Pepperstone is a Forex broker founded in 2010. In this post, we’ll show you everything that there is to learn about the broker in 2021. This review is meant to inform your decision to trade Forex with the broker – whether to invest or not.

Are you a new trader?

Well, might you be an experienced trader but are tired of your current broker?

Are you wondering which broker to trade Forex with or jump to next?

Let us see if Pepperstone is the best option depending on what you are looking for in a perfect broker.

Here are some of the pillars of choosing a broker, which we shall discuss in relation to the broker in question, Pepperstone:

• Account Types.
• Minimum Deposit.
• Deposits and Withdrawals.
• Trading Cost.
• Client Support.
• Broker Regulation.
• Trading Platforms.
• Markets Offered.
• Risk Management.

1. Account Types.

Are you wondering which account types Pepperstone offers? The broker offers 5 types of accounts namely:

• Islamic or Swap-free Account.
• PAMM Account.
• Active Traders Account.
• Edge Standard Account.
• Edge Razor Account.

The most popular account types offered by Pepperstone are the Edge Standard Account and the Edge Razor Account.

The Edge Standard Account has no commissions while the Edge Razor Account has tight spreads.

See a comprehensive Razor versus Standard guide comparing those two most popular Pepperstone trading accounts.

Standard Account.

The Edge Standard account is characterized by:

• Having no commissions.
• Higher spreads compared to the Razor account.
• Being ideal for those new to Forex trading.
• Having slower trade execution speeds compared to the Razor account.

Razor Account.

The Edge Razor account is characterized by the following:

• Lowest trading fees.
• Tighter spreads compared to the Standard account.
• Being ideal for advanced traders and scalpers.

Most traders in Pepperstone actually go for the Edge Razor account. Do you know why?

The Razor account charges lower trading fees and has faster execution speeds for trades.

That account type also has the active trader program which is characterized by reduced trading costs for high volume monthly trading.

2. Minimum Deposit.

The minimum deposit into your Pepperstone trading account is not too high. Only $200 and you are ready for trading.

However, there is something to note here. Whereas the broker doesn’t actively demand for this minimum deposit, the minimum recommended deposit for United Kingdom (UK) traders is £500.

Base Currencies Accepted.

Base currencies in which you can fund your account in include:

• U.S Dollar (USD).
• Australian Dollar (AUD).
• New Zealand Dollar (NZD).
• Canadian Dollar (CAD).
• Hong Kong Dollar (HKD).
• Singapore Dollar (SGD).
• Great British Pound (GBP).
• Euro (EUR).
• Japanese Yen (JPY).
• Swiss Franc (CHF).

Why is the base currency in which you fund your account even important?

It is the base currency that is used to calculate commissions and other charges.

3. Deposits and Withdrawals.

If you are thinking in terms of deposit and withdrawal charges, then Pepperstone does not charge any fees for either action.

This is unlike some brokers which charge fees to accept your deposits and other fees to process your withdrawals.

However, some intentional institutions may charge their own fees.

These are institutions such as payment wallets and banks or any channel through which you deposit or withdraw money.

With Pepperstone, payment methods can vary from one region to another.

Generally, the payment methods supported by Pepperstone include:

• Visa.
• MasterCard.
• Paypal – No charges are applied from the Paypal deposit.
• Fastapay – Instant deposit method with no fees.
• China Union Pay – No fees or charges.
• Skrill (Moneybookers).
• Qiwi.
• Neteller
• POLi & BPay – Bank transfers can be made at any time from eligible bank accounts through POLi & BPay.
• Wire Transfer (Domestic & International) – they can take time and fees may be charged.

4. Trading Cost.

As far as trading cost is concerned, Pepperstone offers three account types:

• Standard account – this account charges no commissions. It is the best for beginner traders.
• Islamic account – this is a swap-free account avoiding interest. It is ideal for Islamic traders.
• Razor account – this account charges raw spreads account in addition to commissions. It only suits advanced traders.

Pepperstone is a leading ECN broker. ECN brokers have the lowest trading costs with no markup on spreads and straight-through processing.

