Pepperstone Review

Discover a reputable broker with international popularity

Our Pepperstone review team learned that this online broker was founded in Melbourne, Australia in 2010. Their headquarters are still located here, although they do also have an office in the U.K.

Pepperstone has grown at an exponential rate thanks to their dedication to their customers. They conduct trades worth $12.5 billion every day and boast 73,000 traders from all over the world. They have also won a number of awards in the U.K. and Australia for being an outstanding broker that offers great support for their traders.

This online broker, however, does not accept customers from certain countries, including the United States and Japan.

Rigorous regulation and customer protection

This broker is regulated by some of the strictest regulatory bodies in the industry, namely the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Financial Conduct Authority from the United Kingdom.

Considering the high standards imposed by the FCA and ASIC, our Pepperstone review team is happy to give this broker their stamp of approval.

Furthermore, Pepperstone also segregates client funds with top tier banks. This means that your funds are never used for operational purposes and can never be used to pay off creditors in the unlikely event that the broker becomes insolvent.

Additionally, U.K. clients are also afforded the benefits of the Financial Service Compensation Scheme, which means you will receive compensation up to approximately $61,000 (GBP 50,000) if the firm fails.

Expect account types built around trading style

Compared to other brokers, Pepperstone’s range of account types might seem limited, yet they do offer everything you need as a serious trader.

Our Pepperstone review team found that this broker offers two types of accounts, namely Standard and Razor.

The Razor account offers institutional-grade spreads with no markups, meaning that the average EUR/USD spread is 0.09 pips. Instead, they charge a commission of $5.58 (GBP4.59) per 100k units round turn for EU clients and $4.74 (AU$7) for international clients. Pepperstone recommends that you choose this account if you prefer scalping and algorithmic trading. Below you can see the average Razor account spreads on major currency pairs, during normal market conditions:

• AUDUSD: 0.17 pips
• EURUSD: 0.09 pips
• GBPUSD: 0.59 pips
• USDCAD: 0.31 pips
• USDCHF: 0.35 pips
• USDJPY: 0.25 pips

The Standard account, on the other hand, comes with slightly higher spreads due to the markup. The typical EUR/USD spread here is between 1 – 1.3 pips. This is still competitive, however, and as there’s no commission, it’s the perfect account for novice traders.

All Pepperstone accounts permit scalping, trading robots, and hedging. EU accounts require a minimum deposit of £200 and offer a leverage of up to 30:1. International accounts have a minimum deposit requirement of AUD 200 and a leverage of up to 500:1.

Pepperstone also offers a demo account that comes with up to $50,000 in virtual funds. It is available for only 30 days, but that’s more than enough time for you to determine whether you want to work with this online broker or not.

Our Pepperstone review team also discovered that this broker offers social trading. However, they don’t have their own platform and instead work with a variety of partners like ZuluTrade, Myfxbook, RoboX, and Mirror Trader.

Enjoy competitive spreads and attractive commissions

Pepperstone offers low trading fees, as highlighted in the account section above. The spreads on the Standard account are competitive and the commission rates on the Razor account are also appealing. We think you’d be hard-pressed to find a better deal as a scalper.

During our review, we also discovered that Pepperstone doesn’t charge any inactivity fees, and swap rates are displayed directly on the trading platform. With Pepperstone, therefore, you’ll always know what to expect and whether or not it makes sense to keep a trade open overnight.

Unfortunately, non-Australian traders may be stung with currency conversion and withdrawal fees. Although Pepperstone doesn’t directly charge fees for international transfers, they do pass on the fee the bank charges, which is usually around AU$20.

Expect standard payment methods

Pepperstone offers the standard payment methods you can expect from any trusted broker, though international clients have more options than EU clients.

EU clients can use Visa, MasterCard, Neteller, Skrill and wire transfers to deposit and withdraw funds. International clients can also use POLi, BPay, PayPal, and Union Pay.

