The forex market continues to be the largest financial market in the world, and it routinely facilitates trade volume that is greater than $6 trillion per day. Since forex has a high level of liquidity, traders all over the world are able to readily speculate on price fluctuations provided that they work with a broker who is well-respected and regulated.
With so many different forex brokers to choose from, it can be overwhelming and confusing to narrow it down to just one. This article aims to give you a list of the most important qualities a forex broker should have.
So, when you’re scouring the internet trying to find the best low spread brokers, keep in mind the following points.
Has The Appropriate Licensing And Regulations
The fact that a company complies with all licensing and trading requirements in the forex market is perhaps one of the most important qualities of a reputable forex broker. Unregulated brokers run the risk of putting themselves, you, and your money in precarious positions. This is something you want to avoid at all costs.
I mean, you don’t want your money to be handled by an unregulated broker, do you?
Offer A Demo Account
One more important factor to look for in a reliable forex broker is whether or not the company provides a demo account or a trial period. It is common practice in the world of business to offer prospective customers a free trial period of a few weeks to a month, or to provide them with access to a demo account that contains fake funds. This gives the customer the opportunity to become familiar with the platform and determine whether or not it is a good fit for their needs.
A good reliable broker should not have any issues with providing you with a demo account or trial period. In fact, brokers should do this as it would their customers to get a feel of the website and how to trade. If their customers are confident in their trading abilities, they are more likely to take part in higher risk trades.
Reviews And Reputation
Say you’re going to a restaurant you’ve never tried before, what’s the first thing you do? You check the reviews and comments left by customers. If you see a lot of negative reviews and complaints, you’ll definitely rethink going there to avoid being part of a restaurant horror story.
But, if you see several 5-star reviews and positive comments, then you’ll be itching to go! Same goes for brokers. You don’t want one that has one bad review after another, because there’s a high likelihood you won’t have a great experience with that one.
Find a broker that several people recommend and swear by, and if it happens to have a few bad reviews, check to see how the company dealt with them. If they ignored the customer or got mad, that site should be avoided as that is an insight of how they react to negative feedback.
But, if the company apologized and adjusted their service so that future customers won’t face the same problem, then that’s surely a bonus!
Choice Of Account
Given that you are the broker’s client and the broker makes some money off of you, a good quality of a forex broker is one that enables you to select the type of account that is most ideally suited to meet your requirements. Due to the widespread popularity of foreign exchange trading, numerous kinds of accounts are now readily available. It is expected of your broker to provide access to them.
Easy Deposits And Withdrawals
The simplicity of making deposits and withdrawals is a further crucial attribute, and for some forex traders, it is the quality that is considered to be the most important. Since this is money that belongs to you and is held in an account by the broker, it should be possible for you to get at it at any time and without any difficulty.
Invest some time in doing research about a potential forex broker’s offerings and reviews before making a final decision. The history of other traders’ interactions with the broker can help paint a picture of what to expect from them.
Good Customer Service
A good forex broker will have an experienced team of customer service agents who will help you when you encounter a problem. Keep the below points in mind when it comes to determining whether the company has a good customer service team or not:
- When do they operate?: Is their service only available during office hours or 24/7? This is especially important if you’re using an offshore broker, because chances are, if the team only works office hours, they’ll be fast asleep while you’re panicking about the issue you’ve encountered.
- How can you contact them?: Do you have to fill out a Google form and wait until they respond back to you? Or do they have a direct line and live chats where you can speak with operators in real time?
- What languages are offered?: Again, this is important if you’re using an offshore broker. If the service is only offered in their native language and you don’t understand it, then it’s going to be difficult to try and explain the situation to them. Check to see if they are multilingual, since that will surely help.
High Risk Investment Warning
Since there are risks associated with trading, a trustworthy forex broker will explain the risks associated with currency trading to its clients. A foreign exchange broker that constantly tempts you with discounts without providing you with information on the risks involved is not one you should do business with.
A trustworthy forex broker should remind you on a regular basis that trading is risky business and that you should not risk more money than you can bear to lose.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know what you should be looking out for, you can safely start your journey!
Remember to trade wisely as this is your money on the line!