This ATC Brokers review found ATC has forex trading using MetaTrader 4 trading platform. Minimum deposits are high ($2000 – $5000) but they are regulated by FCA and NFA making them one of the few forex brokers suitable for UK and US traders.
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ATC Brokers are is one of the few brokers that offer ECN pricing to forex traders in the UK and US when using the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. This is because they are regulated by the FCA, NFA and CIMA. Traders in the US, however, will trade spot forex, not CFD forex. ATC brokers are best for serious traders since minimum deposits start from $2,000 which is quite high.
When you sign up with ATC Brokers, you’ll choose one of three ECN or STP account types: individual, joint, or corporate. While ATC Brokers does not provide information about trading conditions for each account type, the spreads/fees and leverage are the same for each account.
ATC Brokers trading accounts use ECN or STP like trading, which means commission costs on top of the spread. Commissions are USD 6.00 round-turn commission per standard lot (100,000) however if you prefer to trade with mini lots (10,000) the commission is USD 0.60 per lot round-turn. You can even trade micro-lots (1000) if you wish.
Scalping is permitted, making it a suitable choice for EAs or automation. Hedging is also permitted as long as you are not in the USA, where it is banned.
Regardless of which account you use, if you live in the United States, you’ll have a minimum deposit of 3,000 USD. Traders in the UK have a minimum deposit of 5,000 USD (about 3600 GBP) while other countries have a minimum deposit of $2000 USD.
It will take a few days for your ATC to process your application. If you’re applying for an individual or joint account, you’ll wait 1-2 days, while corporate accounts can take 3-5 days to complete. Of course, these time frames may change depending on the documentation needed to open an account.
These minimum deposits for opening an account are really high, especially when compared with other brokers around the globe. Many brokers give users the option to open an account for free or have very low minimum deposit amounts.
While traders with these no minimum accounts may still need to deposit more to meet the margin requirements to open a position, it is clear ATC Brokers is targeting serious traders. For this reason, ATC Brokers may not be the right choice if you’re just getting started in the world of Forex trading.
If you want to give the ATC Brokers trading platform a try before signing up for an account, the site offers a demo account. These demo accounts include USD 50,000 in virtual funds and are valid for 60 days unless you sign up for an ATC Brokers account. You can keep your demo account open as long as you have a live trading account on atcbrokers.com.
Demo accounts provide traders full access to the Meta Trader 4 (MT4) platform, which means you’ll be able to test out various types of trades and features beforehand. If you’re new to forex trading, a demo account is a great way to familiarise yourself with various trading aspects.
ATC Brokers does not offer a swap-free account or Islamic account at this point in time.
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Spreads are one of the main brokerage costs when trading, tighter spreads mean lower trading costs. Trading costs are an area where brokers can distinguish themselves from their competitors, since most brokers offer similar features. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that ATC Brokers fares very well in this aspect.
ATC Brokers is a no dealing desk broker, which means quotes are sourced from liquidity brokers such as major banks and financial institutions without intervention from the broker. ATC Brokers connect you with the liquidity providers using STP or ECN style trading execution without price intervention. This is what many brokers with the best spreads do, so in theory, ATC brokers spread should match these brokers, but for whatever reason, their published average spreads don’t compare well.
Every month, we gather the average spreads popular forex brokers list on their website for major currency pairs. The chart below shows the average spreads available for major forex pairs. As you can see, ATC Brokers fare poorly compared to other leading forex brokers with similar style accounts such as Pepperstone, IC Markets and FP Markets for major pairs such as EUR/USD.
Remember, tighter spreads mean fewer costs (as long as commission costs are also low) and the more you trade, the more your costs will be. So it is worthwhile investing in a broker that can offer you the best spreads.
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ECN Broker Spreads
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0.30 | N/A | 0.30 | 0.50 | 0.40 |
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0.47 | 0.50 | 0.12 | 0.40 | 0.22 |
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0.20 | 0.30 | 0.10 | 0.30 | 0.20 |
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0.14 | 0.25 | 0.02 | 0.27 | 0.17 |
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0.20 | 0.30 | 0.20 | 0.40 | 0.20 |
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0.50 | 0.60 | 0.30 | 0.50 | 0.50 |
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0.20 | 0.83 | 0.44 | 0.40 | 0.42 |
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0.24 | N/A | 0.17 | 0.54 | 0.30 |
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0.30 | 0.70 | 0.20 | 0.50 | 0.40 |
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0.30 | 1.10 | 0.10 | 0.60 | 0.50 |
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n/a | 0.30 | n/a | 0.60 | 0.50 |
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0.77 | 1.41 | 0.44 | 1.13 | 1.23 |
Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 01/09/2023
With forex trading, leverage is an important tool to understand. Leverage is usually one of the first things a trader wants to know more about. Novice and professional traders alike do their due diligence for leverage, so they can get the best feasible options available.
Leverage with ATC Brokers will vary depending on where in the world you’re located. In the United States, can apply maximum leverage of 50:1, while in the United Kingdom/Europe and Australia you’ll get 30:1 for major currency pairs, 20:1 for non-major currency pairs, indices, and gold, and 10:1 for silver and other commodities offered by the platform. Crypto is not available for UK traders, but traders in Europe and Australia can trade with 20:1 leverage.
