MEXEM Review 2022

MEXEM's trading fees for stocks/ETFs, bonds, mutual funds and futures are low, while options fees are average and there is no inactivity fee. However, forex and margin fees are high.

How we ranked fees

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

First, let's go over some basic terms 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 MEXEM for each asset class. For example, in the case of stock investing the most important fees are commissions.

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

To have a clear overview of MEXEM, let's start with its trading fees.

MEXEM trading fees

MEXEM has low fees. The fee structure is mixed: there is usually a volume-tiered commission, with a minimum flat fee.

Stock and ETF fees

MEXEM has low stock and ETF fees.

MEXEM's stock trading fee is volume-based: it is calculated either per share or as a percentage of the trade value, with a minimum fee applied. ETF fees are the same as stock fees.

• *US stocks have a max. rate of 2% of the order value & Canadian stocks have a max. rate of 1% of the order value.
• Stamp taxes (UK=0.5%, Ireland=1%) are passed on to the client.

If you prefer stock trading on margin, you should check MEXEM's margin rates.

Trading on margin basically means that you borrow money from your broker and can purchase more shares than you could with just the available cash in your account. You have to pay interest on this borrowed money – the interest rate is called the margin rate. It can account for a significant portion of your trading costs.

MEXEM's margin rates are high.

Forex fees

MEXEM's forex fees are high.

To get a clear picture of forex fees, we calculated a forex benchmark fee for major currency pairs. This catch-all benchmark includes commissions, spreads and financing costs for all brokers.

Fund fees

MEXEM's mutual fund fees are low. Thousands of US mutual funds (including funds from Allianz, BlackRock and Schroder) may be purchased without a transaction fee. The commission fee is 0.1%, with a minimum fee of €5.

The minimum size of initial fund orders is $3,000, while the subsequent minimum order size is $100.

When you purchase a fund that is not in the 'free-to-buy' category, a simple price structure applies that includes all regulatory and exchange fees.

Bond fees

MEXEM has generally low bond fees.

Options fees

MEXEM options fees are average when it comes to trading stock index options.

You pay options fees depending on the number of contracts you trade.

Futures fees

MEXEM futures fees are low. Fees are more favorable then at the featured competitors.

CFD fees

MEXEM provides CFD products, but the fee for trading CFDs is not published clearly.

Non-trading fees

MEXEM has low non-trading fees. There is no inactivity, account or deposit fee. The first withdrawal each month is free of charge, while subsequent withdrawals carry a fee. 

MEXEM's account opening process is fully digital and straightforward, with no minimum deposit required. On the other hand, the account verification process takes a long time.

Can you open an account?

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What is the minimum deposit at MEXEM?

The required MEXEM minimum deposit is $0.

Account types

MEXEM offers many account types, which differ in terms of ownership and the service provided.

Account types based on ownership

The account types fall into two big groups, depending on the account's ownership:

• accounts for individual traders and investors
• accounts for institutions

How to open your account

The account opening process is fully digital and straightforward. After the online registration, account verification takes around 2 business days, which is a bit longer than the usual account verification time at most brokers. 

During the account opening process, you have to provide some personal information and answer questions about your employment status and trading experience.

At the end, you have to verify your identity and residency by uploading the required documents:

• Verification of identity: passport, national ID, or driver's license
• Verification of residency: bank statement, utility bill, credit card statement, or notarized document

This is a standard procedure which in financial lingo is called a KYC (know-your-customer) process. This is required to make sure you are truly identifiable.

MEXEM offers quick deposit and withdrawal; however, it doesn't accept credit/debit cards and electronic wallets.

Account base currencies

MEXEM provides several account base currencies, which is great if you want to trade assets in various currencies.

The selection of available currencies may differ based on the legal entity you're onboarded with.

When compared to its competitors, you can see that MEXEM's base currency selection is largely similar to that of Saxo Bank and Swissquote.

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

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

Compare digital banks

Deposit fees and options

MEXEM deposits are free of charge. However, deposit options are limited, as neither credit/debit cards nor electronic wallets can be used.

A bank transfer can take several business days. You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

MEXEM withdrawal fees and options

The first withdrawal each month is free of charge, while subsequent withdrawals carry a fee.

Similar to deposits, you can only use bank transfer for outgoing transfers.

The fee for withdrawals depends on the currency and the method used for withdrawal.

