XM vs IC Markets

XM vs IC Markets: Account Types – Lots Of Options

XM is mainly a commission-free broker but does offer a commission ECN style account to its European clients, while IC Markets offers both a standard or commission-based ECN-style pricing to all its clients. Both brokers offer swap-free account types for Muslim clients.

IC Markets Account Types

IC Markets offers three trading account types with different spreads and commission fee structures:

1. Standard Account (MT4 or MT5) with no commissions
2. Raw Spread Account (MT4 or MT5) with commission fees
3. Raw Spread Account (cTrader) with commission fees

All IC Markets account types require an initial minimum deposit of $200 with 0.1 micro-lots volumes available to trade.

IC Markets Standard Account

The broker’s commission-free account type provides access to spreads starting from 1.0 pip and is available on MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5. With no commission fees, IC’s Standard account is a great option for low volume or beginner trader’s wanting to avoid complex commission fee calculations.

IC Markets Raw Account: MetaTrader

Similar to an ECN account type, IC’s Raw Account provides access to institutional-grade pricing with minimum spreads starting from 0.0 pips.

Ideal for scalping, day trading and Expert Advisor strategies, IC connects Raw account holders to top-tier liquidity providers with fast order execution. As spreads are ultra-tight, averaging 0.1 pips, traders pay a flat rate commission fee of $7 round-turn.

IC Markets Raw Account: cTrader

Customers can also access ECN-style pricing with minimum spreads of 0.0 pips through IC Markets Raw Spread Account designed for the cTrader platform. One of the major differences between the MetaTrader and cTrader Raw Accounts is trading costs with cTrader users paying a lower commission fee of $6 round-turn.

Regardless of account type, customers can set up their trading accounts using one of 10 base currencies offered by IC Markets: AUD, USD, NZD, JPY, SGD, GBP, EUR, CHF, CAD, and HKD

XM Account Types

Four account types are offered by XM with varying minimum deposits, base currencies, spreads and lot sizes:

1. Standard Account
2. Micro Account
3. Ultra-Low Account (Not offered to European/UK traders)
4. Zero Account (Only available to EU/UK traders)

All XM account types are available on MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.

XM’s Standard Account

XM’s Standard Account offers commission-free trading with lot sizes of 100,000. A low minimum deposit of $5 is required to open a Standard Account.

• Lot size: 1 lot (100,000 units) = USD $10
• Base currencies: AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, CHF, JPY, RUB, PLN and HUF

XM’s Micro Account

For those wanting to trade smaller volumes, the XM’s Micro Account offers cent trading with micro-lots of 1000 units. With a low minimum deposit of $5 and no commission fees, the online brokers Micro Account is a good option for beginner traders who want to build confidence trading lower volumes, or lack the funds to trade larger lot sizes.

• Lot size: 1 micro lot (1,000 units) = USD 10 cents
• Base currencies: USD, GBP, AUD, EUR, JP, CHF, HUF, PLN and RUB

Additionally, XM’s Micro Account type allows traders to be more precise with their position sizing, with the ability to trade nano lots of 100 units by reducing your trading volume to 0.1, or mini lots of 10,000 by increasing your trade volume to 10 lots.

XM’s Ultra-Low Account

If you are based outside of the United Kingdom and Europe, you can sign up to XM’s Ultra-Low Account that provides access to tighter commission-free spreads than the broker’s Standard and Micro Accounts. While Standard and Micro accounts can trade minimum spreads from 1 pip, Ultra-Low accounts are offered spreads as low as 0.6 pips. A higher initial minimum deposit of $50 is needed with traders able to choose between standard or micro contract sizes.

• Standard lot: 1 standard lot = 100,000 units = USD $10
• Micro lot: 1 micro lot = 1,000 units = USD 10 cents
• Base currencies: USD, AUD, EUR, GBP, CHF, HUF and PLN

XM’s Zero Account (Europe/UK only)

European and UK based traders are able to sign up to XM’s ECN-style Zero Account. Instead of the Ultra-Low account, XM’s European and UK subsidiaries offer a commission-based trading account type. As spreads are much tighter, traders pay a flat rate commission of USD $3.50 per $100,000 traded. Zero Account holders trade standard contract sizes of 100,000 units per lot.

