Pepperstone review 2024:
All you need to know

Regulated regions

• Australia: Pepperstone Group Limited is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC - Tier 1), with AFSL number 414530. Pepperstone Group Limited's ACN (Australian Company Number) is 147 055 703.
• United Kingdom: Pepperstone is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA reference number 684312 - Tier 1) as Pepperstone (UK) Limited. Pepperstone Limited Company number 08965105.
• Germany: Pepperstone is regulated by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin - Tier 1) as Pepperstone GmbH, with license number 151148. Company registration number HRB91279.
• Cyprus: Regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC - Tier 2) as Pepperstone (EU) Limited, with license number 388/20. Pepperstone EU Limited's company registration number in Cyprus is HE 398429.
• United Arab Emirates: Regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), as Pepperstone Financial Services Limited, with license number F004356. Company registration number DIFC3460. This regulation is not explicitly classified into a tier system, however the DFSA role is to oversee financial institutions within DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) and its engagement with other international regulators suggest that it is likely considered a reputable regulator.
• Kenya: Regulated by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA - no Tier regulation) as Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited, with license number 128. The CMA is not typically classified in the tier system like some other regulators (such as ASIC or FCA). Company registration number is PVT-PJU7Q8K.
• The Bahamas: Regulated by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) as Pepperstone Markets Limited, with license number SIA-F217. Company registration number 177174 B.
• Pepperstone unfortunately cannot accept clients from the United States due to the costs and complexities associated with complying with US regulations.
  In addition, Pepperstone do not operate or provide services to residents of the following countries: Afghanistan, American Samoa, Canada, Congo-Kinshasa, Congo-Brazzaville, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Crimea, Democratic People's Republic of the Congo, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, New Zealand (retail clients only), South Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, U.S. Outlying Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Yemen, Zimbabwe.

Currencies accepted for deposits/withdrawals

Deposits into Pepperstone trading accounts can be made in various currencies, including USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, CAD, CHF, JPY, NZD, SGD, HKD. Additionally, Tether (USDT) deposits can be made by clients in countries where cryptocurrency trading is allowed.

Account types

Pepperstone offers a wide range of account types, Standard (commission-free) accounts have slightly wider spreads than its Razor account. Razor (commission-based) accounts have tighter spreads.

Islamic Account is a commission-free account opened with a minimum deposit of $200 AUD or equivalent. Available to clients from the following countries: Albania, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Brunei, Brunei Darussalam, Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Morocco, Mauritania, Maldives, Malaysia, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sierra Leona, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Kosovo.

Spread Betting Accounts (UK and Ireland only) for those looking for a cost-effective way to trade due to the tax benefits. Profits are tax-free with no capital gains or stamp duty.

Pepperstone also offers Multi Account Manager (MAM) and Percentage Allocation Management Module (PAMM) accounts. There is also a Premium Client account and a Professional account for experienced traders.

Minimum deposit

No minimum deposit is required however Pepperstone recommends $200 or currency equivalent. In order to access the Smart Trader Tools or Figaro package of advanced trading tools which is offered to clients using MetaTrader platforms they would be required to deposit a minimum of $500. Unfortunately, we did not deposit the $500 required to access these tools so we were not able to experience their functionalities.

Costs and fees

• Standard Account:
  • Average spread on major FX pairs ranges from 1.1 - 1.4, our experience saw prices fluctuate from 1.1 - 1.5. With the minors, Pepperstone states the average spread ranges from 1.4 - 5.0. Our experience saw spreads fluctuate between 1.3 - 2.9.
  • No commission charges.
  • Commissions on metals and indices are reflected in the spread.
  • Suitable for beginners and traders who prefer a simple fee structure.
• Razor Account:
  • Commission-based.
  • $6 USD round-turn commission per 100,000 units traded on cTrader.
  • $7 USD round-turn commission per 100,000 units traded on MT4/MT5.
  • Designed for high-volume traders and those who want tighter spreads.
• Spread Betting Account:
  • For the major FX pairs the average spread is between 0.8 - 1.4.
  • No separate commissions.
• Islamic Account:
  • Swap-free account.
  • When in a trade for 5 days, an admin charge will be deducted from the account balance. This is $100 USD per 1 standard lot size for FX and Precious metals.
• Other Fees to Consider when trading Share CFDs:
  • Commissions vary between 0.07% and 0.20% per side, depending on the asset traded:
    • Australia Share CFD: 0.07%.
    • U.S. Share and ETF CFDs: $0.02 per share per side.
    • European Equities: 0.1% per side.
• Other Fees:
  • No inactivity fees.

