Pros
- Well regulated
- Wide range of assets
- Innovative trading tools
Cons
- Limited platform choice
- Limited account options
Is easyMarkets safe?
Due to its long history of responsible behaviour, strong regulation, and strict internal processes, we consider easyMarkets a safe broker to trade with.
Founded in 2001, easyMarkets is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus with offices in Shanghai, Sydney, and Warsaw. It is regulated by four regulatory authorities, including the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) in Europe, the Australian Securities Investment Commission (ASIC) in Australia, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles, and the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVI FSC). See below for more details:
- Easy Forex Trading Ltd is regulated by CySEC, license: 079/07, which has been passported in the European Union through the MiFID Directive.
- Easy Markets Pty Ltd is regulated by ASIC license: 246566.
- Easy Markets Pty Ltd is regulated by the FSA Seychelles, license number SD056.
- Easy Markets Pty Ltd is regulated by the BVI FSC, license number SIBA/L/20/1135.
Australians will be trading under the subsidiary, Easy Markets Pty Ltd, which is regulated and authorised by ASIC. ASIC is considered one of the strictest regulators in the world. As such it restricts maximum leverage to 30:1 for Forex trading, and ensures that brokers provide negative balance protection, which means that traders can never lose more money than they have in their trading accounts. In addition, all brokers are required to segregate client funds from their operating capital and cannot offer bonuses or promotions.
As per ASIC regulations, all client funds are kept in segregated accounts, easyMarkets also offers negative balance protection, and restricts leverage to 30:1.
While the additional protection offered by ASIC regulation is welcome, some Australians traders may find the low leverage levels restrictive.
Additionally, easyMarkets is frequently audited by its regulators and uses these opportunities to identify areas of potential risk in their operations, ensuring constant improvement of internal processes. easyMarkets also maintains Capital Adequacy to cover all client deposits and running costs as an additional line of defense from any economic effects on the company or its portfolio of positions.
Awards
With numerous industry awards and recognition for their innovation (Best Forex Trading Innovation – FxScouts 2020) and (Most Innovative Broker – World Finance Markets Awards 2018), transparency (Most Transparent Broker – Forex-Awards 2017), best overall broker (Best Forex Broker – The Forex Expo – Dubai 2019) and trading platform (Best Trading Platform – FX Empire 2017), easyMarkets is well-respected by its peers and clientele.
Due to robust internal processes, high industry recognition, and strong regulation from two primary international regulators, our view is that easyMarkets is safe for traders.
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Trading Fees
easyMarkets trading costs are higher than average.
easyMarkets is unusual amongst brokers in that it offers six different account types, with trading conditions that vary depending on the platform chosen. Most other brokers will offer three accounts or less. For more details on easyMarkets accounts, click here.
Despite the variation, overall trading costs are higher than average across all account types, though the accounts themselves do offer different benefits in terms of trading safety and minimum deposit requirements.
easyMarkets’ accounts were assessed to compare the costs to those of other brokers. The costs were evaluated based on the trading fees on one lot (100 000 USD) on the EUR/USD, including the spread and commission:
Trading Cost Formula: Spread x Trade Size + Commission = Total Cost in Secondary Currency (USD):
As you can see from the table above, easyMarkets’ trading costs are built into the spreads, which are fixed for all account types and do not vary with trade volume and market volatility.
The account with the lowest ongoing trading costs offered by easyMarkets is the VIP MT4 account, with trading costs of 9 USD per lot of EUR/USD, which is only average when compared to other similar brokers. Additionally, the minimum deposit on this account is extremely high, at 10,000 AUD, making it inaccessible to most traders, especially beginners. The average cost of trading one lot of EUR/USD at similar Forex brokers tends to be 9 USD or lower.
Swap Fees
Unfortunately, although easyMarkets prides itself on being fully transparent, it does not publish its swap fees. Swap fees are charged for holding a leveraged position overnight, and although easyMarkets charges overnight fees, we could not find this information on the site.
Overall, compared to other brokers, easyMarkets’ trading fees are higher than average across all accounts, except on the VIP MT4 account, but the minimum deposit requirement of 10,000 AUD puts it out of the reach of most traders.
