IG Forex is a popular forex broker trading platform offering a great, accessible platform for trading foreign exchange. IG Forex offers useful resources and competitive trading costs, making it a good choice for small investors or market experts. IG Forex works on all devices, including mobile, iPad, and desktop.
There are no downloads required with their browser-based desktop platform. IG Forex users have access to breaking news via Reuters and Twitter, on their integrated platform.
Why choose IG Forex technology?
All of IG Forex’s FX platforms have been designed for the users’ chosen devices. IG Forex provides home-grown mobile apps for iOS and Android that can also be loaded on tablets.
There are no downloads required with IG Forex’s browser-based desktop online trading platform, and the user is able to customize their trading to suit their style and preferences. IG Forex’s natively-designed mobile and tablet apps allow users to access and trade forex on the go.
Users are able to get breaking news via Reuters and Twitter, on the integrated platform. They can also develop their trading knowledge with help from the huge range of educational resources IG Forex offers.
Is IG Forex Safe?
IG Forex holds more regulatory licenses than any other online forex broker offering FX trading. IG Forex’s decades of operation, reputation, and requirements as a publicly traded company mean IG is a safe broker to hold client assets, including cash money. However, users can still lose money when trading on IG Forex.
IG Forex Ratings
Overall
Pros
- Great educational tools.
- Extensive range of offerings.
- Low-risk forex and trading CFDs.
- IG Forex offers listed derivatives including options and futures trading in the U.S. and Europe.
- Traders can have access to more than 80 currency pairs.
Cons
- Lack of predefined layouts means that some manual configuration is necessary.
- High forex and fees for trading CFDs.
- Limited product portfolio.
- US traders can only trade forex.
- US traders do not get negative balance protection on their accounts.

Who is IG Forex For?
In the U.S., the IG Forex platform is available for clients who want to trade the foreign exchange financial markets.
IG Forex would be a good choice for beginner traders or advanced traders because of the amount of resources they offer. IG Forex delivers on this by deciding to adopt the time-honored adage “go big or go home” because, well, they can.
IG Forex offers an emphasis on customer service, access to many educational resources, actionable research, and functional interfaces which are easy for users to understand. This makes IG Forex a competitive and quality broker to consider using amongst the selection of forex brokers in the online broker market.
IG Forex Trading Fees
Opening a trading account is completely free, however there are some competitive costs for the trading platform. IG Markets also offers IG smart portfolios, for clients who would like to automate part of their buy and sell decisions. A trading account is necessary to take advantage of IG smart portfolios.
The major currency pairs are approximately $10 per pip. This includes the major pairs AUD/USD, EUR/GBP, EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY. The average pip spread ranges from 1.0 to 1.4. The average pip spread is calculated from (Monday 00:00 – Friday 22:00 GMT) for 6 weeks ending June 25, 2021. Margin requirements on the major crosses ranges from 2-3%, which is a significant amount of leverage and may be too much risk for a beginning investor.
For foreign exchange transactions, adjustments are made to calculate the cost to fund a position, and these are posted to users’ accounts daily. The adjustments are calculated as below:
A = V x R
Where:
A = the cost of funding
V = the number of contracts multiplied by the contract size
R = the current tomorrow next rate, including a charge not exceeding 0.5% annually.
If the rate is less than zero, users will be debited for executing a short position and credited for executing a long position. If tomorrow’s rate is greater than zero, the trader will be credited for executing a short position and debited for running a long position.
The funding adjustment is calculated for any forex position opened before 5:00 pm ET that is still open after 5:00 pm ET.
Minimum Deposit
IG Forex requires a minimum deposit of $250 in order to start trading.
Spreads and margins
The user pays a spread on every trade.
For currency pairs IG Forex offers a standard contract size (one contract = 100,000 of the first-named currency), with a minimum trade size of 0.01 lots (equivalent to 1000 of the first-named currency).
Traders must place a minimum of four trades per month for free access to ProRealTime. Otherwise, a $40 monthly fee applies.
Overnight funding fees
When the user trades derivatives, they trade on margin. This means a minimum deposit to open a position is needed, and they in effect lend the rest of the money required to the brokerage.
If the user closes their position on the same day, there are no trading fees. If the position is kept overnight, they charge a small fee to cover the cost of the money that’s been effectively borrowed.
