Interactive Brokers
Founded in New York, USA in 1978 by Thomas Peterffy, Interactive Brokers has grown into a global brand with over 2.1 million clients. It is an American Multinational brokerage firm headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. It has become one of the leading online trading solutions for traders, investors, and advisors. The brokers give access to over 5000+ tradable assets including forex, CFDs, warrants, ETFs Options, Futures, Mutual Funds, and Bonds. To trade online, IBKR offers WebTrader, FIX API, MobileTrader (MobileApp), and TWS trading platforms. To learn more about IBKR, you can read our review of Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers Overview
- Founded In: 1978
- Founder: Chairman Thomas Peterffy
- Headquarters: Greenwich, Connecticut, United States
- Minimum Deposit: None
- Maximum Leverage: 500:1
- Regulations: SEC , CFTC ,FCA, FSCS, ASIC , IIROC , FSA
- Trading platform: WebTrader, FIX API, MobileTrader
- Account Types: Family Office Account ,UGMA/UTMA, IRA, Trust ,Joint, Individuals
- Payment Options: Bank Wire (BankTransfer/SWIFT), ACH (Automated Clearing House), BPAY, Check, Direct Debit, Local Bank Deposits, Transfer from Existing Broker
- US Traders: Accepted
Lite Finance
LiteFinance (formerly known as LiteForex) is an online forex and CFD broker founded in 2005. It provides online trading services for individuals interested in participating in the foreign exchange market and other financial markets. LiteForex offers various trading accounts, platforms, and educational resources for traders. You can trade using MT4, MT5, and mobile trading apps on LIteFiance. This broker offers 250+ trading instruments for retail traders.
LiteFinance Overview
- Founded In: 2005
- Minimum Deposit: $10
- Maximum Leverage: 1:1000
- Regulations: FCA, CySEC, FSA, FSA (Labuan), and FSCA.
- Trading platform: MT4/5, LF, cTrader
- Account Types: ECN, Classic
- Payment Options: Bank Wire (BankTransfer/SWIFT), VISA, MasterCard, Alipay, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Boleto, Ether/Ethereum, Litecoin, Local Bank Deposits, M-Pesa, Mobile Money, Monero, PerfectMoney, Ripple (XRP), WebMoney
- US Traders: Not Accept
Interactive Brokers vs: LiteFinance Features
Interactive Brokers
- Trading Instruments: 5000+Trading instruments including forex, CFDs, warrants, ETFs Options, Futures, Mutual Funds, stocks, options, and Bonds
- Maximum leverage: 50:1 for US Clients, 30:1 for EU clients, and 400:1 for global clients.
- Minimum Deposit: The Interactive Brokers minimum deposit is $0 for a cash account, $2,000 for a T Reg margin account, and $110,000 for a portfolio margin account. The minimum deposit is subject to change depending on the trading account opened and the base currency selected.
- Trading Fees: spreads starting from as low as 0.1 pips, Stock fees USD 0.005 per share.
- PAMM/ MAM: Not Available
- Scalping: Allowed
- News Trading: Allowed
- EA/ Robot Trading: Allowed with Capitalise.ai
LiteFinance
- Trading Instruments: 250+ Trading instruments including Forex currency pairs, CFD stocks, Stocks indexes, Metals, Oil, Cryptocurrencies, etc.
- Maximum leverage: The maximum leverage of LiteFinance is as high as 1000:1. However, leverage may vary based on jurisdiction, and tradable assets.
- Minimum Deposit: The minimum deposit of LiteFinance is $10 for cent account, $50 for ECN and Classic Accounts
- Account Types: Three (ECN, Classic, Cent)
- Trading Fees: Floating spread starting from 0.0 pip for ECN Account, 1.8 Points for Classic Account, and 3 points for Cent Account. ECN account charges a commission of 0.25 per lot per side (Zero Spreads)
- PAMM/ MAM: Not Available
- Scalping: Allowed
- News Trading: Allowed
- EA/ Robot Trading: Allowed
Interactive Brokers vs Lite Finance: Pros and Cons
Interactive Brokers Pros & Cons
- IBK is a Forex and Stock Broker
- Excellent reputation (founded in 1978)
- Regulated by top regulators like ASIC, FCA, FSA, SFC, IIROC
- A wide range of products offered warrants, ETFs, Options, Futures, Mutual Funds, Bonds
- Over 18,000 no-transaction-fee mutual funds.
- No monthly inactivity fee
- Low trading fees and high interest (up to 4.58% for USD) on cash balances
- Access to international markets and exchanges
- Mobile apps are convenient for individual investors.
- Complicated account opening
- Learning Curve for Beginners
- The maximum leverage is only 1:40
- No Metatrader platforms (MT4, MT5) offered
- High minimum deposit requirements for some account types
- Interactive Advisors (Robo-advisor feature) is only available for US customers
- No fixed spread is available
LiteFinance Pros & Cons
- LiteFinance ( formerly LiteForex) is regulated by CySEC
- The Maximum leverage is as high as 1:1000
- Correspondence to the A-Book model, STP (straight-through processing) and ECN technologies for processing client orders
- Variety of account types, including Classic and Islamic accounts.
- Scalping, News trading, and EA/Robot Trading are allowed
- Offers web trading, mobile trading and ECN trading
- Multiple payment methods, plus local transfers
- Not regulated by tire regulators like FCA, ASIC
- No passive investment program ( MAM, PAMM Accounts)
- US, UK, or Japan Traders are not accepted
- A small selection of trading instruments;
- Sometimes it takes time to receive a response from technical support;
- 3% withdrawal fees if you do not have any trading activities
Interactive Brokers vs LiteFinance: Side-by-Side Comparison
Interactive Brokers Vs LiteFinance: Our Scores and Ratings
We rated both brokers, Interactive Brokers and LiteFinance, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 0.1 increments. To achieve a comprehensive rating, we broadly grouped all services offered by brokers into 6 macro categories and assigned percentage weights to them. Each macro category is subdivided into several data points which contributes to the total score of 1.0-10.0 assigned to each macro category. Since all categories are not equally important, our weight percentage plays a significant role in assessing the broker accurately. For example, Regulation and Security contributes a total weight of 40% to the whole ratings because this is the most important rating category. To learn more, read our methodology.
