Investing > City Index Review

City Index Review

In this City Index review, we dive into the investment products, fees, resources, and everything else you need to know if this platform is right for you.

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Updated February 15, 2025

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City Index is a London-based CFD, forex, and spread betting broker. Founded in 1983, the brokerage is a part of GAIN Capital, a US-based online trading service provider.

GAIN Capital acquired City Index for $118 million in late 2014. In early 2017, GAIN acquired FXCM’s U.S. accounts worth $7.2 million immediately after FXCM was banned in the U.S.

Although it was a brokerage firm focused on spread betting in its early years, City Index now offers many other financial products to its customers. The company also added to its offer by introducing multiple trading platforms, and is now a well-rounded brokerage service.

City Index is a well-known, trusted brokerage that’s good at just about everything. This broker is suited for a wide variety of traders interested in the forex market.
Clients can use multiple trading platforms with great research tools and top-notch news providers. Educational resources are especially noteworthy as they are well-produced, concise, and cover just about all important forex-related topics.

Fast Facts

  • Demo Account: Yes
  • Account Minimum: £100
  • Regulation: ASIC (Australia), MAS (Singapore), FCA (UK)
  • Best for: Traders looking for good prices and a great, comprehensive learning
  • Asset Coverage: CFDs, Forex, Crypto, Commodities, Spreads, Stocks, etc.

Ratings

  • Commissions & Fees: 6.5/10
  • Investment Selection: 8/10
  • Account Options & Features: 7.5/10
  • Usability: 7/10
  • Educational Resources: 8/10
  • Customer Support: 9/10
  • Overall: 8/10
Visit City Index on City Index’s website

For City Index: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Overview and Summary

Here are the most notable features of City Index:

  1. City Index is owned by Gain Capital and regulated by multiple tier-1 regulators.
  2. Good range of offerings including CFDs, forex, and cryptocurrencies.
  3. Many good opportunities for low-cost trading.
  4. Various trading platforms and a great mobile app.
  5. Very good research tools and news providers.
  6. Educational resources are great for beginners, as well as intermediate traders, and include two City Index demo accounts.
  7. High-quality training videos, articles, and webinars are free and available to non-users.
  8. Overall great platform with reliable customer service.

What is City Index? 📔

City Index is an award-winning online broker with many noteworthy achievements throughout the past five years. These include the best CFD provider award (2016), best spread betting service (2017), and best mobile platform (2018).

Most of these awards were won in the UK which is due to the company’s focus on its local audience. Although they are an international brokerage, a larger part of City Index’s client base is UK-based, so it’s no wonder why they make efforts to cater to the British trader.

City Index is also among the most popular online forex brokers in India where they are well-known for their great all-around offer, as well as their trustworthiness. Having this in mind, you can definitely say City Index is a reputable online brokerage with a worldwide presence.

🇬🇧 Quick note: If you are a UK- based trader and you want to check out some other alternatives, here is a list of the best UK forex trading platforms.

City Index Compared

Fees
Average spread EUR/USD standard

0.8

0.9

All-in cost EUR/USD - active

0.8

0.363

Minimum initial deposit

£50.00

$250

General
Total currency pairs

84

93

Demo account?
Social / copy trading?
Rating
Fees
Average spread EUR/USD standard

0.9

Varies

All-in cost EUR/USD - active

0.363

N/A

Minimum initial deposit

$250

€100

General
Total currency pairs

93

13 Futures currency pairs

Demo account?
Social / copy trading?
Rating
Fees

Average spread EUR/USD standard

0.8

0.9

Varies

All-in cost EUR/USD - active

0.8

0.363

N/A

Minimum initial deposit

£50.00

$250

€100

General

Total currency pairs

84

93

13 Futures currency pairs

Demo account?

Social / copy trading?

Plus500 Futures trading is available to individual US residents only.

