Forex.com is one of the best forex brokers in the world. An award winning brokerage that with an all round offer of trading tools, competitive spreads, and state of the art technology.
FOREX.com is one of the world’s longest-running FX and CFD brokers, first established in 2001.
They provide a wide variety of financial services and are regarded by many as being one of the industry giants.
In this FOREX.com review, I’m going to be taking an in-depth look at what the site offers and what you can expect.
I’ll cover many aspects, including opening an account, the site’s trustworthiness, research and assistance facilities and banking.
To kick things off let’s look at who FOREX.com are.
Forex.com review was last updated in May 2020. Author – Jonathan Mann.
About FOREX.com
FOREX.com is a subsidiary of GAIN Capital Holdings Inc – a trusted company that’s listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
FOREX.com was launched back in 2001, and they aimed to give traders a cost-effective way to trade on the foreign exchange markets.
The company is currently based in London, and this ensures they’re registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
FOREX.com have millions of registered traders, and they regularly go above and beyond to provide a stellar trading experience.
Along with an extensive selection of foreign exchange markets, they also offer equity, commodity, index and cryptocurrency trading options.
In total, they offer more than 4,000 different trading instruments.
FOREX.com is also well-known for offering one of the easiest trading experiences on the web.
This is especially beneficial for new traders – or those who are still finding their feet in the online trading world.
In my opinion, their website is well laid out, easy-to-use and easy-to-navigate, and there’s a really detailed help section that goes into a lot of detail about how the site works and how you can receive the best possible user experience.
I’ll cover this later on within this FOREX.com review.
back to menu ↑Opening an Account
Creating an account at FOREX.com is simple – it took me just a few minutes.
After landing on their homepage, you’ll need to click the green “Open an Account” button.
You will then be asked a number of questions; you’ll also be given the chance to choose which type of account you’d like to open.
Once you’ve selected which account you’d like to open, you’ll then be prompted to enter your personal information.
This includes your name, address, email, phone number and date of birth.
This is also when you’ll be prompted to select your base currency.
Depending on which jurisdiction you’re in, you may also need to input tax residency status.
You will then have completed the initial account creation process.
FOREX.com will then ask you a number of questions about your financial status and trading history.
It’s important to note that FOREX.com don’t require you to have had any previous experience – but you do need to be aware of the risks associated with trading.
Finally, you’ll also need to agree to a number of financial and risk disclosures to ensure you understand the ins and outs of CFD trading.
back to menu ↑How Long Does the Account Creation Process Take?
FOREX.com are pretty quick when it comes to completing the account opening process.
Generally, you can expect to be up and running on a same-day basis.
The only time when this may not be the case is when additional verification documents are required.
As I mentioned earlier, this is a relatively smooth and hassle-free operation.
back to menu ↑What’s the Minimum Deposit?
FOREX.com implements a minimum deposit of £50 (or currency equivalent), making the site accessible for the vast majority of new traders.
However, they do recommend that you maintain a “reasonable” excess margin balance.
I’ll talk more about making deposits and withdrawals later on in this FOREX.com review.
back to menu ↑Identity and Verification
You will also be asked to complete an identity verification process.
This usually requires you to upload proof of identity and proof of address – passports and utility bills are generally sufficient.
It is vital to send the correct documentation when requested, otherwise the entire processed will be stalled.
If FOREX.com requires additional information they will very occasionally require you to upload bank statements or proof of income; this is in-line with anti-money laundering legislation.
back to menu ↑Can FOREX.com Be Trusted?
As FOREX.com is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK, it’s generally regarded as a very safe portal to trade at.
Their regulation isn’t restricted to the United Kingdom, however; the Markets in Financial Directive (MiFID) is a European Union-based body that allows the company to offer their facilities to those residing in the EU.
They’re also regulated in Australia, under the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
Also important to note is that FOREX.com segregates client funds from its own funds.
All client funds are held securely in reputable banks (including the likes of Barclays and HSBC).
An update in July 2018 meant that all FOREX.com retail clients are automatically covered under negative balance protection.
This ensures that account balances will never be able to reach sub-zero figures (which would in-turn mean you end up owing money to the company.
I also believe that FOREX.com is very transparent and forthcoming with their pricing structure.
It’s easy to access this from your account, and you’ll find yourself able to view a clear breakdown of all costs from one page.
FOREX.com also uses state-of-the-art encryption technology to ensure that your personal/sensitive information is kept secure at all times.
Even if a hacker were to gain access to FOREX.com’s database, they would be unable to view any of your information.
This is thanks to the way in which the site handles encryption.
back to menu ↑Research and Assistance
FOREX.com uses its Advanced Trading platform to centralize its research, I was pleased to find.
This gives all traders – regardless of experience level/trading package – access to a huge source of information.
They offer real-time news sources (including some of the world’s leading reporting sources), have automated pattern-recognition modules directly from Trading Central and they also use real-time trading signals and analytical tools from Autochartist and Recognia.
Overall, I was really impressed with their research trading platform – I found it helpful and informative.
FOREX.com also has an in-house global research team who push out daily blog posts and updates.
These are meant more for guidance – but they often provide invaluable snippets of trading information.
I have often found helpful pieces of information within the blogs and updates, although they shouldn’t be the only reason you decide to invest in a market.
FOREX.com also offers a premium package which includes hand-picked trading signals.
These come directly from Faraday research and the cost to access these is £720 per year (or currency equivalent.)
I have tried the premium package and can confirm that it provides a high level of analysis and was therefore exceptionally useful.
The price only makes it worthwhile for those trading in large amounts though.
back to menu ↑Demo Accounts
All FOREX.com customers can begin their trading journey by opening a free demo account.
This allows you to access the site’s full range of trading facilities with a balance of between £10,000/$50,000.
The exact amount depends largely on which country you’re from.
The demo account is available on the MT4 Forex platform.
Setting up a demo account is simple – it took me just a couple of minutes.
Once registered you’ll be given a short tutorial, during which you’re able to navigate your way around and get to grips with how the software works.
The demo account is surprisingly comprehensive, and you’ll benefit from professional charting, actionable insights and analysis, simple/complex order types and account management tools.
I was also pleased to find that the demo account can be accessed from both desktop and mobile devices.
back to menu ↑Desktop Experience
FOREX.com – as one of the world’s leading trading platforms – has been developed to be incredibly easy-to-use and straightforward.
A handy navigation menu makes it easy to work around your account, and there’s a plethora of account management tools to help you out.
Users can customize certain parts of their account, although FOREX.com don’t offer quite as many customizable features as some of the other major platforms I have used.
There are two main trading platforms available at FOREX.com, and I’ll cover both of these below:
- Forex.com Platform: The Forex.com platform is what most traders, including me, choose to use. It relies on FOREX.com’s intuitive, state-of-the-art trading technology.
- MT4 Platform: MT4 is the other trading platform and it acts much in the same way as their proprietary software.
Both platforms offer a 200:1 margin, and the features are generally the same.
The main difference I noticed is that the MT4 platform does not have offer sharing – and there are also four fewer commodities available to choose from.
back to menu ↑Mobile Experience
From the moment you open an account at FOREX.com you’ll have the ability to trade from both your desktop and mobile devices.
They do offer downloadable apps for iOS and Android devices – but let’s first take a look at the browser-based solution.
I found FOREX.com’s mobile-optimized website to be well-made, easy-to-use and easy-to-navigate.
They’ve condensed most trading tools under one main navigation menu, and there’s also an “Account Management” area, where you’ll be able to make deposits and withdrawals and view account-specific information.
It’s FOREX.com’s mobile apps that are most popular though – and these are available for free at both Goole Play and The App Store.
The mobile apps offer full trading capability, and users can access advanced charts along with some of FOREX.com’s hand-picked integrated trading tools.
Like their desktop solution, it’s possible to set up custom alerts, access the real-time economic calendar and take advantage of the Reuters news feed, which I found provided up-to-date news on the world’s economic major economic stories.
Both the iOS and Android app come complete with 26 different indicators.
There are also a total of 13 drawing tools.
Thanks to the way in which the app has been designed, it’s also possible to effortlessly scroll through a selection of live charts and current positions.
In fact, I’d go as far as saying it’s easier to use their mobile app than their desktop site, especially in terms of viewing positions.
I haven’t yet covered the customer support available at FOREX.com, but both their mobile apps come with this built in.
It’s possible to reach the customer support team at the press of a button.
On the whole, I believe that FOREX.com’s Android and iOS apps are incredibly well-made, and they include pretty much everything both new and experienced traders would want.
back to menu ↑Investment Options
FOREX.com is an industry leader in Forex.
In fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find a site more accommodating – and this goes for both beginner and professional traders.
Forex is also arguably the easiest trade at FOREX.com.
They have published extensive guides and investment training sessions, allowing you to quickly and easily get to grips with it.
Along with acting as a Forex broker, FOREX.com also offers a number of CFDs.
While these can be quite confusing at the offset, they can be quite a profitable way of trading, once you know the ins and outs of how they work.
FOREX.com are keen to note that “69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs” – so I strongly recommend that you always to do your research if you’re planning on investing money in this manner.
FOREX.com applies relatively low minimum trade sizes – although what you’re trading will dictate the exact amount you’ll need to put up.
You can view a full and comprehensive breakdown of trade minimums from the main FOREX.com help pages – and again, it can vary depending on which country you’re located in.
As mentioned earlier, FOREX.com has a customizable alerts system in place.
This lets you set up your own alerts (or rely on custom in-house ones) alerting you when assets or commodities reach a certain price.
If you’re using FOREX.com’s iOS or Android app, you’ll want to make sure you have push notifications “turned on”.
This will ensure any alerts sent out reach you in a timely manner.
Like many traders, I like to open a second window (if using a desktop computer or laptop), to keep a track of prices in real time.
back to menu ↑Commissions and Fees
FOREX.com offer some of the lowest fees about and it’s no coincidence that they’re commonly regarded as being one of the best platforms for new traders, particularly those funding small amounts to their account.
To get a basic overview of the fees charged at FOREX.com, take a look at the table below, which covers all three of their account types.
The Standard Account uses spreads only, while the Commission Account uses both spreads and commissions.
The DMA Account charges commissions only.
Examples:
EUR/USD XAU/USD NASDAQ
- Standard Account
Typical spread of 1.2, however can be as low as 1.0 Typical spread of 47, can be as low as 35 - Commission Account
Can be as low as 0.2, plus $5 per 100k traded - Direct Market Access Account
Multiple levels of pricing offered
In terms of other fees, you’ll find that FOREX.com don’t charge any account fees.
This means that you can set up an account for free – and you don’t need to worry about paying any fees to actually use the platform.
However, they do charge an inactivity fee – this varies depending on your country of residence but is usually a small percentage of your current account balance.
There are no fees to make deposits or withdrawals.
back to menu ↑Deposits & Withdrawals
FOREX.com don’t offer the largest variety of payment methods – currently, you can make deposits using a direct bank transfer, debit and credit cards and PayPal (PayPal is only available in certain countries).
However, despite offering just three payment options – we should point out that it’s significantly more than most brokers, who are known for usually offering bank transfers and nothing more.
If you make a deposit using a bank transfer, the funds will be credited to your FOREX.com account in 2-3 business days.
If you’re in the UK, faster payments can expedite this up – but it’s not guaranteed, and you should be prepared to wait.
Credit and debit card deposits (along with those using PayPal) are credited to your trading account instantly.
We’re pleased to report that there are zero withdrawal fees at FOREX.com.
The withdrawal methods available to you are the same as the deposit methods – although the timeframes do differ slightly.
For example, bank transfers can take 2-3 business days, while withdrawals made using debit and credit cards can take up to 5 working days to process.
Unfortunately, this is outside of FOREX.com’s control – it’s simply down to the way that the banks and payment processors work.
I found banking at FOREX.com to be simple and straightforward.
Once you’re logged into your account you simply need to click on the “Funding” button, and then choose either deposit or withdraw.
You will then need to enter how much you want to deposit/withdraw, select your desired payment method and confirm.
back to menu ↑Customer Support
Like any leading forex platform, FOREX.com has a significant customer support facility, designed to cater to the vast majority of users.
However, I’ve found that it’s not perfect, and there are some definite pros and cons associated with it.
Let’s kick things off with a look at the pros; first of all, FOREX.com offers live chat support – something which is (still) lacking even at some of the world’s larger trading platforms.
They also offer telephone and email support – although if you opt for the latter you should expect to wait a significant amount of time before you’re contacted by a member of the team.
Phone support is arguably FOREX.com’s biggest asset.
Their trained phone advisors were incredibly friendly, helpful and knowledgeable when I spoke with them, and it’s fair to say they know their product inside out.
They’ll be more than happy to help with everything from account-specific queries to getting up and running if you’re a complete beginner.
Phone support (like live chat) is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with the exception of Saturdays when a limited support team works.
I also like how FOREX.com has a custom-built chatbot facility set up. This is what you’ll see when you first start a live chat on the site.
Before you’re connected to a real person, you’ll be prompted to enter your query – and the site will then search for your query.
You can then talk to the chat bot, and often it ends up being able to solve your query/problem.
If, after this, you still need to speak to a member of the customer support team you’ll be connected in a couple of minutes.
As I mentioned, there are some negatives to FOREX.com’s customer support – and this generally revolves around email.
Their email customer support team are known to take days to respond – I’ve read reports of users waiting up to four days to receive a response.
In today’s day and age, this is simply unacceptable – especially when you’re trading significant sums of money through the platform.
Because of this I’d always recommend using phone or live chat support – although it’s FOREX.com’s phone support that really seals it for me.
back to menu ↑Conclusion
With low commissions, a handful of advanced trading tools and some of the best customer support around, it’s not hard to see why FOREX.com has become such a popular platform for traders.
For almost two decades they’ve been regarded as an industry-leader, and this has tempted a huge number of traders – both new and experienced – to open accounts with them.
Setting up an account takes just a few minutes, and while the account verification process can take a day or two, generally you’ll be up and running right away.
I couldn’t recommend FOREX.com highly enough – give them a try today for yourself.
- Low spreads
- Diversity of trading tools
- Diversity of forex and CFD instruments
- Reliable forex broker
- Fast account opening
- Good for Pros
- Good for beginners
- Customer Support could be improved
- Offer of tradable instruments could be better
Details: Forex.com Review
| EURGBP Average Spread | 0.3 |
|---|---|
| EURUSD Average Spread | 1.5 |
| GBPUSD Average Spread | 2.8 |
| Bank Transfer | |
| Credit/Debit Card | |
| Bitcoin | |
| Neteller | |
| Skrill | |
| Union Pay | |
| Others | |
| Takes USA clients? | |
| Takes E.U. clients? | |
| Takes worldwide clients? | |
| Forex | |
| CFD | |
| Cryptos | |
| Stocks | |
| Bonds | |
| ETF | |
| Funds | |
| Futures | |
| Options | |
| Leverage | 1:200 |
| MT4 | |
| MT5 | |
| Web Trading | |
| Mobile | |
| Islamic Accounts |
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