EC Markets review

Spread from

0.0 pips

EUR/USD spread

Approx. 0.1 pips, ECN

GBP/USD spread

Approx. 0.3 pips, ECN

Commission

Approx. $3 per side / $6 round turn, ECN

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.7 pips

Spread type

Variable

Overnight swap

Both: overnight swaps may be charged or credited

Inactivity fee

No standard inactivity fee prominently advertised

Deposit fee

Generally none internally

Withdrawal fee

Generally none internally; provider charges may apply

Currency conversion

Applicable where account and instrument currencies differ

Cost is where brokers in the same regulatory bracket actually differ.

A quoted spread from 0.0 pips is a raw-spread figure, which almost always means a separate commission per lot. Compare the two together - a "zero spread" account with a high commission can cost more than a wider spread with none.

Quoted spreads are best-case figures on the most liquid pair, in normal conditions. What you actually pay widens around news and at the session open.

EC Markets lists a minimum deposit of $10. Treat it as the cost of opening an account, not the cost of trading one - position sizing on a small balance is what tends to cause damage.

Markets

Forex, Shares, Indices, Commodities, Metals, Energies, Cryptocurrencies

Currency pairs

50+

Total instruments

1,000+

Crypto CFDs

Yes, jurisdiction-dependent

Maximum leverage

1:1000

Execution model

ECN/STP-style liquidity aggregation

Execution speed

Approx. 30ms

Order types

Market, limit, stop, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop and MetaTrader pending orders

Servers

Equinix financial data centres

Leverage up to 1:1000 is available on this entity. High leverage does not increase your expected return - it increases position size for the same deposit, and shortens the move needed to close you out.

EC Markets covers forex, shares, indices, commodities, metals, energies, cryptocurrencies. A wider range matters less than depth in the instruments you actually trade.

Funding options: visa, mastercard, bank transfer, skrill, neteller, cryptocurrencies and regional payment methods. Check withdrawal routes as well as deposit ones - they are often not the same, and the difference only becomes apparent when you try to take money out.

Platforms

MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5

Own platform

No

Mobile app

Third-party MetaTrader apps

Browser trading

Yes

Automated trading

Yes

Copy trading

Yes

Indicators

30+ MT4, 38+ MT5 and custom indicators

Third-party tools

MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5

API access

Institutional/API solutions available

MetaTrader 4 remains the most widely supported platform for expert advisors. If you rely on an existing EA, this is usually the deciding factor.

MetaTrader 5 handles more asset classes and order types than MT4, but expert advisors are not compatible between the two - an MT4 EA will not run on it.

Regulated by

FCA (571881); ASIC (AFSL 388737); Seychelles FSA (SD009); Mauritius FSC (GB2100130); South Africa FSCA (51842)

Regulator tier

Tier 1

Register entry

FCA Financial Services Register, FRN 571881

Client money segregated

Yes

Held at

Regulated banking institutions; specific arrangements vary by entity

Negative balance protection

Yes for eligible retail clients; entity-dependent

Compensation scheme

FSCS protection for eligible UK clients up to £85,000; none under several international entities

Audited by

Independent external/statutory auditors

Not available to

United States and jurisdictions where provision of services would violate local laws

Across a hundred brokers, the licence is what separates the field fastest.

EC Markets holds tier-one authorisations from ASIC and FCA. That matters more than any headline spread: it determines your leverage cap, whether losses can exceed your deposit, and what happens to your money if the firm fails.

It also operates an offshore entity (FSC and FSA). Which one you are onboarded to depends on where you live, and the two carry very different protections - worth confirming before you deposit.

ASIC caps retail leverage at 1:30, requires negative balance protection, and obliges the broker to hold client money in a separate trust account.

The FCA caps retail leverage at 1:30, mandates negative balance protection, and covers eligible clients under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The FSCA licenses derivative providers in South Africa without a fixed retail leverage cap, so headline leverage is often higher than an FCA or ASIC entity may offer.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own money, at Regulated banking institutions; specific arrangements vary by entity. That separation is what makes your balance recoverable if the company fails, rather than part of the pool its creditors divide up.

