ActivTrades review 2018 | Activtrades minimum deposit, bonus & leverage

Looking for the best forex broker? Your search is over. Read our ActivTrades review to evaluate the pros and cons of this online forex broker and choose on the basis of data if it is suitable for your needs. This article is dedicated to reviewing one of the best regulated brokers and to give you a clearer idea of what to expect in case you decide to open an account with them.

ActivTrades review

ActivTrades FCA regulated broker out of the United Kingdom offering is a British broker with international offices in both the United Kingdom and Bulgaria. Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, it allows for the type of protection that most retail traders strive to achieve. Operating since 2001, ActivTrades has been trusted for years, and executed hundreds of thousands of orders.

Trading accounts

ActivTrades offers only one type of retail account, the so-called “standard account.” However, it really doesn’t matter as you have the flexibility to trade as little as 0.01 lots, and the minimum deposit is just $100. Base account currencies can be US dollars, Euros, British pounds, Japanese yen, and Swiss francs. This offers traders the ability to function with any of the world’s largest currencies and with granularity. It should be noted that professional accounts are available, offering better execution, segregation of funds, balance protection, and many other possibilities. Your financial instrument portfolio must exceed €500,000 to qualify though. This would be similar to what is known as “an accredited investor” in the United States. Speaking of the United States, it should be noted that ActivTrades does not accept US citizens.

The company

ActivTrades, which again opened in 2001, has been trusted by hundreds of thousands of traders around the world. The company has balance protection and enhanced insurance for its depositors, which is part of the reason it has been around so long. The initial headquarters was based in Switzerland but moved to London in 2005. The company has been offering CFD markets on indices and commodities since 2008 and exploded in growth across the world in 2009.

In fact, growth has been so strong that the company has now opened trading desks in places so diverse as China, Bulgaria, and of course the Middle East. They have won several awards for Best Forex Broker, from various institutions and publications over the last several years. In 2013, they were ranked as the sixth fastest growing company in the United Kingdom, third in London, and forth overall in the financial sector by Investec. ActivTrades really won over a lot of customers when it was proactive and took measurable actions ahead of the Swiss National Bank decision to abandon the peg to the Euro, saving its clients disastrous losses. In 2018, they have opened a branch in Nassau Bahamas to better reach emerging markets.

Trading conditions

Initial deposit

The initial deposit as mentioned previously is just $100. Obviously, you can extrapolate this into the base currency if you choose to use Japanese yen, Swiss francs, Euros, or British pounds. This allows for a low barrier to entry, and the ability to trade micro lots certainly will help the new trader dip their toe in the water.

Spreads and conditions

ActivTrades offers variable spreads, with very tight target spreads. For example, the EUR/USD pair has a target of 0.5 pips, with an average of 0.58 pips being the normal condition. Even minor repairs that are typically higher in spreads find a fair deal here. For example, the SGD/JPY pair which is typically difficult to find and has a large spread, has a target of 2.9 pips, and an average of 3.05 pips per 24 hours as it spread. Some of the more exotic pairs can widen a bit such as the USD/BRL, which is almost impossible to find in a retail brokerage but does have a 100 pips spread.

Leverage

Leverage can depend on the size of your account, with higher leverage going to smaller accounts. This maxes out at 1:400, down to 1:100 if you are above €100,000 in liquidity. The major pairs obviously offer more leverage than exotics, and gold offers 1:20, while silver offers 1:10. Major indices around the world can be traded at 1:20, nonmajor indices at 1:10, and financials trade at 1:5 – these would include treasury bonds, VIX, and European bonds.

Trading platforms

There are three trading platforms to choose from with this brokerage, including ActivTrader, MetaTrader4, and MetaTrader 5. The MetaTrader platforms function as you would expect, and many people choose to go with these as they are so popular and easy to expand. The proprietary platform reminds us of the FXCM platform, with great charting and functionality. Quite frankly, all of these can be interchangeable with their functionality and mobility as they all run on cell phones as well as desktop computers, laptops, and of course tablets.

Payment methods

ActivTrades allows bank transfers, Sofort, Skrill, Neteller, and credit card deposits. There is no fee unless you use a non-EEA credit card, in which it is 1.5%. As far as withdrawals are concerned, bank transfers (SEPA), debit card, credit card, Neteller, and Skrill are all free. If you have a non-SEPA bank, there is a €15 or 15GBP charge. A bank transfer in US dollars will cost you $12.50. However, if you choose to take the ActiveTrades prepaid MasterCard, transfers are free.

Extras

ActivTrades has plenty of extras, including seminars, one-on-one training, webinars, and a webinar archive. There are also a large amount of manuals and videos that you can look into, all of which are quite good. However, the width and breadth of education is probably smaller than it is at some of the other brokers that we have reviewed.