City Index Review Of 2026
The StoneX Group Inc owns forex broker City Index. We review City Index’s UK CFD and forex offering, the only market where the City Index brand currently operates.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
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Verdict 
Fees 
Trading Platforms 
Safety 
Funding 
Product Range 
Support 
Market Research City Index Summary
Our Verdict on City Index
We found City Index has low forex trading fees with no commissions outside the spread, a good choice of trading platforms and if using the City Index platform; the benefit of a guaranteed stop loss to protect your trades and unique 3rd party addons. With City Index, you will find that the account opening process is very simple, and the broker has excellent Forex education and research tools. We gave City Index a high trust score cause their parents is listed on the NYSE and they are multi-regulated.
City Index however is not without its downside, fees for stock CFDs are on the higher side, and its desktop trading platform could do with some improvement.
City Index Pros and Cons
- Easy account opening
- Low forex fees
- Extensive research tools
- High fees for stock CFDs
- Limited product portfolio
- Complex desktop platform
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City Index Fees
When deciding on a broker, you can save on costs by choosing a broker with tight spreads. To give you an idea of what the spreads are like with City Index and how they compare with other Forex brokers, Ross Collins, our Forex expert at CompareForexBrokers tested 20 brokers to see how spreads perform over a 24-hour period. For this exercise, we used 6 major currency pairs and then averaged the spread result. By doing this we hoped to nullify variations in better and worse-performing pairs by each broker.
Overall we found that City Index performed poorly, a lowly 17th of the 20 brokers. To verify our results we did the test again one week later and the results were similar. With an average spread of 1.79 pips, your cost will be $16.52 per lot you trade. This contrasts significantly with what we found in our IC Markets Review which averages 1.03 pips or $9.63 per lot.
City Index Account Types (UK)
City Index UK offers two retail account types plus an elective professional tier:
- Standard CFD account (Web Trader): connects to the City Index Web Trader, the mobile app and TradingView. No minimum deposit.
- MT4 account: a separate MetaTrader 4 account with its own login. It is not the same account as the Web Trader.
- Professional account (Elective Professional): for traders who meet two of the FCA’s three criteria (a portfolio over €500,000, significant trading activity, or relevant industry experience). Professional clients gain higher leverage but lose retail protections, including negative balance protection, with margin close-out at 50% of the margin requirement.
City Index charges no commission on forex, indices or commodities, where the cost sits in the spread. Share CFDs carry a commission of 0.08% per side (minimum £10) on UK, EU and Asian shares, and 1.8¢ per share (minimum $10) on US shares. An inactivity fee of £12 per month applies after 12 months of no trading activity.
City Index does not offer copy trading or social trading. There is no ZuluTrade, Myfxbook AutoTrade, cTrader Copy, DupliTrade or proprietary copy or mirror trading tool on any City Index platform. If copy trading matters to you, a dedicated copy-trading broker is a better fit.
We tested the Execution Speeds and the account opening process for various forex brokers and scored City Index 8 out of 15. While a dedicated account manager was automatically assigned, the account opening process took days, and establishing an MT4 account required intervention from the account manager.
Use the calculator below to compare City Index’s trading costs with competitors such as Pepperstone, Eightcap and CMC Markets, adjusting for trade size, currency pair, and base currency.
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City Index Leverage Structure
City Index applies the FCA’s retail leverage caps for UK clients: 30:1 on major forex pairs, 20:1 on minor pairs and major indices, and lower limits on shares and other assets. Elective professional clients can access materially higher leverage. The table below sets retail and professional leverage side by side, so you can see exactly where the two tiers differ before you trade.
| Asset Class | Retail (FCA) | Professional (FCA) |
|---|---|---|
| Forex Majors | 30:1 | 400:1 |
| Forex Minor and Exotics | 20:1 | Higher than retail |
| Stocks | 5:1 | 20:1 |
| Cryptocurrency | Not available (FCA crypto-derivative ban) | 20:1 |
| Indices Major | 20:1 | 500:1 |
| Indices Minor | 10:1 | Higher than retail |
| Gold | 20:1 | 200:1 |
| Other Metals | 10:1 | 200:1 |
| Energy | 10:1 | 200:1 |
| Soft Commodities | 10:1 | 200:1 |
| Bonds | 5:1 | Higher than retail |
| Options | 30:1 | Higher than retail |
| Interest rates | 5:1 | Higher than retail |
Risk Management
CFDs are risky instruments, especially when it comes to using leverage. For this reason, City Index offers various risk management tools including guaranteed stop-loss orders.
While using a guaranteed stop-loss order will increase your costs due to the premium you will need to pay, it does protect you from losses due to slippage.
