Pepperstone Review 2021

Pepperstone has low forex and non-trading fees, as no inactivity or account fee is charged. However, the CFD financing rates, i.e. fees for holding CFD positions overnight, are high for a few assets.

How we ranked fees

We ranked Pepperstone'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 Pepperstone for each asset class. For example, in the case of forex and stock index trading the most important fees are spreads, commissions and financing rates.

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

To have a clear overview of Pepperstone, let's start with the trading fees. We calculated with the fees of the Razor Account.

Pepperstone trading fees

Pepperstone's trading fees are low. The Standard and Razor accounts have different fees. In this review, we tested the Razor account on MetaTrader 4, which charges a commission but spreads are low.

We know it is hard to compare trading fees for forex brokers. So what we did was we compared brokers by calculating all fees of a typical trade for selected products.

We picked popular instruments within each asset class usually offered by 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 it. For 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 was:

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

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

Forex fees

Pepperstone forex fees are generally low.

Fees are charged through commissions and spreads. The commission varies depending on the trading platform you use. The so-called round turn commissions per lot, i.e. the commission for opening and closing $100k positions, are:

• $7.53 for MetaTrader 4 
• $7.00 for MetaTrader 5
• $7.00 for cTrader 

CFD fees

Pepperstone has generally low CFD fees.

Equity index CFD fees are built into the spreads.

Non-trading fees

Pepperstone has low non-trading fees. There are no inactivity or account fees.

Withdrawal is free for credit/debit cards and electronic wallets, except for Skrill and Neteller. Bank transfer withdrawal is also free for EU and Australian clients, but quite pricey ($20) for others.

Pepperstone's account opening process is great. It is fully digital, user-friendly, and requires no minimum deposit for the Standard account.

Can you open an account?

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Pepperstone accepts customers from all over the world. Notable exceptions include the US, Canada, New Zealand and Japan.

What is the minimum deposit at Pepperstone?

The required Pepperstone minimum deposit is $0. This is a plus, as some CFD brokers require a minimum of $2,000.

Account types

You can choose from two account types, Standard and Razor, which have different pricing structures.

*The size of the commission depends on the trading platform you use. The round turn commissions per lot, i.e. the commission for opening and closing $100k positions are:

• $7.53 for MetaTrader 4 
• $7.00 for MetaTrader 5
• $7.00 for cTrader 

If you prefer trading at high volume, you may want to check out the Active Trader program. This gives you rebates based on the number of trades you carry out.

Rebates are only applicable to FX trades executed on Razor accounts. 

Apart from the Standard and Razor accounts, there's a third account type called a Managed Account. This is mainly aimed at fund managers, who can use this account to easily manage hundreds of sub-accounts. 

How to open your account

The account opening process is easy and fully digital: online application takes roughly 10-15 minutes. On paper, you have to wait 1-3 days for account approval; however, ours was verified within a day.

Pepperstone account opening takes four steps:

1. Register your email and password; confirm your email; then proceed to the Secure Client Area.
2. Fill in your personal information and set the base currency of your account.
3. Complete a trading expertise survey.
4. Upload a copy of your passport/ID and a utility bill or some other proof of address.

If a problem occurs, you can get help via email or live chat. E.g. you can send them copies of your ID/passport, and they will upload it for you.

Pepperstone provides plenty of deposit and withdrawal options, as well as a wide selection of account base currencies. However, there is a high, $20 fee for bank withdrawals for clients outside the EU and Australia.

Account base currencies

At Pepperstone, you can choose from 9 base currencies:

This account base currency selection is similar to its competitors

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 currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. You can get great currency exchange rates as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.

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Deposit fees and options

Pepperstone charges no deposit fees. There are multiple options for depositing funds:

• Bank transfer
• Credit/debit cards
• E-wallets

The availability of payment options depends on which regulator are you at.

Also, compared to IC Markets and Axi, Pepperstone offers the same range of payment methods.

A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with a credit/debit card is instant. You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Pepperstone withdrawal fees and options

You can withdraw your money from Pepperstone free of charge to credit/debit cards and some electronic wallets. However, Skrill and Neteller (if available) withdrawals cost $1.

Bank transfer withdrawals are also free in the EU and Australia, but cost $20 for clients in other countries.

