LiteForex Broker Review

Is LiteForex Safe?

Yes, Liteforex is a safe broker for South Africans to trade with.  Although it is essentially unregulated, LiteForex segregates all client funds, and provides traders with negative balance protection.  

LiteForex was founded in 2005, is headquartered in the Marshall Islands.  It is authorised and regulated in Cyprus by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, acts in accordance with Marshall Islands Business Corporation Act, and is incorporated in St Vincent and the Grenadines.  See below for registration details:

• Liteforex (Europe) Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), with licence number 093/08.
  
• LiteForex Investments Limited is registered in the Marshall Islands under the registration number: 63888. The Company’s address: Ajeltake Road, Ajeltake Island, Majuro, Marshall Islands MH96960.
• LiteFinance Global LLC is incorporated in St. Vincent & the Grenadines as a Limited Liability Company with registration number 931 LLC 2021. Registered address: First Floor, First St Vincent Bank Ltd Building, James Street, Kingstown, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.

South Africans will be trading under the subsidiary, Litefinance Global LLC, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVGFSA).  

For all intents and purposes, the SVGFSA is not considered a forex broker regulator and applies no supervision of any CFD trading-related activities.  Clients must rely solely on the reputation of Liteforex, as no additional measures exist to ensure client protection. However, in a show of good faith, LiteForex segregates all funds from the company’s operating capital at top-tier banks, and it offers negative balance protection to all its clients.  However, because LiteForex is not regulated by the FSCA, South Africans are not protected under any local investor protection schemes.  

Overall, because of its history of responsible behaviour, the fact that LiteForex segregates all client funds, and provides negative balance protection, we deem Liteforex a safe broker to trade with.  

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Trading Fees

Liteforex’s trading fees are higher than average on both of its accounts.

Unlike other brokers that offer a range of account types with lower spreads linked to higher minimum deposits, LiteForex offers two market-execution accounts with low minimum deposits. The Classic Account has trading costs included in the spread while the ECN Account offers tighter spreads and a small commission per trade. For more detail on Liteforex’s trading accounts, click here.

LiteForex’s fee structure is transparent, and it publishes all the spread and commission costs associated with either account.

When making this calculation, we use one lot of EUR/USD as a benchmark as it is the most commonly traded currency pair and it usually has the tightest spread.

Trading Cost Formula: Spread x Trade Size + Commission = Cost in Secondary Currency (USD):

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As you can see from the table above, trading costs on the ECN Account are significantly lower than those on the Classic Account. However, these costs are still above those of other good brokers, which have trading costs of 9 USD per lot traded. Additionally, spreads are variable, which means they get tighter or wider depending on trade volume and market volatility.  

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Broker

Trading Conditions

Base Currencies

EURUSD (Standard)

Trading Cost (Standard)

EURUSD (Best)

GBPUSD (Best)

USDJPY (Best)

Commission

LiteForex

3.5/ 5

AUD, EUR, GBP, NZD, USD, CHF, CAD

1.90 pips

USD 19

0.20 pips

0.20 pips

0.10 pips

USD 0

AvaTrade

4.5/ 5

USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, ZAR, CHF

0.90 pips

USD 9

0.90 pips

1.60 pips

1.10 pips

USD 0

Pepperstone

4.5/ 5

EUR, GBP, USD, AUD, NZD, JPY, CHF, SGD, HKD, CAD

1.00 pips

USD 10

0.10 pips

0.40 pips

0.30 pips

USD 0

Swap Fees

The other main trading cost to consider is the overnight swap fee. This is charged on trades held open overnight and is derived from the difference between the interest rates of the two currencies being traded.  For example, the swap fees for the EUR/USD on a long position are -5.616, and on a short position are -0.156.  

Overall, trading costs at LiteForex are higher than average on both account options.

Non-trading Fees

LiteForex’s non-trading fees are average compared to other similar brokers.

Some of the most overlooked trading costs are the non-trading fees that are charged by brokers.  These fees can significantly affect your profitability and so should be carefully scrutinised.

LiteForex does not charge any fees for deposits and charges no inactivity fees, but charges fees on some withdrawal methods.  For example, it charges a fee of 3% for withdrawing via debit/credit cards and a commission of 9.50 ZAR for withdrawing by bank transfer (click here for more on LiteForex’s deposits and withdrawals). Overall, these withdrawal fees are higher than other similar brokers.  

Opening an Account at LiteForex

The account-opening process at Liteforex requires only registration of an email address and password.

South African traders are eligible to open an account at LiteForex as long as they meet the following minimum deposit requirements:

• Classic Account: 50 USD
• ECN Account: 50 USD

Unlike other brokers that require extensive KYC (Know Your Customer) documents due to strict regulatory oversight, LiteForex simply asks for an email address and password.  

