Summary

StarTrader is a forex trading broker that was established in 2013. Based in Cyprus and regulated by a host of regulatory bodies, it offers its services to users in Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. There are 200+ StarTrader trading instruments available to clients, inclusive of 50+ currency pairs, 45+ cryptocurrencies, 20+ commodities, 25+ indices, 65+ share CFDs and 7 bonds. The broker offers a demo and two (2) other account types. These accounts can be accessed via different trading platforms. The account opening process is relatively lengthy but straightforward. 

In this StarTrader review, we will be discussing the broker’s regulations, trading instruments, fees and commissions, payment methods, trading platforms, customer support, educational resources, and many more. 

Regulations

StarTrader has multiple entities. One of these entities is authorized and regulated by the UK’s financial conduct authority while the other is regulated by the financial services authority of Seychelles. These entities and their regulators are:

StarTrader Pro Limited (‘StarTrader’): This is an entity that is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).  It is located at 61 Lawnside, London, SE3 9HL, United Kingdom.

• Company Registration Number: 600837

StarTrader LLC: It is registered under the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Services Authority (“SVGFSA”).

• Registration Number: 228 LLC 2019.

StarTrader Limited: Located at Block B, Room 2, No.2, Global Village, Jivan’s Complex, Mont Fleuri, Mahe, Seychelles, this entity is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles.

• License Number: SD049

StarTrader International PTY Limited: This is another entity of the broker that is located at Room 710, 7/F, Lippo Sun Plaza, 28 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

• Company Registration Number: 2426862

IV Markets Limited: This is the Cyprus entity of the broker. It is a company duly incorporated in the Republic of Cyprus. It is situated at 62 Athalassas, Mezzanine, Strovolos, 2012, Nicosia, Cyprus.

• Registration Number: HE 421001

Supported Countries

StarTrader claims to be open to clients worldwide, inclusive of clients in: Seychelles, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Malaysia, Thailand, Portugal, Brazil and other countries. However, it does not support clients from the United States of America, Afghanistan, Russian Federation, Somalia, Syrian Arab Republic, Sudan, Cuba, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Liberia, Libya, Malaysia, Eritrea, Iraq, Nicaragua, and Pakistan.

Available Assets

StarTrader offers to its clients 200+ trading instruments on the Standard accounts. It’s also one of the brokers offering the ECN account. Inclusive of these investment markets are various financial options such as: forex pairs, cryptocurrencies, shares, commodities and indices. Below is a review of these options.

Cryptocurrencies

The broker offers crypto trading to its users. About 45+ crypto pairs are offered to clients, some of these crypto pairs available for trading include: SHBUSD, BTCUSD, LTCUSD, TRXUSD, BNBUSD, and many others. Leverage as high as 1:200 is offered to users on this asset.

Shares

At StarTrader, clients can trade shares without having to own the underlying share. The broker offers its clients access to trade 65+ share CFDs. Available shares include shares of companies like INTEL, DISNEY, BOEING, ALIBABA etc. Clients get a leverage of up to 1:20 to trade share CFDs.

Commodities

Commodities are defined as tradable physical assets that help clients safeguard their equity from inflation. StarTrader allows clients to trade commodities like agricultural products, energies and metals. Spreads of agricultural products and energies starts from 0.7 while that of metal starts from 1.0 pips. 

Indices

StarTrader offers trading on 25+ indices from across the world. Available indices include: NAS100, DJ30ft, HKG3, GER40, and other exotic options with up to 1:500 leverage. 

Forex Pairs

The broker offers its users access to trade 50+ forex pairs with low spreads and up to 1:500 leverage. These pairs are inclusive of: the EUR/USD pair, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, EUR/GBP, USD/CLP, EUR/NOK, and other exotic pairs.

Bonds

The broker offers 7 bonds to its clients. Some of the bonds offered by the broker to its users include: FLG, FGBX, FGBL, TU, and others. Clients are offered up to 1:100 leverage on this asset.

Spreads

Spread can be defined as the difference between the bid and ask price of every financial option. The spreads of some of the available markets offered by StarTrader are listed in the table below. 

Leverage

Leverage is having access and control to additional funds that you may use to increase your purchasing power when trading financial instruments. The broker offers leverage up to: 1:500 for commodities, 1:500 for indices, 1:500 for forex pairs, 1:500 for metals, and 1:20 for shares.

Below is a tabular overview of some of StarTrader trading instruments, alongside their spread and leverage.

Fees & Commissions

Every broker charges certain fees and commission, and these fees are categorized into trading and non-trading. They differ from broker to broker. Below is an overview of StarTrader fees and commissions. 