How long does it take to withdraw money from Pepperstone? We tested credit card withdrawal and it took 2 business days.

How do you withdraw money from Pepperstone?

• Log in to your Pepperstone account
• Click 'Funds' in the menu on the left
• Click 'Withdraw Funds'
• Choose a withdrawal method
• Select the account you want to withdraw from
• Enter the amount
• Click the right arrow on the right side of this panel to go to the next step
• Finish your request

Compare to other brokers

Pepperstone's web trading platform is provided by MetaTrader. It is highly customizable, available in many languages, and has a clear fee report. On the other hand, it lacks two-step login and price alerts, and its design is outdated.

Pepperstone doesn't have its own self-developed trading platform. It offers three third-party trading platforms:

• MetaTrader 4
• MetaTrader 5
• cTrader

We reviewed MetaTrader 4 because of its high popularity.

MetaTrader 4 is available in an exceptionally large number of languages.

Look and feel

The Pepperstone web trading platform has great customizability. It is easy to change the size and position of tabs.

However, the platform feels outdated and some features are hard to find. For example, it took us a while to figure out how to add an asset to our watchlist.

Login and security

Pepperstone provides only a one-step login. Two-step authentication would be more secure. However, you can set up a two-step login for accessing the client area on the website (where you can initiate a withdrawal for example).

You can't log in using biometric authentication. Offering this feature would make the login process more convenient.

Search functions

The platform's search functions are OK. You can find assets grouped into categories, but we missed the usual search box where you can type asset names or other keywords manually.

Placing orders

You can use only basic order types; you won't find more sophisticated orders such as 'one-cancels-the-other'. The following order types are available:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop

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

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Good till canceled (GTC)
• Good till time (GTT)

Alerts and notifications

You can't set alerts or notifications on the Pepperstone web trading platform. This feature is available only on the desktop trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

Pepperstone has clear portfolio and fee reports. You can easily see your profit-loss balance and the commissions you paid. These reports can be found under the 'History' tab.

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Pepperstone has a great mobile trading platform, offered by MetaTrader 4. It is well-designed and user-friendly. However, it lacks a safe login.

Pepperstone offers three mobile trading platforms: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader. MetaTrader 4 is the most popular of the three and is available for both iOS and Android. We tested it on both.

After you download the MT4 mobile trading platform, you have to access the Pepperstone-Live server. 

Just like on the web trading platform, you can choose from many languages. Changing the language is a bit tricky on Android devices; you can do it only if you change the default language of your mobile.

Look and feel

Pepperstone has a great mobile trading platform; we really liked its design and user-friendliness. You will easily find all the features.

Login and security

Similarly to the web trading platform, Pepperstone provides only a one-step login. A two-step login would be safer.

You can't use fingerprint or Face ID authentication. Offering these features would make the login process more convenient.

Search functions

The search functions are good. You can search by typing the name of the product you're looking for or by navigating the category folders.

Placing orders

You can use the same order types and order time limits as on the web trading platform. 

Alerts and notifications

You can set alerts and notifications, although only through the desktop trading platform. It would be much easier if you could set these notifications on the mobile trading platform as well.

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In design and functionality, Pepperstone's MetaTrader 4 desktop platform is almost the same as the web trading platform. One major difference is that you can set price alerts on the desktop trading platform.

Pepperstone offers three desktop trading platforms: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader. We reviewed MetaTrader 4 (MT4), as this is the most popular one among investors.

It has the same design, is available in the same languages, offers almost the same order types (trailing stop is also available), has the same search functions, and offers the same portfolio and fee reports as the web trading platform. These reports can be found under the 'Account History' tab: right click on one position, then choose 'Save as Detailed Report'.

The major difference is that you can set alerts and notifications on the desktop trading platform, in the form of mobile push and email notifications. To set email or mobile notifications, you must add your email address and mobile MetaQuotes ID (you can find it in the settings of the MT4 app). You can add them under 'Options' in the 'Tools' menu.

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At Pepperstone you can only trade with forex and other CFDs (commodities, stock indices, share CFDs, cryptos). This means that many popular asset classes, like real stocks and ETFs, are missing.

Pepperstone is primarily a forex broker with some CFD and cryptocurrency instruments. 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. 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.

