73% of CFD traders lose Markets.com was formally known as GFC Markets — a Cyprus based company that had been online since 2006. In 2010, the company rebranded as Markets.com through a merger of GFC Markets, Safecap Investments Limited, and TradeFX. In April of 2015, Playtech, a UK public company traded on the London Stock Exchange’s main index and a component of the FTSE 250, bought Safecap and the merged companies for €458 million.
In early 2016, Markets.com restructured its operations, and automated its sales and retention channels. The company then laid off a large part of their workforce from the sales and retention sectors to implement the highest standards of regulatory conduct required by its regulators, that are CySEC and the European Securities and Markets Authority or ESMA.
As of August 1st 2018 Leverage changes for EU traders:
- 1:30 for major currency pairs
- 1:20 for non-major currency pairs, gold and major indices
- 1:10 for commodities other than gold and non-major equity indices
- 1:5 for shares and other reference values not specifically covered elsewhere
- 1:2 for cryptocurrencies
Markets.com states on their homepage that it is “Where the World Comes to Trade”, and as a part of Safecap, it is one of the world’s fastest growing CFD and forex trading providers. A screenshot of the Markets.com home page situated at www.markets.com can be seen below:
Markets.com does not currently accept customers based in jurisdictions including the United States, Japan, Belgium and Canada.
Features
Markets.com offers its clients seamless trading in over 2,000 trading assets, including:
- Forex – over 50 currency pairs, including all major, minor and exotic pairs. No fees or commissions are charged with dealer spreads as low as 2 pips fixed on EUR/USD, GBP/USD and many others. Leverage of up to 300 to 1 is available, with Advance charting tools standard on all of Market.com’s trading platforms.
- Shares – over 2,000 different shares of stock from more than 12 major stock markets. No commissions are charged, and clients benefit from receiving dividends as if they owned the stock. CFDs on stock such as Apple Inc., Alphabet and Facebook can be leveraged up to 1:10. Buying and shorting any equity to take advantage of rising and falling markets is easy at Markets.com.
- ETFs – with more than 1,900 assets and 30 ETFs to place trades in, Markets.com customers can leverage up to 100 to 1 with a low margin requirement. No fees are charged for ETF trading with tight dealing spreads.
- Indexes – Markets.com offers clients dealing in over 25 major indexes from more than 20 countries, including the S&P 500, NASDAQ, FTSE 100, DAX, Nikkei, and many more. Indexes can be leveraged up to 1:200 with no commission charged and tight dealing spreads.
- CFDs – Contracts for Difference or CFDs can be traded on major, minor, exotic and cryptocurrencies, bonds, commodities, indexes, shares and ETFs. Leverage is from 25 to 1 to 300 to 1 depending on the underlying asset involved.
- Commodities – CFDs on commodities such as Aluminum, Brent Oil, Coffee, Cocoa, Copper, Corn, Cotton, Gold, Heating Oil, Natural Gas, Oil, Palladium, Platinum, Rice, Silver, Soybeans, Sugar, Wheat and Zinc, are all available to trade through Markets.com. Leverage for commodity trades is up to 200 to 1, and traders enjoy tight dealing spreads and no commissions.
In addition to offering both web based and mobile trading platforms, Markets.com offers first time customers a $25 sign up offer(terms and conditions apply). The offer is available after registering and is deposited directly into your trading account so that you can begin trading immediately.
The minimum initial deposit amount for opening a live account at Markets.com is $100, 100 Euros or 100 Pounds Sterling, and accounts can be funded using a credit card, a wire transfer, PayPal, Neteller or Skrill. The maximum leverage available for a Markets.com account is 300 to 1.
Accounts
Markets.com offers its customers two different types of trading accounts a live and a demo type. The broker’s demo account is funded with $10,000 in virtual money and is an excellent way to get familiar with the company’s trading platform before committing funds to a live account.
Transactions
Deposits
There are three options for depositing funds to a Markets.com account. The first involves going to the Deposit tab on the top right of the platforms screen. The second option involves going to the My Account tab and selecting the Deposit tab. The third option involves making the deposit through Markets.com’s mobile application.
Markets.com accepts the following deposit methods:
Credit card
Wire transfer
PayPal
Neteller
Skrill
Other deposit methods include: BankLink (SwedBank), Fast Wire Transfers (Envoy/WorldPay), Sofort, eKonto, Mistercash, Multibanco, Przelewy24, Giropay, iDeal, Unet and Instant Bank.
Verification for accounts is done by presenting a copy of a valid Passport or a national Driver’s License with full name, date of birth, photograph and expiry date clearly visible, if a Passport is not available. Additionally, proof of residence is required by submitting a bank or credit card statement, utility bill or TV service bill.
Withdrawals
To make a withdrawal from your Markets.com account, the account must first be fully verified before submitting a withdrawal request. The withdrawal is initiated in the My Account tab, from where you can then select the Withdrawal tab and enter your information.
Funds are returned to the client from the same account and payment method used to fund the account. For example, if the deposit was made from a credit card, then the withdrawal will be made to that same credit card account.
Deposits made with credit cards are prioritized and are refunded first, with priority given to deposits made within the last 12 months, followed by other withdrawal methods.
Platform
Markets.com offers its customers two types of proprietary trading platforms: a mobile trading platform and a Web based platform. The Web platform is completely online, so you do not need to install any external software, and it works with all major browsers. The broker also offers support for the popular MetaTrader4 trading platform from MetaQuotes.
Markets.com’s mobile app can be downloaded for Android and Apple iOS operating systems and is available on Google Play and the Apple App Store respectively. Both the mobile application and the Web based platform have been developed completely in-house and are specifically designed to be robust and powerful, with built-in features most favorable to traders.
Both platforms’ Trading Central Area features access to charting and other technical analysis tools including the RSI, SMA and MACD, pivot points, support and resistance levels, and over 50 other technical indicators. Other features included in the platforms are a streaming news feed, forex briefings, and daily trading signals.
A screenshot of Markets.com’s Web Trader trading platform with technical analysis and charting features can be seen below:
Customer Support
Markets.com offers 24/5 email and Live Chat customer support available in 15 different major languages. Additionally, the broker’s Support Center page answers most frequent questions through their FAQs.
Information
Educational – Markets.com offers its clients weekly educational webinars with topics of interest to traders. Registration for the one-hour long Webinars is required. The broker’s trading platforms also provide a useful news feed.
Safety
Regulatory Compliance – Markets.com’s parent company is based in Nicosia, Cyprus and registered as Safecap Investments Limited. The company is regulated by CySEC under the license number 092/08. In South Africa, the company is regulated under the same name with the Financial Services Board under license number 43906.
Overall
Markets.com is a fast-growing provider of forex and CFD trading services. The company offers a wide array of trading assets, as well as an easy to use proprietary trading platform available seamlessly for both Web based and mobile trading that can be customized so that traders can benefit from customizable charts, studies and in-depth analysis. The broker also supports MetaTrader4.
Furthermore, the broker offers 24/5 customer support with leverage of up to 300 to 1, and they take deposits via PayPal. Markets.com prides itself on its tight dealing spreads, lack of commissions and fees, and its compliance with regulators, which makes this broker especially worthy of consideration for novice and experienced traders alike.