FP Markets review

Trading Fees and Spreads at FP Markets

FP Markets offers competitive trading fees and spreads across various account types and financial instruments. The broker’s fee structure is designed to cater to different trading styles and preferences.

Account Types and Fee Structures

FP Markets provides two main account types: Standard and Raw. The Standard account is commission-free but has wider spreads, while the Raw account features tighter spreads but charges a commission.

For the Standard account, the minimum spread starts at 1.0 pips, with no additional commission. This results in a total trading fee of approximately $10.00 per standard round lot.

The Raw account offers more competitive pricing, with spreads starting from 0.0 pips and a commission of $6.00 per standard round lot. This results in a lower total trading fee of $6.00 per standard round lot.

Forex and CFD Fees

FP Markets is known for its low forex fees. For major currency pairs like EUR/USD, the spread can be as low as 0.1 pips, which is considered highly competitive in the industry.

For CFDs, the fees are generally average to low. The broker charges different spreads for various CFD instruments. For example:

• S&P 500 CFD: The fees are built into the spread, with an average spread cost of 0.5 points during peak trading hours.
• Europe 50 CFD: The average spread cost is 1.7 points during peak trading hours

Stock Trading Fees

For stock trading, FP Markets offers different fee structures depending on the platform and account type:

• On the MT5 platform:
  • Australian stocks: 0.10% commission per side, with a minimum of 6 AUD
  • US stocks (NYSE and NASDAQ): $0.03 per share, with a minimum of 2 USD
• For stocks traded on the Australian Securities Exchange:
  • Standard account: 0.11% commission, with a minimum fee of $14.95
  • Non-Leverage CFD account: 0.08% commission, with no minimum fee

Additional Fees

FP Markets does not charge inactivity fees, which is beneficial for traders who may have periods of inactivity. However, traders should be aware of potential currency conversion fees when trading instruments in a currency different from their account base currency.

Recent Fee Reductions

In June 2024, FP Markets announced further reductions in spreads across various trading instruments, including Spot Gold (XAU/USD), major and minor currency pairs, and major equity indices like the Dow Jones Industrial Average (US30), S&P 500 (US500), and Nasdaq 100 (US100)[4]. This move demonstrates the broker’s commitment to providing more cost-effective trading solutions for its clients.

In conclusion, FP Markets offers a competitive fee structure, particularly for forex trading, with options to suit different trading styles. The recent spread reductions further enhance its appeal to cost-conscious traders.

FP Markets offers a wide range of payment channels through which traders can carry out deposits and withdrawals. These channels are listed below:

• Credit/debit cards (especially those powered by Visa, MasterCard, or American Express)
• Bank Transfers/ EFT (Electronic Funds Transfers)
• BPay
• Poli
• PayPal
• Neteller
• Skrill
• PayTrust (local bank transfers. Available in specific countries).

Depositing funds into your trading account is free as FP Markets does not charge any fees. However, each payment channel may charge fees for making transactions happen. Note that FP Markets does not accept any third-party payments (deposits and withdrawals) as they are rejected and returned to source. This means that traders can only initiate transactions from an account in their own name. This is for security purposes.

For bank payments, FP Markets enables traders to choose from a wide range of local currencies. In this regard, FP Markets does much better than competitors such as FXCM which only allows 4 currencies. Bank transfers can take a few days to get to you although FP Markets itself processes them within just 1 business day. FP Markets does not charge any bank withdrawal fees for traders based in Australia.

However, it charges an EFT overseas withdrawal fee of AUD $6. This is one of the cheapest you can find and much better than what FXCM offers for instance. With FXCM, overseas transfers can require up to $40, depending on the country.

By regulation, every new client must go through some basic compliance checks to ensure that you understand the risks of trading and are admitted to trading. When you open an account, you will probably be asked for the following items, so it is good to have them handy: A scanned colour copy of your passport or national ID A utility bill or bank statement from the last six months with your address You will also need to answer a few basic compliance questions to confirm how much trading experience you have. It is therefore best to take at least 10 minutes to complete the account opening process. Although you can explore the demo account immediately, it is important to note that you cannot make any real trading transactions until you have passed compliance, which can take up to several days depending on your situation.

FP Markets offers two main categories of accounts to cater to different types of traders. These account categories are:

1. Forex Accounts: Mainly for individual and retail investors.
2. IRESS Accounts: Mainly for professional investors.

Each of the Forex and IRESS accounts has different types of accounts.

Forex Accounts

Under the Forex accounts, we have Standard and Raw accounts.

