FXCM Review 2020

FXCM has low trading fees and average non-trading fees. There are no account, deposit, or withdrawal fees. However, you have to pay a $50 fee after one year of inactivity.

How we ranked fees

We ranked FXCM's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

To get things rolling, let's go over some lingo related to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees, and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and conversion fees.
• Non-trading fees include charges not directly related to trading, like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

In the sections below, you will find the most relevant fees of FXCM for each asset class. For example, in the case of forex and stock index trading, spreads, commissions and financing rates are the most important fees.

We also compared FXCM's fees with those of two similar brokers we selected, Pepperstone and Oanda. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, client profile, fee structure, etc. See a more detailed rundown of FXCM alternatives.

To have a clear overview of FXCM, let's start with the trading fees.

FXCM trading fees

FXCM trading fees are low.

We know it's hard to compare trading fees for forex brokers. So how did we approach the problem of making their fees clear and comparable? We compare brokers by calculating all the fees of a typical trade for selected products.

We have chosen popular instruments in each asset class usually provided by the forex brokers:

• Forex: EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, EURCHF and EURGBP
• Stock index CFDs: SPX and EUSTX50

A typical trade means buying a leveraged product, holding it for one week and then selling. For the volume, we chose a $20,000 position for forex and a $2,000 position for stock index and stock CFD transactions. The leverage we used is:

• 30:1 for forex
• 20:1 for stock index CFDs

These catch-all benchmark fees includes spreads, commissions and financing costs for all brokers. Let's see the verdict for FXCM fees.

Forex fees

FXCM forex fees are average. It aligns with the fees of its main competitors.

CFD fees

FXCM has generally low CFD trading fees. The cost of trading CFDs matches the competition's charges.

Non-trading fees

FXCM has average non-trading fees.

There is no account, deposit, or withdrawal fee. On the other hand, you have to pay $50 after one year of inactivity.

The account opening process at FXCM is hassle-free, and there is no minimum balance requirement. The minimum deposit is $50. On the other hand, the account opening time is slower than usual.

Can you open an account?

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70.96% of retail CFD accounts lose money

FXCM accepts customers from most countries around the world. There a few exceptions, like the residents of the USA, Japan, Brazil, Turkey, Iran, Cuba, Sudan, Syria or North Korea.

What is the minimum deposit at FXCM?

The FXCM minimum deposit is $50 for a standard account. Active Trader accounts require a $25,000 minimum deposit. 

Account types

FXCM offers four account types:

• Individual - Standard
• Individual - Active Trader
• Joint
• Corporate

If you plan to trade at a high-volume, FXCM's Active Trader account would be the best for you. It ensures better spreads and customer support compared to the standard accounts. For example, the EURUSD spread is 0.2 at Active Trader account, while 1.3 at the standard account.

How to open your account

The account opening is fully digital and straightforward. 

You have to go through the following steps:

1. Choose which platform, account type, and base currency you wish to use
2. Add personal information and do a KYC questionnaire. KYC means "Know Your Customer" which is a standard and regulated process for identifying clients.
3. Upload documents to verify your identity and residency. You can upload a copy of your ID/passport for verifying your identity, and a bank statement/utility bill for verifying your residency. 

There are several options both for deposit and withdrawal but the withdrawal time is slow.

Account base currencies

At FXCM, you can choose from 3 base currencies. The available base currencies are: EUR, USD, GBP.

Why does this matter? For two reasons. If you fund your account in the same currency as your bank account or you trade assets in the same currency as your account base currency, you don't have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on the currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. Revolut or Transferwise both offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. The account opening only takes a few minutes on your phone.

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Deposit fees and options

FXCM charges no deposit fees. 

The deposit options are the following:

• Bank transfer
• Credit/Debit card
• Skrill
• Neteller
• UnionPay

A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card is instant.

You can only deposit money from accounts which are in your name.

FXCM withdrawal fees and options

FXCM charges no withdrawal fees for credit/debit cards, but bank transfers may cost up to $40. Fees for bank transfer depend on the currency and the origin of your account.

You can use bank transfer or debit/credit cards for the withdrawal, but not electronic wallets. 

How long does it take to withdraw money from FXCM? We tested the credit card/bank transfer withdrawal and it took more than 3 business days.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from FXCM?

