CMTrading Review – South Africa’s Best Broker

A decade ago, it would be extremely difficult to come across decent Forex brokers in South Africa. The country’s regulatory framework was considerably weak and a lot of non-legit brokerage companies were taking advantage of the community who was seeking a reliable trading platform to join the Forex market. The growing demand from the local South African community towards the Forex products and trading, in general, produced some of the highest quality brokers in the region. One of the most recognized brokers in the area is CMTrading, which appeared on the international Forex market in 2012. Since then, the broker has gone through rough times to achieve where it stands today – the leading brokerage firm, if not the best, in South Africa.

Not only the locals but some of the most professional international traders are registered with CMTrading. The reasons behind the popularity of the broker are numerous. It could be anything from diverse assets portfolio, the multiplicity of convenient trading account types, flexible trading conditions, or efforts from the broker’s side to deliver the best and the most competitive services to its clients. Most of the traders remain as loyal customers of the broker, and the newcomers find it extremely easy to start trading Forex with this broker. Our review of CMTrading Forex broker focuses on the major features of the broker, conditions for trading such as spreads, leverages, account types, and platforms, as well as some other unique benefits that traders might find interesting.

First look at CMTrading

Believe it or not, the website speaks a lot about the nature of the Forex broker, the quality of the brokerage firm, and the dedication of it towards the experience of the customers. Overcomplicated websites with the extreme difficulty to find whatever you are looking for is definitely a red flag. The broker should provide a user-friendly interface, with some o the most important pieces of information easily available and clearly explained on the website. That is why the very first thing that we pay attention to is the structure, content, and design of the broker’s website.

The design of the CMTrading website is indeed very catchy, though simple, as well. The navigation divides into four major pages of the broker that are trading tools, trading platforms, education, and company information. Within the trading tools page, clients can learn more about technical analysis, daily market reviews, trading signals, economic calendar, social trading, and fundamental analysis. The trading platforms page lists the software and trading terminals that the broker provides to its clients. Each of the subpages contains all the necessary information about the platforms. The education page introduces various materials that boost the knowledge and expertise in Forex for the clients of the broker. Whereas the last page of the company displays the rest of the details, such as the legal matters or regulations, account types, partnership opportunities, deposit methods, and so on.

Background Info on CMTrading

Our CMTrading Forex broker review team explored the history of the brokerage firm. The origins of the company date back to 2012 when it was initially established in the South African region. For the local community, it was a huge boost to further increase the number of Forex enthusiasts and those interested in trading. The company is considered to be the multi-national one as it serves both local and international clients within many regions. CMtrading obtained an official license and authorization from the local renowned regulatory body – the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa.

The influence of the regulation over the financial markets cannot be diminished. It is what keeps the traders’ funds and personal data secure and safe with the licensed and regulated Forex brokers. Without the regulation, market would be in chaos and the people would be losing their financial resources to unauthorized and scam brokers. Therefore, the recognition from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority significantly raised the CMTrading rating. The broker now keeps the clients’ funds on the segregated accounts, which are guarded against any financial problem that the company might encounter. Furthermore, regular financial audits imposed by the regulatory body guarantee the availability of the finances from the broker’s side in order to satisfy all trading requirements of its clients.

Awards and Customer Support

Apart from the legal framework of the Forex brokers, awards and recognitions are other determinants of the broker’s legitimacy and the quality of the brokerage services. CMTrading has won numerous industry awards within the past few years for its service excellence and dedication to establishing the ground for the best trading experience for its customers. In 2017, the brokerage firm was named as the best performing Forex broker in Africa. The award distinguishes the broker from all the operating firms on the African continent, which is an incredible achievement, especially within just 5 years from the establishment.

One of the key features of the best Forex broker is efficient communication between the customer support team and the client. The CMTrading opinion matches ours on the matter and the broker introduces a highly competent and dedicated customer support team that is ready to assist the clients at any time. The traders can actually find several communication channels to contact the broker. They can choose among the four different email addresses that provide access to different departments including the inquires for financial matters, trading, introducing brokers, and the general client support. Furthermore, the broker also provides dozen of international phone numbers where the clients from different regions can contact the broker and communicate in the languages that they prefer. In addition, the broker also offers the live chat function which promises an instant response from the support associates.