This differs from a traditional stop loss which is not a fool-proof risk management strategy as during extreme volatility, slippage may occur resulting in losses exceeding an amount set. This happens when a forex broker can’t achieve the price set in the stop-loss order.
Order Types
Compared to other online CFD providers, we like that City Index supports multiple order types and has the ability to program your entry and exit points. To get some of these features, you will need to be using the City Index Trading Platform.
The most advanced order types offered by City Index include:
- One cancels the other (OCO) – a complex order that combines a stop order and a limit order at the same time
- Guaranteed stop-loss orders – a very powerful risk metric that guarantees no slippage, but comes with an extra cost
- The standard stop-loss orders, limit orders, and trailing stops can be found on the broker’s platform
Guaranteed Stop Loss Orders (GSLO)
Our team of experts felt the obligation to provide our readers with additional information on the guaranteed stop-loss order.
While the GSLO order comes as a handy solution to minimize losses, forex traders need to be aware that it can only be used under certain parameters. The GSLO order can be used as follows:
- Only available for 12,000 instruments and doesn’t include the full range of assets offered by City Index
- There is a minimum price distance within which the GSLO order can be placed
- There is a premium charged only when the GSLO order is triggered and traders can make changes to the GSLO without paying extra fees. However, this is only activated should the order be turned on.
Margin Call and Margin Close Out System
To help prevent negative balance protection from needing to be activated, a margin call system is also used. When your margin indicator level drops below 100%, you will be notified by email to top up your account balance or close some trading positions. This means you need enough balance in your account across open and closed positions to cover your required margin to hold your position.
Should your required margin fall below 50% a margin, closeout will be activated. At this point, the broker will automatically exit some trading position till the threshold is no longer crossed.
Trading Platforms
| Trading Plaform | Available With City Index |
|---|---|
| MetaTrader 4 | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 | No |
| cTrader | No |
| TradingView | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes |
The CompareForexBrokers team created a trading platform selector so you can work out what trading software best matches your trading needs. I recommend you complete the short 5 step questionnaire which will help you determine your most suitable forex platform.
City Index UK gives you four ways to trade: its proprietary City Index Web Trader (web, desktop and mobile), the City Index mobile App, MetaTrader 4 (MT4), and TradingView. All four are available to UK CFD account holders.
MetaTrader 4
Like with most forex brokers, we can confirm that City Index uses MetaTrader 4 (MT4) as its basic trading software. MT4 is the dominant platform used in the forex market and is available on both Windows and Mac devices.
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City Index WebTrader
On City Index, the standard MT4 platform is upgraded with variable forex pricing and access to all of City Index’s market analytics. These upgrades, on top of an already well-proven system, give this version of the MT4 platform versatile function while keeping it relatively user-friendly.
MetaTrader 4 WebTrader
The standard MT4 platform is also available for traders to use on their web browsers using WebTrader.
Mobile
Both City Index Mobile and the MT4 mobile app are ideally suited for traders who are on the move, providing stop-loss orders, watchlists functionality, and Reuters news integration.
TradingView
We like that City Index integrates with TradingView, a powerful charting platform, and social network which offers traders access to a wealth of tools and information including strategy testers, indicators, and more. We note, that this integration is available to all UK CFD account holders.
Is City Index Safe?
City Index has a trust score of 9.5/10, from its regulation, reputation, and reviews.
1. Regulation
City Index is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the United Kingdom’s tier-1 regulator, under firm reference 446717. The FCA holds brokers to strict standards designed to protect client money and ensure fair, transparent conduct. Requirements include:
- Good Business continuity and disaster recovery
- Top risk management practices
- Monitoring and oversight of its electronic trading systems (i.e. trading platforms)
- Information security (so your information is secure)
- Anti-money laundering
- An established customer complaint process
StoneX Financial Ltd (Companies House number 05616586), trading as City Index, is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference 446717. Its registered office is at 1st Floor, Moor House, 120 London Wall, London EC2Y 5ET. The business is part of StoneX Group Inc, a Nasdaq-listed Fortune 100 company.
City Index and Forex.com: Same Entity, Different Brand
You should know that City Index UK and Forex.com UK are operated by the same FCA-regulated entity, StoneX Financial Ltd (firm reference 446717). Both brands sit under Nasdaq-listed StoneX Group. The underlying entity is identical, but the two brands target slightly different audiences and offer similar, though not identical, products.
Outside the UK, the City Index brand has been retired. City Index Australia rebranded to Forex.com in August 2025, and City Index Singapore transitioned to Forex.com in April 2025. If you are looking at City Index from outside the UK, you will most likely be onboarded to Forex.com instead. We review City Index and Forex.com as two separate brokers because they run on different platforms, account structures and pricing, even though the regulated entity is shared.
