IFC Markets forex broker offers services for spot forex and CFDs. They are incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. Read our IFC Markets review to find out why not everything is not as it seems with this broker.
The Safety and Security of IFC Markets
British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVI FSC) oversees the IFC Markets. While the regulator is not very strict it still offers a basic safety feeling. Regulations are key for any broker’s safety and security.
The broker is using segregated accounts as it is regulated by the FSC. IFC Markets will make clients pay in case of negative balance occurs. With a leverage of up to 1:400, this could become an issue as a negative balance may happen due to overleveraged trading. For master accounts, all deficits must be covered by clients, and the broker states this in their terms and conditions documents.
IFC Markets Fees and Spreads
The spreads are not cheap with IFC Markets. Depending on the trading account and trading platform it is possible to get spreads from 0.4 pips. For the standard accounts, both fixed and floating spreads start from 1.8 pips, which is fairly expensive.
Fees for stock trading start from 0.1%, but for the US stocks clients will be charged from 0.02 USD per 1 stock traded.
IFC Markets Accounts, Deposits, and Withdrawals
The IFC Markets offers four different types of accounts in total. However, these accounts are separated based on the trading platforms.
NetTradeX:
- Standard-Fixed & Floating
- Beginner-Fixed & Floating
- Demo-Fixed & Floating
Spreads are from 1.8 pips and users can select between fixed or floating, maximum leverage allowed is set at 1:400, and minimum deposits start from 1 USD.
- Standard-Fixed
- Micro-Fixed
- Demo-Fixed
- PAMM-Fixed
Spreads for MT4 platform accounts start from 1.8 pips and are fixed. Maximum leverage is 1:400, and minimum deposits start from 1 USD. In this regard, the NetTradeX and MT4 accounts offer similar conditions.
MetaTrader 5:
- Standard-Floating
- Micro-Floating
- Demo-Floating
- PAMM-Floating
MT5 accounts come with the lowest spreads and the minimum deposit starts from 1 USD. The maximum leverage that traders can get for MT5 accounts is 1:400.
The IFC Markets accounts are very affordable to open and operate which is very advantageous for beginners.
Deposits and Withdrawals
IFC Markets accepts the following funding methods: Wire transfers, Perfect, Money, Visa / Mastercard, OTCPay, bitwallet, WebMoney, Crypto, ADVCash, fasapay, and Internal Transfer. The processing times for withdrawals vary from several minutes to several days depending on the method used. Most of the deposits are instant. All withdrawals are charged with fees starting from 0.5%, while deposits are generally commission-free.
IFC Markets Trading Assets and Features
IFC Markets offers 49 currency pairs, 4 synthetic pairs, 461 stock CFDs, 14 crypto CFDs, 6 precious metals, 3 gold instruments, 20 continuous commodity CFDs, 13 synthetic commodities CFDs, 64 futures CFDs, and 3 ETFs as CFDs. The trading assets are diverse and abundant from IFC Markets and countless instruments can be traded.
IFC Markets Platforms
As stated before, the IFC Markets broker offers three platforms for trading. These are:
- NetTraderX
- MetaTrader 4 (MT4)
- MetaTrader 5 (MT5)
MT4 and MT5 are advanced popular platforms and NetTraderX can be considered as a bonus addition to this list. All in all, trading platforms are normal and usable from IFC Markets.
IFC Markets Customer Support Review
The IFC Markets broker offers customer support in five different ways. 
Live chat options are plenty and can be used to connect with the broker within seconds.
IFC Markets offers customer support through:
- Live Chat
- Skype
- Telephone
- Call Back
Now, many people are familiar with brokers using email, live chat, and telephone but not many of them use Skype. While there are not many users using Skype it still adds to the options offered. Video chat allows you to see the customer service agent, it helps to build trust in some instances.
IFC Markets Education
Educational resources are very well sorted on the IFC Markets website. Materials are given for all levels of expertise from beginner to advanced traders. Introductory articles include basic explanations and articles about Forex, CFDs, and other important trading concepts. Intermediate resources focus on giving tutorials for trading platforms which are many by the IFC Markets. Expert-level resources will focus on technical and fundamental analysis and trading strategies. We firmly believe that analysis types and trading strategy tutorials belong somewhere at the intermediate level and not at the expert level. It would be very beneficial for beginners if IFC Markets also taught about trading psychology and other advanced concepts. Overall, the educational resources seem ok and should provide beginners with basic resources for learning.
While educational resources could be evaluated as average, market research tools are very abundant. The broker not only offers market analysis, but several other tools including economic calendars, daily market research, and trading calculators. There are also trading ideas shared by IFC Markets experts.
Should you consider IFC Markets? Review Conclusion
All things considered, there are many better alternatives with low spreads and commissions. IFC Markets is not a scam, but fails in the spreads department. We do not recommend the broker to scalpers, who rely on ultra-low spreads. But it should be ok for day traders and swing traders.
IFC Markets does not provide negative balance protection and is not recommended for beginners.
Is IFC Markets a safe and trustworthy broker?
What are the fees, spreads, and account options with IFC Markets?
What trading assets are available with IFC Markets?
