What trading ThinkMarkets costs
One standard lot of EUR/USD on ThinkMarkets' standard account costs at least US$8.00 for the round turn: 0.8 pips of spread (US$8.00), with no commission.
| Account | A month of trading | One round turn, 1 lot |
|---|---|---|
| One spread, no commission0.8 pips, published minimum | at least US$160.00 | at least US$8.00 |
A pip on EUR/USD is US$10.00 per standard lot, so the cost of a round turn is the spread in pips times that, plus any commission.
Our verdict on ThinkMarkets
I would send a New Zealand trader to ThinkMarkets if they were after commission-free dealing on the firm's own ThinkTrader platform, and I would do it knowing the terms they sign. The statement is plain that a client can lose more funds than they deposit and may have to deposit more, and that no negative balance protection applies (page 14). That is the pause, and it is a real one.
My recommendation stands. The NZ desk score is 81, an editorial desk judgement built from the same eight weighted categories, drawn from published sources rather than any test. There is a further term worth weighing before you deposit: a New Zealand client's funds are pooled with other clients' money in the client funds trust account (page 24).
Pros
- Holds an active FMA derivatives issuer licence, granted 17 December 2021, under the trading name Thinkmarkets.
- Zero commission applies to the ThinkTrader account, EUR/USD carries a 0.8 pip minimum in the broker's New Zealand specifications table, and 1.0 lot costs at least US$8.00 a round turn.
- ThinkTrader as the broker's own platform, TradingView reached by connecting a ThinkTrader account, and a demo account listed on the New Zealand site.
- Client money is segregated from the firm's own money and held on trust in bank accounts (page 24).
- The firm charges no fee to process a withdrawal, though a bank or payment processor may deduct one (page 23).
Cons
- No negative balance protection: a client remains liable for any negative position that closing out cannot cover (page 14).
- Client funds are pooled with other clients' money in the client funds trust account (page 24).
- The firm is entitled to retain any interest on positive balances in the client funds trust account (page 23).
- Market order fills tested at 248 ms, 35th of 36 brokers on our global execution table
ThinkMarkets score breakdown
| Area | Rating |
|---|---|
| Trading Costs | 8/10 |
| Trading Experience | 8.5/10 |
| Trust | 8/10 |
| Trading Platform | 8/10 |
| Customer Service | 8/10 |
| Range of Markets | 8/10 |
| Education | 8/10 |
| Funding | 8/10 |
NZ desk assessment, scored from published information, not tested
How is our rating calculated?Our New Zealand assessment
81 is ThinkMarkets' NZ desk score, an editorial desk judgement scored from published information, not tested, with no New Zealand test behind it. Its New Zealand retail account is ThinkTrader, with zero commission and TradingView connection. For wider platform choice, compare our BlackBull Markets review, which offers MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView.
No account was used, no fills or slippage were measured, and support channels were scored only as published.
- Score basis:
- AI-assisted desk-based assessment, 8 weighted categories
- Source review:
- 16 October 2026
View the source screenshot
How popular is ThinkMarkets in New Zealand?
New Zealanders made 40 branded searches for ThinkMarkets in August 2026, placing it 6th of the 6 brokers we review. Search interest measures attention, not quality; the score above is the review verdict.
- 40
- Brand searches, August 2026
- n/a below 1,000
- vs July 2026
- 10
- Login searches
- 0.4%
- Share of all searches
Source: Google search volume, New Zealand, August 2026.
How this is measured
Google Ads reports how many times a month people in New Zealand searched each broker's brand terms, and the brokers are ranked on that figure alone.
A term counts for a broker only when that broker's own website holds the first organic Google result for it in New Zealand; bare brand words that any company could own are left out.
A month-on-month change prints only where the previous month reached 1,000 searches, because Google rounds smaller volumes.
These figures were collected once and are not refreshed monthly, unlike the monthly refreshes for this site's other markets; the first-organic-result check, which determines which search terms count for which broker, was run once on 20 September 2026 and does not repeat.