Non-trading Fees
easyMarkets has average non-trading fees compared to other market makers. easyMarkets charges no withdrawal, account, or deposit fees.
easyMarkets does not charge any deposit or withdrawal fees, but it charges an inactivity fee of 25 AUD after 12 months of account dormancy. If the account remains dormant, a fee of 25 AUD will be charged every six months. Thereafter, accounts with a zero-free balance will be closed. These inactivity fees are around the industry average.
What is the minimum deposit at easyMarkets?
The minimum deposit requirements at easyMarkets are as follows:
- 200 AUD on the Standard Accounts
- 3000 AUD on the Premium Accounts
- 10,000 AUD on the VIP Accounts
Opening an Account at easyMarkets
The account opening process at easyMarkets is fast, hassle-free, and fully digital.
All Australian traders are eligible to open an account at easyMarkets as long as they meet the minimum deposit requirements.
The account-opening process is quick and accounts are usually ready for trading within a few hours. easyMarkets offers Corporate and Individual accounts, but we will focus on opening an Individual account:
- Prospective traders will have to click on the “Sign Up” button at the top of the page, where they will be directed to register an account with an email address and a password.
- Traders can choose between opening a demo or a live account.
- On choosing the live account option, traders will be directed to fill in their personal details and select the account type that suits them. Thereafter, they will have to submit the Know Your Customer (KYC) documentation:
- easyMarkets requires proof of identification (including a current passport, ID card, or driver’s licence.
- Proof of address such as a utility bill or bank statement that is less than six months old.
- The account will be ready for trading once documentation has been verified, which usually takes a couple of hours.
- We advise you to read easyMarkets’ risk disclosure, customer agreement, and terms of business before you start trading.
Overall, easyMarkets’ account opening process is efficient and hassle-free, and all documents can be uploaded digitally.
easyMarkets Accounts
easyMarkets offers more account types than most brokers, but trading costs are high across all account options.
Trading conditions at easyMarkets are generally poor, with high trading costs across all six accounts. Spreads are fixed at between 2.0 and 1.9 pips (EUR/USD) on its entry-level account, and the minimum deposit requirement is 200 AUD. While the minimum deposit requirement is reasonable, most other brokers will offer an average spread of 1 pip (EUR/USD) on their entry-level accounts. Spreads tighten to 0.9 pips (EUR/USD) on easyMarkets’ VIP account, but this is in exchange for a minimum deposit requirement of 10,000 AUD, putting it out of the reach of most traders.
Account Types
easyMarkets offers a demo account and six commission-free live accounts – a Standard Account, a Premium Account, and a VIP Account for each of the two trading platforms available – which are distinguished by the minimum deposit requirement.
Each account has trading conditions that vary depending on the platform chosen – either MT4 or easyMarkets’ proprietary platform. Leverage is up to 30:1 on currency pairs. All account types give traders access to an account manager, platform tour, education on the basics of Forex trading, and fundamental and technical analysis through Trading Central. All the services are free as a part of the account. Note that the guaranteed stop loss, freeze rate, and easyTrade tools are only available on easyMarkets’ proprietary platform.
Scroll for more details Demo Account – For new registrations, the demo is unlimited and will never expire. Demo accounts are suitable for beginners, but also for testing easyMarkets’ proprietary trading platform. Demo accounts come loaded with10,000 USD in virtual funds, which can be topped up.
Standard Account – easyMarkets’ entry-level account, the Standard Account has a minimum deposit requirement of 200 AUD, making it suitable for beginner traders. Spreads are fixed at 2.0 pips (EUR/USD) on easyMarkets platform, and at 1.9 pips (EUR/USD) on MT4, which is much wider than other market makers.
Premium Account – The Premium Account has spreads fixed at 1.4 pips (EUR/USD) on MT4 and 1.5 pips (EUR/USD) on its proprietary platform, which is still wider than other market makers. The minimum deposit on this account is 3,000 AUD, putting it out of the reach of beginner traders. Additionally, experienced traders will find the spreads on this account unpalatable.
VIP Account – The minimum deposit for this account is 10,000 AUD, making it unaffordable for most traders. Spreads are fixed at 1.2 pips (EUR/USD) on easyMarkets’ proprietary platform and 0.9 pips (EUR/USD) on MT4, which is, at best, around the industry average. VIP account-holders also have access to same-day deposits and withdrawals.
