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FBS vs IC Markets: Comparison and Analysis

Written by Filippo Ucchino

Fact-Checked by Luca Puddu Publication Date 12 May 2023 Last Updated 2 October 2026

Our verdict · CFD/FX trading

IC Markets is better than FBS for CFD trading in the UK by a small margin, but FBS does not operate in the UK and IC Markets holds no licence there. IC Markets has a lower EUR/USD cost (7.55 USD per lot against 11.00 USD), asks for no minimum deposit, where FBS asks for 5.00 USD, and runs cTrader and TradingView next to the MetaTrader platforms both brokers share. IC Markets also holds more account base currencies (ten against two) and offers a demo account that does not expire. FBS, on the other hand, lists more tradable symbols (550 against 180), fills orders in 10 ms against 40 ms and opens cent and micro accounts. Neither IC Markets nor FBS is regulated in the UK, but both hold licences from CySEC and ASIC. They cover CFDs on commodities, forex, indices and stocks, open raw spread and ECN accounts, allow scalping, hedging, expert advisors, high-frequency strategies, VPS hosting and API access, offer copy and social trading, and credit deposits on the same day with withdrawals in 1 day.

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FBS

CFD FX

FBS review ›

79CFD/FX

Not available in the UK

66.43% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Best overall

IC Markets

CFD FX

IC Markets review ›

87CFD/FX

Not licensed in the UK

72.52% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Best for

1 / 12

IC Markets is better than FBS for professional traders, high-volume traders and swing traders. Scalpers, news traders and algo traders can choose either IC Markets or FBS.

Best for
Overall score	FBS 79 -8	IC Markets 87 Best
Day trading i
Long-term investing i
Professional traders i
High-volume traders i
Scalpers i
Swing traders i
News traders i
Algo traders i
Stock traders i
Crypto traders i
Futures traders i
Options traders i

Regulation

2 / 12

Neither FBS nor IC Markets is regulated in the UK. FBS and IC Markets are both regulated by top-tier authorities, including CySEC and ASIC (Australia). FBS does not operate in the UK.

Regulation
Section score	FBS 100	IC Markets 100
Tier-1 regulators
ESMA (European Union) i
FCA (United Kingdom) i
ASIC (Australia) i
CFTC (United States) i
NFA (United States) i
SEC (United States) i
CIRO (Canada) i
MAS (Singapore) i
SFC (Hong Kong) i
JFSA (Japan) i
FINMA (Switzerland) i
Tier-2 regulators
FMA (New Zealand) i
CBR (Russia) i
FSCA (South Africa) i
DFSA (Dubai) i
CSRC (China) i
ISA (Israel) i
LFSA (Malaysia) i
JSC (Jordan) i
CMA (Kenya) i
Tier-3 regulators
FSA (Seychelles) i
MMA (Maldives) i
SCB (Bahamas) i
FSC (Mauritius) i
VFSC (Vanuatu) i
FSC (Belize) i
CIMA (Cayman Islands) i
SV FSA (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) i
FSRC (St. Kitts & Nevis) i
BMA (Bermuda) i
BVI FSC (British Virgin Islands) i
EDR (External Dispute Resolution) i

Safety

3 / 12

FBS and IC Markets both offer segregated client funds and two-factor authentication. IC Markets holds no licence in the UK and is not covered by the FSCS.

Safety
Section score	FBS 65	IC Markets 65
Company info
Is it publicly traded i
Is it a bank i
Year founded i	2009	2007
Parent company i	FBS Markets Inc	International Capital Markets Pty Ltd
CEO i	Christos Kakourides	Andrew Budzinski
Money safety
Segregated client funds i
Two-factor authentication i
Investor compensation scheme i
Additional money insurance i
Partner bank i	N/A	N/A
Brand power
Number of customers worldwide i	27,000,000
Annual revenue i
Monthly website search traffic i		2.2M monthly visits

Costs

4 / 12

IC Markets is better than FBS for costs, given that IC Markets is cheaper on EUR/USD, at 7.55 USD per lot (against FBS's 11 USD), has tighter S&P 500 CFD spreads, at 0.49 points (against FBS's 0.6 points), and has tighter gold CFD spreads, at 0.09 points (against FBS's 0.31 points). Neither FBS nor IC Markets charges inactivity fees or account maintenance fees.

