Zero Markets Broker Review

Founded in 2017, Zero Markets is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Financial Services Authority of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG FSA), and the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius (FSC).

As a Ugandan client, you will be trading through the Saint Vincent-based subsidiary, which has very little regulatory oversight, Zero Markets segregates its client funds from company funds in top-tier Australian banks. However, we were disappointed that it does not provide its traders with automatic negative balance protection, although this is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

According to our findings, the account opening process at Zero Markets is fully digital, fast, and hassle-free compared to other brokers. 

We tested the account opening process, which took approximately 15 minutes to complete, and once our documentation had been submitted, our accounts were ready for trading within 24 hours. 

As a Ugandan trader, you are eligible to open an account at Zero Markets as long as you meet the minimum deposit requirement of 100 AUD.

Creating an account is straightforward, the process is fully digital, and accounts are usually ready within 24 hours, which is faster than other brokers. Zero Markets offers joint and individual accounts, but we will focus on opening an individual account:

How to open a live account at Zero Markets:

1. In order to start the account-opening process, we clicked on the “Open Account” button at the top of the page. We were then directed to register an account with our name, email address, country of residence, preferred language, and telephone number. 

2. The second step required us to fill in our personal details (including name, country of residence, residential address, gender, email address, mobile number, ID number, employment status, and occupation).

3. Next, we were asked to complete a short form to help Zero Markets assess the state of our finances and trading knowledge. While most brokers don’t include this step in the account-opening process, it is a responsible move in an industry that is often accused of an irresponsible approach to consumer protection.

4. We then acknowledged that we had read and understood Zero Markets’ various policy documents.

5. The next step required selecting our preferred account type (Standard or Super Zero), trading platform (MT4 or MT5), and chosen base currency.

6. Lastly, Zero Markets needed at least two documents to accept us as an individual client:

• • Proof of Identification – current (not expired) coloured scanned copy (in PDF or JPG format) of your passport. If no valid passport is available, a similar identification document bearing your photo such as an ID card or driving licence will work.

  • Proof of Address – a Bank Statement or Utility Bill. Please ensure, however, that the documents provided are not older than 6 months and that your name and physical address are clearly displayed.

Our application was approved within 24 hours.

Compared to other similar brokers, Zero Markets’ account opening process is fast, generally hassle-free, and fully digital, and accounts are ready for trading in one day.

In our review of Zero Markets, we found that it offers a reasonable range of Forex pairs and cryptocurrencies, a large range of share CFDs, but a small range of commodities and metals. 

The trading costs on the Standard Account are built into the spread and are higher than the costs on the Super Zero Account, which has a round turn commission of 5 USD. Additionally, both accounts have a minimum deposit requirement of only 100 AUD. On this basis, we recommend opening a Super Zero Spread account because it is priced so competitively. 

Swap Fees

The other main trading cost we took into consideration was the overnight swap fee. It is determined by the overnight interest rate differential between the two currencies involved in the pair and whether the position is a buy ‘long’ or sell ‘short’.

We opened and tested a variety of Zero Markets’ trading accounts:

Standard Account

The Standard Account is the best option if you are looking for commission-free trading. Spreads are wider than on the Super Zero Account, usually starting at 1.00 pip, although they can come down to 0 pips with high trade volumes, however, we noted that spreads were usually around 1.2 – 1.3 pips (EUR/USD).

The minimum deposit is 100 AUD, and 45+ Forex pairs, metals, commodities, and indices are available for trading. As is customary, you will see that equities are only available on the MT5 trading platform.

Super Zero Account

This account has tighter spreads – 0.1 pips on the EUR/USD- although we found spreads were usually around 0,2 – 0.4 pips (see the screenshot below). In addition, a commission of 5 USD round turn per standard lot is charged for Forex trading, one of the lowest commissions in the industry. 

The minimum deposit is also set at is 100 AUD, so the only real difference between this account and the Standard Account is whether the broker’s fee is charged on the commission or in the spread, although the costs on the Super Zero Account are substantially lower. Super Zero accounts are generally more suited to scalpers and day traders.

Islamic Swap-free Accounts

Also known as swap-free accounts, Islamic accounts are ideally suited to Muslim clients, and in line with Islamic law, they incur no swaps or interest charges on overnight positions. Instead, the account holder is charged an administration fee that is deducted from the account’s balance. Islamic Accounts are available on both the Standard and Super Zero Account options:

How to open an Islamic swap-free account at Zero Markets:

1. Open a MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 account.

2. Send a request to customer service to convert your account to an Islamic swap-free option.

3. Include an official document showing confirmation of your faith (e.g., a Proof of Faith document from your local mosque) if the evidence is not already included in your ID document.

