AvaTrade is an online platform that allows you to trade stocks, bonds, commodities, funds, ETFs, indices, forex and cryptocurrencies. It claims to handle £60 billion worth of trading volume each month, with 200,000 registered clients.
This review of AvaTrade will analyse the site’s usability, fees, trading platforms, payment methods, customer service, key verticals and additional features. It will also delve into regulation and deposit insurance. Our AvaTrade review will arm you with all the information you need before deciding whether or not to sign up for an account.
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Signing up for an AvaTrade account is pretty straightforward. Simply visit AvaTrade and click on the “Register Now” button, which is displayed prominently on the homepage. You can choose to sign up for an AvaTrade demo account and trade with a virtual balance, or just dive straight in and start trading for real money immediately.
You will be asked to provide your name, phone number and email address. Choose whether or not you want to receive marketing materials from the company, accept the terms and conditions and click “Create Account”.
AvaTrade will require you to complete a KYC (know your customer) process before you can start trading. You will need to upload a scan of a valid, government-issued ID, such as a passport or driving licence. This must match the information you provided when registering for an account. You also need to provide proof of address, such as a utility bill.
Click on “Upload Documents”, choose the documents you are presenting, attach the scans and click “UPLOAD”. The status will be “Waiting for review”, and then within one business day you should see that your status has either been approved or rejected. The whole process is smooth and effective.
From time to time, AvaTrade offers a welcome bonus for new customers. It was not offering a bonus at the time of this AvaTrade review, but it is worth checking if there is a live offer before signing up. The site has previously offered a refer-a-friend bonus too.
AvaTrade is a slick, polished site that works well on desktops and mobile devices. The design is intuitive, it is packed full of helpful features and the search function works well, so navigation is always simple and effective.
Clients can choose from several different platforms, which are discussed in detail further down this review of AvaTrade, but the usability is strong across the board. There is a more basic platform for beginners, while advanced traders can opt for the more sophisticated MetaTrader 5. The user experience varies according to the platform you choose, but they are all impressive.
We tested out the site on a range of devices at several different times of the day while conducting this AvaTrade trading review. We found that pages always loaded quickly and there were never any lag times, even when trading volumes were high in the wake of major market news. Overall, we could not really fault the usability of the AvaTrade desktop site and the AvaTrade Go app.
Company | AVA Trade Ltd |
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Headquarter | AvaTrade Financial Centre, Five Lamps Place, Amiens Street, Dublin 1 Ireland |
Year of Founding | 2006 |
CEO | Dáire Ferguson |
Website | www.avatrade.com |
Available Languages | English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Romanian, Finnish |
Customer Support | Live Chat, Phone, Email Support |
cs@avatrade.com | |
Phone | +1 212-941-9609 |
Licence | C53877 |
Verified by | – |
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AvaTrade offers a number of different accounts and platforms to suit traders of all experience levels. If you want to sign up for a trading account, you can choose between Web Trading, MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, which are covered in detail in the trading platforms section of this AvaTrade review.
AvaOptions aims to make options trading quick, simple and painless. You can choose from 13 different option strategies, covering more than 40 currency pairs. It allows you to trade spot, calls and puts, with stop and limit orders. The interface is fully customisable, you can benefit from interactive risk management tools, and there is an integrated strategy guide.
An autotrading account allows you to copy a particular trader’s strategy. AvaTrade offers DupliTrade, which allows British traders to automatically follow experienced traders’ signals and strategies in real time. You can also choose ZuluTrade, which converts the recommendations of experienced traders and automatically executes the trade in your AvaTrade account, and there is a signals service called MQL5. AvaTrade Social also allows you to follow, and copy the trades of the very best traders. You can use it to ask questions of mentors or consult group chats.
AvaTrade GO is available to download from the app store on any iOS or Android device. At the time of this review of AvaTrade, it had an average rating of 4.4 out of 5 on the Apple Store, and 4.2 out of 5 on Google Play. It won Best Trading App 2020 at the Global Forex Awards.
Just bear in mind that you will be charged an inactivity fee of £50 after three consecutive months of non-use. You will incur an administration fee of £100 after 12 months of non-use.
