FMTrader Review
FMTrader was launched in 2013 and owned by FM Marketing LTD incorporated in Belize with IFSC license number IFSC/60/372/TS/15 and address 35 Barrack Road, third floor, Belize city, Belize. They also have an office in London, at Level 30, The Leadenhall Building 122 Leadenhall Street, City of London, EC3V 4AB, United Kingdom and can be contacted at +442070433795 in the UK. Clearing and Billing Services are provided by Terapad Services Limited, 6 Ioanni Stylianou, 2003 Nicosia, Cyprus.
Is FMTrader a Scam?
FMTrader may be a familiar face but it is a whole new broker in terms of look, execution, service, integrity and straightforward business/trading practices. Trust me; we have been very careful with this one in the past. The old management really did some nasty stuff, and we have warned our readers against using this broker. However, the new management seems to be moving forward and in the right direction. After monitoring many different forums and websites we have found very few complaints that are truly worrying. Keep in mind that I’m only talking about the period spent under the new management, because if you scroll back in time, you’ll see some nasty complaints. Thank God that’s over. FMTrader is in Final process of regulation, so when they meet the requirements, I hope we could make this broker fully approved.
Update September 2016: FM Marketing LTD, the owning company of FMTrader is on the list of Licensed Service Providers For Trading In Securities 2016 of the International Financial Services Commission Belize (IFSC). This shows that the new owners are really trying to turn FMTrader into a well-respected brokerage and a prime player on the binary options scene. This fact also moves them further way from the Scam suspicion.
Editor’s Note – Why FMTrader doesn’t Suck in 50 words?
If a rose by another name smells as sweet, does a new broker with the same old name smell as bad as the original? I have to say that in this case no, absolutely not. After months of hard work it has come to our attention that FMTrader is a whole new broker, literally. Finally, bunch of legitimate businessmen who understand the long term nature of binary options brokering have re-furbished this broker who, like the Phoenix, is rising out of the ashes of the first. Regulation was coming soon but like so many other brokers, never truly materialized.
Why does FMTrader Suck in 50 Words?
This broker sucks because it’s the same old SpotOption based platform. We already said a lot about this platform, and 1 thing we cannot take from Spot is the large number of white labels, some of them are really vicious. So far all good with FMTrader, ofcourse we’ll keep monitoring.
Should I Open an Account with FMTrader?
FMTrader, the new improved one, is a SpotOption powered broker. If anyone out there knows me at all, they know I like the SpotOption platform itself and this one has just about all the features. It does have all the ones that matter. The asset list is very long and includes more than any one person can trade in a week. There are 12 major Forex pairs, 20 stocks, 7 commodities and 20 indices. While the Forex and stock trading is quite good, the commodities and indices are what I like the best. The commodities include oil, gold, silver, wheat coffee and sugar while the indices span across the globe.
Update January 2017 : The asset list is still quite long but there are a few changes. There are double the amount of forex pairs, less commodities and the addition of Bitcoin trading, and a Bitcoin/Gold cross that trades just like a forex pair.
The asset list is supported by a full line of tradable options with expiry ranging from short term 60 second out to several months. Options include standard digital trading with calls and puts plus Pairs, One Touch, Ladder and iFollow Copy Trading. Digital trading is divided into Binary Options, Short Term and Long Term. Binary Options all have expiry sometime today, short term all have expiry ranging from 30 seconds to 5 minutes and the long term are all end of today, tomorrow or this week and range out to next week, end of the month and next month out to 6 months or more depending on the asset.
Pairs trading are the roots of binary options. These are options betting on which asset will perform better over a given time period, like a horse race between stocks. Some commonly traded pairs on this broker are Apple/Google and Gold/Silver. One touch options are usually only available over the weekend and can be used to predict large movements. Ladder Options are a more advanced form of binary, and pay a more advanced amount. They are bets on whether an asset will finish above or below a set strike price, you can choose near the money, in the money or out of the money strikes for different pay outs. For a more detailed explanation of each type of binary option, please read our Straightforward Guide. ifollow is the SpotOption copy trading platform and is directly accessed through the trading room. It includes a leader board of traders to copy and a few settings for your account.
Update September 2016: Overall we can definitely note that FMTrader is now an improved brokerage, with better service and more reliability. The change of management proved to be the best thing that happened in the last period and as a result, traders are complaining less and have started to consider FMTrader one of the better partners in the industry.
