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Last Updated On Nov 20, 2023
75-90% of retail traders lose money trading Forex and CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs and leveraged trading work and if you can afford the high risk of losing your money. We may receive compensation when you click on links to products we review. Please read our advertising disclosure. By using this website you agree to our Terms of Service.
FBS is a well-regulated international broker with a wide range of accounts, including a dedicated crypto account and a low-cost entry-level account, over 100 cryptocurrency pairs, and an easy-to-use mobile trading app. However, Tanzanian traders should be aware that even though FBS is regulated by some top-tier authorities, they will be onboarded through FBS’ Belize-based entity, which provides less regulatory oversight.
Other drawbacks are the high trading costs on its Micro, Crypto, and Zero accounts, and the high withdrawal fees. Beginners should also be wary of the high leverage available on some FBS accounts, without proper risk management high leverage can quickly wipe out smaller accounts. Otherwise, FBS provides a welcoming environment for beginner traders, with an excellent selection of educational and market analysis materials, and 24/7 customer support.
🏦 Min. Deposit | USD 5 |
🛡️ Regulated By | CySEC, ASIC, FSCA, FSC |
💵 Trading Cost | USD 7 |
⚖️ Max. Leverage | 3000:1 |
💹 Copy Trading | No |
🖥️ Platforms | MT4, MT5 |
💱 Instruments | Cryptocurrencies, Energies, Stock CFDs, Forex, Indices, Metals |
Although FBS is regulated by some excellent regulators, Tanzanian residents trade with FBS’ subsidiary in Belize. Additionally, Tanzanian traders are not afforded negative balance protection.
IFSC Regulation: Tanzanian traders will be trading with FBS Markets Inc, which is authorised and regulated by the IFSC in Belize. See below for FBS’ IFSC licence:
Safety Features: While the IFSC requires brokers to keep client funds in separate accounts and issue monthly statements to their clients, it does not require FBS to offer negative balance protection so traders can end up owing money to the broker. Nor does the IFSC require FBS to restrict leverage to protect its traders.
Company Details:
The choice of financial assets offered by FBS is limited compared to other similar brokers, but it offers a wider range of cryptocurrencies.
High leverage: FBS offers some of the highest leverage levels available at any broker – up to 3000:1 on some of its account types. It also only requires a minimum deposit of 1 to 5 USD on its commission-free accounts, which in combination with the high leverage makes it difficult to hold a substantial trading position without getting stopped out and losing the money in your trading account.
Overall, the selection of trading instruments available at FBS is generally limited, but it has an excellent range of cryptocurrencies.
FBS has a wider range of trading accounts than other brokers and its trading fees are around the industry average.
Trading Fees: FBS is unusual amongst brokers in that it offers six different account types, whereas most brokers will offer three or fewer. Trading costs are lower than average on three of its accounts and significantly higher than average on the other three accounts. All accounts have a different minimum deposit requirement.
See below for more details:
Cent Account
Cent accounts are suitable for beginner traders and allow trading micro-lots. The initial deposit is 1 USD; floating spreads average at 0.8 pips (EUR/USD), which is much tighter than at other brokers, and leverage is up to 1:1000.
Standard Account
Standard accounts are commission-free accounts with a minimum deposit of 100 USD, variable spreads that average at 0.8 pips (EUR/USD), which is tighter than other similar brokers, and leverage of up to 3000:1.
Micro Account
Micro accounts are commission-free and have a minimum deposit of 5 USD. Spreads are fixed at 3 pips on the EUR/USD, which is wider than most other brokers, and leverage is up to 3000:1.
Zero spread Account
The Zero Spread account is perfect for those traders who prefer high-speed trading. However, this is a high commission account – at 20 USD per lot, making it unappealing for most traders. Spreads are fixed at 0 pips on the EUR/USD, leverage is up to 3000:1, and the minimum deposit requirement is 500 USD.
ECN Account
The ECN account is the most suitable account for experienced traders. The minimum deposit on the ECN Account is 1,000 USD, variable spreads start at 0.1 pips (EUR/USD), and a commission of 6 USD is charged per lot. Maximum leverage on the ECN Account is up to 500:1, but ECN account holders can only trade on 25 FX pairs. While the minimum deposit requirement is high, its ongoing trading costs are as low as those charged by other ECN brokers.
