Tickmill

Tickmill maintains regulation from several top-tier authorities, including the FSCA in South Africa, the UK’s FCA and CySEC of Cyprus, but South Africans will be onboarded through Tickmill’s Seychelles-based entity, which offers less protection.

Regulation: Although Tickmill maintains a licence from the Financial Services Conduct Authority of South Africa, South African clients will be onboarded through its Seychelles-based entity. This is disappointing for South African traders as it means that they will not benefit from local regulation and that their money will not be segregated at South African banks. See below for Tickmill’s sign-up notice:

Safety Features: Although the lack of FSCA oversight on their trading account may be off-putting for some South African traders, we still consider Tickmill a safe broker to trade with. Firstly, it holds licences from a number of other regulators worldwide. Secondly, South African clients can be sure that their funds will be segregated from Tickmill’s operating capital at top-tier banks, and finally, it provides all clients with negative balance protection, which means that traders cannot lose more than their initial deposit. 

Tickmill has a fast and hassle-free account opening process, with quick verification.

South African traders can open an account at Tickmill but need to meet the minimum deposit requirement of 100 USD to do so.  

We tested the account opening process, which took approximately 10 minutes to complete, and once our documentation had been submitted, our accounts were ready for trading within a few hours. 

Tickmill offers both corporate and individual accounts, but we will outline the four-step process for opening an individual account:

1. Register an account.  This can be done by clicking on the “Create Account” button.  Traders are required to fill in their personal information (name, email address, telephone number, and date of birth), and trading knowledge, and create a password.
2. The next step is to confirm your identity.  Tickmill will need two documents from you:
   1. A photo ID (passport, driver’s license, or national ID card) and; 
   2. A secondary ID (a bank or utility statement with your full name and address dated in the last three months).
3. The third step requires choosing your trading account, preferred base currency, and level of leverage.
4. Lastly, you can download the trading platform (MT4/MT5), and start trading.

Overall, Tickmill’s account-opening process is quick and efficient, and accounts are generally ready for trading within a matter of hours. 

Tickmill offers 62+ currency pairs, 27 indices and over 500 share CFDs and ETFs.

The ongoing trading costs at Tickmill are extremely competitive on its commission-based account, but higher than average on its commission-free Classic Account.  However, at 100 USD, the minimum deposits on the Classic and Pro accounts make them accessible to most traders. 

Low Non-trading Fees: At Tickmill no fees are charged for deposits or withdrawals, and Tickmill does not charge inactivity fees on dormant accounts.  This is remarkable for an industry that charges fees for most transactions.  

We opened and tested Tickmill’s accounts:

Classic Account

This commission-free entry-level account requires a minimum deposit of 100 USD.  Fees are included in the spreads, which start at 1.6 pips on the EUR/USD, which is wider than other similar brokers. 

Raw Account

This account requires a 100 USD minimum deposit and is an entry-level account for professional traders. Tight variable spreads (starting at 0.00 pips) are available in exchange for a commission of 6 USD (round turn) per lot. Note that the stop-out and limit levels for Raw account users are zero.

Tickmill Mobile App

Tickmill’s mobile app is essentially a dashboard that connects traders to MT4 and MT5. It allows traders to: 

• Create, manage and monitor accounts.
• Deposit and withdraw funds through one user-friendly interface.
• Upload documentation.
• Complete transaction history.
• Contact customer support through a Live Chat feature and access a support team in 16 languages.
• Manage and monitor legal documentation.

MT4 and MT5

MetaTrader4 (MT4) and Metatrader 5 (MT5) are available on IOS, Android, and Windows mobile phones and tablets. The app will connect to the same account as the desktop software, allowing a synchronised and mobile trading experience.

Traders should be aware that there is some loss in functionality when compared to the desktop trading platforms, including reduced time frames and fewer charting options, but traders can close and modify existing orders, calculate profit and loss, and trade on the charts.

Tickmill offers full support for the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms, which is average compared to other similar brokers.

