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City Index Review 2024: Fees, Pros & Cons
Swen Keller
- URL: https://www.cityindex.com/
- Minimum Initial Deposit: $0 (no minimum deposit)
- Maximum Leverage: 1:30
- KYC: Yes
- Platform App: Desktop, Mobile, Web
- No. of Tradable Symbols: 13,500+
- Available Based Currencies: GBP, USD, and EUR
- Withdraw Method: Debit card, credit card, PayNow, FAST, wire transfer, internet banking, Bill Payment
- Payment Method: Debit card, credit card, PayNow, FAST, wire transfer, internet banking, Bill Payment
- Trading Fees: Average spread of 0.8% on forex pairs, average 0.08% shares commission, overnight financing, $25 inactivity fee, conversion fees, etc.
- Headquarter: London, United Kingdom
- Licenses: FCA
- Year Founded: 1983
- Promotion: Refer-A-Friend promotion offering up to $750 for referrals, monthly cash rebates
City Index Review: Our Take
City Index offers a straightforward trading experience and an ample selection of platforms and tools.
It is also one of the most reputable forex brokers in the industry with 40 years of experience.
However, the City Index charges high spreads and commissions as well as charges inactivity fees.
Important Risk Warning: Investing in and/or trading CFDs, financial instruments, commodities, and other assets involves a significant level of risk. There is a possibility of losing all the funds you have deposited. Prior to engaging in any such activity, it is essential that you fully understand and acknowledge the associated risks. Please be advised that Skrumble.com does not offer investment or any other form of advice. The information provided in our review should not be construed as financial advice in any way.
An Overview of City Index
Established in 1983 and headquartered in London, the United Kingdom, City Index is one of the oldest brokers in the CFD and Forex trading space.
The broker has offices in Australia (Suite 28.01, 264 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000), the United Kingdom (Devon House 58 St Katharine’s Way, London, E1W 1JP) United Kingdom, and Singapore (One Raffles Pl, #12-62, Tower 2 One, Singapore 048616).
The parent company of City Index, StoneX, formerly known as INTL FCStone, is an institutional-grade financial network that links investors, companies, and organizations to the global financial markets.
StoneX Financial Ltd. holds the following financial results:
- Total assets: $19.86 billion
- Operating revenues: $2.11 billion
- Stockholders’ equity: $1.07 billion
- Income before tax: $277 million
The City Index parent company, StoneX, has more than 100 years in the financial markets and is arguably one the largest retail and institutional grade trading providers globally.
City Index offers more than 6,300 markets across shares, indices, Forex, commodities, etc., and provides access to exclusive tools such as SMART Signals and Performance Analytics.
Currently, there are over 1 million active clients on the City Index platform.
Pros
- Over 6,300 financial markets available
- Low minimum deposit
- Cash rebates available
Cons
- High spreads and commissions
- Low maximum leverage
Key Features of City Index
Demo Account
Research has shown that about 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
It is therefore best you understand how CFDs work before trading with real funds. This is where the City Index demo account comes in, before you take the high risk of losing money to CFD trading, it is best you practice and test your trading strategies in the demo account before proceeding to the actual account.
Our meticulous research on this broker indicates that City Index offers users a demo account for 12 weeks with a balance of £10,000 where they can trade over 13,500 markets risk-free.
The demo account is available to anyone. You can apply for a demo account for spread betting, CFD, joint CFD spread bet, and MT4.
Depending on which trading platform you sign up for, you will be able to access MT4 mobile tablet, WebTrader, IOS, and Android mobile apps and downloadable platforms in the demo mode.
As already stated, demo trading is available for 12 weeks, the duration of the demo account cannot be extended. You can, however, apply for another demo account if you still need to practice.
Aside from testing your trading strategies, demo accounts also allow you to get familiar with the trading tools and features on City Index before you commit actual funds to trading on the platform. There are also educational tools that you can access while using the demo account that will teach you how to trade profitably on the platform.
While the demo account simulates the live account, margin and leverage settings may vary sometimes between the demo account and the live account due to live account changes caused by increased market volatility and other factors.
City Professional Account
The City Index Professional Account is strictly for experienced traders as it comes with greater risks.
The professional account is for traders who meet at least 2 of these 3 requirements.
First, you must have placed a minimum of 40 significantly sized trades within the last year.
Your financial instruments portfolio must be worth at least €500,000 or equivalent and you must have worked in a professional position in the financial sector within the last year.
