iFOREX Review

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iFOREX is a regulated CFD broker that gives you access to trade a wide range of trading instruments including forex and CFDs in commodities, shares, indices, ETFs, and cryptocurrency. They provide you with innovative and user-friendly web and mobile platforms, providing convenient access to the global markets at your fingertips. I found the trading conditions to be very good, including tight spreads, low fees and quick execution speeds. For beginners, you will be pleased to get free access to education and personal training. There are demo accounts so anyone can practice trading online before making any commitment.

Summary

iFOREX is an online brokerage firm with many years’ experience in forex and CFD trading. They are part of a multinational group of trading companies founded in 1996. With subsidiaries that are regulated in the UK, Cyprus, Hungary, and the British Virgin Islands, they serve clients from different parts of the world. The broker offers an impressive range of 800 instruments, including currency pairs, commodities, indices, shares, ETFs, and cryptos, through their web and mobile trading platforms. You can open an account with a minimum deposit requirement of just $100 and choose from plenty of quick and easy payment methods. However, they do not provide the popular MetaTrader platforms and have limited account types to choose from.

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Regulation

The iFOREX Group has many subsidiaries that operate in different jurisdictions. In my opinion, they are well regulated. I appreciate how they are regulated in different countries to give protection to clients in different jurisdictions. Other well-regulated brokers that I think are worth consideration include AvaTrade.

Formula Investment House Ltd is an investment firm registered in the British Virgin Islands. It is licensed and regulated by the British Virgin Islands’ Financial Services Commission (BVI FSC), which is considered by many experts as a tier 3 financial regulator. The iFOREX Group’s European subsidiary is licensed and regulated by the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission (CySEC). iFOREX UK is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The broker is also legally allowed to operate in India and many other countries.

Countries

Through their different subsidiaries, iFOREX provides trading services to clients from different parts of the world. The European subsidiary serves clients from the EU member states; the Hungarian firm serves clients from that country; the FCA-regulated firm serves clients from the UK and Europe; while the BVI-based firm offers trading services to international clients from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The broker does not serve residents of the USA and Canada. If your country is not accepted, please feel free to take a look at our broker ratings for other options.

Platforms

iFOREX provides you with easy-to-use web and mobile platforms. You can seamlessly access your account between both trading platforms depending on what is most convenient for you at the time. I like the web platform for when I am sat at my desk but enjoy the convenience of being able to take the markets with me and check my account on the go via the modern trading app.

Web-based Platform

The iFOREX web-based platform is geared to suit the needs of traders who like to always access a variety of trading and charting features on their trading computers. The platform needs no downloading and installation, and it can work on any standard web browser, such as Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. It comes with the 128-bit secure SSL environment and firewall access management. I like that the web platform is always up to date and that I can access it from any device. For instance, if I had no battery and needed to manage my account, I could access it via a friend or relatives’ device.

iFOREX Trading Platforms

Mobile Trading Platform

The broker also provides the mobile application of their trading platform to help their clients trade on the go. The app is customizable and easy to use, with execution gestures like the Swipe-to-Close function and complete access to the wallet, balance sheet, equity, and margin details. With the app, you can quickly place trades and monitor your positions from your mobile phone. I am a big fan of trading apps. I often find myself checking my trades and what is happening across the markets, whether from my sofa, bed or when travelling around. I like how you can set price alert notifications to let you know when a desired price has been reached. This can save from hours of needing to gaze at charts all day long waiting for an opportunity.

iFOREX App

Tools

The broker gives you access to some handy tools which can help with your market analysis and trade management. I actually think the platform should have enough tools to meet the needs of most traders but it is always nice to have the option of more. If you feel like you would benefit from some additional trading tools, FXFlat have a great selection.