Traders not in the USA, the UK, Europe or Australia will join ATC BROKERS LTD, their subsidiary based in the Cayman Islands. Regulatory requirements are more relaxed with this subsidiary, with 200:1 is available if you have an account size below 100,000 USD and 100:1 for account sizes above 100,000 USD. The leverage for metals is 50:1. 100:1 for indices and 20:1 for cryptocurrencies.
Remember, leverage is a risky tool and can lead to significant losses when things go wrong so make sure you are aware of the risks when using this instrument.
ATC Brokers offers its users one of the most popular trading platforms in the industry, MetaTrader4, also known as MT4. The MT4 platform is arguably the most used forex and CFD trading platform in the foreign exchange market. This is largely because of the wide array of features the software offers.
There are two versions of the MT4 platform: Desktop and Mobile. Let’s inspect each.
The MT4 desktop platform is the gold standard in forex trading software. The platform is available for both Windows and MacOS (so long as you’re running Mojave (v. 10.14) or earlier), ff you use later versions of MacOS, you’ll need to make use of an emulator or WINE.
New and experienced traders like the MT4 platform because it’s sleek and clean with a stylish interface. There’s not a lot of clutter or confusing information that often intimidates inexperienced traders. However, users can customise their dashboard, adding the tools and trading instruments they need to have a pleasant online trading experience.
Traders can quickly and easily view their trading conditions and positions, so they have the information they need when they need it. Users can also automate their trading through the use of EAs, also known as Expert Advisors. There is no shortage of features and trading tools available with the MT4 desktop platform.
Some of the more popular features include:
MT4 also offers an MT Pro version that offers a variety of features designed to allow users to customise their trade settings while improving their trading experience. With MT Pro, you’ll use a platform that uses your account information to pull your trading data, which then creates reports that are useful and informative.
With MT Pro you’ll get features such as:
If you like to know what’s going on with your forex trades while you’re on the go, the MT4 software is available on both iOS and Android devices. No matter where you are, you can view your trades and positions with the MT4 mobile app. It’s perfect for users who anyone who spends more time on their mobile device than their desktop computer.
When you use the MT4 mobile app, you’ll get plenty of features, including:
ATC Brokers offers many products, which include forex trading, metals, and CFDs, and Contract Specs. Here’s a closer peek at what is involved with each of these options.
Few people are aware of just how much trading volume the forex market does daily. There is more than $6.5 trillion in trades every day. Plus, it’s a significant industry for trading since it’s available to anyone in the world no matter where they live. It’s also available Monday-Friday, 24-hours a day.
With ATC Brokers, you’ll be able to trade 38 major, minor, and exotic currency pairs. These include AUD/USD, EUR/USD, EUR/JPY.
If you are trading with ATC Brokers from the United States, then you should know you will trade spot Forex rather than CFD Forex. All other countries will trade CFDs.
Unfortunately, the range of trading pairs is limited when compared with other popular forex trading platforms. Other sites offer nearly double the currency pairs that ATC Brokers supports, with many more exotic options. If you need a lot of forex trading choices, you may want to look elsewhere.
ATC also offers trading precious metals. By accessing metals, you can expand and diversify your portfolio by adding non-currency products. With ATC, you can trade these assets without actually having them in your possession. Products available on the platform include Gold and Silver, which you can trade against the USD.
If you decide to trade in the metals market on the ATC Brokers platform, keep in mind that while it is open from Sunday to Friday, it opens at 10 pm GMT on Sunday and closes at 9 pm GMT on Friday. You can trade metals on ATC brokers with leverage of 50:1 and spreads of 0.07 pips for gold and 0.16 pips for silver.
Something to keep in mind when trading metals on ATC Brokers is that the platform only offers two metals. Gold and Silver are your only options. Palladium, Copper, and Platinum – which are other very popular metals – are not available through ATC Brokers.
Note: Metals is not available as an option for US traders.
Similar to most of its product offerings, ATC Brokers only offer a few energy trading options. Energies are used to diversify portfolios without having to actually own the product itself.
Unfortunately, the only options available through ATC are WTI and Brent Crude oil. It would be nice if the platform offered additional fuel energies, or soft commodities like sugar, corn, or coffee that other brokers often offer.
Note: Energies are not available as an option for US traders.
If you’re new to forex trading and want to gain exposure to the stock markets that other countries use, trading indices is a great place to start. Unfortunately, ATC Brokers does not offer a very robust lineup. There are no stocks or shares available. Otherwise, you can choose between DAX/EUR, STX/EUR, FTS/GBP, DOW/USD, SPX/USD, NDX/USD, and AUS/AUD.
Note: Indices are not available as an option for US traders.
Trading cryptocurrencies is only available for professional account types. Keep in mind that trading crypto through ATC Brokers is not available during the weekend. The traditional crypto exchange is open 24/7, so you’ll lose out in a few days of trading.
However, if you use ATC for crypto trading, you’ll have access to popular digital coins like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin.