Negative balance protection applies, so a losing position cannot take the account below zero and leave you owing the broker money.

Covered by FSCS protection for eligible UK clients up to £85,000; none under several international entities, which pays eligible clients up to its limit if the firm fails owing client money.

Check the licence yourself: the FCA Register, ASIC Connect, the Seychelles FSA list of regulated entities, the Mauritius FSC register of licensees, the FSCA list of regulated entities.

Minimum deposit

$10

Account types

Standard, ECN, Pro, Islamic/Swap-Free, Demo

Account currencies

USD, EUR, GBP and additional entity-dependent currencies

Islamic account

Yes

Demo account

Yes

Professional account

Yes

Minimum trade size

0.01 lots

Time to open

Typically a few minutes, subject to verification

EC Markets runs 5 account types. More choice is not automatically better: the tightest headline spread almost always sits on the account that also charges a commission, so the comparison that matters is the two added together.

Base currencies: USD, EUR, GBP and additional entity-dependent currencies. Holding the account in the currency you fund it with avoids a conversion charge on every deposit and withdrawal - a cost that never shows up in a spread comparison.

The smallest position is 0.01 lots. For anyone starting carefully this matters more than the minimum deposit, because it sets the least you can put at risk on a single trade.

A demo account is available. Worth using for the platform rather than the results: fills are simulated, so it tells you how the software behaves but very little about execution.

Deposit methods

Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller, cryptocurrencies and regional payment methods

Withdrawal methods

Bank transfer, cards, e-wallets and supported original funding methods

Deposit time

Many electronic methods instant; bank transfers generally 1-5 business days

Withdrawal time

Generally processed within 1 business day; settlement varies by provider

Minimum withdrawal

Method-dependent

Local payment methods

Extensive regional payment methods in supported countries

Withdrawals are stated at Generally processed within 1 business day; settlement varies by provider, against Many electronic methods instant; bank transfers generally 1-5 business days for deposits. A gap between the two is normal and not in itself a warning sign - identity checks are a legal obligation, not obstruction. What is worth noticing is a withdrawal that keeps meeting new conditions after those checks are done.

Withdrawal routes: bank transfer, cards, e-wallets and supported original funding methods. Money is usually returned by the route it arrived on, so the deposit method you pick is in effect the withdrawal method you are picking too.

The minimum withdrawal is Method-dependent - relevant if you intend to fund the account lightly, since it sets the smallest amount you can take out at a time.

Support hours

24/5

Contact channels

Live chat, email, phone

Languages

Multilingual

Telephone

N/A

Email

support@ecmarkets.com

Live chat response

Typically within minutes

Education

Extensive: trading education, webinars, platform tutorials, articles and market guides

Research

Daily market analysis, technical/fundamental research, market news and trading insights

Support runs 24/5. Round-the-clock cover matters more than it sounds: a position held over a weekend or through an unexpected halt is exactly when you need somebody to answer.

Reachable by live chat, email, phone. A published telephone number is the one channel that is hard to fake and hard to ignore, so whether there is one says more than the number of channels does.

Languages: Multilingual. Being able to raise a complaint in your own language is worth more than it appears, because complaints are where precision matters most.

Education: extensive: trading education, webinars, platform tutorials, articles and market guides. Treat broker-published material as an introduction rather than as advice - it is produced by a firm whose revenue rises when you trade more.

Legal entity

EC Markets Limited

Company number

07601714

Headquarters

London, United Kingdom

Founded

2012

Publicly listed

No

Parent company

EC Markets Group

Employees

Approx. 100-500

Also trades as

EC Markets

EC Markets is roughly 14 years old. Younger is not worse, but there is less public record to judge it on, so the licence and the protections carry proportionally more weight.

The contracting entity is EC Markets Limited. This is the company you would actually have a relationship with, and it is worth checking that it is the same one named on the licence you are relying on: large brokers commonly operate several, and they are not equally protected.

Part of EC Markets Group. A parent adds resources, but the protections that apply to you are the ones attached to the entity that holds your account, not to the group.