Professional Account – Traders can also apply for a professional trading account, which allows leverage of up to 1:200. Traders should be aware that they forgo some of the ASIC protections. In order to become a professional trader, clients must meet two of the following three requirements:
- Traders must have carried out transactions, of significant size, on the relevant market at an average frequency of 10 per quarter over the previous four quarters.
- Traders should be high-net-worth individuals.
- Traders must have worked in the financial sector for at least one year in a professional position, which requires knowledge of the transactions or services.
It is difficult to find any advantages with easyMarkets’ accounts, either for experienced or beginner traders. As mentioned above, the Standard account, which is more suitable for beginner traders because of its low minimum deposit requirement, has extremely wide spreads. In addition, easyMarkets’ other account types require very high minimum deposits and don’t deliver the lower ongoing trading costs that more experienced traders would be looking for.
Overall, although easyMarkets offers a range of account types on two different platforms, and low minimum deposits on its entry-level account, trading costs are generally high, unless traders can afford the 10,000 USD minimum deposit on the VIP account.
Deposit & Withdrawal fees
easyMarkets charges low deposit and withdrawal fees compared to other market makers.
A well-regulated CFD provider, easyMarkets ensures that all Anti-Money Laundering rules and regulations are followed. As such, all non-profit funds are returned to the original deposit source. No matter your deposit method, the withdrawal of all profits must be made by bank transfer to a bank account in your name.
easyMarkets offers many deposit and withdrawal methods, bank wire transfers, credit and debit cards, Skrill, Neteller, Sofort, as well as several regional-only options. All deposit and withdrawal methods are commission-free. See below for processing times:
- Credit card/Debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, or Maestro): Deposits are instant, and withdrawals are processed within one day.
- Online Banking (Local Bank Transfer): Deposits and withdrawals are processed within three to five days.
- eWallets (Skrill, Neteller, Sticpay): Skrill and Neteller deposits are instant, and Sticpay occurs within one day. Withdrawals take one working day.
- Bank Wire Transfer: Deposits and withdrawals are processed within three to five days.
Overall, easyMarkets offers a wider range of deposit and withdrawal methods than most other brokerages, and all deposits and withdrawals are free. Additionally, easyMarkets’ processing times are around the industry average.
easyMarkets’ Base Currencies
easyMarkets offers an extraordinarily wide range of base currencies compared to other brokers, including accounts denominated in AUD.
easyMarkets offers trading in 19 base currencies, including EUR, CAD, CZK, JPY, NZD, SGD, CHF, MXN, GBP, AUD, PLN, TRY, CNY, HKD, NOK, SEK, ZAR, and Bitcoin-based accounts.
With such a wide range of base currencies, including accounts denominated in AUD, Australian traders will be able to avoid paying conversion fees, unless trading on instruments with other base currencies, such as the EUR/USD. It would therefore be better for high volume traders (who trade on more than 10 lots per month) to open an account denominated in USD. This is because when trading a USD quoted currency pair with an AUD account, there will be a small conversion fee on every trade.
Overall, easyMarkets offers a wider range of base currencies than other brokers, including AUD accounts.
easyMarkets Trading Platforms
easyMarkets offers two trading platforms, which is average when compared to other brokers.
easyMarkets supports MT4 and the mobile suite of the MetaTrader tools, along with its proprietary platform, developed in-house. The easyMarkets platform comes with a set of unique risk management tools that are not available on MT4.
MT4 – MetaTrader4
Developed by Metaquotes in 2002, MT4 is still considered the most popular and customisable trading platform in the industry. Although the platform’s interface is now dated, MT4 is still widely recognised for its fast execution speeds, wide range of charting tools, algorithmic trading, and customisability. The benefit of easyMarkets offering a third-party platform such as MT4 is that traders can take their own customised version of the platform with them should they choose to migrate to another broker.
Features of the easyMarkets MT4 platform include:
- Sophisticated trading technologies such as One Click Trading, Pre-installed Indicators, and analysis tools.
- The ability to create custom trading templates or choose from pre-designed templates.
- Algorithmic trading, which allows any trading strategy to be formalised and implemented as Expert Advisors.
- Superior charting tools in nine time frames.
- Multiple order types including Market Orders and Pending Orders.
- 24 graphical objects.
- 30 built-in indicators.
However, using MT4, traders may experience slippage, but negative balance protection is guaranteed. Traders can also only choose between 80 financial instruments, including currencies, metals, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies.