The Pepperstone Razor account has the lowest spreads compared to other accounts.

The account achieves low spreads through straight-through processing (STP) of orders with no dealing desk.

The account also has direct access to 60+ Exchanges, 400+ buy/sell firms, and 150+ financial service providers to achieve tight spreads for traders.

5. Client Support.

Pepperstone has an award-winning customer support.

They recently scooped the Investment Trends “Overall Client Satisfaction” award and that, for sure, is evidence enough of how effective and thorough their client support is.

Do you know why Pepperstone stands out as far as matters of client support are concerned?

Here are the key pillars:

a. 24-Hour Support.

Pepperstone client support is always available when the forex markets are open.

You must have known that Forex markets are open 24 hours, 5 days in a week.

The client support has five offices which are located in Melbourne, Shanghai, Dallas, Bangkok, and London.

This provides physical local options for those Forex traders located in such locales, offering such a striking convenience.

b. Experienced Client Support Personnel.

Pepperstone has a customer service team that has many years of experience in Forex trading.

The personnel are actually real traders, who can help educate and answer any Forex-related inquiries beginner, intermediate or expert traders may have.

c. Personalized Client Support.

It is engraved in the culture of Pepperstone to assign a dedicated account manager to a trader.

This helps the broker have a better understanding of the trader’s needs.

d. Effective Communication Channels.

Using the live chat to reach the Pepperstone client support team helps the trader get high-level support.

Live chat is available 24 hours a day.

Another channel traders can reach the client support is via their dedicated phone numbers. It is worth noting that Pepperstone client support offers different national phone numbers for each office location.

Their phone lines, just like their live chat, are available 24 hours a day.

E-mail support is also available. You can send them an email detailing your problem via [email protected] any time of the day and expect a response within 24 hours.

There is also training held on-site and online with a wealth of trading guides to suit expert to beginner traders. What a convenience!!

You can well see why Pepperstone recently won the most recent Investment Trends “Overall Client Satisfaction” award.

6. Broker Regulation.

Have you been scammed before, losing all your invested funds to a fraudster posing as a genuine broker?

Are you worried that Pepperstone might be another scam?

Well, Pepperstone has over seven licenses worldwide, confirming its legitimacy. Here are the regulators:

7. Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Pepperstone is registered as Pepperstone Group Limited by ASIC. That way it is regulated by ASIC with the Australian Financial Services.

The Licence Number of registration is 414530, enough evidence of registration and regulation by ASIC.

8. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Pepperstone is registered as Pepperstone Limited by FCA. That way, it is regulated in the UK through the FCA.

The Licence Number as evidence of registration and regulation by FCA is 684312.

9. Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySeC).

Pepperstone is registered as Peppertone EU Limited by CySeC. The broker received its CySec license in 2020, almost a year after it was founded in 2019.

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission registered Pepperstone EU Limited under License Number 388/20.

10. Dubai Financial Services Authority (DIFC).

Pepperstone is registered by DIFC as Pepperstone Financial Services Limited.

That way, the broker is regulated in Dubai with DIFC under Registration Number 3460.

This regulation and licensing also applies to the United Arab Emirates region.

11. Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).

Pepperstone is registered by FSCA as Pepperstone Group Limited.

We actually found the registration date to be 24/05/2018 but their license has been pending with the FSCA in South Africa.

The FSP number is 49497.

You are highly encouraged to check the FSCA website to see if any updates have been made by the regulator for this license.

12. Capital Markets Authority (CMA).

Are you worried about whether Pepperstone is regulated in Kenya?

Well, it is. It is registered as Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited.

The broker actually became regulated with the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Kenya in 2020.

The CMA Licence Number is 128 and the company number is PVT-PJU7Q8K. According to the CMA rating, Pepperstone is actually the best Forex broker in Kenya.

13. BaFin

Pepperstone is regulated by BaFIN as Pepperstone GmbH in German. The License Number is 151148.

Trading Platforms.

Pepperstone offers three trading platforms namely:

• MetaTrader 4 – this is the most popular Forex trading platform.
• Metatrader 5 – this is the most popular CFD trading platform.
• cTrader – this is an advanced charting platform that allows automation.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4).

