Forex Brokers
Easy Forex
Ease of Use:
If you're expecting a site called "Easy-Forex" to be easy to use, you won't be disappointed by your first visit to Easy-Forex.com. You may be surprised, though, by how Easy-Forex can pack so much information into such a simple-seeming interface. The Easy Forex motto contains only two words ("Ready. Trade.") indicating that the constant emphasis is on simplicity, but delve a little deeper and you'll find scores of videos, a comprehensive glossary of Forex terms, and a Forex e-book. Also check out cool tools like the Forex Trade Simulator and Cross Currency Tables.
Reputation/Security:
As a forex broker aimed at novices, Easy-Forex has a "Manifesto," and it's all about making Forex accessible and exciting for every level of investor, especially newcomers. Easy-Forex posts the names and bios of key members of its team. And Easy-Forex protects customer data with such measures as SSL server technology and real life armed guards posted 24 hours at the physical location of Easy-Forex server farms. However, Easy-Forex has irritated us more than once by its higher-than-normal spreads, up to 10 pips. Accessible and exciting is great, guys, but not when we pay more.
Customer Service:
Easy-Forex has been around since 1998, giving them time to build a solid customer service infrastructure that could still be improved. They offer live chat, for instance, but the hours are quite limited. By email, customer reps do not always respond as quickly as we'd like. No doubt, these deficits are due to the high volume of questions and inquiries Easy-Forex receives as a result of catering to new Forex traders. Easy-Forex is beefing up its video tutorials to address these issues but has not quite mastered the customer service formula as of yet.
Bonuses Paid:
If you consider a free Forex e-book an impressive bonus, then you will be impressed by the Easy-Forex initial deposit bonus. If you are looking for something more along the lines of a cold hard cash bonus, then you will be disappointed because one of those is not currently forthcoming. Easy-Forex does on occasion run some special bonus programs. For example, early in 2009 they had a 20 percent initial deposit bonus. Where'd that go? Bring it back.
Ease of Account Deposit/Withdrawals:
You may think that we're nit-picking, and in truth Easy-Forex does have many good qualities, but still we must point out that the Easy-Forex withdrawal process is unacceptably paperwork-intensive. Before taking out money, you must fax in a copy of your ID and both sides of the credit card you used to deposit. Understandable from a fraud perspective, but annoying from a customer perspective, especially if you use different credit cards at different times.
Summary:
Easy-Forex provides a simple but powerful trading platform that makes Forex trading easy and exciting. As part of its stated mission to give everyone the ability and knowledge to trade Forex successfully, Easy-Forex offers some great Forex education resources. Unfortunately, Easy-Forex is plagued by higher-than-normal spreads, inconsistent customer service, and a potentially headache-inducing withdrawal process. We humbly suggest Easy-Forex fix these problems immediately, or risk losing credibility with the more observant Forex traders among us.