Global iTrader positions itself to be up there as the best stock broker. It is owned by Bayline Trading Ltd, and it is regulated by Belize International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) under License No. IFSC/60/322/TS16. The broker targets a lot of retail investors with its offering, as it tries to use its expertise in web development and stock broking. In this review, we will look at how Global iTrader tries to make itself a leading broker in its niche.
- Regulated by IFSC
- Targets a lot of retail investors
- Looking to make itself a leading broker in its niche
Stock Trading Offer: Lots to consider
Is Global iTrader good? To start with, this review of Global iTrader has found that the broker has made a great deal of effort to keep up with what is going on in the industry. It offers a wide range of portfolio opportunities, including good diversification potential.
Forex: According to the broker’s website, investors can trade on a market worth more than $4tn in daily capital movement, with many currency pairs at reasonable prices and acceptable leverages.
Cryptocurrency: Cryptocurrencies are back on the rise once again, and Global iTrader’s digital currency facilities allow you to make the most of market movements with Bitcoin, Ethereum and others.
Stocks: Gives stock traders access to some of the most typical markets out there, all through stock trading CFDs. With gains and losses dealt with in cash rather than asset transfer, this is a method that is gaining more traction with increased liquidity.
Commodities: A strong range of commodities makes this one of Global iTrader’s better areas, with rare metals, sugar, cocoa and natural energy resources all available to trade with.
- Wide range of options
- Easy to diversify
- Some of the most popular market opportunities
Stock Exchanges and Trading Centres: Pushing for CFDs
Global iTrader has positioned itself as a stock broker based on its offer of CFD-led stock trading. However, its website does not make it very clear as to exactly what you can get from the broker, which means that its reputation is not enhanced as much as it would hope.
This review of Global iTrader sees that the broker does not charge fees on executed trades. It has lots of stocks to check out, but it takes a bit of digging to actually find this out. According to our Global iTrader brokerage review, you can find everything from Allianz to Yahoo on the list, meaning that your portfolio can be as widespread as you want it to be. Global iTrader has more stocks on offer than most of its competitors.
With European and US stocks, as well as some major Asian markets and elsewhere, it seems that Global iTrader has been able to position itself as a leading list for stock asset types, but it is not so easy to find out about this. All of its stocks are through CFDs, which is becoming one of the most popular trading types of recent times because people want more financial liquidity, and buying and selling assets requires more time – simply being able to hedge capital on the market movement is more appealing to many people who are trading in the digital age.
- Lots of stock opportunities
- All the popular exchanges available
- Worldwide trade centre coverage
Trading Conditions: Easy to manage
Thanks to the way that the Global iTrader brokerage account is set up, it is entirely possible to facilitate trading conditions that can really allow each trader to get ahead when placing capital down on investments.
For a start, there is no commission on trades, so you will not get penalised for every trade you make, and there is no cost on withdrawals either. Instead, the account type you choose will give you better margins for set rates that you either pay monthly or yearly. This broker comparison looks at what the broker has on offer when it comes to bringing in new clients.
There are three main types you can opt for, depending on how often you trade and how much you tend to place. The silver gives you a 1:200 leverage, 2.2 pips on EUR/USD and no access to any of the learning materials or account managers. If you step up to gold, you get 1.3 pips for the EUR/USD benchmark rate, access to increased leverage and also swap discounts. If you choose platinum, you can get spreads from as low as 0.7 pips, alongside dedicated alerts, a VPS, push notifications and news alerts.
For those who want to get used to the platform, a demo account is available, and there are swap-free Islamic accounts for those who have religious requirements while trading.
- Transparent commission process
- Three main account types from which to choose
- Clear benefits of improved spreads for higher account levels
Trading Platform: MetaTrader foundations
Global iTrader has chosen to focus on increasing its options, and states on its website that employing a lot of web development staff is a key part of its offering. This makes Global iTrader different from those competitors that only have a proprietary platform, and the ones that go through lots of different ways to make it possible to trade.
Users can access the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) iTrader platform through their web browser in a stripped-down version, through their desktop in an app for the full experience, or slimmed down to suit moving habits with either mobile or tablet formats.
Since a large number of traders are no longer just traders by profession, and many of them lead busy lives, Global iTrader has moved with the times like many of its rivals and has continually sought to make it possible to trade on the go.
One key aspect to consider in a stock broker comparison is that because Global iTrader’s offering goes through MT4, it is a little harder to distinguish it from any others that take the same approach. The broker’s uniqueness is therefore limited.
- Based on MetaTrader technology
- No proprietary platform
- Reviews suggest that platform has all necessary features
Usability of the Website: Lots of tools to help you
This review of Global iTrader has found that as with many stock brokers, a big range of tools is offered to help clients and tempt in new customers by improving the usability of the platform. While not every tool can be seen to be unique to iTrader stock trading, there are clearly some innovative approaches that will interest plenty of traders looking for something a little different.
These include customisable charts that can help you to visualise all the data in front of you in the way that suits you best. All the indicators and charts on offer can be seen in changing graph formats, and you can save it the way you like it for future use. This is one of the key ways that this broker improves usability.
Similar to some of the leading e-commerce sites, Global iTrader also makes it possible to be able to have one-click trading in place, which is based on the idea that people want to place trades quickly and reliably. This means that you can put on vital trades with only a couple of minutes of free time.