However, traders are required to submit an electronic form of identification to make withdrawals in line with Anti Money Laundering rules.

Overall, this is strange behaviour from an international broker, especially in an industry often accused of an irresponsible approach to consumer protection.

LiteForex’s Account Types

LiteForex offers two account types, which is average when compared to other brokers, and the accounts are more suitable for beginners than experienced traders.

LiteForex has two simple account types that are both more to beginners than experienced traders. Beginner traders are inexperienced traders who have never traded before, or who have been trading for less than a year.  Beginner traders often do not want to risk trading large sums of money and generally will not be able to trade full-time during the workweek. 

Accounts with lower minimum deposits and which allow trading in micro-lots are generally more suited to beginner traders. Spreads on these accounts are often wider than those with higher minimum deposits.  Both Liteforex’s accounts have a minimum deposit of 50 USD, making them accessible to beginner traders.   

In general, experienced traders tend to prefer accounts with higher minimum deposits and tighter spreads. At Liteforex this trade-off does not occur as both accounts have low minimum deposits and higher than average trading costs, making them unappealing to experienced traders.  

Both LiteForex’s accounts are market execution, with no requotes, and are available on the Metatrader 4 and Metatrader 5 platforms. LiteForex allows hedging and scalping and offers an excellent copy trading service.  South African traders can access maximum leverage of 500:1, and both accounts are available as Islamic swap-free options.  See below for details on the accounts:

Classic Account

The Classic Account was designed for experienced traders.  Its variable spreads average at 2.0 pips, which is significantly wider than other brokers.  Classic Accounts only allow base currencies to be denominated in USD, EUR, and MBT.  The minimum deposit on this account is 50 USD, and transactions start at 0.01 lots.  Support is offered for both the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms, Stop Out levels are at 20%, and no interest is charged on surplus funds.  Commissions only apply to cryptocurrency trading, at 12 USD per lot. 

ECN Account

LiteForex offers an ECN Account, which means there is no dealing desk or conflict of interest. The account offers an interest rate of 2.5% on surplus funds and unlimited transactions. The trading account provides access to the best prices on the market, and variable spreads start at 1.90 pips pips with no re-quotes.  Leverage is up to 500:1, the minimum deposit is 50 USD, and LiteForex charges 10 USD per lot on major Forex pairs, and 30 USD  per lot on minor pairs, which is much higher than the commissions at other brokers.  

Demo Account

LiteForex demo accounts provide the opportunity for traders to trade virtual money under real market conditions.  Demo accounts are free of charge and allow beginner traders to refine trading strategies using MetaTrader platforms.  Traders receive real quotes from liquidity providers and have access to all trading instruments.  

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Deposits and Withdrawals

LiteForex offers a limited number of payment methods, and while LiteForex charges no commissions on deposits, it charges fees for most withdrawal methods.  

In line with the Anti-Money Laundering Directive, Liteforex operates a “return to source” policy, meaning that withdrawals must be made via the same method and into the same account as the original deposit. 

LiteForex does not charge fees for deposits, and as a bonus, it covers deposit fees imposed by the provider.   Withdrawal fees are dependent on the method.

LiteForex offers an automatic withdrawal feature that enables traders to withdraw funds up to 100 USD per day within 24 hours, which is available on Skrill, Perfect Money, and Neteller. Withdrawal charges are specific to the provider.  Note that withdrawal requests are processed manually by the Financial Department during its working hours and are processed within one working day of the date of submission.  Bank wire transfers can take up to five working days to be processed, depending on the sender’s and beneficiary’s banks’ operation speed.

See below for a list of methods:

Overall, LiteForex offers a wide range of funding methods, and while deposits are free, high fees are charged on most withdrawal methods.

Bonus Structure

LiteForex provides its clients with withdrawable Forex bonuses.  At the time of writing this review, current promotions include a 30% Forex deposit bonus. Follow the LiteForex news or stay in touch with its support team to find out more about bonuses and promotions.

Base Currencies

Compared to other brokers, LiteForex offers a limited range of base currencies.

Accounts can be denominated in the following base currencies: USD, EUR, and MBT.

There are several other international brokers operating in South Africa now who offer accounts based in South African Rands, allowing South African traders to avoid paying conversion fees when making deposits and withdrawals. While this may seem to be advantageous in the short term, trading Forex from a ZAR-based account can be expensive over time as ongoing trading costs will still be charged in the currencies being traded – usually USD, GBP, or EUR.

While most South Africans will want to have their trading accounts denominated in USD, some traders may want to have multiple accounts with different base currencies so as not to pay conversion fees when trading, but this is not possible at LiteForex.   

Trading Platforms

Liteforex offers support for an average number of trading platforms compared to other brokers.

