The best Forex Brokers of 2022.
Introduction
There are many first time investors in search of a right online forex broker whom they can trust to trade with. Then there are people who are themselves experienced in forex trading but find it difficult to find a forex broker who can provide them with a wide array of products at a competitive price. Experienced or inexperienced, one question that haunts practically all investors is how to know which broker is genuine and which one a phantom? Keeping in mind different requirements of our readers, we have decided to put together a list of some best online forex brokers so that you don’t have to scratch your head in selecting the best broker for your trading.
If you think you are ready to take a plunge in the dynamic market of forex and planning to start speculating on the fate of currencies, you have come to the right place. In this blog we have assembled together some of the biggest names in the forex market and have brought their trading strategies, strengths, drawbacks out in the open. We believe this will help you in zeroing in on the right broker. One thing that must be remembered at all times is that in forex market there is no concept of one size fit all. What might be great for you may turn out to be not so good for the other. The requirements and expectations of investors are very different from each other. Appreciating individual taste we choose different online brokers specializing in different areas.
The forex market, as you may be aware, is the largest market where trade up to the tune of $5 trillion takes place every day. The monstrous size of forex market is in part due to its volatility. The more volatile forex market is, the more the chances of traders earning a handsome dividend on their investment. The best thing about Forex is that you can earn a profit even if the market goes south. But to exploit opportunities provided by the Forex market one has to first understand the market. The role of forex brokers is not only to facilitate your participation in the market but also to keep you up-to-minute on different developments in the market and keep you informed about everything under the sun that might influence behavior of forex market for better or for worse.
Practically every currency is represented in the forex market and trading is conducted 24 hours a day, five days a week. The opportunity in trading currencies is huge. But to trade safely and profitably you need an online broker of repute. Trading with any broker without checking their credential can boomerang very badly on you and cause your financial ruination. For success in currency trading you must tread carefully and choose your broker with diligence
To find out which broker will best suit your requirements, you will first have to find out your exact expectations from a broker. Vagueness has no place in the forex market. Your need of trading platforms, trading tools, or research requirements may be very different from the rest and hence you can’t afford to follow the crowd blindly. To each their own is the mantra of Forex market.
Keeping all these in our minds, our team has slogged hours researching on some of the most popular as well as least known forex brokers to find out all about them. We spent six months researching, reading, checking, and cross checking to find out as much about as many forex broker as it was possible. We hope the results we bring to you here will help you in deciding your course of action in forex trading and benifit you in all the possible ways conceivable.
Before we talk about top forex brokers, we would like to talk briefly about what makes a forex broker great.
To earn the adjective of great, a forex broker must be regulated. Forex market is decentralized and the first criterion to judge a broker’s reputation is its reliability and trust. Reliability and trust could be created only if a broker is well regulated by tier-1 or tier-2 regulators. If you associate yourselves with a forex broker that has no accreditation from top-notch regulators, you are digging your own financial grave. Another criterion to judge a broker is its flexibility and adaptability. Forex market is a dynamic and volatile market. It changes in seconds. A forex broker that is not flexibile enough to incorporate changes quickly into its trading strategy will bring unimaginable losses to you. To survive in the forex market, one must be nimble footed and open to changes in no time. Third way to decide whether a broker is good enough or not is to look at products being offered by it. A good forex broker offers a wide range of products.
So how do we choose a forex broker?
(1) Choose only those forex brokers who are well regulated and authorised to carry their operations by top-tier regulators such as FCA, ASIC, CFTC, MAS, et al.
(2) Before investing your hard earned money with any broker, double-check trading conditions and account types. Check fees for accounts opening and closing of accounts. Find out how much your broker charges for maintaining account and how much you have to dole out for withdrawal from your account. Top-tier brokers charge nominal to no fees.
(3) Enure to get in touch with customer care services before you decide to go along with a particular broker. Top-tier brokers’ customer care service is of high standard as they don’t leave anything to chance. If customer support service is not of good standard, you can rest assured that you will be left in lurch once you give them your money.
(4) Check education and research materials. Good forex brokers invest a lot in creating standard educational and research materials. Without access to educational materials you will find it difficult to chart your investment strategy.
Now it is time to disclose the names of top forex brokers and their strengths as well as weaknesses. We hope our labor of six months will help you in knowing brokers better.
Though IC Markets doesn’t provide fundamental data, it does makeup with their in-house OK charting tools. Here one can use more than thirty technical indicators and many other technical tools such as trendlines and Fibonacci retracement. But all is not as rosy as it seems and sounds: the design is obsolete, and some features are too difficult to use. We have had difficulty understanding how to remove an indicator from the chart. In our view, IC Markets offers its traders many interesting and exciting features, but it is also riddled with inconsistency and a lackluster customer support system.