All platform choices are free to use, all can be downloaded to your PC and all have web versions of the platform. All platforms are also available on mobile Android and iOS devices.

Metatrader 4

Having established itself as the industry-leading platform, Metatrader 4 (MT4) is the most reliable and popular platform in existence. Its intuitive interface and user-friendly environment provide essential tools and resources for successful online trading. It is also widely recognised for its fast execution speeds, range of charting tools, algorithmic trading, and customisability. 

Tickmill’s MT4 platform is the standard version of MT4, and while numerous upgrades are available, most of them come at a price.  

While MT4 has great customizability, the platform feels outdated, and some of the features may be hard to find.  In addition, only the basic orders are available, including Market, Limit, Stop, and Trailing Stop.

Metatrader 5

Developed in 2010, MT5 is the newer version of its predecessor, MT4.  MT5 is more powerful and faster than MT4 when it comes to back-testing functionality for automated trading algorithms.  It also has a built-in news feed, market depth indicator, economic calendar, and trades can be made on the charts.  

Again, only the standard version of MT5 is available at Tickmill.  However, support for MT5 means that Tickmill can enhance its asset offering, making it more appealing to experienced traders.

While MT4 and MT5 are both excellent trading platforms, many other CFD brokers also offer their own web-based platforms, which tend to be easier to use for beginner traders. On the other hand, the benefit of Tickmill offering third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5 is that traders can take their own customised version of the platform with them should they choose to migrate to another broker.  Additionally, there are thousands of plugins and tools available for the MetaTrader platforms. 

TradingView

TradingView is one of the most popular web-based charting and social trading platforms globally, known for its powerful technical analysis tools, intuitive interface, and active trading community. It supports a wide range of asset classes including forex, stocks, crypto, indices, and commodities, making it a favorite among retail traders and professional analysts alike.

TradingView features include:

• Clean, responsive interface ideal for technical analysis
• Cloud-based platform allows saving and syncing layouts across devices
• çActive trader community with millions of shared strategies and ideas
• Freemium pricing model with generous free-tier access

A well-regulated broker, Tickmill ensures that all Anti-Money Laundering rules and regulations are followed, and as such, all withdrawals are returned to the deposit source.  

Trading Account Currencies: At Tickmill, traders can only choose from four base currencies: USD, GBP, ZAR, and EUR. This means that South Africans can avoid currency conversion fees.  

Deposit and Withdrawal Fees: Tickmill offers commission-free deposit and withdrawal options that can be performed on the broker’s trading platform. The minimum withdrawal amount for all payment methods is 25 USD. Tickmill also has a zero-fee policy and will reimburse traders for any third-party fees charged up to 100 USD on deposits of over 5,000 USD.

Tickmill offers a number of excellent trading tools, including Myfxbook, a VPS service, an advanced trading toolkit, and a one-click trading plugin. Third-party tools such as myfxbook and VPS hosting incur an extra cost on the part of the trader.

Myfxbook

Another common third-party trading tool available on Tickmill is Myfxbook AutoTrade, a cross-broker social trading platform that allows for copy trading without additional software. Myfxbook is available at an extra cost, and traders will have to contact myfxbook directly to find out more. Myfxbook is lauded as one of the best social trading platforms available.

VPS Service

Tickmill VPS has partnered with BeeksFX to provide a discounted VPS service to clients. As one of the largest Forex VPS providers, BeeksFX gives users access to very low latency networks and expert advisors. 

Tickmill clients are entitled to the following exclusive benefits with BeeksFX:

• 20% discount on all packages.
• Quick setup and a 24/7 live chat and email support.
• Negligible latency due to VPS servers’ adjacent location to Tickmill.
• 100% uptime guarantee.

No shared resources, and increased control.