Crypto Account
FBS offers a dedicated Crypto account, which supports more than 100 instruments: coins to coins, coins to fiat, coins to metals, etc. The minimum deposit on this account is 1 USD, and leverage is fixed at 1:5. However, spreads are extremely wide on these assets, and commissions are 0.1% (round turn), which translates to 100 USD per lot traded. The crypto account is available on MetaTrader 5 only.
Islamic Account
All accounts are available as swap-free accounts, except for the ECN Account. Changing account status to Swap-free is available in the account settings only for the citizens of countries where one of the official (and dominating) religions is Islam.
For long-term strategies where a position is held open for longer than two days, FBS charges a fixed fee for the total number of days during which the order was opened.
Although we were pleased to find that FBS charges no deposit fees, it charges high withdrawal fees for certain payment methods.
In line with Anti-Money Laundering policies, deposits and withdrawals at FBS cannot be made to/from third-party accounts.
Trading Account Currencies: We were disappointed to find that although deposits can be made in most national currencies, they are subsequently converted into USD and EUR. Because FBS does not support accounts denominated in TZS, Tanzanians will have to pay conversion fees on all deposits and withdrawals. Conversion fees can make trading expensive, and affect profitability.
Deposit and Withdrawal Fees: FBS does not charge for making deposits to a live trading account but charges fees for withdrawals under certain conditions. Deposits made via electronic payment systems are processed instantly, and deposit requests via other payment systems are processed within 1-2 hours.
See below for a list of FBS payment methods:
Overall, while FBS provides a wide range of funding methods, and deposits are generally free, withdrawals are expensive and all currencies are converted into EUR or USD and so most traders will have to pay currency conversion fees. Additionally, Tanzanians cannot deposit or withdraw funds via bank transfer.
FBS has a wide selection of promotions and bonuses advertised on its website. For example, the broker offers a 100% deposit bonus, which doubles the deposit available for trading. Please see the website for further details.
FBS offers a wider range of trading platforms than is typically available at other brokers, including its own in-house mobile trading app.
We quickly realised that the FBS Trader app is not a trading platform, but more of a portal that allows traders to manage their MT4 and MT5 platforms from a mobile device or tablet. We were pleased to see that the FBS Trader App is now also available on iOS where previously it was only available for Android devices.
FBS Trader Features: We enjoyed how easy it is to use the FBS Trader app. After you register an account, it takes you through a tutorial to help you easily navigate the platform. The app also has an intuitive home screen and sophisticated dashboard that allows you to easily skip between a real or demo account. The app allows you to view educational videos, has an integrated economic calendar, and allows you to contact customer support. Traders can also track real-time stats, open/close/edit positions, add stops to open positions and delete working orders.
FBS MT4/MT5 Mobile Trading Apps
FBS offers support for MT4 and MT5 mobile trading apps for Android and iOS. Traders should be aware that there is some loss in functionality when compared to the desktop trading platforms, including reduced time frames and fewer charting options, but traders can close and modify existing orders, calculate profit and loss, and trade on the charts.
With both MT4 and MT5 available, FBS’ platform support is average.
The main benefit of using third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5 is that traders can keep their own customised versions of the platforms should they choose to migrate to another broker. Both MT4 and MT5 are available for Windows, Android, iOS, and web browsers.
Platform Comparison:
The account opening process is easy, hassle-free, and fast.
It took us about 5 minutes to open an account at FBS and once our documentation had been submitted our accounts were ready for trading immediately.
As a Tanzanian trader, you are eligible to open an account at FBS as long as you meet the following minimum deposit requirements:
Opening a live account at FBS is easy and fast. While FBS also offers Corporate Accounts and Joint Accounts we will focus on opening an Individual Account:
Overall, the account opening process at FBS is hassle-free and accounts are generally ready for trading in 48 hours.
FBS’ trading tools are average compared to other similar brokers, and it doesn’t offer technical analysis tools such as Autochartist or Trading Central.
Under its trading tools section, FBS lists an Economic Calendar, a Trading Calculator, and a Currency Converter, which are all fairly standard. It also offers a VPS service for traders with a higher minimum deposit.
FBS offers a VPS service to traders who deposit more than 450 USD and who trade three lots within the first month of use. Traders who do not trade these volumes will be charged a fee of 33 USD per month to use the service, which is around the industry average.
VPS hosting allows traders to run automated algorithmic strategies, including expert advisors 24 hours a day 7 days a week on a virtual machine. VPS services have the advantage of never suffering connectivity issues and have extremely low latency due to their proximity to major international exchanges.
Overall, FBS offers an average number of trading tools compared to other large international brokers.