Currency conversion charges
Trading forex in a currency other than the user account’s base currency may incur a currency conversion charge. The default setting is instant conversion, where foreign-currency profit is converted to the user’s base currency and funding or commission charges are taken into account before the user’s account is credited.
IG Markets also offers daily, weekly and monthly conversion settings. Their standard charge is 0.5%.
Inactivity fee
If there haven’t been any trades placed on the account for two years or more, and there is still a balance, a $12 inactivity fee is charged on the first of every month.
IG Forex benchmark fees are competitive against other trading platforms
Negative Balance Protection
IG Forex does not offer negative balance protection for U.S. clients. This means that a client can end up losing money rapidly due to losing more than their account balance and end up owing money to the broker.
Trading Accounts for IG Forex
Demo Account
The demo account is an IG account providing a simulated market environment with a trading platform that aims to recreate the experience of ‘real’ Forex and CFD trading as closely as possible.
Demo accounts provide immediate access to online trading platforms, along with $10,000 of pre-set virtual funds to practice with the IG Forex Academy. The account is completely free, with no minimum deposit, and is easy to set up for direct market access.
A demo account can be an important resource for teaching new users that trading involves risk. It’s most ideal for beginning traders who may otherwise risk losing money rapidly due to inexperienced trading in the real world. However, trading in a demo account does lack real-life high risk trading experiences and the amount available to trade in the platform isn’t flexible.
IG Academy
IG Academy assists clients in developing the skills of trading – from first steps to advanced strategies – with their interactive courses. Clients can learn at their own pace, and checking their understanding with practical exercises and quizzes.
Beginner
The IG Academy breaks down financial and trading fundamentals into eight courses. Introducing the financial market: Take a tour of the financial markets. Discover how they operate, what drives them and how you can capitalize on their movements.
Find out about the people and businesses who make the trading world tick, and discover the mechanisms behind market prices. Learn an understanding of the steps involved in placing a trade, including how to protect yourself against risk and use leverage wisely.
Create a plan that will help you achieve your trading goals, and discover tools you can use to for risk management. Alsodiscover how to find potential trading opportunities by analyzing market patterns or trends using technical indicators.
Intermediate
Prepare yourself to handle the emotions which come while trading. Keep a cool head and avoid common mistakes trading mistakes.
Use fundamental analysis to find stocks with potential by analyzing economic factors and scrutinizing company details. Use five simple rules to help you manage risk and maximize the long-term profitability of your trading.
IG Forex Account
IG Forex’s standard account requires a small minimum deposit for members to start trading. Users have access to multiple trading tools to assist them with investing. This account includes high risk-limit exposure using a range of risk management tools, including stops and automatic alerts.
US traders can use IG Forex ProRealTime, one of the best trading platform available for committed traders. US IG Forex uses MT4 and upgrades it with 18 add-ons in addition to IG Forex Autochartist. Retail Investment Accounts are also made available for retail traders who want to trade the markets through a corporate structure without being a client.
The IG Forex Metatrader platform is recommended for index and forex specialists.
IG Forex Smart Portfolios
IG Smart Portfolios offer an affordable and innovative way to invest. IG Forex Smart Portfolios require lower fees than other active funds from other companies with a 0.5% management fee.
These are institutional-quality portfolios catering to five distinct risk profiles, ranging from conservative to aggressive. A portfolio will include ETFs that cover a range of asset classes and geographies, such as government and investment-grade bonds, developed and emerging market equities, and non-traditional assets such as gold and property.
IG Forex Education
IG Forex traders have access to a quality selection of in-house research, trading instruments, and investment advice for their online trading platform on the IG Markets US blog. Lots of information is available to lower the chance of inexperienced traders to lose money when IG trading.
IG Forex Academy gives anyone access to free informal step-by-step courses after making an account. These courses provide explanations about topics and trading ideas such as financial markets, introductions to trading-how trading involves high risk, market volatility, financial instruments, spread betting and how spread bets work, and much more.
Member accounts are provided trading signals generated by complex instruments such as Autochartist and PIA-First.
IG Forex Regulation
IG Forex is regulated around the globe.
Incorporated in Germany, IG Forex has a regulatory license from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.
IG Forex is regulated by the Japanese Financial Services Authority for Securities and Currencies.
