FlowBank vs IFC Markets 2023

Trust Score is a data-driven rating system that provides an at-a-glance rating of a broker’s overall trust by tracking 60+ brokers and over 100 regulatory jurisdictions across the globe. To make things clearer for everyday traders, we’ve created a five-tier system for regulators and Trust Score rating labels. Learn more about Trust Score, and check out our country guides to see the most trusted brokers in your country of residence.

FlowBank has a Trust Score of 80, giving it a "Average Risk" Trust Score Label.

IFC Markets has a Trust Score of 67, giving it a "High Risk" Trust Score Label.

Founded in 2020, FlowBank is a relatively new forex broker that has rapidly expanded its offering of investment products. Traders at FlowBank gain access to the full MetaTrader suite (both MT4 and MT5) and enjoy the benefits associated with holding a Swiss bank account alongside the ability to trade forex and CFDs. FlowBank is regulated in Switzerland, but lacks the additional regulatory licenses held by the most trusted brokers.

IFC Markets is a long-standing brand with 17 years of operation. Traders will appreciate that IFC Markets delivers a growing range of markets, numerous trading platforms, and a decent balance of research and educational resources. That said, IFC Markets holds just one Tier-4 regulatory license; increasing its number of licenses would increase its Trust Score.

Tier-1 is reserved for the strictest, most stringent regulatory jurisdictions in the world. Tier-1 regulators impose additional capital requirements and require a tougher initial screening process. unfortunately, neither FlowBank nor IFC Markets are Australia (ASIC Authorised), Canada (CIRO Authorised), Hong Kong (SFC Authorised), CBI Authorised (Ireland), Japan (SFC Authorised), Singapore (MAS Authorised), New Zealand (FMA Authorised), Switzerland (FINMA Authorised), United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) and USA (CFTC Authorized).. Neither have USA (CFTC Authorized)

Tier-2 and tier-3 licenses are still important in evaluating the overall trustworthiness of forex brokers. As far as tier-2 licenses go, unfortunately, neither FlowBank nor IFC Markets are China (CBRC Authorised), Cyprus (CySEC Authorised), India (SEBI Authorised), Israel (ISA Authorised), Russia (CBR Authorised), South Africa (FSCA Authorised), Thailand (SEC Authorised) and UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised).. Neither have UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised). When comparing tier-3 licenses FlowBank is none, while IFC Markets is British Virgin Islands (FSC Authorised).. Neither have Bahamas (SCB Authorised), Belize (FSC Authorised), Bermuda (BMA Authorised), Cayman Islands (CIMA Authorised), Mauritius (FSC Authorised) and Vanuatu (VFSC Authorised).

Whether your broker develops its own proprietary platforms or provides access to popular third-party platforms, you should make sure you can use your preferred type of trading platform. In our testing, we found that both FlowBank and IFC Markets offer a Proprietary Platform and Desktop Platform (Windows). Neither have cTrader, DupliTrade and ZuluTrade

Both FlowBank and IFC Markets offer the whole MetaTrader suite, which consists of both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. If you’re new to MetaTrader 4 here’s our educational guide on how to use MT4.

FlowBank requires a minimum deposit of $0, while IFC Markets requires a minimum deposit of $1. It's also important to ensure your broker accepts the funding options and deposit methods that work best for you. In our research, we've found that FlowBank supports Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) for funding and deposit methods, whereas IFC Markets supports Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) and Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit). Neither have PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) and Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw)

When choosing a broker, it’s important to check the availability of your preferred investment products and asset classes. We’ve tested each broker’s individual offering of investments to help you pick the right broker for what you want to trade. We found that both FlowBank and IFC Markets offer Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs), Social Trading / Copy Trading, Metals, Energies, Agriculturals, ETF and U.S. Stocks (CFD). Neither have Spread Betting.

We also keep track of each broker’s total number of tradeable symbols; FlowBank offers 408600, and IFC Markets offers a total of 630 tradeable symbols.

Crypto trading has become popular among forex traders across a range of international jurisdictions. As a result, many forex brokers now offer crypto products to their clients; most crypto assets are offered either as an underlying physical asset (such as when you own actual bitcoin assets, for example) or as a derivative product like a CFD. If you are looking to trade physical cryptocurrencies, you’ll find that neither FlowBank nor IFC Markets allow you to trade physical cryptocurrencies.

Market research plays a huge role in any forex trader’s ability to conduct analysis within the global forex market. We test each broker’s research offering to help you decide which broker is right for your technical or fundamental analysis needs. FlowBank delivers the following research tools: Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts, Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) and Social Trading / Copy Trading. IFC Markets, on the other hand, provides the tools listed here: Daily Market Commentary, Stock Charts and Social Trading / Copy Trading. Neither have Autochartist and Trading Central (Recognia)

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