Although spreads can be as low as 0.0 pips, there are certain downsides to the Zero account such as limited market access (forex, gold and silver) and only three base currencies (USD, JPY or EUR).

Islamic Account Types

IC Markets Islamic Trading Accounts

All of IC Markets account types and trading platforms are available as a swap-free Islamic account option with the same spreads and commission fees explained above. Instead of interest-based overnight financing fees, traders pay flat rate charges ranging from $5-$50 per lot, with fees tripling on Friday evenings.

XM’s Islamic Account

XM offers an Islamic account option for Standard, Micro, and Ultra-Low account types. As Islamic traders cannot earn or receive interest, XM provides a swap-free option that follows Islamic finance practises in accordance with Sharia Law. XM’s Islamic account features include:

• No interest charges (overnight financing fees) on positions held open longer than a day
• XM does not widen spreads offered to Islamic account holders
• Commission-free trading
• Depending on your location, maximum leverage of 500:1

Leverage when Trading CFDs

XM’s Leverage

The leverage offered to you will differ between XM branches. The broker’s European and Australian branches restrict leverage to 30:1, while UAE based traders can use 50:1 under Dubai’s DFSA trading rules.

If you are looking for higher leverage, XM’s offshore branch regulated by the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) offers up to 888:1 when trading forex. Yet, please note forex is a complex instrument that comes with a high risk that’s amplified with leverage.

IC Markets Maximum Leverage

As with XM, the maximum leverage you are allowed to trade with as an IC Markets client depends on the subsidiary you are signed up to. IC Markets is overseen by three financial regulators, being:

• FSA: The Financial Services Authority of the Seychelles
• ASIC: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission
• CySEC: The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission

The FSA in Seychelles allows brokers to offer high leverage up to 500:1 when trading forex. But, financial regulation is stricter in Europe and Australia, IC’s branches overseen by CySEC and ASIC are only allowed to offer leverage up to 30:1 on major currency pairs, and 20:1 on minor and exotic fx pairs.

Which account is for you?

The right account to choose will depend if your style of trading.  The table below summarises each account and if they are for you.

Best Trading Account Type Overall: IC Markets

While you can make a case for choosing any of the accounts depending on the trader’s needs, IC Market’s Raw account types are winners due to tight spreads and the broker’s ECN-style environment. Whether you want to use cTrader or MetaTrader, you will pay low commission fees and be able to access minimum spreads of 0.0 pips and average spreads of 0.1 pips.

XM vs IC Markets: Select From The Most Popular Trading Platforms

Both brokers offer a choice of popular trading platforms, with neither offering proprietary software as an alternative. All options provide advanced technical analysis tools and automated trading features, though market access varies between platforms.

IC Markets Trading Platforms

In total, IC Markets offers three trading platform options. Standard account holders can choose between MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), while Raw Spread accounts also have the choice cTrader. Commission fees, CFD product range and trading tools vary between each platform, yet all options provide access to low spreads and ultra-fast execution.

Another difference between IC Markets trading platforms is where servers are located. Equinix servers facilitating trading for IC’s MetaTrader Raw and Standard accounts are based in New York’s data centres, while cTrader’s server is based in London. Depending on where you are located, this may be important to gain the fastest execution speeds with minimal lag.

XM Trading Platforms

As an XM customer, you can choose between MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, with the main difference being the CFD product range available to trade. MT4 is a great option for those wanting to focus on index, metals, energies and forex trading. Yet, if you are interested in trading shares with XM, you will need to use MT5.

Unlike IC Markets, XM only has one trade server, located in London.

XM and IC Both Offer MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5

MT4 and MT5 are two of the most popular trading platforms worldwide. MT4 is considered predominately a forex trading platform (although indices, crypto and commodities are available), while MT5 is a multi-asset platform offering share trading as well.