For traders who wish to trade from a browser, easyMarkets’ web-based platform is offered.
easyMarkets Platform
easyMarkets’ proprietary platform is a web-based trading platform. It is intuitive, powerful, and simplified, making it suitable for beginner traders. While the user interface looks modern and clean, it doesn’t support automated trading or allow the introduction of third-party plugins which many traders find helpful. However, additional trading features that set easyMarkets apart from its competition like dealCancellation, Freeze Rate, and Inside Viewer are only available with this on this platform (click here for more details on trading tools).
Additional features like zero slippage, fixed spreads, and trading charts are also available free of charge through the proprietary platform and traders can also choose between all the financial instruments offered at easyMarkets.
One drawback for traders that choose easyMarkets’ proprietary platform, is that Forex traders are charged higher costs in the form of higher spreads, but using the easyMarkets’ platform is the only way to access all the products and services on offer.
Overall, easyMarkets offers the choice of two trading platforms, which is similar to other brokers, but the products and services on offer are limited on the MT4 platform, and the trading costs are higher for traders who choose the easyMarkets platform. Additionally, the easyMarkets platform does not cater for third-party tools.
Mobile Trading Apps
easyMarkets Mobile trading apps are average compared to other brokers.
Both the easyMarkets platform and MT4 are available as mobile downloads on both Android and iOS.
The easyMarkets mobile app has more features than the standard MT4 equivalent. It’s user-friendly, fast, easy to navigate, and comes standard with all additional trading features offered on the easyMarkets desktop platform.
The easyMarkets MT4 app allows traders to work from anywhere, although there is slightly limited functionality compared to the desktop version of the platform, with reduced timeframes and fewer charting options. However, traders will still have access to analytics with technical indicators, graphical objects, a full set of trading orders, and functionality to close and modify existing orders.
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Trading Tools
easyMarkets offers a limited range of trading tools compared to other brokers.
easyMarkets offers a number of excellent risk management tools and the services of Trading Central.
One of easyMarkets’ unique selling points is the number of innovative tools it offers. Having been the first broker to offer negative balance protection, easyMarkets now offers a number of helpful risk management tools, but these are only available on its proprietary platform. easyMarkets also offers the services of Trading Central, which is available for free on MT4.
The easyMarkets platform offers the following tools:
- dealCancellation – unique to easyMarkets, this tool allows clients to cancel an order within six hours of making a trade. Traders are charged a fee for using this service, which is based on the market volatility of the instrument being traded.
- Freeze Rate – another unique tool, Freeze Rate allows you to freeze a price you see for a few seconds. This tool is especially useful in volatile markets.
- Inside Viewer – this tool shows people what percentage of traders are buying or selling a specific instrument. A relatively standard tool now, this was the first of its kind when it launched in 2009.
- easyTrade – In 2018, easyMarkets launched its latest trading innovation – easyTrade. This simplified platform allows easyMarkets clients to trade without margin requirements, high leverage, and features zero spreads. It also simplifies trading to just three steps – choose your maximum risk, the duration of your trade, and decide whether the rate will go up and down. Simplified trading allows novice traders to trade without distractions or extra functions. Experienced traders benefit from the ability to place a trade quickly when markets move and use easyTrade as an effective hedging tool. Traders should note that easyTrade is only available on 20 financial instruments.
- Trading Central – Trading Central is provided free of charge to all easyMarkets clients through the MT4 platform. A third-party tool, Trading Central’s professional analysts use the most advanced technical analysis tools in the industry to curate relevant information. This tool essentially supports traders without the technical know-how in making trading decisions. Trading Central is considered one of the best trading tools in the industry, and easyMarkets does well to offer this tool to its clients.
Overall, easyMarkets offers a relatively limited suite of trading tools compared to its large international competitors, but it provides excellent risk management tools.
Financial Instruments
easyMarkets offers a limited range of assets compared to other similar CFD providers but it excels in the number of currency pairs available for trading.
easyMarkets offers trading on six CFD assets classes, including Forex, options, indices, shares, commodities, options, and ETFs (for more on CFD trading, click here):
- Forex: easyMarkets sets itself apart from competitors by the number of currency pairs it has to trade. Where most brokers will provide between 40-60 pairs, easyMarkets offers 103. While the additional pairs are exotic pairs and not for the day trader, these currency pairs would work well for a position trader or others holding open trades for extended periods. The leverage on Forex pairs is up to 30:1.
