IC Markets Review 2024

Rating 7/10

Max. Leverage

1:30

for Forex

Minimum Deposit

$200

EUR/USD Spread

0.8 pips

Benchmark

Visit IC Markets

IC Markets is a CFDs broker offering trading services for foreign exchange, commodities, bonds, digital currencies, indices and stocks.

IC Markets was established in 2007 and is regulated by top-tier jurisdictions. Traders from South Africa trade under IC Markets Seychelles entity. They are not regulated in South Africa.

In this post, we take a look at the trading fees, deposit and withdrawal options, account opening process, customer support and safety of IC Markets to help you get to know more about this broker.

IC Markets is a legitimate broker because of their licensing by Tier-1 and Tier-2 financial regulators as well as in South Africa. Below are various IC Markets regulations:

1) Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC): IC Markets is registered in Australia as International Capital Markets Pty Ltd with ACN (Australian Company Number) 123-289-109 since 2007 and is regulated by ASIC.

Traders from South Africa are registered under this regulation. It is important to know that although the broker is regulated in South Africa, being registered under the Australian regulation means South African traders are trading at their own risk as the Australian law may not cover them.

2) Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC): IC Markets is also regulated in Europe by CySEC as IC Markets (EU) Ltd and authorized to offer investment service, license number 362/18 issued in 2018. The broker serves European clients through this license and a dedicated website, www.icmarkets.eu.

3) Financial Services Authority (FSA), Seychelles: IC Markets is incorporated in Seychelles as Raw Trading Ltd and is regulated by the FSA with license number SD018, authorized as a securities dealer in 2020.

They operate under the trading name IC Markets Global with a dedicated website www.icmarkets.sc.

South African clients are registered under IC Markets’ Seychelles entity. Therefore, there is no negative balance protection for traders based in South Africa. Here is a statement from IC markets website that confirms this. “Events such as markets gapping over the weekend or on major holidays, where liquidity is thin, can increase the chance of your positions being stopped out and a negative equity situation occurring. In case you lose more than your current account balance, you should be aware that you will bear the negative consequences of such adverse events.”

The leverage on IC Markets Varies for retail and professional clients and is based on the instrument you are trading. The maximum leverage on IC Markets for retail clients is 1:30, which applies to major forex pairs, other instruments have lower leverage limits.

With leverage of 1:30, you can open a trade position worth 30 times your deposit. For example, if you deposit $1,000 you can place a trade worth $30,000.

Professional clients on IC Markets can access higher leverage of up to 1:500.

It is important to know that trading leveraged products involves risk and you can lose all your money. It is best to only trade if you understand it and do not use high leverage.

IC Markets offer two main types of trading accounts for clients: Raw Spread and Standard Accounts, along with a Raw Spread Account for cTrader only. Each type of account has varying fees and some trading conditions.

They also offer Islamic Accounts for Muslim traders that are swap-free and demo accounts to help beginners get familiar with the platform.

Below are details of the various account types currently available on IC Markets and their features:

1) Raw Spread Account (MetaTrader): The IC Markets Raw Spread Account (MetaTrader) is only available on the MetaTrader trading application and allows you to trade CFDs on Forex, indices, bonds, cryptocurrencies, commodities, and stocks.

This account attracts a commission of up to $3.50 per side lot traded, which amounts to up to $7 for a round turn. Spreads on this account start from 0.0 pips, and swap fees are applied for keeping a position open overnight.

This account requires a minimum deposit of $200 with a minimum trade lot size of 0.01, a maximum number of position orders of 200, and maximum leverage of 1:30.

This account offers negative balance protection, to ensure that you do not lose more money than you have deposited. If you suffer a loss from an unsuccessful trade position and lose all the money in your account, any negative balance that accrues will be reset to zero.

2) Raw Spread Account (cTrader): The IC Markets Raw Spread Account (cTrader) is only available on the cTrader platform and allows you to trade CFDs on Forex, indices, bonds, cryptocurrencies, commodities, and stocks.