IG Forex is incorporated in Dubai, and licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority to arrange deals in investments and directly deal in investments as a principal in a range of investment types.
IG Forex is regulated in Australia by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission under an AFS License. This license allows the provision of general advice and dealing in derivatives, foreign exchange contracts and securities. Australian Securities also allow IG Forex to make a market for derivatives and foreign exchange contracts, and to carry out custodial or depository services other than investor-directed portfolio services to retail and wholesale clients.
IG Forex South Africa, incorporated within England and Wales, has a branch regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and is registered as an authorized financial services provider in South Africa.
In New Zealand, IGM is regulated by the Financial Markets Authority under a derivative issuers license, covering a variety of derivative contracts.
IG Forex in the US is registered as a retail foreign exchange dealer and introducing broker with the CFTC, and is a member of the National Futures Association.
IG Forex is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as an exchange and clearing house.
Additional Information About IG Forex
What is the minimum deposit for IG Forex trading?
The minimum deposit for IG Forex Trading is $250. IG provides a transparent and detailed explanation of online trading costs on its website. 250 units in the base currency is the minimum account deposit globally, which translates to $250 for U.S. accounts and, per CFTC regulations, the highest leverage available to U.S. clients is 50:1.
What is the IG Forex platform?
IG Forex is a web trading platform that lets the user trade more than 80 currency pairs either on its proprietary platform or on MetaTrader 4. The broker boasts slightly lower spreads compared to other forex brokers, but some customers complain about frequent slippage.
Is IG Forex good for retail investor accounts?
The IG Forex trading platform is safe because it is listed on a stock exchange, discloses their financials and is overseen by top-tier regulators. IG Forex is a good choice for retail investor accounts.
Who owns IG Forex?
IG Forex was established by Stuart Wheeler, and it has a market value of £2.9 billion and offers trading in 17,000 investment markets. IG is regulated by the FCA, the UK’s financial authority body.
How long do IG Forex withdrawals take?
Withdrawal times typically take between 2 to 5 working days. Bank transfers usually finish on the same day if requested before 12pm (UK time) on a working day, but can take up to 3 days to clear. PayPal: usually immediate, and within 1 working day at most.
How much does IG Forex charge per trade?
Their standard trading percentage charge is 0.5%.
Is IG Forex any good?
IG Forex is considered to be safer than other forex broker trading platforms because it is listed on the London Stock Exchange, discloses its financials and is overseen by top-tier regulators.
How much does IG Forex charge per trade?
Opening an account with IG is free, and their trading costs are competitive compared to other brokers. They do require a minimum deposit, however. Spreads start at 0.4 pips on major forex pairs, like EUR/USD, 0.8 pips on the major IG index, and 0.1 pips on spot gold.
What type of broker is IG Forex?
IG markets is one of the most popular and leading web trading platforms which offers forex trading; they offer extensive complex instruments with an array of trading tools, low trading fees, intuitive platforms, a wide range of shares, and dedicated customer service.
How do spread bets work?
Spread betting works by tracking the value of an asset, so that users can take a position on the underlying market price without taking ownership of the asset. Spread betting enables the user to speculate on both rising and falling markets.
What are IG’s trading hours?
IG Forex is normally open 24 hours a day, from 6pm on Sunday until 5pm on Friday night (EST). Shorter opening hours may apply on US public holidays.
They do not open on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Good Friday, or other days which are holidays in both the UK and the US. And if these holidays fall on a Monday, they may not open on the preceding Sunday night.
How do I withdraw money from IG Forex?
Select and click on Withdraw Funds’ at the menu through your account area. Fill in the required data and the withdraw amount. Then, choose the withdrawal method available in your region.
Next, the electronic withdrawal with the requirements needs to be completed. Confirm withdrawal request and Submit. Typically it will be confirmed within 3 days. Users may check the current status through their account, as well as allow additional 3-5 days for their payment provider to process the transaction.
Please note:
Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. Before deciding to trade foreign exchange you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. You could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
IG Forex FAQs
Is IG Forex Regulated?
Top financial authorities regulate IG Forex across the globe. CFDs allow trading with a high level of leverage in most cases. You can also visit our best UAE forex brokers list, where IG Forex has covered regulated brokers suitable for every trader.
Does IG Forex trade gold?
With IG Forex, users can trade CFDs on gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
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