Is City Index Regulated? 🛡

The short answer: yes. City Index is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom, and the UK-based FSCS guarantees City Index’s clients up to £50,000 coverage, should the company fail in any way. Clients from 186 countries can trade with City Index.

The company is considered a low-risk broker, as City Index is regulated by two tier-1 regulators besides the FCA: Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Unlike companies such as FXCM and 24Option, City Index has never been involved in any scandals or noteworthy legal charges. They have a very good reputation and a long track record, which is not the case for most brokers in the forex world.

All in all, there’s little to worry about when it comes to trading with this broker. City Index is regulated by high-authority institutions, and its parent company, GAIN Capital, is listed on a stock exchange. This should be a positive sign, as regulation is an important consideration when selecting a broker.

However, if you’re new to the forex world, be careful. About 70% of clients who trade CFDs with this broker lose their money. This percentage is not unusual because CFDs are very risky financial products in general, so make sure you know what you’re doing before trading.

Range of Offerings 📃

There is quite a long list of products you can trade on City Index’s platforms. They have just about everything one might expect from a forex broker. Users have access to commodities like precious metals, oil, natural gas, as well as the four most popular cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and XRP.

City Index offers 65 forex pairs and 17 indices, as well as CFD trading in over 4,500 shares of very popular companies from the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Their offer of CFDs is limited in some respects, but that’s hardly a huge drawback. The company also facilitates a variety of options trading, though City Index didn’t make our current list (2021) of the best brokers for options trading.

💡 Important note: City Index clients have access to Indices, Shares, Forex, Crypto, Commodities, Interest Rates, and Options.

Account Types 🗃

Users can get three real trading accounts and two demo accounts. The standard account is available to all clients, while the other two have certain requirements.

Professional Trader 💰

The Professional Trader account is for hardcore pros only. This account is available to clients who have a history of working as a professional in the finance sector for more than one year.

In order to qualify for this account, traders also need to have made 40 or more significantly sized trades in the previous year and a portfolio with a minimum of €500,000.

The Professional Trader account also provides users with lower margin rates, broker-assisted dealing, premium events, and several additional perks.

Premium Trader 🌟

The Premium Trader account is available via invitation only and provides users with the same bundle of benefits as the Professional Trader account, with the addition of better overall pricing. However, the exact terms for getting this invitation are unclear.

City Index Demo Accounts ⏳

The demo account allows users to simulate trades on the platform without the risk of losing any funds. There are two types of demo accounts, both of which can be used for up to 12 weeks

The City Index demo account has a virtual balance of £2,500 and gives users access to all of the platform’s features. The MetaTrader 4 demo account starts with a £10,000 virtual balance and gives users access to the forex market.

City Index Fees 💳

City Index has a competitive pricing schedule when it comes to forex and stock index CFDs. Stock CFD commissions are higher but you can get some of the best overall prices in the industry if you trade on City Index’s proprietary platform.

AssetsCity Index Fees
S&P 500 CFDAvg. spread cost is 0.6 Pips
EUR/USDAvg. spread cost is 1.0 pips
Europe 50 CFDAvg. spread cost is 1.5 pips

Keep in mind that spreads are a lot higher if you trade on MetaTrader 4. For example, EUR/USD average spread cost is 1.7 pips. To analyze City Index fees in more detail, check out the full pricing schedule on their website.

The minimum withdrawal is £100 while the maximum is £20,000 in a single transaction. Withdrawals do not incur any fees unless a user needs a CHAPS payment. In that case, there is a £25 fee if the payment is lower than £5,000.

The City Index minimum deposit is £100 for all countries, and there is a monthly inactivity fee of £12 for accounts that have been idle for a year or more.

🖋 Quick note: If you don’t know what a pip is, this simple guide will teach you everything you need to know about pip and how it works.

Trading Platforms 💻

Users have a choice between City Index’s proprietary Web Trader and other platforms like AT Pro and the industry-standard MT 4. These platforms are all very good but you can probably find more powerful alternatives with other top-tier brokers.

