ThinkMarkets Review
Accepts traders from United States
Recommended for traders looking for broad market access and a professional trading environment
Pros
- Low forex fees
- Wide range of products
- Many great research tools
Cons
- Complicated account opening process
- Complex desktop trading platform
- Understaffed customer service
About Broker
For this ThinkMarkets review, we have opened a standard account with the broker and deposited over €5,000.
We traded the popular instrument in each market to get the real spreads and placed a total of 15 trades.
We also reached out to customer support to solve the issues we faced.
Finally, we withdrew our funds to see if there are any issues with the withdrawal process.
What is ThinkMarkets?
ThinkMarkets is an Australia-based forex and CFD (contract for difference) broker. It was founded in 2010 and was previously known as ThinkForex.
The broker is regulated in multiple jurisdictions, including Australia, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Seychelles, and has operations globally.
ThinkMarkets’ offerings include trading services with forex, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and shares CFDs.
Some of the highlights of ThinkMarkets are:
| 🗺️ Authorised & Regulated in | UK, Australia, SA, Seychelles |
| 🛡️ Is ThinkMarkets safe | Yes |
| 💰 EUR/USD Spread | 1.3 |
| 💳 Minimum deposit | US$0 |
| 💰 Withdrawal fee | US$0 |
| 🖥️ Trading Platform | MT4, MT5, ThinkTrader |
| 📈 Markets offered | Forex, Indices, Stocks, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies |
| 📉 Number of Products | 1628 (depends on the jurisdiction) |
Licenses and Regulations
ThinkMarkets holds 4 regulatory licenses.
The broker is licensed in Australia, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Seychelles. Australia’s ASIC and the UK’s FCA are deemed as two reputed global financial market regulators.
The full list of ThinkMarkets’ licenses is below:
| Legal entity | Registered in | Regulator | License number | Accepting clients from | Compensation scheme amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TF Global Markets (UK) Limited | United Kingdom | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | 629628 | United Kingdom | £85,000 |
| TF Global Markets (Aust) Limited | Australia | Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) | 424700 | Australia | No compensation scheme |
| TF Global Markets (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd | South Africa | Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) | 49835 | South Africa | No compensation scheme |
| TF Global Markets Int Ltd | Seychelles | Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA) | SD060 | Global | No compensation scheme |
Is ThinkMarkets Safe?
Yes, ThinkMarkets is a safe broker.
The broker is regulated by two of the most reputed financial markets regulator, the UK’s FCA and Australia’s ASIC. The FCA also offers a compensation scheme of £85,000 to protect clients’ funds.
For our tests, we opened an MT5 Standard account with TF Global Markets (Aust) Limited, which is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in Australia.
We recommend you open an account with the UK or the Australian entity if their services are available in your jurisdiction.
ThinkMarkets Fees and Commissions
ThinkMarkets’ fees on trades depend on the account type. For Standard account, the fees are built into spreads, but the broker also charges a commission for trades on other account types with none or tight spreads.
Spreads on our forex, indices, and cryptocurrencies trades were much below the average industry benchmark.
ThinkMarkets Spread Charged in Our Trades
For our tests, we have chosen popular instruments in each market. We placed 3 trades for each instrument to get a picture of the average spread.
Our test is based on ThinkMarkets’ MT5 Standard account. The spreads for our trades with forex, indices, and stocks remained constant throughout, showing signs of fixed spreads.
Details of our trades are shown below the table.
| Markets | Instruments | 1st trade | 2nd trade | 3rd trade | Avg. spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forex | EUR/USD | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
| Indices | FTSE 100 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Stocks | Apple | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Commodities | Gold | 7.8 | 2 | 2 | 3.93 |
| Cryptocurrencies | Bitcoin | 36.97 | 32.31 | 20.955 | 30.08 |
Our testing finds that ThinkMarkets spreads on forex, indices, and cryptocurrencies are much lower than the industry benchmark. Spreads on stocks, however, are on the higher side.
| Markets | Instruments | Avg. spread charged in our trades | Industry avg. spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex | EUR/USD | 1.3 | 1.16 |
| Indices | FTSE 100 | 0.7 | 1.65 |
| Stocks | Apple | 3 | 1.75 |
| Commodities | Gold | 3.93 | 3.53 |
| Cryptocurrencies | Bitcoin | 30.08 | 72.81 |
Other Fees
ThinkMarkets does not have any noticeable non-trading fees. The broker offers free deposits and withdrawals. Additionally, there is no account maintenance or inactivity fees.
