Forex.com Review & Rating USA 2023

A lot of Forex.com’s competitors shun promotions. Perhaps they feel they’re not in keeping with the kind of mature platform they’re aiming to be. However, considering that Forex.com USA has a welcome bonus up to $5000 and they’re amongst the most respected in the industry, we think they may want to rethink that strategy. And as far as our Forex.com USA review is concerned, we’re delighted, as we care more about the quality offered to users than a platform’s perceived image.

The bonus is easy to understand and a great incentive for you to consider the Forex.com open account options. This is a 20% bonus on the amount funded into your account in the first 14 days, up to $5000. In other words, if you funded $500, you would receive $100, but if you funded $30,000, you would still only end up with $5,000, as this is the maximum bonus amount available.

Unfortunately for our readers, this is not available for accounts based in the UK, US, or China. We know that will count out a lot of our readers here and we do sadly have to take it as a negative in our Forex.com review, but we thought it best to include on the off chance it could be relevant to some. We won’t be too harsh on Forex.com USA though, as this is often down to logistical restrictions. Still, it’s a great deal but we’re disappointed it’s not more widely available.

We’d like to preface this by saying that whether we’re talking about our Ally Invest review, Charles Schwab, Betterment review or any other financial option, this is a serious business that’s not to be taken lightly. It’s something that’s utilized by serious business professionals and in this environment, there comes a certain level of knowledge required to use them responsibly. In other words, to an extent, complexity is built into the concept.

With that said, we feel that Forex.com have made the process as easy as possible while maintaining this level of depth. The options include MetaTrader 4 for a desktop experience, the MT4 mobile app, alongside the Forex.com app, and an advanced third-party platform, NinjaTrader which is available to download. This allows you to get all the information and tools you need to gain a full arsenal of options to go into the financial world in a way that suits you.

At the web trader level alone, you have over 70 technical indicators, a huge list of trading tools and superbly detailed charting. The advanced option goes even further, with drawing tools, over 80 technical indicators, 15 times frames, custom indicators, and more. Vitally, Forex.com is the only broker who offers Direct Market Access to US traders, making them an absolute must for many Americans reading this. The versatility and ease of use here is close to unmatched.

The website is great too, explaining itself really clearly. We can’t tell you how many sites have astonished us with how unwelcoming they are in the financial world. Thankfully, this is not the case here. This fact has not just made our Forex.com review easier, but it also makes it more likely that new customers will feel comfortable with the Forex.com open account process. It’s an absolute triumph of usability.

To compare with other popular trading platforms then head over to our Interactive Brokers review and our JP Morgan You Invest review for some great alternatives.

It was pretty obvious when we were discussing the design of Forex.com that providing a platform with as wide a scope of appeal as possible is clearly a huge priority, allowing them to cater to customers at varying knowledge levels. With that in mind, there are three different accounts at Forex.con which are not only suited to different pricing models but also trading styles.

The Standard Account is built for those who want a traditional experience when it comes to both currency trading and spread pricing. This level doesn’t mean any compromise in quality thanks to state-of-the-art trading platforms more than capable of advanced levels of sophistication. You can even reduce your costs up to 18% with cash basics, and keeping on track of everything is made nice and simple with transparent pricing and trade executions. This is also available on Metatrader.

The Commission Account is ideal for those looking for more flexibility, with a reduction on spreads with USD as low as 0.2 and a mere $5 commission on every $100k traded.

The STP Pro Account is where things get serious in terms of funds though. With a minimum trade size of $100k, this is perfect for traders requiring a great level of liquidities for quickfire opportunities. There’s more risk here, but also more chances to take advantage of rapid prices. You can trade on prices from global banks with no additional markup and split the spread with orders placed on top of book spreads.

Which Forex.com open account is right for you depends on a lot of different factors. What sets Forex.com USA apart though is that you have the ability to choose across such a wide range.

Firstly, there’s web trading, which means you can do everything you need online with some really amazing tools built right into the system. We mentioned before in this Forex.com review that there were over 70 technical indicators and that’s alongside 50 drawing tools, market commentary, and analysis. For the vast majority, this should be more than they need to utilize these markets. Withdrawals and funding are also made easy, as is managing your account in general thanks to the brilliant structure and intuitive design.

If you want the ultimate experience though, there’s the Advanced Trading Platform. This has more features, more technical indicators, even more powerful charting tools, more depth when it comes to drawing tools and advanced analytical tools and strategies. All that said, we think what really makes the Advanced Trading Platform stand out is the ability to customize things exactly to your liking, including the dashboard and how you operate as well as trade preferences settings and hundreds of predefined templates.