A commission of up to $3 per side lot traded is charged on this account, which amounts to up to $6 for a round turn. Spreads start from 0.0 pips, and swap fees are applied for keeping a position open overnight.

In order to trade on this account, you must have a minimum of $200 in your account with a minimum trade lot size of 0.01. The maximum number of open positions is 2,000 and the maximum leverage is also 1:30.

You also have negative balance protection with this account.

3) Standard Account: The IC Markets Standard Account is available exclusively on the MetaTrader platform and lets you trade CFDs on Forex, indices, bonds, cryptocurrencies, commodities, and stocks.

This account is spread only and charges no commission for opening or closing trade positions. Spreads start from 0.8 pips and usually have a markup because you pay no commissions. You also pay swap fees for keeping a position open overnight on the Standard Account.

You must have at least $200 in your account, with a trade lot size of 0.01, to trade on this account. The maximum number of open positions is 200 and the leverage limit is 1:30.

You also have negative balance protection with the Standard Account on IC Markets.

4) Professional Account: IC Markets offers Professional Account status to experienced clients who want to trade with higher leverage. You can apply to upgrade your account to the professional status, and you will have higher leverage of 1:500, while other features will remain the same, depending on whether you upgraded from a Raw Spread or Standard Account.

With the IC Markets Professional Account, you are not assured of certain protections, like negative balance protection.

To get a Pro Account on IC Markets, first, create a retail Standard or Raw Spread Account, then contact the support team to upgrade your account. Before your application is approved, you must pass the wealth test or the sophisticated investor test, based on the criteria below.

1) Wealth Test:

1. You have net assets of at least AU$2.5 million or annual gross income of AU$250,000+ for the last 2 years;

2) Sophisticated Investor Test:

1. You have experience working in financial services for at least 12 months in a professional position or show proof of trading leveraged FX or CFDs at least 20 times (with a notional value of AU$500,000) per quarter, for at least 4 quarters over the last 2 years.

After passing either of the tests above, you will still need to take an online test, to prove your knowledge of leverage trading.

5) Islamic Account: The Islamic Account at IC Markets is a swap-free account for Muslim traders who want to adhere to the sharia law of no-riba.

This account is similar to the Raw Spread & Standard Accounts, with the same spreads, commission fees, leverage, and minimum deposit, except that it does not charge swap fees.

Note that you will pay a flat rate financing fee if you keep the trade position open for more than one night.

If you want an Islamic account, you will have to select the Islamic Account Option while creating your account.

IC Markets Base Account Currency

The 10 base account currencies supported on IC Markets are AUD – Australian Dollar, USD – United States Dollar, EUR – Euro, CAD – Canadian Dollar, GBP – British Pound Sterling, SGD – Singapore Dollars, NZD – New Zealand Dollars, JPY – Japanese Yen, CHF – Swiss Franc and HKD – Hong Kong Dollar.

You can select any of these during account registration, but cannot change it once the account is opened.

IC Markets fees vary based on currencies traded, account type, and trading instruments. Find an overview of IC Markets fees here:

Trading fees

Spreads: IC Markets charges spread fees whenever you trade instruments, which is the difference between the bid and ask prices. The lowest spreads start at 0.0 pips for Raw Spread Account and 0.8 pips for the Standard Account. Here are the average spreads on IC Markets for Raw Spread & Standard Accounts:

Commission fees: IC Markets offers commission-free trading for Standard Accounts, and Raw Spreads accounts incur commission fees for opening and closing trade positions. The Raw Spreads (MetaTrader) round-turn commission fee is $7 and Raw Spread (cTrader) is $6.

Swap fees: If you keep a trade position open overnight past the market’s closing time, the position rolls over into the next trading day and you pay a swap fee also referred to as rollover fee or overnight funding cost. This is applicable to all account types on IC Markets except Islamic Accounts.

The swap fees paid depends on the size of your trade, leverage used, spread, and whether your position was a short (sell) or long (buy).

Typical swap fees for major pairs like EURUSD on MetaTrader are $-3.93 for long (buy) swaps and $2.45 short (sell) swaps.

