Wanna see if Tickmill is a legit broker? Is it safe to trade? Is its spread high or low? How long it take to deposit or withdrawal?
We provide answers to all the questions in this Tickmill review.
We checked all Tickmill licenses and regulation status to see if Tickmill is safe. We compared Tickmill’s fees like spread & commission from its live account to over 150 brokers, required time for deposit & withdrawal and many more findings in this review.
What is Tickmill
Tickmill is a global forex and CFD broker, established in 2014. The company is regulated by several financial authorities globally, including the top-tier Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom.
Tickmill highlights
| 🗺️ Regulated in | UK, Cyprus, South Africa, Seychelles, Labuan |
| 🛡️ Is Tickmill safe to trade | Yes |
| 💵 EUR/USD spread | 1.6 pips |
| 🏦 Deposit | Neteller, Skrill, Credit/Debit Card, Bank Transfer |
| 💰 Minimum deposit | US$100 |
| 🏦 Withdrawal | Neteller, Skrill, Credit/Debit Card, Bank Transfer |
| 💻 Trading platform | MT4 |
| 💳 Trading markets | Forex, Commodity, Indices, Bonds |
| 📈 Number of product | 85 |
| 📉 Live chat response | Instant and relevant answers |
Regulation
License and regulation are the keys to traders’ fund security. We check two facts. what licenses does a broker carry and how you are protected if something goes wrong. what the background of the broker is.
Is Tickmill legit
It is regulated by several financial authorities, including the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles, the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and the Financial Services Authority of Labuan Malaysia (LFSA).
Tickmill licenses and status
| Entity | Registered in | Regulator | License no. | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tickmill UK Ltd | United Kingdom | Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | 717270 | Currently Regulated |
| Tickmill Europe Ltd | Cyprus | Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) | 278/15 | Currently Regulated |
| Tickmill South Africa (Pty) Ltd | South Africa | Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) | 49464 | Currently Regulated |
| Tickmill Ltd | Seychelles | Financial Services Authority of Seychelles | SD008 | Currently Regulated |
| Tickmill Asia Ltd | Labuan, Malaysia | Labuan Financial Services Authority (Labuan FSA) | MB/18/002 | Currently Regulated |
Is Tickmill safe
Yes, Tickmill is considered safe because it is regulated by the top-tier FCA.
As of September 2020, Tickmill introduced two new entities under two new regulators: the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), and the Financial Services Authority of Labuan Malaysia (LFSA).
We reached out to Tickmill, but at the time of our update, it is unknown which countries are under FSCA and LFSA authority. We will update the review when we find out.
Tickmill compensation scheme
| Entity | Compensation Amount | Negative Balance Protection |
|---|---|---|
| Tickmill UK Ltd | £85,000 | Yes |
| Tickmill Europe Ltd | €20,000 | Yes |
| Tickmill South Africa (Pty) Ltd | No compensation | Yes |
| Tickmill Ltd | No compensation | Yes |
| Tickmill Asia Ltd | No compensation | Yes |
We recommend you register your account with the UK entity, if it’s available for you, as we consider the FCA regulation the best one.
Tickmill provides negative balance protection for retail customers. If the balance on your account goes negative, you will be protected.
Markets and Products
At Tickmill, you can trade only CFDs on forex, stock indices, commodities, and German government bonds with 85 instruments in total. Popular asset classes, such as stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds and options are missing.
| Markets | Instruments |
|---|---|
| Forex | 62 |
| Indices | 13 |
| Commodities | 6 |
| Bonds | 4 |
Account types
Tickmill has several account types that differ in pricing, minimum deposit, and minimum account balance.
| Classic | Pro | VIP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | 100 USD/EUR/GBP | 100 USD/EUR/GBP | – |
| Minimum Balance | – | – | 50,000 USD/EUR/GBP |
| Spreads From | 1.6 pips | 0.0 pips | 0.0 pips |
| Commissions | Zero Commissions | 2 per side per 100,000 traded | 1 per side per 100,000 traded |
Fees and commissions
We ranked Tickmill’s fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to 150 brokers that we recalled their live account spread in our database.
The spread we collected spread in popular instruments from 6 markets over 150 brokers
| Markets | Instruments | Low | Average | High |
| Forex | EUR/USD | 0.1-0.9 | 1-1.5 | 1.6 or higher |
| Indices | US 500 | 0.1-0.4 | 0.5-1.4 | 1.5 or higher |
| Commodities | Gold | 0.1-0.4 | 0.5-2 | 2.1 or higher |
| Stocks | Tesla | 0.1-0.5 | 0.6-1 | 1.1 or higher |
| ETFs | US Russell 2000 | 0.1-0.4 | 0.5-1.4 | 1.5 or higher |
| Cryptocurrencies | Bitcoin | 0.1-0.5% | 0.6-0.9% | 1% or higher |
Spreads
There are different cost structures for different account types.
