FP Markets Review

FP Markets is the brokerage arm of First Prudential Markets Pty Ltd, an Australian firm which was established in 2005. In over 14 years of brokerage operations, FP Markets has grown to become a foremost online forex and CFD broker.

The Head Office is located in Sydney, Australia. There are two additional branch offices in Beijing and Shanghai, both of which are located in China. The brand has won multiple industry awards in areas like; customer service, trader education and trade execution. Here are some advantages of trading with FP Markets:

  • Over 10,000 trading instruments to choose from.
  • Modern trading platforms.
  • Low spreads on forex currency pairs.
  • Regulated brokerage conditions.
  • Multilingual and efficient customer support

Investor Protection & Regulations

FP Markets is authorized and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). They operate with the Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) number 286354. ASIC is reputed for imposing stringent rules on brokers.

FP Markets asserts that investor deposits are safely kept in the National Australian Bank, which is one of the big 4 banks in Australia. This ensures segregation of traders’ funds from the operational funds of FP Markets.

ASIC protection comes with a high level of assurance to the traders working with the broker. It means that clients have recourse if they are unhappy with the broker’s services and have somewhere to turn to seek remediation.

Deposit & Withdrawals options

Several methods of deposits and withdrawals are accepted on FP Markets. About 10 currencies are accepted for transactions. The following are the accepted payment options:

  • Credit/Debit Cards: 3 Major debit/credit cards are accepted. These are VISA, Mastercard and China Unionpay. Card transactions are usually processed instantly. For withdrawals using cards, it takes 4-5 business days. Deposits on the IRESS platform attract a charge of 1.6% of amount in AUD or 3.18% of amount in foreign currency. There are no charges on the MT4 and MT5 platforms.
  • Bank Wire Transfer: This method takes 2-7 working days for complete processing. A local transfer in AUD is free but foreign transfers attract a charge of $25 per transaction.
  • E-Wallets like Neteller and Skrill are accepted. Deposit fees for the IRESS account using these methods will cost 4% of the deposit amount.
  • BPay is for only Australians and the only currency accepted is the AUD. The processing takes 12-24 hrs to complete. Deposit fee for IRESS platform is 1.6% of deposit amount.
  • POLi connects Australian client to only Australian banks. There are no transaction charges.
  • FasaPay: This is a global method for online payments. The only accepted currency is USD and there are no transaction charges.
  • PaySec: IRESS fee for this payment method is 3.25% of deposit amount while MT4/MT5 platforms are free. FP Markets state that they cover the fees for the MT4 and MT5 platforms; therefore there are no transaction fees on these platforms. All charges are waived for first time deposits. In over a decade of operations, there have been no reports of missing funds by FP Markets clients.

Privacy & Security

Security

Investors are further protected from identity thefts, hacking and cybercrimes by FP Markets’ adoption of cyber-security best practices. Every account is verified and the data input or retrieved from the website are encrypted during transmission.

FP markets collect personal information of their clients and keep them securely. Their website and trading platforms are electronically protected through a 128-bit encryption. This is to protect clients from identity theft and other cyber crimes. Know Your Customer (KYC) is performed on every client in order to prevent money laundering in accordance with regulatory standards.

Segregation of Client Funds

Investor Funds are held in bank accounts different from that of the broker. This act of funds segregation is done so that investors’ funds will be unaffected in the improbable event of broker insolvency.

Mobile Trading Platforms

The IRESS app is available for iPhone and Android devices. The main features include:

  1. Advanced order management
  2. Advanced Charting
  3. Live dynamic pricing from over 10,000 trading instruments
  4. Real time financial news
  5. Full customization of IRESS Viewpoint Suite.

The MT4 and MT5 trading platforms are available on Android and iPhone mobile devices. Some of the salient features of these apps are:

  1. Real time quotes
  2. Customizable layouts
  3. Advanced Charting
  4. Access to trading history
  5. One-click trading.

FP markets grants free access to all mobile apps. All platform charges are waived on the mobile apps.

Pros / Cons
  • 10,000+ tradable assets
  • Choose between 3 trading platforms
  • Competitive spread pricing on raw account
  • High spreads on the standard account
  • A range of possible additional fees
  • AU $200 minimum opening balance

up to 100%
no Deposit Bonus

FP Markets is the brokerage arm of First Prudential Markets Pty Ltd, an Australian firm which was established in 2005. In over 14 years of brokerage operations, FP Markets has grown to become a foremost online forex and CFD broker.