How long does it take to withdraw money from MEXEM? We tested it and it took 2 business days.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from MEXEM?

• First, log in to the Client Portal, then click on 'Transfer & Pay' and 'Transfer funds'.
• Select the account you want to use for the transaction.
• At the top of the page, click on the 'Withdraw Funds' tab. 
• Select the currency of your withdrawal, followed by the withdrawal method.
• Enter the required information.
• Submit your withdrawal request. 
• You can see the status of your request under 'View Transaction History'.

The MEXEM web platform is simple and easy to use, even for beginners. However, there are some minor but annoying glitches.

The web trading platform, called Client Portal, is available in 12 languages:

Look and feel

The Client Portal platform is particularly user-friendly and intuitive. You will easily find every feature even if you just started trading.

However, from time to time, there are some annoying technical glitches. For example, if you have a large number of positions, there are often problems displaying them in sorted order (e.g. from A to Z) while you are scrolling.

Login and security

For two-factor authorization, use IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key), which requires a fingerprint or PIN, depending on the hardware capabilities of your phone. Until the IB Key is set up, you will receive an SMS message each time you log in.

Search functions

The search function is OK, but it can be a little confusing when there are several companies with a similar name or if a company has both common and preferred shares.

Placing orders

The Client Portal offers many order types:

• Limit
• Mid-Price
• Market
• Stop
• Stop Limit
• Limit-on-Close
• Market-on-Close
• Trailing Stop
• Trailing Stop Limit

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

If you want to place even more sophisticated orders, you should use the desktop trading platform.

You can also use several order time limits:

• Day
• Good-'til-Canceled (GTC)
• Immediate or Cancel
• Market-on-Open
• Limit-on-Open
• At the opening

Alerts and notifications

You can set price alerts using the bell icon.

Portfolio and fee reports

Portfolio and fee reports are transparent. The 'Portfolio' tab gives a clear overview of your trading performance, including a historical profit/loss balance and fees paid.

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MEXEM's mobile trading platform boasts a lot of functions and a useful chatbot, but its user interface could be better.

MEXEM's mobile trading platform is available both for iOS and Android devices. For this review, we tested it on iOS.

The number of available languages is similar to the web trading platform: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish,Traditional Chinese and Turkish. 

Look and feel

The mobile trading app is much like the web platform. Its overall look and user-friendliness lags behind competitors' mobile platforms.

There are also some annoying glitches. For example, when we received a bulletin in our inbox informing us of margin requirement changes, we could see only half of the text and could not resize the window or scroll.

Somewhat surprisingly, the app sometimes displays text in English and sometimes in the client's local language.

Login and security

In MEXEM's app you can use a two-step login, which is safer than a simple login. Furthermore, if your device supports such features, you can also use biometric authentication for more convenience. However, in our experience it has a small bug as well, as it only showed this option after a few logins.

Search functions

The search function is OK and is much like what the web trading platform offers. As the picture below shows, it can be a little confusing when there are several companies with a similar name or if a company has both common and preferred shares. 

After you select the product you are interested in, the system will display an information and trading window that shows:

• asset market information
• an interactive chart with technical indicators
• related news
• some fundamental data
• a summary of the latest analyst report
• and the 'Buy' and 'Sell' buttons that transfer you to the order panel

Placing orders

You can use the following order types:

• Limit
• Mid Price
• Market, Stop
• Stop Limit
• Market if Touched
• Limit if Touched
• Trail
• Relative
• Market on Close
• Limit on Close

There are also order time limits you can use: Day, Good till Canceled, At the opening.

Alerts and notifications

You can set price alerts using the notification (bell) icon.

Special feature - Chatbot

The most innovative and exciting function within the app is the chatbot, called IBot, which is the same as Interactive Brokers's chat function. You can use the chatbot to execute or close an order, as well as to get basic info quickly.

The chatbot understands basic commands such as “apple price” or “buy 1 apple share”. On top of this, you can also search for company fundamentals, like dividend yields and P/E ratios. Some other functions, like displaying a chart, are also available via the chatbot.

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MEXEM's desktop platform TWS comes with great customizability and advanced order execution. However, it's not user-friendly and caters more to advanced traders.

MEXEM uses the same trading platform as Interactive Brokers, which is Trader Workstation (TWS). This platform is so advanced that even a separate review would not be enough to cover all its features.

The system offers literally every feature you can think of, from attaching a delta hedge order to an options order to creating charts for synthetic securities.

