Tickmill Review

Have you noticed the benefits of a volatile forex market? Considering forex as a way to make up for recent economic hardships?

Ironically, COVID-19 has re-energized the forex market like nothing we’ve seen in years. Deeply negative, real interest rates in the U.S., and a recovering global economy is making way for a sustained U.S. Dollar weakness. Banks are attempting to assess the fiscal risk as we move towards the U.S. presidential elections in November.

The uncertainty of it all has caused increased volatility, resulting in a rise in savvy people like you trying to learn how to take advantage of it. What could go wrong?

High demand usually results in an increase in fraudulent practices and scams. This means you will need to be extra vigilant when choosing a broker, ensuring it is safe, and regulated by the concerned authority.

In this review, we discuss Tickmill, a multi-asset broker. We’ll tell you if it’s safe and how much you’ll pay in fees. Then we’ll go through all the pros and cons you’ll need to know to help you make the best decision.

Ready? Let’s get started.

What is Tickmill? 📚

Founded in 2014, Tickmill is a brokerage that focuses on forex and CFD trading. It is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission in, Cyprus, the Labuan Financial Services Authority in Malaysia, and the Financial Services Authority in the Seychelles, where the company is registered. The brokerage also boasts over 50,000 clients.

Is Tickmill Safe? 🔒

Tickmill is registered by several different regulatory bodies worldwide and boasts a strong regulatory license from the UK’s FCA. The company is not publicly traded and does not offer banking services.

Is Tickmill Regulated? 🛡

Tickmill is regulated by several financial authorities, including the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSAS), and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). If you are located in Australia, you’re better off considering the top forex brokers in Australia.

Is Tickmill Regulated in South Africa? 🇿🇦

Tickmill is considered a safe broker for South Africans as the broker is regulated with the FCA. However, they are not regulated with the FSCA yet. There are crucial aspects to consider when taking large sums of money out of South Africa. Powell has produced a guide that discusses everything you need to know.

Tickmill Compared

Can I Trust Tickmill? 🧐

Tickmill is regulated across the globe, making it a safe option. The broker is authorized by one tier one regulator, and two tier two regulators. More than this, Tickmill has a high customer satisfaction rating, with a 72% rating of “excellent” rating, and 11% rating of “great.” 

If anything, you know that other people like you are more than happy with the broker. It just comes down to your individual trading needs, really. If you find Tickmill doesn’t meet your needs, there are other leading forex trading platforms to consider.

What Are Tickmill’s Fees? 💸

When it comes to fees, forex brokers can differ significantly. When compared to the competition though, Tickmill is generally on the low side.

Tickmill customers can choose from three accounts. Overall, the broker is best for VIP traders and active traders with access to pricing that competes with the more budget friendly brokers. Let’s go through the three accounts and fees.

Classic Account 👤

Okay, so the Classic account is commission-free and traders will only be charged the spread. However, this account does have higher spreads in comparison to its other account types, making this account less attractive.

Based on Tickmill’s typical spread data for its Pro account offering of 0.13 pips for the EUR/USD, you will have a total cost of 0.53 pips when accounting for the RT commission equivalent of 0.4 pips.

Pro Account ⭐

Now let’s get into the Pro and VIP accounts. To start, they have a per-trade commission added to decrease the spreads and stand out from competitors. The low commission rate makes the pro account idea for most traders relative to the Classic account because spreads are lower. You can also choose from a wide selection of 75 instruments, including 62 currency pairs.

VIP Account 🌟

The VIP account has a minimum balance of $50,000 and gives access to low commissions of $1 per lot (100k units) or $2 per round-turn standard lot. In comparison, the Pro accounts pricing is similar with an RT commission of only $4 per round-turn standard lot. You will only need a minimum deposit of $100 to access the Pro account.

Active Trader Discount 🤝

Tickmill offers a three tier discount for active traders, with rebates beginning at $0.25% per standard lot. This goes up to 1000 standard lots a month, at $0.75 for those trading more than 3,001 lots a month.

Tickmill Investment Selection 📃

Customers can access a nice selection of 85 tradable assets including 62 currency pairs, and 13 CFDs on indices, bonds, and metals. 

What Can I Trade with Tickmill? 🗃

Traders can access copy trading, and spot trading for forex. Tickmill does not offer cryptocurrency or cryptocurrency traded as CFDs.

What is Tickmill Good At? 🏆

Tickmill’s fees overall are low, average and high based on which other broker they’re compared with. Traders will benefit from low trading fees and a $0 withdrawal fee. The pro account charges a commission but offers tight spreads, as we explained above.