Web Trader 🌐

City Index’s proprietary browser-based platform is developed in HTML5 which makes it very intuitive, fast, and customizable. Web Trader doesn’t have an abundance of features like AT Pro, but it is a great, comprehensive platform for more casual traders.

City Index offers top-notch trading platforms, including the web trader, the AT Pro, and the City Index App.

AT Pro 🛠

With many more features and customization options, AT Pro is a more complex platform than Web Trader. It is geared for advanced traders who can utilize the potential behind AT Pro’s 130+ indicators and 25 drawing tools, as well as other advanced functions.

AT Pro has a Development Studio feature with automated trading functionality for traders who want to put their accounts on autopilot. Clients can use more than 100 pre-loaded strategies and backtest them using historical data.

City Index App 🤖

City Index has an all-around great mobile platform. Its intelligent, modern design makes for a user-friendly mobile experience.

The search function is very helpful for navigating the UI and placing orders — and users can set notifications and alerts quickly, without a hassle. However, there is no two-step authentication available with the City Index app.

The mobile platform is very accessible, yet retains a lot of functionality.

Also, users cannot log-in via fingerprint, or through facial recognition. Essentially, it is a great, competitive mobile platform that makes life easier for forex traders on the move.

Research & News 📰

There’s no shortage of great research tools on City Index’s platform. Traders can use an abundance of high-quality charting tools and around 80 indicators. City Index also offers trading ideas that are based on technical tools.

However, there’s no fundamental data available on City Index’s platform. The news feed is great, with news from high-authority sources like Reuters, as well as City Index’s team of experts. The platform has an interactive economic calendar.

You can look at upcoming events in chronological order and click on them to see a summary and check historical data. All in all, the combination of handy research tools and great news providers leaves little to be wanted, even by seasoned traders’ standards.

Customer Service ☎

Customer support covers all the bases. The company’s representatives are very professional and are available 24/5.

There’s a live chat feature on City Index’s website that will bring you to a chatbot (which is actually more helpful and knowledgeable than most chatbots).

In order to reach a human representative through live chat, you must write the word “agent”. The FAQ section on their site is well-designed and comprehensive, which means you can get helpful information quickly, without digging through the entire web page.

Customer support can be reached by email, but that can take a long time, sometimes even several days. It’s a lot easier to reach them by phone or live chat as they respond very quickly.

The customer service is not without downsides as they don’t work during weekends and don’t respond quickly to emails.

User Education 👨‍🏫

Education is another aspect of the company’s strong suits. The City Index demo accounts in combination with the abundance of educational content will provide a great training experience for new, as well as intermediate traders. By clicking in the “Training” tab on their website you can take a look at their educational content.

There are high-quality videos, articles, and webinars on a wide range of topics. You can watch the training videos on their site but they also have a YouTube channel that regularly uploads short, relevant market analysis videos. All educational content is free and available to non-users.

Final Thoughts 🏁

City Index is a reputable forex broker with 30+ years of trading experience. Whether it’s pricing, mobile technology, safety, or customer service, the company excels in all fields.

Educational resources are especially high quality and great for beginner investors, as well as more experienced traders, and the research resources are also top-class.

Their offer of CFDs is somewhat limited so that can be considered a drawback. City Index’s trading platforms are versatile and well-made, but advanced traders will find better trading platforms. All in all, they can improve in a few areas but it’s still an overall great broker with no significant drawbacks.

City Index and the Competition

See how City Index compares to the leading Forex brokers by reading one of the reviews below.

All reviews, research, news and assessments of any kind on The Tokenist are compiled using a strict editorial review process by our editorial team. Neither our writers nor our editors receive direct compensation of any kind to publish information on tokenist.com. Our company, Tokenist Media LLC, is community supported and may receive a small commission when you purchase products or services through links on our website. Click here for a full list of our partners and an in-depth explanation on how we get paid.

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