AvaTrade does not charge commissions, and it offers free deposits and withdrawals. The site makes its money from spreads, so its fees are essentially built into them. The average cost of the EUR/USD forex pair is 0.9 pips. That goes up to 1.6 pips for GBP/USD and USD/CHF, and it is 1.1 pips for USD/JPY and AUD/USD.
That makes AvaTrade more expensive than rivals like City Index and XTB when it comes to trading forex. However, AvaTrade offers low CFD (contract for difference) spreads on stocks, indices and funds, so it is an excellent option if you want to trade those instruments.
Overall, AvaTrade is not the cheapest site on the market, but its fees are often better than average, and it offers an extremely strong trading platform, plus excellent customer service, so it is easy to see why it is a popular site among beginners and experienced traders alike.
Beginners should enjoy AvaTrade’s user-friendly WebTrader platform. The design is clear and effective, and it allows you to execute trades with minimal fuss. This is the platform used in the AvaTrade demo mode, which is a very useful tool.
You can use AvaTrade WebTrader to buy or sell forex pairs, CFDs on stocks, indices, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, commodities and bonds. You can also check out categories like Most Rising, Most Falling, Most Buying, Most Selling and Hot. The platform features clear, concise charts, and you can access more detailed analytics if you so desire.
The trading ticket is easy to use. You can then track your open positions in one place, and it is simple to close a position. You do not need to install anything. Simply log in and start trading.
More advanced traders can opt for MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5. AvaTrade’s MetaTrader 4 platform was introduced all the way back in 2002, but it has evolved since then. It is a neat, powerful platform with many professional-grade features, and it also allows automated trading and a feedback tool called “guardian angel”. The analytical tools are strong, and you can develop your own custom indicators.
MetaTrader 5 is an evolution of MetaTrader 4. Whereas MetaTrader 4 was specifically designed for forex trading, MetaTrader 5 was designed for CFDs, futures, and stocks too. It contains advanced order management, and offers access to more timeframes, while the programming language is more powerful.
Before asking is AvaTrade good, you will want to know, is AvaTrade safe? Is AvaTrade legit? AvaTrade is a regulated trading site with a strong security record. All data transfers are compressed and encrypted based on 128-bit keys, so you should not have to worry about the safety of your personal details and your funds, regardless of which platform you choose.
You can check out our review of Oanda, review of FXPro, review of Core Spreads or a review of Saxo Bank if you want to see what rival sites have to offer, but AvaTrade really stands out for offering a comprehensive range of platforms and account types. For another option, read our review of Forex.com – see how AvaTrade compares.
AvaTrade allows clients to make deposits using a debit card, credit card, a wire transfer or an e-wallet such as Skrill or Neteller. The minimum deposit is £100, which should be suitable for most traders. Some rival sites have a significantly higher minimum deposit requirement.
All deposits and withdrawals are free at AvaTrade. It takes the site 24 to 48 hours to process a withdrawal request, regardless of the payment method you choose. That is reasonably good by industry standards. You must have completed the KYC process in order to make a withdrawal.
You can withdraw directly to your bank account or to an e-wallet. Withdrawals can only be sent via the payment method that you used to fund your account. This is designed to comply with international anti-money laundering laws. The overall withdrawal time varies depending on the method you choose. For example, wire transfers can take several business days to arrive.
There are no official minimum and maximum withdrawal limits, but you can contact customer service if you plan to make a large withdrawal from your account. Avatrade is as safe and secure as asking questions such as ‘Is XTB safe?’ and other trusted brokers.
We tested out the customer service department for this review of AvaTrade, and we found the representatives to be polite, helpful and friendly. Customer support is available 24 hours per day, Monday to Friday. You can email for non-urgent queries, but live chat is better if you want a quick response.
Waiting times were short and the staff answered our questions clearly. We asked basic questions like, is AvaTrade safe? Is AvaTrade legit? The representatives were able to provide us with clear information about the safety measures the site takes and its licensing conditions, and they could also answer more complex, technical trading questions.
AvaTrade EU is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. It is also licensed and regulated by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, the Financial Futures Association of Japan, the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority and the Abu Dhabi Global Markets Financial Regulatory Services Authority, so it has to uphold very strict licensing conditions.