Trading Fees

Trading fees are charges that traders incur before or during trading activities. In this section of the StarTrader review, we will be analyzing the trading fees charged by the broker. 

Spreads

Forex brokers make their money primarily through their spreads. With its spread floating starting from 0.0 pips, StarTrader is one of the brokers offering tighter spreads compared to other top forex brokers. It is however worthy of note that spreads are not fixed, they are therefore subject to change during the trading period. The broker’s spreads begin at 0.0 pips for ECN accounts and 1.3 pips on Standard accounts, and it also increases with market volatility. 

Commission

StarTrader claims to charge 0% commissions on trading activities. 

Overnight/Swap Fees

Overnight /Swap fee is a recurrent fee charged by the broker for holding a position overnight. It differs based on the interest rate of the currencies that are being traded.

Non-Trading Fees

Any charges incurred outside trading are known as non-trading fees. Below are non-trading fees charged by StarTrader.

Deposit and Withdrawal Fee

StarTrader claims to not charge any fees on deposits, and charge nothing on withdrawals for most withdrawal methods. However, with deposits and withdrawals using bank wire transfer, charges may occur from your financial institution for processing the transactions. 

Inactivity Fee

The broker claims to charge no inactivity fee. However, inactive demo accounts are valid for just 30 days. 

Trading Platforms

StarTrader does not have a proprietary trading platform. The broker caters to its client’s trading needs by providing them with three(3) alternative trading platforms. The trading platforms include MetaTrader 4 (MT4) MetaTrader 5 (MT5) and Web Trader. Through these platforms, the broker allows its clients full access to a wide range of features and functionality, and direct access to trade forex, and other financial markets. All trading platforms are available on the web, Windows, and MAC devices. StarTrader mobile apps for ios and android users are yet to be launched.  Below is a detailed review of these platforms. 

Desktop Trading Platform (Web Trader)

StarTrader’s WebTrader is an online trading platform that is customized to cater to client’s needs. It is a desktop trading platform that features user-friendly functions, gives users the ability to set parameters such as: stops and limits, alerts, trade sizes and more. The WebTrader includes vital features such as: margin requirement, minimum trade sizes, slippage factors, stop distances, etc.

Design

Web Trader’s design is basic and functional. Containing several smart settings, it allows for more trading analysis and optimization, and user flexibility. It contains a trading chart, live market prices and space for notes. 

Features

The WebTrader comes with lots of flexibility. In addition to customizable charts, traders can create a watchlist of their preferred financial markets, as well as execute buy or sell orders at one touch. The platform is built to be customizable by the trader to his or her taste, allowing for a personalized trading experience. 

Charting Tools

From trend lines, to crosshairs, zoom tools, indicators, and price alerts, the WebTrader comes fully packed with charting tools. Being a browser-based trading platform, it eliminates the need for download. Hence, clients can trade from whatever device they find, as long as it has a browser. 

How to Open an Account and Trade on StarTrader’s Web Trader

The StarTrader account opening process is quick. Clients have to get their account verified before the account opening process is complete. Below is the step-by-step guideline of registering with the broker via desktop. 

1. Visit the broker’s official website (startrader.com) and click on the “login” option which is visible on the homepage.
2. A new page will appear, click on the register button on the page.
3. Provide your email, get a verification code, input it, then your phone number and password to complete registration.
4. On completing registration, you are directed to a dashboard from which you can continue your account creation. Select “open account” to continue.
5. On selecting “open account”, fill in basic details like: country of residence, nationality, phone number, place of birth, and invitation code if any, and click on next.
6. On the new page, select your preferred trading platform (MT4 or MT5), your StarTrader account type (STP or ECN), activate or ignore copy trading, enter a trading password, choose your account currency, then select next.
7. Complete the suitability evaluation page by filling in your wealth source, years of trading experience and residency, then click on next.
8. Complete the verification page by filling in your: name, gender, date of birth and national identification number. Then you upload pictures of the ID and proof of address, confirm you are not a US citizen, and click next.
9. The account creation process has been completed. Wait for 1-2 days for the ID documents to be verified and your live account opened. Verified accounts are contacted by customer support through email to inform them of successful verification.
10. To make a deposit, go back to your dashboard, click on payment and then click on deposit.
11. Choose your preferred payment method, enter the amount you want to deposit and complete the transaction. 
12. To begin trading, click on the ” Web Trader” option visible on your home page.
13. You are directed to an authorization page where you fill in the login details sent to your mail, select your preferred platform structure: MT4 or MT5, then login.
14. After logining in successfully, you meet the Web Trader home page, on the home page initiate a buy or sell order by clicking on the new order button.

