IQoption top forex brokers.
The forex broker space has become super-competitive in recent years, with hundreds of platforms now offering their services to UK traders. On the one hand, this is great for you as a trader as it gives you the opportunity to choose a broker that meets your individual trading needs. However, knowing which platform to sign up with is not only challenging but time-consuming.
As such, below we have listed the most important metrics that you need to look out for when choosing an online forex broker.
? Regulation.
The first factor that you need to look out for when assessing the credentials of a new broker is whether or not it has the legal remit to accept UK traders. As we noted just a moment ago, all UK-based brokers must hold a trading license from the FCA.
This ensures that the platform is operating within the realms of UK and EU legislation. This also ensures that you are accustomed to a number of regulatory safeguards, such as the segregation of client funds and the FCA’s Investor Protection Scheme.
? Deposits and Withdrawals.
You also need to consider what deposit and withdrawal options are available at your chosen broker. This starts at the very offset with the account funding process. Most forex brokers will allow you to deposit funds with a UK bank account, albeit, it can take a few days before the transfer is credited.
If you’re looking to deposit funds instantly and thus – start trading straight away, it might be best to use a broker that supports debit/credit cards or an e-wallet like PayPal.
? Trading Commissions.
Although a number of forex brokers operating in the UK trading space allow you to buy and sell currencies on a commission-free basis, this won’t always be the case. If you’re using an established broker, it’s likely that you will be charged a variable rate on every trade that you make.
For example, if the forex broker charges 0.2% in trading commissions, and you purchase £1,000 worth of GBP/USD, then you will pay £2. If you then closed your GBP/USD trade when it was worth £1,200, you would again be charged 0.2% – which would amount to £2.40 in commission.
? Spreads.
While we are on the subject of fees, you also need to make some considerations about the spread. For those unaware, this is the difference between the ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ price of your chosen forex pair. The spread is determined by the number of ‘pips’ in between the buy and sell prices, and it will have a direct impact on your ability to make a profit.
For example, if the spread of EUR/USD was 2 pips, this means that your trade would need to increase in value by at least 2 pips just to break even. As the spread is one of the most important metrics to look out for when choosing a new broker, we’ve listed a quick example below to clear the mist.
You are trading GBP/USD at your chosen forex broker The ‘buy’ price is 1.3100 The ‘sell’ price is 1.3104 As the spread is determined in pips, we need to look at the last digit of both prices In this example, the difference is 4, meaning that the spread on GBP/USD amounts to 4 pips.
? Number of Forex Pairs.
This particular factor might not be overly relevant if you have a tendency to stick with a single trading pair like GBP/USD or EUR/USD. In fact, some of the most successful forex traders in the space will niche-down to a single currency pair, rather than attempt to diversify across multiple markets.
With that being said, if you are the type of trader that wishes to access heaps of different forex pairs, you’ll be best off choosing a broker that has an excellent selection of majors, minors, and exotics. You can assess this via the broker’s website without needing to open an account.
? Trading Tools.
On the one hand, fundamental news analysis is super important in the forex space. For example, when the UK voted to leave the European Union, this had a highly detrimental impact on GBP. However, technical analysis – which is the process of analyzing historical pricing trends, is equally as important.
As such, you should choose a forex broker that offers lots of technical indicators within its trading suite. At a minimum, this should include the following:
Average Directional Index (ADX) Bollinger Bands. Ichimoku Kinko Hyo (AKA Ichimoku Cloud) Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) Parabolic Stop and Reverse (SAR) Relative Strength Index (RSI) Stochastic.
? Customer Support.
Newbie traders often overlook the importance of customer support. After all, there might come a time when you need assistance on account-related matters. As such, you should stick with brokers that offer heaps of contact channels – such as live chat, email, and telephone support.
Moreover, it is also useful if the customer service team operates on a 24/7 basis to mirror that of the forex trading industry. The final icing on the cake is when forex brokers have a public presence on social media.
