Is IG a Scam? Read This Brutally Honest Review

Not Bad 8.5/10

IG
Regulated: FCA, ASIC

Broker Name:	IG
Platform(s):	FX, CFD, Crypto
Founded:	1970
Bonus:	N/A
Spreads:	Low

Leverage:	Average
Regulated:	FCA, ASIC
Demo Account:	Yes
Minimum Deposit:	250
US Traders:	Not Accepted

Last Updated 05/30/2021

IG Review

by Martin Kay

Why IG DOESN’T Suck in 50 Words

Hmm, 50 words… that’s tough because I need like 1000 to describe all the reasons why IG.com doesn’t suck. Basically, it’s one of the best brokerages around, it’s the sister brokerage of NADEX and both are part of IG Group Holdings, a company with a global presence, a member of the FTSE 250 with a market capitalization of over 2 billion pounds. I think it’s safe to say they will not hunt your money. They have enough.

Why IG Sucks in 50 Words

If you want to trade with a brokerage you can trust – and I mean really trust – then you will have to put in some work to learn to use IG’s platform, which is not newbie-friendly, to say the least. The amount of features and available trading instruments is mind-boggling but actually, this is not a bad thing in my book (in fact I consider it a positive); however, I know that it will be difficult for a new trader to get used to it because it’s not as easy as 1,2,3.

Is IG.com a Scam?

We like to be fair towards all the brokers we review (although some of them are not fair to traders) so we have this section on all our reviews. However, in this case, it is almost useless because I don’t know how a brokerage with roots back in 1974 and regulated by the FCA and ASIC can be a scam. But I could be wrong so I recommend you to personally review this broker before you invest. In case you’re based in the USA, choose NADEX.

Should I Open an Account with IG?

IG (IG.com) is a well-respected and old-time broker owned and operated by IG Markets Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under number 04008957, and by IG Index Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales under number 01190902). IG Markets Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under number 195355 and is also regulated by ASIC ABN 84 099 019 851 ABN 84 099 019 851. IG Index Ltd is also authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, under Register number 114059.

CFD, options, and derivative services in Europe are provided by IG Europe GmbH, a company incorporated in the Federal Republic of Germany. The company is authorized and regulated by the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht and Deutsche Bundesbank.

IG Index was first established in 1974, to enable clients to trade gold as an index rather than the commodity itself. The company became IG Group in 2000 and is now one of the UK’s top 200 firms, listed on the FTSE 250. IG.com in its current form offers CFD and Forex trading since 2003, which means they already a bunch of steps ahead of other brokers. In fact, comparing IG with most of the newer CFD, FX, and Crypto brokers is almost unfair because IG seems to be in a league of its own. If you like to see smiling girls and hip guys welcoming you on the home page, limousines, and 100% bonuses, risk-free trades, and “insured” trading, this is not the place for you. This is the real world, where trading involves risk, you don’t receive gifts from your broker and if you lose a trade – guess what – you lose money. Nobody will tell you that you will receive back the money that you’ve lost in the market.

So you won’t get any of the above, but what will you get? Well, for one thing, you are not trading against the house because IG actually passes on your order to the liquidity providers and they have no interest to steal your money. They make money from spreads and commissions. Oh, and speaking of spreads… have you ever wondered why some brokers (especially binary options brokers) don’t charge a spread? How do they make money? They bet against you. If you lose, they win and if you win, they will find a way to keep your money. But this mostly applies to the “old” binary brokers and anyway, enough about others, let’s keep talking about IG.

A new trading platform has been recently introduced, called L2 Dealer. This can be used for CFD trading, share trading, and ISA accounts and gives the trader access to the Level 2 order book that shows the full depth of the markets (lists all bids and offers that have been placed in the market). It is primarily a DMA (Direct Market Access) platform. The classic platform can still be accessed in the usual manner. Apart from these platforms, IG also offers Meta Trader 4 and ProRealTime, the latter being a charting package designed for advanced technical traders.

