Is the City Index broker regulated?

The City Index broker is regulated by many financial authorities like:

• FCA: Financial Conduct Authority in the UK
• MAS: Monetary Authority of Singapore
• ASIC: Australian Securities and Investments Commission

Is City Index a scam?

City Index safety is divided into 2 parts, the safety of the broker itself and the safety of the client.

Broker safety

City Index has a long tracking record since 1983 with over 295,000 traders worldwide. It’s also regulated by top-tier FCA and listed on stock exchange as well. City Index has survived from different financial disasters up-till-now and won 25 awards.

Client protection

City Index provides segregate account funds to protect its clients from losing their money. It also has a negative balance protection for the EU and Australian customers and client protection amounts as the following table shows.

City Index Legal Entities Table

City Index has a variety of trading instruments like forex, CFDs, commodities, metals, bonds, options,ETF, and crypto trading.

On the other hand, there’s no real stocks trading on CIty Index.

Disclaimer: CFDs have a high risk of losing money rapidly. About 80% of retail investor accounts lose money due to leverage when trading CFDs with this provider. Please note that CFDs are not complying with the islamic religion. And if you want to trade in CFDs you should consider a swap-free account to follow islamic rules.

Learn more about CFDs for muslims.

City Index Offering of Investments

Notes:

• Please note that some of the trading options may depend on your account type and / or your country of residence according to the governmental rules.
• FCA banned crypto trading for the EU customers starting from January 2021.

Countries available

City index is available in over 150 countries around the world, but some countries are restricted like the USA and Canada.

Account types

City Index provides 3 account options which are:

• Personal account
• Premium account
• Professional account

Each one of these accounts has its features and specifications as the following table shows.

City Index - Account Comparison

City Index also provides a demo account with 0 fees if you want to experience the trading platform with no risk.

Notes:

• All the account types have negative balance protection and segregate account funds feature,
• There’s no islamic account option at City Index broker.

Min deposit

The minimum deposit to open a City Index account is $100.

How to open an account

You can open an City Index account in minutes through these steps:

1. Enter your name, email, phone number, and country of residence.
2. Enter some personal information like your profession and trading experience.
3. Choose the base currency.
4. Add your trading preferences.
5. Provide a proof of your identity and the country of residence.
6. Fund your account and start trading.

City Index - Account opening

Commissions

City Index does not charge commissions for spread bet and CFD trading.

The only exception is for the share CFD trading as the following table shows.

Commissions Table

Trading Fees

Forex fees

The minimum spread for EUR/USD is 0.5 pips.

Index fees

The minimum spread for trading UK 100 is 1 point.

Disclaimer: CFDs have a high risk of losing money rapidly. About 80% of retail investor accounts lose money due to leverage when trading CFDs with this provider. Please note that CFDs are not complying with the islamic religion. And if you want to trade in CFDs you should consider a swap-free account to follow islamic rules.

Learn more about CFDs for muslims.

Shares

For trading shares, the Spread each side (DFT) is 4 cents Apple and Amazon.

Commodity

For coffee and sugar, there are fixed spreads of 0.9 and 0.06 points respectively.

Metals

For gold and silver, the spreads are 0.3 and 2.0 points respectively.

Bonds

The minimum spread for trading bonds is 0.2 points.

Non-trading fees

• Account fee: $0
• Deposit fee: $0 for credit/ debit cards and bank transfers
• Withdrawal fees: $0 for credit/ debit cards and bank transfers

(you can check the full withdrawal fees in withdrawal fees section)

• Inactivity fee: City Index charges an inactivity fee after 12 months of inactivity according to the account base currency as the following table shows.

City Index Inactivity Fees

Account Currencies

The City Index account has different account currency options like AUD

• CAD
• CHF
• EUR
• GBP
• HKD
• HUF
• JPY
• NZD
• PLN
• SGD
• USD

Notes:

• You will not be charged with conversion fees if your account has the same currency with your bank account or when you trade assets with the same currency of your account.
• If you want to avoid being charged with conversion fees, you can open a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank.

Deposit

1. Options

City Index supports depositing using different methods like credit cards, electronic wallets, and bank transfers.

City Index deposit methods

2. Fees

City Index does not charge any fees when depositing into your account.

3. Time

Depositing using credit cards or electronic wallets is instant. On the other hand, bank transfers may take several business days to to proceed.

Withdrawal

1. Options

City Index provides withdrawal using the same methods like deposit which are credit cards, electronic wallets, and bank transfers.

City Index withdrawal methods and fees

2. Fees

You can withdraw your money with $0 fees on all options, but please note that the minimum withdrawal amount is $100 or all your account balance available.

City Index min withdrawal fees

3. Time

It takes several business days to withdraw your money from the City Index broker.

City Index works on its customized trading platform as well as the MetaTrader 4 platform. Both of these platforms have their own features, advantages,and disadvantages. We will explain both of them in this section.

City Index Application

The City Index application platform works on different operating systems like desktop, web, and mobile. In this section, we will dig deeper into each aspect of it.

Languages

Unfortunately, the City Index application is available only in English.

User interface (UI)

The UI of City Index app is user friendly and has all functionalities at the right places.

City Index - Mobile Platform - UI

Login and Security

Unfortunately, City Index does not support two-factor authentication method for login and only support one-step verification with the username and password.