LiteForex offers support for the MetaTrader platforms – MT4 and MT5.  Developed in 2005 and 2010 respectively, these systems have become the leading platforms for online forex and CFD trading. They come with multiple chart types, including line, candlestick, and bars. Other popular features include Expert Advisors, automated trading support, strategy backtesting, customisable charting, indicators, and copy trading functionality.

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Broker

Platform Choice

Copy Trading

Platforms

LiteForex

4.5/ 5

Yes

MT4

MT5

AvaTrade

4.5/ 5

Yes

MT4

MT5

Avatrade Social

AvaOptions

Pepperstone

5/ 5

Yes

MT4

MT5

cTrader

TradingView

MetaTrader 4

MT4 is still the most popular platform on the market. Its beginner-friendly elements, such as a copy trading system and automated Expert Advisor apps, come in handy for less-experienced traders. Advanced traders can take advantage of complex analytics and charting tools. Moreover, they can design their own trading indicators using the proprietary MQL4 programming language.  Other features of MT4 include:

• A built-in library of more than 50 indicators and tools to streamline the analysis process.

• An impressive array of analytical tools, available in nine timeframes for each financial instrument.

• Live price streaming on live accounts and demo accounts 128-bits encryption for secure trading

• Algorithmic trading, which allows any trading strategy to be formalised and implemented as an Expert Advisor. 

• Customisable alerts

• Access to MetaTrader market and MQL4 community

MetaTrader 5

LiteForex offers support for the MT5 platform, the latest iteration of the industry-standard MetaTrader.  It offers 30 technical indicators, 24 analytical objects, 21 timeframes, and an unlimited number of charts.  The application also supports both netting and hedging systems and includes all the tools and features necessary for trading: Market Depth, trading operations, and history monitoring. 

Overall, although Liteforex only offers the Metatrader suite of platforms, which are not as beginner-friendly as the proprietary platforms offered at other brokerages, MT4 and MT5 are considered some of the best third-party platforms in the industry.  

Mobile Apps

LiteForex‘s mobile trading platforms are average compared to other similar brokers.  It offers mobile versions of MT4 and MT5, but no proprietary mobile trading solutions.  

MetaTrader is freely available on both Android and IOS mobile phones and tablets.  The advantage of using the MetaTrader platform is the cross-device and multi-broker functionality, making it easier to change broker or use multiple brokers.  All applications and their contents are supported in more than eight languages and are regularly updated.

Traders should be aware that there is some loss in functionality when compared to the desktop trading platforms, including reduced time frames and fewer charting options, but traders can close and modify existing orders, calculate profit and loss, and trade on the charts.

LifeForex’s Trading Tools

LiteForex offers an average number of trading tools compared to other similar brokers.

Liteforex offers access to a VPS service at an extra cost, analytical materials from Claws&Horns, a social trading platform, and various trading calculators:

VPS

LiteForex offers a discounted VPS (Virtual Private Server) service on the MT4 and MT5 platforms. VPS hosting allows traders to run automated algorithmic strategies, including expert advisors 24 hours a day 7 days a week on a virtual machine. Traders are charged a fee of 15 USD per month to use the service.  

The LiteForex VPS service has dedicated 24/5 customer support teams that can help new users get set up and install EAs and indicators directly to the virtual machines. VPS services have the advantage of never suffering connectivity issues and have extremely low latency due to their proximity to major international exchanges.

Forex Social Trading

LiteForex has created its own proprietary social trading platform.  The automated copy-trading system will allow you to duplicate the best trades, trade independently, share information, and communicate with other traders. Liteforex provides a list of the most profitable traders, with their performance profiles from which followers can choose. 

Claws & Horns Analytics

Traders receive independent market news and analysis from third-party provider, Claws & Horns.  Available for free to all LiteForex clients, Claws & Horns provides fundamental and technical analysis, video reviews, and various signals.  It also provides recommendations for trade opening with entry/exit points that are updated throughout the day, which are intended for medium-term trading strategies. 

Calculators

LiteForex provides a host of trading calculators, including a trader’s calculator to calculate trading costs and required margin, a Fibonacci calculator, and a currency rates calculator.  

Overall, Liteforex offers a range of useful trading tools to help traders make better trading decisions.  

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Broker

Economic Calendar

Autochartist

Trading Central

Trading View

Free VPS

LiteForex

Yes

No

No

No

Yes

AvaTrade

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Pepperstone

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Liteforex’s Financial Instruments

​LiteForex offers a limited number of financial instruments compared to other large international market makers.  

Liteforex offers CFD trading on Forex, indices, commodities, shares, and cryptocurrencies (click here for more on CFD trading):

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• Forex: Liteforex offers 56 currency pairs for trading, an average range compared to most other brokers.  These include majors (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY), minors (NZD/JPY, GBP/JPY, and USD/ZAR), and exotics. 