How safe is ThinkMarkets?
Yes, TF Global Markets (Aust) Ltd holds an active derivatives issuer licence from the FMA, granted on 17 December 2021, and is separately registered as a Financial Service Provider, FSP623289. I confirmed the licence status on the FMA register, read on 19 September 2026.
| Fact | What the record says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Licensee name on the FMA register | TF Global Markets (Aust) Ltd | FMA licensed providers register |
| Issuer named in the statement | ThinkMarkets is a trading name of TF Global Markets (Aust) Pty Ltd, an Australian-incorporated derivatives issuer | Product disclosure statement, page 25 |
| Registration number on the Financial Service Providers Register | FSP623289 | FMA licensed providers register |
| Licence category | Derivatives issuers | FMA licensed providers register |
| Licence status | Active | FMA licensed providers register |
| Licence granted | 17 December 2021 | FMA licensed providers register, licence granted field |
| Register read on | 19 September 2026 | FMA licensed providers register |
| FMA enforcement action against this company | None found, searched 21 September 2026 | FMA enforcement search on fma.govt.nz |
| What the statement says about regulation | holds a derivatives issuer licence from the FMA and, separately, Australian Financial Services Licence 424700 | Product disclosure statement, page 25 |
| Regulators of the group | ASIC, FCA (United Kingdom), CySEC, JFSA, DFSA (Dubai), FSCA (South Africa), CIMA, FSA (Seychelles), FSC-M, FMA (New Zealand) | Our global broker test |
| Licensee register page | https://www.fma.govt.nz/business/licensed-providers/tf-global-markets-aust-ltd/ | FMA licensed providers register |
Every row above names its own record: seven from the FMA register, two from the product disclosure statement, one from an FMA enforcement search and one from our global broker test.
Some of the abbreviations on this page are expanded to the regulator's full name: a broker regulated by FCA is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority; by DFSA, the Dubai Financial Services Authority.
The register lists both, and the two are different things. The FSP registration is not the licence: it is this licence, the derivatives issuer licence, that authorises the issuing of the derivatives a New Zealand client trades, and the registration sits alongside it. The register holds the trading name Thinkmarkets for this entity. More on the derivatives issuer licence and the full register.
FMA regulation and global licences
The licence category on the register is derivatives issuers, and the licence status is active (FMA register). That is what the register holds for this entity, and it is the licence a New Zealand client contracts under.
The wider ThinkMarkets group is regulated outside New Zealand by the FCA in the United Kingdom, CySEC, the JFSA, the DFSA in Dubai, the FSCA in South Africa, CIMA, the FSA in Seychelles and the FSC-M (our global broker record).
FMA enforcement history
A search of fma.govt.nz on 21 September 2026 under 4 search terms returned no FMA enforcement action against this company: TF Global Markets (Aust) Ltd, TF Global Markets, ThinkMarkets, Thinkmarkets.
Source: the Financial Markets Authority, fma.govt.nz, searched 21 September 2026.
ThinkMarkets client money and dispute scheme
A New Zealand client contracts with the entity the statement names on page 25: ThinkMarkets is a trading name of TF Global Markets (Aust) Pty Ltd, an Australian-incorporated derivatives issuer. The FMA register names the licensee TF Global Markets (Aust) Ltd, and each source carries its own spelling.
| Fact | What the record says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Where client money is held | segregated from the firm's own money and held on trust in one or more bank accounts, pooled with other clients' money | Product disclosure statement, page 24 |
| Whether client money is pooled | client funds are pooled with other clients' money in the trust account | Product disclosure statement, page 24 |
| Interest on client money | ThinkMarkets keeps the interest, calculated daily, on positive balances in the client funds trust account | Product disclosure statement, page 23 |
| Time the firm has to respond | 21 days from the initial complaint is the firm's own target | Product disclosure statement, page 25 |
| Scheme telephone | IFSO Scheme, telephone 0800 888 202 | Product disclosure statement, page 25 |
| Cost to the client of using the scheme | no cost to use IFSO | Product disclosure statement, page 25 |
| Fee on an account already in negative balance | no fee is charged on an account that is already in negative balance | Product disclosure statement, page 23 |
| Losing more than you deposit | a client can lose more than they deposit and may have to deposit more | Product disclosure statement, page 14 |
Every row above comes from one record, the product disclosure statement.
