How do FP Markets and FBS stack up against each other?
The Radar Chart below highlights how the brokers stack up against each other across various metrics. The highest score a broker can receive in each area is 5.
At FxScouts, we help traders find the broker that suits their trading needs. In many cases, the best way to achieve this is to compare brokers side-by-side.
To compare FP Markets and FBS, we used the same factors we use when reviewing brokers: The trust and regulation of the broker, the trading platform, the costs and trading conditions, and the level of education and market analysis available at the broker.
Does FP Markets or FBS have a better trust and regulation rating?
Trust and regulation are some of the most important factors to consider when choosing a Forex broker. Trust in the Forex trading business is almost entirely founded upon regulation. We spend many hours evaluating the safety of each broker by delving into their fine print and confirming each one of their regulatory licences on the online registers. The more top-tier authorities a broker is regulated by, the higher its trust rating.
In our comparison, we found that FP Markets holds two Tier 1 and no Tier 2 licences, and FBS holds two Tier 1 and no Tier 2 licences.
Is FP Markets financially regulated?
Yes FP Markets was founded in 2005 and is regulated by ASIC, CMA, CySEC, FSC, FSCA and FSA-Seychelles.
Is FBS financially regulated?
Yes FBS was founded in 2009 and is regulated by ASIC, CySEC and FSC.
Based on these findings, FP Markets earned a higher trust rating than FBS.
Does FP Markets or FBS have lower costs?
Another important aspect we consider when comparing brokers is the cost of trading. When evaluating trading costs, we always consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and the ongoing trading costs, including the spreads and commissions. When calculating trading costs, we measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit. The cost includes both the spread and any commission charged.
Not all brokers publish their trading costs, so we often open accounts and trade on their platforms to verify the spreads and commissions. Based on our reviews, we found that FP Markets has overall lower trading costs than FBS.
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Does FP Markets or FBS offer a better choice of trading platforms?
Traders want Forex brokers to offer them a choice of trading platforms, so we give brokers who offer multiple platforms higher ratings. Trading platforms we consider include MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader and proprietary mobile and web-based platforms.
In this case, FP Markets offers support for cTrader, MT4, MT5 and IRESS and FBS offers support for MT4, MT5 and FBS App.
Do the brokers offer copy trading?
Copy trading is a great option for beginner traders who can’t trade full-time or lack experience with Forex trading. In this case both FBS and FP Markets offer copy trading.
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Which broker offers a better choice of trading instruments?
A variety of CFD instruments – and a large range of CFDs for each instrument category allow traders more opportunities for profitable trading. The best brokers will have thousands of CFDs to trade, covering all these instrument categories. We found that FBS offers a greater range and depth of instruments to trade than FP Markets. FBS offers 72 Forex pairs to trade and FP Markets offers 70 Forex pairs to trade.
And what about Cryptocurrencies?
In this case, FP Markets offers 11 cryptocurrencies while FBS offers 5 cryptocurrencies. So if you want to trade cryptocurrencies, we advise trading with FP Markets.
Which broker offers better deposit and withdrawal processes?
Although brokers may have reasonable trading fees, many traders are caught out by the high non-trading fees charged by some brokers, including deposits and withdrawals. Traders want to be able to deposit and withdraw funds quickly and cheaply. Most brokers have multiple funding methods with zero fees for making deposits, but some brokers make it more expensive and take longer to process withdrawals.
We rate brokers more highly that process withdrawals within 24 hours by multiple withdrawal methods and without charging processing fees. We found that FP Markets charges a withdrawal fee and FBS does not. Overall, FBS has better deposit and withdrawal processes than FP Markets.
Which broker offers better educational support?
We often find that brokers offer very little in the way of educational materials, forcing traders to use other third-party sites or self-educate elsewhere. Beginner traders need well-structured, well-presented materials in multiple formats to get a good start at trading. More experienced traders also benefit from webinars led by experts in the field and advanced trading strategy sections with new trading ideas.
FBS and FP Markets both have moderate educational support. Both FBS and FP Markets offer educational support for more experienced traders.
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Which broker offers better market analysis materials?
To successfully predict the price movements of an instrument, traders will need access to frequent market research and analysis. We find that research and market analysis are always better when they are produced in-house and updated frequently. Third-party resources don’t show the same expertise in trading ideas, so we place a strong emphasis on frequent in-house updates. Some brokers also often offer interactive webinars where traders can learn from experts in the field.
We found that FP Markets offers better research analysis than FBS and that both FBS and FP Markets offer frequent webinars.
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Our overall Verdict on FP Markets
FP Markets is a well-regulated Forex broker with two low-cost, low-minimum deposit accounts, and a range of excellent trading tools and trading platforms. We were also impressed with how easy the FP Markets Trading App was to use and the quality of FP Markets' customer service.
In terms of fees, FP Markets has an “ECN pricing” model, which it claims provides “extremely competitive” costs. Unfortunately, we found that the fees on its standard trading accounts were higher than most of its ECN competitors. But FP Markets does make it easy for beginners to get started, with 100 AUD minimum deposits and unlimited demo accounts.
We are also impressed that in addition to MT4, MT5, and cTrader, TradingView is also available. FP Markets is now one of a handful of brokers that has such a good platform offering. TradingView has been added in January 2024 and we believe it brings a lot of advantages to an already comprehensive tech portfolio.
South African traders will also be pleased to note that as of January 2023, FP Markets acquired a licence from the national authority, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), and will soon be onboarding clients through this entity. This means that SA client funds will be segregated at South African banks, and that traders benefit from local protection.
Our overall Verdict on FBS
FBS is a well-regulated international broker with low costs, including a 5 USD minimum deposit, a single trading account and an easy-to-use mobile trading app. South African traders should be aware the FBS is not regulated by the FSCA, and that they will be onboarded through FBS’ Belize-based entity.
Beginners should also be wary of the high leverage available at FBS. Without proper risk management, high leverage can quickly wipe out smaller accounts, though FBS does offer negative balance protection. Otherwise, FBS provides a welcoming environment for beginner traders, with an excellent selection of educational and market analysis materials and 24/7 customer support.
Which broker has the highest overall rating?
FP Markets has an overall rating of 4.40 and FBS has an overall rating of 4.33. For more detail please read our reviews of
FP Markets and
FBS.
