IFX Brokers is an online trading broker set up in South Africa. Its core values are commitment, transparency, and trust, which are the foundation of the company.
The company facilitates one-stop trading and investing experience for private and institutional traders, providing customers with the cutting-edge MetaTrader 4 trading platform for online trading of various financial products such as forex, indices, commodities, energy metals, futures, and more.
If you are looking to open an account with IFX, we recommend you go through this review first.
You can find our transparent IFX Brokers review below. Broker reviews are updated frequently!
We value your feedback: Rate this broker by leaving a comment and rating below this review.
>IFX Brokers Regulation
IFX Brokers is a trading name of the company IFX Brokers Holdings (Pty) Ltd, which is a South Africa based company registered by the local Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).
>Reliability
IFX Brokers does not provide negative balance protection. However, due to FSCA regulations, as a client, your investments are in safe hands when trading with IFX Brokers.
>IFX Brokers Tradeable products
The IFX brokers allow traders to trade a wide range of financial assets, such as forex, indices, commodities, energies, metals, and futures.
>Account types
There are three types of trading account at IFX; IFX standard, IFX Raw, IFX Islamic. In addition, you can also open a demo account.
Each of these accounts is powered by the broker’s advanced trading platform features to cater for a range of trading needs, with access to over 70 currency pairs, gold and silver, oil, and natural gas.
The IFX Islamic account is a swap-free account and is completely free of Riba or interest. No interest works by eliminating the usual swap charges that normally apply for positions held overnight or over weekends.
The minimum deposit can vary in these account types. For example, the minimum deposit for a standard account is $100, while RAW accounts start from $250, and an Islamic account has a minimum deposit of $100.
>Opening an account
You can open an account quickly with IFX Brokers. However, the account approval process can take a few days. IFX also asks you to send verification documents like proof of residence through email, which makes the process more secure. Here are the steps of the IFX account opening process:
- Provide personal and financial information.
- Describe your trading background
- Confirm your identity and citizenship. You can check your identity by uploading a national ID, passport, or driver’s license. In addition, utility bills and bank statements are accepted as proof of residency.
>Account currency
There are four base currencies for opening an account with IFX, which are the following:
GBP, USD, EUR, and ZAR.
In this case, the keynote is that base currencies depend on the type of account you’ll open. For example, base currencies for the standard account are ZAR, GBP, EUR, and USD, while base currencies for raw spread an Islamic account are only ZAR and USD.
Also, you can expect a conversion fee if you open an account in a different currency like CAD than the base currencies.
>Trading platform
IFX offers only one trading platform, which is MetaTrader 4.
IFX Meta Trader 4 provides enhanced charting functionality and fully functional order management tools. This platform also includes a multilingual interface, provides a comprehensive analysis and allows for multiple charts setups. It is also customisable, allowing you to adjust the position and size of the tabs.
IFX offers one of the greatest MT4 upgrade packages with 85 pre-installed indicators. This demonstrates IFX’s dedication to automated traders, a feature that IFX own platform does not support. While the MAM/PAMM module is not available on MT4 at IFX, the trading platform does have a copy-trading feature.
The platform is available as a desktop application for Windows and Mac computers and a mobile application designed for Android and iOS devices.
Average Spreads on Majors
- EUR/USD: 0.8
- GBP/USD: 1.2
- USD/JPY: 1.2
- AUD/USD: 1.2
>Commissions and fees
IFX Brokers provides excellent market spreads as well as True ECN connectivity. Over 50 banks and dark pool liquidity sources price into the broker’s ECN at any given time, maintaining tight spreads and deep liquidity throughout the market session.
As a result, the following is the average spread for each account:
- IFX Standard Account from 0.8 pips
- IFX Raw Account from 0.3 pips
- IFX Islamic Account from 0.8 pips
These spreads are unquestionably tight, with competitive commissions of $3 one way on the Raw Account.
IFX Brokers swap rates are determined by the existing overnight interest rate differential between the paired currencies and whether the selected position is long or short.
As the broker’s fees can vary and change, additional fees may not be listed in this review. Therefore, before you open an account with the IFX Brokers for online trading, make sure you review and understand all of the latest information to avoid unnecessary issues.
>Leverage
IFX has a maximum leverage of 1:500 for people who want to trade on a margin.
The good thing about this, as a client is, that you can manually adjust the leverage. Unfortunately, this particular function is not available with all brokers. If you are a client, you will have to go to the Deposit and Withdrawal tab to select the leverage.
When you wish to reduce the risk of your trade, changing the leverage is a handy function. For instance, in commodity CFDs, instead of trading with 5:1, you can just trade with 2:1 leverage.