History and ownership
The FMA register holds the licensee as TF Global Markets (Aust) Ltd, with the trading name Thinkmarkets. The product disclosure statement, page 25, names the issuer TF Global Markets (Aust) Pty Ltd and says it holds a derivatives issuer licence from the FMA and, separately, Australian Financial Services Licence 424700. Both names are on record, each from its own source.
Where a New Zealand client’s money is held
Client money is segregated from the firm’s own money and held on trust in one or more bank accounts (page 24). Client funds are pooled with other clients’ money in that trust account (page 24). The firm is entitled to retain any interest, calculated daily, on positive balances in the client funds trust account (page 23).
Who a New Zealand client contracts with
Margin FX contracts and CFDs are derivatives, which are contracts between you and ThinkMarkets that may require you or ThinkMarkets to make payments. The contract specifies the terms on which those payments must be made (page 2).
How to complain, and who hears it
ThinkMarkets is a member of an independent dispute resolution scheme operated by the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme, the IFSO Scheme (page 25). Membership number 5004399 appears in the broker’s New Zealand website footer, read on 13 October 2026, and the IFSO telephone line is 0800 888 202 (page 25), with the scheme’s site at www.ifso.nz (page 25). The firm’s own target is to try to resolve a complaint within 21 days from the day of the initial complaint (page 25), and there is no cost to a client to use IFSO services (page 25).
ThinkMarkets at a glance
The licence and client money facts are in the two sections above.
| Fact | What the record says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Published score | 70 out of 100, global | Our global broker test |
| Standard EUR/USD round turn | at least US$8.00 per 1.0 lot, 0.8 pips published minimum | Broker site, read 13 October 2026 |
| Limit order fill | 161 ms, global | Our global broker test |
| Market order fill | 248 ms, global | Our global broker test |
Every row above names its own record: three from our global broker test and one from the broker's own site.
ThinkMarkets spreads and commission
Nothing here was measured on a New Zealand account. The EUR/USD figure is a minimum the broker publishes itself, drawn from its New Zealand contract specifications. Every figure in this section is held in US dollars.
Raw spread plus commission
The New Zealand section carries no raw spread plus commission account. ThinkZero, the broker’s raw account, sits on its Australian site, whose footer states that the Australian licence covers serving people and businesses located in Australia. The account’s New Zealand web address returned a not-found result.
One spread, no commission
The ThinkTrader account, per its New Zealand page, takes no commission. EUR/USD carries a 0.8 pip minimum in the New Zealand contract specifications, a published figure rather than one anybody here measured, which builds to a round turn of at least US$8.00 on 1.0 lot: 0.8 pips at US$10.00 a pip. A floor is what a published minimum is, so actual trades can sit above it, never below.
What it costs to trade with ThinkMarkets
The round turns above are the trading cost; the fees below are standing costs that can catch a New Zealand trader who does not read the statement’s fee pages.
| Fact | What the record says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| One spread, no commission: EUR/USD spread | 0.8 pips, published minimum | Broker site, read 13 October 2026 |
| One spread, no commission: commission per 1.0 lot round turn | None | Broker site, read 13 October 2026 |
| One spread, no commission: cost per 1.0 lot round turn | at least US$8.00 | Computed, spread times US$10 a pip plus commission |
| Spread measured on a New Zealand account | None held | Our global broker test, New Zealand record |
| Administration charges | NZD 25 for a posted hard-copy duplicate statement | Product disclosure statement, page 23 |
| Holding cost on a Wednesday | the swap rate is tripled on Wednesday to cover the Friday to Monday value period | Product disclosure statement, page 22 |
| Third-party plug-in fees | third-party platform plug-ins may charge fees the firm deducts from the account and remits | Product disclosure statement, page 23 |
| Commission rule in the statement | between 0 and 5 per cent of the opening and closing transaction value, depending on platform and account type | Product disclosure statement, page 21 |
| Introducing broker commission | an introducing broker's commission is charged either as a fixed amount a side or as extra spread, for example two basis points | Product disclosure statement, page 21 |
Every row above names its own record: five from the product disclosure statement, two from the broker's own site, one from a computation over those figures and one from our global broker test.