Mobile App

StarTrader mobile trading platform can be assessed via the MT4 app. It enables clients to access the instruments offered by the broker and it can be downloaded on iOS or Android devices. 

Trading Interface

The MT4 mobile app trading interface is user-friendly. It is structured to allow users to easily navigate between instrument quotes list, charts, trade, history, news and message pages. Quote list can be edited to suit clients’ taste and chart view can be analyzed using line chart, bar chart and candlestick chart.  

Tools and Charting

The mobile app offers different analytical tools such as Trendlines, Channels, and indicators such as Bollinger Bands, Average True Range, Ichimoku Kinko Hyo, Moving Average, Commodity Channel Index and many more. These tools are to assist traders in trading more effectively.

How to Open an Account and Trade on StarTrader Mobile App

1. Download and install MetaTrader  4 on Google Play Store or Apple Store on your mobile devices.
2. Follow steps 1-10 under the Desktop Trading Platform account opening process section to successfully create your account. 
3. To begin trading, return to your Mt4 mobile app, login and click on the plus sign above.
4. Click on “Login to an existing account”.
5. Next, type and select the Startrad trading server name sent to you during registration.
6. Input your login number and password, then tap on “Sign in”.
7. To place a trade, select an instrument and select “New order”.
8. Set your  lot size, take profit, stop loss and others. Finally, select buy or sell to execute the trade.

Account Types

StarTrader takes into consideration the individual needs of both its new and professional clients alike by providing account types best suited for each category of trader. Asides demo account, the broker offers two other account types. These are Standard accounts and ECN accounts. Here is a detailed review of these account types. 

Demo Account

With access to up to $500,000 in virtual funds, the broker offers its clients an opportunity to learn, test their trading competency and try multiple risk management strategies without any risk to personal funds. Although the account is a practice account with which traders can use to test and perfect their trading techniques, it has full access to StarTrader’s trading functionalities. 

Standard Account

This account type is essentially best suited for basic traders. It allows features like: hedging and scalping. All assets provided by the broker are tradeable on this account. It has a minimum deposit of $50 which makes it a nice option for traders who are just starting out and have limited trading capital. Clients on this StarTrader account type get to benefit from fast trade execution, negative balance protection, and get access to Expert Advisors. 

ECN Account

This account has similar features to Standard account types in terms of permitting hedging, scalping, having a demo, as well as a real account. With this account type, clients can trade all assets that are offered by the broker, but at spreads beginning from 0.0 pips. It also has a minimum deposit of $50, fast trade execution, negative balance protection and Expert Advisors, but it edges the Standard account type with its in-depth market insight feature which allows for better trading analysis and permutations. It is best suited for experienced traders.  

Payment Methods

StarTrader offers its clients a wide array of payment methods that can be used either for deposits or withdrawals. This section of the review will explore more about these methods.

Deposit Methods

There are a lot of deposit options on the broker, and they include: Visa/Mastercard, Bank Wire Transfer, as well as electronic payment systems such as: SticPay, PM, Skrill, or Neteller. The minimum deposit for all account types is $50. The broker, however, warns that any payments made through bank wire transfer could take 3-5 working days to reflect in the trading account.

Withdrawal Methods

On StarTrader, clients can withdraw their funds through the same methods they used to deposit. To make withdrawal, customers’ free margin must be more than the withdrawal amount. The broker claims to not charge fees for withdrawals on most platforms. Due to third party transaction guidelines, it does not permit withdrawal to any other account with a different name. The broker also states that withdrawal requests received after 21:00 (GMT) will be processed the following day, and that withdrawal by bank wire transfer may take 3-5 working days to reach your account. 

How to withdraw on StarTrader

Withdrawals are initiated by the following steps: 

1. Log into your trading account with your username and password.
2. Select the withdrawal option available on the menu, choose the preferred payment method and then the amount to be withdrawn. 

Education

StarTrader claims to pay great attention to its client’s educational needs, hence a rich educational library. The broker offers educational courses, videos, flash cards, blogs, articles, webinars and seminars to its clients willing to become experts in the world of trading. The broker’s education page is divided into 3 sections, basics – which contains introduction to basic components of forex, intermediate – which talks about trading techniques, and video section. The video section contains videos organized by experience level professionals, teaching on various aspects of forex trading, live charts, trading sessions, etc. All to provide a sound introduction to beginner clients about forex and forex trading.