Automated Trading: MT4 & MT5

When using MT4 and MT5, IC and XM customers can automate trading via algorithmic strategies (Expert Advisors) or social-copy trading tools.

Expert Advisors

Using the MQL4 (MT4) or MQL5 (MT5) programming language, traders can write Expert Advisors (EAs) that automatically execute trades according to a set of preset conditions. Beginner traders who lack the experience to develop their own trading robots can download and buy EAs from MetaTrader’s Marketplace online.

To develop efficient Expert Advisors, traders can use MT4’s and MT5’s backtesting features. This allows you to test and optimise EAs against historical data to see how they perform. MT5’s backtesting tools offer improvements over MT4, with the ability to backtest multiple currency pairs at a time:

• MT4: Single thread, single currency
• MT5: Multi-thread, multi-currency

Social-Copy Trading

If you prefer to automate your trading via social-copy trading tools rather than EAs, MetaTrader platforms offer their proprietary copy trading software, Trading Signals. Available on both MT4 and MT5, Trading Signals enables you to follow and copy the trades of experienced traders, reducing the time spent researching opportunities and executing orders.

As well as the inbuilt social-trading tools provided by MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, users can also engage in social-copy trading by using third-party providers. Although XM does not offer these services, IC Markets provides a selection of account mirroring services to help customers automate trading:

• ZuluTrade: A social trading network where users can copy the strategies of traders that match their risk tolerance and investment objectives.
• Myfxbook AutoTrade: An account mirroring service that can be easily integrated into MT4.

Trading Tools

Traders can utilise the advanced range of charting tools available on MT4 and MT5 to identify changes in financial markets and profitable strategies. While both platforms offer a solid range of technical analysis tools, MT5 provides a wider selection of features compared to its predecessor. As shown below, MT5 users gain access to a larger collection of indicators, objects and timeframes to perform technical analysis.

As well as the inbuilt trading tools available on MetaTrader 4, IC Markets offers a plug-in package consisting of 20 additional apps and technical indicators such as a correlation matrix and alarm manager.

cTrader

While XM clients are only offered MT4 or MT5, IC Markets customers signed up to a Raw Account type can choose cTrader as there trading platform. As with MT4, cTrader is predominately a forex trading software with no share CFDs offered by IC Markets on the platform.

cTrader users can enjoy an ECN-like trading environment with ultra-fast execution and IC Market’s Raw pricing. Like MetaTrader’s Expert Advisors, cTrader users can fully automate trading by developing cBots. Other features include:

• Advanced technical analysis tools
• Level 2 depth of market
• One-click trading
• Hedging and scalping allowed

Mobile Trading Apps and Platform Options

MT4, MT5 and cTrader are all available as a desktop or webtrader platform, as well as trading apps designed for Android and iOS devices. The mobile apps allow you to trade easily on the go, all providing an extensive range of mobile charting tools and order types.

Best Trading Platform Overall

With advanced automated trading tools (EAs), extensive charting tools and CFDs including Shares, MetaTrader 5 offers the best features when compared to MetaTrader 4 and cTrader. As IC Markets and XM both provide customers access to MT5, this round is a draw between the two online brokers.

XM vs IC Markets: MultiTier-1 Regulated Brokers, Great For Trust

As CFDs and Forex are complex instruments, it is important to minimise the high risk of trading and avoid scams by signing up to a regulated broker. Most international brokers have multiple subsidiaries that are overseen by different financial authorities and therefore provide different levels of investor protection.

For example, FCA, ASIC and CySEC regulated brokers are required to display clear risk warnings, segregate client funds, provide negative balance protection, and enforce leverage caps of 30:1.

IC Markets Regulation and Licenses

IC Markets is well-respected by the international forex community with over 100,000 customers worldwide. If you reside in Canada, the United States, Iran or Israel, you will not be able to register as an IC Markets client. Traders based elsewhere can choose from three IC subsidiaries:

1. IC Markets Australia: Overseen by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and holds an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL)
2. IC Markets Europe: Regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). CySEC is a member of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)
3. IC Markets Seychelles: Overseen by the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA)

IC Markets Negative Balance Protection

IC Markets customers registered with the UK and Australian branches will receive negative balance protection, while leverage is limited to 30:1 when trading major currency pairs. IC Markets Global (FSA) customers are offered significantly higher leverage of 500:1 yet no negative balance protection is provided.