Other fees a New Zealand trader should check
Card deposits read “0 fees on all funding methods” on the broker’s New Zealand deposit page; the statement permits a percentage fee per card payment, shown on the website and taken at payment (page 23). A posted hard-copy duplicate statement costs NZ$25 per statement (page 23). The swap rate is tripled on Wednesday to cover the Friday to Monday value period (page 22). The firm charges no fee to process a withdrawal, though a bank or payment processor may deduct one (page 23). Third-party platform plug-ins may charge fees the firm deducts from the account and remits (page 23).
ThinkMarkets funding methods and withdrawal times
The product disclosure statement sets out how a New Zealand client funds an account (page 24).
Funding routes in the statement: online bank transfer, international telegraphic transfer, or credit card or electronic gateway provider (Product disclosure statement, page 24)
Withdrawal fee: no withdrawal fee from ThinkMarkets, though a bank or payment processor may deduct one (Product disclosure statement, page 23)
Deposit methods (NZ clients)
The statement’s funding rule, page 24, is online bank transfer, international telegraphic transfer, or payment through a credit card or electronic gateway provider. On the New Zealand deposit page, bank wire and Visa and Mastercard deposits carry zero fee, and the firm’s footnote says it does not typically pass on processing fees, though banks and payment processors may charge. The statement still allows a card fee, a percentage shown on the website and deducted at the transaction (page 23).
Withdrawals
Withdrawals are processed within business hours, processing is typically same day and may take up to 2 business days, and it can take between 1 and 7 business days for you to receive your funds (page 24). You request a withdrawal through the client portal for any Available Margin, which the statement defines as your total equity less your current total margin requirement, so the amount you can withdraw is not your account balance (pages 7 and 24). If you are on margin call you cannot withdraw funds, and all funds must be cleared before the firm releases any payment (page 24). Third-party withdrawals are prohibited, and under the firm’s return to source policy, funds withdrawn by bank wire must go to a verified external bank account in the same name as your ThinkMarkets account (page 24). The firm charges no fee to process a withdrawal, though your bank or payment processing provider may deduct one from the amount (page 23).
Account opening
Before an account opens, the firm applies its suitability gate: a client who will not supply information about their derivatives knowledge and experience cannot be accepted (page 26).
ThinkMarkets accounts and minimum deposit
The statement sets out a commission rule rather than named account tiers: commission runs between 0 per cent and 5 per cent of the executed opening and closing transaction value, depending on platform and account type (page 21). An introducing broker’s commission may be charged either as a fixed amount a side or as extra spread, for example two basis points (page 21). ThinkMarkets’ New Zealand website names the ThinkTrader account as its retail offering, charging zero commission, and offers no account of the raw spread plus commission type.
| Fact | What the record says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | 50, currency not stated, or the equivalent in your account currency | Broker site, read 13 October 2026 |
| Minimum deposit by account | Not held for this brand | Our global broker test |
| Accounts this page costs | 1 | Computed by our cost engine |
| Account our cost engine builds (standard) | One spread, no commission | Our cost engine label, not the broker's own |
Every row above names its own record: one from the broker's own site, one from our global broker test, one from a computation over those figures and one from our cost engine's own labels.
Minimum deposit
The ThinkTrader account page on the broker’s New Zealand site quotes the deposit floor as “a minimum of $50 or equivalent in your selected base currency”, without naming which currency the dollar sign means.
