Best Forex Broker Australia 2020 List

IC Markets Is The Lowest Spread Forex Broker In Australia

IC Markets offers low fees for Aussie traders across:

1. Spreads
2. Commissions
3. Funding/Withdrawal Fees

1) Spreads

The most traded currency pair is the EUR/USD worldwide and IC Markets has the lowest spread for the pairing. It also has the lowest spread for most other popular forex pairs including GBP/USD and EUR/GBP. Overall, IC Markets had the lowest average spreads of any broker worldwide.

IC Markets Raw Account Spreads	EUR/USD USD/SGD AUD/USD AUD/JPY EUR/GBP GBP/USD EUR/JPY USD/JPY USD/CAD	EUR/USD USD/SGD AUD/USD AUD/JPY EUR/GBP GBP/USD EUR/JPY USD/JPY USD/CAD	EUR/USD USD/SGD AUD/USD AUD/JPY EUR/GBP GBP/USD EUR/JPY USD/JPY USD/CAD	EUR/USD USD/SGD AUD/USD AUD/JPY EUR/GBP GBP/USD EUR/JPY USD/JPY USD/CAD	EUR/USD USD/SGD AUD/USD AUD/JPY EUR/GBP GBP/USD EUR/JPY USD/JPY USD/CAD
	0.10	0.30	0.20	0.40	0.40
	0.10	1.30	0.20	0.50	0.40
	0.16	1.07	0.27	0.50	0.35
	0.20	1.50	0.20	0.50	0.40
	0.17	N/A	0.30	N/A	0.54
	0.20	10.00	0.40	0.60	0.50
	0.10	1.30	0.50	1.10	0.60
	0.30	3.00	0.50	0.70	0.50
	0.44	1.30	0.42	0.50	0.40

Data taken from broker website. Accurate as at 01/10/2020

2) Commissions

The spreads above are applicable for the most popular Raw Spread account (formally known as the true ECN account) for MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5. IC Markets archives these low spreads by not been a market maker and having STP with large liquidity pools. While the forex account isn’t called the true ECN account, the spreads are set by the market which is why over 10 currency pairs minimum spread is 0.0 pips including the EUR/USD, GBP/USD and AUD/USD.

As shown above, the commission of IC Markets main raw account is $3.50 per lot, per side. If the base currency is set for the Australian dollar then the commission is AUD $3.50 while US dollar base currency customers pay a higher commission rate of USD $3.50. Other key commission rates are for GBP base currency customers GBP 2.50 and Euro base currency customers at EUR 2.75.

3) Funding Fees

The third main online trading fee component is deposit and withdrawal fees. IC Markets have a $200 minimum deposit fee and from this amount to large transactions, there are no additional fees. This applies to both withdrawals and deposits.

The reason that IC Markets don’t state there are no fees is that a number of financial institutions (eg banks) charge their own fees and NAB who IC Markets utilise charge $20 for International Wire Transfers. Overall though, IC Markets doesn’t directly charge deposit or withdrawal fees further making them one of the lowest fee brokers.

Summary Of Why IC Markets Have The Lowest Spreads In Australia

IC Markets is the lowest spread Australian forex broker offering the MT4, MT5 and cTrader platform. The broker has the AFSL number 335692 and is also Cyprus (CySEC) regulated.

With ECN spreads and commissions IC Markets has the lowest forex fees.

The broker is recommended for individuals looking to trade forex with the lowest brokerage. To open an account a minimum initial deposit if USD $200 is required.

Compare Broker Spreads >>Visit IC Markets >>

Markets.com Offers The Best Trading Platforms and Tools

Markets.com is an ASIC regulated broker that offers a great selection of trading tools to help you with strategy development and risk management.

As a market maker, Markets.com forex trading is commission-free, with tight spreads as low as 0.6 pips for major fx pairs like the EUR/USD. As well as forex, you can trade over 2,200 different financial instruments, ranging from major stock markets to cryptocurrencies and blends:

• 67 Currency Pairs
• 7 Cryptocurrencies
• 41 Indices
• 27 Commodities
• 2031 Shares
• 4 Bonds
• 60 ETFs
• 23 Blends

Trading Tools

You can choose between four different trading platforms. Markets.com offer two proprietary trading platforms that provide you access to the broker’s full product range. Marketsx for forex and CFD trading, and Marketsi for share CFD trading and portfolio development.

