Beware! ITCS Trade is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.
ITCS Trade is a broker that may or may not be considered legitimate, based on where you are from and what your ultimate goal is. It’s licensing status is rather ambiguous, as the review will showcase. If you want to trade with this one, we suggest reading the review first.
ITCS Trade states to be incorporated in Kazakhstan, and registered as a Financial Services Provider with the Ministry of Economy. Moreover, the firm is entitled to provide local and international services, a power granted by the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Let’s clear some things out. The sole regulator in Kazakhstan is the National Bank, and as we say the broker never mentions it being approved. But even more so, even though the Ministry of Finance does share the regulatory responsibility, we know for a fact that the FX and CFDs market in Kazakhstan are not regulated by neither side. In other words, there is no official FX regulator, in what we have come used to expect; currently all brokers based in Kazakhstan are technically unlicensed, even if approved by local authorities that have no right to actually authorize them. These brokers may be perfectly safe and fair to trade with, but without an official stamp of recognition they all remain offshore in our eyes and risks.
However, all trading services, signal provisions, and trade executions are all provided by a company that is registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. And as we know, the jurisdiction is very much the home to thousands of unlicensed brokers, many of which are scams, in fact 99% of them, if not more. There is no official regulator in this country.
ITCS Trade offers an interesting nichefor users, and it may be perfectly safe to trad with but still we cannot be 100% sure. In honesty, there is nothing much to recommend here, and if you are from Kazakhstan and have the opportunity to chose a different broker, then you should. ITCS Trade is not that good nor special in any sense.
ITCS Trade Trading software
Analytical tools | Auto trading | Custom indicators | Mobile apps | |
ITCS Trade Web Trader | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
MT4 | 30+ indicators | ✅ | ✅ | Android |
MT5 | 50+ indicators | ✅ | ✅ | Android |
cTrader | 40+ indicators | ✅ | ✅ | Android and iOS |
ZuluTrade | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
We opened an account easily, but there were still some KYC documents needed to fully complete the client integration process. But we still had access to the following web trader:
Obviously it retains a certain shady element despite features that make it better than most shady broker based web traders we have dealt with previously. There are many useful features, and we were genuinely surprised by the presence of some of these. But in the end ITCS Trade is not recognized as a legit broker, and might offer some hidden issues that only invested users may start to experience. And by then it may already be too late.
The platform is also available as a also as desktop terminal.
Moreover, ITCS Trade offers ZuluTrade a very popular social trading software that is completely dedicated to bringing some of the best copy trading and social tools for users. It is a known platform used by some of the best brokers out there. Users can follow strategies offered by more advanced users, can copy them, can interact in other beneficial ways with other clients, and can altogether boost their trade game.
ITCS Trade Trading instruments
Currency | Stocks | Indices | Crypto | Commodities | |
ITCS Trade | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
XM | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
FBS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
FXTM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
From the web trader we are given forex currency pairs, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, stocks, and ETFs as the available assets to trade with, presenting an extensive list of the most crucial financial instruments.
ITCS Trade Spreads and cost of trading
ITCS Trade | XM | FBS | FXTM | |
Spread EURUSD | 0.2 pips | 0.6 | 1 | 1.1 |
Spread GBPUSD | 0.7 pips | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 |
Spread USDJPY | 0.5 pips | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 |
From the web trader we also were able to acquire some of the most crucial spread values. These include the EUR/USD spread of 0.2 pips, the GBP/USD cost of trade of 0.7 pips, and the USD/JPY spread capped at 0.5 pips.
However, there are spread commissions – as a 0.2 EUR/USD is way too good to be true, and if not commissioned is definitely manipulated – but ITCS Trade has not entirely done its work here. The commissions are indicted on percentages, and twice on the same page the firm contradicts itself; once it’s 0.03% and then other time it says the commission is 0.07%. Moreover, it doe snot specify the assets onto which the commissions apply; obviously one of these is the FX pairs, but what about the rest?
ITCS Trade Maximum leverage
Forex | Stocks | Crypto | Gold | Indices | |
ITCS Trade | 100:1 | 5:1 | 5:1 | 100:1 | 100:1 |
UK regulated brokers | 30:1 | 5:1 | ❌ | 10:1 | 10:1 |
EU regulated brokers | 30:1 | 5:1 | 2:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 |
AU regulated brokers | 30:1 | 5:1 | 2:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 |
US regulated brokers | 50:1 | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
The leverage caps are as follows. The FX pairs leverage is capped at 1:100, shares have a 1:5 leverage, and cryptocurrencies are also capped at 1:5. The crypto leverage is ok, but could be lower, while the share value can be higher, so there is work to be done here if the broker wants a competitive edge.
ITCS Trade Deposit and withdrawal methods
Deposit time | Withdrawal time | Fee | |
Debit cards | 2-5 business days | 2-5 business days | No information |
Credit cards | Instant | Instant | No information |
SEPA | Instant | Instant | No information |
Mifinity | Instant | Instant | No information |
Trustly | Instant | Instant | No information |
Crypto | Instant | Instant | Fee depends on crypto |
Sofort | Instant | Instant | No information |
The available payment methods are credit cards, debit cards, SEPA, Mifinity, Trustly, Sofort, and tons of crypto wallets. Oddly enough the withdrawal area indicates that only Sepa withdrawals are possible, which would mean that ITCS Trade is in direct violation of AML laws. This is definitely an issue, and one of the biggest signs that ITCS Trade is not really overseen by any recognized international FX regulator; these types of missteps would never be allowed on a regularly licensed broker.
All payment methods are processed instantaneously, for both deposit and withdrawals. Only bank transfers can take up to 2 days.
ITCS Trade Minimum deposit
ITCS Trade | XM | FBS | FXTM | |
Minimum deposit | €200 | $5 | $10 | $5 |
The minimum deposit that ITCS Trade accepts is €200, which in today’s FX industry is way too high up. Most brokers want to be as open as possible and that is why the modern trend nowadays are the lowest possible minimum deposit. Not taking part in this movement is a risk to the broker, because we can assure our readers that there are much better investment companies than ITCS Trade.
ITCS Trade Withdrawal requirements
Trading volume | Fee/Tax on withdrawal | Minimum withdrawal | |
ITCS Trade | NO | NO | NO |
UK regulated brokers | No | No | No |
EU regulated brokers | No | No | No |
AU regulated brokers | No | No | No |
US regulated brokers | No | No | No |
There is little payment information on the website, and so we will be blunt. Since the broker does not mention any deposit and withdrawal fees then we must expect there to be none, even if the firm is technically unlicensed.
Altogether, there don’t seem to be any “funny stuff”, but if you are considering investing in ITCS Trade, we would still recommend preserving a sense of vigilance at all times.
The onl;y major thing we discovered is a very high inactivity fee: after 3 months of not being active, the broker can charge a ridiculous €300 commission form an account. This fee alone can either make it or break it.