Terrible Forex Brokers, Not Recommended!
ChoiceTrade has been operating since 2000. They are proof that age doesn’t always mean the company is good. In the following ChoiceTrade review, I’ve discussed all the various aspects of this forex broker. I realized they are one of the worst service providers in the industry. Their heavy PR spending might not help them here. Here are the many reasons why you shouldn’t do business with ChoiceTrade:
Did You Know?
PR agencies are focused on creating a favorable online image for their clients. The PR agencies contribute to the media gatherings and the favoring newspapers headlines.
No Complete Address
ChoiceTrade fails to provide details about its exact address. There is no mention of their complete address on the website or in the terms of business agreement. It is, however, realized that the address of the broker is in Puerto Rico, which is an island location. But there is no availability of their detailed address.
If the broker is legally regulated, then why does it fail to mention the detailed address? There is silence on the working office, registered office, and the regional officers of the broker. The absence of the registered office makes it a broker operating from a virtual location only. The offshore island location with no details about the registered address increases the doubt on the regulation policies of the trader.
No details about the ChoiceTrade Team
ChoiceTrade does not provide any details about the team of professional experts responsible for their operations. There is no outline of the CEO, the CFO, and other board members of the broker.
It fails to furnish any details about their financial experts. Adhering to the rules and regulations of governing authorities is the responsibility of their team members, which we don’t know about. This deepens the doubt on the existence of a strong team behind ChoiceTrade.
Unreliable Trading Platform
ChoiceTrade does not provide the facility of the reputed and reliable MetaTrader as its trading platform to the investors. MetaTrader provides a specific market watch window to simplify online trading. It provides multilingual services, and pre-programmed expert advisors to traders. The options to take orders or to stop orders helps in reducing the risks on MetaTrader. It is a powerful software with high-end security and safety features. Trading with reliable automated trading signals, algorithmic trading, and easy demo accounts helps in tackling the volatility of the market.
The absence of MetaTrader creates a pathetic situation for traders. It is easy to download the platform and to use it on desktop and mobile applications.\\ The paid and insecure trading platforms of ChoiceTrade fail to fill the void of MetaTrader. Needless to say, their platforms lag in providing quality services to traders.
Highly Expensive Platform of ChoiceTrade
ChoiceTrade provides 3 types of trading platforms on a subscription-based model. It is against the expectations of traders as no regulated broker charges traders for providing a live trading platform. The screenshot of the various types of the trading platform is as below.
The broker charges a minimum of $15 as a monthly fee for using their live trading platform. It is an awkward situation for traders because regulated brokers never charge anything from traders for using trading platforms. The provision of a secure and reliable trading platform is an efficient tool for trading. The absence of the instant execution of trades with security and features of live trading charts is a key to the gripe of traders. My ChoiceTrade review advises traders to stay away from the paid trading platforms of such offshore brokers. ChoiceTrade is a greedy forex broker that goes above and beyond to levy charges from its customers. I haven’t seen any other reputed broker who charges its customers for using its trading platform. The level of their greed is insurmountable.
Abnormal Minimum Deposit
While traders are already facing the wrath of the high charging trading platforms of ChoiceTrade, their single but high charging trading account multiplies the worries of traders. There is no facility for different live trading accounts with different leverage and spread. There is a single live trading account that requires a minimum initial deposit of $100. It is 20 times higher than the popular minimum initial deposit of $5.
The broker cleverly tries to justify its single account by providing the details to convert this account into joint, individual, custodial, etc. It is found that these types of variations in the single account are not available to all countries. It is only available to US citizens. The option of different trading accounts allows traders to choose from the basic, intermediate, or professional accounts of a company, which is absent here. ChoiceTrade only has one trading account to offer, so if you’re a new trader, you should stay away from them. There’s a stark difference between the requirements of new traders and seasoned traders. The former requires educational resources, while the latter requires personal account managers. That’s why good brokers have different accounts. ChoiceTrade’s lethargic and greedy approach is clearly visible here.