The role must have the required knowledge of leveraged trading products.
Professional traders enjoy exclusive benefits on City Index, including monthly cash rebates, dedicated customer service, and lower margin requirements and margin rates from 0.25%.
Other benefits of the City Index Professional Account include a unique fee structure, interest-free credit facilities, and market execution support.
As stated earlier the Professional account is strictly for experienced traders.
While a Professional trading account gives you access to flexible margins and higher leverage, it does not feature all of the protections available on the standard account.
Obligatory regulatory changes to some features and products will not be enforced for Professional clients.
The Professional account does not have negative balance protection and a 50% margin close-out level.
Also, communications between City Index and Professional clients are in more sophisticated language. It is therefore best you have good trading knowledge to prevent loss of funds.
While retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs, Professional accounts can incur more loss without proper trading knowledge.
Below are the Minimum margin rates for Professional accounts
- Major indices: 0.25%
- Major FX: 0.25%
- Commodities: 0.5%
- Shares: 3%
- Crypto: 5%
- As stated, one of the benefits of a City Index professional account is monthly cash rebates.
The more you trade on the platform, the more you receive in monthly cash rebates.
Monthly rebates are calculated on a trade volume basis. The monthly minimum traded volume per calendar month is £25m.
Monthly rebates are paid on Forex and Indices trades to traders who opt-in.
There are various tiers and each tier is determined by the traded volume for the month per asset class.
All rebates are paid into the trader’s trading account at the beginning of the following month.
Below is a breakdown of the rebates paid:
Tier 1
- Volume: £25-£79.99m
- FX (Rebate per Million): £4
- Indices (Rebate per Million): £2
Tier 2
- Volume: £80 – £199.99m
- FX (Rebate per Million): £6
- Indices (Rebate per Million): £6
Tier 3
- Volume: £200 – £299.99m
- FX (Rebate per Million): £7.50
- Indices (Rebate per Million): £7.50
Tier 4
- Volume: £300m+
- FX (Rebate per Million): Contact your relationship manager to discuss rebate options
- Indices (Rebate per Million): Contact your relationship manager to discuss rebate options
To apply for the City Index Professional account, you need to first open a regular City Index trading account and log in.
Next, go to “My Account” and select “Professional”.
Download the application form and complete it.
Submit the application form with any supporting documentation.
If your application is successful you will be notified.
City Index Review: Tradable Symbols Available
City Index supports over 13,500 markets including indices, Forex, shares, and commodities.
Below is a breakdown of the available instruments:
Forex
City Index supports over 84 global currency pairs including majors, minors, and exotics. Available FX pairs include
GBP/USD, EUR/GBP, EUR/USD, GBP/CAD, GBP/AUD, EUR/CNH, AUD/USD, AUD/CAD, CAD/CHF, AUD/SGD, AUD/NZD, AUD/JPY, AUD/CNH, AUD/CHF, CAD/JPY, CAD/NOK, CHF/JPY, CNH/JPY, EUR/AUD, EUR/CAD, EUR/CHF, EUR/CZK, EUR/DKK, EUR/HKD, EUR/HUF, etc.
Shares
City Index offers commission-free trading in spread bets of over 4,700 global equities including IPO markets.
Available shares include Amazon.com, Alphabet Inc, Netflix, Goldman Sachs, Tesla Motors, eBay, A2 Milk Co Ltd, 3M Company, ABB Ltd (CHF), AbbVie Inc, Accenture, Adidas AG, Admiral Group plc, Adobe Systems, Advanced Micro Devices, Aggreko, Agnico-Eagle Mines, Ahold Delhaize, Air France-KLM, Airbnb Inc, etc.
Indices
City Index users can trade over 40 global indices with low spreads on European, Asian, Australian, and US Indices. Available indices include UK 100, Germany 40, US Tech 100, Wall Street, Japan 225, AI Index CFD, Australia 200, Blockchain and NFT Giants Index, Cannabis Index, CBOE UK 250, China A50, China Internet Giants Index, ESG Index Environmental Social Governance, EU Stocks 50, FAANGS Index, France 40, Green Index, HK China Enterprises, Hong Kong 50, India 50, Italy 40, MSCI China A50 Connect, Netherlands 25, Singapore Index, Spain 35, etc.
Commodities
Users can trade over 20 different commodities including Gold, Oil, Gold and Silver, Metals, and Soft Commodities. Below are the available tradable instruments
- Metals: Iron Ore, Gold, Palladium, Silver and Platinum.
