City Index Review

Review

As one of the oldest and most established Forex and CFD brokers in the world, City Index has grown to be one of the world leaders in spread betting and CFD trading. The company was established in the UK in 1983 and has been around for over 30 years, a timeframe that is practically unheard of in the industry.

City Index has recently been acquired by GAIN Capital Holdings, Inc. a global leader in online trading, creating a retail business with over 235,000 funded accounts, $1.2 billion in customer assets and $3.1 trillion in annual trading volume. The company has offices in London, Dubai, Sydney, New Jersey, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore which accommodates a staff of over 800 employees.  City Index and transact over $400 billion in trade volume every month for individuals in over 50 countries worldwide. City Index is authorized and regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

City Index provides competitive spreads and access to thousands of markets worldwide including indices, shares, currencies, commodities, bonds, interest rates and more. The company has been the recipient of many awards over the years for their spread betting, CFD and FX trading services as well as product innovation. 

Accounts

Aside from their one standard account, for which there is scant information, City Index offers its VIP account which provides a unique range of benefits including preferential rates on trade execution, a dedicated senior sales trader on-hand 24-hours a day, interest paid on cash balances, flexible margin rates and access to exclusive VIP events.

This upscale account can be opened by invitations only and eligibility is determined by the City Index VIP team.

The minimum deposit to open an account is $100 and $25 is needed for subsequent deposits. There is no commission on spread betting and CFDs. For Equity CFDs, depending on the market there is a minimum commission $25.

City Index offers the choice of spread betting, CFD’s and Forex in one account. There is a 1-point spread on FTSE and Wall Street and you can trade EUR/USD at 0.5 points.

I was pleased when doing this review that City Index offers a free demo account. In fact, there are two different demo accounts.

This City Index Demo is available for a two-week period and allows a trader unlimited access to their trading platform and a virtual cash balance of £2,500 GBP. I would have preferred a longer demo time, but it is possible that traders can ask for an extension if they’re not quite ready to take the plunge and risk their money in a real account.

The MT4 Demo account gives traders all the functionality of the trusted MT4 platform plus exclusive City Index features including free and unlimited access to our trading platforms for four weeks, $10,000 virtual cash balance, the ability to trade Forex pairs from a number of platforms, access to major, minor and exotic Forex pairs and more.

Features

Spread betting and CFD trading are City Index’s main lines of business. Spread betting is a tax-free alternative to conventional trading, enabling traders to profit from rising as well as falling market prices. Spread betting is usually leveraged, giving traders an opportunity to trade up to 10% of their original deposit.

The City Index website is user friendly and presents all its material in a clear and easily understood fashion. Though the company has been around for decades, its website is current, making the user-experience wholly enjoyable.  Traders don’t have to go far to get the information they want and the first page provides access to lots of information including the various trading platforms, current market performances and a list of features offered by the brokerage.

Education

Much focus is given by City Index to educating traders, with webinars, video tutorials and trading tips made available through their City Index Trading Academy.

Their Trading Videos focus on the key technical levels across a variety of markets, adding an additional tool to an already bursting array of educational material. The tutor in the City Index Video’s is none other than Kathleen Brooks; the Research Director at City Index, who is often invited to appear on Domestic and International News channels to comment on financial markets.

Textual how-to guides that develop knowledge and improve trading are available in beginner and advanced categories and an extensive video library houses videos for traders at all levels of experience.

A series of free seminars ranging from the basics of trading right through to more advanced techniques and strategies is presented by market experts and held in the broker’s London office. The sessions are designed to give traders the opportunity to practice real-time trading under the guidance of City Index trading experts, and allows traders to use their own demo account during the seminar if they wish to do so.

Webinars are recorded every second week and cover both market analysis and education. These webinars are free to watch and can be accessed even without a live trading account. All that is needed to get started is a computer with a broadband connection.

The Market News and Analysis section is chock-a-block with information. On a daily basis, there are updated reports on market, Forex and financial news.  A full technical analysis along with graphs is also posted each day and each month they collate expert and analyst opinion for a short to medium-term snapshot of the financial markets. 

Deposits/Withdrawals

Deposits can be made to a City Index account via credit and debit cards. Withdrawals are made in the same manner. The minimum withdrawal amount is $50 or the remaining account balance whichever is the least and the maximum withdrawal in a single transaction is $20,000.

Customer Support

Customer support is available 24/5 via local or international telephone or email. Their chat service is excellent and can be conveniently reached from any one of their pages. Chat is available in multiple languages depending on where the trader is coming from. In addition, the Help and Support page of the website is extensive and surpasses many FAQ pages offered by other brokers. 

Conclusion

All in all, we found City Index to provide all the important information needed by a trader presented in an organized, manageable format.  Sorely missing were some bonuses or promotions that would attract additional clients.

 

Trading CFDs, Spread Bets and Foreign Exchange carries a high level of risk to your capital with the possibility of losing more than your initial investment and may not be suitable for everyone. Ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary.

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Features

City Index’s main strength emanates from its long history in the financial markets. With over 30 years of experience, it is the industry’s longest Forex trading broker and is the recipient of several awards over the years including the ‘best trading platform’ award of 2014 by UK Forex. The company prides itself on its tight spreads, low IMRs that rival their competitors and a choice of the UK’s most popular trading platforms which include both web-based and mobile apps.

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Platforms

City Index offers several trading platforms and to make them as clear as possible for traders, they are each accompanied by a descriptive web tutorial, explanatory video and FAQ section.

Advantage Web

The Advantage Web is the main web-based platform at City Index. The layout of the platform is clear and easy to understand and offers a great deal of functionality. Traders can custom make their own workspace or use the pre-built one. Workspaces already in the platform include classic, quick trader, essentials, market focus and many more.

Advantage Web Trading Platform

AT Pro

The AT Pro platform is the City Index’s latest downloadable platform. With improved reliability, speed and charting, AT Pro delivers a whole new level of trading functionality, plus specialist features for more advanced traders. AT Pro offers auto-trading with a choice of hundreds of pre-built algos and strategies, comprehensive charting packages, improved connection strength and execution speeds and the ability to code your own trading systems in the AT Pro Development Studio.

AT Pro Trading Platform

MetaTrader 4

City Index offers the ‘MT4 enhanced’ platform with additional powerful features available exclusively for City Index FX clients, such as Expert Advisors (EAs), one-click dealing, a professional charting package, customizable leverage up to 400:1 and price tolerance.

Mobile Apps

City Index’s live trading app can be used for iPhones, Androids, Blackberrys, iPads and Tablets. The app provides traders with full and secure access to their City Index spread betting, CFD trading and FX accounts even when they are on the move, 24 hours a day. 

City Index Mobile Trading Platform

With the Windows mobile app, traders can check the latest prices and market movements in financial markets, place trades instantly and from wherever they are, access a comprehensive live streaming charting package, see multiple watch lists and view their trading activity at a glance.

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User Reviews

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