Overall, Tickmill has lower forex and CFD fees than competitors. With this, Tickmills non trading fees are low. The broker charges no deposit, withdrawal, or inactivity fee.

Research 🔍

Tickmill’s market research is competitive, and it continues to make improvements each year. That said, the broker is not on par with other brokers, such as the sophisticated forex research of Saxo Bank, which offers personalized, in-depth, quality research.

Traders will gain access to Autochartist, a tool for automated technical analysis, forex news streamed right from investing.com , and a Myfxbook powers the economic calendar. All of this makes it quite easy for strategies that aim to trade the news.

Copy trading is available for traders. On top of the OG MQL5 signals market in MT4, traders can use the AutoTrade feature in Myfxbook for social copy-trading. Note: copy-trading is not available for traders in the UK.

In terms of market insights, Tickmill has an in-house team that produces technical and fundamental analysis. Customers will also be able to watch webinars, videos and get all the latest new updates through its YouTube page.

Customer Service ☎

Tickmill’s customer support can be reached through: 

• ☑️ Live chat
• ☑️ Telephone
• ☑️ E-mail

Beginners will appreciate Tickmill’s customer support. The team is quick to answer, giving straightforward and informed responses. The email team responds within a day, with similarly relevant answers.

The live chat is average but the team is very helpful and will provide screenshots if needed to help you along. Apart from this, the only downside we can see here is that it’s not available 24/7.

Where Tickmill Could Improve 👨‍🔧

As we mentioned, Tickmill is a MetaTrader-only broker, so customers are offered a basic experience on the MT4 platform. Disappointingly, you won’t find any add ons that will make this broker stand out from competitors, apart from Autochartist. The broker doesn’t even offer MT5.

The platform is customizable and allows users to easily change the size and position of the tabs. Though, the platform has an outdated feel and isn’t the easiest to navigate. For example, adding an asset isn’t the most straightforward.

There is a one-step login feature, which isn’t the most secure. Hopefully, the broker updates it to at least a two-step login soon.

Search functions are just okay. The assets are grouped neatly into different categories. However, there’s no option to just type in the name of the asset yourself.

When placing an order you will have all the basic order types, but there are no sophisticated order types like ‘one cancels the others. Here are the order types you will find:

• ☑ Limit
• ☑ Market
• ☑ Stop

You will also find some order time limits:

• ☑ Good ’til time (GTT)
• ☑ Good ’til canceled (GTC)

There is no option to set alerts and notifications on the web trading platform. You can only do this through the desktop version. Last but not least, Tickmill offers clear fee and portfolio reports. Though, there seems to be no way to download them.

Mobile Trading 📱

Tickmill’s mobile trading platform is a high quality MetaTrader4 app. It has a clear and user-friendly design with an easy to use search function. However, the login is not secure.

Tickmill’s mobile app is MT4, similarly to the web trading platform. The app is available on both iOS and Android. There are multiple languages to choose from, however, changing the language is a bit tricky on Android. It can only be done once the default language is changed on mobile. 

While the app is efficient, the app could introduce a safer login. If you like to trade on the go, check out some of the top forex trading apps in the industry.

Education 👨‍🏫

Tickmill does have a better educational section than the average but it doesn’t quite hit the same standard as some competitors. TD Ameritrade, for example, has an incredible educational offering.

Some highlights of the educational section include its live courses, and the weekly webinars offered in several languages. Customers also appreciate the ebooks and of course, the archived webinars are helpful for all levels. All of these sections cover a good variety of topics.

The downside with Tickmill’s education is that, while we recognize the company is continually improving its education year-on-year, the content overall is mixed with market research, which makes things less clear cut. Navigating through the research and filtering things isn’t the easiest. The broker could improve this area by adding an educational portal. 

If you’re a beginner trader, you will seriously benefit from choosing a broker with a helpful and up to date educational section, among other things. When searching for the best broker for you, look specifically for the forex brokers that focus on beginners.

Account Opening 👷‍♂️

If you get to the stage where you decide Tickmill is the broker for you, then luckily the account opening process is quick and easy. Mostly, accounts are verified in one business day.

There is also a very low minimum requirement of just $100 on all accounts, except VIP. And, it doesn’t matter where in the world you’re from, you can probably open an account. That is, everyone except (pretty much) those from the U.S. or Canada.

Tickmill’s Minimum Deposit 💵

The minimum deposit for most Tickmill accounts is just $100. This is the case for all except the VIP account, which requires the owner to have a balance of $50,000 in the account at all times.

Tickmill Accounts 👥

Tickmill offers three account types that vary in minimum deposit, required account balance and pricing. 