- Share CFDs: easyMarkets only offers trading on 50 share CFDs, which is much fewer than most other brokers. The selection available includes some of the major US, EU, AU, JA, and HK shares on the market. Leverage on share CFDs is up to 1:5.
- Precious metals: easyMarkets offers an extensive range of precious metals compared to other CFD providers, with 19 precious metals available for trading. Maximum leverage on precious metals is up to 1:20.
- Indices: easyMarkets offers trading on 15 Indices, which is very limited compared to other brokers, and only the most basic names are listed. Leverage on indices is up to 1:20.
- Commodities: easyMarkets offers trading on 12 commodities, including metals such as gold and silver, energies such as natural gas and oil, and softs such as cotton and wheat. Most brokers only offer trading on between 5 – 10 commodities, so this is a decent offering. The leverage is up to 1:10 on commodities.
- Cryptocurrencies: easyMarkets offers six cryptocurrencies for trading, which is around the industry average. Leverage is up to 1:2 on cryptocurrencies.
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Overall, the range and depth of assets available to trade are limited compared to other similar brokers, but easyMarkets excels in its Forex offering.
Educational Materials
easyMarkets provides a good selection of educational materials for beginner traders, but lacks materials for more advanced traders.
easyMarkets provides an average selection of educational materials, but most of these are geared towards new traders, making it a good choice for beginners. However, it lacks materials for advanced traders and doesn’t offer webinars or live education.
All of the easyMarkets educational material can be found in the easyMarkets Learn Centre and is split across six sections.
- The Getting Started section is an archive of videos on the fundamentals of trading as well as an introduction to easyMarket’s features and tools.
- The Discover Series video archive goes into more depth on the different instruments available to trade on easyMarket’s platform and the history and concepts behind them.
- The Free eBooks section is a repository of 10 eBooks available to easyMarkets clients – topics covered include technical analysis, trading psychology, MT4 guides, and vanilla options. If you are more accustomed to learning through reading this is an invaluable resource.
- The Knowledge Base is a collection of articles on topics useful to new traders.
- Economic Indicators is an excellent interactive breakdown of the various economic indicators (e.g. TIC data, PMI, etc.) and their relative effect on markets.
- Finally, a trading glossary and FAQ sections are also available to support learning.
Overall, easyMarkets’ education section is helpful to get beginner traders started in their trading careers, but it would do well to add materials for more advanced traders.
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Analysis Material
The research and market analysis materials at easyMarkets are limited compared to most other brokers.
easyMarkets also provides a standard assortment of market analysis products, but only the blog section is curated by in-house analysts. easyMarkets also provides Trading Charts which offer very little insight, a list of live currency rates, and a basic Economic Calendar.
On the whole, the research section lacks substance compared to other large international brokers.
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Customer Support
easyMarkets’ customer support is average compared to other international brokers.
Support is offered 24/5 via email, live chat, messenger services, and telephone in a range of languages, including English, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, German, Polish, Japanese.
We found the customer support responsive and polite, but unable to answer some of our questions. For example, they could not provide any information on the swap fees of the various instruments.
Evaluation Method
We value transparency and openness in the way we review the partners. To bring transparency to the forefront, we have published our review process that includes a detailed breakdown of the easyMarkets offering. Central to that process is the evaluation of the reliability of the broker, the platform offering of the broker and the trading conditions offered to clients, which are summarised in this review. Each one of these is graded, and an overall score is calculated and assigned to the broker.
easyMarkets Risk Statement
Trading Forex is risky, and each broker is required to detail how risky the trading of Forex CFDs is to clients. easyMarkets would like you to know that: CFDs and Options are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs and Options work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Read more here.
Overview
easyMarkets is a well-regulated non-dealing desk market maker with a large Forex offering and a unique suite of risk management tools. Support is offered for its beginner-friendly proprietary platform and MT4, but easyMarkets’ trading costs are higher than most brokers across all account options. Additionally, while easyMarkets provides a good educational library for beginner traders, its market research section lacks substance and leaves advanced traders looking to third-party resources for more comprehensive market analysis.
Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 1.80 pips on trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. MT4 & the proprietary easyMarkets platform are supported. easyMarkets is regulated by CySEC, ASIC, and the FSA in Seychelles.
easyMarkets
FxPrimus
