IC Markets - Pros and Cons for Beginners
Are you a beginner considering IC Markets as a forex broker to work with? In this review, you’ll find out whether choosing this platform is the best option for you.
If you’re looking for a forex broker that’s suitable for beginners, you might consider a wide range of factors. For example, you may look at whether or not it offers educational content for beginners, how easy it is to open an account, or if it has a simple user interface.
To help you get a good idea of what to look for in a forex broker that best caters to new traders, we’ll look at the many features a beginner-friendly broker should offer. Then, we’ll evaluate whether IC Markets has those features.
What is a Good Broker for Beginners?
When it comes to finding a good broker for beginners, there are various factors you should consider. How much do you have to deposit to open an account? How much are the fees to trade? Does the broker offer special accounts for beginners to learn how to trade?
Below we discuss key factors to consider in-depth.
Low Minimum Deposit
As a beginner, you likely don’t want to risk a lot of your money trading. If you put a lot of money into your account, and something goes wrong, then you’ll end up losing all of your money. Trading is already risky.
But you can increase that risk as a beginner because you don’t yet have the proper knowledge, experience, and skill to be successful at trading. Therefore, you’re more prone to mistakes. Plus, not investing a lot of money at the start will grant you rapid and easy entry to the financial markets.
This is why it’s so important to choose a forex broker that offers a low minimum deposit. The minimum deposit varies from broker to broker, ranging from as little as $1 to $500 or more.
Low Fees
As a beginner, you likely want to keep costs as low as possible. Therefore, finding a reliable broker that offers low fees and tighter spreads is key to maximizing your returns.
Trading fees are different for each broker and depend on their relationship with liquidity providers. Brokers with direct relationships with liquidity providers—also known as ECN brokers—tend to charge lower fees, tighter spreads, and faster order execution.
Special Accounts for Beginners
In addition to trading fees and minimum deposits, you might also consider whether a broker offers special trading accounts, including demo, cent, mini, and/or micro accounts.
Demo account: A demo trading account offers a simulated market environment that allows you to experiment with the trading platform and its various features without risking real money.
Cent account: Cent accounts are trading accounts with balances measured in cents instead of U.S. dollars. These accounts give you access to actual, live markets, but with minimal risk because the trading is in cents.
Mini account: Mini accounts allow you to enter the market using smaller size (mini lot) positions. These accounts are usually equal to USD10,000 (0.1 lot), or one-tenth of a Standard account. This gives you more control over your risk, preventing you from risking too much money at once.
Micro account: Like mini accounts, micro accounts allow you to trade with lower risk because you’re risking less money. The difference is, micro accounts use micro lots, which are smaller than mini lots. A micro lot is 1,000 units of currency, or one-hundredth of a standard lot.
Easy Account Opening
When considering a broker that’s best for beginners, be sure to think about the account opening process. As a beginner, you probably want to choose a broker that has an easy account opening process. However, not all brokers offer this. For example, some brokers require you to go through a lengthy identity verification process.
The process might also be complicated and require completing many steps before you can get started. So, if you want to jump right into trading without the hassle, choose a broker that allows you to open an account quickly and easily.
Easy to Use Trading Platform
A broker with an easy-to-use trading platform is key if you’re new to trading. The user interface should be simple to follow. It can also be helpful to have a useful tutorial to guide you on how to use the platform.
Excellent Educational Tools
A good broker for beginners should also have great educational tools that teach beginner traders how to invest in the forex markets intelligently. These materials might include video tutorials, guides, articles, or webinars.
Strong Customer Support
A platform with good customer support is crucial for beginners. If it’s your first time ever using a forex broker platform, having a support team on standby can provide peace of mind and help when you need it.
IC Markets for Beginners: Review
Now that you know which factors to consider when it comes to finding a forex broker for beginners, let’s see if IC Markets meets those criteria.
