Pepperstone Review 2023

Is Pepperstone reliable? Check out my full review where I take a look at the spreads, platforms, leverage, minimum deposit and more!
8/10 (Expert Score)
Product is rated as #7 in category Forex Brokers

One of the biggest forex brokers located in Australia. Pepperstone was founded in 2010 by a group of industry professionals with many years of experience in the forex and technology fields.

Pepperstone forex broker has gained a proper place amongst the top brokers in the market due to its presentation of decent trading conditions and a variety of instruments to their clients.

Is Pepperstone a scam or legit? Which account types are more advantageous? Is the minimum deposit and spreads low enough? Is maximum leverage satisfying? All you need to do is continue reading this Pepperstone Review 2023!

8Expert Score
Excellent

I reviewed Pepperstone based on the following criteria.

TRUST
8
COMMISSIONS AND FEES
8
CUSTOMER SERVICE
8.5
PLATFORM & TOOLS
7.5
PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
8
PROS
  • Regulated by FCA and ASIC
  • Tight Spreads
  • Trading at Cryptocurrencies
  • Deep Liquidity
  • Award-winning Customer Service
CONS
  • No Stock CFDs
  • Commodity Trade Pricing

Following its foundation, Pepperstone has quickly become one of the major brokers in the forex industry with a transaction volume of more than $ 100 billion per month.

Pepperstone is based in Melbourne but has offices in London, Dallas and Bangkok. So I can say the broker has a very strong position in the international market.

It owns a large number of investors from many different places in the world. Pepperstone’s official website has over 1 million visitors per month from many countries.

However, the top 5 visitor countries of the site are Australia, Brazil, Thailand, South Africa and the United Kingdom, respectively, which make up 39.5% of their visitors. In addition, the broker has won many awards in forex trading.

Pepperstone closely monitored developments in the cryptocurrency market.

In addition, as seen in this updated article of Pepperstone Review 2023, Pepperstone is one of the best in the market with the very esteemed awards they have won over the years

The company saw investors’ interest in the cryptocurrencies and provided them to trade as CFD in some crypto-currencies with high transaction volumes such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, 0DASH or Litecoin.

Thus, the investors who wanted to profit from the price movements of the cryptocurrencies also turned to Pepperstone.

📃 Country of regulationUK, Cyprus, Australia, United Arab Emirates
💰 Trading fees classMEDIUM
💰 Minimum depositAUD$200
💰 Withdrawal fee amount$0
🎮 Demo accountYes
🕖 Time to open an account1 day
💳 Deposit with bank cardAvailable
💸 Depositing with an electronic walletAvailable
🛍️ Products offeredForex, CFD, Crypto

Licenses and Regulation

Licenses and Regulation

A big name such as Pepperstone must be matching the regulations of the big regulatory organizations which is the case here. Not just one, but multiple financial regulatory organizations are regulating and overlooking Pepperstone and managing its transactions and financial activities. Making sure the broker is following the criteria that need to be met to maintain the lines not just have them.

In this section of the Pepperstone review, I’ll show in detail the different licenses and regulations that Pepperstone is holding.

These Regulations are:

  • Pepperstone EU Limited is a limited company registered in Cyprus under Company Number ΗΕ 398429 and is authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (License Number 388/20).
  • Licensed and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK
  • The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in Australia
  • Regulated by Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in the UAE.

Pepperstone is regulated both in the UK (by FCA) and in Australia (by ASIC). The expansion of FCA is Financial Conduct Authority. FCA license is crucial in forex trading. The watchdog is one of the most trusted authorities.

They regulate over 58,000 businesses, they guarantee your money to £50,000. So it’s a big plus that Pepperstone has their license.

It’s also a CySEC-regulated investment firm which provides up to EUR 20.000 as compensation which is protected by the Investor Compensation Fund.

Another big advantage that we can see in this Pepperstone review, is that ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) also regulates the company which makes sense since the broker is based in Australia. Being regulated by one of the best regulators in the industry isn’t an easy task since it requires a constant update to the company’s terms and regulations according to the new rules and criteria set by the watchdog.

ASIC has tough rules. Not all companies can meet these criteria. For example, ASIC-regulated forex brokers need to hold at least $1,000,000 in their company accounts. In addition to the necessity of keeping the client’s fund in segregated accounts segregated from the broker’s operations and capital funds. These funds must also be kept safe and secure in bank accounts for ultimate protection against any financial crises like fraud, scam, theft, bankruptcy, and more.

I think after this much detailed information about the safety of funds and the regulations of Pepperstone, the question of “is Pepperstone safe” becomes automatically answered Via a big yes. Pepperstone is safe for forex and CFDs trading.

