Pepperstone vs IC Markets, welcome to the comparison of two the sacred places in forex trading where every pilgrim of forex has wondered or even crossed path with. The fact that both companies are Australian in origin, both are regulated by ASIC and both are presenting very competitive trading conditions make them both worthy of a challenge.
In the comparison of IC Markets vs Pepperstone there is no absolute winner to be honest. Both are regulated brokers brokers with great respect to their traders. Even though we won’t conclude the Pepperstone vs IC Markets battles here, we’ll learn everything we need to choose a side.
So let’s dive in to the similarities and differences of this great Pepperstone vs IC Markets match-up and learn more about these brokers.
In this corner of our Pepperstone vs IC Markets match up, IC Markets stands as a stalwart with a legacy dating back to 2007. Renowned for reliability and providing raw spread accounts that dominate the trading landscape. IC Markets caters to a diverse clientele, offering account types tailored for both beginners and experts. Explore the comprehensive IC Markets review for insights into its trading conditions and more.
On the other side of the ring, Pepperstone emerges as a heavyweight in the forex market. Since its establishment in Australia in 2010, Pepperstone has garnered widespread acclaim for its optimal trading conditions. Featuring two distinct account types โ Razor and Standard โ Pepperstone ensures flexibility with low spreads reaching as minimal as 0.0 pips. Dive into the details with the Pepperstone review for a closer look at what it has to offer.
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Pepperstone vs IC Markets: Regulations
IC Markets and Pepperstone are two notable forex brokers, each regulated in multiple countries and known for providing a secure trading environment for forex trading all around the globe. Let’s dive in how look how which broker is more reliable Pepperstone or IC Markets.
IC Markets is regulated in Cyprus, Australia, and Seychelles. This multi central oversight not only means that IC market is commitment to compliance but also means that the broker is committed to provide forex traders a anxiety-free environment. The inclusion of Cyprus and Australia, both well-established financial centers, enhances IC Markets’ global reputation but not enough to give them edge in this Pepperstone vs IC Markets comparison.
On the other hand, Pepperstone complies even more regulatory presence. The broker is regulated in the UK, Germany, Cyprus, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahamas, and Kenya. This extensive list shows Pepperstone’s dedication to meeting the highest standards of financial regulation on a global scale. Notably, the inclusion of the UK and Germany, known for their strict regulatory frameworks, indicates Pepperstone’s commitment to providing a secure and trustworthy trading environment for its clients, and puts Pepperstone a slight head start in this Pepperstone vs IC Markets review.
In summary, both IC Markets and Pepperstone prioritize regulatory compliance, with IC Markets focusing on Cyprus, Australia, and Seychelles, and Pepperstone extending its reach even more by complying regulatory authorities in UK, Germany, Cyprus, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Bahamas and Kenya, both brokers seem committed to serve traders worldwide.
Pepperstone vs IC Markets: Investor Protection
Both IC Markets and Pepperstone offer investor protection.
IC Markets provides โฌ20,000 in investor protection to clients within the European Union (EU). However, clients outside the EU do not have a specified investor protection amount.
Pepperstone, works similarly like any other forex broker. For clients in the United Kingdom (UK), the protection amount is ยฃ85,000, while EU clients receive coverage of โฌ20,000. Similar to IC Markets, clients outside these regions, denoted as “other clients,” do not have a specified investor protection amount.
In summary, both brokers prioritize investor protection, with IC Markets providing โฌ20,000 to EU clients and Pepperstone offering ยฃ85,000 to UK clients and โฌ20,000 to EU clients, but without specifying protection amounts for clients outside these regions.
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Both Pepperstone and IC Markets follow the industry standard of segregating client funds, keeping your money separate from the broker’s operational capital. This protective measure kicks in if the broker faces insolvency, safeguarding your funds.
Risk management is a priority for both Pepperstone and IC. They offer various order types and investor protection policies to safeguard traders. It’s crucial to note that the extent of investor protection depends on your location and the specific branch you choose to trade with, as both brokers operate globally.
Do Pepperstone and IC Markets offer Negative Balance Protection?
Both IC Markets and Pepperstone offer an extra layer of security. Negative balance protection prevents your trading account from going into negative territory if the market takes a downturn. In simple terms, you won’t find yourself owing money to these brokers because your open positions will be automatically closed before your balance hits zero.
Order Types For Pepperstone and IC Markets
IC Markets and Pepperstone, both lack fancy order types but do provide standard ones like limits and stops on all their platforms. Two standouts are Margin Stop Out and Margin Stop Loss Order. The first warns when your balance is getting too low, prompting the broker to pull you out before hitting zero and the other one letting you set a max loss for your currency trades, with the broker trying to close it before hitting that limit.
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Pepperstone vs ICMarket: Account Types
Both brokers offer very competitive spreads and account types. Including demo accounts for beginners in forex.
IC Markets and Pepperstone, both operating on a No Dealing Desk (NDD) STP (Straight Through Processing) model, provide competitive trading conditions. NDD ensures that trades are executed directly in the market without broker intervention, promoting transparency and minimizing potential conflicts of interest.