If you prefer MetaQuotes software, both MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) are available, yet you can only trade forex, commodities and indices.

Marketsx

Along with full market access, the multi-asset platform provides extensive sentiment, technical and fundamental analysis tools to help you develop trading strategies while managing the high risk of forex trading.

• Sentiment Tools: Markets.com provides various types of sentiment data to help you determine confidence in a specific financial market, and whether traders are buying or selling. Sentiment indicators include Trends in Trading, Bloggers Opinions, Trading Analyst, News Alerts, News Trading Sentiment, Trading Analyst Recommendations and Signals. 
• Fundamental Analysis Tools: Real-time Dow Jones News, Thomson Reuters Stock Reports, financial commentary plus advanced notifications and alerts.
• Technical Analysis Tools: A comprehensive charting package built-in to the trading platform, and a Related Instrument tool that shows the correlation between different financial markets and how they react to one another.

Marketsi

The broker’s share CFD trading platform offers tools designed for portfolio development and diversification. You can trade Markets.com full CFD range, while using two primary tools to create diversified portfolios:

• Investment Strategy Builder: helps you develop strategies that suit your risk profile and investment objectives. You can build portfolios by searching different regions, sectors and industries, with the ability to rebalance your portfolio as needed in the future.
• The Strategy Template: Expected to be released soon, this feature will allow you to use portfolio templates designed by Markets.com experts that offer differ risk levels, ranging from conservative to high risk.

MT4 and MT5

If you are looking to fully automate trading, MT4 and MT5 offer algorithmic trading tools where you can write your own trading robots (aka Expert Advisors), or download tried and tested EAs from the MetaTrader Marketplace online.

Both platforms also provide advanced technical and fundamental analysis tools with an inbuilt charting package, alerts and notifications, and an economic calendar (MT5 only).

Markets.com Overall

The ASIC regulated broker is a top choice for all types of traders who are looking for tight commission-free spreads. You can choose between four quality trading platforms, but to gain access to the broker’s full product range of over 2,200 CFDs and the unique sentiment and analysis tools, you will need to use Markets.com proprietary trading platforms, Marketsx.

View Markets.com Review >>Visit Markets.com >>

FP Markets Is The Best Forex Brokers For Scalping

Those looking to utilise automation such as Expert Advisors (EAs) should consider FP Markets based on the Australian forex brokers:

1. Best trade execution
2. Choice of MetaTrader 4 or 5
3. No restrictions on scalping or EAs
4. Low spreads and commissions

Why FP Markets Has The Best Trade Execution

The most important feature of the best forex broker for scaling is execution speed. Investment Trades compared the best forex brokers in Australia and awarded FP Markets the fastest with 39 milliseconds recorded in September 2020. This aligned to testing done across the top broker demo accounts which also showed the fastest results for FP Markets using Limit Order Execution.

Spreads And Forex Platforms With FP Markets

FP Markets offer a raw account offers has a $100 minimum deposit requirement, offers ECN spreads with AUD $3.50 commission per side ($7 round turn). Australian traders can choose between MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 with the latter more suited to CFD trading.

Examples of forex pairs with Raw minimum spreads from 0.0 pips include:

• EUR/USD
• AUD/USD
• GBP/USD
• EUR/CAD
• USD/CHF
• AUD/JPY
• NZD/USD
• USD/SGD
• USD/ZAR

To achieve ECN-style pricing, FP Markets connects with top-tier liquidity providers while offering no dealing desk execution, providing retail investor accounts with a professional trading environment. When using the IRESS trading platform, traders will have access to DMA execution which means you can access the full ‘depth of market’ for prices.

As well as some of the lowest spreads available, FP Markets has a reputation for excellent customer support. The broker’s award-winning customer service teams can be contacted via phone, email or live chat 24 hours a day, 5 days a week and offer efficient, multi-lingual support. They also offer excellent market intel including advanced technical analysis.