Costs
Section score	FBS 57 -22	IC Markets 79 Best
Broker fees
Deposit fees i
Withdrawal fees i
Overnight fees i
Inactivity fees i
Currency conversion fees i
Discounts on volume i
Real time market data fee i
Dividend withholding i
Account opening fees i
Account maintenance fee i
Portfolio management fee i
Fees on CFDs
Forex commission per lot i	Free	USD 7
EUR/USD average standard spread i	1.1 pips	0.8 pips
EUR/USD average raw spread i		0.01 pips
EUR/USD average fixed spread i
EUR/USD total cost per lot i	USD 11	USD 7.55
S&P 500 fees (CFD) i	0.6 points	0.492 points
Gold fees (CFD) i	0.31 points	0.09 points
Bitcoin fees (CFD) i	USD 19.75	USD 12.01
US stocks fees (CFD) i	Free	USD 0.02
Fees on stocks
Stock fee type i	Spread	Commission, Percentage
US stocks fees (real) i
ETF fees (real) i
Management costs i
Connection costs i
Fees on futures
Futures fees per contract i		Free
Platform fees i
Fees on options
Options fees per contract i
Event fees i
Fees on savings plans
IRA opening fee i
IRA maintenance fee i
401k opening fee i
401k maintenance fee i

Available markets

5 / 12

There is little between FBS and IC Markets on available markets. Both FBS and IC Markets offer CFDs on commodities, crypto, forex, indices and stocks. FBS goes a step further, as it gives access to 550 tradable symbols (against IC Markets' 180).

Available markets
Section score	FBS 75	IC Markets 75
Total tradable symbols i	550	180
Currency pairs i
Indices i
Commodities i
Stocks i
ETF i
Cryptocurrencies i
Bonds i
Interest rates i
Portfolios i
CFDs i	Commodities, Crypto, Forex, Indices, Stocks	Commodities, Crypto, Forex, Indices, Stocks
Futures i
Options i
Assets you can own i

Platform

6 / 12

IC Markets is better than FBS for platforms, because IC Markets offers cTrader, TradingView and ZuluTrade, which FBS does not. Both FBS and IC Markets offer MetaTrader 5 and MetaTrader 4.

Platform
Section score	FBS 66 -23	IC Markets 89 Best
Proprietary platform i
MetaTrader 4 i
MetaTrader 5 i
cTrader i
Social trading platform i
Copy trading platform i
ZuluTrade i
TradingView i
Duplitrade i
Mirror Trader i
NinjaTrader i
AutoChartist i
Real time pricing i
5 digit pricing i
One-click trading i

Mobile

7 / 12

FBS is better than IC Markets for mobile trading, because FBS offers a social trading app and a copy trading app, which IC Markets does not. Both FBS and IC Markets offer a proprietary mobile app and the MetaTrader 5 app.

Mobile
Section score	FBS 100 Best	IC Markets 93 -7
Proprietary app i
Social trading app i
Copy trading app i
MetaTrader 4 app i
MetaTrader 5 app i
cTrader app i
Mobile trading signals i
Mobile alerts i
Mobile charting tools i
Mobile drawing tools i
Mobile watchlist i
Smartwatch app i

Trading features

8 / 12

IC Markets is better than FBS for trading features, as IC Markets offers trailing stops, which FBS does not. FBS and IC Markets both offer tier-1 liquidity providers and VPS hosting. The leverage shown for FBS is set by its Belize entity and exceeds the retail limit in the UK (30:1 on major currency pairs). The leverage shown for IC Markets is set by its Seychelles entity and exceeds the retail limit in the UK (30:1 on major currency pairs).

