For this Fortrade review, we have opened a standard account with the broker and deposited over €5,000.
We traded the popular instrument in each market to get the real spreads and placed a total of 12 trades.
We also reached out to customer support to solve the issues we faced.
Finally, we withdrew our funds to see if there are any issues with the withdrawal process.
What is Fortrade?
Fortrade is a London-headquartered forex and CFD (contracts for difference) broker brand and was established in 2013.
The broker carries multiple licenses from regulators in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Australia, Canada, and Belarus, and has operations globally.
Fortrade’s offerings include forex, indices, commodities, stocks and cryptocurrency CFDs.
Some of the highlights of Fortrade are:
| 🗺️ Authorised & Regulated in | UK, Cyprus, Belarus, Australia, Canada |
| 🛡️ Is Fortrade safe | Yes |
| 💰 EUR/USD Spread | 1.83 |
| 💳 Minimum deposit | €100 |
| 💰 Withdrawal fee | 0 |
| 🖥️ Trading Platform | MT4, Fortrade Platform |
| 📈 Markets offered | Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities, ETFs, US Treasuries, Cryptocurrenies |
| 📉 Number of Products | 303 (depends on the jurisdiction) |
Fortradee.com Review Licenses and Regulations
Fortrade holds licenses from regulators in 5 countries.
The broker is regulated in United Kingdom, Cyprus, Australia, Canada, and Belarus. The UK’s FCA, Australia’s ASIC, and Canada’s IIROC are deemed as top global financial regulators.
The full list of Fortrade licenses is below:
| Legal entity | Registered in | Regulator | License number | Accepting clients from | Compensation scheme amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortrade Ltd | United Kingdom | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | 609970 | United Kingdom | £85,000 |
| Fortrade Cyprus Ltd | Cyprus | Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) | 385/20 | European Union | €20,000 |
| Fort Securities Australia Pty Ltd | Australia | Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) | 493520 | Australia | No compensation scheme |
| Fortrade Canada Limited | Canada | Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) | BC1148613 | Canada | No compensation scheme |
| LLC “Fort Securities BLR” | Belarus | National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) | 193075810 | Global | No compensation scheme |
Is Fortrade Safe?
Yes, Fortrade is a safe broker for trading.
The broker is well-regulated with a total of 5 licenses. Additionally, the clients under the FCA and CySEC also receive a compensation scheme of £85,000 and €20,000, respectively, for the protection of their funds.
For our tests, we opened an account with Fortrade Cyprus Ltd which is regulated by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) in Cyprus.
Fees and Commissions
Trading fees on Fortrade are built into spreads.
Spreads on all of our trades were higher than the industry average benchmark.
Spread Charged in Our Trades
For our tests, we have chosen popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument to get a picture of the average spread.
Spreads for our trades in all asset classes remained stable with minor variations.
Details of our trades are shown below the table.
| Markets | Instruments | 1st trade | 2nd trade | 3rd trade | Avg. spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forex | EUR/USD | 1.5 | 2 | 2 | 1.83 |
| Indices | FTSE 100 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.27 |
| Stocks | Apple | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| Commodities | Gold | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
Our testing finds that Fortrade spreads on forex, indices, stocks, and commodities CFDs are higher than the industry average.
| Markets | Instruments | Avg. spread charged in our trades | Industry avg. spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex | EUR/USD | 1.83 | 1.16 |
| Indices | FTSE 100 | 2.27 | 1.65 |
| Stocks | Apple | 2.6 | 1.75 |
| Commodities | Gold | 4.5 | 3.53 |
Other Fees
Fortrade does not charge any deposit and withdrawal fees.
The broker also charges a $10 monthly inactivity fee after a dormancy period of180 days. There is no maintenance fee.
Account Types
Fortrade offers only one account type.
| Fortrade Account | |
|---|---|
| Trading Platforms | MetaTrader 4, Fortrade Platform |
| Account Currency | USD, GBP, EUR, TRY |
| Minimum deposit | €100 |
| Commission | None |
| Order execution | Instant Execution |
| Spread | From 0.02 |
Fortrade also offers a swap-free Islamic account.
Account Opening
Our overall experience of opening a new account with Fortrade was smooth and fast.
We opened a Fortrade Account for our tests under the Cyprus-regulated entity.
The process of registration of a new Fortrade account:
- Enter first name, last name, email, and mobile number on the initial registration page.
- Enter the country of residence, account currency, password, date of birth, and address.
- Provide details like country of citizenship, place of birth, employment status, the reason for trading, annual income, source of funds, and a few other fields.
- Answer a quick questionnaire on trading knowledge and experience.
We submitted the following documents to verify our Fortrade account:
- Copy of national identification (both front and back)
- Copy of our bank statement
The registration process took around 6 minutes. Our account was verified on the same day, in fact, it was done in 10 minutes.
Our account was registered on April 9, 2023, and approved on the same day.
Our overall account opening experience was smooth and without any issues from registration to verification.
Deposit and Withdrawal
Deposits on Fortrade are easy and fast, but withdrawal requests took more time than usual to complete.
The broker does not charge any fees for most of the deposit and withdrawal methods, with only the exception of wire transfers.
Minimum Deposit
Fortrade requires a minimum deposit of €100 or equivalent in other base currencies.
Traders only need to maintain the minimum deposit balance on their accounts.
Deposit
Fortrade supports deposits with bank transfers, credit and debit cards, and popular e-wallets like Neteller, and Skrill.
We tested the deposit process on Fortrade using a credit card, Neteller, and Skrill.