Pepperstone has a great forex selection, while its CFD lineup is average. We liked that if offers exposure to Australian shares via CFDs, not many brokers do that. Among cryptos, you can trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dash against the USD.

At Pepperstone you can trade 60+ US stocks as share CFDs, all of which are large-cap companies like Boeing, Facebook, Apple, Exxon and Alibaba. You can go long and short. After-hours trading is possible (this is when earnings are typically released).

Similarly, the 50 most liquid Australian shares, such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Macquarie Group Ltd and CSL Ltd are also offered as share CFDs. You'll need MetaTrader 5 to trade the share CFDs.

Speaking of commodities, we really liked that you can have positions in gold against multiple currencies (USD, EUR, AUD, GBP, CHF).

Note that the cryptos are not available to UK retail consumers, as per FCA ruling.

You can change the leverage if you go to your Client Area by clicking the pencil icon in the top right corner. The amount of leverage you can use is determined by the regulator you are at, see our detailed table below.

Changing the leverage manually is a very useful feature when you want to lower the risk of your trade. Be careful with forex and CFD trading, as the preset leverage levels may be high.

Social trading, algo trading and strategies

Pepperstone has partnered up with multiple social trading platforms, through which you can access copy trading features including Myfxbook, Mirror Trader, MetaTrader Signals and DupliTrade.

• Myfxbook is an automated forex trading service. It is a mirroring service that allows you to copy other trades from other trading systems.
• Mirror Trader is a marketplace of algos. After choosing and adding one to your account, it will automatically execute trades. You can remove them anytime. 
• MetaTrader Signals lets you access thousands of trading strategies and signals from other traders. 
• Lastly, DupliTrade collects all the above services into one. DupliTrade lets you tap into other traders' expertise for new techniques. However, you will have to deposit a minimum of AUD 5,000 to access DupliTrade's strategy providers.

Spread Betting

Pepperstone provides spread betting for UK and Irish clients.

You can find trading ideas based on technical tools, and read market reports written by Pepperstone's research team. On the negative side, the news feed is rather basic.

You can find Pepperstone's research tools in three locations:

• Trading platform
• Pepperstone's website, under 'Market analysis'
• Secure Client Area

Trading ideas

Pepperstone provides trading ideas via Autochartist, a trading management tool. These trading ideas are based on technical analysis. You can access Autochartist through the Secure Client Area, or you can download and attach it to the MetaTrader platform. This way you'll receive automatic notifications when emerging and completed chart patterns such as triangles, wedges, tops and bottoms are identified.

Fundamental data

Pepperstone does not offer fundamental data on equities.

Charting

Pepperstone has OK charting tools. You can use 31 technical indicators and other editing tools, such as trendlines and Fibonacci retracement.

However, MetaTrader's design is outdated and some features are hard to use. For example, we had difficulty figuring out how to remove an indicator from the chart.

Pepperstone offers another downloadable tool for the MetaTrader platforms: the Smart Trader Tools package is a suite of 28 tools to help improve your trade execution and management. These include a correlation matrix, a sentiment trader, a trade simulator and many more useful mini apps.

News feed

Unfortunately, the MetaTrader platform has a poor news feed. It's unstructured, and finding relevant news items is cumbersome. We missed tags and visual elements.

To make up for these shortcomings, Pepperstone has launched a Telegram channel with their own market commentary.

We really liked the analysis written by Pepperstone's research team. The authors have a good understanding of volatility regimes and macro.

There's a daily newsletter by experienced trader Chris Weston called the "The Daily Fix" that offers:

• a quick recap of the most important current events and market movements
• interesting charts using inter-market and technical analysis looking for correlations and divergencies
• preview of upcoming events like elections or Fed meetings

Furthermore, Pepperstone has market commentary in Chinese, Spanish, Italian and German on their respective YouTube channels.

An Economic Calendar also helps to track the markets. However we've seen better implementations of this tool elsewhere; for example, we missed filters.

Compare research pros and cons

Pepperstone customer service is great. You can reach them on several channels and will get quick and relevant answers. However, it does not operate on weekends.

You can contact Pepperstone via:

• live chat
• phone
• email

Pepperstone customer service is available in several languages, such as English, Russian, Vietnamese and Thai.

