While the broker offers easy-to-use trading platforms and few unique trading features, it can be a good choice for newbies. However, the costly pricing model and limited product portfolio may become a point of concern for retail professionals. EasyMarkets also lags way behind the industry standards in providing first-class research facilities. In this piece, I review the broker in detail.
easyMarkets Overview
Founded in 2001, easyMarkets is one of the pioneer brokers to offer retail trading in forex and CFDs. Gadi Hadar is the founder of the company. With headquarters in Cyprus, the company serves its clients through its regional offices worldwide.
easyMarkets holds regulations in four jurisdictions, including Cyprus, Australia, Seychelles, and the British Virgin Islands. The company was rebranded from easy-forex to easyMarkets in 2016. Besides keeping clients’ funds in segregated bank accounts, the broker takes every step needed to ensure capital adequacy and risk management.
The company has won several industry awards and endeavours to become the preferred choice of investors under the command of Nikos Antoniades – the CEO.[1]
| Pros | Cons |
| Offers fixed spreads Provides unique trading tools Variety of research & educational tools Efficient customer support Multiple regulations | Higher spread on stocks Does not accept US clients Limited tradable assets Doesn’t offer indemnity insurance |
Who Is easyMarkets For?
easyMarkets is best known for user-friendly trading platforms. Therefore, it is well suited for everyone. However, the company offers three unique trading features, including Freeze Rate, easy trade & dealCancellation, which makes the broker a perfect choice for newbies.
Not to mention, limited research tools and the product portfolio lacking competitional variety can become a point of concern for advanced-level traders. Despite offering a guaranteed stop-loss feature, the broker’s ineffective costing structure can further make high-volume traders look for an alternative option. While easyMarkets doesn’t feature headlines in the MT4 desktop version, the mobile application of the broker also comes with limited functions, making it less appealing to skilled professionals.
Rating: 3/5
Is easyMarkets Safe?
With multiple regulations across the globe, easyMarkets is undoubtedly a safe broker. Also, the broker’s negative balance protection further makes it less risky for investment. Besides keeping clients’ funds in segregated bank accounts, the broker maintains enough capital to ensure liquidity. easyMarkets employs advanced security protocols to safeguard your confidential information. However, the broker does not offer indemnity insurance. That means if the broker becomes liquidated for any reason, you won’t be able to claim compensation against your financial loss.
Offering of Investments
As mentioned earlier, the broker offers limited tradable financial instruments. While clients can trade a maximum of 62 forex pairs, the broker allows you to trade 07 commodities and 05 energy products.
Clients can also trade 06 cryptocurrency CFDs, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Stellar, and Bitcoin Cash. easyMarkets product range also varies from country to country.
For instance, after FCA imposed a ban on trading crypto CFDs, UK-based clients can’t access crypto assets on easyMarkets because the broker doesn’t sell actual cryptocurrencies. Also, due to strict regulatory requirements, the broker doesn’t offer its services to clients based in the USA.[2]
The broker doesn’t support copy trading either. Should you wish to trade a specific instrument, It is best to confirm the availability of the asset from the broker before signing up with it.
Rating: 4/5
| Forex: Spot Trading | Yes |
| Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) | 60+ |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | Yes |
| CFDs instruments | Forex, Shares, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies |
Commissions and Fees
easyMarkets pricing structure seems a bit expensive. The broker has a fixed spread charging policy. However, depending upon the selected account type and chosen trading platform, the spread charge may vary. The company offers three types of accounts, including Standard, Premium, and VIP accounts.
Standard: Facilitating low-budget clients, the company allows a minimum deposit of $25. While spread on major currency pairs i-e EUR/USD on trading via Web platform starts from 2.0 pips, it is 1.9 pips for those using MT4. The is no commission or fee on deposit and withdrawal. The broker doesn’t offer guaranteed stop-loss to clients using the MT4 platform.
Premium account: Advanced level trades can sign up for the premium account at easyMarkets.com. The minimum amount needed to open the account is $2000. The fixed spread charged in the premium account starts from 1.4 pips on EUR/USD and 1.8 pips on GBP/USD.
VIP account: The company offers VIP accounts to skilled professionals and institutional traders. Clients need a minimum of $10,000 to get started with the VIP account. In addition to the lowest spreads starting from 0.9 pips on EUR/USD, the broker offers premium services such as personal account manager, market insights, and round-the-clock customer support to VIP account holders.
Rating: 3.5/5
| Minimum Initial Deposit | $25 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD – Standard | 1.4 Pips |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD – Active | 1.6 pips |
| Minimum withdrawal | Not Specified |
Platforms and Tools
easyMarkets offers two trading platforms, including the web-based proprietary trading platform and MetaTrader 4 – MT4. The sleekly designed web-based trading platform offers easy access to multiple trading tools and technical indicators, enabling clients to experience seamless trading. The broker also offers three unique trading tools, including dealCancellation, easyTrade, and Freeze Rate. While the Freeze Rate feature allows traders to free the quote for three seconds, clients can use the dealCancellation tool to undo their trades and reclaim their losses. Not to mention, the easyTrade feature allows clients to lock in their maximum risk exposure.