City Index - Mobile Platform - Login

Searching

The searching function in the City Index app works fine and you can search for the trading instruments you want without any problem.

City Index - Mobile Platform - Searching

Placing orders

There are various types of orders at City Index which are:

1. Market
2. Limit
3. Stop
4. Trailing stop
5. One-cancels-the-other (OCO)
6. Good 'til canceled (GTC)
7. Good 'til end of the day (GTD)
8. Good 'til time (GTT)

City Index - Mobile Platform - Place Order

Notifications and alerts

City Index app allows you to set notification and price alerts on the mobile trading platform in order to be updated.

City Index - Mobile Platform - Notifications

Portfolio and reports

The portfolio and reports at City Index looks good and you can know basic information at a glance.

City Index - Mobile Platform - Portfolio

MT4 Platform

Languages

MetaTrader 4 is available in a number of languages like:

MT4 Languages

User interface (UI)

MT4 has a very customizable UI that you can adjust according to your needs and preferences. On the other hand, it seems hard to find some of the features inside.

MT4 - Mobile Version - UI

Login and Security

Unfortunately, the MT4 does not provide a two-step verification method for logging in, and it does only support a one-step login.

Searching

Searching using the MT4 platform has two different options:

• You can search by categories and find assets.
• You can also type the name of the asset and search for it manually.

MT4 - Mobile Platform - Search

Placing orders

MT4 has a simple order types which are:

1. Market
2. Limit
3. Stop
4. Trailing stop

In addition to those 4 types, there are other orders which are the time limit ‘Good ‘til time’ (GTT) and ‘Good 'til canceled’ (GTC).

There’s also an order confirmation feature in MT4.

Notifications and alerts

Unfortunately, the MT4 web trading platform does not have an option to set price alerts and notifications unlike the desktop and mobile versions.

MT4 - Mobile Version - Notifications Settings

Portfolio and reports

Under the ‘History’ tab, you can find your portfolio reports with a clear fee description.

MT4 - Mobile Version - Portfolio

Sources

You can use the ‘Market News’ section in the City Index website or from their trading application on the mobile platform.+

Trading ideas

City Index provides a great trading ideas research tool in order to give a hint about various instruments forecasts and predictions of loss or win.

City Index - Research - Trading Idea

Fundamental data

Surprisingly, there’s no fundamental data available on the City Index broker.

Charting

Using the City Index charting tool, you can choose from more than 80 indicators and customize your own chart freely.

City Index - Research - Charts

Newsfeed

The news feed research tool in the City Index keeps you updated with all the financial news you need to know in the market.

City Index - Research - News

Other tools

You can also find other interesting and helpful tools for City Index like:

• Economic calendar
• Performance analytics

Options

City Index supports different customer service channels like:

• Live chat
• Phone call
• Email support

City Index - Customer Support

Languages

The languages available for customer service are many with the support of major languages like Arabic, English, and Spanish.

City Index broker have a variety of educational materials like:

• Trading strategies
• Video tutorials
• Educational articles and blogs

In addition to the previous materials, City Index provides a demo account with virtual $10,000 in order to trade freely with no risk.

• 1. How long does it take to verify my account?
• It happens immediately after submitting your application except if there are some other documents you should submit.
  1. Does City Index give a bonus?
• City Index Deposit bonus is not a reliable deal. It offers a small percentage of incredibly high deposits.
  1. Does the City Index allow scalping and hedging?
• City Index does not allow scalping but does allow hedging.
  1. Where is my money held?
• In segregate accounts.
  1. What happens to my funds if the bank which holds my funds goes insolvent?

• 1. How do I login using the MT4 mobile platform?
• Steps:

1. Go to ‘Settings’

2. Click on 'Manage Accounts' or 'Settings'

3. Then click on the small plus sign or select 'New Account'

4. Then select 'Log in to an existing account'

5. Search for the broker name

6. Select the server your account was set up on

7. Enter your login credentials and password

8. Click on 'Sign In'

• 1. When will my demo account expire?
• After 30 days.
  1. When trading forex, will you lose more than your initial deposit?
• Both our MetaTrader 4 and City Index platforms are set to automatically close your positions when your margin requirement reaches 100% (stop out level).
• Please note that this process is automated and is not a guarantee that your account will not enter into a negative equity situation and you should keep a balance amount in your account above your required margin.
  1. Can I login to more than one account from the same computer?
• Yes, you can do such a thing by using the MT4 Multi Terminal.
  1. Can I login to the same account through different devices?
• Yes, you can login to the MetaTrader 4 platform using the same password and username through different devices.
  1. Does City Index accept payments from third parties?
• No, payments should be of your name.

Conclusion:

• Pros: listed on NASDAQ, segregate account funds, negative balance protection
• Cons: no real stock trading, no islamic account option, high CFD fees
• Best for: beginners and advanced traders
• Regulated by: FCA, MAS, ASIC
• Headquarters: UK
• Foundation year: 1983
• Min Deposit: $100
• Deposit and withdrawal methods: credit/debit cards, electronic wallets, bank transfers
• Deposit and withdrawal fees: $0
• Base currencies: CAD, CHF, EUR, GBP, HKD, HUF, JPY, NZD, PLN, SGD, USD
• Offering of investments: forex, CFD, commodities, metals, bonds, options, ETF, and crypto trading
• Number of users: 295,000