IC Markets requires a minimum deposit of $200 with variable spreads from 0.6 pips, supporting various base currencies. There’s no commission on trades, and IC Markets allows for Islamic accounts, free funding, and flexible trading strategies like scalping and hedging.
Pepperstone stands out with a $0 minimum deposit, offering variable spreads as low as 0.1 pips in multiple base currencies. Similar to IC Markets, there’s no commission charged. Pepperstone provides swap-free accounts for regions with a major Islamic population, alongside no funding costs. Traders at Pepperstone can also utilize scalping, hedging, and automation.
Standard Account Types Between Pepperstone and IC Markets
In this part of our comparison between IC Markets and Pepperstone there is no notable difference between two brokers. Both brokers offer competitive spreads with their standard accounts.
IC Markets offers low spreads, particularly for EUR/USD and GBP/USD at 0.62 and 0.83 pips. The $1 spread for AUD/USD, EUR/GBP, and USD/JPY is also competitive, but some competitors may have even tighter spreads on specific pairs.
Pepperstone maintains a consistent $1 spread for EUR/USD, AUD/USD, and USD/JPY, providing stability. However, GBP/USD has a slightly wider spread at 1.4 pips. While generally competitive, other brokers may offer lower spreads on certain pairs.
IC Markets and Pepperstone provide an alternative in the form of commission accounts, a distinct structure from standard accounts. Instead of having fees embedded in the bid-ask spread, you’re charged per lot traded. Despite the presence of commission fees, this account type results in slightly lower overall trading costs.
Pepperstone vs IC Markets: Trading Platforms
Pepperstone and IC Markets provide versatile trading platforms, including MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), and cTrader. These platforms are compatible with Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android, offering both desktop and web trader options, along with mobile apps for convenient on-the-go trading.
IC Markets also provides a virtual private server as a trading tool to allow the traders to run automated trades 24/7.
MetaTrader 4 stands out as the go-to forex platform for traders worldwide. Its user-friendly interface ensures a seamless experience, making order management a breeze. Additionally, MT4 provides easy access to algorithmic trading and expert advisors, catering to the needs of scalping traders. With its widespread adoption among brokers, switching between them becomes hassle-free, offering traders flexibility and convenience.
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Trading Experience: Pepperstone vs IC Markets
Pepperstone and IC Markets stand out by providing a user-friendly trading experience in the forex industry. Pepperstone, known for its award-winning customer service, ensuring traders to enjoy a smooth and care-free experience with excellent educational resources. Meanwhile, IC Markets stands out with 24/7 support, accommodating traders in various time zones, and a thorough Help Centre for self-assistance.
Pepperstone enhances the MT4 experience through Smart Trader Tools, incorporating features like Alarm Manager and Sentiment Trader. IC Markets offers Advanced Trading Tools with over 20 features, providing a comprehensive trading experience. Both brokers support popular platforms such as MT4, MT5, and cTrader to accommodate diverse trader preferences. Additionally, cTrader, renowned for its advanced technical charting, is available with both brokers, featuring Level II Depth of Market functionality.
IC Markets stands out with one of the finest standard accounts, ensuring traders benefit from a well-rounded and efficient trading experience.
Pepperstone earns recognition as the premier choice for MT4 trading, celebrated for its extensive features and user-friendly experience. Conversely, IC Markets takes the lead in MT5 trading, providing advanced tools and a smooth trading environment. Neither broker claims the top spot for cTrader, as there are brokers claiming this position.
Execution Speed: Pepperstone vs IC Markets
IC Markets and Pepperstone both attain industry-leading execution speeds through the utilization of dedicated fiber optic cables. This commitment to faster execution speeds plays a crucial role in preventing occurrences of ‘slippage’ during trades.
Pepperstone vs IC Markets Fees
Despite Pepperstone’s competitive fees, in the Pepperstone vs IC Markets comparison, IC Markets takes the crown.
For EUR/USD, IC Markets offers a slightly lower fee of $11.5 compared to Pepperstone’s $11.6. The contrast widens with EUR/GBP, where IC Markets charges $8.9, notably less than Pepperstone’s $10.3. Similarly, for AUD/USD, IC Markets stands out with a fee of $6.9, while Pepperstone charges $8.8.
IC Markets vs Pepperstone Trading Instruments
When it comes to trading instruments, each of the brokers is making sure to provide plenty of choices to match all the trader types.
Pepperstone is providing forex, index CFDs, commodities, cryptocurrencies, shares, and currency indices.
Alternatively, IC Markets are not any less in offering a variety of trading instruments such as forex, indices, commodities, bonds, cryptocurrencies, and futures.
Itโs very clear so far that both brokers are well aware of their clientโs needs and wants and hence provide the services to match every traderโs style and approach.