Economic Calendar

iFOREX provides you with an economic calendar that is updated on a daily basis. The calendar has the timetable of the important scheduled economic data releases, announcements, and events. I think this is a vital tool that to use as part of a complete analysis of the market. I would always like to check what the latest news is before making any decisions on my trades. This is something that you can find from most brokers or other resources online, such as Forex Factory. I like the MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platform because it has an economic calendar built-in which I feel is easier to access. Unfortunately, this broker doesn’t have MT5 but ClickTrades do if this is an important aspect of your fundamental analysis.

Charts

iFOREX gives you direct access to advanced trading charts and market indicators, which are customizable, easy to use, and allow multiple timeframe analysis for easy identification of trade setups. The charts allow for the overlay of multiple indicators for every currency pair or commodity. I think these will do the job if you are just looking to conduct basic market analysis. If you are looking for advanced automated market analysis using professional third-party software, then Autochartist and Trading Central are popular tools. You can get these both free of charge from a select few brokers including Forex.com.

Trading Signals

The broker provides you with live trading signals from an independent signal provider. This can be a possible solution for those of you who do not have the time or knowledge to trade by yourself. I personally think it is much better to learn how to trade manually and would much prefer to maintain full control over my trading activity. I like to know when and why every position was taken, rather than entrusting someone else with my trades. It should be noted that there is no guarantee on the performance of results when copying trading signals. You should have a clear understanding of the significant risks involved with trading online. They don’t provide managed account but FXGiants do if this is something that you are specifically looking for.

Education

This is an area in which I feel the broker does really well. They have a generous amount of educational content to help educate beginners and encourage informed trading decision. I think it is important for a broker to look after clients by providing them with as much resources as possible so that they can learn more about the markets and trading online. Although there is a good selection, they don’t quite compare to the IronFX educational materials.

Educational E-Books

The broker has specialty education guides and videos that provide traders with relevant information to start trading forex and CFDs online. Each unique learning guide is easy-to-read for traders at every experience level. There is also a glossary of trading terminology on their ‘Learn the Lingo’ page. I like how beginners can get the training and resources they need to enhance their knowledge and trading skills. 1-on-1 training with a trading coach is also available which is a great addition considering how much this type of education can cost from a third-party.

iFOREX Educational E-Books

A-Z of Trading

The broker has a comprehensive video course that can help traders of all levels, regardless of their previous trading experience. All videos can be seen on their website after registration. They are easy to understand and great for those of you who are visual learners.

Video Tutorials

There are also short video tutorials that briefly explain some of the important aspects of trading, including candlestick patterns and support and resistance levels. They can help traders refresh their memories on such topics. I also feel that that can give improve your market analysis if you are new to trading.

iFOREX Trading Video Tutorials

Markets

iFOREX offers trading in a good range of over 800 financial instruments that are spread across six asset classes, including currencies, commodities, indices, stocks, cryptos, and ETFs. I think there should be more than enough for everyone to trade. If you want an even greater variety, Freedom24 have thousands of instruments.

• Currencies: They offer many currency pairs, including the major FX pairs, minor FX pairs, and exotic FX pairs.
• Commodities: Available commodities are gold, silver, WTI oil, natural gas, coffee, platinum, sugar, soybeans, corn, copper, gasoline, Brent oil, cotton, and many others. The commodities can be traded in the form of a CFD or Spot, depending on the commodity and where permitted by local regulations.
• Indices: The broker offers CFD trading in the world’s major stock indices, such as the US 30, US 500, US Tech 100, UK 100, Japan 225, France 40, Germany 30, Europe 50, and others.
• Shares: With iFOREX, you can trade leveraged positions on some of the world’s most popular shares, such as Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and others.
• Cryptocurrency: The broker offers CFD trading in several cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
• ETFs: You can trade several ETF CFDs with this broker.

