iFOREX Review

Company background

iFOREX was founded in 1996 by a group of professional bankers and forex dealers. The business is operated by Formula Investment House Ltd., with its global headquarters and technology hub in Herzliya, Israel, and a European subsidiary based in Cyprus. The firm launched a multilingual internet-based trading platform in 2006, obtained its CySEC licence in 2011, received BVI FSC authorisation in 2013, added share CFDs in 2014 and introduced cryptocurrency CFDs in 2017. By 2023 it had released an updated proprietary trading platform. iFOREX describes itself as serving clients across more than 100 countries and offers customer support in over nine languages.

Fees and pricing

iFOREX uses a spread-only model with no commissions on any instrument. The broker lists EUR/USD from 1.1 pips as an indicative spread on its trading conditions page. Commodity and cryptocurrency CFD spreads are wider and vary by instrument. All spreads are variable and may widen during low-liquidity periods. There are no deposit fees charged by iFOREX, though payment providers may apply their own charges. Withdrawals via international bank wire may incur a third-party fee of up to $20; the broker itself does not charge a withdrawal fee. An inactivity fee of $15 per quarter is applied to accounts that have had no trading activity for 12 or more consecutive months. Positions held overnight are subject to an overnight financing charge based on interbank rates plus a markup, which is detailed per instrument in the trading conditions section of the site.

Regulation and safety

The European entity, iFOREX Europe Ltd., is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) under licence 143/11 and operates in compliance with MiFID requirements, including mandatory investor compensation fund participation for eligible clients. The global entity is licensed by the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVI FSC) under certificate SIBA/L/13/1060, which applies to clients outside the European Economic Area. Both entities maintain client funds in segregated bank accounts separate from company funds. Negative balance protection is provided, meaning clients cannot lose more than the deposited balance.

Platform experience

iFOREX operates a proprietary platform available as a web application and as native iOS and Android apps. The platform does not support MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 or cTrader. Features include technical analysis tools, trading sentiment indicators, live and historical account data, real-time margin protection and fingerprint authentication on mobile. The broker offers a free demo account loaded with virtual funds for a 30-day practice period, with no ID verification required at registration. Payment methods include credit and debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay and bank wire transfer. The broker also offers personal 1-on-1 coaching and an AI-powered market sentiment tool called Market Buzz.

Pros and cons

iFOREX's main advantages are its long operating history, broad instrument range of 750-plus CFDs, commission-free pricing, no deposit fees and a free demo account with personal coaching support. The main drawbacks are the absence of MetaTrader support, spreads wider than many ECN-style alternatives, all positions being CFDs with no direct asset ownership, a 30-day demo limit and a quarterly inactivity fee. The BVI FSC entity provides less investor protection than top-tier regulators such as FCA or ASIC.