City Index Australia has been a top choice for many multi-asset traders. This can be attributed to several reasons including an assorted variety of products, competitive spreads, and comprehensive research tools.
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Beyond these, what are the other deeply buried factors that make City Index one of the best brokers in the industry on a global scale? Take a seat and let’s take a closer look and analysis of City Index.
Background
City Index is a renowned spread betting, Forex, and CFD trading broker. Their headquarter is located in the UK but they have offices in Australia too.
City Index is part of the online trading service provider GAIN Capital Holdings Inc. Its operations in the UK are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FCA – 1139542.
Over the years, City Index has established offices in various countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and Singapore. In Australia, City Index is licensed and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, ASIC.
It is worth noting that GAIN Capital, City Index’s parent company, is listed on The New York Stock Exchange which is a solid assurance that City Index is a safe broker.
City Index has regular financial statement releases that prove its trustworthiness and reliability.
City Index has won various awards in different categories of trading.
Last year at the OPWA Awards, City Index was voted as the ‘Best Cryptocurrency Trading Platform’. This year at the same award, it was voted ‘Best Spread Betting provider’ and ‘Best Trading Platform’. At the ADVFN Awards, it was also voted as ‘Best CFD Provider’.
History
City Index has a long history tracking back to September 1983 when it was started by Chris Hale and Jonathan Sparke. It initially specialized in Spread betting when it began operating in March 1984. The first CFD trading operations began in 2001 in the United Kingdom.
The company went on to acquire the IFX Group in 2005. This meant it had control of the FX broker, IFX Market. In 2006, the company began laying its foundation in other regions, in particular, the Asia Pacific Region. City Index opened offices in Sydney, Singapore, and Shanghai to meet the needs of its clients.
Late in 2014, Michael Spencer who was the owner since 1997 after purchasing control interest sold the company to Gain Capital Holdings (GCAP), the operator of FOREX.com for $118 million.
Offering of Investments
City Index Australia clients have access to various investment products such as FX, CFDs, and cryptocurrency. Most brokers in the UK including City Index trade CFD products as a spread bet. It is a merit for traders in the UK because spread-betting has tax efficiencies.
| FEATURE/ TRADE OPTION | AVAILABILITY |
| Forex | Yes |
| Currency Option | 84 |
| Global Shares | 4500+ |
| Social(Copy) Trading | Yes |
| Crypto (as actual) | N/A |
| Crypto (as CFD) | Yes |
City Index offers over 12,000 markets including over 25 commodities and 20 indices. For CFD trading, the minimum trade size is 1 CFD. CFD trading is commission free except for Stocks.
Spread betting is commission free and the minimum trade size is 50p/point.
Deposit and withdrawal
The deposit and withdrawal sector is easily the biggest let-down in City Index. Not only does City Index lack an option to select your base currency but you also have no e-wallet option to fund your account.
On the flip side, credit/debit card options are available. Deposits and withdrawals are free of charge. The minimum amount you can withdraw from your account is £50. In a day, you cannot withdraw an amount exceeding £20,000 if you are withdrawing into your credit card.
To withdraw more than the specified limited, you have to get in touch with the client management team.
Account base currencies
City Index supports a variety of base currencies including EUR, GBP, USD, CHF, HUF, AUD, CHF, JPY, and PLN. Compared to other brokers such as IG, City Index is ahead.
However, there is no option to change the base currency when opening your account. The default currency is GBP. If you wish to change the base currency, you have to get in touch with a specialist from the support team.
Deposit
Depositing funds into your account is free. However, the deposit methods are limited to credit/debit cards and bank transfers. Deposit time for bank transfers takes different times. Credit/debit cards are much faster and have an instant processing time.
For the deposit method of your choice to work, it has to be registered under your name.
Withdrawal
Just like deposit, withdrawals are free. Withdrawals via bank transfers can take anywhere between 2 to 3 business days.
Credit/debit cards, on the other hand, may take up to 5 business days to process. The withdrawal method you choose should be registered under your name as well.
Commissions & Fees
Among the reasons why City Index is a top choice for most traders in Australia is the competitive spreads on the tradeable products such as Forex, CFDs, and spread-betting. The pricing options available are fixed and floating spreads.
In comparison to its competitors in the industry, City Index charges average trading fees and non-trading fees.
The case is different for financing rates as City Index has low rates. Even though no withdrawal fee is charged, an average inactivity fee is charged.
It is worth noting that average spreads on City Index’s proprietary platforms are generally lower compared to those on MetaTrader 4 platform. In addition, MT 4 lacks the price tolerance settings that the proprietary platform has.
Trading Platforms
City Index supports three main trading platforms. Two of these three are its proprietary trading platforms i.e. AT Pro and Web Trader while the other is a third-party trading platform, MT4. Web Trader is web-based, as the name suggests, while AT Pro is desktop-based.
| Company: | CityIndex |
| Type of Trading: | CFD |
| Regulation: | ASIC – Australian Financial Services Licence number AFSL 345646 |
| Contact – Phone | 1800 354 182 |
| Contact – Email | [email protected] |
The three platforms offer one of the best experiences when it comes to Forex and CFD trading.
