Smart-Epargne review – 5 things you should know about smart-epargne.com

Beware! Smart-Epargne is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.

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Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.

The Smart-Epargne website invites us to invest in the financial markets through this broker, but does not provide us with any good arguments to do so. Fact checking leaves no doubt that this is not a licensed and regulated investment intermediary. Let’s take a detailed look at why it is in your best interest to stay away from Smart-Epargne and what more credible alternatives you have for trading financial assets.

Smart-Epargne Regulation and safety of funds

Smart-Epargne is completely anonymous, which immediately identifies this website as a scam. No company name or contact address is listed anywhere. Smart-Epargne does not provide access to Terms and Conditions or Client Agreement. If you don’t know exactly who you are dealing with and what the terms of the deal are it would be an obvious mistake to put your money on the line.

When you visit the website of a legitimate broker you can expect to find clear and detailed information about the company that owns and operates it, where it is based and what regulatory regimes it is subject to. Licensed financial services providers are also required to provide a comprehensive set of legal documentation.

The Smart-Epargne website is available primarily in French. The French financial regulator Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF)  has blacklisted Smart-Epargne.

Before investing your money in financial instruments, it is imperative to make sure you do so through a licensed intermediary and not one of the many scammers lurking online. You should only trust legitimate brokers operating in one of the established financial centres like the UK, EU, USA or Australia. There, the activities of brokers are controlled by powerful regulatory bodies such as UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in US or Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Clients of these brokers receive protections such as negative balance protection and segregation of the client’s funds from the broker’s funds.

Smart-Epargne Trading software

Smart-Epargne implements a basic web-based trading software. Here’s what it looks like:

While this platform has the basic functionality to place orders, it cannot compare to the capabilities provided by MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). It is no coincidence that these platforms have established themselves as the industry standard. They offer a wide range of features, including a variety of options for customization, multiple account usage, designing and implementing custom scripts for automated trading and backtesting trade strategies.

It should be noted that the presence of a trading platform does not make this website any more legitimate and does not guarantee that this alleged broker offers real trading. Many scammers use rigged trading software to fool their victims that their money is being invested.

Smart-Epargne Trading instruments

Smart-Epargne  advertises trading in forex, stocks, cryptocurrencies, metals, indices, commodities and even NFTs. But as stated, we have every reason to believe that the trading offered by this anonymous website is fictitious.

Smart-Epargne Spreads and cost of trading

In the Smart-Epargne trading software we see a very low spread of 0.4 pips. However, this shady broker does not provide clear and detailed information about the trading conditions. Therefore, it is not clear if there are additional trading commissions and what their amount is.

Smart-Epargne Maximum leverage

The descriptions of the account types state that Smart-Epargne offers leverage up to 1:500 for forex trading. The FAQ states an even higher ratio of 1:1000.

This is not a level that you see with regulated brokers. Trading with high leverage allows higher profits, but also increases the risk of sudden and excessive losses proportionally. All leading regulators limit leverage for retail traders. In the EU, UK and Australia the maximum permitted level is 1:30 and in the US it is 1:50. This maximum level only applies to trading major currency pairs, with even more limited leverage for more volatile assets.

Regulated brokers offer higher leverage only to professional clients who must meet very high standards for capital and experience and forgo the guarantees enjoyed by retail traders. If you don’t qualify as a professional trader but are willing to take the risk of high-leverage trading, the most viable option is to use the services of an offshore affiliate of an established brand.

Smart-Epargne Deposit and withdrawal methods

Smart-Epargne ‘s deposit menu provides a choice between cryptocurrencies and credit cards, and we have been unable to confirm that the latter option is actually enabled.

Scammers prefer cryptocurrencies because these transactions are not subject to refunds. Legitimate brokers typically offer clients a wide choice of transparent payment methods, including bank transfer and established e-wallets such as PayPal, Skrill or Neteller.

Smart-Epargne Minimum deposit

Smart-Epargne specifies a minimum deposit of 250 USD, which is the industry standard. But this means that for the same amount you could open a trading account with an established and duly licensed forex broker. Some of the leading brands in the industry offer Micro and Cent accounts with a very low entry threshold that are suitable for novice investors.

Smart-Epargne Withdrawal requirements

Since Smart-Epargne does not provide proper legal documentation, it is unclear what traps the fraudsters may have set. Typically, fake brokers make withdrawing money impossible through huge fees and impossible-to-fulfil traded volume conditions.