- All these requirements include negative balance protection for retail clients, so you cannot lose more than you deposit with City Index.
- StoneX Group also owns Forex.com, which is operated by the same UK entity and offers similar products to City Index.
- City Index does not operate in Canada or the USA. Clients in those countries are served by Forex.com instead.
- The FCA requires brokers to join the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Should City Index go into liquidation, eligible clients may be compensated up to £120,000 by the FSCS.
2. Reputation
City Index was founded in 1983 in London, UK and has been operating for over 40 years. Despite its years in the industry, it seems to have a low search volume on Google with only 6,600 monthly hits, it ranks as the 55th most popular forex broker among the 67 brokers analyzed. Web traffic data from Similarweb in February 2026 shows a similar positioning, with City Index ranking as the 49th most visited broker with 149,789 global visits.
Like FOREX.com, City Index is operated by StoneX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SNEX), a Fortune 100 company with a 100+ year track record. StoneX is ranked #66 in the 2024 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. StoneX serves more than 54,000 commercial, institutional, and payments clients, along with more than 400,000 active retail accounts across more than 180 countries.
Despite its relatively modest search visibility, City Index has established a significant operational footprint, serving over 1 million customers globally and employing approximately 800 staff members.
| Country | 2026 Monthly Searches |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 3,600 |
| India | 880 |
| Australia | 390 |
| United States | 210 |
| South Africa | 140 |
| Thailand | 140 |
| Singapore | 110 |
| Germany | 90 |
| Indonesia | 50 |
| United Arab Emirates | 50 |
| Italy | 50 |
| Netherlands | 50 |
| Japan | 40 |
| Poland | 40 |
| France | 40 |
| Spain | 40 |
| Pakistan | 30 |
| Nigeria | 30 |
| Turkey | 30 |
| Brazil | 30 |
| Malaysia | 30 |
| Canada | 20 |
| Mexico | 20 |
| Vietnam | 20 |
| Hong Kong | 20 |
| Sweden | 20 |
| Ireland | 20 |
| New Zealand | 20 |
| Bangladesh | 10 |
| Kenya | 10 |
| Philippines | 10 |
| Uzbekistan | 10 |
| Ethiopia | 10 |
| Colombia | 10 |
| Morocco | 10 |
| Saudi Arabia | 10 |
| Ghana | 10 |
| Uganda | 10 |
| Peru | 10 |
| Venezuela | 10 |
| Argentina | 10 |
| Egypt | 10 |
| Taiwan | 10 |
| Algeria | 10 |
| Dominican Republic | 10 |
| Cambodia | 10 |
| Austria | 10 |
| Switzerland | 10 |
| Chile | 10 |
| Sri Lanka | 10 |
| Tanzania | 10 |
| Cyprus | 10 |
| Portugal | 10 |
| Ecuador | 10 |
| Greece | 10 |
| Jordan | 10 |
| Guatemala | 10 |
| Panama | 10 |
| Honduras | 10 |
| Bolivia | 10 |
| Botswana | 10 |
| Costa Rica | 10 |
| Mongolia | 10 |
| Uruguay | 10 |
| Mauritius | 0 |
 United Kingdom | 3,600 1st |
 India | 880 2nd |
 Australia | 390 3rd |
 United States | 210 4th |
 South Africa | 140 5th |
 Thailand | 140 6th |
 Singapore | 110 7th |
 Germany | 90 8th |
 Indonesia | 50 9th |
 United Arab Emirates | 50 10th |
3. Reviews
City Index has a TrustPilot score of 4.3 out of 5 from 389 reviews.
Deposit and Withdrawal
Funding your City Index account is straightforward, and the broker does not charge deposit or withdrawal fees. UK clients can fund an account using the following methods:
- Debit and credit cards (Visa, Mastercard): free
- PayPal: free
- Apple Pay: free
- Bank transfer (BACS, Faster Payments): free
- CHAPS same-day transfer: free from City Index, though your own bank may charge around £25
City Index does not charge any fees for deposits or withdrawals. Your bank or payment provider may apply its own charges, particularly for same-day or international transfers.
There is no minimum deposit. You can open and fund an account from £0, although City Index suggests around £100 to give you room to manage risk. Accounts can be held in GBP, EUR or USD.
It is worth checking the latest funding details on the official City Index site before making a transfer, as accepted methods can change over time.
Product Range
City Index offers a broad range of CFD instruments for UK traders. Its product range includes:
- Forex: over 80 currency pairs, including majors, minors and exotics.
- Indices: global indices such as the UK 100, Germany 40 and Wall Street.
- Shares: CFDs on thousands of global shares, allowing diversification across markets and sectors.