Live chat works just as you would expect. We did not have to wait for an operator, and we always got relevant answers. After each conversation, you can rate and comment on the chat, making it easy and efficient to provide feedback.

Phone support is also great. An agent was connected within seconds and answered questions in a professional and friendly manner.   

The customer support team gives very quick and relevant responses to email queries as well. They reply within a few hours and their answers are clear with relevant links attached. 

We also liked that Pepperstone customer service is available 24 hours a day from Sunday to Friday.

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Pepperstone has great educational materials. You can use demo accounts, participate in webinars and watch educational videos.

At Pepperstone you can learn in the following ways:

• Demo Account
• Webinars
• Platform tutorial videos
• Quality educational articles
• Trading Glossary

You can use demo accounts for getting familiar with the platforms. We think this is the best way to learn how Pepperstone trading platforms work.

In addition, you can participate in webinars, access educational content, and learn from platform tutorial videos in a dedicated MetaTrader 4 Course. There are also educational videos available on Pepperstone's YouTube channel.

Another useful feature is a trading glossary that helps you understand unfamiliar words, expressions or acronyms.

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Pepperstone is regulated by top-tier regulators, such as the FCA in the UK. At the same time, the company is not listed on any exchange, does not disclose financial information and does not have a bank parent.

Is Pepperstone regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for UK clients, by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) for German & Austrian clients, by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) for other EEA clients, by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) for Middle-Eastern clients, by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for Australian clients, by the Capital Markets Authority of Kenya (CMA) for African residents and by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) for all other clients.

Is Pepperstone safe?

On August 6, 2020, the company revealed that it had been the subject of a data leak. Hackers used malware to compromise a computer used by an external service provider of Pepperstone.

Pepperstone reassured clients that no potential harm could come to their trading account or funds held with the company, although their name, contact details and date of birth may have been accessible by the hackers. While this incident is concerning, we note that security measures were in place and the company detected the intrusion and has also duly informed their customers.

When looking at safety, we highly advise you to check these two factors:

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

How you are protected

If something goes wrong with Pepperstone:

• clients based in the UK will be protected by the UK's investor protection fund up to £85,000
• clients from Germany and Austria can get back 90% of their claims on securities, but not more than €20,000 & 100% up to € 100,000 on cash claims (as per BaFin rules)
• clients from other European countries (EU and EEA countries) are protected by the Cyprus Investor Compensation Fund (ICF), up to €20,000

Unfortunately, clients outside the EU and the UK won't get any kind of protection.

Pepperstone provides negative balance protection for forex spot and CFD trading, but only for retail clients from the UK, Australia and the European Union (the latter includes all European Economic Area countries like Norway too) and Middle-Eastern countries onboarded through their DFSA licence. Professional clients on the other hand are not covered by any negative balance protection.

Background

Pepperstone is an Australian private company established in 2010. A longer track record means the company has successfully navigated periods of crisis or uncertainty in the financial sector. A good example is how Pepperstone handled the Swiss franc crisis in 2015.

During the 2015 Swiss National Bank-related forex crisis, Pepperstone was able to avoid losses by using foresight and its high-speed technology. Before the crisis, Pepperstone warned against possible dangers, discouraging clients from taking excessively leveraged positions on the franc. They accomplished this through enforcing position caps and limiting the leverage on affected accounts. For clients who were exposed through open positions, Pepperstone’s systems liquidated these positions, thus helping clients avoid their balance going into negative.

On the other hand, you may have some trouble if you are looking for more information about Pepperstone. Transparently disclosed financial information is quite limited compared to other brokers. It is also difficult to find out who the owners are. 

Find your safe broker

Pepperstone is a great forex and CFD broker, regulated by the top-tier FCA, BaFin and ASIC.

The account opening is fast and fully digital. Customer service is great, giving you relevant answers within a short time. Deposit and withdrawal are a breeze, with no fees charged.

On the other hand, Pepperstone provides only forex, CFDs and cryptos to trade with. Their news flow is rather basic. Lastly, while the majority of customers do have negative balance protection, this is not the case outside the EU/UK/Australia/Middle East.

Feel free to try Pepperstone since there is no inactivity fee or minimum deposit for standard accounts.

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