City Index Review
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Founded in 1983 in the United Kingdom, City Index has grown to become one of the leading multi-asset brokers in London, and in 2015 was acquired by GAIN Capital Holdings (NYSE: GCAP), the operator of FOREX.com.
City Index has over 30 years’ experience providing traders with Contracts for Difference (CFDs) and spread-betting derivatives, and further expanded its forex offering with the acquisition of IFX Markets, Finspreads, and FX Solutions years before GAIN Capital acquired the company.
Today, City Index continues to operate as an independent brand under GAIN Capital in the UK and in Asia, bringing a multi-asset solution that gives traders access to over 12,000 products across global markets (consisting of 4,500 CFDs and 8,000 spread-betting markets). City Index also offers cryptocurrency CFDs following the launch of bitcoin and nearly a dozen other crypto pairs.
Review Summary
Beyond its extensive range of products, multi-asset traders can confidently choose City Index for competitive spreads, premium research tools, and versatile charting including mobile, all under the backing of GAIN Capital, which is one of the largest retail brokers globally.
Benefits
- Part of GAIN Capital Holdings (owner of FOREX.com).
- Large selection of CFDs across global markets.
- Regulated in three major jurisdictions.
Considerations
- Separate account required to access FOREX.com products.
- Average spreads higher on MT4 than its other platforms.
Is City Index Safe?
City Index is considered low-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 91 out of 99. City Index is publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by six tier-1 regulators (high trust), zero tier-2 regulators (average trust), and zero tier-3 regulators (low trust). City Index is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Learn more about Trust Score.
Regulations Comparison
| Feature | City Index | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1983 | 1974 | 1992 | 1989 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Bank | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trust Score | 91 | 99 | 98 | 98 |
Commissions & Fees
City Index offers competitive spreads on Forex, CFDs and spread-betting products.
Benefits
- With average spreads on its Advanced Trader platforms on the EUR/USD of 0.77 pips as of Q3 2018 the all-in cost for all traders is comparable to default pricing at peers such as CMC Markets, in terms of multi-asset brokers.
- Active trader pricing launched in 2018 for high volume traders.
- Offers both fixed and variable (floating) spreads pricing.
Considerations
- Meanwhile, spreads on City Index’s MT4 platforms are considerably higher with average spreads of 1.6 pips on the EUR/USD over the same period.
Further Reading
Fees Comparison
| Feature | City Index | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Initial Deposit | £100.00 | £250.00 | $2,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.770 | 0.750 | 0.900 | 0.744 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.770 | 0.363 | 0.600 | 0.744 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commissions & Fees |
Platforms & Tools
City Index offers a variety of platforms for traders and can therefore meet the needs of most traders, regardless of experience level or trading style.
Benefits
- City Index offers MT4 alongside two proprietary platform suites: AT Pro (desktop-based software for Windows) and Web Trader (web-based).
- AT Pro offers robust charting (140 indicators, 25 drawing tools) and a Development Studio with automated trading functions similar to the MT4 platform when it comes to back testing, so before using it live, you can see the comprehensive test results of how a strategy would have performed over historical data. Over 100 strategies come pre-loaded.
- In 2018, City Index launched its Web Trader platform, marking a leap forward compared to its flash-based predecessor, Advantage Trader, as the new Web Trader software is built on HTML5, which supports the latest browser standards.
Considerations
- As its name implies, AT Pro is not for beginners but is better suited to professionals or experienced traders because it is complex and has several advanced functions.
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Further Reading
- Best Forex Trading Platforms 2019
- Best FX Brokers for Copy Trading 2019
- Best MetaTrader Brokers 2019
Tools Comparison
| Feature | City Index | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | No | No | No |
| cTrader | No | No | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 139 | 22 | 47 | 81 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 25 | 17 | 17 | 24 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 18 | 12 | 12 | 8 |
| Order Type - Trailing Stop | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Platform & Tools |
Customer Service
To score Customer Service, ForexBrokers.com partnered with customer experience research group Customerwise to conduct phone tests from locations throughout the UK. For our 2019 Review, 229 customer service tests were conducted over six weeks.
Results
- Average Connection Time: <2 minutes
- Average Net Promoter Score: 6 / 10
- Average Professionalism Score: 5.3 / 10
- Overall Score: 6 / 10
- Ranking: 11th (23 brokers)
- View Infographic
Research
Overall, there are several channels for both standard and premium research at City Index, helping the firm score in-line with the industry standard for this category.
Benefits
- Premium research from Recognia is available free when you open a live account with City Index. Part of Trading Central, Recognia is widely respected for its focus on automated technical analysis and pattern recognition, providing bearish and bullish events you can use to assess trading ideas, depending on market sentiment and technical expectations.
- News headlines from Thomson Reuters stream within City Index’s available platforms along with an economic calendar powered by FXStreet.
Considerations
- None.
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Further Reading
Research Comparison
| Feature | City Index | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Weekly Webinars | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AutoChartist | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Delkos Research | No | No | No | No |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Research |
Mobile Trading
The City Index mobile app scores well in this category and is on par with other multi-asset brokers such as IG, CMC Markets and Saxo Bank.
Benefits
- Whether you are adding alerts or depositing money into your account in the app, or accessing news headlines and research, you will find many options that help make for a positive experience inside a cleanly designed layout.
- Just over a dozen studies can be added to a chart and you can carry out basic technical analysis with trend lines, which are all positive charting features in a mobile app.
Considerations
- I would like to see additional research content, such as trading signals, make its way into the app, as some of the existing modules such as the Market Analysis tab redirects to the web.
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Further Reading
Mobile Apps Comparison
| Feature | City Index | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trading - Forex | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trading - CFDs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watch List | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watch List Syncing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 7 | 26 | 41 | 23 |
| Charting - Draw Trend Lines | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Trend Lines Moveable | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Drawings Autosave | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forex Calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading |
Offering of Investments
The following table summarizes the different investment products available to City Index clients.
Offering Comparison
| Feature | City Index | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forex: Spot Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) | 84 | 91 | 182 | 183 |
| CFDs - Total Offered | 4500 | 15000 | 32999 | 9959 |
| Cryptocurrency traded as actual | No | No | No | No |
| Cryptocurrency traded as CFD | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Offering of Investments |
Other Notes
Like other brokers in the UK, City Index also offers the option to trade many of its CFD products as a spread bet. Since spread-betting carries certain tax efficiencies for UK residents, it is a beneficial alternative to CFDs if you reside in the UK.
City Index introduced cryptocurrency CFDs with the launch of several bitcoin-related pairs, including BTC/USD, BTC/EUR, BTC/GBP, and BTC/AUD, and further expanded its range of crypto pairs in 2018 to help cater to the growing demand of investors and traders looking for exposure on digital assets.
City Index’s crypto offering provides up to 2:1 leverage and limits trading to normal forex market hours.
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Final Thoughts
Through its offerings in Europe and Asia, City Index provides multiple options for traders to access global markets, including 65 spot forex pairs, 15 forwards, and over 10,000 CFDs on several trading platforms. The broker caters well to all traders regardless of experience level.
For our 2019 Forex Broker Review we assessed, rated, and ranked 28 international forex brokers. Each FX broker was graded on 81 variables. How we test.
Forex Risk Disclaimer
"There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses." Learn more.
About the author: Steven Hatzakis Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.