If you are serious about trading then you should choose a serious partner and IG is in my opinion that partner. They are a professional brokerage/exchange house and they’ve been doing their job since ’74. I wasn’t even born then so I can imagine they must know what they’re doing. It is not the best brokerage for a newbie but it is probably the best for a trader.

IG’s registered address is at Cannon Bridge House, 25 Dowgate Hill, London EC4R 2YA. IG Europe GmbH lists a registered office at Westhafenplatz 1, 60327 Frankfurt, Germany.

IG Complaints

People will always find something to complain about even when it comes to the best brokers and IG is no exception. They have quite a few complaints on the internet but most of these are about slippage and delayed entries, a fact which makes me believe that their Forex offerings are not as stellar. Also, some spread betting clients have complained about the way IG handled things on January 15, 2016 (the day when the Swiss National Bank removed the floor on EUR/CHF). We cannot vouch for the authenticity of these complaints.

IG Regulatory Announcements and Warnings

It comes as no surprise the fact that IG fully complies with all regulatory authorities in the territories where they operate. We couldn’t find any Warnings issued by such authorities and furthermore, we must note that IG Markets Limited is registered with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) under ABN 84 099 019 851 and registered in New Zealand with the Financial Service Providers Register under number FSP18923.

IG Bonus

IG doesn’t offer first deposit bonuses, risk-free trading and they won’t give you tickets to concerts if you deposit more money. As I said, this is the real world.

IG Withdrawals

Credit card withdrawals take between 2 and 5 days. Wire transfers are usually processed during the same day and IG also offers the possibility to make withdrawals via PayPal (assuming the deposit was made using the same method) and these are usually instant. The minimum withdrawal is 100 Pounds unless you have a smaller amount on your balance, in which case you can withdraw the available sum.

IG Extras

Charts, professionalism, same-day withdrawals, hundreds of markets to trade on, extensive market insights from professional analysts, video market insights, and even offer a tool that allows you to keep a Trading Diary online. Compared to the classic brokers, I think everything is an extra with IG.com. They also offer Saturday and Sunday Trading.

Trading Bitcoin With IG.com

Aligning with the latest trends, IG offers cryptocurrency trading in the form of spread betting and CFDs. The main advantage is that you can profit even when the market is going down because you are not actually owning the crypto-coin, you simply speculate on its price at a future date (i.e.: when you close your trade). Some of the available crypto assets are Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Ripple, Litecoin, Ether (Ethereum), EOS, Stellar (XLM), and NEO.

IG.com Ratings

User Friendly 15/20

The website is not very user-friendly for the simple reason that it is very complex and has a ton of features so you will spend a lot of time going through all of them. The platforms can be a bit difficult to get used to, but again this is because they offer a lot of features and this shouldn’t be regarded as a bad thing. More than 20 languages available, as well as demo accounts.

They have introduced a new platform, which in my view is easier to use, faster but still complex, and with tons of features. The new platforms have a live news feed and a Twitter feed (focused on the financial news of course). Mobile versions of some of their platforms are also available.

Range of Markets and Spreads 16/20

They offer thousands of markets on which to trade, ranging from stocks to indices, commodities, fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash/Gold, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, EOS, Stellar, and Neo), and a few Specials. Spreads vary according to market conditions but are almost always very competitive (as low as 0.6 pips for EUR/USD). Spreads for cryptocurrencies are lower than with most other brokers.

Deposits and Withdrawals 17/20

Deposits can be made via debit cards, credit cards, wire transfers, and more recently, PayPal. IG does not accept payment cards where the holder is a US resident. Withdrawals are made via debit/credit cards, PayPal, and wire transfers. Credit card limits are 20,000 GBP daily. Both deposits and withdrawals are fast and secure.

Fees and Support 18/20

There are no commissions for opening an account (which is normal for any broker) but you will pay an inactivity fee of 12 pounds on the first of each month for accounts that have been inactive for 2 years or more. Support is pretty straightforward and you will not get any cheap sales tactics like: “we have a special offer, just for you, just today” (note that some versions of the website do not offer live chat in that respective language – depending on region).