Advanced Trader Toolkit

Free to all Tickmill clients, the Advanced Trader Toolkit gives traders access to institutional quality technology, including advanced trading tools, user-configurable news and information, and trade analysis. It also includes an array of sophisticated alarms and messaging systems, and live sentiment and correlation tracking. This tool is appropriate for more experienced traders refining their trading strategies. Some of tools in the package include:

• Trade Terminal: A feature-rich professional trade execution and analysis tool, providing several trading features and order controls that are not included in MT4 or MT5.
• Connect: A customisable news feed aggregator and interactive economic calendar.
• Mini Terminal: Tailored to the MT4, manage your execution with context in a specific trading chart.
• Correlation Matrix and Correlation Trader: These tools work together to show correlations between pairs of trading symbols. It functions with any symbols available in the trading platform, allowing a calculation of the correlation between multiple asset classes against Forex. The Correlation Trader will then allow for detailed inspection of the correlation between any two instruments.
• Sentiment Trader: Allows traders to feel the markets out with real-time long and short positioning data, historic sentiment, and a dashboard for multiple instrument sentiment analysis.

One-Click Trading

The One-Click-Trading MT4 Expert Advisor (EA) is designed to make common trading mechanisms more accessible, facilitating trading and removing unnecessary navigation between windows and charts. This EA does not overly simplify MT4, but it does make trading on the platform less complicated.

Overall, Tickmill offers some great trading tools for beginners and more experienced traders. 

Analysis Material

Tickmill’s analysis material is excellent compared to other similar brokers.

The in-house Tickmill research team of eleven experts runs a regular blog covering both fundamental and technical analyses. The research provides information on market-moving events outside of conventional news sources. These articles are updated throughout the day and are multi-format, including charts, videos, and written articles.

The blog is publicly available, and Tickmill allows traders to contact the authors with questions about various articles. This is a unique offering, as brokers typically shy away from one-to-one contact with traders.

Tickmill’s analysis material is excellent compared to other similar brokers.  

The in-house Tickmill research team of eleven experts runs a regular blog covering both fundamental and technical analyses. The research provides information on market-moving events outside of conventional news sources.  These articles are updated throughout the day and are multi-format, including charts, videos and written articles.  

The blog is publically available, and Tickmill allows traders to contact authors with questions about various articles. This is a unique offering, as brokers typically shy away from one-to-one contact with traders.

Tickmill offers a range of educational resources, including free downloadable e-books, video tutorials, infographics, and a Forex glossary.  It also hosts regular seminars and webinars.

Ebooks: The e-books cover Forex Trading Basics and how Forex trading works, introducing the Major Currency Pairs, Trading Strategies, an Introduction to Fibonacci Analysis, and the major types of Forex analysis.  

Video Tutorials: Tickmill offers a range of video tutorials, some of which can only be accessed through registering a live account.  Video tutorials cover various topics, including Forex Trading, Market Analysis, Trading Psychology, Trading Strategies, Social Trading, CFDs, Managed Accounts, and Technical Indicators.  

Infographics: Tickmill provides excellent infographics that detail key facts and possible scenarios of various events, and how these impact the markets.  

Webinars: Webinars are run in four languages (English, Arabic, Italian, and German), and all previous webinars are available in an archive. The webinar subjects vary from more fundamental concepts like News Trading Strategies to Technical Analysis and Chart Theories like Standard Elliot Wave Models.

Seminars: Tickmill has a schedule of free seminars worldwide, which introduce clients to trading concepts, and provides networking opportunities.

Demo Accounts: Demo accounts allow prospective traders to practice trading in real time. They allow users to test tools and strategies and sharpen trading skills completely risk-free. New traders can also explore the full suite of customisable tools and features that the MT4 platform offers to enhance trading performance. Demo accounts expire if no one logs in for seven consecutive days.

The brokerage also offers a trading glossary, which acts as another source of education and describes basic terms in short sentences.

Customer support is available in 17 different languages via email, telephone, and live chat.    Telephone support is also available locally in South Africa.  It does not, however, offer a call-back service. Traders should note that customer service is only available from Monday to Friday during business hours.

For the purposes of this review, we found the customer service extremely responsive and very knowledgeable.  It is clear that Tickmill has invested in training the customer service team as they were able to answer all our questions without hesitation.