An admin fee of 5 USD per lot on major currency pairs is charged per night. However, fees are not charged for the first ten nights of trading, and will only be applicable from the eleventh night.

Demo Account

We opened a demo account at Zero Markets and found that it comes loaded with 100,000 in virtual funds. Demo accounts simulate the conditions one would find on a live account, and you can choose between both the Standard and the Super Zero Accounts on MT4 and MT5. We highly recommend opening a demo account, as they are a great way to practice trading before risking real money. We liked the fact that Zero Markets’ demo accounts are unlimited and won’t expire unless they remain inactive for over 30 days. 

In line with Anti-Money Laundering policies, Zero Markets does not accept payments from third parties and only accepts funds received directly from the named trading account holder. All funds deposited into your trading account must be under the same name as your Zero Markets trading account. Zero Markets does not accept deposits from joint bank accounts or cards; however, clients can deposit from individual bank accounts to a joint trading account.

We found that while Zero Markets does not charge fees for deposits, its withdrawal fees on some payment methods are high. On a positive note, we like the fact that funds can be deposited using a wide range of the most popular payment methods, including credit card and debit cards, payment wallets including Neteller and Skrill, online banking, broker to broker, and bank wire transfers.

Once your account has been verified by customer service, you can deposit and withdraw funds through the client portal.

We tested deposits via credit card and found that our payments were processed instantly and that our withdrawal was processed within one day.

Zero Markets offers an average range of base currencies compared to what is available at other brokers, and Ugandan traders will be charged conversion fees for deposits or withdrawals in UGX.  

When we opened our account, we noticed that the Zero Markets client portal allows traders to deposit funds in four base currencies, including AUD, USD, EUR, GBP.

Because we were depositing funds from a Ugandan bank account based in UGX into a USD-based account, we were charged a currency conversion fee on both our deposit and our withdrawal. 

We recommend that high-volume traders (who trade more than 10 lots a month) consider opening an account denominated in USD because a conversion fee will be charged for every trade made on a USD-quoted currency pair.  This can be done by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank.  

Overall, Zero Markets offers a limited number of trading account currencies compared to other brokers.

We downloaded both the MT4 and MT5 mobile trading apps for Android and iOS. We found that there was some loss in functionality when compared to the desktop trading platforms, including reduced time frames and fewer charting options, but we were able to close and modify existing orders, calculate profit and loss, and trade on the charts.

However, unlike the desktop version of the platform, the design is clean and it is easy to use. Additionally, the search functionality is far superior – you can search for products easily by typing the name of the product or by navigating the category folders.

Our review noted that Zero Markets offers both MT4, the most popular trading platform in the world, and MT5, the latest development by Metaquotes. As well as the desktop applications, Zero Markets also offers MT4 and MT5 WebTrader, which are the browser-based (online) versions of the platforms, along with mobile and tablet versions of both iterations.

While MT4 and MT5 are both excellent trading platforms, many other CFD brokers also offer their own web-based platforms, which tend to be easier to use for beginner traders. On the other hand, the benefit of Zero Markets offering third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5 is that traders can take their own customised version of the platform with them should they choose to migrate to another broker. Additionally, there are thousands of plugins and tools available for the MetaTrader platforms.

We rigorously tested the MT4 trading platform. See below for more details:

MetaTrader 4

We found that like many other brokers, Zero Markets’ MT4 platform is the standard out-of-the box version that does not have any extra bells or whistles. However, it does feature 50+ indicators, which is more than other similar brokers. We still recommend that more serious traders purchase third-party plugins for MT4 to unlock its full potential. 

While MT4 has good customisability (you can easily move and change the size of the tabs) the platform looks outdated, and some of the features may be hard to find.

Additionally, it does not have great search functionality – you cannot manually type in the name of an asset.

Only the basic orders are available, including Market, Limit, Stop, and Trailing Stop. 

Traders should also be aware that alerts and notifications can only be set on the desktop version of the platform and not on the webtrader. Lastly, MT4 is available on Windows 7 or higher and it is not available on Mac.