Accounts

The broker gives you the choice between a standard mini account which requires a minimum deposit of $100 and a VIP account where the minimum transaction size is $2,500 (or the equivalent), with up to 30:1 leverage (the maximum leverage permitted under ESMA). If you require more leverage, LMFX go all the way up to 1:1000. iFOREX do not charge any commission for opening positions, though there is a spread between the buy and sell rates which has a mark-up to cover broker costs. Generally, I found the spreads to be very tight and think they could suffice for scalping and automated trading strategies that rely on low spreads. That being said, they aren’t as low as the spreads I found over at Key to Markets. If you are a new trader or just want to see what the broker has to offer without making a commitment, there are free demo accounts. I would always prefer to test a broker on demo to begin with just to make sure they have suitable conditions for my trading strategies.

Account Signup

Opening an account with iFOREX is very simple. You can just go to the brokers website and click on the “Register” link located at the top right corner of the homepage. Complete the form displayed by filling in your details (Email, first and last name, phone, and country). Everything is done online which is great but also expected nowadays.

Then, click “Continue”. You will be redirected to the next page where you can read and agree to the Trading Agreement and then fill in the Captcha Code. Click “Accept and Continue”. Thereafter you will see your Username and Password. Click on the “Login” button to enter the trading platform. You will be required to upload your KYC documents — Proof of Identity and Proof of Address, which may take a while to verify. However, you can always practice on a demo account whilst you wait.

Support

iFOREX offers a multilingual customer support service that can be reached via multiple channels, including emails, online chat, phone calls, Fax, and an online contact form. The customer service team are available from Monday to Friday, 04:00 to 20:00 GMT, to provide you with immediate support during trading hours. Apart from the general phone lines, there are contact phone numbers for different countries. You can also reach them via their social media handles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. I think they could improve by increasing support hours to 24/7, just like Trading 212.

Funding

The broker facilitates deposits made both online and offline to make things convenient for you. I was happy to see that they accept a wide variety of options for funding your account or making a withdrawal. The digital wallets are my preferred option as I find they are often the quickest and easiest way for me to get access to my trading funds. They don’t currently support crypto funding but KOT4X do if that is important to you.

This includes the following options:

• Bank Wire Transfer: Making a deposit or withdrawing from your account through bank transfers usually takes a few days to process.
• Credit/Debit Cards: The broker accepts MasterCard, Diners, and Visa cards. Deposit is instant, but withdrawal may take some time to be processed.
• Online wallets (APMs): Available e-wallets include NETELLER and Skrill. Depositing via the e-wallets is always fast — processed within a few minutes — but withdrawals may take longer.
• Western Union: The broker also accepts payment through Western Union. Payments through this channel may take a few days to process.

Some fees may be charged when using certain payment methods. Withdrawal requests are processed within the same day or next if outside working hours. The withdrawal time can vary depending on the payment provider and method. Bank transfers may take a few business days to clear whilst some methods can be instant.

Some payment systems may have transaction limits, restrictions, and requirements which are indicated on their respective websites. You may need to verify your account to remove limits on particular methods in some countries. As with most, the broker does not accept third-party payments. All funds deposited into your trading account must be under the same name as your trading account.

Accounts can be opened in a reasonable variety of currencies which include USD, EUR, GBP. I think they could improve by supporting some additional currencies. The different currency options are beneficial as currency conversion fees do not apply when using an account in your own currency.

Conclusion

Overall, I feel that iFOREX have a decent range of trading product and services that can cater to all types of trader. I like how they have a good choice of over 800 instruments including major forex pairs, popular cryptos and major stocks. The web and mobile trading platforms are very user friendly with all the tools you need for conducting basic chart analysis to find trading signals. There is also a good amount of educational resources and demo accounts for those of you who are new to trading. There are various ways to fund your account, including digital wallets but nor cryptos at the moment. I am slightly disappointed that they don’t offer the popular MetaTrader platforms and the spreads are not the lowest when compared to some of the best brokers but this is expected as they do not charge a commission fee on top. All in all, for a basic retail trader looking for simple market access in a regulated environment, they could be worth consideration.

$100

Founded in 1996, iFOREX is a group of online trading companies with intuitive and user-friendly trading platforms. They offer competitive conditions for trading Forex and CFDs in commodities, shares, indices, ETFs and cryptocurrency.

Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

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