IG Markets Review
What is IG Markets?
!! Regulator Warning !!
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 79% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
They don't offer MT5 and their ig mobile app has some efficiency issues. For example you select an instrument and charts delay loading, you cannot modify SL & TP from the charts etc.
IG has the best trading platforms and you have variety to choose from, great broker. You need to have all your documentation right before opening an account with them because they are world class broker and dont compromise
You cant really short the stocks you want with IG, they need to be more liberal and let us short small cap stocks more
I agree with those other reviews about IG being great in beginer education. Cant argue with that! If you want to start your trading jorney i recommend IG. However, if you want a more personalized service IG may not be suitable because they have grown too big and have alot of customers to attend to.
very good beginner education and IG helped me garner interest in forex trading through their YouTube video educational series. Now, I trade with them and they are very transparent
IG needs to focus on smaller customers and give them proper service too. because my account balance is small and I have not been able to trade often they close my account why? if I were a big customer will they do this? Their platforms are great and their investing arm is great but they need to pay attention to customer support
Here is what I think about IG, I have used them for a year now but I keep having withdrawal issues because they keep asking for additional documents proof of this and proof of that. Its tiring. They should employ more staff to handle complaints faster
IG is the best when it comes to beginner education, they are one of the reasons i started trading in the first place because I used to watch their YouTube educational series. Now I trade with them and I like their range of tradable instruments and sophisticated platforms. For those complaining about leverage I don't have that experience because in Europe leverage is restricted to 1: 30
IG closed my account for no apparent reason and their customer support is so poor.
Leverage is too low for us here in South Africa. IG is good but I cant stand their 1:30 leverage.
I tested their demo account and its excellent however I didn't trade live because their leverage is too low
IG Markets is an FSCA regulated forex broker with ZAR accounts & no minimum deposit requirements
| 👨 Broker | IG Markets SA PTY LTD. |
| 👨 Accepts South African Traders? | Yes |
| 📅 Year Founded | 1974 |
| ⚖ Regulators | FSCA South Africa |
| ⚖ FSP No. | 41393 |
| ⚖ Authorized ODP | Yes |
| 💰 Minimum Deposit | 0 ZAR (Bank Transfer) 4,000 ZAR (Debit/Credit Card) |
| 💰 Minimum Withdrawal | 0 ZAR (Bank Transfer) 2,000 ZAR (Debit/Credit Card) |
| 📈 CFD Instruments | Forex, Indices, Shares, Commodities, Crypto, Thematic Basket, Bonds, Interest Rates, Futures, Options |
| 🚀Leverage | 1:30 |
| 🔎Auditors | |
| 💻 Platforms | MT4, TradingView, IG Mobile, L2 Dealer, PRO Real Time, IG Web, IG Progressive Web App |
| 📋Account Types | Standard Account |
| 💱Account Currency | ZAR, USD |
| 📞Live Support | 24/7 |
| 🏖️ Inactivity Fee | $0 |
| 😭CFD Traders Who Lose Money | 69% |
| ✅Reason To Trade | ZAR account currency, Range of Markets, Good customer support, Range of platforms, No minimum deposit, Guaranteed stops |
| ❌Reason To Avoid | Low leverage, Limited funding methods, No raw spread pricing |
IG Markets Regulation - 5/5
Yes, IG Markets is in South Africa & accepts traders from South Africa who are interested in trading CFDs.
IG Markets is in South Africa legally, and has the approval of the FSCA to operate as both a Financial Service Provider (FSP) & an Over-the-counter Derivative Provider (ODP).
IG Markets Minimum Deposit - 5/5
IG minimum deposit is $0 for Local Bank Transfers & ZAR 4,000 for Debit/Credit Card deposits. Note that IG South Africa does not accept PayPal.
IG Markets Minimum Withdrawal - 5/5
When withdrawing via local South African banks, the IG minimum withdrawal is $0 but when withdrawing through Credit/Debit cards the IG minimum withdrawal is ZAR 2,000.
IG Markets Deposit/Withdrawal Time - 5/5
All IG Market deposits are instant.
Withdrawals through South African Banks are also instant while Card withdrawals can take between 2 to 5 days to impact.
IG Markets Leverage & List of CFDs - 5/5
IG Markets South Africa allows you to trade with up to 1:30 leverage. Although many brokers offer higher leverage, IG keeps its own at 1:30 to prevent excessive losses when the market moves against you.
IG Markets South Africa also gives you exposure to over 17,000+ CFDs.
1. Forex CFDs
IG South Africa lets you trade forex CFDs including pairs like the EUR/USD, EUR/ZAR & USD/ZAR.