Islamic Accounts are swap-free and won’t pay any swap fees for holding a position overnight. However, if you hold the position open for more than one night, you will start to pay a flat financing fee based on the instruments you are trading.

Non-trading fees

Deposit and Withdrawal fees: IC Markets does not charge any fees for deposits and withdrawals on all payment methods for all account types.

Some international banking institutions may charge independent fees.

Account Inactivity charges: IC Markets does not charge inactive account fees, which means that you won’t be charged anything if you don’t log into your account or trade. Any funds in your account will be untouched.

How to Open IC Markets Account in South Africa?

To start trading on IC Markets, follow these steps to open an account.

Step 1) Visit the IC Markets website homepage at www.icmarkets.com and click on ‘Start Trading Now’.

Step 2) Fill out your name, email, and phone number on the form that appears and click the ‘NEXT’ button.

Step 3) Select whether you are opening an individual, joint or corporate account, check the box beside Islamic Account, if you are a Muslim, then provide your date of birth and fill in your address. Check the referral box if you were referred and click on ‘NEXT’.

Step 4) Now, choose your preferred trading platform and the account type you want, and select a base account currency. Then click on ‘NEXT’ to proceed.

Step 5) You will be required to answer some questions to complete the registration and verify your account.

Answer the questions about your employment & income and trading knowledge & experience then click ‘NEXT’.

Step 6) You will be required to set a security question and the answer. After that, check the box to show you have read and agree with the terms and conditions, then click ‘SUBMIT’ to continue with the account registration.

Step 7) You will be redirected to the IC Markets Client Area (dashboard) and required to take a suitability test and upload your identity and address documents to verify your account.

You can choose to do this later and fund your account instead.

Payment methods supported by IC Markets for deposits and withdrawals are cards (debit or credits), e-wallets (Skrill, Neteller, PayPal, and others), and bank wire transfers.

Learn about the minimum amount and the time it takes to process deposits and withdrawals from IC Markets below:

IC Markets Deposit Methods

Here is a summary of payment methods accepted by IC Markets for deposits.

IC Markets Withdrawal Methods

Here is a summary of payment methods for withdrawals accepted on IC Markets.

What is the IC Markets Minimum deposit?

The recommended minimum deposit on IC Markets South Africa is $200 for all payment methods. You may make a deposit of less than $200, but this may limit the types of trades you can execute and the volume you can trade.

How do I deposit money into IC market?

Step 1) Log in to your account Client Area through the IC Markets website or by visiting secure.icmarkets.com, type in your email as username, and enter the password that was sent to your email after registration then click ‘LOGIN’.

Step 2) Once you are logged in, click on Deposit on the left side menu and select a payment method you would like to use for your deposit.

Step 3) Enter the amount you want to deposit and provide other information required then click ‘PROCEED’ and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the deposit.

What is the IC Markets Minimum withdrawal?

The minimum withdrawal on IC Markets is $1 for cards and e-wallets while bank transfers require a minimum withdrawal amount of $50.

How to Withdraw Funds from IC Markets in South Africa?

You can follow these steps to withdraw your money from IC Markets South Africa.

Step 1) Log in to your IC Markets clients area (dashboard).

Step 2) Click on withdraw on the left side menu.

Step 3) Select a withdrawal method and the trading account you wish to withdraw from, enter the amount you want to withdraw, click on ‘SUBMIT’ and follow the on-screen instructions to complete your funds’ withdrawal on IC Markets.

IC Markets Trading Instruments

Below are financial instruments that can be traded on IC Markets

Instrument	Availability	Number
Forex CFDs	Yes	61 currency pairs on IC Markets (6 majors, 21 minors and 34 exotics)
Commodities CFDs	Yes	24 spot commodities on IC Markets (Energy, Metals, Agriculture)
Indices CFDs	Yes	25 spot indices on IC Markets (AUS200, UK100, DE40, and others
Bonds CFDs	Yes	9 bonds on IC Markets (EURBOBL, EURBUND, UKGB, and others)
Stocks CFDs	Yes	2,100+ stocks on IC Markets (ASX, Nasdaq & NYSE and others)
Cryptocurrencies CFDs	Yes	21 cryptocurrencies on IC Markets (Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin and others)
Futures CFDs	Yes	4 Futures on IC Markets

IC Markets Trading Platforms

Trading platforms supported by IC Markets are:

1) MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5: The MT4 & MT5 trading applications are supported by IC Markets for trading and can be accessed via the web, desktop and mobile devices (Android & iOS).