There are many trading algos to choose from. One favorite, the ScaleTrader originates from the notion of averaging down or buying into a weak, declining market at ever lower prices as it bottoms – or, conversely, selling into a rising market or scaling out of a long position.

The desktop trading platform is available in multiple languages, but fewer than the web trading platform. For example, Dutch and Slovakian are missing.

Look and feel

In many respects, this is by far the most complex platform that we at BrokerChooser have ever reviewed. Despite its complexity, the platform is highly customizable; for example, you can set up your own templates.

This platform is ideal if you consider yourself a professional user. If you are a beginner or someone who doesn't trade actively, you may have difficulty navigating all of TWS's features. Keep in mind, however, that all the advanced features are optional. If you don't use them, you can easily handle TWS just to place orders even if you are an everyday investor.

Login and security

The system has the same security features as the web trading platform. You can log in using a two-step authentication, which makes the platform unquestionably safer to use.

Search functions

The search function is great. You can check/uncheck boxes to include/exclude searching for derivatives (like CFDs).

Placing orders

Trading through TWS, MEXEM offers many different order types.

The desktop platform provides Smart Routing, a great feature that detects the best possible route (e.g. exchange) for your trades automatically. TD Ameritrade also has a similar service.

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

Order term options also include some special types beyond the usual ones:

• Good 'til Canceled (GTC)
• Good-'til-Date (GTD)
• Market-on-open (MOO)
• Limit-on-open (LOO)
• Immediate-or-cancel (IOC)
• Fill-or-Kill (FOK)
• Day-'til-canceled (DTC)

Alerts and notifications

Price alerts can be set from a dropdown menu in the 'Order Entry' panel.

You can also set additional alerts such as daily profits or losses on the Client Portal.

Portfolio and fee reports

You can access reports under the 'Account' menu item. It will open a new tab in your browser and will take you to the Client Portal's reports, which are of high quality.

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At MEXEM, you can access an extremely wide range of markets and almost all product types, except for crypto.

MEXEM has a great selection of products, with an exceptionally wide range of ETFs and bonds. MEXEM also offers a couple of more exotic assets, such as warrants and structured products. You can also trade CFDs; however, it is not transparent which CFD asset types are availabe. MEXEM only lags behind its competitors in terms of FX pair selection and the lack of cryptos.

MEXEM provides access to more than 150 exchanges worldwide.

Stocks and ETFs

MEXEM gives you access to more stock markets than its competitors. 

This includes major stock markets like the NASDAQ, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), as well as minor ones such as the Warsaw Stock Exchange or Mexican markets. In addition to regular stocks, penny stocks are also available. 

Besides stocks, you can also trade more than 13,000 ETFs at MEXEM. This is an extensive selection compared to its competitors.

MEXEM offers the possibility of buying and selling fractional shares of a stock, which allows traders to invest small amounts and still diversify their portfolios. Fractional shares are available for US and European stocks.

Forex

The number of forex pairs available is average.

Funds

Through MEXEM, you have access to more than 250 fund providers, including big names like BlackRock and Vanguard. This selection is great compared to competing brokers.

Bonds

MEXEM gives you access to a massive number of bonds and both government and corporate bonds are available.

Options

As with other product types, MEXEM offers an extremely wide range of options markets. 

You can access the biggest ones, like the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) or the CME Group, as well as smaller markets, such as the Korea Stock Exchange (KSE) and the Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MEXDER)

Futures

MEXEM offers an extensive selection of futures products and markets. At the time of writing, there were 22 markets available, which is more than what competitors offer. Similarly to options, you will find both major and minor markets.

CFDs

At MEXEM, CFD trading is available, however it is not clear which CFD asset classes you can trade.

MEXEM provides an astonishing array of research functionalities. However, the user interface is somewhat complicated and not well-designed.

Trading ideas

MEXEM provides trading ideas. If you search for a specific asset under Fundamentals Explorer within the Research menu, you will see analyst recommendations from Trading Central for the given asset alongside a wide range of additional information such as technical insights, analyst forecast, news feed, dividend information (if applicable), key ratios and financials. The amount of information is rather impressive, but you need to spend a bit of time on the interface to get familiar with the layout.

Fundamental data

MEXEM offers fundamental data. There is an incredibly detailed Events Calendar within the Research menu, containing macroeconomic data releases from around the globe. 