Compare ECN Brokers >>Visit FP Markets >>

Plus500 Is the Best Forex Broker For Beginners

Plus500 is an Australian Securities and Investments Commission regulated CFD provider that allows traders to utilise extensive risk management tools. As well as various order types and segregated client funds, Plus500 ensures traders losses are limited by providing negative balance protection, a feature offered by a few Australian providers.

Plus500 Has The Best Forex Trading Platform For Beginners

When online trading CFDs with Plus500, customers gain access to a user-friendly trading platform, a range of financial instruments and advanced tools to manage the high risk of CFD trading.

The Australian Investment Trends report awarded Plus500 the best platform with:

• An easy to use desktop and web trader interface
• Advanced mobile platform
• Risk management features for different trading conditions

Investment Trends runs a client survey of CFD traders annually and found that Plus500 had the best mobile platform. This was based on the ease of use, functionality and range of contracts for difference tradable. Learn more on our Australian platform page.

Beginner Forex Trader Risk Management Order Types

The trading of contract for differences comes with a high risk of losing money, Plus500 customers can use different order types to ensure profits are maximised and loses are minimised.

• Limit and Stop Loss (closes a position once a profit or loss limit is set) – No charges
• Trailing Stops (closes a position when a trade moves in the wrong direction by a set number of pips) – No charges
• Guaranteed Stop Loss (guarantees a position will not lose more than a defined amount, a premium is paid to eliminate the chance of slippage) – Extra spreads applied

View the beginner broker page to compare this feature to other providers that cater to those new to trading forex.

Negative Balance Protection For Australian Forex Traders

To ensure customers do not lose more than their trading account balance, Plus500 offers negative balance protection. Although a requirement for FCA and ESMA regulated brokers in the UK and Europe, Australian financial authorities do not require brokers to provide such guaranteed protections. Only a handful of Australian financial providers, such as Plus500 and easyMarkets, offer negative balance protection. This ensures traders never lose more than their deposit, no matter what the trading conditions or trading volume. Additional investor protection received as a Plus500 customer includes:

• Segregated client funds to ensure traders funds are not used as operational capital by the CFD provider
• Alert emails and notifications on forex market events, price movements and changes to client sentiment percentages.

Regulation

Plus500AU PTY LTD is the ASIC regulation subsidiary for Australian forex traders holding the AFSL number 417727. They are regulated in several other locations such as South Africa (FSCA), NZ and the UK with an FCA licence (formally FSA).

Compare Beginner Platforms >>Visit Plus500 >>

eToro Is The Best Copy Trading Forex Broker In Australia

eToro offers  specialist services suitable for some individuals looking for:

• Social Trading
• Copy Trading
• CFD Trading

Social Trading

eToro has a unique trading platform with inbuilt social trading tools. With over 300 million trades done on eToro up to 2020, there is a large community that interacts on their social network. This allows traders to discuss strategies, ideas and decisions on their social feed. The social trading functionality exists on the desktop and mobile platform.

Copy Trading

eToro offers copy trading tools so individuals can make the same trades as the individual selected. This trading strategy means the same profit or loss percentage will be achieved and that past performance isn’t always a good indication of future performance. The reason by eToro has the most popular copy trading facility is that traders are rewarded when others follow them.

CFD Trading

eToro offers a range of CFDs from crypto, EFTs, Indices, Stocks, Currencies to Commodities. These are all tradable on the one platform with a range of leverage. An example is 17 cryptocurrencies from Bitcoin, Ethereum to Ripple.

If social trading is important to you or you want to copy a past trader then eToro is the Australian best broker for you. Note that eToro has some unique fees including withdrawal fees to consider before joining the broker.

View eToro Review >>Visit eToro >>

CMC Markets Is The Best Stockbroker And Aussie CFD Provider

CMC is an all-in-one broker ideal for day trading offering:

• Share trading (stockbroker services)
• Financial markets including 330 currency pairs
• Countdowns

Some day traders don’t want one provider for share trading and another for online forex trading. CMC Markets that offer both services in Australia with a wide range of markets is the logical choice for day traders. Not only does CMC Markets offer stockbroking services, but the fee structure to trade shares is also one of the lowest as shown below.