A similar broker to Pepperstone, IC Markets is also regulated by ASIC. You can also read my IC Markets vs Pepperstone article which I compare these two Aussie brokers.

Account Types

Pepperstone’s Account Types

Pepperstone offers 2 types of accounts to their clients with great trading conditions for each that match different styles of investing. These 2 accounts are the Razor and standard accounts. The following information in this section of Pepperstone review is dedicated to further breakdown of the trading conditions of each account type so read along for all the details.

The Razor account

Spreads here range from 0-0.3 pips which is a great advantage when it comes to trading with the razor account. There is a commission added of €5.20 round trip for 100.000 units traded. The razor accounts seem to be suited best for algorithmic traders and scalpers.

The Standard account

No commission is added on transactions within the standard account, however, the spread rates are a bit different from the razor account, reaching up to 0.6 pips. The standard account seems to be quite fitting to new traders or beginners in the forex and CFDs markets.

The maximum leverage offered on both accounts is the same which is 1:30. You can also trade using currencies like GBP, USD, EUR, and CHF which are used as base currencies for both accounts. You can have expert advisors service, scalping, hedging, and new trading, all available within both account types.

The minimum deposit for both accounts is AUD$200 or equivalent. which is a bit higher than the average of the market which is considered to be $100. Yet, based on the broker’s website, clients can deposit less than the minimum amount if they want.

Another very important type of account that can be opened before having a live account is a demo account. You can open a demo account with Pepperstone and trade within a risk-free environment where testing your knowledge and practices as well as trying out new strategies and techniques is the main purpose of having a demo account. When trading with demo accounts, there are no actual funds used as all the funds are virtual, just aimed to give you space for trials and errors without consuming your real funds.

After getting the hang of trading and investing in forex and CFDs markets, you can go ahead and open a real account with real funds where you would have to provide some identity documents for safety and to secure your account.

A swap-free account option is available for traders from Islamic countries or those following Islamic beliefs who can’t receive or pay swaps. This account is also interest-free where the spreads applied here are from 1-1.2 pips. No commissions are applied on transactions with the swap-free account.

Trading Platforms

Trading Platforms

Through this part of the Pepperstone review, I’ll break down in detail the different trading platforms that Pepperstone is offering to its huge base of clients from all over the world. It’s only normal to expect the best trading platform there is to use when trading forex. And the fact is that in this Pepperstone review, the broker didn’t disappoint. Only the best and most popular platforms for trading are available to use with Pepperstone.

You can trade with 4 different trading platforms, all with different features and conditions to match each investor’s strategy and technique. Forex’s most popular and used platform which is the MT4 is available for usage from any device you use. Let that be a phone, tablet, or desktop. The enhanced features and the live quotes of the platform have managed to attract all traders within the forex and CFDs market, in addition to having real-time charts and in-depth news and analytics for an up-to-date view of the market.

Some of the main reasons why traders prefer MT4 are the ability to customize the platform to their liking, as well as the option to track the movement of the market by using Autochartist, in addition to having access to 28 indicators and EAs and choosing thousands of other online tools to plug.

Advanced trade operations and administration, decision helper, complex alarms and broadcasting applications and recent market data are all accessible via MT4.

The platform support a massive variety of support in different languages to make sure you’ll be able to even customize your trading platform using your mother tongue and wouldn’t have to go through any hassle, Some of these languages include Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Farsi/Persian, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian and more.

MT5 though is the updated version of MT4, enhanced by the founding company MetaQuotes. Known for its wide range of time frames, analytical prowess, and variety of pending orders, loved most by our share and commodity traders.

The wider range of time frames available (21-time frames as opposed to MT4, which has 9) This is also extremely attractive for scalpers and for advanced traders who are looking to do an in-depth analysis of the market. MT5 also offers a built-in fundamental economic calendar delivering live macroeconomic news. It also contains an inbuilt MQL5 Community Chat and email system.

cTrader has ‘Depth of market functionality’, ‘Advanced take profit/stop loss levels’, ‘Custom backgrounds’, ‘Detachable charts for multiple monitors’, ‘Cloud hosted profiles’, and ‘templates and passwords that aren’t present in other platforms.

MT4 has advantages such as ‘Being the most common platform’, and ‘Access historical data through platform’ that cTrader doesn’t have.

Customer Service

Customer Service

Customer service might be taken as a given since its presence in almost all organizations now. Yet the presence of client support that makes a difference and enhances the experience of the clients is a crucial point in either making or breaking any organization.

And in the case of forex brokers, the case is no different, since client support is one of the main aspects that can build the broker’s name in the market and let them gain a great volume of traders and a good reputation, or allow the broker to go bankrupt or change their business. This part of the Pepperstone review will explain the status of customer support within the broker’s platform.

