Easy Forex – Review

Forex brokers are all the same...or are they? Up until recently you could certainly be forgiven for thinking that's the case. But times are changing, and there's a new kid on the block, looking to break the mold. They're called Easy Forex, and they've got a few neat tricks up their sleeve.

The first thing that strikes you about Easy Forex is, well, just how easy it all seems. Just create an account (fill in one web page, it's easy), deposit some funds (very easy) and then trade (that's easy too!). Can it really be that simple?

Actually, yes. More or less. The sign up process is indeed very quick. Enter your name, email address, country of residence (more on that in a second), phone number, and chosen password, and that's about it. No need to download any lengthy contracts which then need to be faxed back. No need to send off copies of driving licences or passports to verify your identity. No need even, to provide any bank details. Opening an account is genuinely free. You only deposit funds when you want to start trading.

Depositing funds is one of the biggest tricks Easy Forex has to offer. They are, as far as we know, the only broker that lets you to deposit funds using a credit card or PayPal account. Add your credit card details to your account, and hey presto, you can send margin whenever you need it.

And margin is the next area where Easy Forex is again, different to the rest. A mini account can see you start trading with only $25 margin – far less than any of the traditional brokers.

Now all of this sounds great, but caution should be advised. Making it easy to open and fund an account is a nice idea, and a welcome one, but it makes it a little too easy to start losing money. This is forex trading folks, and normal risk rules apply! We can see how you could get carried away and start placing trades in a few minutes just because "you can".

With that said, let's look at the trading platform itself. Everything is web based, there's no software to download, so Mac and Linux users are not excluded as is the case with a lot of brokers. There are Java charts supplied, with all the usual indicators, timescales, and drawing tools. These can be detached from the browser, letting you keep an eye on them at the same time as the trading screen itself. You can have up to four charts open at the same time, watching different currency pairs, or the same pair in different timeframes.

The trading screen is supremely simple. You simple pick the currencies you wish to trade (any pair you care to name), the dollar amount you are trading, and the maximum amount you want to risk. This risk amount is how you set your stop loss. It's back-to-front to how you might be used to doing things, but makes sense in a platform designed for beginners. The quotes update in real time. When you are ready to place an order, you can “freeze” the price for a few seconds, or just click the Trade button straight off.

Provided you have sufficient margin in your account, your trade is opened and you are away. If not, you are given the option to top-up your margin from your credit card.

Stops are automatically sent with every order, and are guaranteed, meaning your maximum risk really is your maximum risk. Targets can also be set, and of course, orders can be manually closed any time.

By default, orders are "day trades", but if you don't close them, they can be carried over to the next day for a small fee. There is also a second order page that lets you set Limit orders for entering new positions.

The spreads on all currency pairs for a mini account ($25 minimum margin) are 5 pips, which is a little wider than the bigger brokers like FXCM. However, Easy Forex tell us that if you are a regular trader, your account can be customised to tighter spreads.

Finally, when it comes to withdrawing your winnings, you can do so either to the credit card you already have registered on the account, or directly to a bank account in your name.

Aside from the trading platform itself, Easy Forex offers an economic calendar, daily news and market analysis, and some training material. Customer support is a strong point, with advisors available by email, chat, and telephone.

So far, this is all sounding great. There are however, some drawbacks. The biggest for many readers of this site, is that Easy Forex are not authorised to open accounts for US residents. That said, the one page account registration form does not ask for your address, only your country of residence, so we wonder how they would possibly know if you were a US resident or not.

The other problem we found is that the site is only accessible from Internet Explorer. With around 80% of the internet population using Microsoft's browser, that won't be a issue for the majority. However, as Firefox gains in popularity, it seems a strange restriction. We assume this has some technology based reasoning behind it. When we asked Easy Forex about this, they informed us that Firefox and other browsers will be supported in their next software release, due before the end of 2005, so this is a temporary problem.

The Forex Angels Say: Easy Forex is indeed, easy. Perhaps a little too easy – forex trading is risky and should be treated as such. The platform is not for everyone, seasoned pro's will probably want more functionality. However, for those starting out, it represents probably the quickest, simplest route to live forex trading. The web-based, credit-card funded trading system is a breath of fresh air, and we hope is a sign of things to come. Traditional brokers take note!

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Website: Easy Forex