Known for its powerful options trading platform that also offers stocks and forex trading, thinkorswim was acquired by major US brokerage house TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) in 2009 and has since continued to evolve as an innovative brand under the company.
Under its CFTC-regulated entity, TD Ameritrade Futures and Forex LLC, TD Ameritrade remains one of the few regulated brokerages to still offer retail forex trading in the United States. The brand continues to benefit from the backing of its parent company for both technology innovation and customer support resources.
Trust Score
Trading with a forex broker traders can trust is crucial to success. Unfortunately, forex fraud and scams are common in the industry.
Here at ForexBrokers.com, we maintain the largest independent regulatory database available on the web. Using 28 different variables, we have created a proprietary 1-100 score (the higher the better) of overall trustworthiness, which we call the Trust Score. Here is our trust summary of TD Ameritrade FX.
| TD Ameritrade | |
|---|---|
| Trust Score | 92 |
| Year Founded | 1955 |
| Publicly-Traded Company (Listed) | Yes |
| Regulated in Major Hub | Yes |
| Regulated in Emerging Hub | No |
| Authorised in the European Union | Yes |
| CFTC Registered (USA) | Yes |
| FCA Regulated (UK) | Yes |
| IIROC Authorised (Canada) | Yes |
| FINMA Authorised (Switzerland) | No |
| ASIC Authorised (Australia) | No |
| SFC Authorised (Hong Kong) | Yes |
| MAS Authorised (Singapore) | No |
| FSA Authorised (Japan) | No |
| FMA Authorised (New Zealand) | No |
| CySEC Authorised (Cyprus) | No |
Offering of Investments
The following table summarizes the different investment products available to TD Ameritrade FX clients.
| TD Ameritrade | |
|---|---|
| Minimum Initial Deposit | $0.00 |
| Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) | 77 |
| CFDs - Total Offered | 0 |
| Exchange Traded Securities: US | Yes |
| Exchange Traded Securities: International | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency traded as actual | No |
| Cryptocurrency traded as CFD | Yes |
Commissions & Fees
TD Ameritrade’s fees for trading forex on thinkorswim vary depending on whether you choose the commission-free pricing available as a separate FX contract or the commission-based contract from within the platform each time you submit an order for execution.
For example, on the commission-based model, while the EUR/USD spread was 0.30 pips, including a commission of 2.00 pips round-turn (all-in cost 2.3 pips), at the same time, the same spread on the non-commission EUR/USD contract was 0.90 pips, making it a more attractive spread at a 60% discount, using random spread data.
While we were not able to obtain any average spreads published by TD Ameritrade, we looked at sample real-time price quotes for its major forex pairs to make a general comparison from within the platform. It’s also worth noting that thinkorswim uses GAIN Capital, the owner of FOREX.com, as its liquidity provider to handle its forex execution (for both pricing options).
| TD Ameritrade | |
|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | N/A |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | N/A |
| Active Trader or Premium/VIP | Yes |
Customer Service
For our 2018 Forex Review, 129 customer service phone tests were conducted over three months. The data collected is institutional grade. On average, three questions were asked for each test. To score each test, the tests were divided into three separate groups and scores were given for the time taken to connect with each support representative and the ability of each representative to professionally (and thoroughly) answer each question. A Net Promoter Score was also given for the overall experience.
Results:
- Average Connection Time: <1 minute
- Average Net Promoter Score: 9.3 / 10
- Average Professionalism Score: 9.1 / 10
- Overall Score: 9.2 / 10
- Ranking: 1st (43 brokers)