IC Markets vs Pepperstone: Educational Resources
Pepperstone and IC Markets offer diverse educational resources for traders. Pepperstone provides a comprehensive library of educational videos, regular webinars by industry experts, an interactive learning center for beginners, a section for advanced trading strategies, a free demo account, and a community forum. On the other hand, IC Markets features a beginner’s guide, e-books, and trading manuals, weekly market analysis webinars, technical analysis tutorials, a platform tutorial for new users, and a Q&A section. Both brokers are doing great work in terms of providing educational support for traders at all levels.
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IC Markets vs Pepperstone Customer Service
Pepperstone is known for its great customer service, winning the #1 spot by “Investment Trends” and achieving a 4.4/5 TrustPilot rating. IC Markets also stands out by offering 24/7 support, both on weekdays and weekends, a Help Centre for self-help, and the ability to send emails to specific departments. TrustPilot ratings for both brokers are at 4.4/5, indicating their commitment to customer satisfaction.
Pepperstone vs IC Markets: Deposit Methods
IC Markets and Pepperstone both offer versatile deposit options, including bank transfers, credit/debit cards, and electronic wallets. Both brokers support the same deposit methods, providing flexibility for users to choose the option that best suits their preferences.
Pepperstone vs IC Markets: Withdrawal Options
In terms of withdrawal options, both IC Markets and Pepperstone support bank transfers, credit/debit cards, and electronic wallets. However, there is a difference in withdrawal time, with IC Markets having a withdrawal time of 2 days and Pepperstone offering a quicker withdrawal time of 1 day.
Pepperstone vs IC Markets: Bonuses and Promotions?
While IC Markets has not offered bonuses to its investors, comes Pepperstone in the lead here as it offers its trader a friend referral bonus on its official website.
Pepperstone offers a 2 refer-your-friend bonus available when you adhere to the terms and conditions for each of them. One of them is for pro clients and the other is for retail clients.
The broker also has an active trader program, where you can earn discounts on commissions ( depending on your trading volume). Your discount will depend on how many lots you trade each month, which would mean the more you trade, the higher your discount.
Pepperstone vs IC Markets: Conclusion
Pepperstone and IC Markets, both regulated by ASIC in Australia, reflect commitment to trust and security in the forex market through regulatory compliance.
In terms of brokerage features, Pepperstone offers competitive spreads, with an impressive EUR/USD average raw spread of 0.1. The broker provides a diverse range of funding methods (16+), without associated fees. With over 62 currency pairs and various CFDs, Pepperstone caters to a wide array of traders, offering flexibility in leverage options.
IC Markets excels in providing remarkably low spreads, notably an outstanding EUR/USD average raw spread of 0.02. Similar to Pepperstone, it offers numerous funding methods (15+) without associated fees. IC Markets distinguishes itself with a broader selection of cryptocurrency CFDs (18+), appealing to traders interested in this asset class. The availability of high leverage options, especially for professional traders, adds to its competitive edge.
Regarding markets and instruments, Pepperstone boasts a slightly larger selection of share CFDs and a comprehensive range of instruments, including currency pairs, indices, and commodities. IC Markets leads in the number of cryptocurrency CFDs offered, showcasing a commitment to staying at the forefront of market trends. Additionally, IC Markets excels in the variety of commodities CFDs available, providing traders with diverse choices.
Both brokers support popular platforms such as MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), and cTrader. The provision of automated trading options and demo accounts allows traders to implement strategies and practice risk-free.
In terms of overall ratings, Pepperstone earns a commendable 9.33, reflecting strong performance across various features. Its competitive spreads, diverse instrument offerings, and flexibility in leverage contribute to this high rating. IC Markets, with a rating of 8.50, excels in specific areas, particularly low spreads and a diverse range of instruments. The emphasis on cryptocurrency CFDs and commodities sets it apart in these asset classes.
Both Pepperstone and IC Markets are reputable, well-regulated brokers, each with distinct strengths. Pepperstone’s slightly higher overall rating suggests strong performance across the board, while IC Markets’ focus on low spreads and specific asset classes makes it a compelling choice. Traders should consider individual preferences and priorities when deciding between these two competitive brokers.
Both Pepperstone and IC Markets are regulated by ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission). This regulatory oversight ensures that the brokers adhere to strict financial standards, providing a secure trading environment for clients.
Pepperstone is known for its competitive spreads on major currency pairs, offering an impressive EUR/USD average raw spread of 0.1. On the other hand, IC Markets excels in providing remarkably low spreads, particularly with an outstanding EUR/USD average raw spread of 0.02. Traders appreciate the cost-effectiveness of both brokers.
Yes, both brokers provide a diverse range of trading instruments. Pepperstone offers over 62 currency pairs and various CFDs, including indices, commodities, and share CFDs. IC Markets distinguishes itself with a broader selection of cryptocurrency CFDs (18+), making it an attractive choice for those interested in the dynamic cryptocurrency market.
What trading platforms are supported by Pepperstone and IC Markets?
Pepperstone and IC Markets support popular trading platforms such as MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), and cTrader. These platforms are widely used and trusted in the industry, providing traders with a robust and familiar trading experience.