The broker also provides an economic calendar, which helps its clients to monitor scheduled economic events that could impact the market. Both past and future economic events can be tracked and this is to aid clients to always make informed decisions at all times. The broker provides VPS  (Virtual Private Server) services as well, which will be discussed more extensively in another section. 

Customer Support

StarTrader support works round the clock (24/5) to cater to customer complaints. However, potential and active clients can speak to a representative of the company via live chat and Email (Info@startrader.com). StarTrader can also be reached on its social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Linkedin and Telegram. 

Reviews

In this segment of StarTrader review, we will be evaluating what users of this broker have to say about its services. 

What Reddit Users Say About StarTrader

There is no comment about the broker on reddit yet. The Star Trader rather mentioned on reddit, is a game. 

What Quora Users Say About StarTrader

The Quora community equally has no comment about StarTrader. Rather there are mentions of a trading expert: Rahul Arora, and his mentorship on stock market trading. 

Trustpilot Users’ Review About StarTrader

The broker’s Trustpilot users’ rating is inaccessible. Trustpilots claims the profile is considered a bad fit for their page. So users can no longer rate it. 

ForexPeaceArmy Users’ Review About StarTrader

StarTrader’s reputation on ForexPeaceArmy is highly unfavorable. Currently, there is just one rating about the broker, and the client complained about the broker being a scam. After 1 review, it holds no stars on forexpeacearmy. 

Is StarTrader Safe?

StarTrader is a new broker that is regulated by two regulatory bodies. It’s one of the brokers regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Financial Service Authority of Seychelles. However, it claims to support clients all over the world and prioritizes its clients’ account safety by keeping clients’ funds in segregated bank accounts and having negative protection for all account types to ensure that clients do not lose more than they initially invested. 

In addition, the broker is now a member of the financial commission. The broker also asserts that its technical environment is constantly monitored and protected by teams of tech specialists and security personnel. 

Other Products and Services

This section will review all the additional products and services offered by StarTrader that have not been discussed thus far. 

Copy Trading

StarTrader offers its clients an extra feature known as Copy Trading. Copy Trading is a feature that allows clients to take a more diversified approach to trading. The feature allows clients to monitor, track, set up forex portfolios, follow professional investors (providers) from all over the world, and automatically copy their trades on a real-time basis. With copy trading, clients; experienced and newbie alike, can forgo long hours of doing personal analysis. 

Clients on StarTrader could use the copy trading feature either as a provider or as a follower. A provider is a person who traders copy from. He or she does analysis and initiates trades which a follower then copies and implements. Experienced traders can sign up to be providers where they enjoy certain benefits like: extra income – from charging followers, higher trading transparency, and so on. 

As a follower, you get to copy providers’ trade for a fee. Followers enjoy a wide range of providers to choose from, and do not have to pay for a copied trade, until it is profitable. 

StarTrader Partnership Programme

StarTrader offers its clients a partnership programme. On the partnership programme, clients get the opportunity to earn rewards, competitive payouts, generous commissions and other incentives on becoming a partner. The partnership programme essentially entails bringing new clients to the broker. 

VPS Services

The VPS is one feature of StarTrader that cannot but be mentioned in this review. Short for Virtual Private Server, it is a powerful private server that provides faster trading execution. The VPS removes local network issues and restrictions such as: poor network quality, network connection failures, etc. by using the data center system of StarTrader in a safer location. Hence, it enhances trading security and enables clients to: trade with confidence, easily access trading platforms, have reduced latency, amongst many other features. 

The VPS is a paid service. However, the service comes with a reimbursement program if certain trading thresholds and minimum requirements are satisfied. If clients meet these minimum requirements, they then apply to StarTrader for a reimbursement towards the VPS service costs. More details on this can be found on the company site; including the full T&Cs. 

Bottom Line

“Trade and shine with us,” the broker says on its site. StarTrader claims to offer its clients the perfect fusion of security, technology and accessibility to trade. It ensures maximum transparency and account security to its clients. Through cutting-edge technology, the broker promises nano-seconds trade execution speeds on its trading platforms. 

Although StarTrader has no proprietary trading platform, it offers its users trading access through 3 platforms: MT4, MT5 and WebTrader. On these platforms, multiple trading tools, indicators and features necessary for efficient trading are made readily available. The account opening process isn’t complete until verification is done. The broker offers 200+ tradable assets and two account types asides demo account. 

We’ve seen in this StarTrader review that the broker also offers multiple payment options, which allow clients to easily withdraw and deposit funds. The company also features a well stocked educational section, and a 24/5 customer support, all to cater to clients’ questions and improve their trading abilities.