Spreadex Review 2021

Spreadex has low forex fees and low stock CFD fees, and it charges no inactivity fee.

How we ranked fees

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

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

Spreadex trading fees

Spreadex trading fees are generally low.

We know it's hard to compare trading fees for CFD 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 selected popular instruments within each asset class:

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

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

• 20:1 for stock index CFDs
• 5:1 for stock CFDs
• 30:1 for forex

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

CFD fees

Spreadex has low CFD trading fees.

Forex fees

Spreadex forex fees are low, sometimes well below those of its closest competitors.

Non-trading fees

Spreadex has low non-trading fees. Unlike many of its competitors, Spreadex charges no inactivity fee. There is no account fee, while most deposit and withdrawal options are also free.

Opening an account at Spreadex is easy and straightforward, and involves no minimum deposit. However, account verification was a bit slow, taking us 2-3 business days.

Can you open an account?

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Spreadex accepts clients from all over the world, with a few exceptions, most notably the US. 

What is the minimum deposit at Spreadex?

The required Spreadex minimum deposit is $0. This is great if you want to start trading with lower amounts only.

Account types

You can open a Spread Betting account and a CFD Trading account at Spreadex. In a unique feature, Spreadex allows you to also use your Spread Betting or CFD Trading account to bet on sports games or in casinos.

Corporate accounts or accounts owned by multiple individuals are not available.

How to open your account

The account opening process at Spreadex is fully digital and fairly straightforward. Account verification was a bit on the slow side, though, as our account was only verified after 2 business days.

To start the process, first fill in your name, email and country of residence; then choose an account type and click 'Create my account'. Your account will be created immediately and you can get a glimpse of the trading platform, but you will need to fill in additional information in order to actually activate your account and be able to start trading:

1. Fill in your date of birth and contact details
2. Add information about your employment status and trading experience
3. Answer a few rather difficult questions assessing your financial and trading knowledge
4. Choose an account currency
5. Upload identity documents (passports/ID cards are accepted for identity verification; bank statements or utility bills are accepted as proof of residency).

Deposit and withdrawal, via bank transfer or credit/debit cards, are quick and mostly free. However, the account currency selection is rather average.

Account base currencies

At Spreadex, you can choose from 4 base currencies: GBP, USD, EUR and DKK. This is not the most impressive selection on the market.

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 usually 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

Spreadex charges no deposit fees in most cases, although it reserves the right to charge £1 on debit card deposits under £50.

You can deposit funds by bank transfer or credit/debit cards. However, you can't use electronic wallets, which is a drawback compared with some of the company's competitors.

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.

Spreadex withdrawal fees and options

The default Spreadex withdrawal fee is $0. This applies to credit/debit cards, as well as domestic sterling bank transfer (BACS) withdrawals in the UK. A same-day sterling payment (CHAPS) in the UK costs £25. International bank transfers, and bank transfers in currencies other than GBP will be subject to additional charges.

You can use the same options for withdrawal as for deposit; this means that electronic wallets are not supported.

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

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from Spreadex?

• Select 'My Account'
• Choose the withdrawal method
• Add the amount you wish to withdraw
• Click 'Next' and confirm your withdrawal

Compare to other brokers

The Spreadex trading platform is user-friendly, with a good search function, clear reports and guaranteed stop orders. However, it lacks a two-step login and is available only in English.

Spreadex has its own in-house developed web trading platform. It is available in English only, a drawback compared with some of the company's closest competitors.

Look and feel

The Spreadex web trading platform is user-friendly. The platform is customizable; you can move the tabs easily. However, the design is somewhat outdated.

Login and security

Spreadex requires only one-step login. A two-step authentication procedure would be more secure.

Search functions

The platform's search functions are good. You can search by starting to type the name of an asset, or by browsing various categories.

Placing orders

You can use the following order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop
• Trailing Stop
• Guaranteed Stop

A guaranteed stop means your position will always be stopped out at that level; as opposed to a regular stop, which can be vulnerable to gapping at times of high market volatility. Guaranteed stops will always be filled at the selected level regardless of market slippage. There is an additional cost built into the price of the trade for guaranteed stops. Regular stops cannot be changed to guaranteed stops once a trade has been placed.

To get a better understanding of these terms, read our overview of order types.

There are also order time limits you can use: Good 'til canceled (GTC) and Good 'til time (GTT).

Alerts and notifications

You can set price alerts and notifications on the Spreadex web platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

Spreadex has clear portfolio reports, although they do not include a breakdown of overnight fees. You can find the reports by clicking 'My Account', then 'Statements'. You can also download them in pdf format.

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Spreadex has a well-designed and user-friendly mobile trading platform with a good search function, although it lacks advanced login options like two-step or biometric authentication.

