ForexTB Review
Editor’s Note: Why ForexTB Doesn’t Suck In 50 Words
I’ll give you 2 words: regulation and experience. Sometimes we see experienced brokers, with good trading conditions but no regulation and other times we see regulated brokers that are too new to know for sure they are doing a good job. ForexTB ticks both boxes: it’s been in business long enough to mature as a broker and it has solid regulation.
Why ForexTB Sucks In 50 Words
The spreads are too high and ThatSucks! To give you an example, their EUR/USD spread is “as low as” 3.2 pips and is floating, meaning it can become bigger, depending on market conditions. However, this spread only applies to the Basic account, so if you open a higher account, you will get a spread discount, albeit not a very big one.
Is ForexTB A Scam?
No way! A broker established in 2015, with full regulation coming from a major financial supervisor cannot be a scam. When brokers put their hands inside clients’ pockets, the word spreads like wildfire on all notable forums and social platforms, which leads to a drop in client base for those brokers.
No clients – no profit – the scam broker goes out of business pretty soon. That’s why scam brokers only last for a couple of years or so and that’s why a broker’s launch date is important. So, bottom line: ForexTB Limited has been in business for way too long to be a scam and during all this time, it hasn’t received a single warning or fine from its regulator – CySEC.
Should I Open An Account With ForexTB?
ForexTB is a Cyprus based CFD broker, fully supervised by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and with a long time in business. The broker was launched in 2015 and is operated by Forex TB Limited, a Cyprus Investment Firm, authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission with CIF licence number 272/15. ForexTB offers services within the European Economic Area (excluding Belgium) and Switzerland.
If you like to have the peace of mind that your money is deposited with a regulated broker, then yes, you should. However, ForexTB’s appeal doesn’t come from just from being regulated. The trading platform is web based and offers a great mix of functionality and user-friendliness, which means that newer traders can step into the CFD world without feeling overwhelmed. If you want to place simple orders, without tons of technical analysis, you can do so easily, but ForexTB also offers Advanced Trades, which is a feature that allows pending orders, as well as Stop Loss and Take Profit placement.
The platform also offers technical analysis tools, drawings, and technical indicators, so it ticks all the boxes for advanced traders as well. And if you really want to go all out, ForexTB offers Meta Trader 4, which is an industry standard and widely regarded as the best trading platform of the last decade. MT4 is available even for the lowest account, which is great because some brokers choose to “lock” this platform behind a higher deposit requirement.
And speaking of accounts, ForexTB offers 4 types: Basic (min deposit 250 EUR), Gold (min deposit 25,000 EUR), Platinum (min deposit 100,000 EUR), and VIP (min deposit 250,000 EUR). The main differences between the account types are a lower spread for the more expensive accounts and free withdrawals: 1 withdrawal monthly for Gold, 3 for Platinum and no fees for VIP. As you can see, the jump from the first account tier to the second is huge, which means that new and medium traders will probably stick to the Basic account.
ForexTB offers educational resources in the form of e-books, webinars, trading tips, a few articles about technical and fundamental analysis and more. You won’t find a fully-fledged Trading Academy or extensive courses but the material they provide is helpful and well put together.
To conclude, ForexTB looks like a solid broker, with almost everything that a trader may need and with the major advantage of being regulated by a prominent financial watchdog. On the downside, I believe the spreads are too high (they offer 3.2 pips for EUR/USD and the industry average is half that) and the account structure could use some tweaking (maybe add an account between Basic and Gold). However, if you are not a high frequency trader, the spread will not eat too much into your profits, so you could simply use the lowest account.
ForexTB is located at Lemesou Avenue 71, 2nd Floor 2121 Aglantzia, Nicosia, Cyprus. The broker can be contacted at phone +357 2 222 2353 and email [email protected].
ForexTB Complaints
Although the broker was established a long time ago, we couldn’t find any major complaints apart from the usual unsatisfied customer here and there. Their rating on ForexPeaceArmy is above 4 stars (out of 5) and on Trustpilot they have a rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars. Based on this information, it’s safe to assume that ForexTB enjoys an overall positive reputation among the people that took the time to review the broker.
ForexTB Regulatory Warnings and Announcements
At the time of writing, no major regulator has warned against or fined ForexTB or the owning/operating company. We are constantly monitoring for this type of activity and we will update our review if necessary.
ForexTB Withdrawal
Withdrawals can be made via the same methods used for deposits, which are credit/debit cards, e-wallets (Skrill, Neteller, PayPal) and wire transfers. Basic account holders will benefit from one free withdrawal, the Gold account comes with 1 monthly free withdrawal, the Platinum offers 3 free monthly withdrawals, and there are no fees for VIP. The processing times are fast (24 business hours) and the minimum for wire transfers is 100 EUR, while cards and e-wallets don’t have any minimum requirements.
ForexTB Extras
ForexTB offers Trading Central as a free resource. This includes analysts’ views, featured ideas, economic insight, and daily market analysis. Apart from this, notable extras are the free e-books, trading webinars and tips from TipRanks analysts.
ForexTB Ratings
User Friendliness 19/20
The website is translated in 7 languages but the broker is geared towards European clients, so there are a lot of restricted jurisdictions, including the United States. Demo accounts are available, as well as mobile apps.
Range of Markets, Spreads and Leverage 17/20
ForexTB offers over 300 tradable assets, including stocks, commodities, currencies, cryptocurrencies, precious metals and more. It’s a very wide asset basket, which ensures that everyone will find the right asset for them. Leverage goes up to 1:30 for retail clients, as per European regulations, but professional clients can use leverage up to 1:400. Spreads are high, starting at 3.2 pips for EUR/USD for the lowest account.
Deposits and Withdrawals 18/20
The available methods for both deposits and withdrawals are credit/debit cards, e-wallets (Skrill, Neteller, PayPal) and wire transfers. The processing time is 24 business hours and additional 5 business days may pass until the funds reach the client’s account. The minimum withdrawal for wires is 100 EUR and there are no restrictions for cards and e-wallets.
Fees and Support 18/20
The inactivity fee is 80 EUR and will have to be paid monthly after an inactivity period of one month. The withdrawal fee is 30 USD/EUR/GBP for wire transfers, 3.5% for card withdrawals and up to 4.5% for e-wallets. Support is available via live chat as well as email and phone.
Extras 17/20
A full range of tools offered by Trading Central, recommendations from TipRanks derived via their analysts’ opinions, Economic Calendar, e-books, webinars and more – overall a nice collection of extra features provided by ForexTB.
ForexTB Overall Ratings (88) + Regulated (+3) = 91/100