The MetaTrader is supported for The Raw Spread and Standard Account.

2) cTrader: IC Markets supports cTrader for trading using only the Raw SPread Account. The cTrader is available on the web, desktop (Windows & macOS) as well Google Play Store and App Store.

The cTrader copy trading app is also supported on IC Markets.

IC Markets Education and Research

IC Markets have different education channels. We look at them in detail below:

1. Demo Account: IC Markets, like many forex brokers, have a demo account. It is free to open with zero risk. You will get an account with virtual funds that support all IC Markets account types, products, and platforms.

You can use the account to backtest your strategy, and get acquainted with the trading platforms, and the trading fees. In addition, IC Markets’ demo account does not expire so it is easy tracking your progress.

2. Video Tutorials: IC Markets’video tutorials are largely about trading platforms. We found 17 videos that cover all about how to use and log in on the trading platforms, how to place an order, upload a credit card, and much more.

3. IC Markets’ Blog: There are a lot of educational articles on the broker’s blog. The blog is well structured with a good user interface. At a glance, you can see the technical analysis section and fundamental analysis section.

Also, there is an ‘education section’ with topics like trading psychology, risk management, and how to develop a trading plan.

IC Markets South Africa Customer Service

IC Markets offers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week online customer support to clients via the following channels.

1) Live chat support: The IC Markets live chat is available 24/7 for client enquiries and can be accessed on their website. When you start the live chat, the IC Markets chatbot will respond first and show you quick option answers to some questions.

You can switch to a live agent by typing ‘chat with an agent’ in the chat, and the bot will show you options that will connect you to a live support agent.

When our team tested, the wait time for a live agent to connect was under 2 minutes and the answers provided were relevant. Although the live agent seemed to have delays of up to 3 minutes before answering some questions.

You will need to provide your email and name to start the chat.

2) Email support: IC Markets offers email support for clients, you can find the email on the contact us page of their website. You can fill in an inquiry to quickly send them a message or type a message in your email app and send it to the IC Markets email address at [email protected].

When our team tested their email support, we got a response in 10 minutes and the answer to our questions were correctly answered. The email support is available from 10:00 PM on Sundays to 10:00 PM on Fridays (GMT).

3) Physical Office: IC Markets has no physical office in South Africa, the headquarters of IC Markets is Level 4 50 Carrington Street, Sydney NSW, 2000 Australia.

4) Phone support: IC Markets offers international phone support for clients that is also available from 10:00 PM on Sundays to 10:00 PM on Fridays (GMT). The phone number is +248-467-1976.

Do we Recommend IC Markets South Africa?

We consider IC Markets is licensed by ASIC, a Tier-1 financial regulator, and CySEC a Tier-2 financial regulator. They are also licensed in South Africa via the Australian license.

IC Markets have moderate spreads and swap fees, offers commission-free trading on some account and charges zero dormant account fees. They also process deposits relatively faster than some brokers.

The customer support of IC Markets is good, they have 24/7 live chat and responsive email and phone support for 6 days (Sundays to Fridays).

The website of IC Markets is easy to navigate and has details about the account types, fees, trading conditions and other information that clients might have. The FAQ section of their website is highly informative.

The regulation of IC Markets in South Africa is still affiliated to the license in Australia and traders are still signed up under Australia. This is confusing as the main website of South Africa have different leverage than the Australian website.

We recommend that you sign up with other brokers who are fully regulated by the FSCA and offer good trading conditions and traders are registered under the South African entity. You can still chat with the support of IC Markets to be clear on the terms and then signup with them if it is convenient for you. Remember that trading CFDs involves risk and only experienced traders should engage in it.

IC Markets South Africa FAQs