Trade.com

Global traders will be trading under the subsidiary, Trade Capital Markets (TCM), authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).  CySEC is considered a top-tier regulator and mandates that Trade.com segregates client funds from its operating capital in various banking institutions. It also provides its clients negative balance protection, so that they cannot lose more than is in their trading accounts. 

In line with regulatory requirements, Trade.com insures all client money through the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF).  The objective of the ICF is to secure any claims of covered clients against members of the ICF by paying its clients compensation in the event that the company is liquidated.

Additionally, although Trade.com is a market maker, it has processes in place to ensure that traders receive the best execution and has published a conflict of interest policy.

Overall, with its long history of responsible behaviour and strong international regulation, we consider Trade.com a safe broker to trade with.  

Trade.com’s account opening process is fully digital and fast.

Traders from India are not eligible to open a Trade.com account.  

The account-opening process is as follows:

1. Traders can sign up for an account by clicking on the “Open Account” button.  
2. Clients will be directed to register an account with a password and username.  Traders will also have to select their preferred base currency.
3. Trade.com’s intake form requires clients to fill in their email address, name, telephone number, country of residence, and date of birth.  
4. Trade.com then requires prospective traders to answer questions regarding their financial knowledge and level of trading experience, and are required to complete a compliance quiz.
5. In order to verify their identity, individuals are required to submit a copy of their National ID or Passport with the signature page, and a copy of a recent utility bill or bank statement displaying the client’s name and address that is not older than three months.  In order to upload these documents, navigate to the My account section at the top right corner. Go to Upload documents and select the document from your computer. 
6. Once the documents have been uploaded, traders can deposit funds and begin trading.  

We suggest you read Trade.com’s risk disclosure, customer agreement, and terms of business before you start trading. 

Overall, Trade.com’s account-opening process is quick, efficient, and accounts are generally ready for trading within a matter of hours.

Trade.com  provides a broader range of tradable assets than most other brokers.

Trading costs are included in the variable spreads on each account.  Spreads are variable at Trade.com, meaning that they will get wider or tighter depending on trade volume and market volatility.

The average cost of trading one lot of EUR/USD at similar Forex brokers tends to be 9 USD or lower. Compared to other brokers, Trade.com’s trading fees are significantly higher than average except for its Exclusive Account, where the costs are slightly lower than average – though this account does require a 100,000 USD minimum deposit.

Swap Fees

The other main trading cost to consider is the overnight swap fee. Swap fees are charged on trades held open overnight and is derived from the difference between the interest rates of the two currencies being traded.

We opened and tested a variety of Trade.com’s accounts:

Silver Account – The Silver Account requires a minimum deposit of 100 USD and spreads are reduced to a minimum of 1.9 pips on the EUR/USD. In addition, clients with this account will have access to daily analysis and a dedicated account manager.

Gold Account – The Gold Account requires a minimum deposit of 10,000 USD but comes with premium daily analysis and access to Trading Central. Spreads on EUR/USD are down to 1.4 pips.

Platinum Account – The Platinum Account has the same features as the Gold Account, but with premium customer support, spreads of 1.0 pips on the EUR/USD, and a higher minimum deposit of 50,000 USD.

Exclusive Account – This has all the same features as the Platinum Account but spreads are down to 0.8 pips on the EUR/USD – though the minimum deposit is 100,000 USD, making it inaccessible to most traders.

Demo Account

Like most brokers, Trade.com offers a free demo account so new traders can get a feel for the trading platforms and an understanding of the assets to trade. Unfortunately, unlike most other brokers, opening a demo account at Trade.com does require registering for a live account first. Once signed up, you’ll receive your login credentials the same day.

The MT4, MT5, and WebTrader applications offer full Trade.com account functionality to offer a seamless transition from the desktop application. These are available on both Android and iOS.  However, traders should be aware that these apps may vary in the number of technical indicators and instruments available to trade, and have different chart types and market analysis tools compared to the desktop versions. 

