Editor’s Verdict
Overview
Review
Headquarters | United States |
|---|---|
Regulators | FSA |
Year Established | 2001 |
Minimum Deposit | $250 |
Trading Platform(s) | MetaTrader 4 |
US Persons Accepted? |
While reading through FX Solutions’ website, in order to get to know the company and their services prior to trading, you get the feeling that they are a corporate firm, focused on servicing their customers. The site is easy to follow through and the language used is easy to understand. Founded in 2001, FX Solutions has grown substantially within its 10 years of operation. Although the company’s staff is comprised of fewer than 100 employees, there’s no question that the company continues trying to expand its global reach by partnering with industry giants and solid investors.
On the site you can also find short movie tutorials for using the software's basic features, which help familiarize you with the software. These movies too are easy to follow, and support that general feeling that trading with this company would be a positive experience.
The trading platform, Global trading System (GTS) Pro, is a download version, while GTS Web is a web based platform and it is developed by FX Solutions. The actual trading platform is in English only, while the site is offered in 3 additional Languages: Spanish, Arabic and Chinese.
Beginners are offered a demo account, loaded with $10,000 practice money and limited for 1 month. Traders can also open a mini-account, for trades of up to 10K, with initial funding of $250.
Standard accounts are up to 100K and must be funded with $2,000. FX Solutions offers FLEXI leverage and FLEXI contracts. This means a trader may choose the leverage he wants to use in his account, which can be as low 1:50 and go up to 1:400, with the default leverage assigned being 1:100. A trader can also choose the number of currency units he wishes to trade. This varies between 1,000 and 100,000 units.
The spreads offered by FX Solutions are pretty standard for the market. Spreads vary between 3 and 5 for the major pairs, and between 7 and 12 for the more exotic pairs. There is not mention of different spreads for the different account levels. Signing up for the demo account is quick and easy. There was a 2 hour delay in receiving a welcome email, so that meant 2 hours before actually logging into the even the demo account. While the platform downloaded is the same for both demo and real, the username and passwords are different, so this means you need separate login details for each application.
FX Solutions is regulated by the CTFC and is a member of the NFA, making it a valid option for US-based Forex traders. However, international Forex traders looking for wider leverage should realize that this regulation limits FX Solutions to offering only 50:1 leverage. The company does operate a branch in the UK known as FX Solutions UK, which offers leverage up to 200:1. It should be noted that these branches of FX Solutions are two separate entities operating under the same umbrella company which is called City Index Group.
The registration process for the real money account is much longer. It takes about 5 minutes to complete and requires filling in not just your personal details, but also information about your income, net worth, your employment status, details of the employer and more. You are also required to state that you are aware of the risks involved in Forex trading. It seems that the company is making sure you can actually fund a trading account.
A couple of hours after submitting the application a welcome email and an account activation email were received, along with the account number, only then enabling to follow through with making a deposit.
The deposit process is fairly easy, and FX Solutions offer a very convenient table explaining the procedures and fees involved with each of the payment methods. Methods include: Credit Card, PayPal, paper check, electronic check and wire transfer.
In order for the account to actually be funded all identification papers requested must be received and documented by FX Solutions. Withdrawal of funds requires faxing in a signed request form. Withdrawal fees & length of the process depend on the payment method you wish to receive your funds back to (as well as what method the initial deposit was made from).
Once registered for either the demo or real money account, and receiving the login details, you will proceed to download the GTS trading platform, a process which takes about 5 minutes. When you first log in you will notice there are lots of tabs, menus and windows visible in the platform. This makes it a bit confusing at first, as you get the feeling you may be missing out on things happening in all these other areas you don’t see. Once familiarized with all the features the platform has to offer, you come to realize that actually this multitude of apparent functions is so that they are almost all one click away. You also come to appreciate the strong and intuitive Graphic User Interface (GUI). The trading window has buttons for each of the actions you may want to take, including a button like the C.A.R one that allows you to Cancel And Reverse (from sell to buy or vice versa) a specific action in just one click.
A cool feature FX Solutions offers is the ability to receive SMS or Email alerts when the market reaches requested prices, or when stop/limits are activated. Alerts within the trading platform can also be set so they turn your attention to market news updates triggered by requested keywords.
FX Solutions offers AccuCharts, a powerful charting tool. Like the trading platform itself, it is highly intuitive to use, and offers many strong analysis features. However, it requires it’s own download and logging into a separate platform than that used for trading, so it requires switching between programs to use.
GTS charting a chart tool which is available from within the platform, and definitely offers the charting tools necessary to trade.
Upon registration, Forex webinars are offered for both the trading platform and the charting platform. You are offered a few optional dates and can just sign up to the most convenient one for you.
PDF guides are also available for familiarizing you with platform’s features. Additional training tools include an 8 CD trading course for $399. When purchasing this package you are also set up with a free a mini-account funded with $250. FX Solutions provides live chat and support 24/7, excluding the weekend hours in which the markets are closed. They do provide Worldwide toll-free support numbers for anyone around the Globe to call from. During working hours they are responsive and eager to assist, from personal experience, mainly with the processes of opening an account and making the first deposit.
FX Solutions does not offer personal account managers to help you with your account, but they do offer a trading agents service, who will trade on your behalf. To apply for this service a Power of Attorney form must be filled and signed and a fee will be collected by the firm for this service.
With GTS trading platform and Accucharts, FX Solutions stand out in the technical platform they provide. However, their business terms are not the most attractive in the market, and their customer support is not the most reactive, therefore these aspects would place them somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Overall, we were satisfied with the services provide by FX Solutions, though there are other US Forex brokers such as Forex.com that we found to offer stronger services and customer support, and it may be worth considering all of your options before depositing money with FX Solutions.
Trading Platform
MT4 | |
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MT5 | |
cTrader | |
Proprietary Platform |