2. Index CFDs
IG South Africa offers popular index CFDs like FTSE 100, South Africa 40 & NASDAQ 100.
3. Share CFDs
IG South Africa lets you trade CFDs on MTN shares, Sasol LTD shares, Naspers shares; plus over 13,000 international shares.
4. Commodity CFDs
IG South Africa exposes you to commodity markets covering Energy, Metals & Soft Commodities (such as agriculture & livestock ).
5. Crypto CFDs
You get exposure to 10 crypto CFDs including Bitcoin & Lite coin. If you are not good at picking crypto assets, you could trade the IG Markets Crypto 10 index which gives you exposure to all the crypto assets at once.
6. Thematic Baskets CFDs
IG South Africa lets you trade CFDs that look alike or fall under the same category or theme. For example if you are into Electric vehicles (EVs), IG will group all the stock of EV companies into an index so you can trade them.
7. Bond Futures CFDs & Interest Rate CFDs
IG also lets you trade CFDs on bond futures contracts covering US Bonds, Japanese Bonds, German Bonds etc.
CFDs on interest rates such as 3-day Australian interbank rate, 3-moth SONIA, etc. are also on the menu for more experienced traders.
IG South Africa Fees -4.7/5
1. Spread
IG Markets South Africa spreads start from 0.6 pips & when trading the popular EUR/USD pair, you can expect spreads to average at 0.75 pips.
The USD/ZAR average spread can go as low as 90 pips on cooler market days but on average expect it to stay around 136.67 pips.
IG Markets NASDAQ 100 spread is 16 pips, so generally IG spreads are quite lower than industry averages.
2. Commission
At IG South Africa, the CFD trading accounts have zero commission except you are trading share CFDs.
When trading CFDs on South African shares, you pay a commission of 0.2% or ZAR 50 (which ever is higher).
For US, UK & European shares you also pay commissions ranging from $10 to $15.
3. Swaps
When trading cash CFDs you will pay an overnight swap fee to leave your position open till the next day. IG Markets South Africa does not offer swap-free instruments.
4. Guaranteed Stop Loss Fee
IG markets South Africa offers Guaranteed Stop Loss which is a risk management tool to help you guide against slippage.
Slippage is a term used to describe a scenario where price crosses your stop loss without triggering it.
The premium/fee you pay when a Guaranteed Stop is triggered depends on which instrument you are trading.
- EUR/ZAR: 90 ZAR
- USD/ZAR: 180 ZAR
- EUR/USD: $1.2
- EUR/GBP: $2
- GBP/USD: $2
IG Market Account Types - 3/5
IG Markets South Africa offers only one account type called a Standard Account. However, you can open other sub-accounts under it.
The Standard Account is a spread-only Account so the commission is built into the spread.
The drawback with IG account types is that there is no raw spread account type which most algo-traders would prefer.
IG Markets Trading Platforms - 4.2/5
| MT4 | Yes |
| MT5 | No |
| TradingView | Yes |
| Proprietary Platforms | Yes |
MT4
IG Markets offers MT4 which is very popular amongst forex brokers and those interested in back testing.
TradingView
IG Markets is also a TradingView broker which means you can get free access to trade from advanced charts using the TradingView platform.
IG Mobile App
IG has a mobile CFD trading app for apple & android phones which you can download from your online store. You can monitor you trades on the go from this app.
IG Progressive Web App (PWA)
This is like the IG mobile app but the difference is you can access it from a web browser. Its a good innovation because it updates itself so that you avoid a scenario where the mobile app has to update before it opens.
IG Web Trader
This IG platform can be accessed from any web browser without any installation needed. Unlike the PWA discussed above, the web trader has the full functionality of a desktop platform, complete with all the advanced tools.
PRO Real Time
This is a desktop platform and must be downloaded. It is a specialized platform for trading from charts.
If you are into price action trading or advanced technical indicator use, this is a good platform to consider.
However, this platform is for frequent traders at least 4 trades per month) if not you may be charged a fee for its usage.
Customer Support - 4.5/5
IG Markets South Africa has good 24/7 customer support with short hold time on live chat/Whatsapp, 24 hour response to emails & dedicated help lines.
Personal Account Managers are also assigned to each trading account.
However, the help lines are not toll-free.
To support beginner traders, there is the IG Academy that offers video tutorials & the IG Academy even has its own mobile app.
Beginner traders can also use the IG Demo Account to practice what they learnt on the IG Academy using virtual funds.
Our Final Verdict - 8/10
IG Markets South Africa is the best forex broker for beginners because of the low leverage, easy to use trading platforms, zero minimum deposit & the customer support/education.
We would not recommend IG to expert traders because of the absence of raw spread pricing & higher leverage.