Minimum Deposit
IC Markets’ minimum deposit is $200. This may not be the most favorable deposit amount for beginners. However, it’s still low enough to meet many beginner traders’ budgets.
Fees
IC Markets has very low fees, in fact, some of the lowest in the industry. This will allow you to maximize your gains as you earn on the platform. Plus, the broker doesn’t charge commissions on withdrawals or deposits.
Accounts For Beginners
Beyond its demo account, IC Markets doesn’t offer any other accounts that cater to beginners. However, you can use the demo account to learn how to trade with no risk to your actual money. You can learn about the best IC Markets strategies for beginners in the Traders Union article.
Account Opening Process
Account opening at IC Markets is fully online and user-friendly. You just need to enter your personal details like your name, email, phone number.
The next step is to choose your trading platform (i.e. MT4, MT5), account type (Standard or Raw Spread), currency, leverage, and your initial deposit (which should be at least $200). The process usually doesn’t take longer than a few minutes.
Trading Platform
IC Markets offers MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and a mobile trading platform. These trading platforms offer fast execution of orders and low spreads.
Education
IC Markets has plenty of educational tools that help beginner traders learn more about the forex market, trading instruments, and access to advisors and indicators. Educational materials also include video tutorials, informational articles, guides, webinars, and more.
Customer Support
IC Markets’ customer support is available 24/7 to assist traders with any questions or problems they have. Their customer support also includes a help center and search function.
Conclusion: IC Markets Pros and Cons for Beginners
To answer the question “Is IC Markets good for beginners?”, you must consider its strengths and features. The broker has a higher account deposit minimum than other brokers. And it doesn’t offer a cent, mini, or micro account.
But beyond those weaknesses, every other characteristic of IC Markets is beginner-friendly, including the simple account opening process, low fees, easy-to-use trading platforms, and educational tools. While IC Markets may not be the absolute best for beginners, it’s definitely one of the best.
FAQ
Is IC Markets a trusted broker?
Yes. IC Markets maintains regulatory status in one tier-1 jurisdiction and one tier-2 jurisdiction. Therefore, it’s considered to be a safe broker for trading forex and CFDs.
Is IC Markets good for beginners?
Yes. IC Markets caters to traders of all experience levels.
How much do you need to start trading with IC Markets?
IC Markets requires a minimum deposit of $200.
What is a lot?
A lot is the standard size in forex trading, referring to 100,000 units of currency.
Team that worked on the article
Mikhail Vnuchkov joined Traders Union as an author in 2020. He began his professional career as a journalist-observer at a small online financial publication, where he covered global economic events and discussed their impact on the segment of financial investment, including investor income. With five years of experience in finance, Mikhail joined Traders Union team, where he is in charge of forming the pool of latest news for traders, who trade stocks, cryptocurrencies, Forex instruments and fixed income.
The area of responsibility of Mikhail includes covering the news of currency and stock markets, fact checking, updating and editing the content published on the Traders Union website. He successfully analyzes complex financial issues and explains their meaning in simple and understandable language for ordinary people. Mikhail generates content that provides full contact with the readers.
Mikhail’s motto: Learn something new and share your experience – never stop!
Olga Shendetskaya has been a part of the Traders Union team as an author, editor and proofreader since 2017. Since 2020, Shendetskaya has been the assistant chief editor of the website of Traders Union, an international association of traders. She has over 10 years of experience of working with economic and financial texts. In the period of 2017-2020, Olga has worked as a journalist and editor of laftNews news agency, economic and financial news sections. At the moment, Olga is a part of the team of top industry experts involved in creation of educational articles in finance and investment, overseeing their writing and publication on the Traders Union website.
Olga has extensive experience in writing and editing articles about the specifics of working in the Forex market, cryptocurrency market, stock exchanges and also in the segment of financial investment in general. This level of expertise allows Olga to create unique and comprehensive articles, describing complex investment mechanisms in a simple and accessible way for traders of any level.
Olga’s motto: Do well and you’ll be well!