The following features make Pepperstone the best MT4 broker:

• Low spreads on major currency pairs such as AUD/USD, EUR/JPY, and USD/CAD.
• Over 15 charting indicators and 16 smart trader tools to improve MT4 functionality.
• Competitive razor account commissions with further benefits through the active trader program.
• Fast execution speeds – in independent tests done through MT4 demo accounts verified these fast speeds with the market order execution speeds of 85ms.

MetaTrader 5 (MT5).

Pepperstone offers share CFDs on MT5. This is in addition to the instruments the broker offers on MT4.

Besides share CFDs then, Pepperstone offers currencies, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and many more assets on MT5.

Commissions for MT5 are the same as MT4 except for those that choose USD as their base currency with a lower rate of USD $3.50 per lot.

Pepperstone, through MT5, offers traders the benefit of smart trader tools which is a package of 16 trading tools and 15 custom indicators.

In addition to Smart Trader tools, there are further additions such as ZuluTrade, Autochartist, Mirror Trader, and Myfxbook.

cTrader Platform.

Expert CFD traders fancy the cTrader platform. This is because of the following features of the platform:

• The favorable interface can be personalized with pre-set and detachable charts.
• A wide range of back-testing tools and facilities.
• The ability of the platform to incorporate algorithmic-based or bot Forex trading.
• Access to the inter-bank market depth.
• Advanced order placing options.
• No need for downloads due to the availability of cTrader Webtrader.

Commission costs on cTrader are determined by the currency pair you are trading.

That means that some pairs will get you charged little while others will see you being charged more.

Markets Offered.

Pepperstone will not brag to be offering an ‘all-in-one solution to the trading needs of all traders.

The broker is only a specialist trading provider offering the following:

FX Trading.

Pepperstone offers over 59 currency pairs which include the most popular currency, the U.S Dollar (USD).

Other currencies include the Euro (EUR), Japanese Yen (JPY), Great Britain Pound (GBP), and the Australian Dollar (AUD).

CFD Trading and Indices.

CFD means Contract for Difference and is also known as derivatives trading.

It allows traders to speculate on the movements of financial markets.

Pepperstone offers several asset classes under CFD trading which include 14 indices from the Australian 200 Index, EU Stocks 50 Index, and US Tech 100 Index. Note that CFDs are complex instruments recommended for advanced traders.

Commodity, Energy & Precious Metal Trading.

Pepperstone offers precious metals such as Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium.

The broker also offers oil and gas markets. Both of such categories are at a 500:1 leverage.

Soft commodity markets such as coffee, sugar, cocoa cotton, and even orange juice are offered by Pepperstone at a 50:1 leverage.

Cryptocurrency Trading.

There are four cryptocurrency options available for trading with 5:1 leverage through Pepperstone. These are:

• Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.
• Ethereum.
• Dash.
• Litecoin.

Risk Management.

Trading is a risky affair, especially CFD trading, as CFDs are complex instruments. Leverage amplifies profits as well as losses, so there is a high risk of losing money rapidly.

Understanding these risks is critical and learning the tools that can help manage these risks.

The secure client area that Pepperstone offers, allows traders to adjust leverage after opening an account.

To be honest, Pepperstone has limited tools and CFD risk management features available.

Currency Order types come in handy to patch up the weak link. That is because some order types are a risk management strategy by themselves.

Currency Trading Orders Types.

Pepperstone offers three order types of currency trading namely:

• Limit order – enters a trade aftermarket reaches a certain price level.
• Stop Loss order – exits a trade aftermarket reaches a certain price level.
• Trailing stop – moves with the market as the price fluctuates, locking in profits in case the price reverses adversely.

Pepperstone doesn’t offer negative balance protection.

What Pepperstone offers are tools to prevent a negative balance by allowing a trader to exiting a CFD trade before their losses exceed their deposit, as we specified above.

Wrapping Up.

Above is an unbiased opinion about the Pepperstone broker.

You can use the information to make an informed decision whether to trade Forex, CFDs, and the other markets offered by the broker or not.

Happy Trading!