Trading Conditions at CMTrading

Most of the traders’ primary concern is the conditions for the trading, such as spreads, commissions, leverages, other fees, minimum deposits and etc. It does not matter how many years the broker has existed on the market, how many regulations and licenses it holds, or how nice the website of the broker looks, if the trading conditions are inconvenient the customer base of the broker will never grow. These conditions are what determines the cost-efficiency of trading with the broker, it either makes the cost of trading Forex unreasonably high or relatively low.

With CMTrading, the conditions for the traders are quite competitive and flexible we would say. In our review on CMTrading broker, we also include the analysis of the conditions, such as spreads, leverages, minimum deposits, types of accounts, trading platforms, and other tools for trading. You can find the in-depth description for each of these features below.

Spreads and Commissions

CMTrading operates without commission charges for its clients. However, commission-free trading essentially means that the broker implements those fees in the spreads. The spreads are variable for CMTrading customers and they actually depend on the individual trading assets provided by the broker. Also, for the ones who would like to get lower spreads, there are multiple live trading account types that significantly reduce the spreads and make them ultra-tight. Such account types are Gold and Premium accounts.

Leverage

Leverage is often confusing for the newcomers in trading, as some actually claim that sky-high leverages are what they are looking for. while others are avoiding them at all costs. Indeed, the sky-high leverages are extremely risky and we would not recommend beginner or even intermediate traders to use them. It is better to go for more flexible leverage options. At CMTrading, the maximum leverage on Forex assets can go up to 1:200, which is reasonable and does not impose significant risks to trades.

Trading Platforms

CMTrading broker supports several trading platform options. The clients can trade either on MetaTrader 4, Sirix WebTrader, or from the mobile application. Usually, MetaTrader 4 is the top choice for most Forex traders worldwide as it has over 15 years of experience in service of the Forex traders. According to the official data, over 90% of the Forex traders globally use MetaTrader 4 as their primary trading platform. Even though Sirix WebTrader is relatively new for Forex traders, it is the best choice for the convenient trading platform which does not require complicated installation procedures and can be accessed from the web. Similarly, the mobile applications supported by the broker are compatible with both IOS and Android devices and offer all the similar features of the original MetaTrader 4 software.

Types of CMTrading Accounts

CMTrading offers four different live trading account types. The traders can also set up a demo account on any of these account types and see if they enjoy the conditions of the account in the virtual trading environment at first. Later they can register a real trading account with ease. The leverage for all the trading account types is the same. For Forex currency pairs, the leverage can go maximum up to 1:200. Furthermore, all four platforms come with free educational resources such as webinars, eBooks, and podcasts. The account types are Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Premium.

Bronze Account

The bronze account is what most brokers refer to as the standard account. It is the most traditional type of account with the market average conditions, including the spread and rest of the benefits. For instance, on the currency pairs, if we take the most popular pair of EUR/USD in Forex, the spread for the Bronze account type would be around 1.5 pips. The deposit requirement is also minimal compared to other account types. Traders need to deposit at least 250 USD in order to activate the account. The investment capital can go up to 999 USD.

Silver Account

Silver account is the most popular option among CMTrading clients. The account comes with extra benefits with tighter spreads on various trading instruments and additional advantages that are not available for Bronze account holders. The spreads start from 1.2 pips on EUR/USD currency pair. The minimum deposit requirement is set to 1000 USD and the capital can go up to 9999 USD. The silver account additionally comes with 1 risk-free trade and a personal assistant for the account holder.

Gold Account

Gold account is another popular choice for intermediate and advanced traders. The account is nearly premium by its nature. The deposit requirement is much higher than for the Bronze account, requiring a minimum of 10,000 USD to be deposited on the account balance. The equity can reach 99,999 USD on the Gold Account. The account holders can enjoy 3 risk-free trades, advanced guides on Forex and other financial markets, an Account Manager, cash rebates, and an ECN account. The spreads for gold accounts on Forex assets, such as EUR/USD can be as low as 0.9 pips.

Premium Account

Being the most expensive live trading account type of the CMTrading Forex broker, the Premium account suits the needs of the most professional traders in the Forex market. The spreads on EUR/USD currency pair start from 0.9 pips with ultra-tight spreads on other financial assets, as well. Furthermore, all the benefits that are available on other account types also apply to Premium accounts. In addition to all of these, Premium Account holders get special offers from the broker and have a dedicated personal Account Manager. The account holders need to deposit at least 100,000 USD in order to activate Premium Account.