Overview of FXCM fees and charges
Forex Capital Markets Limited: FCA registration number 217689 (www.fxcm.com/uk)
Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71% 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.
FXCM EU LTD: CySEC license number 392/20 (www.fxcm.com/eu)
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
All references on this site to "FXCM" refer to the FXCM Group.
It's safe to say that FXCM's fees are low in general. They either don't charge a brokerage fee for things other brokers do charge for, or they only charge a small amount. This means that you can use FXCM even in case you trade frequently like multiple times a week or daily.
Here's a high level overview of FXCM's fees
| Assets | Fee level | Fee terms |
|---|---|---|
| EURUSD | Low | The fees are built into the spread, 1.2 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours. |
| GBPUSD | Low | The fees are built into the spread, 1.4 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours. |
| S&P 500 CFD | Low | The fees are built into the spread, 0.4 points is the average spread cost during peak trading hours in 2021 Q4. |
| Inactivity fee | Low | $50 per year after one year of inactivity |
Disclaimer: 71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
FXCM fees
FXCM fees explained
We compare FXCM fees with its closest competitors, Forex.com and Pepperstone.
FXCM fees
FXCM trading fees
FXCM's trading fees are low which makes it suitable for you even if you trade often (i.e. multiple times a week).
Let's break down the trading fees into the different asset classes available at FXCM.
Trading fees
FXCM's trading fees are low.
It is super hard to compare trading fees for forex brokers. What we did at BrokerChooser? Instead of quoting long fee tables, we compare brokers by calculating all fees of an example trade for two currency pairs.
- EURUSD, a popular currency pair
- EURGBP, another popular currency pair
The example in this context would mean that you buy for $20,000 using 30:1 leverage, and sell it after a week.
This super catch-all benchmark includes spreads and financing costs for all brokers.
Here is the verdict.
| FXCM | Forex.com | Pepperstone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EURUSD benchmark fee | $15.9 | $13.3 | $13.9 |
| EURGBP benchmark fee | $14.2 | $10.6 | $10.5 |
Financing rates
FXCM financing rates are average.
If you want to trade on margin and prefer to hold your positions long, financing costs can be significant.
| FXCM | Forex.com | Pepperstone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple CFD financing rate | 9.1% | 6.3% | 5.6% |
| Vodafone CFD financing rate | - | 4.7% | 4.7% |
| EURUSD financing rate | 3.5% | 2.8% | 2.8% |
| EURGBP financing rate | 2.6% | 1.8% | 2.1% |
Leverage is a double-edged sword and can dramatically amplify your profits. It can also just as dramatically amplify your losses. Trading foreign exchange/CFDs with any level of leverage may not be suitable for all investors.
Currency conversion fee
FXCM will charge a Currency Conversion Fee for all trades on instruments denominated in a currency different to the currency of your account. The fee is charged as the following: Exchange rate received from liquidity providers plus a mark-up. We used the EURUSD trading fees for the calculation..
FXCM fees
FXCM non-trading fees
When it comes to looking at all the non-trading fees FXCM is a cheap broker. This means that they don't charge you a lot for non-trading related activities on your trading account, like withdrawal fee.
Non-trading fees include various brokerage fees and charges at FXCM that you pay not related to buying and selling assets. Among some others, typical non trading fees are withdrawal fee, deposit fee, inactivity fee and account fee.
| FXCM | Forex.com | Pepperstone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Inactivity fee | Yes | Yes | No |
| Account fee | No | No | No |
FXCM fees
FXCM deposit fee
Deposit fees are applied when you send money to your trading account from your bank account. Usually brokers don't charge money for that and FXCM is not different: you will see the exact same amount on your brokerage account that you sent by any of the deposit methods FXCM offers.
| FXCM | Forex.com | Pepperstone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/debit card | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Electronic wallets | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deposit fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Electronic wallets are available only for non-EU clients.
FXCM fees
FXCM withdrawal fee
Unlike some online brokers we have reviewed FXCM usually does not charge a withdrawal fee. This means that you'll see the same amount of money on your bank account that you transferred from your brokerage account.
| FXCM | Forex.com | Pepperstone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit/debit card | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Electronic wallets | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Withdrawal fee with bank transfer | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Electronic wallets are available only for non-EU clients.
The above-mentioned withdrawal fee depends on the withdrawal method you select.
FXCM fees
FXCM inactivity fee
FXCM does apply an inactivity fee and it is $50 per year after one year of inactivity. This means that you need to be strategic about your trading activity to avoid getting charged after a longer time of no trade. The fact that FXCM charges an inactivity fee makes it less ideal for you if you are a buy and hold investor.
FXCM has low inactivity fee.
| FXCM | Forex.com | Pepperstone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inactivity fee | Yes | Yes | No |
| Inactivity fee | $50 per year after one year of inactivity | $/€/AUD 15, £12 or JPY 1500 per month after one year of inactivity | No inactivity fee |
Read more about FXCM inactivity fee on their own site.