Alternatively you can compare cityindex with the best online share trading platforms.
AT Pro
AT Pro is better suited for advanced and expert traders hence the name. It offers complex features and sophisticated functionalities. This includes comprehensive charting (has over 130 indicators plus 25 drawing tools).
The platform also packs a development studio that has automated trading functions. Among these automated functions is the ability to backtest potential strategies.
Web Trader
Built on HTML 5, Web Trader is quick, simple and flexible. It has about half of the indicators available on AT Pro.
| TRADING FEATURE | AVAILABILITY AT CITY INDEX |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes ( AT Pro & Web Trader ) |
| Social/Copy Trading | Yes |
| Desktop platform | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes |
| MT4 | Yes |
| MT5 | N/A |
| cTrader | N/A |
Web trading platform
The web trading platform by City Index allows a great extent of user customization. You can remove, add, resize as well as reposition tabs and panels. The search function works well.
The platform gives the user a wide choice of order types. Some of the order types include
- Stop
- Trailing Stops
- Limit
- Guaranteed stop
- One-cancel-other (OCO)
Other order terms include:
- Good ’til time (GTT)
- Good ’til the end of the day (GTD)
- and Good ’til canceled (GTC)
The lack of a two-step login verification is another con.
City Index’s web platforms are Web Trader and Advantage Web. The former is the primary web platform.
You can set an alert that will inform you when an asset hits the price target. You will also get an alert when your order has been fulfilled. It can take the form of a browser notification or icon update in the case of the web platform.
Under ‘Reports’ you can access and download your fee reports in different formats.
Mobile trading platform
The mobile platform for City Index has a nice touch and is simple to navigate through. The search function is equally good. Like the web platform. It too lacks a two-step login process.
The mobile platform works on both Android and iOS devices.
Mobile Trading Tools
Although City Index’s mobile trading application isn’t the best in the industry, it does pretty well and matches up to most of its competitors. The app is well-designed and has a friendly interface.
The app lacks bugs and thus delivers a good experience when you are using it. Be it funding your account, placing trades or catching up on news, the app does well.
Other tools the mobile app packs are Charts and Trading Central. The mobile charts (powered by Trading Views) have 74 pre-loaded indicators. You can access different modules such as Views from Analysts as well as Technical Insights. Technical Insight shows you the patterns according to what is on the charts. It can also show you what price movements to expect.
Desktop trading platform
The desktop platform is close to the web platform but lacks the same user-friendly interface. It is customizable and has a wide range of order types. The desktop platforms at City Index are AT Pro and MT4.
Contrarily to web and mobile platforms, the desktop platform supports different languages apart from English such as Arabic, English, German, and Chinese.
Account opening
The process of an account with City Index is simple although it may take days before your account is up and running. On the upside, there is no minimum deposit stipulated.
Apart from the US, Canada, and a few other countries, City Index accepts traders from most of the countries. Account funding options include
- Debit card such Visa, MasterCard, Maestro and Electron
- Credit card such Visa, MasterCard,
- PayPal
- Bank transfer
Note that you can only have 3 or less cards linked to your account at one time. City Index only allows you to fund your account in the base currency of the source account or card.
Account types
Account options available are individual and corporate. Traders from the UK have a SIPP account option.
Education
For a beginner trader, City Index ensures you get fully familiar with trading so you don’t lose your money because of wrong strategies and trade execution. To that end, City Index provides a demo account as well as tutorial and educational videos.
You can test your trading knowledge using the demo account.
You can also get access to useful educational texts that cover different areas. City Index’s trading academy is useful especially to traders with a poor trading performance.
Research
The research sector forms one of City Index’s strongholds. Some of the research and strategy tools City Index offers are chart analysis – Auto Chartist for MT, Newsfeeds under the ‘Market Analysis ‘tab, Trading Central, and an economic calendar. For charting, you can use over 65 indicators.
Recommendations based on technical tools on the ‘Analyst Views’ form part of the research sector. These recommendations, however, don’t cover all the tradable products.
City Index supports different chart types, multiple chart layout, extensive drawing tools and comparison of markets. Multiple chart layouts help you monitor price movements of the markets you are interested in.
You can also check the fundamental data under the ‘Value Analyzer’ tab. Newsfeed is categorized into different categories so you can filter and remain with your preferences. You can get help in coming up with strategies using the signals and alerts as well.
Customer Service
The customer support is an important service of the broker. Customer supports at City Index is great. You can reach the Customer Support at 0845 355 0801. You can alternative use the international phone +44 203 194 1801 or email address [email protected]
Is CityIndex a Good Broker for Australian Traders?
City Index Australia offers several trading options and has the needs of every trader regardless of their experience catered for. With an experience of over 30 years, City Index offers the best trading experience for traders whose interests lie in CFDs and spread betting.
It has quick and secure deposits and withdrawals. Having won various awards, City Index is clearly one of the best brokers. Regulation in Australia and UK further confirms its legitimacy.
Mid-level forex traders can find a home in City Index as well because the broker expanded its product portfolio to include Forex trading after acquiring IFX Markets and FX Solutions. However, the product portfolio is still limited compared to its competitors who offer a lot more than CFDs, Forex and spread betting.