With account managers available for some account levels, alongside webinars, videos and forums, it is even easier for customers to use the website and the platform.
- Unique set of tools in some cases
- Desktop is most complete option
- Deliberately designed to improve accessibility
Customer Support: Weekday availability
Due to the inherent risks in the nature of trading, customer service needs to be accessible as often as possible, with as many different options for support as possible. Handily, Global iTrader is up there with the best of them in terms of facilitating as many ways to be contactable as possible.
There are all the methods of phone contact that you would expect, with multilingual phone support available. This is an interesting one because not all brokers choose to put their energy and focus into having several different customer support staff speaking different languages, simply because it is expensive to maintain. However, Global iTrader makes it clear that its customer support staff want to be reached, and are happy to deal with any problems that arise.
If picking up the phone is not preferable, then Global iTrader can also be reached through several online portals, including live chat, email, a contact form and also social media. On this basis, the chances of reaching someone from the iTrader customer support team is pretty good, and this allows the broker to benefit from a solid reputation in this case.
iTrader is active with its social media channels, which helps to boost its online presence, and some online reviews suggest that you can reach members of staff within five minutes in a lot of cases.
- Well-reviewed customer service
- Lots of different languages
- Social media connections possible
Methods of Payment: Standard options welcome
When it comes to depositing your capital, it is only really easy if you are working with one of the standard options. The minimum deposit is quite large and may not be beneficial for casual traders.
Many major credit and debit cards are accepted, but not all of them. If you want to use anything that is not operated by Visa or Mastercard, then you will be disappointed. You also need to put in at least $/€/£250, so you have to be confident that this is the right approach for you before getting into it. If you are still unsure, then this is an ideal time to test out iTrader’s demo account.
A bank or wire transfer is also possible. One of the issues with this is the length of time that it takes to process it. It can take up to a day, compared to card payments, which are usually instant, so this is worth bearing in mind.
E-wallets are another option becoming more popular these days, and this Global iTrader brokerage review has found that you can use plenty of major e-wallet names to process deposits.
When you are ready to withdraw, it is worth noting that no fees will be applied on your account. However, you must take out at least $100 at a time. Any amount less than this and it will not be processed.
- Card payments are the quickest choice
- Bank transfers and e-wallets take the longest
- Only Visa and Mastercard are accepted
Additional Offers: Research and education opportunities
Thanks to current laws, it is not actually possible for brokers to offer bonuses or promotions for signing up. This means that research and education have become key ways to tempt in and keep customers.
The chart analyses available as research are important. However, this review of Global iTrader has found that the offering from this broker is not as strong as it could be, and certainly not as strong as that of the other brokers operating in the same space.
There are also four different e-books available, so anyone wanting to delve into topics on forex, commodities, futures and stocks will find that they are in the right place to benefit from some key learning materials, particularly if it is a new topic.
There are nearly 30 videos available to view on demand if you have at least gold access. These are all short in delivery and content and aim to cover everything from beginner to advanced level.
For those who have yet to get to grips with the MT4 platform, it is worth checking out the broker’s selection of videos on the subject. Every broker now seems to try to carve out a following and a repeat audience based on how well it can explain potentially difficult concepts. Global iTrader appears to have got this one right.
- Good range of short and long education formats
- Helps traders of all levels
- Lots of video content
Regulation and Deposit Protection: Widely covered
Global iTrader is licensed and regulated by the Belize International Financial Services Commission (IFSC). To be granted regulatory approval, the broker must meet all of the IFSC rules and regulations, meaning that it can be thought of as trustworthy. Such practices from IFSC mean that Global iTrader must have a minimum capital requirement as a buffer zone in case of market shocks, and must keep buffers in place for reduced overnight capital value. All of this means that deposits have to be protected according to regulations.
- Regulated by IFSC
- Deposits protected
Awards: Nothing to shout about
Although Global iTrader has been operating since 2012, there is not a single piece of information on the broker having won an award, either on the website or if you look through search engines.
This could be for a number of reasons, granted, but the implication of the broker not having won a single award suggests that it does not have a record that it can be proud of. Of course, it could simply be that the broker has won awards in the past but none recently, and has decided to focus on improving its current output. However, when we expect to find everything with just a few clicks, the lack of even a mention of any awards or being in contention is a bit of a worry for a company that can no longer be considered as a start-up or disruptor firm.
Without a list of reasons to feel that the broker is well-recognised in the industry, it undoubtedly has to try harder to be able to stand out, and it does at least have these kinds of aspects, but it still sticks out like a sore thumb.
- No information about awards on website
- No appearances in search engines for iTrader and awards
- Leaves some questions about its reputation
Conclusion
Global iTrader is clearly a stock broker with financial backing and the ability to create great leverage and spread opportunities for its clients. Its general offer cannot be doubted, but where it appears to fall down is its website, layout and content. It does not make it as clear as many other broker sites do in terms of what is available, and there are simply too many vague statements when it comes to what you can trade with.
Reviews of Global iTrader stock trading are generally favourable, and good spreads make it a contender, but the broker does not have a face that matches up to the hype that it is trying to generate, and this keeps it at a rung below the market leaders at this present time.