XM Regulation and Negative Balance Protection

XM offers negative balance protection to all customers, regardless of whether it’s a requirement of local financial authorities. Negative balance protection means that customers cannot end up in debt to their brokers, with open positions automatically closed if a trading account enters a negative balance due to unfavourable price movements. This level of investor protection may be particularly appealing to beginner traders who are concerned about losing more than they deposit.

While all XM branches provide negative balance protection, additional investor protection may vary depending on the subsidiary you sign up to:

1. XM Australia: Follows ASIC regulation
2. XM Europe: Overseen by CySEC
3. XM UK: Regulated by the FCA
4. XM Dubai: Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA)
5. XM Global: Regulated by the International Financial Services Commission, Belize (IFSC)

IC vs XM: Best Protection for Retail Investor Accounts

IC Markets and XM are overseen by multiple tier-1 financial authorities, with both brokers being viewed as trusted, reliable forex brokers by the international forex community. As XM offers negative balance protection to all clients, regardless of location, they provide the strongest investor protection overall.

View XM Review >>Visit XM >>

XM vs IC Markets: Trade Safer With Risk Management Tools

As well as trading with a tier-1 regulated broker, traders can reduce the high risk of forex and CFD trading by utilising different order types. To ensure profits and maximised and losses minimised, traders can use pending order types in addition to standard market orders. Both IC Markets and XM offer trading platforms that provide a range of order types on MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader.

Please note, availability of order types varies between trading platforms.

As mentioned in the previous section, XM is well-known for providing negative balance protection (NBP) to all clients, while IC Markets provides NBP to European and UK customers only.

IC vs XM: Best Risk Management Tools

IC Markets and XM offer a very similar range of risk management tools. Depending on the trading platform you choose, you can utilise different order types such as stop-loss orders to reduce the high risk that comes with forex and CFDs, regardless of which broker you are trading with.

View XM Review >>Visit XM >>

XM vs IC Markets: Lots Of CFD Financial Instruments To Trade

XM and IC Markets both offer a wide range of asset classes ranging from Forex to Commodities to Share CFDs. As market access differs between MT4, MT5 and cTrader, the products you want to trade will help determine the best-suited trading platform and account type for you to choose.

XM CFD Trading

As an XM customer, you can trade over a 1,000 financial instruments derived from Forex, Commodity, Equity Index, Precious Metal, Energy and Share asset classes. As a multi-asset trading platform, MetaTrader 5 users can access XM’s full product range, while MT4 traders can only trade Forex, Indices, Commodities and Precious Metals. A major downside to trading with XM is that they offer no cryptocurrency CFDs. XM’s full product range consists of:

• 57 different Forex pairs
• 8 Soft Commodities such as Coffee, Cocoa, Wheat and Corn
• 18 Cash Equity Indices and 12 Future Equity Indices including the S&P 500, FTSE 100, ASX200 and Nikkei 225
• Highly liquid Precious Metal markets being spot Gold and Silver, as well as Palladium and Platinum Future CFDs
• 5 Energy Futures with different Oil and Gas products and contract sizes available

XM does not offer its full CFD product range to all traders. UK and European customers signed up to an XM Zero account type are limited to trading Forex and Precious Metals, while MetaTrader 4 users are unable to trade Share CFDs. If you are interested in Share trading, MetaTrader 5 is better suited as it is a multi-asset trading platform that offers more diverse market access.