On the other hand, the design is outdated, and some features are hard to use. For example, we had difficulty figuring out how to remove an indicator from the chart.
Here are our findings for 2022:
(1) The numero uno position goes to IG.
It is an online broker that is trusted and respected around the globe. Traders have a wide range of products to choose from and access to excellent trading and research tools. IG ensures its traders are up-to-date and to achieve this goal it provides its traders with industry-leading education. In-depth market research and and a comprehensive list of tradable products are also provided to traders by IG. This seamless experience in trading makes IG the best of all the brokers in 2022.
IG was incepted in 1974 and is publicly traded. It doesn’t operate any bank though. It, IG, is regulated by half a dozen tier-1 jurisdiction. Being regulated by six top-notch regulators makes IG very safe to trade with.
Consistency was another factor that played on our mind while we were brainstorming to pick up the number one forex broker. IG without fail uses its size to bring to traders consistent pricing cutting across the board irrespective of the product a trader trade in.
IG offers its service to anyone in any part of the world with a desire to trade in CFDs. However, in the US, IG provides services to those who want to trade the foreign exchange markets. What makes this broker best placed to compete in the overcrowded online broker market is its strategy to keep the spread cost low and its emphasis on providing the best customer services. To top it all, it also provides quality education material to its clients and actionable research. IG’s wide range of offerings and focus on research and education gives it an edge over its peers. The security available to its clients can be guessed from the fact that it has re-entered the U.S. market which is considered to be too tightly regulated. We, who spent a very long time evaluating IG’s services and other features, are of the opinion that when it comes to online forex broker IG brokers are unparalleled and very safe to trade with. Their top-notch services brought to prospective clients at an affordable price make trading with them very lucrative.
(2) Second on our list of trustworthy online forex broker is Saxo Bank.
Saxo bank has many strengths, but it has one big drawback as well. You can open an account with Saxo Bank only if you are willing to part with $2,000 that is minimum deposit required with the Saxo Bank. However there are many upsides of trading with this bank.
Saxo Bank offers fair pricing and superlative trading platforms. Its outstanding research and educational materials give you an edge over other traders. It also gives you a wide range of products to choose from, and its excellent customer service gives you a seamless experience.
Trustworthiness of Saxo bank is quite high as it operates many regulated banks. It itself is regulated by six tier-one jurisdictions, making it one of the safest brokers for trading forex and CFDs.
If we turn our gaze towards commissions, we find Saxo Bank provides comprehensive pricing to its traders.
When it comes to trading platform, the entire Saxo Trader Client experience is hassle-free. Besides 40,000 tradable instruments, Saxo Bank flagship SaxoTraderGo platform provides once-in-a-lifetime experience to traders using it. This flagship platform has everything that you as a trader will need to navigate the choppy waters of market.
(3) Third on our list of great online forex broker is CMC Markets.
CMC markets gives holistic trading experience courtesy its outstanding pricing and selection of a little more than 12,000 instruments. The options available to traders are enormous at an affordable price. The services brought to traders by CMC markets are cost-effective and efficient.
CMC Markets was founded in 1989 and it is a public traded broker. It is regulated by four tier-1 regulators and two tier-2 jurisdictions, making it very safe to trade forex and CFDs with it.
Another strength of CMC markets is its emhasis on developing quality educational content for its clients. Research materials in conjunction with quality customer service make trading with CMC Markets a memorable experience.
(4) Fourth on our list is Fusion Markets .
Fusion Markets has secured fourth spot in our top online forex brokers index.
Low trading and non-trading fees are two of the most attractive features of Fusion Markets. Account opening is fast and easy and one has to pay no fees for withdrawal from their account. Great customer service compliments its other services and make investors’ job easy. We ranked Fusion Market in the top five primarily because of security it provides to traders and the hassle-free services it has at its disposal.
(5) EToro is at number five. .
If we talk about security, options in trading provided by eToro, use of cutting-edge technology to make users’ experience seamless, eToro practically has no challenger. eToro, by dint of its experience and singular passion of making trading an exquisite experience, has emerged as one of the best brokers globally. Also, security that traders get with eToro is unparalleled, if not unprecedented. Its regulation by the best of regulatory bodies gives it an aura of respectability among its peers.