- Oil Trading: City Index supports UK Crude Oil and US Crude Oil.
- Soft Commodities: Soft commodities are agricultural products that are grown for human consumption as opposed to those that are mined. Tradable soft commodities on City Index include Coffee C, Cotton No. 2, Lean Hogs, Live Cattle, Orange Juice, Soybean Oil, Sugar No. 11, Corn, Wheat, etc.
City Index Review: Fees and Spreads
City Index offers a clear pricing structure for its retail investor accounts and offers both fixed and variable spreads.
Spreads (min)
City Index Indices
- Wall Street: 2 points
- Germany 40: 12 points
- Singapore Index: 0.3 points
- US SP 500: 0.4 points
- UK 100: 1 point
- CFD Trading Shares
- DBS Group Holdings: Market spread with CFD commission of 0.08%
- Keppel Corp: Market spread with CFD commission of 0.08%
- Singapore Telecommunications: Market spread and CFD commission of 0.08%
- Apple Inc: Market spread and trading CFDs commission of 1.5 CPS
- Facebook: Market spread and trading CFDs commission of 1.5 CPS
Forex Trading CFDs
- EUR/USD: Minimum spread of 0.5 pips and typical spread of 0.8 pips
- USD/JPY: Minimum spread of 0.6 pips and typical spread of 0.8 pips
- GBP/USD: Minimum spread of 0.9 pips and typical spread of 1.8 pips
- AUD/USD: Minimum spread of 0.5 pips and typical spread of 0.9 pips
- EUR/GBP: Minimum spread of 0.9 pips and typical spread of 1.7 pips
Commodities CFD Trading
- US Crude Oil: Market spread that rotates around 0.4 points
- UK Crude Oil: Fixed spread of 5 points
- Coffee: Fixed spread of 0.9 points
- Sugar: Fixed spread of 0.06 points
- Natural Gas: Fixed spread of 18 points
- Metals Trading CFDs
- Gold: Minimum fixed spread of 0.5 points
- Silver: Minimum fixed spread of 2.5 points
- Copper: Minimum fixed spread of 0.4 points
- Platinum: Minimum fixed spread of 0.83 points
- It is important to note that except for Share CFDs, all City Index CFDs are commission-free.
Financing Charges
The financing fee is a charge that retail investor accounts pay to hold a position open overnight. This excludes Futures contracts.
The daily financing fee is added to retail investor accounts daily as long as users hold an open position including on weekends.
That said, City Index charges a financing rate of 2.5%+/- the benchmark regional interest rate.
Forex Trading Overnight Financing
If you hold a position overnight you will need to pay an overnight financing adjustment.
City Index uses swap points to calculate the daily overnight financing adjustment amount for Forex trading pairs.
City Index Deposit and Withdrawal Costs
There is a 2% charge for debit and credit card transactions.
However, bank transfers and other eligible funding methods do not attract additional fees from City Index.
Also, for telegraphic transfers overseas all charges are borne by City Index users.
There is also an interbank transfer fee set by the transferring bank if your bank account isn’t associated with HSBC or DBS.
Inactivity Fee
If no activity has happened on your trading accounts for 24 months or more, your City Index trading account will be tagged inactive and a monthly inactivity fee of $15 will be applied.
City Index Review: Payment Methods
You can fund your City Index retail investor accounts using debit or credit cards, PayPal PayNow, internet banking / FAST, Bill Payment, or wire transfer.
Note that funds can only be deposited in the base currency of your CFD trading account.
You can also have a maximum of 3 debit or credit cards associated with your account on the trading platform.
City Index Review: Security
City Index is a trading name of Gain Capital UK Ltd, which is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The parent company, Gain Capital UK Limited is publicly traded and meets the highest standards of financial reporting, corporate governance, and disclosure.
City Index stores retail clients’ money in segregated bank accounts from the company’s funds.
All clients are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
In the event of liquidation, clients may be compensated up to £85,000 by the FSCS.
Since about 70% of retail investor accounts lose money to CFD trades, City Index continuously monitors and calculates margins for retail clients and automatically closes out your position if your funds are at risk through margin calls. While the positions are closed to protect users’ funds, it is done at the best possible market price.
City Index also conducts regular audits and constantly reviews trading practices across its platform including supervision of electronic trading systems, trade reporting, Anti-Money Laundering, risk management, and business continuity and disaster recovery.