Details of our fund deposits are shown in the below table.
| Payment Method | Submitted Date | Funded Account Date | Funding Time | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credit card | 2023-04-14 | 2023-04-14 | 8 hours | 0 |
| Skrill | 2023-04-14 | 2023-04-14 | 4 hours | 0 |
| Neteller | 2023-04-14 | 2023-04-14 | 4 hours | 0 |
Fortrade required a transaction confirmation from our side when you made the deposit using Skrill.
PayPal funding option wasn’t available as the broker don’t provide a “continue” button to proceed with the transaction.
Withdrawal
Fortrade allows withdrawals with bank transfers, credit and debit cards, and online wallets like Neteller and Skrill, same as deposits.
Overall, our experience with the Fortrade withdrawal process was okay, but the process took longer than usual.
Details of our withdrawal requests are in the table below.
| Payment Method | Submitted Date | Fund Released Date | Fund Arrived Date | Withdrawal Time | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credit card | 2023-04-14 | 2023-04-20 | 2023-04-21 | 6 working day | 0 |
| Neteller | 2023-04-14 | 2023-04-20 | 2023-04-20 | 5 working day | 0 |
| Skrill | 2023-04-14 | 2023-04-20 | 2023-04-20 | 5 working day | 0 |
For withdrawals, we requested €3,000 to credit card, €1,950 to Skrill, and €50 to Neteller. The broker, however, transferred €3,000 to credit card, €1020.78 to Skrill, and €900 to Neteller.
Markets and Products
Fortrade offers CFDs trading services with forex, indices, stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrency instruments.
The complete list of Fortrade offerings are:
| Markets | Instruments |
|---|---|
| Forex | 54 |
| Indices | 17 |
| Stocks | 200 |
| Commodities | 25 |
| ETFs | 3 |
| US Treasuries | 3 |
| Cryptocurrencies | 4 |
The markets and the number of offered instruments will depend on the account jurisdiction.
Cryptocurrency CFDs are only available under the ASIC and CySEC-regulated entities.
Trading Conditions
Trading conditions on Fortrade are decent. The broker allows hedging and scalping strategies but traders cannot change leverage levels.
| Trading Method | Allowed |
|---|---|
| Hedging | Yes |
| Scalping | Yes |
| Change Leverage | No |
Changing of leverage on Fortrade depends on market conditions. Though it is closed now, it might be opened in the future.
Leverage
Leverages offered by the various entities of Fortrade are detailed below:
| Markets | Fortrade Ltd | Fortrade Cyprus Ltd | Fort Securities Australia Pty Ltd | Fortrade Canada Limited | LLC “Fort Securities BLR” |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major Currency Pairs | 30:1 | 30:1 | 30:1 | 34.4:1 | 100:1 |
| Non-Major Currency Pairs | 20:1 | 20:1 | 20:1 | 34.4:1 | 100:1 |
| Gold | 20:1 | 20:1 | 20:1 | 38:1 | 100:1 |
| Other Commodities (except Gold) | 10:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 | 38:1 | 100:1 |
| Indices | 5:1 | 5:1 | 20:1 | 18:1 | 100:1 |
| Stocks | 5:1 | 5:1 | 5:1 | 6:1 | 5:1 |
| Cryptocurrencies | NA | 2:1 | 5:1 | NA | NA |
Trading Platform
Fortrade offers trading services on its proprietary platform and also on industry-standard MetaTrader 4, which is developed by MetaQuotes Software.
We executed all our trades on the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.
Research and Tools
Fortrade offers decent market research and analysis tools.
Tools offered by the broker include:
- Good charting tools
- Economic calendar
- Signals using Trading Central
- Market analysis
Education
Fortrade offers excellent educational resources to beginner traders.
The broker’s educational materials only include:
- Webinars
- eBooks
- Tutorial videos
- Courses for both beginner and advanced traders
- Glossary
- Demo account
Customer Service
Fortrade offers excellent customer support.
Traders can contact the broker via:
- Live chat
- Phone
The support staff is available only on weekdays.
Our experience with Fortrade customer support was excellent.
The support staff on both live chat and email was prompt with the response and provided accurate and detailed answers.
| Question | Response Time | Quality of reply | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live Chat | Asked if Fortrade require any docs after the trader submitting a withdrawal request | 1 minute | Clear and accurate |
| Asked several questions about their trading account, spread, and commissions | 1 hour | Clear and very detailed |
A Fortrade account service manager contacted us once our trading account was opened successfully. We asked several questions about Fortrade in general and questions about trading to the service manager.
The service of the account service manager is better than the broker’s Live Chat as the Live Chat support staff has limited access to customer accounts. When we asked some trading account questions to Fortrade Live Chat support staff, the team said they will ask our account service manager to contact us and answer our questions.
We recommend traders contact the account service manager rather than Live Chat.
The broker also has a detailed FAQ section for frequently faced issues.
Conclusion
Our overall experience with Fortrade was positive.
The spreads charged by the broker are on the higher side, but the trade execution speed was fast.
Our account opening experience was smooth and the broker does not charge fees for deposits and withdrawals. However, we are a bit disappointed with the speed of the withdrawals.
The customer support was also excellent, especially the account service manager.
We recommend Fortrade to forex traders who run EA and other trading strategies.
We recommend Fortrade for traders who are
- Experienced traders
- Beginners
- Run Scalping
- Hedging
- Trading through MT4
Tickmill might not be a fit if you are
- Real Stock / Futures Trading
- Commission based trading
- Looking for advanced instrument range