Lastly, there’s the mobile trading app. This is a perfect addition to the other options, as it means you never need to be out of the loop, with real-time trade alerts and notifications. That’s not to mention that when you’re out and about, it’s ideal to get you on top of all the news, commentary and analysis available. But that’s not all, as this app actually has full trading abilities, meaning it’s not only an addition, but a platform too and capable of working on its own.

The platforms available here are obviously terrific and we have enjoyed analyzing every single one of them. Which is best is down to you.

We’ve discussed some financial information earlier in this review. However, we did encounter some issues when it came to finding other pricing information. We know that for a trading platform like Forex.com USA, that this can be very complicated, and we do have a lot of sympathy in that regard for our Forex.com review. However, it does limit us in terms of what we can tell you. With that in mind, this is everything relevant we could find presented on their pricing and fees page.

The spread price is actually two prices: one is the bid – the sell price – and the other is the buy price. Obviously, this is not exclusive to Forex.com, but it’s such a significant cost, we thought it best to mention. You will need to check on the market information sheets on the desktop or MT4 platforms for complete up-to-date details.

There is also a financing fee, also known as a rollover fee. This is an amount paid to hold a position overnight. For both US and Australian Dollars, the short rollover rate is, according to the site at the time of writing, – 0.6, and the long rollover rate is -0.99.

An additional fee is the back to base currency conversion charge. This is where realized adjustments, fees, profits and losses are moved from one currency back to the base currency of your account. These can vary, but can be up to +/- 0.5%. Any rates will be made transparent on your statement – another huge plus for Forex.com.

Forex.com Payment Option Fees

More good news is that they don’t charge debit or credit card fees. There are also no charges to withdraw money using BACS or SWIFT payments. A same-day CHAPS transfer will require a £25 charge on withdrawals under £5,000.

At this juncture, we would like to point out an issue we had, which is that we could only find a pricing and fees page for UK customers. This is still great information and we assume is broadly applicable, but we would have liked a US version of this page – although we were able to find some Forex.com specific information elsewhere.

Forex.com does not charge day exchange fees, but there is an inactivity fee. This is $15 for a period of 12 months or more. If you’re inactive for three years, you will need to complete an account reactivation form.

If you wish to open an Omnibus Segregated Clearing Account, this is free of charge. However, if you wish to open an Individual Segregated Clearing Account, then there is a £13,000 opening fee for individuals and a £200,000 opening fee for corporate entities.

We appreciate the sheer amount of effort that has clearly gone into explaining the costs, even if there are still some details missing. We do, however, wish they did a better job of structuring and laying out this information. It’s a minor criticism, but one we think is worth making considering that a big draw to a Forex.com open account is transparency. And they are transparent here – we just wish they could break up the information into easier to consume bites.

There are a few different options for customer service here. However, we’re going to begin this part of our Forex.com review with a bit of a negative and that is the use of a bot for the live chat. We don’t think this is a bad bot – and is certainly no reason to reconsider your Forex.com open account – however, it can’t replace a live chat service team, especially when you’re dealing with such a multifaceted site like Forex.com.

That said, this is less of an issue than it might initially appear though, as they have a phone line option (Sunday 10am to Friday 5pm ET) as well as an email service. The good news is that this is not half-baked. It’s easy to get through to talk to somebody and email is a great way of getting a more permanent record of a conversation, especially if you don’t wish to talk over the phone.

Also, to be fair to the bot, that and the FAQs/Help sections do answer a lot of questions. Would it be improved by an around the clock manned live chat service? Of course, but what is here is excellent and still counts as a positive for our Forex.com review.

Let’s be honest, there’s not going to be many people reading this who really think that a site with the reputation of Forex.com USA might be illegitimate. It just flies in the face of common sense.

That said, if you’re interested, we can tell you that Forex.com USA is a registered FCM (Futures Commissions Merchant). That means they are able to act as an agent to buy or sell futures contracts or commodities options. They’re also a registered RFED with CFTC, the latter of which stands for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission: an independent US federal agency which regulates various markets. Forex.com is also a member of the National Futures Association.

The Forex.com platform utilizes encryption technology and they have a privacy policy essentially ensuring that all your sensitive data is kept as secure as possible. You may also need to provide proof of photographic identity to ensure you are who you say, and also to prohibit minors from using the site. And, if you needed any more convincing, Forex.com has also been awarded many major awards over the years, including Best Forex Broker by readers of the Financial Times.