Supported Countries
City Index is available in 3 countries. Supported countries are Singapore, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Licenses Held by City Index
City Index is a subsidiary of StoneX Financial Ltd.
StoneX Financial Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales, authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
City Index Review: Opening a City Index Account
To open a City Index account go to https://www.cityindex.com
Next, choose the type of account you want to open (Standard, MetaTrader 4, etc).
Tap on the Open Standard account button, for example.
On the next screen, enter your personal information which includes Country of Residence, Email Address, Username, First and Last name, Date of Birth, etc.
Click on Save and Next.
Enter your residential address and then go through identity verification if you have your documents handy.
If you’re not ready hit None.
Enter your financial details such as your Employment Status and Annual income.
That’s it!
You’ll need to wait for the City Index team to verify your Identity Documents then your account will be created.
City Index Review: Different Types of Accounts
City Index clients can create the following types of accounts: Standard accounts, MetaTrader 4 accounts, Corporate accounts, Professional accounts, Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF), and Trust accounts.
The Standard account gives you access to 13,500+ tradable global markets, round-the-clock customer service, Trading Central, and advanced TradingView charting.
With the City Index MetaTrader 4 account you get access to Expert Advisors from FX Blue, more than 80 currency pairs, and a wide range of charting tools.
The Corporate account is for businesses interested in accessing the financial markets and Professional accounts are only for experienced traders that meet the criteria of opening the account type.
SMSF accounts allow you to trade in the name of your SMSF or Trust.
Trading Experience
City Index offers a trading experience best suited for both advanced and novice traders.
The Forex broker offers an ample selection of platforms that make it easy to start trading without having to get used to an unfamiliar platform.
Also, based on our team’s first-hand trials with this forex broker we can confirm that City Index offers a large selection of tradable instruments giving traders enough trading opportunities.
In general, City Index offers an easy-to-use trading experience and diverse market research with adequate tools needed for basic and complex trades including TradingView Charts, Expert Advisors, Trading Central, Economic Calendars, etc.
Different Trading Platforms Used to Trade
City Index supports the following platforms:
City Index Mobile App Trading Platform
This mobile trading platform is native to City Index and is available on iOS and Android devices.
It offers a range of features such as one-swipe dealing, advanced charting, and seamless execution.
The mobile trading app also provides access to 80+ custom technical indicators, drawing tools, and a feature to trade through charts via its portable TradingView Charts.
City Index Online Trading Platform
This browser-based trading platform gives access to more than 13,500 global markets.
It is powered by Web Trader and offers customizable workspaces and advanced charts.
The trading platform also features one-click trading.
Third-party Trading Platforms
Supported third-party platforms include TradingView Trading Platform and MetaTrader 4, which provides access to Expert Advisors, a customizable Economic Calendar, and the MetaTrader 4 mobile app.
City Index Review: Customer Service
City Index offers 24/5 customer support to users via live chat, phone, and email at support.uk@cityindex.com.
The customer support team can be contacted via phone at +44 203 194 1801 and Freephone at +44 800 060 8609.
Information on the City Index website shows that the easiest way to contact the customer support team is via live chat.
Customer Satisfaction
From our team’s trials with this broker, we have learned that City Index offers excellent service to users.
User reviews on third-party review platforms like TrustPilot show that the customer support team is responsive and very helpful.
Also, the City Index website and mobile app have an excellent user interface suitable for retail and Professional traders.
Does City Index Offer Education?
Yes, City Index offers education via its Trading Academy that includes topics on technical analysis, trading strategies, and risk management to help novice traders and experienced users learn how to trade and improve their skills.
Is City Index Right for You?
City Index is right for you if you’re interested in trading a large selection of Forex and CFD markets with an ample selection of platforms.
Final Thoughts
City Index stands out for its long-lasting reputation in the industry and straightforward trading services.
However, its major con is pricing as most of the spreads charged are above the industry average.
For a broader view of Forex trading platforms, read our detailed Forex.com Review.
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Yes, City Index is Trustworthy as the Forex Broker is regulated and has been in the industry since 1983.
City Index is the best trading platform for beginners as it offers a vast trading academy teaching novices how to trade. That said, about 70% of retail investor accounts lose money to CFD trades on most brokers including City Index.
City Index makes money by charging spreads and commissions on trades.
Unfortunately, you cannot open a City Index account if you live in the United States.
We always try to provide the most accurate information available, and make sure our team follow through.
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