Trade.com presents traders the choice between the industry-standard MT4 and MT5 products, in addition to its own proprietary WebTrader platform.  

All platform choices are free to use, all can be downloaded to your PC and all have web versions of the platform. All platforms are also available on mobile Android and iOS devices.

Metatrader 4

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is still undoubtedly the world’s most popular trading platform for forex traders due to its ease of use, feature-rich environment, and automated trading ability.   Features of Trade.com’s MT4 platform include:

• 30  technical indicators

• 31 graphing objects

• Three chart types

• Nine timeframes

• One-click trading.  

• Traders can also add custom EAs and indicators.

While MT4 has great customizability, the platform feels outdated, and some of the features may be hard to find.  In addition, only the basic orders are available, including Market, Limit, Stop, and Trailing Stop.

MetaTrader 5

The newer version of the MetaTrader platform suite, MT5 is being adopted by more traders all the time.  MT5 incorporates all of the key features of MT4 and an optimised environment for EA trading. 

Features of Trade.com’s MT5 include:

• 38+ preinstalled technical indicators

• 44 analytical charting tools

• 6 pending order types

• 4 order execution types

• Three chart types

• 21 timeframes

• Detachable charts

• Depth of Market

• An integrated Economic Calendar.

The benefit of Trade.com offering third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5 is that traders can take their own customised version of the platform with them should they choose to migrate to another broker.  Additionally, there are thousands of plugins and tools available for the MetaTrader platforms. 

Trade.com WebTrader

Trade.com offers its own proprietary WebTrader that allows traders to trade on all the financial instruments available at the broker and includes various charting tools and technical indicators. It has an intuitive interface and is easy to use and set up.  One drawback is that automated trading solutions remain unavailable, which is why the broker offers both MT4 and MT5.  Features of Trade.com’s Webtrader include:

•  Access to over 2,100 assets, including forex pairs, cryptocurrencies, global exchanges, and commodities
•  Multi-chart display windows with independent chart functions
•  Web-based with mobile compatibility.
•  Trending tools, Trading Central, Events & Trade.
•  Secure management tools for trading, accounts, and risk management.
•  Style and chart settings including colour, timing, and price action display
• Access to online assistance 24/5

In line with Anti-Money Laundering rules, Trade.com does not process payments to third-party accounts. All withdrawal requests from a trading account will be funded to a bank account or source in the trader’s name.

Trade.com offers a range of account funding and deposit methods, including bank transfer, debit cards/credit cards, and various eWallets (Skrill and Neteller).  Deposits are free on all funding methods and are processed immediately, or within 12 hours.

At Trade.com, traders can choose from seven base currencies: USD, GBP, EUR, CHF, CZK, PLN, and ZAR.  This is a broader range than other international brokers.  

While most Malaysian residents will want to have their trading accounts denominated in USD, some traders may want to have multiple accounts with different base currencies to avoid paying conversion fees when trading.  Conversion fees can make trading expensive, and are usually not presented on the fee report, but affect profitability.  

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 an MYR account, there will be a small conversion fee for every trade made.

Trade.com’s only trading tool is Trading Central.  This is limited compared to other brokers who offer technical tools such as Autochartist, VPS services, and various copy trading platforms.  

Trading Central

Trading Central is only available on the Gold, Platinum, and Exclusive Accounts.  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 one of the most popular trading tools available and provides excellent market analysis.

Trade.com’s analysis materials are severely limited compared to other similar brokers.  

Trading Central is available for Gold, Platinum, and Exclusive Account levels, along with the premium market analysis. Lower deposit accounts will need to survive with a daily market analysis email and a news feed that is aggregated from other news sources.

Only with a minimum deposit of 10,000 USD can traders access the services of Trading Central.  It is clear that Trade.com does not cater to beginner traders or those who want to test its services with a low initial deposit.  

A dealing desk phone number is available for making traders when away from the computer, but this number does not offer any technical support.

For the purposes of this review, we found the customer support generally unresponsive.