Website Extras 16/20

Considering the “Extras” section that you’ve read in the main part of this review, I believe IG markets definitely deserve 20 points out of 20. However, some of the extra features might be hard to understand and use by the regular trader.

IG.com Overall Ratings 82 + Regulated (+3) = 85/100

18 Responses to “IG”

Sort By:

jeremy
04/07/2021 01:20

Major delays to withdraw funds from IG trade
IG Trade is a terrible platform for accessing your funds. They will delay it create major stress for you blaming third parties. Choose another platform to trade.
00
Stephen Christopher
12/22/2020 12:56

Dec 2020 - non-functional telephone support for new business.
First, there may be Covid, or telephone management software faults behind this, neither of which would be IG’s fault. However, I have had a difficult experience when aiming to open an IG A/C, through failing to obtain a response from IG’s new business team, either by email or phone, from 2hr solid effort. Calls were unanswered for up to 46 minutes, and idiosyncratic behaviour by the voicemail system led me to think there may be a software fault. But the detailed report I sent by email has received no acknowledgement or response, which is pretty disappointing.
What has avoided incandescent never-touch-them-again fury for me has been the brilliant response from one of their South African dealers who, when I faked being an existing (rather than as is the case, a prospective) customer, picked up the phone and dealt calmly and effectively with my enquiry. Situation more or less redeemed.
00
Barry
12/10/2020 00:59

IG tries to delay getting your money out as long as possible
My experience is that IG use tactics to hold your money when you want to withdraw. They send you an email saying withdrawal is approved, then 3 days later they say – sorry, not OK because your bank account is not ‘verified’, for which they ask for a copy of a statement. Then, once they approve that, you have to, again, ask for the money back – another 3 day wait. Why they don’t verify your bank account when you open the account is a mystery their online help couldn’t explain, not do they mention the fact you must reapply after the verification. Stay away.
00
Dehua Leo
08/04/2020 06:36

Deteriorated IG Trading Platform and Customer Support
I have been trading on IG for almost 10 years. Unfortunately they started to become more disappointing since about 2 years ago. This gives me the feeling that they have shifted their focus onto how to scoop more money from things from their clients, e.g. readjusting the spreads, the interests, etc. instead of growing with clients through better customer support.
Since the system upgrade, they have been displaying the figures incorrectly on their app – fristly, they are unable to self-examine/test; secondly, half a year after i sent in feedback with screenshots of such display on their app, they are still unable to rectify it.
Things like this would you make you doubt your confidence in their other capabilities in serving their clients. And such worries are proven. For example, i called their helpline for 3 days and was unable to speak to anyone. I subsequently sent them a number of emails, but received ZERO reply! I then called and texted one of their managers and was told that he felt sorry to hear that but could not do much about it either.
Some of the configurations on the app are confusing too. Such confusions are like traps that make you make COSTLY mistakes easily.
In short, IG is deteriorating over the recent years. I was a satisfied client for many years. I am turned away by their poor system upgrade and deteriorated customer support.
IG fees are certainly on the high side compared to other platforms in the market. If they provide better customer support, I would feel it’s worthy. However, in the past two years, IG has been taking more money from their clients while customer support has been reducing.
00
Jus Commune
07/20/2020 23:28

Manifestly Inadequate Platform - Total Waste of Time
If you have any intention of day trading stay as far away from ig.com as you possibly can. Their platform is hopeless. For example, you cannot even sort the biggest gainers from the biggest losers which is a most basic sorting requirement. They have no scanner for share trading or anything like it. The platform or work space has next to no functionality. The help files do not apply to a share trading account only CFDs. Total waste of time. And forget about support. Try waiting on hold for 40 minutes at a time and then they can’t answer the questions in any case.
00
Jack
08/02/2019 19:14

Execution
My complaint is with execution. Targets are reached but are not executed on multiple occasions.
00
Jossef
06/14/2018 11:15

