Broker Review Process

Our Process (How we do it)

We aim to provide traders with reliable and objective information about regulated brokers in the industry. We make sure that our reviews are not influenced by our marketing or affiliate relations with reviewed companies.

Our broker reviews are based on the facts and the information declared by the broker, as well as their clients. While we do have a business relationship with some of these firms, our relationship is entirely based on promoting their company news and giving a link to their websites. That is all. We keep our news and reviews sections strictly separate, handled by two different teams at PipPost.

Overview

Securities brokerage firms offer a variety of services and products for traders. Since most brokers advertise with the same selling points and advantages, you might feel overwhelmed by the choices. For the best experience, you need to find a broker that suits your needs. And this section is pretty much all about helping you with that.

At PipPost, our reviews are strictly fact-based. That being said, there are some key data or facts that are simply publicly unavailable. In such cases, our team has to accept what is being shared by the broker when it comes to their self-declared statistics on their websites and our survey filled by the brokers. As a trader, you should do your own research before starting to work with a broker.

Independent & Unbiased

As a trader, it is in your best interest to make sure that what you are promised by a broker is delivered. PipPost tries its best to save you time and effort while checking that. To give you an accurate review, we first check the facts with the broker directly, even when we see bad reviews or technical errors regarding their services.

We receive data from the brokers for review purposes. Also, we try some of their services for testing purposes only. We are not engaged in any brokerage relationship with these companies whatsoever. We are unbiased content editors who are familiar with the industry. But, we are not traders. Thus, we know what we are writing but we have no horse in the race, so to speak.

Our Method

We rate brokers based on 11 categories and over a 100 variables. Each category includes key elements that shape every trader’s experience with the Forex broker.

We based our evaluation on brokers’ answers to our survey questions. However, when we couldn’t get any reply from a broker, we turned to publicly available data and information on their websites.

Next, we cross-referenced the data with our tests when possible. We opened live brokerage test accounts with each platform and noted down our experience. Also, we took into account publicly available user reviews during evaluation. Finally, we scored each category and crunched down the results in an overall rating for each broker.

Evaluation Categories

The scores that the brokers obtained in these categories are based on how well the broker compares among its competitors. You may find the list below with weighted percentage. The descriptions are provided on the slides, with comments aimed at both beginners and experts.

Category Definitions

Costs
Costs and spreads are the most important factors of your trading experience. More and more brokers are charging less with high quality service as the industry becomes saturated. You should pick a broker that deserves the fees for the services provided.

Usability
The measure of just how practical a broker’s services are. This would include the access to trading platforms, custom apps and services and even their websites! Smooth and intuitive user interface plays a huge role in a trader’s every day experience.

Customer Service
Things don’t always go smooth for traders. At that moment, you need your broker’s support to fix the issue. 24/7 customer support in multiple languages grants a high score here. A renown in the industry for helpful and fast service gets the top mark for a broker.

Trading Experience
Trading can be stressful and challenging. The risks are high and so are the rewards… You don’t want distractions, obstacles or problems during your trading efforts. You want a smooth, supportive and fair broker. That is the way to score 10 points here.

Technology
Trading Forex and CFDs is all about high technology. Your order accuracy, your transaction speed and your available tools will all depend on your broker’s investment in technology. The specs of the platform they offer will determine the results for your trading experience.

Range of Offerings
A diverse selection of trading products is essential for minimizing your risks. Brokers with a large inventory can provide you that service: stock options, cryptocurrencies and more.

Research Amenities
Traders need high quality, independent research materials to stay on top of the markets. An established broker provides access to latest major news, analysis pieces and more for you.

Deposits & Withdrawals
Funding your account and getting back your money are crucial steps in your relationship with a broker. Both should be made smooth and easy for you. Keeping transaction costs at a minimum level is a bonus for points.

Education
All levels of traders need guidance. New traders often look for educational videos, webinars and articles to learn the basics. Experienced traders usually turn to live commentaries or complex topics such as specific charts or analysis methods.

Security
Brokers usually work with your sensitive information. Thus, they are responsible for your online security. Encrypted logins are pretty much given basics. On top of that two-factor authentications, password strength, third-party evaluations are critical factors.

Disclaimer

PipPost (we) is by no means an authority nor a trading advisor entity. We do not share trading advice. And we are not legally authorized to make any judgement on these brokerage companies. Likewise, we cannot vouch for your personal trading experience with these companies. We are simply sharing our own evaluations, trying our best to remain objective and helpful for all traders.

Please do your own research, double-check our facts and investigate their trading conditions on your own before starting to trade with these companies. ALWAYS check Risk Warnings and Terms & Conditions provided by the brokers before starting a live trading account! Make sure you understand the trading conditions and whether they are suitable to your best interests. Please trade responsibly. Trading CFDs is risky and you may lose more than your initial investment. It may not be suitable for you. Please read brokers’ risk warning before deciding to trade.

How we make money

PipPost offers free market news, broker reviews and trading education materials. To compensate our hard work, we display advertisements that we think you might be interested.

Similarly, we provide links from our website to brokers’ websites as part of their public and common affiliation programs. So that if you like the conditions of a broker, you can easily reach their website. In turn, the broker will be buying us a coffee as a ‘thank you’, for matching interested parties for business. That is it.

Finally, we publish company news and interviews with the leaders of the sector. These are clearly tagged as PR content on our website, independent of market or industry news.

However, we do not rank brokers or publish news based on our advertisement or affiliation relations. Why not? Easy. It is simply not in our best interest. We want to remain an independent and trusted source of information so that we can be a useful service provider. In other words, we can’t risk our reputation.

There you have it: links to external websites, ad spots and PR content. This is how we keep this service free for you.