ThinkMarkets trading platforms
ThinkTrader, the broker’s in-house platform, is the one its New Zealand section carries, and the New Zealand site lists a demo account. A ThinkTrader account is also what connects you to TradingView, while MT4 and MT5 do not reach New Zealand clients as platform options. A guaranteed stop loss order runs on ThinkTrader only, with premiums starting at 0.025% of the underlying exposure, taken from equity when a position opens.
Copy and social trading
No copy trading or social trading platform is named for this broker (our global test record), so ask ThinkMarkets directly before you open an account. The brand’s worldwide offering is covered in our global review.
ThinkMarkets app
ThinkMarkets's app ThinkMarkets: Trading App is rated 4.4 out of 5 from 23 ratings on the New Zealand App Store, checked 1 November 2026.
ThinkTrader is rated 4.0 out of 5 on Google Play (New Zealand store) from 7.11K reviews shown worldwide, checked 1 November 2026.
ThinkMarkets execution speed and slippage
On our global test panel this broker filled market orders in 248 ms and limit orders in 161 ms, ranking 25th of 36 on the limit order fill and 35th of 36 on the market order fill (our global execution table, ranked on the limit order, fastest first). No New Zealand account was tested: both fill times come from the global panel.
A fill time tells you how quickly an order was accepted, not the price you get. Slippage, the difference between the price you see and the price you are filled at, is a separate matter, and a fast fill can still slip. Neither fill time was measured against the New Zealand entity, so treat both as a global indication only, and check the trading session in New Zealand time when you trade.
ThinkMarkets markets
The New Zealand product disclosure statement gives the product classes this entity offers: CFDs on individual shares, indices, currencies, commodities and futures contracts (page 12). It gives product classes, not instrument counts. If you are new to these products, what a CFD is and how it is treated in New Zealand explains the instrument.
Product classes in the statement: CFDs on individual shares, indices, currencies, commodities and futures contracts (Product disclosure statement, page 12)
ThinkMarkets leverage and margin in New Zealand
The product disclosure statement requires you to deposit an initial margin that is a percentage of the notional contract amount, typically between 3.33 per cent and 25 per cent (page 8), which works out to a leverage band of about 30:1 at the loosest and 4:1 at the tightest (the ratio conversion is ours, not the statement’s). This percentage is the cash you must have in your account before the trade opens. The firm reserves the right to vary it at its own discretion, including in periods of market volatility.
| Fact | What the record says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Initial margin | initial margin is typically between 3.33 and 25 per cent of the notional contract amount | Product disclosure statement, page 8 |
| Whether close-out is guaranteed | the firm does not guarantee positions will close when the margin level reaches the stop out level | Product disclosure statement, page 9 |
| Whether the close-out level can change | the stop out level can be changed at any time, on three days' notice | Product disclosure statement, page 9 |
| Negative balance | no negative balance protection: the client stays liable for a negative balance that closing out cannot cover | Product disclosure statement, page 14 |
Every row above comes from one record, the product disclosure statement.
The statement’s own worked examples, which it calls illustration only, show how this looks on four specific trades.
| Example | Page | Instrument | Size | Leverage | Initial margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | margin FX contract on EUR/USD | one lot | 30:1 | 3.33 per cent |
| 2 | 11 | margin FX contract on EUR/USD | one lot | 30:1 | 3.33 per cent |
| 3 | 12 | CFD on gold, XAU/USD | one lot of 100 ounces | 20:1 | 5 per cent |
| 4 | 14 | margin close out example, margin FX contract on AUD/NZD | one lot | 20:1 | 5 per cent |
The broker’s New Zealand contract specifications page, read on 21 September 2026, shows the Retail classification first.
| Classification | Pairs | Maximum leverage |
|---|---|---|
| Retail | EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY and 11 other currency pairs | 30:1 |
| Retail | AUD/USD and NZD/USD | 20:1 |
| Retail | cryptocurrency pairs including BTC/USD and ETH/USD | 2:1 |
| Professional | those same currency pairs including NZD/USD | 500:1 |
On the Retail figures, the two pairs a New Zealand reader is most likely to look up, AUD/USD and NZD/USD, sit one band below the other currency pairs.