CMC Markets also offers futures trading, commodity trading as well as foreign exchange trading.  The CFD trading options with CMC Markets suit most forex trading strategies on their trading platform. Algorithmic trading is allowed, the margin requirement on major currency pairs is 0.2% and forex news is provided complimentary to traders.

CMC Markets was founded in 1989 and is present in the trading industry both in Australia, UK and other key markets. They offer a free demo account which can be compared to other providers on the link below.

View CMC Markets Review >>Visit Broker >>

IG Is The Largest Retail Foreign Exchange Broker

The most popular forex brokerage trading firm in Australia based on the range of markets, accessibility, popularity and ease of use is IG Markets. By having the highest Australian forex exchange market share across retail traders, IG can offer a wide range of options including:

• Proprietary web-based fx platform
• Mobile Trading including a number of Mobile Apps
• MetaTrader 4
• Advanced platforms (ProRealTime, L2 Dealer)
• Technical analysis

Over 178,000 retail traders from around the world enjoy trading on over 80 forex currency pairs and an additional 16,000 other markets (shares, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, etc.).

IG offers Variable Spread Model

On the most popular currency pairs, the AUDUSD and EURUSD the minimum spread is 0.6 pips. However, since IG offers a variable spread model, the real spread widens being affected by:

• Time of the day
• Liquidity
• During news and economic reports

The hallmark of the variable spread model is that you can have commission-free trading. To have a better view of the total trading costs, we’re going to expose the average spreads as calculated for the 12 weeks ending 31st May 2019. For example, the average AUD/USD spread is 0.76 pips respectively 0.70 pips EUR USD average spread. For a complete spread review, please study the table below.

Trade forex With Direct Market Access

For sophisticated investors, IG offers Direct Market Access trading accounts (DMA) without market maker intervention. Traders must be aware that having access to IG Forex Direct comes with higher costs. The commission charged by IG is progressively applied via a volume-based scheme. For low volume traders, the commissions are quite high and in the long-term can eat from your profits. Below you can view the complete commission-based scheme charged by IG Markets.

For example, if you generate less than $100 million in volume per month, IG Markets will charge you $60 per $1 million traded. Compared to Pepperstone and IC Markets, IG comes lower in our star scoring system. On the plus side, the average spreads offered by IG are kept lower via Forex direct. The spreads from the table below are derived directly from the biggest banks in the world.

Summary of Why IG is the Most Popular Forex Broker

IG Markets is the world’s oldest foreign exchange broker and has been favoured by many Australian traders due to its rich history in serving retail clients of all backgrounds. When choosing a forex broker, it’s best to opt for a regulated FX provider. IG Market’s is well-regulated by worldwide financial watchdogs from Australia, UK and USA.

Largest Foreign Exchange Brokers >>Visit IG >>

City Index Is The Best Australian Fixed Spread Forex Broker

City Index is part of GAIN Capital that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The provider offers both variables and fixed spreads depending on what underlying asset traded. This includes indices, commodities, interest rates and bonds. Below shows example fixed spreads which don’t change based on the market conditions, unlike variable spreads.

While City Index is the leading Australian fixed spread forex broker, they also offer leading variable spreads on cryptocurrency CFD trading. The crypto that can be traded includes:

• Bitcoin (can be traded against USD, AUD, EUR and GBP)
• Ethereum
• Litecoin
• Ripple
• Bitcoin Cash

When placed side-by-side with other Australian-based brokers, only CMC Markets has competitive spreads on cryptocurrency that start from $37, while IG Markets offers a $40 Bitcoin spread. The total financing cost for trading Bitcoin is $39.32 for buying Bitcoin respectively $33.56 for selling Bitcoin. For a complete review and a full comparison of the total costs on cryptocurrency trading, please study the chart below.

The City Index trading platform allows cryptocurrency trading with up to 4:1 leverage, fast execution speeds, no commissions and low spreads including the following:

Bitcoin Trading

The most popular cryptocurrency in 2020, this blockchain technology allows diversification from traditional financial markets. The market capitalisation in 2020 is over $65 billion USD and has become one of the most traded elements on the markets.

Learn more on this Bitcoin website.