European customers have deposit insurance of up to €20,000 under Irish regulations. In January 2020, AvaTrade introduced AvaProtect, a service that protects traders from sudden negative movements during a defined trade period.
AvaTrade offers FX trading on more than 50 different currency pairs. It divides currencies into majors and minors. The former category includes USD, GBP, EUR, CHF, JPY, CAD, AUD and NZD, while the later includes DKK, HUF and many more. You can also go long or short and various cryptocurrencies, or trade USD, EUR or JPY with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Gold, Dash, EOS, Ethereum, Litecoin, IOTA, NEO, Stellar and XRP.
AvaTrade does not charge commissions when you open a trade. You pay through spreads, which are calculated in the secondary currency of a pair that you are trading. The spreads are fixed, and they differ depending on the forex pair you choose.
The average spread cost of the flagship EUR/USD pair is 0.9 pips. It increases to 1.1 pips for USD/JPY and AUD/USD, and 1.6 pips for GBP/USD and USD/CHF.
You will have to pay maturity rollover and overnight interest on some accounts, while you will be charged an inactivity fee and an administration fee if your account lays dormant for a prolonged period of time.
All Instruments are traded on margin, which allows you to leverage your positions. Margin is displayed as a percentage, while leverage is displayed as a ratio.
AvaTrade was initially created as a forex trading platform and that remains its key speciality to this day. You can trade a broad range of FX pairs quickly and efficiently, while enjoying excellent analytical tools.
AvaTrade allows traders to go long or short on some of the world’s most popular ETFs. They cover gold miners, the energy select sector, emerging markets, India, Germany, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Brazil, US home construction, S&P 500 short-term futures, the materials select sector and the financials select sector.
The site also allows you to trade various indices, from the Nasdaq, S&P 500, Russell 2000 and FTSE 100 to the Dollar Index and the Nifty 50. All the major indices are covered, and you can also trade commodities, bonds and a wide range of individual stocks.
AvaTrade offers 0.13% spreads on ETFs, which is very competitive. ETFs and stocks have the lowest spreads on the AvaTrade site, as spreads can go up to 0.35% for crypto. You will not be charged commission for trading at AvaTrade, while all deposits and withdrawals are free, but it does charge a high inactivity fee.
You can trade ETFs with a 5:1 leverage at AvaTrade. There is an overnight interest charge, calculated by the following formula: Trade Size x End of Day Market Price x Daily Overnight Interest = Daily Overnight Interest Charged/Paid.
ETFs may declare a dividend, rights issue, or stock/reverse split. Long positions will be credited with 90% of the gross dividend for AvaTrade traders, while short positions will be debited with 100% of the gross dividend. In the event of rights issues and stock/reverse splits, open positions and orders will be closed or removed at the end of the day at market price.
AvaTrade launched its award-winning MetaTrader 5 to cater to traders interested in CFDs on ETFs, indices and stocks. You will receive a very professional service and enjoy a user-friendly platform, rich with features, analytical charts and educational articles. The spreads are low on ETFs, and trades are executed quickly and with minimal fuss, so AvaTrade makes an excellent choice for ETF traders.
AvaTrade is a high-quality trading site that offers several award-winning platforms for you to choose from. Read our AvaTrade review to find out more about the strengths and weaknesses of this site, and read reviews of rival sites in order to find your perfect match.
AvaTrade is based in Dublin, Ireland, and it also has offices across Europe, Asia and Australia. The site was founded in 2006 and it is licensed and regulated in many different countries, including AU. You can learn more about the various instruments it allows you to trade by reading our AvaTrade review.
AvaTrade has a relatively low minimum deposit compared to many of its competitors. You can learn more about the minimum deposit, the deposit and withdrawal methods and the banking fees at this site by reading our AvaTrade review.
AvaTrade is a regulated forex and CFD broker with strong financial backing and a range of user-oriented platforms to suit traders of various different experience levels. It excels at customer service, usability, analytical tools. The site has offers fixed spreads, commission-free trading, rapid trading speeds, a diverse range of instruments, high-quality educational materials and negative balance protection, so it is easy to see why AvaTrade has won so many industry awards. Before you head off, we also recommend checking out our review of BDSwiss – see how AvaTrade compares.
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