Bonus and promotions

While there are no deposit bonuses Pepperstone does offer a rebate program called the Active Trader Program. This is where you can earn forex cash rebates based on your trading volume and save on trading commissions. Your rebate will depend on how many standard lots you trade each month – the more you trade, the higher your rebate.

Pepperstone offers a referral program that rewards clients for inviting friends or family to open an account. Retail clients can earn 20 commission-free trades by referring friends who meet specific deposit and trading requirements. Pepperstone Pro clients can earn up to $1,000, depending on the referred friend's deposit and trading activity.

Depositing ease

Deposits into Pepperstone are straightforward and they offer a wide variety of options when depositing including: bank transfer / wire transfer, credit/debit cards (Visa and Mastercard), and e-wallets such as PayPal, Neteller and Skrill. There are also some local payment methods available in specific countries including; POLi (Australia and New Zealand), BPay (Australia and New Zealand), Union Pay (outside Europe), MPESA (outside Europe).

Trading account deposits are generally instant with the exception of bank transfers which can take 2-3 business days.

Tether deposits can be made through ERC20 & TRC20 networks for those countries where you can trade cryptos with Pepperstone. There is a minimum amount of $25 and the maximum is $500,000 per transaction.

Withdrawing ease

Pepperstone offers various withdrawal options for ease, with different processing times. Bank wire transfers typically take the longest, with funds arriving in 3-5 business days. Credit and debit card withdrawals are faster, usually processed within 1-3 business days. For those seeking quicker access to their funds, e-wallet withdrawals can be instant or take up to 1-2 business days. The fastest options are POLi, BPay, and Union Pay, which offer instant or near-instant withdrawals.

Pepperstone aims to process all withdrawal requests received before 07:00 (AEST) on the same day, although actual receipt of funds may vary depending on the payment processor and your location. These factors make Pepperstone's withdrawal system flexible and accommodating to various trader needs.

It's worth noting that while Pepperstone does not charge any fees for withdrawals, there may be third-party fees charged by banks or payment processors.

During our review, we were only able to withdraw the amount we initially deposited on our first withdrawal. Because we used a card for our deposit, we had to refund that amount to the same card before we could access other withdrawal methods. When we contacted customer service, they explained that this is in accordance with International Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. The 'permitted amount' displayed on our withdrawal page represented the sum we needed to withdraw back to the original deposit source. Once we completed that process, they informed us that we could then use other withdrawal methods or any card for future withdrawals.

Tradeable asset classes

Pepperstone offers over 1,000 tradable instruments across various asset classes, including over 90 forex pairs, 25+ global indices, 3 currency indices, 32 commodities, over 100 share CFDs, 100+ ETF CFDs and for certain regions 21 cryptocurrencies.

Lot sizes

Forex trading, the minimum position size is 0.01 lots, equivalent to 1,000 units of the base currency.

Stock CFDs can be traded with a minimum of 1 share.

Index, commodity and cryptocurrency trading starts at 0.1 contracts.

For other CFD products, the smallest position is 0.01 lots, although this varies by instrument.

Islamic Accounts can be traded in a position size of between 0.01 to 100 lots.

Leverage

Pepperstone offers varying leverage ratios across different regulatory regions. Under FCA (UK) regulation, traders can access up to 30:1 leverage for major currency pairs, 20:1 for minor pairs, gold, and major stock indexes, 10:1 for other commodities and minor stock indexes, and 5:1 for individual stocks, while cryptocurrency CFD trading is banned.

CySEC (EU/EEA) regulation provides similar ratios, with the addition of 2:1 leverage for cryptocurrencies.

In the Bahamas, under SCB regulation, leverage can reach up to 200:1 for currencies and commodities, 20:1 for individual stocks, and 10:1 for cryptocurrencies.

The CMA (Kenya) regulation allows leverage up to 400:1 for currencies and commodities, and 20:1 for individual stocks. Cryptocurrencies are not available.

