About this Review: In this review, we will brief the in depth knowledge of City Index. Here we will cover topics like what is City Index, minimum requirements to open an account and more.
Table of Contents
What is the City Index?
City Index is a global CFD and Forex broker. It was founded in 1983. It operates under its parent company GAIN Capital, which is listed in NSE.
The company is regulated by FCA, ASIC and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73% 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.
City Index main features and highlights
| 🗺️ Country of regulation | UK, Australia, Singapore |
| 💰 Trading fees class | Low |
| 💰 Inactivity fee charged | Yes |
| 💰 Withdrawal fee amount | $0 |
| 💰 Minimum deposit | $100 |
| 🕖 Time to open an account | 1 day |
| 💳 Deposit with bank card | Available |
| 👛 Depositing with electronic wallet | Available |
| 💱 Number of base currencies supported | 8 |
| 🎮 Demo account provided | Yes |
| 🛍️ Products offered | Forex, CFD, Crypto |
Account Opening:
The City Index account opening process is completely technical and requires a few minutes. It takes only a day to verify the account.
Minimum deposit:
The required City Index minimum deposit is $100.
It offers 3 types of trading accounts.
City Index account types
| Trader | Premium Trader | Professional | |
| Minimum account balance | £0 | £10,000 | £0 |
| Leverage | 30:1 | 30:1 | 400:1 |
| Additional services | – | Relationship manager | Relationship manager |
Based on ownership, you can open an individual or corporate account. If you are from the UK, you can also trade using a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) account.
Fees:
It has a low forex fee on one hand, and it charges high CFD fees on other hand. City Index has no withdrawal fee but it charges high inactivity fees after one year.
City Index fee snapshot
| Assets | Fee terms |
| S&P 500 CFD | Fees are built into the spread, 0.4 points is the average spread cost during peak trading hours. |
| Europe 50 CFD | The fees are built into the spread, 2 points is the average spread cost during peak trading hours. |
| EURUSD | Fees are built into the spread, 0.8 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours. |
| Inactivity fee | £12 per month after one year of inactivity |
CFD fees for a $2,000 long position held for one week
| S&P 500 index CFD fee | $1.2 |
| Europe 50 index CFD fee | $1.9 |
| Apple CFD fee | $21.3 |
| Vodafone CFD fee | $27.6 |
Forex benchmark fees of a $20,000 held for one week
| EURUSD benchmark fee | $6.3 |
| GBPUSD benchmark fee | $5.5 |
| AUDUSD benchmark fee | $7.6 |
| EURCHF benchmark fee | $7.0 |
| EURGBP benchmark fee | $8.9 |
Deposit and Withdrawal
City Index offers many methods for deposit and withdrawals. The ways are:
Bank Transfer
Credit/Debit Card
eWallet
City Index offers accounts in 8 languages; EUR, GBP, USD, CHF, HUF, AUD, JPY, PLN.
Withdrawal process is the same as deposit, however it does not support some credit cards.
How long does it take to withdraw money from the City Index?
Withdrawals usually take 3-5 business days.
How do you withdraw money from the City Index?
- Log in to your City Index account
- Go to ‘Funding’
- Select ‘Withdraw’
- Enter withdrawal amount
- Initiate the withdrawal
City Index Trading Platform :
City Index offers 3 types of web trading platform:
- Web Trader – City Index’s HTML-based trading platform
- Advantage Web – City Index’s older web trading platform
- MetaTrader4 – third-party trading platform, specialized in forex trading
City Index’s mobile trading platform is easy to use and user friendly. It has its own City Index mobile application. Along with that it also supports third party MetaTrader4 trading platform.
Its desktop trading platform performs the same function as web and mobile trading platforms but lags in user friendliness. It offers two desktop platforms, the Advanced Trading Platform and MetaTrader 4
Products Offered:
City Index allows trade only in Forex, CFDS and Cryptos. It doesn’t provide trade in real assets like stocks, options and futures.
Product selection
| Currency pairs (#) | 84 |
| Stock index CFDs (#) | 22 |
| Stock CFDs (#) | 4500 |
| ETF CFDs (#) | 690 |
| Commodity CFDs (#) | 29 |
| Bond CFDs (#) | 12 |
| Cryptos (#) | 6 |
Research and Education
City Index provides various research tools, involving charts, data bars, and news. However, these tools are poorly organized on their website. It provides fundamental information on its tools namely ‘Economic Analysis’ and ‘Market Pulse’.
It provides a range of educational tools :
- Webinars
- Demo Account
- Educational videos
- Tutorial videos
- eBooks
- Text PDF
Though material is good but it is poorly organized. Beginners can enjoy learning through quality videos, but they get confused as it is difficult to track what syllabus is complete and what to do next. The only drawback it has in terms of education and research is that the material is not organized in a proper manner. It does not provide fundamental data about the organization
Customer Support :
You can connect via;
Live Chat
Phone
The drawback here is that customer support is not available 24/7.
Safety :
Is the City Index safe?
Yes, it is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
UK clients are protected under consumer protection schemes with an amount of £85,000. City Index provides negative balance protection for forex spot and CFD trading, but only for retail clients from the European Union.
City Index investor protection
| Client country | Investor protection amount | Regulator | Legal entity |
| All countries, except for Australia and Singapore | £85,000 | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | GAIN Capital UK Ltd |
| Australia | No protection | Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) | GAIN Capital Australia Pty Ltd |
| Singapore | No protection | Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) | GAIN Capital Singapore PTE |
| Pros | Cons |
| Low forex fees | Limited product portfolio |
| Diverse research tools | Non-user-friendly desktop platform |
| Fast and easy account opening | Inactivity fee |
| Free withdrawal | Problem with credit card withdrawal |
| User friendly | No two step login |
Bottom Line:
City Index is a user friendly platform that helps you to perform your trading function easily. It provided a good amount of research and educational tools. It protects UK clients under consumer protection act.
On the other hand, it charges high CFD fees and products are limited to forex and CFDs. It does not have protection for clients belonging to other entities.
You can definitely give it a try since it is regulated by top financial institutions, no minimum deposits required and inactive fee only kicks after one year.
City Index Review
Pros
- Low forex fees
- Fast and easy account opening
Cons
- Limited product portfolio
- Inactivity fee