Withdrawals made before 8:00 GMT for EU clients or 7:00 AEST for international clients will be processed the same day. Those made after these times will be processed the following day.

You will receive confirmation of your cash out request within 24 hours, yet it may take up to 5 days for the withdrawal to reach your account.

Our Pepperstone review team discovered you can find more specific payment information for your particular account and country in the secure client dashboard.

Claim rebate rewards when you start trading

Pepperstone does not offer any welcome bonuses to new clients, as they prefer to remain as a credible broker for serious traders.

Instead, they choose to reward you once you’ve started trading via their Active Trader program.  Available to Razor account holders, the program offers you up to a 15% rebate per lot when trading between 200 – 500 lots over a 3-month period. Trade over 500 lots per quarter and you’ll receive a personalized rebate rate.

Active traders also receive access to priority client support, complimentary VPS hosting, and exclusive insights from the broker’s analysts.

Explore platforms for any trading style

Pepperstone offers three powerful forex trading platforms to suit any trading style, regardless of whether you’re a beginner or a veteran trader.

The Pepperstone online broker offers MetaTrader 4, which is the most popular trading platform in the world. You can build your own expert advisors, customize the platform in almost any way you like, and pick from thousands of tools available online to make trading via MT4 easier.

MetaTrader 5 is also available. It’s somewhat easier to use than MT4 and has a faster response time and some more advanced features.

Pepperstone also offers cTrader, which is an intuitive forex trading platform. This platform is highly recommended for those who are just starting their forex trading journey, as it doesn’t have a learning curve as steep as MetaTrader. it also offers more than enough functionality for advanced traders and it also allows the use of expert advisors.

During our Pepperstone review, we also discovered that this online broker offers a number of tools to make trading even easier. The Smart Trader Tools package, for example, features a number of expert advisor tools for MT4 and MT5. Other tools include cTrader Automate, Autochartist and API Trading.

As previously mentioned, Pepperstone allows scalping on all account types, but the Razor account is definitely more suited to this style of trading.

Trade from any device at any time

The Pepperstone review team found that the broker’s website was quite easy to navigate from mobile devices. If you need any information, want to sign up or want to view your account on your phone or tablet, you won’t have any trouble.

In terms of trading, both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 include mobile versions for Android and iOS. Thus, you can trade from any device, no matter where you are.

cTrader, however, doesn’t have a mobile-specific app. You can access the platform via your mobile browser, yet it can be a little tricky to use on smaller-screened devices.

Learn to trade with practical educational content

Our Pepperstone review team found that this online broker offers limited educational materials in terms of theory, but they do shine when it comes to practical advice.

Pepperstone offers a series of articles on trading forex and CFDs, a course on the basics of forex trading, and a video MT4 course.

What sets this broker apart is the live webinars and recordings of previous webinars, which are all available on the site. These offer hands-on advice on trading, which our review team found far more valuable than the standard theory on trading.

The webinars are held every few weeks and are conducted by well-known professional traders.

Enjoy award-winning customer support

Our Pepperstone review 2019 found that the awards this broker has won for customer service are well-deserved. The broker offers multiple channels of communication, including email, phone, and live chat. Furthermore, support is available in a variety of languages, including English, Spanish, Arabic, Thai, and Chinese.

You can also reach them 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Essentially, if the markets are open, you can get in touch with someone at Pepperstone to help you out.  Their staff respond quickly and are helpful and knowledgeable.

Expect a serious broker and great support

Our review team is more than happy to recommend Pepperstone to any type of trader. Though they might seem limited in some of their offerings, this is actually a sign of a serious and trustworthy broker.

Instead of attempting to entice customers with bells and whistles that don’t add anything to the trading experience, Pepperstone focuses on being the best at what really matters. That’s why you get multiple trading platforms, account types suited to different trading styles, and outstanding customer support.

You would be hard-pressed to find a better and more reliable broker to work with than Pepperstone, so sign up today and get started on your forex trading journey.

CFDs and FX are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

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