- Commodities: metals, energies and agricultural products including gold, silver and oil.
- Cryptocurrencies: not available to UK retail clients. The FCA banned crypto-derivatives for retail traders on 6 January 2021. Elective professional clients may access crypto CFDs at up to 20:1 leverage.
City Index also provides research tools, including economic calendars, market analysis and live news feeds, to help you make informed trading decisions.
CFDs let you speculate on price movements without owning the underlying asset. One of the main advantages of trading CFDs with City Index is the ability to go long or short, so you can potentially profit from both rising and falling markets. This is particularly useful in volatile conditions, and City Index gives you access to a wide range of markets across forex, indices, commodities and shares so you can diversify your positions.
New traders can also benefit from the broker’s educational resources, which include guides, webinars and tutorials aimed at building trading knowledge and confidence.
Customer Support
We especially like that forex traders using City Index have multiple ways to reach out to the company’s support staff when they need to, including:
- Live chat assistance
- Email support
- Direct phone support
In addition to these methods, traders can also find the answers to a range of frequently asked questions in the FAQ section of the brokerage’s website.
This set of common questions will provide answers and solutions for most issues. When more rigorous support is needed, however, City Index’s staff is there to help.
Customer Support is available 24/5 ready to answer all your inquiries directly on their website.
Research and Education
City Index Trading Academy
When it comes to trading education, we think this is a big strong point for City Index. When you open an account you gain access to an impressive educational trading academy.
City index offers retail investors and professional traders hundreds of lessons available at their fingertips. The educational material encompasses a broad range of topics from lessons on how CFDs work and a trading strategy course that is valued at over $5,000.
You can learn to trade with City Index Training Academy and have access to the following types of educational material:
- Understand how CFDs work course
- Technical analysis and fundamental analysis guides
- Trading strategy guides
- City Index research tool guide
- Expert news and analysis
- Free webinars
- Earnings Report
- Economic calendar
The global research team at City Index has been awarded multiple times for their level of professionalism. The market analyses that can be found on City Index are constantly featured in mainstream media (MSM) publications including The Guardian, The Telegraph, BBC, and Sky News.
The weekly forex outlooks and forecasts published every Monday morning at 10.00 am is another insightful tool that will prepare forex traders for the week ahead.
Trader Development Program
City Index clients can also join the exclusive trader development program if they want to learn from an ex-Goldman Sachs professional trader. The program is run by Tony Sycamore from TECHFX TRADERS, who has over 20 years of trading experience.
The trading strategy course is divided into three main sections and is intended to accelerate the learning curve of a novice trader.
The first section provides an introduction to the forex market and outlines key concepts. This is followed by a dedicated section on the basics of fundamental and technical analysis. The final section focuses on teaching advanced concepts including trading strategies.
To access the trading strategy course, forex traders need to open an account with City Index and make a minimum deposit.
Final Verdict on City Index
Overall, we think that City Index is a solid forex broker which offers robust customer support channels, plenty of insightful educational materials, and a wide range of financial markets.
Being regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom is a big plus for security, and the backing it receives from Nasdaq-listed parent StoneX, adds further weight to this view.
When it comes to leverage, City Index’s offering is fairly muted compared to other leading forex brokers. Additionally, its spreads are somewhat uncompetitive.
While we think City Index offers a lot of benefits to traders, we view these two factors as major disadvantages.
If you’re looking for a low-cost broker, then IC Markets may be more suited to you.
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City Index is now a UK-only brand following the consolidation of City Index Australia and Singapore into Forex.com during 2025.
City Index Review FAQ
Does City Index allow scalping?
Yes, City Index does allow scalping and hedging strategies for traders. Additionally, automated trading strategies are also permitted which in our view, positions City Index well for high-frequency and quant-style traders.
Other reputable Australian forex brokers which offer these types of strategies include IC Markets and Pepperstone, which both benefit from some of the lowest spreads in the forex industry.
Is City Index a market maker?
City Index runs a market-maker pricing model through its proprietary dealing desk. In other words, City Index creates its own market for retail traders to buy and sell financial instruments.
By comparison, ECN brokers operate through a no-dealing desk (NDD) where client orders are matched directly with various liquidity providers (LPs).
Compare the best ECN Brokers to get the best deal for your trading needs.
Compare City Index Competitors
Ask an Expert
Can you trade options with City Index?
Yes, you can trade options with City Index. There are over 20 options markets to choose from and you will need to use the City Index desktop or Android, iOS mobile app. Options are spread-only products meaning there are no commissions.
Do I have to have trading experience to open an account with City Index?
No, you don’t but they may ask some question to ensure you understand the risks of CFD trading before accepting you as a client.