IC Markets CFD Trading

IC Markets provides excellent market access with a greater range of asset classes than XM. As well as Forex, Index, Energy, Agriculture, Metal and Share CFDs, the broker also offers Bonds, Futures and Cryptocurrency CFDs, including:

• Over 60 major, minor and exotic currency pairs
• 17 of the world’s largest Equity Indices
• Precious Metals include Gold and Silver against the United States Dollar (USD) or Euro (EUR), as well as Platinum and Palladium against the USD
• Soft Commodities with wheat, coffee, sugar and soybean contracts available
• Major Energy CFDs derived from Brent, Crude Oil and Natural Gas
• VIX Index CFD Futures, Crude Oil Futures, ICE Dollar Index Futures plus Brent and Crude Oil Futures
• 6+ government Bonds from Japan, Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom
• Over 120 Share CFDs across NYSE, NASDAQ AND ASX stock exchanges
• 10 major Crypto CFDs ranging from Bitcoin to PeerCoin to Ripple

Likewise to XM, Share CFD trading is only available when using MetaTrader 5. Futures are only available on MT4 while cTrader users are restricted to Forex trading and Equity Indices.

IC vs XM: Best Product Range

Although XM offers a good range of CFDs and over 1,000 Shares, IC wins this round due to offering more Forex pairs, an excellent selection of Cryptocurrency CFDs plus a diverse collection of asset classes. To make the most of the market access offered by IC Markets, it is best to sign up to a Raw account type using MetaTrader 5, as cTrader and MT4 do not permit Share trading.

XM vs IC Markets: Customer Service And Customer Support

Contact methods, availability and online resources all determine the quality of a broker’s customer support.

IC Markets Customer Support

IC Markets offers excellent customer support via live chat, phone and email. Those trading with IC Markets ASIC and FSA regulated branches can get in touch with the broker’s customer service team 24/7, while European and UK traders will need to contact IC between Monday and Friday.

IC Markets Education and Research

The online provides a great range of educational materials to assist all levels of experience, from beginner traders wanting to learn the basics, to seasoned investors wanting to develop complex trading strategies and conduct advanced market research. Examples of resources include:

• Demo accounts to practise trading strategies and build confidence trading
• Trading platform tutorials for MetaTrader 4 (MT4)
• Videos explaining topics such as MT4 order types and trading tools
• An information hub with articles discussing advanced technical and fundamental analysis
• An economic calendar available on MT5 or on the IC Markets website, as well as real-time forex news

XM Customer Service

XM customers can get in touch with the broker’s customer support team via live chat, email, and phone. Unlike IC, no 24/7 assistance is provided, with traders only able to contact XM 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Additionally, the broker’s website provides a comprehensive FAQ where many common forex trading queries are answered.

XM Research and Education

XM offers free educational courses including:

• Demo accounts and MetaTrader tutorials
• Webinars presented by industry experts covering topics ranging from an introduction to trading to advanced areas i.e. technical analysis
• An economic calendar and a market newsfeed split into different asset classes

Best Customer Support and Education Overall

With 24/7 customer service and educational materials for all levels of trading experience, IC Markets offers better client support overall.

XM vs IC Markets: Funding Methods – Deposit And Withdrawals

XM Funding Methods

As an XM customer, you can deposit and withdraw funds from your trading account using a range of credit card and e-wallet options. Available deposit and withdrawal methods offered by XM include:

All account funding options are fee-free unless you deposit less than $200 USD via international bank wire (in which case traders will face a $20 deposit fee).

IC Deposits and Withdrawals

IC Markets offer an even greater range of funding methods than XM, with an impressive 15 funding options available. Although IC Markets traders incur no fees when making deposits and withdrawals, accepted currencies and processing times vary between payment method.

As mentioned above, funding options vary between a broker’s subsidiary and location. For instance, if you are registered with IC Markets FCA regulated subsidiary, you are only able to deposit and withdraw funds via Credit and debit cards, Wire transfer, Neteller and Skrill.

Best Broker for Account Management Overall: IC Markets

XM provides a good range of payment methods, yet unfortunately, smaller deposits less than $200 made by wire transfer carry a $20 fee. On the other hand, IC Markets offers some of the best funding methods available to retail investor accounts with no deposit and withdrawal fees, plus 15 different payment options to choose from.