Axi

Regulation: Axi has an excellent reputation in the Forex trading community. However, Italians will be onboarded through the SVG FSA, which is not considered a regulator and does not supervise trading or protect traders, but allows Axi to provide its traders with much higher leverage. Italian clients must rely solely on the reputation of Axi as no additional measures exist to ensure client protection.

Safety Features: In a show of good faith, Axi segregates its client funds from its operational funds at top-tier banks and issues monthly statements to its clients. However, Axi clients onboarded through the SVG FSA will not have negative balance protection.

Opening an account at Axi is a quick and hassle-free process. Our accounts were approved within minutes which is exceptionally fast for the industry. 

All Italians are eligible to open a trading account at Axi but will have to follow the fully digital three-step application process. 

How to open an account with Axi:

1. Create your login via the Axi website, you will be asked for your name, email address, country of residence, phone number, and whether you want an individual, joint or company account. We will be focusing on opening an individual account. 
2. The second step is to confirm your identification. Axi needs two ID documents from you, the easiest way to provide these documents is to take a photo of them with a mobile phone:
   1. A photo ID (passport, driver’s license or national ID card) and; 
   2. A secondary ID (a bank or utility statement with your full name and address dated in the last three months).
   3. Important: Axi will not accept ID documents that are black and white images, scanned copies, blurry or damaged.
3. Once your application is approved, you can log in and fund your account in the base currency of your choosing. 

Compared to other similar brokers, Axi’s account opening process is fast, hassle-free, and fully digital. 

Axi offers a very limited range of trading instruments.

Axi offers three MT4 market-execution accounts, two with no minimum deposits and a professional trading account with a very high minimum deposit, but extraordinarily low trading costs. The Standard Account has the trading costs included in the spread while the Pro and Elite accounts offer tighter spreads and a small commission per trade. 

Axi’s trading costs are about average on the Standard Account – most good brokers will have a cost of around 9 USD per lot of EUR/USD – and lower than average on the Pro and Elite Accounts. 

We opened and tested Axi‘s accounts:

MT4 Standard Account

With no minimum deposit, the MT4 Standard Account is a commission-free account where spreads start at 1 pip. This gives you access to over 70 FX pairs, maximum leverage of 500:1, free AutoChartist, and a free VPS service (the VPS service is subject to a minimum trading volume).

MT4 Pro account

The MT4 Pro Account is very similar to the MT4 Standard Account, with the same perks and trading assets, the only difference being that this is a commission account, with a 7 USD round trip commission on trades and minimum spreads starting at 0 pips.

Elite Account

The Elite Account is designed for more professional traders. It has a minimum deposit of 25,000 USD, spreads that start at 0.0 pips on the EUR/USD, and a commission of only 3.5 USD round trip, making it one of the lowest cost accounts in the industry. Elite account-holders also have access to exclusive market analysis, free VPS services, and specialised trading tools. Traders who choose to trade through the ASIC-regulated entity will have the same trading conditions as the SVG FSA-regulated traders on this account and will be able to access leverage of up to 400:1.

Although Axi only supports the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform, it is truly customisable, with a range of tools and plugins that can be added to the platform to make it more powerful.

We tested Axi’s MT4 app on an i-phone 11 and found that it synced well with the desktop and web trader versions. It allows traders to monitor and modify their trades, manage their accounts, add stops to positions, and delete orders. Traders can also follow the latest research and trends on real-time charts. 

The main benefit of using third-party platforms such as MT4 is that traders can keep their own customised versions of the platforms should they choose to migrate to another broker. MT4 is available for Windows, Mac, and web browsers. Axi’s trading tools transform the MT4 platform into a state-of-the-art trading terminal. Read the trading tools section for more details. 

A well-regulated broker, Axi ensures that all Anti-Money Laundering rules and regulations are followed, and as such, all non-profit withdrawals are returned to the deposit source.  

Base Currencies: Axi allows deposits and withdrawals in most common currencies, including TZS from Italian mobile payment apps. Be aware that you will pay a conversion fee if the base currency of your account is anything other than your deposit currency. 

Axi has a carefully selected range of trading tools that all MT4 users will find useful. While all of these tools are “free” to Axi clients, many of them are conditional on higher minimum deposits –  highlights include:

AutoChartist

Free to all Axi clients no matter their account balance, Autochartist is an award-winning automated technical analysis tool that plugs into MT4 and scans all available CFD markets for trading opportunities.

Autochartist’s advanced pattern recognition engine identifies the strongest potential trading opportunities and predicts future price movements. Some of Autochartist’s key features are:

• Chart pattern recognition
• Fibonacci pattern recognition
• Key level analysis
• Pattern quality indication

The market scanner provides statistically significant market movements and identifies important price levels that are catalysts for market movements.

With a minimum deposit of 500 AUD (or currency equivalent) you will get access to PsyQuation Premium. PsyQuation is one of the world’s most advanced data analytics plugins for retail traders. Using highly sophisticated algorithms, it works like a trading coach, analysing your trading style, identifying mistakes, and helping you avoid making similar mistakes again. Because every Axi client gets a unique PsyQuation Score, you can use the PsyQuation leaderboard to follow the most successful traders – details provided include performance history and equity curve. 

Auto/Social/Copy Trading

Axi also offers DupliTrade (with a 5000 AUD minimum deposit), a powerful auto-execution system that duplicates the trades of chosen strategy providers; Myfxbook, a free social trading plugin that allows you to follow and copy other traders; and ZuluTrade, another free social trading platform that easily allows you to follow and copy other traders.

MT4 Forex VPS Hosting

Axi clients can also subscribe to an MT4 Forex VPS hosting service from external third-party providers, helping ensure trades are never disrupted by technological or connectivity issues. Prices and exact services offered vary by provider, but some are free once you hit a minimum trading volume of 20 lots PCM.

We found that Axi’s market analysis is less frequent than many other large international brokers, but the quality is excellent.

Aside from a perfectly functional Economic Calendar, Axi also runs a Market News Blog which features regular analysis, both technical and fundamental, as well as educational pieces and features. The regular analysis includes a weekly market preview, charts of the day, charts of the week, and a daily briefing on the market open.

Overall, not as in-depth as you may expect from a broker of this type, but all analysis is solid and well-written.

Trader education at Axi is detailed and flexible, available in both written and video format. Highlights of the education available include:

• Video tutorials on demand 
• Courses available in 24 languages
• An eBook with a simple lesson structure
• Frequent tests to monitor your progress
• Frequent webinars on both basic and advanced topics

Subjects covered include:

• Forex trading basics: Currency pairs, leverage, spreads, opening/closing trades
• Analysis techniques: Charts, technical analysis, support/resistance, using indicators and oscillators to support trading strategies
• Developing a trading strategy: Including day trading, news trading, trend trading and more
• Trading psychology: Risk management, greed and overcoming the fear of loss

While Axi’s educational content is not as broad or as deep as the best trading educators, like BDSwiss or IG Markets, it is still better than most ECN brokers and will be useful for both beginners and experienced traders.

Demo Account

Axi offers a demo account with a virtual balance of 50,000 USD that remains open for 30 days. While using your demo account, Axi will provide you with a dedicated account manager to assist you and answer any questions you may have. The demo account is an opportunity to experience Axi’s services without risking your money, but the 30-day limit is unusual – many brokers offer unlimited demo accounts (but without the dedicated account management service).

Toll-free numbers are available in Australia, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, and the UK.

This support will help you get started and learn how to trade at any time of day that suits your schedule. For the purposes of the review, we tested the live chat and email services. Our email was answered within hours to our satisfaction. The live chat agents were also responsive and highly knowledgeable.