IC Markets vs XS
A side-by-side comparison built from each broker's own published record — licenses checked against official registers, terms quoted from their own pages, with the source linked on every claim.
| Open account | ||
|---|---|---|
| Regulation | Financial Services Authority · Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission · Australian Securities and Investments Commission | ASIC · CySEC · CMA · FSCA · FSA · LFSA · FSC · MOCI |
| License no. | Financial Services Authority SD018 (Raw Trading Ltd, trading as IC / IC Markets Global; Seychelles company reg. 8419879-1) Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission 362/18 (IC Markets (EU) Ltd) Australian Securities and Investments Commission AFSL 335692 (International Capital Markets Pty Ltd, registration 123 289 109) | ASIC 374409 CySEC 412/22 CMA 20200000339 (licence category not stated on XS's page) FSCA 53199 FSA SD089 LFSA MB/21/0081 FSC GB25204786 MOCI 513918 on the regulations page; the site footer shows MOCI 2024/786 |
| Founded | 2007 | 2010 |
| Minimum deposit | $0 | $0 |
| EUR/USD spread from | 0.0 pips (Raw Spread account, commission $3.50/lot per side; broker publishes an average EURUSD spread of 0.01 pips, re-checked 2026-09-30). Standard account from 0.8 pips, no commission. | 0.1 pips average on the Elite account (plus $6 round-turn commission, $500 minimum); 0.7 pips average on Pro ($500 minimum, no commission); 1.1 pips average on Standard (no minimum deposit, no commission) — averages as published by XS |
| Leverage | FSA Seychelles: Up to 1:5000 on FX majors, tiered by exposure (1:5000 to 25 lots, then 1:3000 / 1:1000 / 1:500); gold 1:2000; indices 1:200; crypto 1:500; stocks 1:20. Reduced during higher-margin periods. CySEC: 1:30 | not specified on the page: Up to 1:2000 with dynamic leverage; margin call 40%, stop out 20% |
| Gulf Payments | ||
| Platforms | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, XS Trading App |
| Broker-published claim | Withdrawal requests cut off time is 12:00 AEST/AEDT. If your withdrawal is submitted before this time it will be processed on the day of receipt; if submitted after, it is processed the following business day. Card withdrawals may take 3-5 business days to arrive (up to 10 in rare cases); international bank wires may take up to 14 days and can incur intermediary/beneficiary fees. IC does not charge additional fees for deposits and/or withdrawals. [Source] | Published processing times: Neteller instant; Skrill 1 business day; bank transfer 1-7 working days; Visa & MasterCard 7-10 working days. XS states it charges no internal fees for deposits or withdrawals, but reserves the right to apply a withdrawal fee of up to 3% where there has been no trading activity or it identifies abuse. [Source] |
| Withdrawal methods | Credit/Debit Cards (Visa, Mastercard), Bank Wire Transfer, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, WebMoney, FasaPay, POLi, BPAY, RapidPay, Klarna, Thai Internet Banking, Vietnamese Internet Banking | Bank transfer, Visa & MasterCard, Skrill, Neteller |
| Crypto deposits/withdrawals | Yes | No |
| Islamic Accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Measured by us | Testing in progress | Testing in progress |
| Accepts clients from | Australia, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia | United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Turkey |
| Open account | Open account |
We do not name a winner here. The two records sit side by side because the right answer depends on where you live, what you trade, and which entity would onboard you — all of which the table shows.
By Country
- IC Markets + XS: Saudi Arabia
- IC Markets Yes / XS No: Australia, Germany, Italy
- XS Yes / IC Markets No: United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Turkey
Is IC Markets or XS better?
Neither is better in the abstract. Compare the rows that apply to you: whether each broker accepts clients from your country, which entity and regulator you would be onboarded under, the minimum deposit, and how withdrawals work on the rail you would actually use.
Which is safer, IC Markets or XS?
Safety follows the entity that holds your money, not the brand. Both records list every regulator and license number each broker publishes — check which entity serves your country, then verify that license on the regulator's own register.