Trading Tools Comparison:
FBS is one of the better brokers for beginners – the education section is comprehensive and well-structured, and the market analysis is up-to-date and well explained. Unusually, customer service is available 24/7 – a welcome development, where the norm is 24/5. This is extremely beneficial for beginner traders who will likely set up trading accounts on weekends.
FBS offers a good selection of educational materials compared to most other brokers, and it is suitable for both beginners and more experienced traders alike.
The education section at FBS is well-structured and well-organized, and all material is free. Education is split into five sections:
Overall, the education section at FBS is more comprehensive than the material that is available at other brokers.
Education Comparison:
FBS’ market research is average compared to most other large international brokers.
The FBS Market Analysis is broken down into technical analysis and fundamental analysis. The technical analysis is somewhat limited, but the fundamental analysis is more detailed and offers Forex traders basic coverage of key topics.
Market analysis materials at FBS are free of charge for all visitors, and are divided into three separate sections:
Overall, FBS offers a range of market analysis materials that are useful for traders of all experience levels, but it is not as comprehensive as what is offered by other brokers.
Available 24/7, FBS’ customer support is better than that offered by other brokers.
Customer service is available in multiple languages, 24/7 – which is exceptional for an industry where the standard is 24/5. Support is available by email, live chat, and social media, in 16 different languages.
We found the customer service responsive, polite, and resourceful. They were able to answer all our questions satisfactorily.
Regulation: The FBS CFD trading platform was founded in 2009 by investors who were interested in trading research and technical analysis. Today, FBS is an international brand present in over 150 countries with over 27 million traders on its books. The brand unites several companies offering trading on Forex and CFDs. The companies include FBS Markets Inc. (licensed by IFSC), Tradestone Ltd. (licensed by CySEC), Intelligent Financial Markets Pty Ltd. (licensed by ASIC), and TRADE STONE SA (PTY) LTD. (licensed by FSCA). See below for more details:
It’s true that FBS is regulated by two top-tier authorities (ASIC and CySEC) and directs its Tanzanian clients to its Belize-based entity. But, it does segregate client funds from its own, has a long track record of behaviour, and provides monthly statements to its clients.
We value transparency and openness in the way we review the partners. To bring transparency to the forefront, we have published our review process. Central to that process is the evaluation of the broker’s reliability, the broker, the platform offering of the broker, and the trading conditions offered to clients, summarised in this review. Each one of these is graded, and an overall score is calculated and assigned to the broker.
Trading Forex is risky, and each broker must detail how risky the trading of Forex CFDs is to clients. FBS would like you to know that: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76.2% of retail accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
FBS is a large online international broker with six live accounts with average trading conditions, but accounts that are suitable for both beginners and experienced traders. It offers low minimum deposits and micro-lot trading on its entry-level accounts, and low spreads on accounts with higher minimum deposits. However, FBS charges extremely high withdrawal fees and only offers accounts denominated in USD and EUR.
FBS offers support for MT4 and MT5 in addition to its proprietary trading app and a VPS service for traders who deposit more than 450 USD. Additionally, FBS offers excellent educational and market analysis materials; exceptionally, its customer support is available 24/7.
Chris joined the company in 2019 after ten years experience in research, editorial and design for political and financial publications. His background has given him a deep knowledge of international financial markets and the geopolitics that affects them. Chris has a keen eye for editing and a voracious appetite for financial and political current affairs. He ensures that our content across all sites meets the standards of quality and transparency that our readers expect.
Alison joined the team as a writer in 2021. She is the Senior Editor for FXScouts. She has a medical degree with a focus on physiotherapy and a bachelor’s in psychology. However, her interest in forex trading and her love for writing led her to switch careers. She has a passion for Forex trading and over a decade of editorial experience researching Forex and the financial services industry, producing high-quality content. She hosts a weekly podcast, “Let’s Talk Forex,” alongside her colleague, Chris, and has produced over 100 Forex educational videos for the FXScouts YouTube channel. She also writes weekly technical analyses and has tested and reviewed over 100 Forex brokers.
Ida joined our team as a financial writer in 2023. She has a degree in Digital Marketing and a background in content writing and SEO. In addition to her marketing and writing skills, Ida also has an interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain networks. Her interest in crypto trading led to a wider fascination with Forex technical analysis and price movement. She continues to develop her skills and knowledge in Forex trading and keeps a close eye on which Forex brokers offer the best trading environments for new traders.
Find out how FBS stacks up against other brokers.