Another factor that swings the opinion in favor of eToro is its ability to offer 1 pip on the ER/USD, which is a little above than the industry average. If we look at its trading fees, one thing becomes amply clear: retail traders don’t go to eToro for its spreads. They, retail traders, choose eToro for its unique social trading platform capabilities.
eToro offers four levels for its Popular Investors program. eToro offers its Popular Investor program only to traders who allow other investors to make use of their strategy. The four levels of its Popular Investor program ranges from Cadet to Elite and this makes traders eligible for various types of perks. An investor needs a minimum balance of $1,000 in his account equity, earn $500 in customer assets that uses your strategy, and maintain risk score below 7 for a minimum of a couple of months to qualify for the Cadet tier. There are numerous benefits available to Popular Investors. Discount on spreads, monthly payments are few among many benefits that accrue to Popular Investors. Furthermore, eToro charges just 0.1% for converting from crypto to crypto. If your main focus is on trading cryptocurrencies, then eToroX platform charges even lower price. But you must bear in mind that eToroX platform doesn’t offer CFD trading or the range of markets that could be found on the primary eToro platform.
(6) Interactive Traders
Traders associated with Interactive traders are charged nominal trading fees. When it comes to products, Interactive Traders offer a wide range of products to choose from. Furthermore, this online broker also brings to its traders some of the ebst research tools available in the financial market. Their customer service is also above par and gives priority to customers over everything else. Interactive Traders have created very engaging platforms that traders can use without any guidance at all.
Trading with Interactive Traders is safe and secure as it is well regulated. When it comes to keeping its traders informed about dynamics of market, Interactive Traders depend on their own in-house researchers for producing highly engaging and informative educational content.
We have ranked Interactive Traders sixth in the list of best online forex brokers mainly because of
(1) wide range of products on offer
(2) high standard of research tools
(3) its low trading fees.
(7) XM
XM has secured for itself a top place among forex service providers in recent times. We are listing it on seventh position in our list of best online forex brokers. There are several reasons for including XM brokers in our list. Some of the reasons that made us think of XM as one of the best online forex brokers are: (1) It offers excellent customer care service that is responsive to queries and issues (2) XM offers low-entry bar, hassle-free exit, and cost-effective account maintenance to its traders. These factors make XM a very attractive destination for new as well as experienced forex traders.
XM also has an excellent web and mobile trading platform that further enriches users’ experience. Technology has been leveraged till its hilt to give traders a unique experience. XM also provides apt and up-to-date educational tools to give traders a 360 degree view of the market as it unfolds. When we compare the entire process of trading on XM with other brokers, one thing that makes XM stand out from the rest is its efficient account management and freedom given to traders to enter and exit without any inconvenience. Taking all the factors mentioned above, we strongly recommend this broker to new and experienced traders alike.
When it comes to safety, XM is one of the best brokers. Traders lose their money at a very high rate in the forex market. The reasons for losing money while trading with a broker could be innumerable: lack of proper guidance, bad quality signals, or downright forgery. XM online broker has top-notch regulators and all trading through this broker is transparent. This makes it a very safe online broker. When it comes to guidance, its top-class educational content keeps its traders abreast of market news and helps them in understanding the technicality of market trade.
(8) FXCM
FXCM was rated as one of the top ten online forex brokers by our team of researchers. There are many strengths of FXCM that one doesn’t easily find anywhere else. It is no small achievement for an online forex broker to score 96 on a scale of 99 in a Trust Score.
FXCM has demonstrated time and again its intention to be on the top of its game. One can guess its safety protocols from the fact that it has three tier-1 regulators and an equal number of tier-2 regulators authorizing its entire business. The wide range of products on offer is also something which is unique about FXCM. No other online broker provides products keeping in mind different needs and desire of investors. Usually, in forex market you get what is offered by brokers. But no such constraint is there with FXCM. They offer different products to different investors affiliated to its different branches. Another benefit of associating oneself with FXCM is that here one gets discount if (s)he is an active trader. Active Trader Rebate Program has five levels: in tier-1 a trader can get a discount of $5 against every million traded. Intier-5 a trader will get a rebate of as much as 25 for every million traded. Another good thing about FXCM is its reliable and feature-rich mobile experience.
There are very few forex brokers who have designed their website or apps that are mobile friendly. FXCM is one of the few brokers who ensure users have a hassle-free experience even if they are using mobile for trading. Though FXCM is not offering the MetaTrader5 (MT5) platform, it atones for its lapse by enabling trade though third-party algorithmic trading platforms.
(9) XTB
XTB occupies ninth position on our list of best online forex brokers.
The primary reason behind ranking XTB in the top ten list is low risk associated with it. XTB has scored 95 out of 99 in Trust Score and is also a publicly traded company. It is authorized to carry its operations by one tier-1 regulator, three tier-2 regulators, and also one tier-3 regulator. Some of the best names in the regulatory world , like Financial Conduct Authority, provide license to XTB for its online brokerage.
The products offered by XTB are of wide range, which gives traders a lot of option to choose from. Strength of XTB is that it doesn’t charge its trader anything for maintaining their account and minimum deposit requirement also stands at zilch. XTB is trader friendly and has launched many mobile apps to make trading less cumbersome.