Trading features
Section score	FBS 79 -4	IC Markets 83 Best
Trade execution
Broker type i	NDD	NDD
Average execution time i	10 ms	40 ms
Slippage occurrence i
Requotes occurrence i	0%
Tier-1 liquidity providers i
PFOF i
Leverage
Major FX pairs leverage i	3000:1	5000:1
Minor/Exotic FX pairs leverage i	3000:1	5000:1
Major indices leverage i	500:1	200:1
Minor indices leverage i	200:1	200:1
Gold leverage i	500:1	2000:1
Commodities leverage i	500:1	1000:1
Equities leverage i	100:1	20:1
Cryptocurrency leverage i		500:1
Risk management
Stop losses i
Take profits i
Limit orders i
Trailing stop i
Margin call i
OCO orders i
Guaranteed stop loss i
Negative balance protection i
Minimum trade size (FX) i	0.01 lots	0.01 lots
Minimum trade size (stocks) i	USD 0	USD 0
Fractional stocks i
Trading compliance
Scalping strategies allowed i
Hedging strategies allowed i
Automated trading strategy allowed i
EAs use allowed i
HFT strategy allowed i
VPS use allowed i
API use allowed i
Price scraping allowed i
FIFO rule applies i

Account types

9 / 12

IC Markets is better than FBS for account types, as IC Markets offers a professional traders account, a corporate account and an unlimited demo account, which FBS does not. Both FBS and IC Markets offer a demo account and a managed account.

Account types
Section score	FBS 70 -22	IC Markets 92 Best
Demo account i
Unlimited demo account i
Standard account i
Micro account i
Cent account i
Nano account i
Raw spread account i
ECN account i
Swap-free account i
Islamic account i
Professional traders account i
Fixed spread account i
Spread betting account i
Copy trading account i
Corporate account i
Managed account i
Stock investing account i
Margin investing account i
Savings account i
Retirement account i

Account opening

10 / 12

IC Markets is better than FBS for account opening, given that IC Markets does not require a minimum deposit (against FBS's 5 USD), offers 10 account base currencies (against FBS's 2), and supports 3 e-wallets (against FBS's 2). Both FBS and IC Markets offer credit cards and debit cards. FBS does not operate in the UK and IC Markets holds no licence there.

Account opening
Section score	FBS 75 -20	IC Markets 95 Best
Minimum deposit i	USD 5	USD 0
Minimum withdrawal i	USD 0	USD 0
Wire transfers i
Credit cards i
Debit cards i
eWallets i	Neteller, Skrill	PayPal, Neteller, Skrill
Local payment methods i
Account base currencies i	EUR, USD	AUD, CAD, CHF, EUR, GBP, HKD, JPY, NZD, SGD, USD
Deposit waiting time i	Instant	Instant
Withdrawal waiting time i	up to 1 business days	up to 1 business days
Bonus program i

Customer care

11 / 12

IC Markets is better than FBS for customer care, as IC Markets offers customer support in 17 languages (against FBS's 7), and has a website in 17 languages (against FBS's 15). Both FBS and IC Markets offer a dedicated account manager and phone support.

Customer care
Section score	FBS 82 -5	IC Markets 87 Best
Number of languages supported i	15	17
Website languages i	Arabic, German, English, French, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, Chinese	Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, German, English, French, Croatian, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese
Website available in English i
Customer support languages i	Arabic, English, Indonesian, Malay, Spanish, Thai, Turkish	Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, German, English, French, Croatian, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese
Customer support in English i
Call back request i
Email support i
Phone support i
Live chat i
Priority customer support i
Dedicated account manager i
Cash sweep i
Stock lending i
Distributes proceeds i
Tax withholding agent i
Tax assistance i

Learning

12 / 12

IC Markets is better than FBS for learning, because IC Markets offers professional reports and traders' sentiment, which FBS does not. Both FBS and IC Markets offer education for advanced traders and webinars.

Learning
Section score	FBS 83 -17	IC Markets 100 Best
Education
Education center i
Education for beginners i
Education for advanced traders i
Webinars i
Tutorials i
Glossary i
Research
Economic calendar i
Traders' sentiment i
Daily market commentary i
Daily trading ideas i
News via social media i
Professional reports i
Watchlist i

FBS

Not available in the UK 66.43% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

IC Markets

Not licensed in the UK 72.52% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Our verdict

FBS vs IC Markets: which one should you choose?

FBS

CFD/FX Choose FBS if you want an online CFD broker with fast execution and cent accounts and live in a country where it accepts clients.

Not available in the UK 66.43% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

IC Markets

CFD/FX Choose IC Markets if you want a CFD and forex broker with several trading platforms, no minimum deposit and a broad range of account base currencies and live in a country where it is licensed to operate.

Not licensed in the UK 72.52% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.