IQ Option

South Africans will be trading under the subsidiary, SKY LADDER LLC, registered in Antigua and Barbuda.

For all intents and purposes, the Antigua and Barbuda  is not considered a forex broker regulator and applies no supervision of any CFD trading-related activities. Clients must rely solely on the reputation of IQ Option, as no additional measures exist to ensure client protection. However, in a show of good faith offers negative balance protection to all its clients.

One concern traders may have is that IQ Option does not offer independent audits or confirmation of its performance claims.  Additionally, IQ Option offers high leverage to its clients – up to 1000:1. It also has a low minimum deposit requirement, which means for traders who deposit small amounts, it will be difficult to hold a substantial trading position without getting stopped out and losing the money in their trading account.

Additionally, traders should proceed cautiously should they decide to trade binary options.   Many global regulators have clamped down on allowing binary options trading because of the risk involved in this type of trading.   

The account opening process at IQ Option is user-friendly and accounts are ready for trading immediately.

Traders are eligible to open an account at IQ Option but have to meet the minimum deposit requirement of 10 USD.  

1. New traders will have to click on the “Sign Up” button at the top of the page where they will be directed to register an account.    

2. Traders will automatically be directed to a demo account with a balance of 10,000 USD.

3. In order to open a real account, IQ Option, in line with regulatory requirements, requires at least two documents to accept you as an individual client:

   1. Proof of Identification – IQ Option accepts all government-issued identification documents such as Passport, national ID card, driving license, or other government-issued ID. 

   2. Proof of Address – Proof of residence/address document must be issued in the name of the account holder within the last three months and must contain a trader’s full name, current residential address, issue date, and issuing authority. 

After the application is approved, traders can login and fund their accounts.  We suggest you read IQ Option’s risk disclosure, customer agreement, and terms of business before you start trading.

IQ Option offers a limited range of tradable instruments, which may leave more experienced traders dissatisfied.

Q Option offers one commission-free account with trading costs included in its variable spreads.  This means that the spread will fluctuate and get wider or tighter depending on trading volume and market volatility.  However, at 7 USD per lot traded, IQ Option’s trading costs are significantly lower than the industry average. The trading costs on the EUR/USD at other good brokers tend to be around 9 USD per lot traded.

Swap Fees

IQ Option charges a swap fee of 0.01% – 0.5% and during times of extreme volatility, up to 1.7% of the face value of the position for keeping a position open overnight.   This is in addition to the interbank interest rates charged by the bank.  

IQ Option’s account is more suited to beginners than experienced traders, and trading costs are significantly lower than other market makers. However, traders should be aware of trading with high leverage and low initial deposits, as this may cause an account wipeout.

Live Account

Ideal for beginner traders, this account requires only a 10 USD minimum deposit and offers trading on 400+ trading assets. The maximum leverage offered on this account is 1000:1, and spreads are much tighter than other market makers, at 0.80 pips pips on the EUR/USD. While IQ Option does not allow hedging, scalping, or copy trading, it offers Islamic Swap-Free accounts.

VIP Account

Traders achieve VIP status by depositing significant amounts (the exact amount is subject to change).  That offer tighter spreads on accounts with higher deposits The spread on the EUR/USD currency pair remains at 0.7 pips, but VIP account holders receive additional trading benefits such as free participation in trading promotions, 3% return and personal manager service.”

Demo Account

Those afraid to risk real money on trading will be glad to learn that IQ Option has an unlimited, free demo account. Upon opening the account, it is loaded with $10,000 in virtual dollars for trading on 400+ assets.

For traders that are unable to remain at their trading terminal for any prolonged period of time, IQ Option offers a free mobile trading app, available on Android and iOS. The mobile trading app has been designed specifically for smartphones and mobile devices, allowing traders to check their account status.  Mobile functionality is most of the indicators and tools available on the desktop version. 

Unlike most CFD providers, IQ Option only offers its proprietary trading platform. This could be a concern as most similar providers also offer MetaTrader 4 or 5 in conjunction with any first-party software. 

IQ Option’s proprietary social trading platform is very popular among new traders.  The platform looks fantastic, is very easy to use, and has a solid reputation in the trading community.  It features a large chart which is a great help for traders who wish to monitor the market conditions. Margin trading is also available for certain instruments.

In addition, the platform comes with a wide selection of trading tools that are typically not found on other binary trading platforms, including Moving averages, Bollinger Bands, MACD, and RSI.  It also allows traders to establish alerts based on more than 100 technical indicators and an economic calendar.  

Traders can also participate in weekly contests, where the top traders of the week are displayed on leader boards.  

However, unlike platforms such as MT4 and MT5, IQ Option’s platform is not customisable, and traders who are used to setting up their own charts over a bespoke workspace will be disappointed.  In addition, the platform does not offer the execution speeds of the Metatrader platforms, nor does it offer algorithmic trading.  

Another disadvantage of using the IQ Option’s platform versus third-party platforms is that none of the trading tools available on the Metatrader can be integrated directly into the platform.  Additionally, traders who use third-party platforms such as the Metatrader suite can take their own customised version of the platform with them should they choose to migrate to another broker.

Trading accounts can only be denominated in five base currencies – ZAR, EUR, USD, RUB, and GBP.

While this is limited compared to most other international brokers, it is good for South Africans who will likely have bank accounts denominated in ZAR and will have the option of avoiding conversion fees.

Bank transfers are possible from a wide range of banks, including FNB, ABSA, Standard Bank, Nedbank, and Investec. It also offers other payment methods, such as credit cards/debit cards, and e-wallets such as Skrill and Neteller.

IQ Option’s trading tools include various charting tools and technical indicators.  However, unlike other similar Forex brokers, it does not offer any additional sentiment indicators or analytics services such as Autochartist or Trading Central, and the proprietary platform also does not integrate with any third-party tools. 

The online trading platform offers a great variety of charting tools. These help traders predict future market movements and include candles, hollow candles, bars, areas, and lines.

IQ Option also has 13 different indicators that users can access through the charting interface. The indicators help traders discover trends and find trades with good profit potential.  Indicators include:

• Moving Averages
• Bollinger Bands
• Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD)
• Awesome Oscillator
• Volume Indicators
• Parabolic SAR
• Relative Strength Index (RSI)
• Stoch or Stochastic Oscillator indicators 
• Average True Range (ATR)
• Average Directional Movement Index (ADX)
• Fractals 
• Commodity Channel Index (CCI)

IQ Option offers very few research materials, and most of these are curated by third-party providers.  

A Facebook-style news feed of 3rd party economic news is freely available to all visitors to the IQ Option website, along with a small section on expected high volatility news events. The rest of the analysis comes in the form of tools that are built into the platform.  

IQ Option provides an extensive video library for education purposes. Since the core client-base at IQ Option is the younger, less experienced traders who are attracted by the unique social trading platform, the short videos cater well to these traders.  

While most of the videos cover market news issues, there are a set of videos covering the basics about the IQ Option platform and an introduction to CFD trading.  Furthermore, a large portion of the material is focused on cryptocurrencies.  

IQ Option has a 24/7 telephone and live chat customer support service. Most countries have a toll-free phone option while others are charged at local rates, however, this is not available in South Africa. Customer service is available in 16 languages. Additionally, the live chat service is only available once traders register an account.

For this review, we found the customer support responsive and polite but uninformed. They were unable to answer questions on the average spreads and leverage on various instruments.