Originally founded in New York in 1999, FXCM is considered as among the early innovators of online trading platform for the forex market. Now based in London, FXCM operates as a retail foreign exchange and online trading brokerage that provides traders a platform to engage in CFD trading on stocks, indices, commodities, forex pairs and cryptocurrencies.
FXCM is available on several trading platforms such as NinjaTrader — best for automated trading, and ZuluTrade — which is ideal for social trading.
Registering for an FXCM account is simple. Simply confirm your country of residence on the sign-up page and complete the online application form that will require your email address, full name, date and place of birth, username and password.
Upon completion of the application form, you can now start logging in using your username and password on the MyFXCM portal. You can then make your fund deposit and start trading.
FXCM offers two types of accounts: Standard and Active Trader.
If you plan on trading high volumes of financial asset, then you can choose the "Active Trader" as this comes with better spreads and more access to customer service. For example, the spread on the forex pair EURUSD is at 0.2 (1st Quarter of 2021) on the Active Trader account as compared to the Standard Account's 1.3.
FXCM also comes with a demo account with a $50,000 virtual money that is integral to the growing curve of any trader. Aside from being able to use the demo account to improve one's trading skill and perfect a trading strategy, FXCM also sends out free educational materials through email if you choose to accept it when you first open your demo account.
FXCM's educational library comes with informative charts, pre-recorded videos and other reading materials such as pdf booklets.
Keep in mind however, that the demo account of FXCM is only available to selected countries.
To login to FXCM's Trading Station Web, you just need to enter your username and password. The same login requirements go for the FXCM Plus and at MyFXCM.
Take note: FXCM Trading Station Web is the flagship platform of FXCM. It features order entry and trade automation and charting. It is accessible on your desktop and mobile devices.
MyFXCM is the account portal that manages all live FXCM clients while FXCM Plus is the forex trading platform.
After you have set-up your account, its time to make a fund deposit in order for you to start trading. Currently, FXCM offers funding options through:
FXCM requires a minimum deposit of only $50 for both the Joint and Individual Account. For succeeding deposits, the minimum remains at $50 while there is no minimum set for following deposits made through wire transfer.
FXCM allows traders to choose the best platforms that fits perfectly to their liking and jurisdiction.
Here are the platforms where you can trade on FXCM:
Take note: FXCM’s Trading Station platform is known for its easy to understand interface and almost 100% bug-free performance.
FXCM offering of investment assets includes: Forex Trading, Single Share CFD trading, US-based and International stocks trading (Non-CFD), Commodities, Forex Pairs, Indices and CFD Crypto for a total of more than 310 tradeable financial assets.
FXCM's spreads are a little higher than industry average.
For example, on FXCM's Standard Account, the average spread on the EUR/USD pair is set at 1.2-1.3 pips on peak trading hours, 1.8 pips for the GBP/USD pair while for the S&P 500 CFD, the average spread is at 0.38-0.4 pips.
For the Active Trader Account, average spreads are as follows:
FXCM has generally low fees with zero withdrawal, account and deposit fees. For the existing charges, these are deemed minimal.
For example, for CFD fees, S&P Index CFD fee is at $1.4 while the Europe 50 Index CFD fee is at $1.8.
The Benchmark Forex fees that includes spreads, commissions and other financial costs charged by FXCM for a $20,000 30:1 week-long position is the following:
Take note: There is an inactivity fee of $50 charged on accounts found to be inactive for at least a year.
All quotes and prices displayed on the FXCM platform are representative of real-time figures and are accurate.
Although FXCM charges zero withdrawal fees, bank transfers — depending on the location of your bank — may cost traders up to $40 in banking fees.
Users can use debit or credit cards, electronic wallets, bank transfer for withdrawal of funds. It usually takes 1 to 2 business days to process withdrawals made from FXCM.
FXCM's main help page can be found on their website in the client support section: fxcm.com/uk/contact-client-support. In here, you can find FXCM's phone service number, email support address and the link to their Live Web Chat.
Take note that FXCM's customer service includes email, live chat and phone service. The phone support is only available in 42 countries.
FXCM's customer support is unreachable during weekends but is available for 24 hours during ordinary business days.
FXCM's reputation in the online brokerage industry is set at a high bar competing with the best brokers in the online trading industry. Users are lauding FXCM's technology, especially when it comes to algorithmic trading, average pricing and a modest-sized tradeable market that is slowly expanding.
FXCM is also seen as a low-risk trading platform garnering a Trust Score of 96 out of 99 from analysts. Heavily regulated, FXCM is one of several online brokerages that have sustained its trustworthy reputation through the years.
FXCM is currently regulated by three tier-1 regulatory jurisdictions such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), which makes it as a low-risk broker for CFD and Forex trading.
With FXCM's long solid history as an online brokerage, it has garnered a solid reputation and long lists of beneficial features to its users such as user-friendly interface, competitive spreads, innovative features, supportive customer service, informative educational tools and reporting charts along with its standing as one of the leading online trading platforms when it comes to providing algorithmic trading solutions. Taking all these in consideration, FXCM comes in as a highly recommended trading platform.
FXCM doesn't come without its own Cons as well. Traders pinpoints the limited portfolio of CFDs and its unavailability on the MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platform as among its few shortcomings. Good news though, FXCM's may pros far outweighs its cons.