How leverage interacts with margin on this account
The statement gives a stop out at a level the firm sets, for example 50 per cent of initial margin or 0.5 per cent of the notional contract amount (page 14). The firm does not guarantee open positions will close when the margin level reaches the stop out level (page 9), and it can change that level at any time, on at least three days’ notice (page 9).
ThinkMarkets customer support
Per the New Zealand home page, a client support team answers 24/7, and the support page shows email, a contact form, live chat and the number +64 48 867 946. The statement adds +64 3 668 4583 (page 25), a toll-free New Zealand line at +64800000979 (pages 5 and 6), and the email [email protected] (page 25).
How ThinkMarkets compares to BlackBull Markets and IG Group
BlackBull Markets tops our rated New Zealand set with an NZ desk score of 88.5, well ahead of this broker’s NZ desk score of 81. Ross Collins’s spread tests put BlackBull Markets at a tested raw EUR/USD figure of 0.46 pips, with commission of US$6.00 per lot and a round turn of US$10.60 per standard lot. ThinkMarkets gives New Zealand clients the ThinkTrader account at zero commission, with an EUR/USD cost that is a published minimum, so the two figures rest on different bases and cannot be placed above or below each other.
In the ratings, IG Group carries an NZ desk score of 82, ahead of this broker. IG Group’s spread-only account, charging no commission, carries an average EUR/USD spread published at 1.13 pips, IG’s own figure averaged over the 12 weeks to 29 May 2020, which works out to US$11.30 per standard lot round turn. An average and a floor rest on different bases, so that figure cannot be set against the round turn at ThinkMarkets.
What other review sites say about ThinkMarkets
These are ratings of ThinkMarkets from other platforms, read on the date shown and expressed on each platform's scale, so you can weigh them against our own score.
| Platform | Rating | Volume | Read on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot | 3.5 / 5 | 544 | 1 November 2026 |
| TradingView | 4.6 / 5 | 3,013 | 1 November 2026 |
ThinkMarkets holds a Trustpilot rating of 3.5 out of 5 from 544 reviews, checked 1 November 2026.
On TradingView, ThinkMarkets is rated 4.6 out of 5 from 3,013 ratings, checked 1 November 2026. The TradingView profile for ThinkMarkets shows 14.1K traders, the count of those who have connected an account through TradingView. TradingView shows the Best 2025 badge on the profile.
Our score is based on published criteria and is not influenced by these third-party ratings.
Should you open an account with ThinkMarkets?
Yes, I would open one were I a New Zealand trader wanting a commission-free account on ThinkTrader and at ease with the margin and negative balance terms of the statement.
The single fact I would weigh first is the negative balance term on page 14: a client can lose more funds than they deposit and may have to deposit more, and no negative balance protection applies. Before depositing, read the stop out and negative balance terms of the statement, and remember that EUR/USD sits on a published minimum, so any given trade may carry a wider spread and a round turn above the floor named in the spreads section.
ThinkMarkets FAQs
Can a New Zealand Client Get the 5000:1 Leverage ThinkMarkets Advertises?
Is ThinkMarkets a New Zealand Company?
Does ThinkMarkets' New Zealand Product Disclosure Statement Cover Its Guaranteed Stop Loss Order?
How Long Does a ThinkMarkets Demo Account Last for a New Zealand Trader?
Is ThinkMarkets' 248 ms Market Order Fill Fast or Slow?
Testing log
| Record | Detail |
|---|---|
| Execution recorded | A market order filled in 248 ms, as measured by our global test panel. |
| FMA register read | 19 September 2026, licence status active. |
| Product disclosure statement | The statement is dated 11 April 2023 and we read it in full on 20 September 2026. |
