75% of clients lose money. Capital at risk.

City Index Broker Review

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Minimum Deposit
£100
Regulators
FCA
US Traders
No
Platforms
Advantage Web, AT Pro, MT4, WebTrader
Founded
1982
Country
United Kingdom
Contact Support
Visit City Index Website

City Index has been around since 1983 when it was founded as one of the UK’s first spread betting firms. It started offering CFDs or Contracts for Difference to clients in 2001, and purchased Finspreads in 2005 that had specialized in online spread betting since 1999.

In 2008, City Index bought online forex broker FX Solutions that had a prominent role in the U.S. retail forex market. GAIN Capital subsequently purchased City Index in 2014 and remains its owner.

City Index is presently headquartered in London, England and is both registered and regulated by the UK FCA or Financial Conduct Authority under number 113942. In addition to the UK, the firm has offices in Australia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

The official online portal for City Index is situated at www.cityindex.co.uk and a screenshot of its welcome page appears below:

City Index Home Page Screenshot

Features

City Index features competitive dealing spreads of variable widths and offers trading to its clients in the following assets:

  • Global Indexes – The offer 21 indexes for trading that include the Wall Street, UK 100, Germany 30 and Australia 200. Index futures and option contracts can also be traded.
  • Global Stocks – Stocks of 4,500 different companies, including major corporations like Deutsche Bank, Apple, Barclays, Amazon and Rio Tinto, can be traded.
  • Forex Currency Pairs – Trading is available in 84 different currency pairs, including all major and minor pairs, as well as many exotic pairs too.
  • Global Commodities – Futures contracts on over 25 commodities can be executed, including grains, cattle, energy, cotton, cocoa and additional soft commodities can be traded. Precious metals such as gold, platinum, silver, palladium and copper can also be traded.
  • Other Financial Markets – Traders are able to operate in bonds issued by the United States, the Eurozone and the United Kingdom, as well as interest rates like LIBOR, Short Sterling and Euribor. A variety of options contracts on financial assets are also available for trading.

City Index offers customers two of its own proprietary multi-asset trading platforms, in addition to providing its forex trading clients with support for the popular MetaTrader4 platform from MetaQuotes.

The amount required to open a live trading account at City Index is only an initial deposit of £100 or enough margin to cover the requirements of your initial transaction. Trading accounts can be funded using Visa or MasterCard debit or credit cards, as well as Electron or Maestro debit cards. Bank wire transfers can also be used to make trading account deposits with.

Accounts

City Index offers its clients several different types of trading accounts:

  • Live spread betting account
  • Live CFD account
  • Free demo trading account

Both the spread betting account and the CFD account can be used to trade indexes. Interested clients can also trade forex currency pairs using MetaTrader4.

Transactions & Deposits

Several options exist for funding a live trading account:

  • Debit card transfers from Visa, Maestro, MasterCard and Electron.
  • Credit card transfers from Visa or Mastercard.
  • Wire transfers from banks or other financial institutions.

Withdrawals

These observations pertain to withdrawing funds from a live trading account:

  • There is a minimum £50 withdrawal amount or the available account balance, whichever happens to be smaller.
  • The maximum withdrawal is £20,000 per time, or £20,000 each day when withdrawn to a credit or debit card.
  • Withdrawals have no cost, except for CHAPS payments that cost £25 for withdrawals of less than £5000.
  • Withdrawals to credit or debit cards take 3 to 5 business days.
  • Withdrawals via bank transfers take 1 to 2 business days.

Platform

The first of City Index’s trading platforms is known as Advantage Web. This award winning web-based platform allows a client the possibility of trading commodities, forex, stocks, indexes and CFDs from a single interface.  The platform also has technical analysis features that include more than 80 technical indicators and 12 chart types.

In addition, a research portal is available through the platform that lets traders evaluate market conditions using both fundamental and technical analysis. This also notably includes a Reuters news feed.  The screenshot below shows City Index’s trading platform and how its trading, charting and position management features are integrated into a flexible and professional interface.

City Index Advantage Pro Screenshot

For City Index’s more sophisticated traders, they offer the AT Pro trading platform that is highly customizable and even lets you create your own templates in the C#, Visual Basic and .NET programming languages. Traders have access to more than 100 trading signals that can help you build a better trade plan. City Index also provides clients access to a mobile trading platform for both Android and Apple iOS devices.

Traders who are accustomed to using the popular MetaTrader4 platform will be pleased to know that City Index supports its use for forex trading. This includes the execution and development of Expert Advisors that can fully or partially automate trading strategies, as well as provide trade signals.

WebTrader – Fast and reliable HTML5 technology for optimum performance. Fully customisable workspaces allowing personalisation and flexibility. Advanced charts with custom indicators and precision drawing tools. Intelligent trading tools including smarter trade tickets and advanced risk management tools. Curated market information with detailed market analysis to identify trading opportunities.

Customer Support

City Index offers customers support via telephone and e-mail on a 24/5 basis in multiple languages. The firm also provides a live chat support feature that can be accessed via any of its web pages.

Information

Educational – City Index features some substantial trader educational offerings, including the training videos, trading tips and webinars provided via its Trading Academy. The unlimited demo account can provide ample market experience and a hands on market education.  Fundamental analysts and news traders will also appreciate the access provided to the Reuters news feed for timely financial market reporting and commentary.

Safety

Regulatory Compliance – The company is registered with the FCA in the UK under the number 113942.

Overall

When it comes to spread betting and CFDs, City Index is one of the original providers and boasts a long and reputable track record, FCA regulation and an extensive set of asset classes available for trading. The company also offers support for MetaTrader4 and its proprietary trading software is very functional too.

Furthermore, their customer service department seems responsive, and they have a live chat feature. Finally, the fact that they offer free access to the Reuters news feed will delight many knowledgeable traders.