Luckily, no businesses are changing for this broker here. Since Pepperstone has one of the most efficient and qualified customer support teams with a group of investment specialists that are available to help you with any inquiry you have 24/5.

With support given in different languages considering the great base of different nationalities using and trading with Pepperstone. Languages like English, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, and more can be chosen when getting in touch with the support team.

Pepperstone customer service has different support channels. Live chat and mail support is one of them. And thanks to personalized customer support, a dedicated account manager may also be assigned to you if you need it depending on the size of your problem. In addition to the ability to get in touch via email or call customer support whenever you like.

You can also get in touch and follow all news and updates of the broker via social media on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others.

Funding and Withdrawal Methods

Funding and Withdrawal Methods

It’s well known that in the forex market that funding options are one of the most important aspects to consider. In this section of the Pepperstone review I’ll break down how Pepperstonne serves traders to open accounts and deposit funds in the following base currencies:

  • United States Dollar (USD),
  • British Pound Sterling (GBP),
  • Euro (EUR),
  • Swiss Franc (CHF),
  • Polish Zloty(PLN).
  • Australian Dollar (AUD)

* These currencies and funding methods may vary depending on the country in which you are located.

Pepperstone has a wide range of deposit methods that are also used for withdrawals. In this part of the Pepperstone withdrawal review, I’ll break down both deposit methods and withdrawal methods that are accepted within Pepperstone.

  • Local bank transfer
  • Bank transfer
  • Visa debit
  • Mastercard debit
  • Credit Card

Also, not many brokers can provide this many e-wallet opportunities as much as Pepperstone. Generally, withdrawals take around 24 hrs to process while bank wire transfers might take around 3-5 working days to process.

In case you request a withdrawal, it’ll be made to the same bank account/ credit or debit card that was used for depositing in the first place. No fees are applied on any withdrawal transaction within Pepperstone.

Trading Instruments Overview

Trading Instruments Overview

Here, in This section of the Pepperstone review, I’m going to inform you of the different trading instruments that you can trade with and add to your trading portfolio. When you open an account at Pepperstone, you can trade in forex, indexes, 80+ currency pairs, cryptocurrencies and oil, natural gas as commodities, gold and silver as precious metals, and energy sources.

Forex: Forex is the biggest financial market in the world with $1.5 trillion trading per day. This value is more than three times the stock’s operations.

You can trade 5/24 in Forex which is, in my opinion, very nice. Forex isn’t a market where you can get secret information. Actual money transactions and important news determine the prices. So on paper, all traders are equal.

With Pepperstone you can trade in more than 80 currency pairs. Almost all of the major pairs can be traded. You can also perform minor pairs and some exotic pairs. The maximum leverage available on FX pairs is 1:500.

Indices: You can trade in 14 major global indexes as CFD. Indices like Germany 40 Index, UK 100 Index, US Wall Street 30 Index, US Tech 100 Index, Japan 225 Index, and more are available for trade with Pepperstone. With maximum leverage for indices that reach 1:20 depending on the index chosen.

Shares: where you can trade shares of major companies in different markets of the world including Apple, Tesla, Alibaba, Amazon, and more. Shares are considered to be a great way to hedge other positions. You can go both long or short when trading shares. As well as a fast reaction to market movements with great trading conditions and over 60+ top shares and stocks to trade with.

ETFs: trading ETFs allow you to Trade on leverage, any ETF can be traded long or short, being cost-effective and giving the chance for trades to diversify their portfolios. Global X MSCI Pakistan ETF, iShares Global Financials ETF, iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF, iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (All Sessions), and more are examples of traded ETFs.

Cryptocurrencies: Recently, investors’ interest in the cryptocurrency market was quickly noticed by forex brokers. Then some forex brokers started offering trading on cryptocurrencies. It was possible to trade some major cryptocurrencies as CFD in Pepperstone forex brokers. Price movements are very high in cryptocurrencies. Today the bitcoin, which is $ 10,000, can be $ 12,000 tomorrow. Therefore, high leverage is risky. Maximum leverage is limited to 1:5 at cryptocurrencies.

Commodities: where you can trade metals like Palladium, Gold, Platinum, and Silver against US Dollars and euros. where these metals often go parallel with the market and inflation rates. So we can say these are relatively safe during market crashes. Maximum leverage is 1:20 depending on the traded metal.

Oil can also be traded with Pepperstone. WTI is West Texas Intermediate crude oil. The low Sulphur ratio made the oil an informal name ‘sweet’ oil. It’s traded as XTI/USD. Since it’s North American oil, it is heavily affected by the developments in the region. British Oil is actually the oil produced in the North Sea. It’s called Brent Crude Oil and traded as XBR/USD. 2/3 of the world’s oil producers use it as a criterion.