Up to 500:1 leverage is available for professional clients in some regions, although it's not universally offered across all regions.

Overall, the actual leverage available varies depending on the specific regulatory region, the trader's status and the financial instruments being traded.

Execution quality

The execution quality was high in terms of speed of fills and price. From our experience, entry orders were executed at limit prices and market orders filled at price. Super fast execution with little latency meeting Pepperstones "razor sharp pricing" and "fast execution" policy. There was also the added bonus on occasions of a better fill price on targets although of course not guaranteed. Pepperstone provides access to deep liquidity, which includes Tier 1 banks and financial institutions that contribute towards better pricing and timely executions.

On execution of the trades, we received detailed email notifications that confirmed all aspects, including entry information and subsequent updates on their closure. We found complete transparency throughout the whole process.

Trading platform

Trading platforms available include MetaTrader 4 & 5, cTrader, and TradingView, all of which are known for their reliability and advanced trading features. These platforms are all available on mobile apps.

Trading tools

Pepperstone offers a comprehensive range of educational resources for traders, including a forex trading course for beginners, general educational videos, platform tutorials, and high-quality educational articles on trading concepts and strategies. They also have live webinars with expert analysts, comprehensive trading guides and dedicated "Learn to Trade" sections for forex, CFDs, crypto, and shares.

They provide copy trading functionality through its app in partnerships with Pelican Exchange Ltd., Signal Start, Dupli Trade, MyFXBook and MQL5 community.

They also offer platform-specific education resources for MetaTrader 4/5 and cTrader. Although the MetaTrader 4 course is currently unavailable on the website link.

In addition, all clients can tap into Pepperstone’s daily market analysis articles and expert insights from industry professionals and their research team. These resources cover global market trends and aim to help traders stay informed about current market conditions and potential opportunities.

For clients using the cTrader platform, cTrader Automate allows them to build custom automated trading tools and indicators using the C# language which is available to all clients that have a live funded account.

There are several trading tools for clients with a balance of at least $500. These include Smart Trader Tools and the Figaro package for MetaTrader which are available to both retail and professional clients. They provide traders with various options for automated trading, market analysis and advanced trading features.

Pepperstone provides Application Programming Interface (API) trading designed for clients with larger account sizes to automate their trading. This service enables traders to connect their custom-built trading systems directly to Pepperstone's trading infrastructure.

Regulation tiers

Pepperstone is regulated by several top-tier authorities, including ASIC, FCA, BaFin, CySec, DFSA, CMA and SCB. This strong regulatory framework ensures a high level of trust and security for traders.

However, some regional restrictions apply and they do not accept clients from certain countries.

Pepperstone is not regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) so they cannot accept clients from the US.

Awards and Recognition

They have won awards in categories for its services within platforms such as MetaTrader, Algo Trading, and Copy Trading.

Pepperstone have won several industry awards, including "Best Forex Broker Overall" by CompareForexBrokers and "Broker of the Year 2022" by TradersBible.

Schedule and time to reply

Pepperstone provides customer support 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday and 18 hours over the weekend via email, phone, and chat. We personally prefer using the chatbot service for contact.

Using the live chat service we were initially greeted by a chatbot, which asked basic questions around our enquiry. When it was not able to answer our question(s), we were transferred to an agent.

The wait times for agents ranged from 2 minutes and on a few occasions it exceeded 15 minutes. On a positive note, we were provided with a queue number which did help set our expectations, although no specific time frame was given.

We wanted to highlight one particular aspect of their chat service which we found a little frustrating. We had to keep the same webpage that had the chat service open, otherwise the session would end requiring us to start over again. There was no functionality allowing us to continue the chat across multiple open Pepperstone webpages. This caught us out on a couple of occasions when we accidently closed down the page that had the chat service.

We were assigned a client account manager immediately upon opening the account providing us with his direct contact details. The account manager was very proactive in checking if we required any assistance and answering any questions we had.

For many of the questions we asked, the answers were readily available on their website or on their media channels eg. YouTube.

Languages available

They offer support in multiple languages across their website and platforms including English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic, Indonesian, Italian, French, Thai, German and Polish.

There is a comprehensive FAQ section available on their website.

Here you can find what Forex Peace Army users think about Pepperstone. Do you want to see more reviews? Visit the FPA page to see more user experiences with this broker.