Alternatively, if you search for a specific asset, you will find a wealth of data, including revenue, dividend and return on equity-related information within the Fundamentals Explorer tab under Research. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores from Refinitiv are also provided.

Charting

MEXEM has good charting tools. You can use 127 technical indicators; however, the charting tool is not user-friendly. 

News feed

You have access to:

• News
• Daily summaries
• Multiple economic calendars

Upon entering the platform, you can read daily market summaries through the 'Daily Lineup'. This feature helps you keep up to date with the latest news and analyst recommendations. There is also an Earnings Calendar and an Economic Event Calendar that are helpful shortcuts to start off your day.

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MEXEM's customer service is overall of good quality, although we missed 24/7 availability.

You can contact MEXEM via:

• Phone
• Email
• WhatsApp

MEXEM’s phone support was fast and we got relevant answers.

We also got quick and relevant answers to our email queries.

However, the broker does not have a direct live chat option. You can chat with them via WhatsApp, which you have to download if you don't have the app.

We also missed 24/7 customer service availability.

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MEXEM offers some good educational materials and tools, including tutorial videos, webinars and a demo account, although some of these are hard to find.

At MEXEM you can learn in the following ways:

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

The videos are a bit difficult to find, as they are not featured on the website. You have to go to the broker’s YouTube channel to view them, where however they are available in several languages, such as English, Italian and Dutch.

Once you set up a trading account, you can also open a Paper Trading Account. This is a demo account, although you have to download Trader Workstation to be able to use this version. We don't find this is user-friendly at all.

MEXEM also offers educator and student accounts for educational purposes, through a link to the Interactive Brokers Student Trading Lab account.

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MEXEM is an introducing broker of Interactive Brokers (IB), meaning that your assets and cash are held by IB's Irish entity (IBIE), which is overseen by Ireland's top-tier regulator. Also, IB is listed on a stock exchange and discloses its financials transparently.

Is MEXEM regulated?

MEXEM serves as an introducing broker to IBIE, the Irish entity of Interactive Brokers. This means that your cash and assets are held with IB, while IBIE specifically is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Is MEXEM safe?

To be certain if a brokerage is safe, we highly advise that you check two facts:

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

How you are protected

Interactive Brokers is the contracting partner that processes and transacts orders via the trading platform. This means the investor protection amount and the regulating authority are related to IBIE, the Ireland-based entity.

MEXEM 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 by any negative balance protection.

Background

MEXEM was established in 2018, so it is a relatively young company. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

Interactive Brokers, which MEXEM is an introducing broker of, is listed on the NASDAQ and was founded in 1977.

Find your safe broker

MEXEM is an EU stockbroker for investors and traders. We recommend this broker mainly for advanced traders.

On the plus side, MEXEM has low stock and ETF fees, a vast range of available markets and products, and diverse research tools.

There are some drawbacks, though. It charges high forex and margin fees, and the account opening process is complicated. The desktop platform is complex and might be hard to get a handle on, especially for beginners.

If you have experience navigating complex platforms and like transparency, feel free to try MEXEM, as it could be a great fit for you.

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We recommend MEXEM for investors and traders looking for low fees and sophisticated trading platforms.

Below you can find links to all aspects of MEXEM in this comprehensive collection.

Lower fees, lower costs?

We detailed this in our MEXEM fees article.

What about the minimum deposit?

Our ultimate guide to the MEXEM minimum deposit is updated regularly.

How to start your MEXEM account?

Look no further than our evaluation of the MEXEM account opening.

How's their trading app?

Here's our expert view after checking the MEXEM trading app.

Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?

All you need to know about the MEXEM customer service.

Legit or scam?

Is MEXEM legit features all the key aspects you need to look at to see if a broker is safe and legit.

Free or premium? Or both?

A glance at actual costs and whether MEXEM is really free.

Is this broker good for beginners?

We checked it in Is MEXEM good for beginners.

Should you buy your silver bullets on MEXEM?

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on MEXEM guide

I want to trade options, are they available at MEXEM?

We explored the topic in Can you trade options on MEXEM?

What is the minimum account balance at MEXEM?

Check out the current account balance requirements at MEXEM in our What is the minimum account balance at MEXEM article.

Looking for commission and fees data for MEXEM?

We collected them in MEXEM commission and fees.

How do you withdraw money from MEXEM?

We tested it and collected the options and costs in How to withdraw money on MEXEM.