FXCC Broker Review

British traders will be trading under the FXCC subsidiary that is registered in the Republic of Vanuatu. 

For all intents and purposes, the VFSC is not considered a forex broker regulator and applies no supervision of any CFD trading-related activities.  Clients must rely solely on the reputation of FXCC, as no additional measures exist to ensure client protection. However, in a show of good faith, FXCC segregates all client funds from the company’s operating capital at top-tier banks, and it offers negative balance protection to all its clients.   

While British traders may be apprehensive about trading under a subsidiary that is essentially unregulated, FXCC’s subsidiary in Europe is regulated by CySEC, a top-tier authority that maintains strict regulatory oversight. 

Overall, because of its history of responsible behaviour, CySEC regulation, and the wide industry acclaim, we consider FXCC a safe broker for British traders to trade with.  

The account opening process at FXCC is user-friendly, fully digital and accounts are approved within an hour.  

All UK residents are eligible to open an account at FXCC and there are no minimum deposit requirements.

Creating an account is straightforward, the process is fully digital, and accounts are usually ready within an hour. FXCC offers individual and corporate accounts, but we will focus on opening an individual account:

1. New traders will have to click on the “Register” button at the top of the page where they will be directed to fill in their name, email address and create a password.

2. Traders will then have to fill in their personal details, including name, surname, telephone number, country of residence, physical address, and financial experience.  Traders will also have to upload the following documents:

   • Proof of Identification – FXCC accepts all government-issued identification documents such as Passport, national ID card, driving license, or other government-issued ID. 

   • Proof of Address – Proof of residence/address document must be issued in the name of the account holder within the last 6 months and must contain a trader’s full name, current residential address, issue date, and issuing authority.

3. Next traders will have to fill in their trading account settings, including preferred base currency, trading account type (live or demo), level of leverage, and expected deposit amount.  

Applications are usually approved within one hour.  Traders can then log in and fund their accounts.  

Overall, FXCC’s account-opening process is fully digital and hassle-free and accounts are generally ready for trading within an hour.  

The trading costs are built into the spread, which is variable and gets wider or tighter depending on trade volume and market volatility. 

The average cost of trading one lot of EUR/USD is 6 USD, which is much lower than the costs of the accounts at other similar STP brokers. Additionally, there are no minimum deposit requirements to open an account at FXCC.

Account Trading Costs:

We opened and tested FXCC’s account:

Demo Account – The FXCC demo account expires after 30 days, which is not ideal for beginners. The demo account gives you a starting balance of 10,000 USD and allows traders to view charts, news, and analysis, get access to the full-featured MT4 platform.  Demo accounts are a great way for beginners to experience real-time prices and real forex market volatility.

ECN XL Account – FXCC won Best Forex Trading Account of 2019 (World Finance Magazine Awards) for its ECN XL Account.  There are is no minimum deposit requirement on the account and spreads start at 0.0 pips on the EUR/USD, averaging at around 0.60 pips.  No commissions are charged, but trading is only offered on the MT4 platform.  

In order to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering Directive, withdrawal requests will only be sent the same way the funds were received and up to the initial deposited amounts. FXCC offers many deposit and withdrawal methods, including bank wire transfers, credit cards, and debit cards, various e-wallets, and cryptocurrency payments. 

FXCC offers a “zero deposit fee” promotion.  This means that FXCC will pay the deposit fees charged by the payment processor when funds are deposited.  However, withdrawal fees are charged for most payment methods.

See below for a complete list of payment options and withdrawal times:

FXCC offers a limited number of base (trading account) currencies compared to other similar brokers.

Trading accounts can only be denominated in three base currencies – EUR, USD, and GBP, which is limited compared to other brokers.  Most other brokers denominated accounts in at least five to ten currencies.

Having accounts denominated in GBP is an advantage for British traders who will likely have bank accounts denominated in GBP, and who will be able to avoid paying currency conversion fees on deposits and withdrawals.  

Still, for traders that trade in large volumes (more than 10 lots a month), it is better to open an account denominated in USD at a digital currency bank, especially for trading on assets such as the EUR/USD. This is because when trading a USD quoted currency pair with another currency account, there will be a small conversion fee for every trade made.

FXCC offers support for the MT4 mobile trading app for Android and iOS. Traders should be aware that there is some loss in functionality when compared to the desktop trading platforms, including reduced time frames and fewer charting options, but traders can close and modify existing orders, calculate profit and loss, and trade on the charts.

Trading Platform Comparison:

FXCC only offers support for the Metatrader 4 platform. In addition to the desktop and mobile applications, FXCC also offers MT4 WebTrader, the browser-based version of the platform. Multiterminal is also available if you are managing numerous accounts simultaneously.

Metatrader 4

While not the most beginner-friendly software, MT4 has been the industry-standard platform for trading Forex and CFDs since 2005. Its intuitive interface and user-friendly environment provide essential tools and resources for successful online trading.    Features of the MT4 include:

• A built-in library of more than 50 indicators and tools to streamline the analysis process.

• An impressive array of analytical tools, available in nine timeframes for each financial instrument.

• Live price streaming on live accounts and demo accounts 128-bits encryption for secure trading

• Algorithmic trading, which allows any trading strategy to be formalised and implemented as an Expert Advisor. 

• Customisable alerts

• Access to MetaTrader market and MQL4 community

FXCC offers the out-of-the-box MT4 trading terminal, but upgrades are available through third parties for an additional fee. One significant advantage is that FXCC offers free in-depth user guides, which many brokers fail to do, and which can set traders up for longer-term success.

VPS

VPS services ensure that trades are never disrupted by technological or connectivity issues, such as load-shedding or internet service failure, which is a benefit to algorithmic traders who need to be connected to a server 24/7 to maximise uptime.  Other benefits of the VPS service include:

• 24/6 VPS email support
• 24/7 Redundant power to your VPS
• 24/7 Redundant internet connectivity to your VPS
• Low latency connectivity to FP Markets trading servers for precision trading
• Uninterrupted EA trading

The Virtual Private Server (‘VPS’) is owned and managed by a third-party provider (‘BeeksFX’) who is separate and independent from FXCC.  Clients have to meet certain eligibility criteria to receive free VPS services:

• Maintain minimum equity of $2,500 (or equivalent currency).
• Minimum monthly trading volume 30 standard lots round trip.

Clients who do not meet these criteria will have to pay a subscription fee of 30 USD per month.  

Overall, FXCC would do well to add some more trading tools to its arsenal.  

Trading Tools Comparison:

Like its educational materials, FXCC’s market analysis is also limited. 

FXCC’s limited research and analysis section provides an up-to-date basic daily technical analysis, a morning roll call analysis, and a forex news section.   It also offers a ‘Traders Corner Blog’ with up-to-date trading news and an economic calendar for planning.  All market analysis material is fully translated into over 80 languages. 

New traders have access to fourteen quality educational posts plus a dedicated section on major economic reports.  FXCC also offers eleven downloadable ebooks but does not offer training videos, trading seminars or courses. All educational content is translated into over 80 languages, which is impressive.  

Educational Material Comparison:

FXCC also has seven social media channels and a FAQ section that answers many of the most common questions.

For the purposes of this review, we found the customer service responsive, knowledgeable, and polite.