Ethereum

Now the third most valuable cryptocurrency (Ripple is 2nd at the start of 2020), this serves more industries and purposes giving it a competitive edge. Key uses of Ethereum include blockchain application platforms through to smart contracts.

Learn more on this Ethereum Project website.

Dash

“Digital Cash” (shortened to Dash) focuses on enhancing anonymity and processing speeds of cryptocurrency. Dash is used worldwide as an efficient payment system. This popular use has led to increased liquidity and volatility within the asset class.

Discover more on the official Dash website.

Litecoin

This was launched after Bitcoin in 2011. The aim was to speed up transactions with the use of a simpler algorithm. The result has led to its increase in popularity and market capitalisation. This has made it a great alternative to Bitcoin to trade. More can be found on their P2P site.

By offering 5:1 margin on mainstream cryptocurrencies, City Index enhances the potential profits or losses of this volatile sector.

It’s important to understand that the trading strategy of trading crypto CFDs is not the same as owning cryptocurrency as shown below.

Trading Fees on Cryptocurrency

City Index offers some of the lowest cryptocurrency trading fees starting with spreads from:

• $35 on Bitcoin
• AUD 55 for BTCAUD

The market-leading pricing offered by City Index is derived from multiple cryptocurrency exchanges. The robust pricing model used by City Index produces a volume-weighted average price, which is why the Bitcoin spreads are among the lowest in the industry.

Compare CFD Trading Platforms >>Visit City Index >>

Saxo Bank Is The Best VIP Forex Exchange Broker

High volume retail investors are eligible for special privileges depending on the forex exchange broker. Saxo Bank (also known as Saxo Markets) offers the leading VIP account for those with a minimum deposit of AUD 1,500,000. Below shows a Saxo Bank trading account comparison.

Below goes through three key VIP account benefits in more detail.

1) Lower Spreads

As the spread table below highlights, VIP trading account has the lowest spreads of any Saxo Bank trading account. These are not average spreads but published minimum spreads of their non-commission account. This means the true spread may be higher depending on market conditions. Generally, these VIP spreads are competitive against other non-commission spreads accounts.

Events And Hospitality

VIP account holders ($1.5m requirement) received invitations to events and to exclusive hospitality in Australia. They also can receive tickets to some of the best Australian events from music to sport.

VIP Customer Support

Australian forex traders who open a VIP account with Saxo Bank get access to key personnel. This includes a personal relationship manager and sales manager. Traders also get access to senior management and the Australian market strategist Eleanor Creagh.

Overall, Saxo Bank VIP account has low spreads (non-commission account), advanced perks and superior support. For those who have AUD $1.5 million and are looking for these benefits, Saxo Bank is recommended.

Saxo Bank Review >>Visit Saxo Bank >>

FXCM Has A Good MetaTrader 4 Forex Account

As the second-largest retail foreign exchange broker based in the USA, FXCM has an ASIC regulated forex broker subsidiary in Australia. Trading under ‘FXCM AU’ or ‘FXCM Australia’ the broker offers the following forex trading platforms:

• MetaTrader 4 (MT4)
• Trading Station
• NinjaTrader

Below compares the three forex platforms offers by some key features Aussie brokers may require.

Free MT4 Private Server With FXCM

Australian traders with FXCM receive a free Virtual Private Server (VPS) when trading volume exceeds 500k. The advantages of a VPS is that traders can switch off their computer and still have automation (Expert Advisors) run. It also allows access to MetaTrader 4 even without the platform installed and trading speeds can be enhanced.

The FXCM VPS offer doesn’t apply to demo accounts and the 500k per month needs to be the average over the 3 months. The cost of the VPS service is reimbursed to traders at the start of each month.

Leverage Offered By FXCM

Leverage offered when trading with MetaTrader 4 depends on the equity level. Smaller accounts of less than $20,000 AUD can trader with 400:1 leverage or 200:1 for CFDs. For larger trading accounts the forex leverage is halved to 100:1. Even at 100:1 this leverage can lead to high risk to it’s important to understand the risks before trading.

Overall, MetaTrader 4 is the most popular forex trading platform in Australia and FXCM is a solid choice. You can visit the broker below or view our comparison page for the best MT4 brokers in Australia.

Compare MT4 Brokers >>Visit FXCM >>

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