Charles Schwab vs IG Index
Charles Schwab or IG Index – which is better for UK traders 2024? Compare Charles Schwab and IG Index in this detailed breakdown of their platforms, features and fees.
| Charles Schwab | IG Index |
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| Charles Schwab is ranked #111 among UK brokers. | IG Index is ranked #1 among CFD brokers. |
| Charles Schwab is a large US investment broker offering a massive range of stocks, ETFs and equity derivatives in a variety of savings and investment accounts. The trustworthy brand has been offering financial services for 45+ years with over 35 million brokerage accounts and $870+ billion in assets under management. Charles Schwab is also regulated by top-tier watchdogs including the SEC and FCA. | Founded in 1974, IG is part of IG Group Holdings Plc, a publicly traded (LSE: IGG) brokerage. The brand offers spread betting, CFD and forex trading across an almost unrivalled selection of 17,000+ markets, with a range of user-friendly platforms and investing apps. For 50 years, IG has maintained its position as an industry leader, excelling in all key areas for traders. |
| Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | |
| Pros | |
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| Cons | |
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| Awards | |
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| FCA Regulated | |
| No | Yes |
| Instruments | |
| Stocks, ETFs, Cryptos, Futures, Options, Commodities, Bonds | CFDs, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Commodities, ETFs, Futures, Options, Crypto, Spread Betting |
| Demo Account | |
| Yes | Yes |
| Minimum Deposit | |
| $0 | $0 |
| Payment Methods | |
| Minimum Trade | |
| $1 | 0.01 Lots |
| Regulator | |
| SEC, FINRA, FCA1 | FCA, ASIC, NFA, CFTC, DFSA, BaFin, MAS, FSCA, FINMA, CONSOB, AFM |
| Mobile Apps | |
| iOS & Android | iOS & Android |
| Trading App | |
IG offers a superb all-round trading app. One of the pioneers of mobile trading, the application has been developed and refined over many years, meaning it is now among the best trading apps. Quick response, user-friendly layout, access to full charting and a stable and reliable application. It also offers guaranteed stops – an important risk management tool not available on many apps we’ve tested. |
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| iOS App Rating | |
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| Android App Rating | |
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| Margin Trading | |
| No | Yes |
| Margin Rate | |
| 2.5% | |
| MetaTrader 4 | |
| No | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 | |
| No | No |
| cTrader | |
| No | No |
| AlgoTrader | |
| No | No |
| OmniTrader | |
| No | No |
| TradingView | |
| No | Yes |
| Autochartist | |
| No | Yes |
| eSignal | |
| No | No |
| Trading Central | |
| No | Yes |
| STP Account | |
| No | No |
| ECN Account | |
| No | No |
| DMA Account | |
| No | Yes |
| MAM Account | |
| No | No |
| PAMM Account | |
| No | No |
| LAMM Account | |
| No | No |
| Demat Account | |
| No | No |
| AI / Machine Learning | |
| Yes | No |
| Robo Advisor | |
| Yes | Yes |
| Negative Balance Protection | |
| No | Yes |
| Market Maker | |
| No | Yes |
| P2P Trading | |
| No | No |
| Spot Trading | |
| No | Yes |
| Auto Trading | |
| Yes | Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader, build your own on ProRealTime |
| Copy Trading | |
| No | No |
| Social Trading | |
| No | No |
| Trade Signals | |
| Yes | |
| VPS Hosting | |
| No | Yes |
| Tournaments | |
| No | No |
| Demo Competitions | |
| No | No |
| Ethical Investing | |
| Yes | Yes |
| Custodial Account | |
| Yes | No |
| Guaranteed Stop Loss | |
| No | Yes |
| Inactivity Fee | |
| $12 | |
| Islamic Account | |
| No | No |
| Account Currencies | |
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| Commodities | |
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| CFD | |
| IG offers a huge selection of 17,000+ CFDs, providing more trading opportunities than most CFD brokers. Traders can go long or short on popular markets like stocks, currencies, commodities and cryptos, while custom price alerts and the IG Academy continue to enhance the trading experience. | |
| Leverage | |
| 1:30 (Retail), 1:222 (Pro) | |
| FTSE Spread | |
| 1.0 | |
| GBPUSD Spread< | |
| 0.9 | |
| Oil Spread | |
| 2.8 | |
| Stocks Spread | |
| 0.02 | |
| Forex | |
| IG offers an above-average suite of 80+ currency pairs on its proprietary web platform, mobile app or MetaTrader 4, with more advanced charts and forex analysis tools available on the ProRealTime software. Forex spreads are competitive based on tests, starting from 0.1 pips on majors like the EUR/USD. | |
| Assets | |
| 80+ | |
| GBPUSD Spread | |
| 0.9 | |
| EURUSD Spread | |
| 0.8 | |
| EURGBP Spread | |
| 0.9 | |
| Currency Indices | |
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| Cryptocurrency | |
| Charles Schwab supports indirect crypto trading through digital coin trusts and crypto-related stocks. You can get exposure to popular digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ripple and Ethereum. | IG's modest selection of 11 crypto CFDs trails top crypto brokers like Vantage which offers 40+ tokens. That said, it stands out with its crypto index, which tracks the value of the top 10 digital currencies by market cap and provides a holistic way to speculate on the value of the crypto market. |
| Spread | |
| Floating | Variable |
| Coins | |
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| Crypto Lending | |
| No | No |
| Crypto Mining | |
| No | No |
| Crypto Staking | |
| No | No |
| Auto Market Maker | |
| No | No |
| Charles Schwab | IG Index |
| Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. | |
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Charles Schwab vs |
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