Note: Cryptocurrencies are not available as an option for US and UK traders.
There are a few ways ATC Brokers offer support to its users. You can contact customer service through chat or email and learn more about trading through the site’s Learn section. ATC could probably do more for its users, but it’s a step in the right direction.
This is an area where ATC Brokers could do better. When using the chat feature, you’re left feeling like your questions weren’t addressed. More often than not, you’re directed to a ticketing system that allows you to input your personal information, along with your problem or question.
While ATC does a good job of getting back to you in a timely manner – usually within a few hours – you might still feel like your questions aren’t answered. For example, when asking about the different accounts, the platform responded with leverage options and pushed to set up a call to go over the options and features they provide. While that makes things a little more personal, the actual question was never answered.
However, the site offers an extensive FAQ section, which answers many general questions, giving you plenty of information about the platform. This includes information about pricing, leverage, spreads, and more. If you can’t find the answer through the FAQ section, there’s a form at the bottom of the page that lets you send a message to the customer support team. If you prefer not to use the form itself, you can always email the support team directly.
ATC Forex offers lessons in forex trading that apply to both experienced and novice traders. Topics in this section cover everything from how to get started trading to information about ECN broker services, trading platforms, and much more. Want to learn more about CFDs or Day Trading? ATC Brokers has you covered.
There’s plenty of information available in the ATC Learn section of the site, but it would be great to see them expand on what they offer. Most topics are just one long page broken up into smaller subsections about forex trading. While some people might learn this way, most people will not keep what they read.
It would be nice if topics were broken up into various levels so users know where to start. Some broker platforms provide more interactive methods for learning about forex trading. With all that said, at least ATC Brokers offers a learning module, which is more than other platforms do for their users.
You already know the account minimum is 2,000, 3000 or 5,000 USD, depending on where you’re located. Users can currently only deposit funds in their accounts through either bank wire or UnionPay using either USD or EUR. Unfortunately, the brokerage firm does not accept popular payment methods such as PayPal, ChinaPay, Klarna, Mastercard. If you are in the USA and some other countries, you can’t even use a credit card. This limitation can be seen as a major weakness of the broker. The good news is that there are no fees to deposit funds into your ATC Brokers account.
If you want to withdraw your funds, you’ll need to go to your ATC Brokers account and select “Withdraw funds.” Keep in mind that when you remove your funds, ATC charges a withdrawal fee. If you’re using USD, you’ll pay $40 and if you’re using EUR, it will run you €30.00.
Since forex and CFD trading are complex, high-risk financial services, many platforms will offer risk management features to help diminish trader concerns. For example, some platforms offer guaranteed stop loss and take profits as part of their risk mitigation. However, ATC Brokers does not offer these features since they depend on market volatility.
ATC will also allow your account to go negative in certain countries if you bite off more than you can chew. However, if you live in either Europe or Australia, ATC Brokers falls under FCA regulators. That means the site offers negative balance protection. Remember, there is always risk associated with forex trading, so take the proper precautions and only trade what you’re comfortable losing.
ATC Brokers is regulated by multiple regulators. These include:
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for traders in the United Kingdom. Traders in the UK, Europe and Australia will sign up with ATC Brokers UK subsidiary ATC BROKERS LTD (UK) and have the following FCA regulation licence FRN 591361).
The NFA (National Futures Association) and CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) as an introducing broker for US traders. Traders in the US will sign with ATC BROKERS (US) and have the following NFA regulation licence number (NFA 0358522).
The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). Traders outside the above-mentioned regions will sign with ATC BROKERS LTD. ATC has the following CIMA licence (1448274)
The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) requires that brokerages manage their business using strict guidelines. ATC Brokers LTD requires that all funds deposited by users be stored separately from the firm. This ensures that the firm is not using your money for company purposes. ATC banks with top-tier financial institutions to provide the highest levels of integrity to its users.
The FCA requires brokers in the UK to offer negative balance protection. This means traders in the UK and Europe are cannot lose more than they deposit.
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ATC Brokers is a MetaTrader 4 trading platform specialist whose key feature is their tight ECN/STP like spreads. We would summarise ATC Brokers, offering as relatively generic, they offer the essential features needed for trading. This includes the most popular trading platform and a decent range of financial instruments for trading and regulation. These features will be enough for most traders.
Traders wanting a richer trading experience will notice what they are missing. For example, the range of financial instruments for trading is quite limited, they only have 38 currency pairs, 9 indices and no share trading. It would also be nice if they included copy or social trading tools and VPS, a more extensive education library and market analysis tools.
The other notable limitation is the lack of funding methods – popular methods such as PayPal, Klarna and Neteller, for example, are not available.
ATC brokers are likely to have more appeal to US traders than to traders from other countries. There are few brokers regulated by NFA or CFTC that offer the MetaTrader 4 trading platform and forex trading. However, do note that for US traders we are talking about spot fx, not CFD fx.
Overall, ATC Brokers is a safe and reliable forex broker that could perform a few updates to be more competitive in the market.
Account Types
Spreads
Trading Platforms
Customer Support
Minimum Deposit
Forex Pairs + CFDs
Leverage
Regulation
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