• Share CFDs: Liteforex offers 37 share CFDs, which is average compared to other large international brokers.  The selection available includes some of the major US NYSE and NASDAQ-listed Exchanges. This offering is limited compared to what’s available at other large brokers.    

• Indices: There are 11 indices available for trading at LiteForex, which is around the average available at other similar brokers. The most popular indices are those that combine the shares of some of the largest and globally acknowledged companies.   

• Commodities: Liteforex offers trading on 6 commodities, which is around the average available at other brokers.  Most brokers offer between 5 and 10 commodities. Commodities include metals such as silver and gold, and energies such as oil. 

• Cryptocurrencies: At the time of writing, there are 16 USD currency pairs available, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple, a greater variety than is typically available at other brokers.  The spreads vary significantly compared to other traditional Fiat currencies.  It is not unusual for spreads to be as wide as 75 pips on Bitcoin, but cryptocurrency spreads vary greatly, so if you trade these currencies, watch your margins. 

Overall, Liteforex’s CFD offering is limited compared to what is available at other similar international brokers but it stands out for the number of cryptocurrency pairs on offer.

LiteForex for Beginners

LiteForex offers a limited selection of educational materials for beginner traders, but their extensive analysis section covers fundamental and technical analyses across a range of currency pairs. A bonus is that one does not have to be a LiteForex Trading client to access this material.

Educational Material

LiteForex’s educational materials are average compared to other similar brokers.

LiteForex’s educational suite includes archived webinars, a glossary of terms, a set of books written by professional traders, and an extensive blog with topics for beginners and experienced traders alike.

• Webinars: Webinars are run on a weekly basis, and traders can access archived webinars on the website.  Topics include Technical Analysis, Trader Psychology, Testing Strategies, Money Management, and Trading Basics.
• Forex Books: LiteForex lists a set of books for suggested reading.  Written by professional traders, these books provide beginners with the fundamentals of successful trading.  Traders should note that they will have to purchase these books separately – they are not available through the website.  
• Blog: Liteforex’s blog is written by its team of in-house analysts.  The blog is updated on a daily basis and provides materials for beginners, professionals, investors, and partners.  

Overall, Liteforex provides a comprehensive education section that is frequently updated.

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Broker

Beginner Course

Advanced Course

Well Structured Education

Education Quality

Webinars

LiteForex

No

Yes

No

Medium

No

AvaTrade

Yes

Yes

Yes

High

Yes

Pepperstone

Yes

Yes

Yes

Medium

Yes

Analysis Materials

Liteforex’s market analysis materials are in-depth, comprehensive, and frequently updated.  

LiteForex provides up-to-date reviews and forecasts for all market instruments.  Its fundamental analysis consists of daily news on significant political and economic events that impact the world markets. In-house analysts and traders produce all forex fundamental analytical reports.  LiteForex also provides its clients with a free high-quality analysis prepared by an independent Company, Claws&Horns.

Customer Support

LiteForex offers customer support 24/5 via email, telephone, and live chat. However, one has to register an account to access the live chat service. For the purposes of this review, we found customer support to be slow and sometimes unresponsive. They were also unable to answer most of our questions.

Evaluation Method

We value transparency and openness in the way we review the partners. To bring transparency to the forefront, we have published our review process that includes a detailed breakdown of how we review LiteForex’s product offering. Central to that process is the evaluation of the broker’s reliability, the platform offering of the broker, and the trading conditions offered to clients, which are summarised in this review. Each one of these is graded, and an overall score is calculated and assigned to the broker.

LiteForex’s Risk Warning

Trading Forex is risky, and each broker is required to detail how risky the trading of Forex CFDs is to clients. LiteForex would like you to know that:  Trading on financial markets carries risks. Contracts for Difference (‘CFDs’) are complex financial products that are traded on margin. Trading CFDs carries a high level of risk since leverage can work both to your advantage and disadvantage. As a result, CFDs may not be suitable for all investors because you may lose all your invested capital. You should not risk more than you are prepared to lose. Before deciding to trade, you need to ensure that you understand the risks involved and taking into account your investment objectives and level of experience. Click here for our full Risk Disclosure.

Overview

Overall, Liteforex is a dependable broker with two low-deposit accounts that are suited more to beginners than experienced traders on the MT4 and MT5 platforms. Trading costs are higher than other similar brokers on both accounts, with spreads starting at 1.9 pips on its commission-free Classic Account, and spreads of 0.0 pips (EUR/USD) on its ECN Account in exchange for a commission of 10 USD.  However, beginner traders will benefit from LiteForex’s proprietary copy trading system and unlimited demo account, in addition to the frequent webinars, and regularly updated educational and market analysis materials on offer. 

Although it is CySEC regulated for its international clientele, South African traders are not offered this protection, but all client funds are segregated from its operating capital, and traders are afforded negative balance protection.