How do I Sign-Up With a Forex Broker? Step-by-Step Walkthrough.
If you’ve found a broker that meets your individual requirements, you will need to open an account, verify your identity, and deposit funds before you can start trading. Below we have listed the main steps that you will need to follow.
Step 1: Open an Account.
First and foremost, you’ll need to visit the website of your chosen forex broker and open an account. You’ll initially need to provide some personal information, such as your name, date of birth, address, tax status, and contact details.
Next, you’ll then need to provide some financial information. This should include your employment status, how much you earn, and an estimation of your net worth. This is to ensure that the broker tailors the right products for your financial standing.
Step 2: Enter Your Prior Trading Experience.
UK forex brokers are required to assess what prior trading experience you have. After all, forex trading consists of highly sophisticated financial instruments, so it’s crucial that you know what you are doing. As such, you’ll need to state the type of investments you have made in the past, as well as the average size of your trades.
You will then need to answer some multiple-choice questions. This is based on the risks of applying leverage to your trades. If you are unable to answer the questions correctly, you might not be able to trade on margin.
Step 3: Verify Your Identity.
Before you can deposit funds, you will need to verify your identity. Although the KYC (Know Your Customer) process can vary depending on the forex broker in question, you will usually be required to upload a copy of your government-issued ID. This can be either a passport or a driver’s license.
In some cases, you might be asked to upload a copy of a bank statement or utility bill in order to verify your address.
Step 4: Fund Your Forex Broker Account.
Once the forex broker has verified your KYC documents, you can then deposit some funds. Once again, the specific payment methods will vary depending on the broker, although this usually includes a bank transfer or debit/credit card.
If it’s the latter, your deposit should be credited instantly, meaning that you can start trading straight away. If opting for a bank transfer, and it’s not via UK Faster Payments, it might take a few days for the deposit to clear.
Step 5: Start Trading Forex.
Now that you have opened an account, verified your identity, and deposited funds – you can now start trading. If you’ve never traded forex before, we would suggest starting out with micro-amounts. This will allow you to get to grips with how forex works in a real-world setting, without risking large amounts of money.
The other option available to you is to use the forex broker’s demo platform. This allows you to trade with virtual money, so you won’t risk a single penny. However, you won’t get to experience the emotional effects of losing, so the effectiveness of demo accounts are somewhat limited.
How do we Rate our Recommended Forex Broker Sites?
So now that you know what you need to look out for when finding a trading platform that meets your needs, we are now going to list our top 5 forex broker picks of 2021. Before we do, it is important for us to outline the stringent rating process that we utilize prior to recommending a broker on our site.
In a nutshell, all of the recommended platforms listed at Learn 2 Trade have been independently reviewed by our team. In order to achieve this, our reviewers personally open accounts with the broker to get a 360-degree view of how the platform operates. This includes the registration process, depositing funds, creating and executing orders, exploring spreads, and testing customer support.
Below we have listed the minimum criteria that we expect to see in a UK forex broker:
✔️ Regulated by the FCA.
✔️ Low commissions.
✔️ Multiple Deposit and Withdrawal Methods.
✔️ Tight Spreads.
✔️ Heaps of Supported Forex Pairs.
✔️ User-Friendly Trading Platform.
✔️ Good Selection of Techincal Indicators.
✔️ Top-Notch Customer Support.
5 Best Forex Broker Sites in 2021.
The following list of forex brokers meets all of the minimum requirements outlined above.
1. AVATrade – 2 x $200 Forex Welcome Bonuses.
The team at AVATrade are now offering a huge 20% forex bonus of up to $10,000. This means that you will need to deposit $50,000 to get the maximum bonus allocation. Take note, you’ll need to deposit a minimum of $100 to get the bonus, and your account needs to be verified before the funds are credited. In terms of withdrawing the bonus out, you’ll get $1 for every 0.1 lot that you trade.