• Standard Account
• Available on both MT4 and MT5.
• Spreads start from as low as 1.0 pip.
• Offers Zero commissions on trades.
• Minimum deposit into the account is AUD $100 or equivalent.
• Maximum leverage allowed is 30:1.
• Raw Account
• Available on MT4 and MT5.
• Spreads start from 0.0 pips.
• Commissions start from $3.00
• Minimum deposit also at AUD $100.
• Maximum leverage also at 30:1.

IRESS Accounts

There are also two main types of IRESS accounts: The Standard and Platinum accounts.

• Standard Account

This type of account is meant for much more experienced traders and some institutions.

• Minimum balance for the trading account is $1,000.
• Brokerage Rate is $10 minimum, then 0.1% per trade.
• Financing rate at 4% + the FP Markets base rate.
• Inactivity fees at $55 per annum.
• Platinum Account

This account is targeted largely at institutional traders who trade more sophisticated markets. It allows for CFDs, Forex, and even futures trading. It offers low brokerage rates and lower financing rates

• The minimum balance allowed is $25,000.
• Brokerage Rate for each trade is $9, then 0.09% per trade.
• Financing rate is 3.5% + the FP Markets base rate.
• Inactivity fee is $55, but can be waived if the account generates at least $150 in commissions monthly or if the account holds.

FP Markets Demo Account

FP Markets offers its traders a demo account via which they access the market 24 hours a day, for 5 days a week. The demo account enables traders to try out real-life trading, although with virtual funds.

The downside is that the demo account is only available for 30 days after registration, after which the trader is expected to move to the live account. Other brokers such as FXCM, however, offer perpetual demo accounts.

FP Markets also offers the Islamic Account which is swap-free.

How to open an account at FP Markets

Opening an account at FP Markets is quite simple and straightforward. The step-by-step process to do so is outlined here:

• Go to the broker’s trading portal at fpmarkets.com. The website will automatically route to the appropriate URL based on your location. Click on “Start Trading.” Alternatively, you can click on demo trading if you want to try out how trading works with FP Markets.
• On the next page, you will find an array of forms to fill in your personal information such as phone, location, and others. The estimated time for completing this should be about 3 minutes. This is much shorter than the time you need for registering with other brokers such as FXCM which requires up to 7 minutes for basic registration.
• After filling in the basic details, your registration does not end there. You need to carry out the verification or Know Your Customer (KYC) process. For this, you need to submit proof of identity and proof of residency.

Proof of Nationality: A government-issued identification such as a national passport, driver’s license, national identity card, and others.

Proof of Residency: A utility bill from your utility provider, including one for gas, water, electricity, or any other. An alternative is your bank statement.

All of these must be issued within the last 3 months to the time of your registration. After all these, you can deposit into your trading account and start trading the various instruments that FP Markets offers. The minimum amount you can deposit into the trading account is AUD $100, or equivalent.

How to delete your FP Markets account

The procedure needed to close your account at FP Markets goes thus:

• Send an email to cash@fpmarkets.com using the email account with which you registered with FP Markets.
• In the email, request that your account be deleted, alongside a genuine explanation for making the decision to do so. Ensure you include your Client/Trader ID and email.
• Also, request withdrawal of any funds you might have in the account.

You should get a response shortly.

Note that as a result of rules stipulated by the regulator, FP Markets has the responsibility to keep the records of clients’ transactions for up to 7 years. The data is, however, protected in compliance with data protection laws of Australia.

The best way to close your account is to send an e-mail to support@fpmarkets.com with the e-mail that you signed up with. Make sure that you have withdrawn all of your funds before the closure.

The customer service at FP Markets is good, friendly, and often helpful. They are available 24/7 across a variety of channels. There are phone, fax, and toll-free numbers for traders to call. There is Live Chat accessible on the mobile app and website, available in more than 12 languages. Then there is an email chat (via support@fpmarkets.com) for any inquiries traders want to make.

FP Markets performs better than a number of comparable brokers such as FXCM which does not provide 24/7 customer service access.

FP Markets offers advanced trading platforms, the MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, TradingView, cTrader, and IRESS that offer live charting, powerful trading tools, and superior execution. The MT4 platform has a customizable interface, live-streamed prices, and integrated expert advisors. It also comes with over 60 pre-installed technical indicators and access to the Metaquotes MQL5 Community.

FP Markets offers an enormous range of over 10000 different trading instruments. Compared to the average broker, FP Markets offers an above-average number of indices, commodities, currency pairs. To the delight of many experienced traders, CFD Futures are available.

Among the available instruments are:

• +60 Forex/Currency pairs
• +8 Commodities
• +14 Indices
• +10000 shares
• +5 Crypto currencies