Comparing the spreads charged in our trades to industry benchmarks, we found the spread on stock indices to be quite low, but the spreads on Forex and commodities were in-line with industry averages or higher.
| Markets | Instruments | Standard account | PRO account | Other brokers’ avg spread |
| Forex | EUR/USD | 1.6 | 0.2 | 1-1.5 |
| Indices | US 500 | 1.39 | 0.39 | 0.5-1.4 |
| Commodities | Gold | 0.23 | 0.021 | 0.5-2 |
| Stocks | Tesla | – | 0.6-1 | |
| ETFs | US Russell 2000 | – | 0.5-1.4 | |
| Cryptocurrencies | Bitcoin | – | 15.70 | 0.6-0.9% |
Other Fees
Tickmill has low non-trading fees. There is no fee for deposit, withdrawal, or inactivity.
Trading Conditions
The trading conditions at Tickmill are good. You can run most all types of trading strategies such as hedging and scalping.
| Trading Conditions | Yes/No |
|---|---|
| Hedging Allowed | Yes |
| Scalping Allowed | Yes |
| Change Leverage Allowed | Yes |
For hedging, there are no time limitations for keeping your hedging positions open.
For scalping, Tickmill is working with BeeksFX to provide VPS for traders whose run Expert Advisors (EAs).
Tickmill also allows to traders change their account leverage to fit their needs.
Deposit
Tickmill charges no deposit fees. You can use bank transfer, credit/debit cards, and a lot of electronic wallets:
A bank transfer can take several business days, while payment with credit/debit cards is instant.
| Deposit Method | Funding Time | Fee |
| Bank Wire Transfer | Within 1 Working Day | 0$ above 5,000$ |
| Credit / Debit Card | Instant | 0$ |
| Skrill, Neteller | Instant | 0$ |
Minimum Deposit
The required minimum deposit at Tickmill is $100. For a VIP account, you need to maintain a minimum $50,000 balance.
Withdrawal
Similarly to deposit, Tickmill charges no fee for withdrawal. You can use the same options for withdrawal as for deposit.
| Withdrawal Method | Withdrawal Time | Fee |
| Bank Wire Transfer | 1-2 business days | Free |
| Credit / Debit Card | 1-2 business days | Free |
| Skrill, Neteller | 1-2 business days | Free |
Bonus
Tickmill offers $30 Welcome Account bonus which is a no deposit bonus. It is available to new client with account under Tickmill Ltd.
However, it is not available to clients from the UK and EU.
Trading Platform
Tickmill doesn’t have its own self-developed trading platform, it uses MetaTrader 4, a third-party platform.
MetaTrader 4 is available in an exceptionally large number of languages and it is available on operating system such as Windows, Mac, Android and IOs across devices PCs, smartphones and tablets.
Research and Tools
Tickmill has a wide range of services that can provide trading ideas, such as Autochartist, a chart pattern recognition tool. The analysis available on its blog is great. On the flip side, the news feed is basic and the charting tools have outdated design.
Tickmill’s research tools are available in different places:
- MetaTrader trading platform
- Autochartist in the ‘Client Area’
- ‘Client Tools’ section on the website
- Tickmill’s blog
Education
Tickmill has great educational content. You can learn through videos, demo accounts, and webinars. On the negative side, platform tutorial videos are not categorized.
At Tickmill you can learn in the following ways:
- Demo account
- General educational videos
- Platform tutorial videos
- Webinars
- Quality educational articles
Customer Service
Tickmill provides good customer service. We got relevant and fast answers both on the telephone and by email. The live chat agents are also helpful and give relevant answers, however, response time was slower. On the downside, customer service is 24/5 only.
You can contact Tickmill via:
- live chat
- telephone
Tickmill’s live chat is of average-speed but they are eager to help you and will make screenshots for you if it helps explain things.
| Question Asked | We asked about deposit and withdrawal methods. |
| Time of Reply | It was about 2 mins waiting before we were connected to customer support representative and the replies were in seconds |
| Quality of Reply | The answer is accurate and relative. |
Conclusion
Tickmill is a safe broker to trade. It allows traders to trade with almost any trading strategy including scalping, which is great for day trading and EA trading.
Furthermore, Tickmill also allows traders choose which entity to open account including its UK entity.
We recommend Tickmill for traders who run EAs, scalping and prefer the MT4 platform, as well as those interested in trading with an FCA-regulated broker.
Author of this review
By Jimmy O'Brien
Author of this review
Over 15 years experience in forex, commodities and equities markets research. He loves analyzing and trading the markets as a strategist and trader. In late 2019, Jimmy turned to researching and analyzing forex brokers. Now he and his team focus researching and comparing broker’s pros and cons.
Over 15 years experience in forex, commodities and equities markets research. He loves analysing and trading the markets as a strategist and trader. In late 2019, Jimmy turned to researching and analysing forex brokers. Now he and his team focus researching and comparing broker’s pros and cons.