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City Index Broker Review 2021

City Index Overview
Founded 1983
Platform Advantage Web, Advantage Trader & MetaTrader 4
Minimum account size $0
Minimum lot size 0.05
Tradable assets 37
Maximum margin 1:400
Spread on EUR/USD 1 pip
Payment methods Credit/ Debit Cards, Direct Bank Transfer
Demo account Yes
Accepts US traders No
Regulated FCA (UK)
Support Email, Live Chat, Phone

 

Pros

  • Regulated
  • Low minimum account size
  • Diverse tradable assets

Cons

  • Doesn’t accept US traders
  • Support not helpful
  • Slippage rate is high
  • Limited payment options
  • Advantage platform not stable

City Index was founded in 1983 and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. It is part of IPGL which a privately owned company that is based in the UK. This broker claims to be a leading provider of CFDs, forex and spread betting but can they prove it?

Platform

City Index uses the powerful MetaTrader 4 platform which is widely known to be a standard in this industry. On the other hand, this broker also offers the Advantage Web and Advantage Trader platforms which are less identified in the forex market. It would be better to stick with the MetaTrader 4 version as this is known to be more stable than its alternative. This merits City Index with a Platform score of 7/10.

Design

Although the platform loaded quickly and was generally responsive, its design was a bit uninteresting and the hues weren’t pleasing to the eyes. It’s very obvious that they wanted the color yellow to stand out but during the test that I made, I find it too bright and tedious to become accustomed to. This warrants City Index with a Design score of 2/5.

cityindex platform

Minimum Deposit

Opening a standard trading account with this broker doesn’t require any minimum deposit but it must be ensured enough to cover the margin requirements of the planned trades. Such leniency warrants City Index with a minimum deposit score of 4/5.

Minimum Lot Size

The minimum lot size is 0.05 which lowers the need to risk more money. This also avoids limitations with the number of trades that can be opened at any given time. Such advantage warrants this broker with a Minimum Lot Size score of 4/5.

Tradable Assets

Thousands of spread betting and CFD trading markets are available at City Index and this includes currencies, commodities, indices, shares, bonds and interest rates. For forex account holders, there are 37 forex pairs which is diverse enough that is why I am giving this broker a Tradable assets score of 4/5.

cityindex assets

Payouts

People trade on forex because the profits are much more promising and because it has now become easily available online, and even more convenient to deal with currencies. This is the reason why the pip value or spread is significant because this will be the basis on how much profit will be gained out of a successful trade. With City Index, the spread on the EUR/USD currency pair is 1 pip which is highly competitive since a lower spread means a higher profitability. This rate warrants City Index a Payouts score of 9/10.

Withdrawal Time

The most common problem of forex traders today are delays in withdrawal requests. City Index claims that withdrawals are processed in a matter of 5 days but in my case it took exactly 10 days. This is a big disappointment because I anticipated my money to arrive based on the processing time that they promised but it took longer than I expected and for this I am giving them a Withdrawal Time score of 6/10.

Deposit and Withdrawal Methods

City Index accepts credit/debit cards and direct bank transfer for deposits and withdrawals. Although it was good that they support these two standard payment methods, I find it a bit limited since other brokers are able to cover more banking methods which is why I am giving them a Deposit and Withdrawal Methods score of 3/5.

Customer Support

Immediate assistance in whatever you need is a prime asset of a good broker company which is why it is important to determine how good their support team is in handling customer queries and issues. They need to be attentive, quick and well-trained.

Contacting City Index’s support can be done via phone, email and live chat. I find the live chat method more convenient since I was already in front of my PC so I tested it and this is how my chat with their support agent went:

cityindex support

As you can see, Stephen was not very helpful in answering my queries. He claims that they do not offer any bonuses but when I tried contacting them via phone, an agent named Samantha told me that they do have such promotions. There seems to be some inconsistencies with the information that they provide to their clients and I find that really disturbing. For this I am giving City Index a Support score of 8/15.

Quoting Accuracy

I noticed a lot of slippages when I tested their platform and it is even more observable when there are quick changes in the real-time market prices. I was very disappointed to see that the prices when I placed the order and when it was executed by the broker were different. Such delays are the reasons why I am giving them a Quote Accuracy Score of 5/10.

Reputation

City Index is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK which gives traders that certain peace of mind because they know that the company is monitored by a financial authority.

I was expecting to see some great reviews about this broker when I did my research on the most active forums for forex traders but to my surprise, most of the comments were on the negative side. This was quite a revelation to me and for this reason City Index gets a Reputation score of 14/20.

cityindex reputation
cityindex reputation
cityindex reputation

 

Conclusion 6.6/10 3.3 out of 5 stars

City Index does have some interesting features but they need put their attention on important matters such as the slow processing time for withdrawal requests. They also need to take a look on the bad reviews that they are getting from the public and make an effort to resolve such issues because their lack of action could cost them their license from the FCA.

We highly recommend that you sign-up with much more stable brands such as eToro, Plus500 or AvaTrade as alternatives so you can continue with your trading activities.