Detailed instruction

• Log in to your account through myfxcm.com
• Once logged in click, on 'Withdraw Funds'
• Select your preferred withdrawal method
• Specify the amount of withdrawal
• Re-enter your password for security reasons and review your withdrawal
• Submit the request

More funding and withdrawal info
70.96% of retail CFD accounts lose money

FXCM's trading platform is extremely customizable and you can use lots of order types. On the other hand, it's not user-friendly and it has a poor search function.

With FXCM you can trade on 4 platforms: Trading Station, Metatrader4, Ninjatrader, and Zulutrade. We tested the Trading Station as this is FXCM's own platform.

The web trading platform is available in English, Chinese, German, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Japanese, Spanish, and French.

Look and feel

The FXCM web trading platform is not particularly user-friendly, however, its customizability is great. Basically, the whole page consists of customizable widgets.

Login and security

FXCM provides only a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be safer.

Search functions

The search functions are poor. It can be found under the 'Subscription list' tab. It took us a long time to find it. 

On the other hand, the products are categorized, such as major or minor forex. 

Placing orders

You can use a wide range of order types on the FXCM platform: 

• Market
• Limit
• Stop
• Stop trailing
• One-cancel-other (OCO)

If you are not familiar with the order types, read this overview.

There are also order time limits you can use: 

• Good-till-date (GTD)
• Good-till-cancel (GTC)
• Immediate or cancel (IOC)
• Fill or kill (FOK)

Alerts and notifications

You can set up both price alerts and order notifications. However, it is a bit complicated because you have to use a client portal, the FXCM Plus. You can access this portal with your account details.

Portfolio and fee reports

There are clear portfolio and fee reports on the 'Reports' tab of the platform and at MyFXCM.

Visit web platform page
70.96% of retail CFD accounts lose money

FXCM has a poor mobile platform. The variety of order types is OK, but the platform is not user-friendly and lacks several important features, such as a good search function.

The mobile trading platform is available in English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Turkish, French, Greek, Chinese, and Japanese.

FXCM has four web trading platforms, and all of them have mobile platforms as well. We tested FXCM's own mobile trading platform, the Trading Station.

It is available both for iOS and Android.

Look and feel

The FXCM mobile trading platform is not user-friendly.

The app feels out of date, and its layout is not optimized for the newer versions of the iOS.

Login and security

FXCM provides only a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be safer.

Biometric authentication isn't available either.

Search functions

The search functions are poor. They can be found under 'Settings'. Once you know where it is, it works as a basic bare-bones search field, with no predictive input or any other features. 

Placing orders

You can set the same order types and terms on the mobile platform as on the web trading platform.

Alerts and notifications

You can allow push notifications on the FXCM mobile platform, but it is unclear what kind of alerts you would get.

Visit mobile platform page
70.96% of retail CFD accounts lose money

FXCM's desktop platform has great customizability and good varity of order types. Nevertheless, it is not user-friendly and you cannot set up price alerts.

We tested FXCM's own desktop Trading Station platform.

The desktop trading platform is available in English, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, French, Spanish, German, Arabic, Korean, Italian, Turkish, Hebrew, Greek, Portuguese, Polish, and Hungarian.

Look and feel

The FXCM desktop trading platform is OK, but it is not user-friendly.

Just like the web trading platform, the desktop platform has good customizability. You can compile and save your own layout. However, it is quite inconvenient that many functions, such as research, are not integrated with the platform.

Login and security

FXCM provides only a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be safer.

Search functions

The search functions are OK. You can search by typing the preferred product and there is also a product list with categories, like major currency pairs. 

Placing orders

You will find more order types on the desktop trading platform than on the web platform. 

The following order types are available on the desktop platform:

• Limit
• Market
• Stop
• Stop loss
• Stop trailing
• OTO (One-Triggers-the Other)
• OTOCO (One-Triggers-One-Cancels-the-Other)
• If-Then
• If-Then OCO (One-Cancel-the-Other)

There are also order time limits you can use: GTC, IOC, and FOK

Alerts and notifications

You cannot set alerts and notifications on the desktop trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

The FXCM desktop platform has clear portfolio and fee reports.

Visit desktop platform page
70.96% of retail CFD accounts lose money

At FXCM you only have access to forex and CFDs. Cryptos are provided through CFDs.

FXCM is a forex and CFD broker. To learn more about CFDs read our CFD trading tips.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70.96% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

You cannot change the leverage levels of the products. This is a drawback. Changing the leverage is a very useful feature when you want to lower the risk of your trade. For example, instead of trading with 5:1 leverage, only trade with 2:1 leverage in case of stock CFDs. Be careful with forex and CFD trading, as the preset leverage levels are high.