A keynote to add here is to be careful when trading forex and CFDs, as the preset leverage levels may be high.
>Deposits and Withdrawals
The IFX Brokers set up requires the clients to submit a low minimum deposit amount to open a broker account, which is $100. Compared to other better and prevailing industry standards, the minimum deposit of $100 should be affordable to new traders.
Although the company offers excellent deposit and withdrawal conditions to the clients, it lacks limited payment options, consisting only of debit/credit cards, wire transfer, and PayFast.
For South African clients, withdrawals are usually processed quickly within 2-4 hours, while international withdrawals made through a bank transfer can take anywhere between three to five working days.
Due to third party regulations, funds will only be deposited in the bank account linked to the trader’s IFX trading account. However, a joint bank account is accep if you are a mandated signatory.
Credit card withdrawals are limited to the original deposit amount. Withdrawals exceeding this amount require a different withdrawal method.
>Education and Research
The IFX Brokers supply a lot of educational materials under their IFX Academy initiative. In the academy, IFX offers educational materials that appeal to every user, from beginner to intermediate to advanced, to educate them about the trading world. They deliver course materials and assignments to you electronically, and you can decide at what speed you want to complete the modules.
>Customer Service
IFX’s customer service is available round the clock, five days a week. In addition, IFX has a contact section that lists phone numbers or registered addresses. And also, you can contact them on social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
>Bonuses and Promotions
At the moment this is IFX Brokers current bonuses and promotions.
>Special features
As part of the Equinix NY4 facility, IFX clients can access almost unlimited VPS (Virtual Private Server) options.
For Forex traders, most importantly, these virtual private servers enable them to run automated algorithmic strategies and access expert advisors, literally 24/7 on a virtual machine.
In short, the servers’ access multiple liquidity providers by relentlessly processing the live interbank spread quotes, using multi-tiered best bid/offer technology. As a result, when you place a trade, it is automatically linked to the cheapest current liquidity provider at the best price available.
In turn, IFX guarantees its clients the lowest latency and the fastest execution speeds, matched only by some investment banks and major hedge funds.
IFX Equinix hosted live trading servers, located in the major financial hubs of London, are ready to trade anywhere around the globe. As such, almost 99% of orders placed with IFX are executed at the requested price.
>IFX South Africa
As a South African, you’ll be glad to know that IFX has regulated from the local FSCA regulatory body and allows you to open an account in ZAR.
>Affiliate program
The IFX IB Program offers you lucrative rebates when you introduce potential clients.
Each partner is assigned a specialised affiliate manager who provides platform support and digital presence advice.
>Our verdict
The IFX Brokers is a well-rounded choice for traders of all levels, including beginner and advanced levels. The broker offers a feature-rich trading platform, a wide range of assets, tight spreads and competitive commissions, and a secure trading environment.
While the research offerings are extensive, the company’s structure needs improvement, as the content is dispersed over IFX’s website and channels.
IFX Brokers provide traders with several trading tools that may be utilised to refine their trading to assist them in their trading endeavours.
At this time, the broker’s website does not appear to provide independent research tools such as an economic calendar or news analysis.
Having said that, the MetaTrader 4 platform does have a full range of research tools that should be adequate for beginner to advanced trading needs.
Along with this, considering IFX’s foundation, the limited amount of product offerings, particularly when compared to its competitors, are quite surprising, to say the least.
Having regulations from FSCA is advantageous, but failing to provide slippage protection or further deposit protections beyond what regulators require is a disadvantage at IFX.
Nonetheless, IFX’s price transparency, platform technology, and global regulatory monitoring are all quite good and will give you a peaceful experience as a client. Experienced traders looking for a well-designed desktop platform will find what they are looking for at IFX; there is no better option.
>From a South African perspective
IFX Brokers is an online trading broker that offers traders the MT4 trading platform for trading a range of tradeable products. In addition, traders have access to a variety of trading tools and educational resources, as well as a variety of account options.
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>Broker FAQ
Thinking of Trading with IFX Brokers?
What is the IFX’s minimum deposit?
The minimum deposit for the standard and Islamic account is $100, and for the raw spread, an account is $250.
How do I deposit/withdraw from the IFX account?
You can deposit/withdraw funds through debit or credit card, bank wire transfer or PayFast.
Is IFX spreads high?
IFX offers tighter spreads, delivering a trading cost advantage to clients.
What is the maximum leverage at IFX?
IFX offers maximum leverage of 1:500.
Does IFX use MetaTrader?
Yes, MetaTrader 4.
Is IFX available in South Africa?
Yes, IFX is available for South African traders.