Tickmill Ltd retail clients can access a maximum leverage of 1:500, while clients of Tickmill UK Ltd and Tickmill Europe can access a leverage of up to 1:30. Professional traders can use high leverage of up to 1:500 for UK-based clients, and 1:300 for clients in EU countries. To qualify as a professional trader you must meet the following criteria:

• ☑ Make at least 10 trades each quarter
• ☑ Hold a financial portfolio that exceeds €500k.
• ☑ Have at least one years worth of professional experience in a financial position

Aside from this, you can open a corporate or an Islamic account that doesn’t have overnight swap and interest. The biggest difference with an Islamic account is that an administration fee is charged for exotic currencies that are held longer than three nights.

Does Tickmill Offer a Demo Account? ⏳

Yes, Tickmill also offers a free demo account where you can get a feel of the current trading environment and practise on the MT4 trading platform. When registering, you can choose how much leverage you want as well as how much of a deposit you want to make virtually. Of course, it’s just virtual money so there’s zero risk involved.

Account Opening Process 💡

The account opening process is doesn’t take long to complete and can be done completely online. Simply fill out an application form – it should only take a few minutes, and should be verified within a day.

Here are the steps to opening a Tickmill account: 

1. Start by choosing your regulator – this will take you to a region-specific webpage (like Tickmill UK or Tickmill Seychelles. 
2. Fill out some personal details, like your name and surname, email adress, country of residence, and phone number.
3. Choose your base currency.
4. Give some further information about your finances
5. Choose an account type – either Pro, Classic or VIP.
6. Provide proof of identity and residence. This entails uploading your ID, such as a passport or driver’s license, as well as a bank statement or recent utility bill.

The Tickmill Withdrawal Process 💳

Withdrawal and depositing money with Tickmill is quick and free. The broker gives the option of a good range of methods, including ACH transfers, credit and debit cards, and electronic wallets. That said, there aren’t a lot of base currencies to choose from.

Account Funding Base Currencies 💱

So, which base currencies are there? Not a lot, unfortunately – GBP, EUR, USD, and PLN. This is a better selection when compared to FXCM, for example, but much lower than the investment selection offered by Interactive Brokers.

How Can You Deposit Funds with Tickmill? 💰

The good news is that Tickmill does not charge any deposit fees. Let’s look at some of the electronic wallets accepted:

• ☑️ Neteller
• ☑️ Skrill
• ☑️ Dotpay
• ☑️ Paysafecard
• ☑️ Sofort
• ☑️ Rapid by Skrill
• ☑️ China Union Pay
• ☑️ Fasapay
• ☑️ Ngang Luong
• ☑️ Qiwi
• ☑️ Sticpay
• ☑️ Webmoney

How is COVID-19 Affecting Forex? 📈

The forex market has had a tough time over the past few years. As of late, it’s seen more downs than ups. The financial crisis of 2008 was the start of the jagged road ahead. Trying to convince people to trade was like speaking a foreign language – it just wasn’t happening!

Today, COVID-19 has come in and turned the industry upside down. It has caused mass chaos across the globe, a pervasive force, wreaking havoc on all it touched. This volatility and destruction has, ironically, reenergized the forex market.

 Increased volatility brings the opportunity to reap more rewards, and with a growing number of people in the U.S. becoming unemployed, the opportunity to regain lost income is more appealing than ever. 

Utilizing the forex market to make up for lost income is not only useful for the trader, but for the forex brokers and the wider industry, too. However, as spoken by former Fed Reserve Chief Uncle Ben, “with great chaos, comes great opportunity!” 

What he meant by this infamous one-liner was, when a nation of people feel uncertain, there is a shift in fundamental influences, which stir up volatility  in the market for those savvy enough to take advantage of.

Keep in mind, increased demand will likely result in increased fraud and scams in the forex market. Make sure you research where a broker is regulated to get an understanding of the regulations it adheres to.

Bottom Line 🚩

Tickmill is a low-fee Meta-trader broker that is regulated across the globe, including by the FCA.

In the highlights, we like Tickmill’s low forex and CFD fees. The account opening process is also simple and streamlined, and there are free deposit and withdrawal options.

But there are some notable downsides, too. Tickmill offers a limited product range of forex and CFDs on some stock indexes and commodities. The trading platforms have slightly outdated designs and the news feed is standard.

As a whole, we suggest Tickmill if you’re interested in forex and CFD trading and prefer using MetaTrader platforms. In the end, you can try out the demo account first for free, before you make a commitment.

Bear in mind when considering forex trading, as we approach the U.S. election uncertainty, fiscal and monetary trends will significantly affect the dollar and global exchange rates.