detail about the platforms and their benefits click here
IC Markets Opening Account procedure
To open an account with IC Markets you are required to follow a few steps. We have a detailed article that shows step-by-step procedures to open an account with them
Click here to know more.
Deposit and Withdrawal Options
IC Markets offer a few methods for deposit and withdrawal of funds. Though there are no charges on deposit and withdrawal. I used Neteller because my bank card was not working due to some reason.
To know in more detail, click here.
Customer Support
They have a good chat support system, and they are available 24*7 days, you can get in touch with them whenever you are stuck.
The Chat option is available on the dashboard and on the main page as below shown:
When you click on chat the small window will open as shown below:
There will be a bot first asking you a few questions about your query and once it gets the information it transfers the call to the agent. Here is an example of some questions that the bot asks. The support system is overall good and satisfies and clarify all the point you have while getting in touch with them along with that there are not long queues to wait for a long time.
Conclusion
IC Markets is an Australian-based global forex broker, founded in 2007. They are regulated by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySec), the Seychelles Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA), and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
IC Markets primarily offers their traders forex trading, but also had some choices of future, indices, and commodities.
IC markets offer low spread and fees, and much more. They don’t charge any fees on deposits and withdrawals. The most likable part of the broker is that their support system is quite good because when I faced the first issue where I was not able to login onto the MT4 platform, along with that the deposit procedure was not happening with the usage of the card, which was due to my bank only, so I opted for the fund’s transfer to be done using Neteller.
The broker also has the low cost among some of the brokers such as FBS, the spread and the commission values are low. Opening account procedure is also important along with that they don’t charge any fees on deposit and withdrawal which is also a good thing.
The broker also doesn’t take much time to credit the funds back to your account, when I placed a request for my withdrawal within a few hours, I received the funds in my account. Overall, you can definitely use this broker as your trading partner.