Account Types
ThinkMarkets offers two straight-forward account types: Standard account and ThinkZero account.
Details of the two ThinkMarkets accounts are:
| Standard Account | ThinkZero Account | |
|---|---|---|
| Trading Platforms | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, ThinkTrader | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, ThinkTrader |
| Account Currency | AUD, EUR, CHF, GBP, USD, JPY | AUD, EUR, CHF, GBP, USD, JPY |
| Minimum deposit | $0 | $500 |
| Commission | Nil | $3.5 per side (100,000) (No commission on CFDs) |
| Lot size | 1.0 (100k) | 1.0 (100k) |
| Maximum tradeable size | 50 Lots | 100 Lots ( 10 for XAUUSDx & XAGUSDx) |
| Order execution | Instant Execution | Instant Execution |
| Spread | From 0.4 | From 0 |
ThinkMarkets also offers swap-free Islamic accounts and joint accounts.
Account Opening
Our overall experience of opening a new account with ThinkMarkets was smooth and quick.
We opened a MetaTrader 5 Standard account for our tests under the ASIC-regulated entity.
The process of registration of a new ThinkMarkets account:
- Enter trading account type (individual or corporate), country of residence, products to trade (shares or forex and CFDs), first name, last name, email, and password.
- Enter the verification code sent to the provided email.
- Provide personal details like phone number, date of birth, taxation country, and address.
- Choose the desired trading platform.
- Provide financial details like employment status, annual income, and value of savings and investments.
- Answer questionnaires on trading experience.
We submitted the following documents to verify our ThinkMarkets account:
- Copy of national identification (both front and back)
- Copy of our bank statement
The registration process took around 6 minutes. Our account was verified in 1 working day.
Our account was registered on March 26, 2022, and approved on March 29, 2022.
Our overall account opening experience was smooth and without any issues, from registration to verification.
Deposit and Withdrawal
Both deposits and withdrawals on ThinkMarkets are easy and fast. All our funding and withdrawal requests were completed without any issues.
Minimum Deposit
The minimum deposit on ThinkMarkets varies with the account types.
- Standard account: $0
- ThinkZero account: $500
Traders only need to maintain the minimum deposit balance on their accounts.
Deposit
ThinkMarkets supports deposits with bank transfers, credit and debit cards, and online wallets like PayPal, Neteller, and Skrill. The broker also supports cryptocurrency deposits with Bitcoin, Ether, and Bitcoin Cash, using BitPay gateway.
The broker does not charge any fees for deposits.
Some of the deposit methods also vary with the jurisdiction.
We tested the deposit process on ThinkMarkets using a credit card and PayPal.
Details of our fund deposits are shown in the below table.
| Payment Method | Submitted Date | Funded Account Date | Funding Time | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credit card | 2022-03-29 | 2022-03-29 | Instant | zero |
| PayPal | 2022-03-29 | 2022-03-29 | Instant | zero |
Withdrawal
ThinkMarkets allows withdrawals via bank transfer, credit/debit card, and online wallets. There are no fees for withdrawal requests, however third-party fees may apply.
ThinkMarkets allows withdrawals only to the deposit source, meaning if deposits were made using PayPal, withdrawals (along with profits) can only be made on PayPal.
Overall, our experience with the ThinkMarkets withdrawal process was positive.
Details of our withdrawal requests are in the table below.
| Payment Method | Submitted Date | Fund Released Date | Fund Arrived Date | Withdrawal Time | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credit card | 2022-03-30 | 2022-03-31 | 2022-03-31 | 1 working day | zero |
| PayPal | 2022-03-31 | 2022-03-31 | 2022-03-31 | 1 hour | zero |
Our first withdrawal request using PayPal, which was made on March 29, was denied. We were told to withdraw the fund to the credit card first as our first deposit was made using a credit card.