Besides helping novice traders to stay safe, easyMarkets seem to offer these unique trading tools to get an edge over its competitors. Unlike other brokerage firms that charge a nominal fee on GSLs, the company provides guaranteed stop-loss free of cost.
On the other hand, clients can also use the world’s most popular trading platform – MetaTrader (MT4). Besides having basic and advanced trading tools, the platform has a user-friendly trading interface suitable for novice and skilled traders. Traders can have it download on PC and access the market from the ease of their desktop.
Rating: 4/5
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No |
| Charting – Indicators / Studies (Total) | 50+ |
| Charting – Drawing Tools (Total) | 30+ |
| Charting – Trade From Chart | Yes |
| Order Type – Trailing Stop | Yes |
Research
Despite featuring multiple resources under the research section, easyMarkets stills seem to be lagging behind the industry standards. Available research resources include market news, trading charts, financial calendar, trading hours, and live currency rates.
While market news helps clients stay updated on recent industry developments, trading charts and live currency rates enable clients to decide optimum entry or exit points. Financial calendars allow traders to track upcoming major economic events. Clients can use trading hours features to know the time brackets the market remains open for trading different financial instruments.
Conclusively, the research section of the broker needs a few more resources to be added, such as the pip calculator tool, currency correlation tool, spread comparison tool, etc.
Rating: 2.5/5
Education
Unlike the research section, easyMarket’s educational library seems well maintained. Clients have multiple educational resources to explore, such as knowledge base, trading courses, free eBooks, economic indicators, and trading glossary. While the video tutorials cover basic and advanced trading strategies, free eBooks come with detailed lessons on multiple topics, including trading psychology and risk management.
The broker offers classified educational content for all classes of traders. The knowledge base section helps clients learn from scratch and gradually move to advance modules. Traders can also check their learning skills by taking a quiz test at the end of each module. The trading glossary enables clients to familiarise themselves with complex trading terminologies.
Rating: 4/5
Mobile Trading
For on-the-go users, easyMarkets offer proprietary mobile trading and the MT4 mobile-based trading platform that clients can install on their mobile phones and tablets. Both mobile-based trading platforms enable clients to access the market anytime from anywhere. Clients can synchronize the custom-built mobile trading app with the web-based version of the trading platform.
Besides having limited economic indicators, the mobile app lacks advanced trading tools needed for a meaningful trading experience. On the other hand, the MT4 mobile trading app comparatively comes with rich trading features. Clients can open, close, and edit positions with single-click trading.
Rating: 4/5
| Mobile devices | Android & Apple |
| Features | Watchlist, charting tools, negative balance protection, price alerts |
Final Thoughts
With a limited product portfolio to offers and substandard research tools, easyMarkets may struggle to attract professional investors. However, its unique trading tools, efficient customer support, and low minimums can make newbies cast their votes in its favour. Not to mention, the broker’s high trading cost will remain a potential concern for many forex enthusiasts.
Frequently Asked Questions – (FAQs)
Does easyMarkets accept clients from the United States?
Unfortunately, the broker does not accept clients from the United States due to strict regulatory requirements. The company also does not offer its services to the residents of the countries, including but not limited to Israel, Canada, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
Does easyMarkets offer Shariah-compliant Islamic accounts?
Yes, the broker offers interest-free accounts to shariah practising traders. However, the maximum duration allowed for keeping your positions open is 14 days at easyMarkets.com.
Is easyMarkets an ECN broker?
According to the information available online, easyMarkets is not an ECN broker. Instead, it is a market maker broker. Unlike ECN brokers, market maker brokers have lower minimum deposit requirements and do not charge commission on trades.
How long does easyMarkets take to open an account?
The account opening process with the broker is pretty straightforward. It doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes. However, you need to complete the KYC process to verify your account. The verification time can vary depending upon the completion of your supporting documents submitted.
How much leverage is available with easyMarkets?
Being a multi-regulated broker, the company offers a leverage of up to 1:30. However, clients can unlock higher leverage levels depending upon their trading activity.
Does easyMarkets charge inactivity fees?
No, the broker does not charge inactivity fees. You can also get your account closed if you don’t intend to use it.
How do I close my trading account with easyMarkets?
You need to write an email to the broker’s customer support team. Upon receiving your account closure request, the company closes your account immediately. However, it might request you to share reasons as to why you wish to close your account.
How do I withdraw funds at easyMarkets?
Funds withdrawal at easyMarkets is easy and quick. You only need to access the dashboard, click on the funds’ management tab, and select your preferred payment method. The average time it takes to process your withdrawal is one calendar day.
How do I contact customer support at easyMarkets?
Clients can reach the broker’s customer support team via telephone, email, and live chat. The company is quick to respond and resolves your issues on a run-time basis.
