The objective of this research is to provide an unbiased and comprehensive report evaluating FOREX companies from around the world. This will be done by Arincen on a yearly basis, thanks to a six-months-long research project looking at some 3,000 aspects and 120 brokerage firms from around the world.
This research project will be conducted by a team of 12 experts at Arincen, working as trading experts, traders, programmers, as well as the research and development team at the company. These will aim to achieve their goal by:
Collecting information and data about companies in three ways:
Companies’ official Websites and direct contact.
By drawing on the findings of sites that have already produced FOREX companies’ evaluation reports.
A Survey we had sent to the companies themselves to answer in order to gauge their satisfaction from our work.
Official data on companies will be verified in two steps:
Registering with the broker as a secret shopper, as well as Arincen.
Conducting a survey among broker clients to authenticate the data and get their feedback.
After data collection is complete, this information will be sorted into 12 categories, with each category receiving a relative weight (in %), as per its importance.
The weights will be based on the answers to Yes/No questions and giving marks as per importance, with the most important assigned the highest percentage mark. Aspects that would be viewed will include licensing, trading platform, spread differential, deposit and withdrawal, research and development, market access, customer care, etc. Less important factors in our evaluation process will encompass such things as social trading, crypto trading, learning, etc.
Noteworthy is that FOREX brokers were evaluated as per the different languages in which they operate, as well as by the platform they use, be it a PC or a smartphone. Education was omitted since such information should be obtained from specialized Websites. In fact, most FOREX brokers present in this regard are short and mediocre.
| What does it include | Notes | Relative Weight (in%) | |
| Licensing | Year of establishment, subscribed to in the markets, whether it is a bank or not, licenses. | Brokers were not given scores based on how many licenses they enjoy, but rather whether they are regulated by tier-1 watchdogs, like the UK’s FCA. | 15 |
| Deposits and Withdrawals | The various transfer options, be they credit cards, bank transfers, Skrill, PayPal, Neteller, electronic banks, cards to withdraw profits and local deposit option. | High marks were given to companies offering cards to withdraw profits, as well as to those with local cards. Speed of withdrawals was also singled out as being very important. | 15 |
| Commissions | Spread, swaps and commissions, including in VIP accounts. | The research was conducted on the Eur/USD pair. Brokers were rewarded for offering swap-free accounts, as well as those with a low spread. | 10 |
| Assets | FOREX, futures, indices, cryptos and bonds. | Higher scores were not given to the brokers offering the highest number of assets, but instead to those offering the assets traders actually need. So, for example, a company with 1,000 assets but not including the Eur/USD pair received a lower score than a company with 100 assets but offering that popular pair. | 10 |
| Platforms and Tools | Does it offer a proprietary platform, MT4, MT5 and/or Ctrader? | Brokers offering the widely-popular MT4 platform received the highest marks. | 5 |
| Research and Development | Employee satisfaction, employees’ qualifications, economic news, an economic calendar, a daily look at markets through specialized firms, like Trading Central and Autocharlist. | High marks were given to brokers with an economy calendar, as well as to those offering a daily dose of technical analysis. | 5 |
| Customer Service | Reachable by phone, email and chat. Speed of response, response etiquette, and 24/5 availability. | Brokers receiving the highest marks were those with a 24/5 service, as well as those boasting a short response time. | 15 |
| Trading via a Mobile App | Are all the desktop features also available on the mobile version? | Special attention was given to brokers with their own platforms that can compete with MT4. | 5 |
| Learning | Teaching FOREX trading, CFDs, educational videos, Webinars, trading glossary, etc. | SEducation was not given a high mark since we believe education is best consumed from a specialized Website rather than the brokers themselves. | 5 |
| Our Experience with the broker | We drew on our experience as well as those of our clients in brokers’ daily dealings. | 5 | |
| Trading tools | Demo accounts, margin trading, stop-out, an economy calendar, trading indices, especially for those that don’t have access to MT4. | Brokers with a stop-out option received high marks. By contrast, those without MT4 or technical analysis received a low mark. | 5 |
| Website & Portal | Ease of accessing info on the Websites, ease of the portal, trading platform in tandem with portal, etc. | High marks were given to brokers offering an easy-to- use Website and portal, as well as to those offering platforms that are in sync with the portal. | 5 |
Best broker
Best broker for the relevant country;
Best brokers for traders and investors; and
Best brokers in a certain category (e.g,. best app, best currency pairs, best platform, best banking services)