The mobile trading platform is available only in English.

Look and feel

The Spreadex mobile app is user-friendly.

Login and security

Spreadex only provides a one-step login on its mobile platform. Two-step authentication would be more secure.

You can't log in using biometric authentication such as Touch/Face ID. Having this feature would offer a more convenient login experience.

Search functions

The app's search functions are good. You can search by starting to type the name of an asset, or by browsing various categories.

Placing orders

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

Alerts and notifications

You can easily set alerts and notifications on the Spreadex mobile trading platform, in the form of email, SMS or push notifications.

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Spreadex does not offer a desktop trading platform.

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69% of retail CFD accounts lose money

At Spreadex you can only trade forex, CFDs, and spread betting. Popular asset classes such as real stocks, ETFs, or bonds are missing.

Spreadex is primarily a CFD and forex broker, explaining the lack of other popular asset classes such as real stocks, ETFs, bonds, options or futures. If you're not familiar with CFDs, check out this article.

Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% 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.

Spreadex's currency pair, stock index CFD, ETF CFD and commodity CFD product selections are considered average compared with similar brokers.

On the plus side, Spreadex's stock CFD offer is quite good, with about 3,000 assets at the time of our review.

Besides CFDs, you can also trade spread betting products.

You can't change leverage levels at Spreadex, which is a drawback. Being able to change the leverage manually is a very useful feature when you want to lower the risk of your trade. Always be careful with forex and CFD trading, as preset leverage levels may be too high.

Spreadex has good market analyses on its blog, but unfortunately this doesn't make up for a lack of trading ideas, limited fundamental data, and a poor selection of analytic tools.

You can find all research tools on Spreadex's trading platform and on its website under the 'Analysis' tab.

Trading ideas

Spreadex does not provide trading ideas.

Fundamental data

Spreadex offers some fundamental data, accessible through an economic calendar. However, this feature is quite limited, as historical data is not available for all indicators, and even where it is, it only shows actual past values but not expected values at the time.

It would also be great to have impact categorization and the possibility to filter for certain types of events.

Charting

Spreadex has OK charting tools. Some editor tools are not that intuitive; among others, you can't change the length of a trendline, and you can only modify the settings of an indicator once you have added it.

You can use 35 technical indicators, which is somewhat average. The charts show historical data going back as much as 10 years for all major instruments.

News feed

Spreadex's news feed comprises daily and weekly market updates, produced by the company's in-house analyst team. The brief articles in this section lack any visual elements such as pictures or charts. This part of the site could use some improvement.

Compare research pros and cons

Spreadex offers great customer service, with quick and useful responses especially over live chat. On the down side, we missed 24/7 support.

You can contact Spreadex via:

• live chat
• phone
• email

Spreadex's live chat is the fastest of these channels, and the quality of responses was also perhaps the best.

When testing Spreadex phone support, we were connected quickly, with helpful agents giving us relevant answers.

Our email enquiries were typically answered within 24 hours, and we received useful and relevant replies.

The only thing we missed was 24/7 availability.

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Spreadex has good platform tutorial videos, but little else in the way of educational material aside from a few basic articles and a glossary. There is also no demo account.

Spreadex offers more than a dozen videos demonstrating how to use the trading platform, including detailed guides on how to place a trade, use the charts, withdraw funds or customize the platform. Some of these are also explained in separate FAQs.

You can also find a Spread Betting Glossary and articles about technical analysis, such as 'Chart Analysis' or 'Chart Patterns'. These materials cover only the basics of the terms and tools used in CFD/forex trading and sports betting.

Aside from these, the site offers no demo account, educational videos or webinars.

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Spreadex is regulated by the top-tier UK FCA, involving strong investor protection; but it has no banking license, is not listed on an exchange, and financial information is not public.

Is Spreadex regulated?

Yes, it is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a top-tier regulator.

Is Spreadex 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

Spreadex provides negative balance protection for retail customers. Should the balance on your account go into negative, you will be protected.

Background

Spreadex was established in 1999. The longer track record a broker has, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises.

Being regulated by a top-tier financial authority and being in operation for a long time are all great signs for Spreadex's safety.

Find your safe broker

Spreadex is a forex and CFD broker regulated by the top-tier UK FCA.

Spreadex has low forex fees; it offers a good web trading platform; and any problems or enquiries are taken care of by its helpful and fast customer service.

On the flip side, Spreadex's product portfolio is limited to forex and CFDs, meaning that popular asset classes such as real stocks or mutual funds are missing. In addition, there is no desktop platform, while the quality and quantity of research tools and education materials is quite poor.

As Spreadex has a user-friendly web platform and requires no minimum deposit, we encourage you to give it a try.

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