FXCM offers a social trading service via the third-party service, Zulutrade. The access is provided through Zulutrade's own trading platform, where all you have to do is register with your FXCM account number. You can find further information on FXCM's website. 

FXCM provides great technical analysis tools, e.g. good charting and market screener.

Most FXCM research tools are available on the FXCM Plus platform, a separate portal, which is not included in the trading platform. This makes it a bit inconvenient.

Trading ideas

FXCM provides trading ideas. You can find recommendations through FXCM's Trading Signals and Trading Analyzer pages. These recommendations are based on technical analysis. 

Fundamental data

FXCM does not offer fundamental data.

Charting

FXCM has outstanding charting tools. They are customizable and you can use over 50 technical indicators.

There is also a Market Scanner feature. This shows whether you should buy or sell based on technical indicators, like RSI or MACD. However, you can use it only for a few products.

News feed

You can read a quality news feed, sign up for a newsletter, and use an economic calendar. 

The news is available through the 'Global Market News' page. We liked that you can view the popular search terms according to categories, like currency pairs or popular searches.

There are also daily newsletters, called Before the Bell. The newsletters include 5-6 trading ideas which are based on technical chart analysis. 

The economic calendar has a nice design, but it lacks a country filter option.

Other research tools you will enjoy

FXCM does a great job in algorithmic trading. It provides four APIs for free, and you can buy many others. The free APIs are REST API, FIX API, Java API, and a ForexConnect API.

More research info
70.96% of retail CFD accounts lose money

FXCM's customer support is great. You can reach them in many ways and you will get fast and relevant answers.

You can contact FXCM via:

• live chat
• telephone
• email

FXCM provides free phone support for the residents of 22 countries. Click here for the full list.

When we tested the customer support, an agent was connected almost immediately both on the live chat and phone. We got relevant answers on both platforms.

We got relevant answers through email as well. The response time was around one day.

The only thing we missed is the 24/7 availability.

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70.96% of retail CFD accounts lose money

FXCM's educational content is great. A wide range of educational tools is available, such as educational videos, and webinars. Demo accounts are available too but only for a limited set of countries.

At FXCM you can learn in the following ways:

• Demo account
• Platform tutorial videos
• General educational videos
• Webinars
• Quality educational articles

FXCM provides a demo account, however, it is restricted to some locations. FXCM also sends free educational material to your e-mail when opening a demo account which is a nice touch. 

Furthermore, we enjoyed the quality of the videos, they were well-produced, factual, and concise. 

Their video library is very extensive, you can find content on topics such as charts, order types, or product types.

Live webinars, pre-recorded videos, and pdf booklets are available for free. They cover topics ranging from trading basics to platform tips and tricks. 

Visit education page
70.96% of retail CFD accounts lose money

FXCM is regulated by top-tiers regulators, like the UK FCA. Its parent company is listed on the stock exchange and it has a banking background.

Is FXCM regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), and the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA).

FXCM is based in the UK and it was founded in 1999.

Is FXCM safe?

To be certain, we highly advise you to check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• and what the background of the broker is.

How you are protected

FXCM provides negative balance protection for forex spot and CFD trading, but only for retail clients from the European Union. Professional and non-EU clients are not covered with any negative balance protection.

Background

The background of the broker matters as a strong parent company reduces the chance the company goes bust. FXCM's main owner is the Jefferies Group.

Jefferies Group is a strong parent company as it has an investment banking background and it is listed on the New York and the London Stock Exchange. The banking background indicates higher security as the bank can give additional funds in case of insolvency. The strict regulation for banks also results in higher safety for you. The stock exchange listing increases the transparency and so reduces the chance the company commits fraud.

FXCM was founded in 1999. The company's almost 20 years history proved that FXCM can operate after a serious economic distress. It also a sign for you that FXCM is a secure broker.

Having an exchange-listed parent company, providing annual financial statements, and being regulated by a top-tier regulator are all great signs for FXCM's safety.

Find your safe broker

FXCM has low trading fees, its technical research tools are of high quality and well organized, and the account opening is fast and straightforward.

However, FXCM only offers forex, CFDs and crypto CFDs. Their mobile and desktop trading platforms need an update, as they are not user-friendly.

Feel free to try FXCM. There is no minimum deposit, and the inactivity fee only kicks in after a year.

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70.96% of retail CFD accounts lose money