Natural Gas can also be traded as XNG/USD which is natural gas from the United States. It’s affected by global news but also developments in the US. The weather can be decisive since it can determine the demand.

Soft Commodities like Coffee, Cocoa, Sugar, Cotton and Orange Juice are also available for trade. I find this type of commodity to be a good way to diversify trading portfolios. Because commodity prices are determined by the actual transfer of physical assets.

I find this type of trading exhilarating. But traders should be cautious if they lack basic knowledge about these soft commodities. The total economic growth of the world is the main factor of prices because people will ask for more energy.

Conclusion

Conclusion

In summary, Pepperstone forex is one of the best forex brokers in the world. There are important awards from independent organizations both in the area of customer service and in the execution time of its platforms. There is no problem with regulations and investor protection issues as it was presented via all the information I mentioned to you in the regulation section via this Pepperstone review.

This Pepperstone review also explained the regulation by several major regulators, one of them is FCA in the UK and the other is ASIC in Australia. And that eliminates the question of whether Pepperstone scam or not.

Regulated by not just one but many regulators in the market including the very prestigious ASIC and CySEC as well as FCA in the UK. The broker offers 2 different Pepperstone account types with a minimum deposit of AUD$200 and leverage that reaches 1:30. competitive spreads and low commissions.

I made significant profits during my trades at Pepperstone and did not encounter any problems when I wanted to withdraw. I have not encountered the issue of slippage and spread widening which is the most frequently complained about issues of Forex.

The leverage ratio is satisfying for people who want to like to take more risks. Also, you shouldn’t skip the wide range of trading platforms.

There are many trading instruments, you can even trade with orange juice! It’s a great opportunity. So yeah, this Pepperstone review has concluded that the broker is among the forex brokers I recommend.

Please comment below about your thoughts and experiences.

Valentin Cote

Valentin Cote

I am Valentin Cote, the author and owner of this personal blog. I compare and review forex brokers in my website. I am in the trading industry since 2009 and still learning. I also write useful articles for newbies about forex and investment. I love playing online games and Forex :)

5 Comments
Show all Most Helpful Highest Rating Lowest Rating Add your review
  1. I have been a victim of a fraudulent investment company Umarket.com of that was claiming to be trusted online broker firm. After defrauding me for over 50,000EUR my account with them was blocked, since I requested to withdraw my funds, they didn’t grant me access to withdraw my invested capital on the account,and i have had no access to my account on their site, and no way of retrieving my funds.

  2. Do not make the mistake I made by not confirming “maximum spread”! Ask pepperstone for their maximum spread for each pair you want to trade and make sure they email it to you in writing.

    Pepperstone spread can go as high as 50pips for GBP pairs etc but they don’t tell you that on their website they just tell you the minimum and average spread (the average spread is even questionable).

    Most people stoploss are below 50 pips this means your stoploss can be activated by the spread alone and your take profit (for sell position) can be pushed 50pips away due to spread manipulation from the company. Hence, the reason majority of traders lose money.

    Spread is one of the major tool used by companies like Pepperstone to swindle their clients. If you complain they will say it’s due to low liquidity. In my case they say it’s due to low liquidity caused by bank holiday but then I responded “The spread has reduced back after my position closed but we are still in bank holiday” they didn’t know what to respond but said “I agreed to their terms and condition.”

    I have told the company I will let people know about their dishonesty and they should be transparent enough to publish their maximum spread for each pair on their website, so they can be held accountable when they deviate from it. MY ADVICE IS “DO NOT FUND YOUR ACCOUNT OR TRADE IF YOUR NOT PROVIDED IN WRITING THE MAXIMUM APPLICABLE SPREAD. NOTE WITHOUT MAXIMUM, IT MEANS THE SPREAD CAN BE INCREASED TO INFINITY. THEREFORE YOU CAN BE WIPED OUT ANYTIME NO MATTER HOW GOOD YOUR ENTRY POSITION”. BE WISE!!!

  3. It is one of the most reliable brokers on the world. ASIC license is very safe for investors. I would definitely recommend it.

  4. I opened an account in Pepperstone 2 months ago. Customer service is excellent, execution speed is very good. The withdrawal process is a bit slow, but at least the reliable broker with FCA and ASIC-licence.

  5. great broker. Deposits and withdrawals are very fast. I use credit card as payment method and I can start trading within seconds.

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Who Am I?

Hello to everyone. Forexbrokerslab is my personal blog where I compare reliable forex brokers. I’ve been in forex trading since 2009 and I’m still learning. I have traded with the most popular forex brokers, including the most unknown ones in any regulation and many different account types. So I think I have enough knowledge to compare brokers. You can learn about forex brokers by reviewing my blog.

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