Markets and Products
ThinkMarkets offers CFDs trading services with Forex, Indices, Shares & ETFs, Futures, Commodities, and Cryptocurrencies instruments. The broker also offers Share investing in Australia.
The complete list of ThinkMarkets offerings are:
| Markets | Instruments |
|---|---|
| Forex | 40 |
| Indices | 22 |
| Stocks and ETFs | 1552 |
| Commodities | 10 |
| Cryptocurrency | 4 |
The markets and the number of offered instruments will depend on the account jurisdiction.
Trading Conditions
ThinkMarkets offers excellent trading conditions. The broker allows both hedging and scalping strategies and traders can change leverage levels too.
| Trading Method | Allowed |
|---|---|
| Hedging | Yes |
| Scalping | Yes |
| Change Leverage | Yes |
Leverage
Leverages offered by ThinkMarkets on various asset class are detailed below:
| Markets | TF Global Markets (UK) Limited | TF Global Markets (Aust) Limited | TF Global Markets Int Ltd | TF Global Markets (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major Currency Pairs | 30:1 | 30:1 | 500:1 | 500:1 |
| Non-Major Currency Pairs | 20:1 | 20:1 | 500:1 | 500:1 |
| Gold | 20:1 | 20:1 | 400:1 | 400:1 |
| Other Commodities (except Gold) | 10:1 | 10:1 | 200:1 | 400:1 |
| Indices | 5:1 | 20:1 | 200:1 | 200:1 |
| Stocks | 5:1 | 5:1 | 100:1 | 20:1 |
| Cryptocurrencies | NA | 2:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 |
Copy Trading
ThinkMarkets use a third-party platform for its copy trading services which is ZuluTrade.
However, as a copy trading broker its services are not available for traders under the Australian and South African entities.
Trading Platform
ThinkMarkets offers the following trading platforms:
- MetaTrader 4
- MetaTrader 5
- ThinkTrader (ThinkMarkets’ proprietary platform)
MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 are third-party trading platforms developed by MetaQuotes Software.
All these platforms are available on the web, desktop, and mobile.
Research and Tools
ThinkMarkets offers good market research and analysis tools.
Some of the key tools offered by the broker are:
- Good charting tools
- Economic calendar
- Forex signals through Autochrist
- VPS for forex trading
- Market research with Trading Central’s suite
- Newsfeed
Education
ThinkMarkets offers good educational resources. Its guides cover from trading basics to details on indicators and charting patterns.
The broker also offers a trading glossary and a knowledge base. It also holds some excellent webinars and a demo account.
Customer Service
ThinkMarkets has excellent customer support.
Traders can contact the broker via:
- Live chat
- Phone
The support staff is available 24/7.
Our experience with ThinkMarkets customer support was excellent.
The support staff on live chat answered instantly, while the email response took a day. The answers were clear and accurate in both cases.
| Question | Response Time | Quality of reply | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live Chat | Asked about the base currency of the Australian entity | 1 minute | Clear and accurate |
| Asked about withdrawal fee and minimum deposits | 1 working day | Clear and accurate |
The broker also has a detailed FAQ section for frequently faced issues.
Conclusion
Our overall experience with ThinkMarkets was good.
ThinkForex Review offers a decent number of currency pairs, with forex spreads below the average industry benchmark. Spreads remained stable for all our trades, and executions were fast. The broker also offers share trading in Australia, which is excellent.
Our experience with account opening, deposits, and withdrawals were also smooth and without any issues.
The customer support is also excellent, but we recommend you approach the support team over live chat.
We recommend ThinkMarkets to forex traders who run strategies like scalping and hedging.
We recommend ThinkMarkets for traders who are
- Experienced traders
- Beginners
- Run Scalping
- Hedging
ThinkMarkets might not be a fit if you are
- Real Stock / Futures Trading
- Commission based trading
Broker Features
Recommended for traders looking for broad market access and a professional trading environment
- Unlimited withdraw limits
- Multiple withdraw methods
- Live chat open 24/7
Broker Details
Licences:
SECOur Review
Overal Rating