Firstly I found IG as a
Firstly I found IG as a great platform to trade with , great customer service and the payouts were fast my only complaint that I see other complaints so I’m not sure if maybe I dont see the big image. Will review again next year.
00
Sai , Malaysia
06/23/2017 22:52

I joined IG beginning of 2017
I joined IG beginning of 2017. I experienced few Forexcompanies thru internet with their so called “Trusted” companies. Unfortunately, when come to withdrawal, all failed !
Eventually , after knowing that there is an IG office in Singapore, I purposely flew in and take a look at the office. The staff are friendly and they have the facilities for discussion, meeting and training provided.
I opened my account and tried to withdraw full amount back of S$40k, they returned into my bank account within 48hrs.
Till now, I have no problem with IG. In fact, I have friends requested me to introduce IG to them.
00
D
02/07/2017 18:55

IG claims to be one of
IG claims to be one of the leading brokers. I’ve been trading with them for more than 2 years, they always change the settlement prices and then claim that their charts are not accurate. If the charts on their website are not correct how do they expect clients to trade, for example if you place a trade and the market settles at 10091.55 on their live chart, they will say ooh sorry the correct settlement price was 10094.66
They would claim this price to be on third party platform.
00
Peter
01/31/2017 17:22

They have high minimum contracts values
They have high minimum contracts values to enter trades, forcing you to take very high risks. They do not allow you to adjust your margins and fix it themselves at a level which makes you the most vulnerable. They get you out from trades as they want, they use your deposit to offset their own positions. Money dropped at IG is money lost
00
Thomas Baxter
01/12/2017 09:04

These are the only guys I
These are the only guys I trust nowadays. Been too hard to get withdrawals everywhere else and I think most Binary brokers are gonna disappear this year.
00
Paul Knowles
01/11/2017 07:06

Quite simply the best and safest
Quite simply the best and safest. Going cheap you can save the majors( binaries) in your watched list and use the tools to analyse then flick over to Sprints to short/long to order. The others out there are simply online betting shops
00
andrew gray
06/10/2016 07:42

VERY DISSAPIONTED WITH IG
VERY DISSAPIONTED WITH IG , I HONESTLY THOUGHT THEY WERE A GOOD PLATFORM , BUT SORRY EVEN ON DEMO THEY WITHHOLD EXECUTIONS , ITS NOT FAIR , I HAVE BEEN TRADING FOR MANY YEARS , BEWARE ,
00
- Steve F
  09/15/2016 20:32
  
  Hi Andrew I've been trading for
  Hi Andrew
  I’ve been trading for about 10years now , and work with various platforms and brokers. I remember having a similar issue and thinking the same thing. However I did find it was my configurations setting in the platform that caused failed or withheld executions which was really annoying . Have a look at your “Market Execution Mode” and make sure you have and make sure your in “Market” mode and not “Instant / Instant Execution ” . Not to get to complicated but you probably will not have enough pip tolerance for when the market is more volatile , spiking or moving quickly to use instant execution (hence failed or Withheld executions. ) Happy to explain more … I hope this helps :)
  00
- Gad Schleider
  05/28/2017 09:00
  
  Don't know what you are talking
  Don’t know what you are talking about, have used IG trading platform for many years never had any issues.
  00
Peter Bones
06/01/2016 18:40

Is the IG demo site the
Is the IG demo site the same as the for real site where a stop loss can be set?
Can I use copybuffettsoftware to trade via IG
00
Tracey
03/27/2016 12:10

I am not sure why people
I am not sure why people say IG is FCA regulated, according to their site Binary Options are not regulated. They are licensed with the gambling commissions for Index’s!
*Concerns about binary options trading
UK consumers who engage in binary options trading might not be aware that it is not, currently, an FCA-regulated activity.
Consumers might think that they are investing and that they have the standard protections of the UK’s financial services regulatory framework, when this is not the case.*
00
Tom
02/17/2016 07:00

Good platform
Good platform, very fast acept trades with a split of a sec, no issues. Unfortunately very limited with a number of assets and time. You can trade only through UK and American markets no 24 hours trading
00