FX Open vs Interactive Brokers

FX Open or Interactive Brokers?

Access to MT4 or well established?

If you’re a trader looking for a broker that offers the popular MT4 trading platform, FX Open is likely a better fit. However, if you want a broker that has been established for a long time, Interactive Brokers may be a more appropriate option.

Which broker is more reliable?

You can determine a broker’s reliability & trustworthiness by looking at eight factors:

• Who are they regulated by?
• How long have they been around for?
• Do they hold your money in a separate bank account?
• Do they use reputable “tier-1” banks like Barclays, Goldman Sachs or HSBC?
• Have they been fined or penalised in the last five years?
• The popularity of their service/website
• Are they publicly listed?
• Where are they located?

Based on these eight factors, we consider FX Open to be the more reliable broker. We’ve broken down why below:

Who are they regulated by?

FX Open is regulated by Financial Conduct Authority and ASIC, while Interactive Brokers is regulated by Financial Conduct Authority.

AvaTrade are regulated by Central Bank of Ireland, ASIC, IIROC, FSA, FSB, UAE and BVI

How long have they been around for?

If a broker has been around for a long period of time, they’re likely to be more reliable (in comparison, most scam brokers only exist for several years before they disappear).

This also suggests that a broker has good risk management processes that have prevented them being caught out by major financial events, as was the case with Alpari UK going bust when they were there was a policy reversal of capping the Swiss Franc against the Euro.

FX Open has been around for 16 years, while Interactive Brokers have been around for 44 years. Our third alternative broker, AvaTrade, have been around for 15 years.

Do they hold your money in a separate bank account?

You wouldn’t want your broker paying their staff out of the same bank account account that you’re depositing your trading funds into, would you?

Fortunately, all regulated brokers must use segregated bank accounts to hold client money. This is one of the reasons why we only feature regulated brokers here on BrokerNotes.

All three brokers above will hold your money in a separate bank account.

Do they use reputable “tier-1” banks like Barclays, Goldman Sachs or HSBC?

Most tier-1 banks like Barclays and HSBC have been around for over 100 years and manage trillions of dollars of assets, proving that they have stood the test of time.

Both FX Open and Interactive Brokers use tier one banks, but we are not sure of which bank specifically.

Have they been fined or penalised in the last five years?

If a broker has been penalised by a regulator in the past five years, it may mean that they were caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing - which may be of concern to you as an end client.

We’re not aware of any penalties or fines imposed by regulators on FX Open or Interactive Brokers in the past five years.

How popular is their service/website?

While not always the case, the number of traders a broker has can be a good metric for understanding how reputable a brokers is.

Are they publicly listed?

Companies that are publicly listed on a stock exchange tend to be considered more reputable as they will be required to disclose their financials, and aspects of their operations, to the public.

FX Open is a privately owned company, while on the other hand Interactive Brokers is still a publicly listed company.

Where are they located?

Most reputable brokers tend to be headquartered in a major capital city or a financial hub such as Cyprus.

FX Open are based in Level 3, 187 Queen Street, Cbd, Auckland, 1010, while Interactive Brokers are based in Level 20 Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AY .

Do they offer the features you need?

Assuming the brokers you’re choosing between are reputable, the next point to consider is whether they offer all of the features you require to trade.

This can be broken down into three categories:

• Services & instruments
• Platforms & account types
• Trading features, risk management tools & funding methods

Services and Instruments

If you’re looking to trade currency pairs, both FX Open and Interactive Brokers offer forex trading. FX Open have a slightly larger variety of currency pairs with 50 pairs, compared to 22 offered by Interactive Brokers. Also, if you’re looking to trade cryptocurrencies, FX Open offers a handful of cryptocurrency CFDs to trade, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple.

If you’re looking to trade commodities like gold, silver or oil, FX Open may be a better fit as Interactive Brokers does not offer commodity trading.

FX Open also offer social trading, which allows you to follow the trading activity, engage in discussion, and even copy the trades of other traders.

Platforms & Account Types

FX Open also offer social trading, which allows you to follow the trading activity, engage in discussion, and even copy the trades of other traders.

In addition to the platform, you’ll also want to ensure that the broker you choose offers the account type best suited to your needs. Interactive Brokers, for example, offer a mini account, standard account and VIP account.

Trading features, risk management tools & funding methods

If you have a certain trading style (e.g. scalping, hedging, or using EAs), you’ll want to double check that the broker you choose allows this, as not all of them do.

FX Open does allow scalping and hedging. While Interactive Brokers also allows scalping and hedging. You can trade with EAs (expert advisors) on both FX Open and Interactive Brokers.

In terms of risk management tools, FX Open does offer negative balance protection to prevent you owing your broker more than you’ve deposited, but Interactive Brokers doesn't offer this.

FX Open also offer stop losses and limit orders to help you automate aspects of your trading strategy.

FX Open accept Neteller.

Are they affordable for what you need?

Comparing the fee structures of different brokers can be a minefield at times. The important thing to consider is what the spreads & fees are on the specific instruments and account type that you will be using.

For trading EUR/USD, FX Open and Interactive Brokers both charge points. Therefore, both brokers are equally affordable for this instrument. You can jump back up to our comparison of their currency pair & indice spreads above.

Another consideration is whether or not your broker charges inactivity, deposit/withdrawal fees, or commissions on trades. If you’re a frequent trader, inactivity fees are unlikely to be an issue.

The Verdict: FX Open or Interactive Brokers?

There’s no such thing as a perfect broker, but some are going to be a better fit for you than others.

Objectively, FX Open is more reliable based on our criteria above. FX Open has a wider range of instruments to trade. FX Open offer lower spreads on popular forex instruments like EUR/USD and are used by more traders.

Both brokers offer demo accounts, allowing you to test their platforms to see which is suitable for you. You can test drive their demos using the links below:

• Try FX Open’s demo account
• Try Interactive Brokers’s demo account
• Try AvaTrade’s demo account

Finally, if you’re really not sure you can always use our free tool (takes 15 seconds) that will help you find a suitable broker based on your precise requirements here.