FM Trader Complaints
There are some complaints (we are referring ONLY to the last 8-12 months under new management), but you have to dig through them to get the real picture. Some of them are old and have no bearing on the new broker, some are the usual traders having problems because they jumped into binary without learning what they needed to know, like reading the terms and conditions. Other than that there is not much there and you know if they were cheating or holding back on withdrawals the community would be screaming about it.
Update January 2017: Still not a lot of complaints but there are a few. One fellow says he felt pressured by salesmen, another says an account manager overdrew his account which I don’t see how is possible, you can’t trade and lose more than you have. The first is not great to hear, but is only one voice of thousands of satisfied traders. The second complaint seems like BS to me.
FM Trader Bonus
FMTrader offers a number of different bonus and reward programs. You will need to talk to your account representative to find out exactly what is available to you. Basically, there are sign on bonuses by account size as well as other promotions. The base trade volume is 40 times the bonus and must be met before making any withdrawals.
Update January 2017: Bonus turnover has been raised to 50X the amount of bonus. They also take the time to be sure you understand that if you take more than one bonus you have to meet the first terms and then meet the second terms which means you have to trade 50X the bonus twice before you withdraw.
FM Trader Withdrawal
Withdrawals are easy with this broker. All you have to do, once you meet account verification requirements, is go to the withdrawal page and request one. Deposits and withdrawals can be made by credit card, wire transfer or Skrill. Withdrawals are free and are processed in under 3 days. Payout may take up to a week after that depending on method, Skrill being the fastest. The minimum withdrawal is only $100.
FM Trader Extra
This broker doesn’t really have anything “extra” when compared to others of this caliber but stands out next to lower quality ones. Two things that stand out now though are the Ladder Options and the iFollow copy trading which help elevate the platform to a whole new level.Update January 2017: iFollow is still available and so is copy trading linked from Zulutrade. All you have to do is open an account with both, and then link them.
FMTrader Bitcoin Trading
FMTrader is one of the leading binary options brokers to offer cryptocurrency. They list more than a dozen pairs including many cross-cryptocurrency pairs. Most are based on EUR, GBP and JPY with several cross-crypto pairs like BTC/ETH and ETH/LTC. The options are CFD’s, standard binaries were not available when I was checking, which means you can trade with leverage. Leverage s up to 1:10, you can trade up to 1000 lots and there are some tools of use for traders. Stop loss and take profit limits ensure that you take profits when they are there and cut losses before they grow too large.
FMTrader Ratings
User Friendly 18/20
This broker is very user friendly. Not only is it built on the ever popular SpotOption platform the new owners have gone out of their way to make support easy to get. Chat and phone supports are only a punch of a button away, but you probably won’t need it because everything you need is easy to find. The website is available in 7 languages.
Number of assets and expiry times 18/20
FM Trader offers traders 20 stocks, 24 currency pairs, 7 commodities and 21 indices as underlying assets. That’s not the most of any broker I have seen but a trader will definitely have enough assets to trade. The expiry times start from 60 seconds, half an hour, hourly and go as high as the end of the week, end of the month and end of the year. One Touch Options are available and so is an Option Builder tool.
Commissions, Support and Effective return 18/20
No commissions will be charged for opening an account and Credit Card withdrawals are free of charge; however a $25 fee will be paid for a wire transfer withdrawal. Their support is fast enough and pretty polite and available through chat and phone. The effective return for In the Money trades ranges between 65% and 85%. Out of the Money trades have a 10% refund that can be adjusted with the OptionBuilder.
Update January 2017: Support is now extended to Skype and WhatsApp along with Email and LiveChat.
Deposit, Payment and Bonus 18/20
Deposits can be completed through Credit Cards, wire transfer, Skrill or CashU and the same applies for withdrawals. Keep in mind that you will have to withdraw to the same Credit Card or CashU account you used for deposit. Minimum deposit is $250 and minimum withdrawal is $100. The bonus differs depending on the amount you deposit and their ongoing promotion at the time. Withdrawals are quick and easy, and reliable, unlike the original FM.
Update September 2016: CashU is no longer available as a deposit/withdraw method but Skrill remains a reliable and fast one. According to their new and improved policy, withdrawals are free.
Website Extras 13/20
Nothing makes them stand out and all the features are standard, for a great SpotOption based broker. Expiries, Option Builder, Pro Trader, Rollover, Close Now, Ladders and iFollow features are all big plusses. We want more!
FM Trader Overall Ratings + Regulated IFSC (+1) = 86/100