No Details on Payment Partners
ChoiceTrade does not provide any details to the traders about its payment partners. Regulated brokers usually mention a list of the authorized payment partners so that traders can use the best mode of payment according to their requirements. There is no such provision in the terms of use agreement of the ChoiceTrade also there is no separate mention on the website.
It hints that there is no association of the broker with any of the leading payment channels like Skrill. It is well-known to traders that Skrill works under the “anti-scam” policy and allows dealing with regulated brokers only. So if ChoiceTrade doesn’t work with them, it could mean that they are a shady bunch of thieves.
Different Payment Companies
There is another shock to traders that ChoiceTrade mentions different clearing companies for the bank wire transactions. There are details of Velox Clearing LLC and Electronic Transaction Clearing Incorporation which accept the bank wire transfers on the behalf of the broker. A screenshot of the details of the clearing agencies is below.
If ChoiceTrade is a registered entity, then why do they not have a bank account in the US? This is suspicious as all regulated brokers have their accounts in reputed banks of the region. The security of the funds of traders is a prime concern with ChoiceTrade.
Regulated brokers keep the funds of traders in segregated accounts in the regional banks. It helps in safeguarding the money of the investors as a broker cannot divert the funds into some other activity. Sadly, there is no such relief to the traders of ChoiceTrade.
Hidden Deposit and Withdrawal conditions:
There is no outline for the fee and conditions related to the basic process of funds transfer in the live trading accounts of ChoiceTrade. There are no details about other fees like the maintenance fee and the dormant fee. The non-disclosure of the fee and other mandatory charges is a reflection of the poor services of the broker. There is no mention of the fee waiving in their terms of business. The broker chooses to impose its supremacy to deduct any type of amount form the account of traders by calling it a fee. My ChoiceTrade review warns traders to stay away from brokers which fail to maintain transparency in the handling of funds.
No Provision on Resources:
ChoiceTrade fails to provide high-quality educational support to its traders. There is a lack of helpful video tutorials for traders who are new to trading. Providing study material aiming at the practicality and the volatility of the markets could’ve been beneficial to traders. But ChoiceTrade does not provide any such benefits.
Lack of Efficient Customer Support:
ChoiceTrade doesn’t provide 24*7 technical customer support. There is no option for ChoiceTrade live chat to help traders. The company provides the phone numbers of the region of Puerto Rico which is an offshore island location.
ChoiceTrade should strive to provide regional linguistic phone numbers for the help of traders. Having different phone numbers on the website could help traders to reach the broker when needed. Sadly, there is no such facility to traders of Choice Trade. It shows how little the broker cares about its customers. They know they have a faulty system but they are too selfish to work on it. For a forex broker that has been operating for more than 2 decades, such carelessness is unbearable.
Social Media Presence of ChoiceTrade
The Facebook page of ChoiceTrade has only 194 followers. It has fewer number of followers as compared to any other prominent forex broker. Here’s the screenshot:
The little number of followers on Facebook indicates the low popularity of ChoiceTrade among traders. Another reason could be the below-average quality of information on their Facebook page.
The twitter account of ChoiceTrade reflects the low maintenance of social media accounts. A look at the post from the twitter account of the broker is below.
ChoiceTrade puts random posts instead of informative posts about the trading services. A good weekday post is flaunting on the twitter account. The broker fails to understand the value of posting quality content social media accounts.
Read also: Gemini Capital
My ChoiceTrade review concludes that the social media accounts of the broker are of no good to traders and need special attention. Their terrible social media accounts also reflect how little focus they have on customer service.
ChoiceTrade is NOT Worth your Money!
There is no authenticity of their address and team. ChoiceTrade fails to provide a free trading platform to the investors. There is no clear outline for the trading conditions, fund’s transfer, and fees. The trader misses the basic services that are indispensable in almost all of the Regulated brokers. The weak technical customer support and educational support to traders fades away the high claims of the ChoiceTrade. It is not a good option for trading and the investors are strongly advised to stay away from the ChoiceTrade.
Kevin Fitzwilson