MetaTrader 5

MT5, the newer version of its predecessor, MT4, is also available at Zero Markets. We recommend using MT5 if you are looking for a more powerful and faster trading platform when it comes to back-testing functionality for automated trading algorithms. Additionally, we enjoy MT5 for its depth of market display, additional technical indicators, and analytical tools. 

We were disappointed at the lack of research materials and analysis tools available at Zero Markets. Zero Markets offers research in the form of a daily blog, and a markets daily review, which contains a brief summary of the market movements of the day, however, these have not been updated in many months.

Additionally, it is clear that Zero Markets has not invested in any analysis tools to help traders make trading decisions. Zero Markets trading tools are limited to an Economic Calendar, a VPS service, a copy trading service, and PAMM/MAM Investor. See below for more details on the various tools:

Economic Calendar

Zero Markets offers an economic calendar highlighting various events that will impact market movements. An economic calendar is also available through MT4. However, we found that there is no filter function and that it is difficult to search for specific currencies.

VPS

Zero Markets’ VPS service ensures that trades are never affected by power cuts (such as load-shedding) and provides a secure low latency connection that is always stable. VPS servers are located in major financial cities around the world and connect seamlessly with the MT4 platform. To qualify for the free VPS users will need to trade more than 20 lots on the Standard Account or 40 lots on the Super Zero Account. The minimum account balance must also be $2,000. We thought this offering was expensive compared to other similar brokers.

PAMM/MAM Investor Accounts

Zero Markets offers an account management service to its clients which allows account managers to trade on their behalf. In order to perform this service, bespoke technology or software is required, also known as MAM/PAMM.

MAM stands for Multi-Account Manager which permits a range of customisable ways to sub-allocate trades. PAMM stands for Percentage Allocation Module Manager which means investors can be part of a set of sub-accounts that are traded together by a money manager or trader who has permission from clients to trade on their accounts. Account Managers take a portion of the profits generated by the trades. 

Managed accounts are great for beginner traders who have limited experience with trading.

Copy trading

We really liked the Zero Markets copy trading platform. It is available on both the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. Followers can find and follow the most successful traders, based on their rankings. It includes their full trading history and past performance. The Zero Markets Social trading platform offers multiple copy trading modes and there is no limit on the number of Providers you can copy. Copy trading is useful for traders who are interested in the financial markets but lack experience and knowledge.

Overall, Zero Markets offers a disappointing research section that seems like it has not been updated in many months. Additionally, it offers no analytical tools, and while it offers a VPS service, this comes at an extra cost to the trader. Traders will have to supplement this data by performing their own research using the materials provided on other larger broker sites or using independent third-party tools.

However, we can recommend that beginner traders make use of the copy trading services, especially if they lack trading knowledge or experience.

Our review noted that Zero Markets only offers a selection of written materials divided into fundamental and technical analysis and a forex glossary. We found that while these materials were well-written, they are neither in-depth nor comprehensive. They are also unstructured, making it difficult to find what you are looking for. On a positive note, Zero Markets offers an unlimited demo account that is available for all account types on both the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. See below for more details:

Fundamental Analysis: These materials are presented in a daily blog. The materials are brief, unstructured, and lack depth, and they have not been updated in some time.

Technical Analysis: Like the fundamental analysis, the technical analysis is presented in a daily blog. The materials are brief and unstructured, and they have also not been updated in months.

Forex Glossary: Zero Markets offers a basic trading glossary covering all trading terms.

Demo Account: Unlike many other brokers, Zero Markets’ demo account is unlimited, which means it will never expire. The demo account is available for all account types on the MT4 and MT5 platforms and we recommend it as a great way for traders to practice trading without risking real money.

Overall, we feel that the education section could be improved with a greater variety of materials in addition to providing sections for beginner and more experienced traders. Beginner traders would also benefit greatly from being able to attend webinars on CFD trading basics and risk management. 

ZeroMarkets offers multilingual (English, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Chinese, Arabic, and Portuguese) 24/5 customer support via email, phone and live chat. There is also a FAQ section that covers Account Opening, Company Information, Funding and Withdrawals, Trading, and Partners.

For the purposes of the review, we tested the live chat service and email. Our email was answered within a couple of hours and the answer was relevant and to the point. We found the live chat agents were polite, but they seemed to revert to other agents if they could not answer our questions. However, they were highly responsive. After logging into the live chat we were connected to an agent who replied to our message within 1 minute, as shown below: