TradeDirect365 Review

TradeDirect365
Binary Option Programs Award
Min. Deposit
$100
Min. Investment
N/A

Established in 2013,TradeDirect365 is a licensed Australian CFD broker providing competitive online trading, with low margin requirements to customers in Australia and around the world. With more than 10,000 assets on the proprietary web-based CloudTrade platform and the popular MetaTrader4 Forex platform, TradeDirect365 is a truly global broker. To find out about the trading conditions, payment methods and platform features at TradeDirect365, read our balanced review below.

Our review focuses on the advantages of personal accounts for retail traders rather than non-personal trading accounts for corporate investors. Unlike most brokers in financial services, TradeDirect365 doesn’t specify a minimum initial deposit when opening a new live trading account. Nevertheless, a balance of $100 AUD must be maintained, and trading accounts with less than $50 will be closed by the broker, after advising customers of the situation (giving them time to top up the account balance). Moreover, clients in South Africa are given up to 1:200 leverage for margin trading depending on the asset class chosen.

Customers at TradeDirect365 can choose from a broad range of order types with margin calls as low as 20%. We saw that Limit orders and Stop orders are available as well as Trade orders with real-time quotes. However, we were surprised to see that TradeDirect365 does not include automatic negative balance protection in the trading accounts. Most brokers implement this safety feature where clients cannot lose more money than they have in their trading accounts.

At TradeDirect365, clients in South Africa and around the world, are called on to pay negative cash balances to the brokerage immediately, which can amount to large amounts of cash, especially for traders using maximum leverage to trade. Customers at TradeDirect365 may pay a monthly subscription of AUD$27.50 to access the live data feeds from the Australian Securities Exchange on their trading platforms. Traders who execute 2 round turn CFD trades (or 4 single leg trades) each month on Australian stocks are exempt from paying the monthly fee.

TradeDirect365 Demo Account

To open a risk-free demo account at TradeDirect365, requires a name and an email address. Customers in South Africa and elsewhere, don’t need to provide personal details or verification documents to the brokerage, and neither do they need to deposit any money to start practice trading on the CloudTrade platform. TradeDirect365 provides $10,000 in virtual funds to everybody with a demo account, allowing them to experience financial trading in an authentic environment with access to all the trading tools seen on the live platform. Traders are permitted to open a live trading account in parallel to the demo account. We find this a convenient way to experiment with new trading strategies, before applying them to the live trading platform.

Tip: Consider IQ Option South Africa instead – the best regulated broker for South African traders with a minimum deposit of only $10!

TradeDirect365 Fees and Commissions

The PDS and Market Information Sheets on the TradeDirect365 website includes the CFDs fees schedule. Notably, the commission charged for CFDs in individual shares, with the exception of shares in US companies, is based on the country where they are listed. CFDs traded in US company shares pay a commission based on the dealing spread price. To calculate the commission, 2 cents are deducted from the bid price and added to the market offer price. Moreover, to calculate commissions on other share CFDs (rarely exceeding 0.1%), TradeDirect365 takes the contract value of both the opening and closing trades. Commissions on ASX CFDs are relatively low from $5, rising to 0.07% when trade values are higher than $7,150.Notably, where no commission is charged, customers in South Africa, pay trading costs through the spreads across different markets. We saw that the ‘market information’ page on the broker’s website shows the exact spreads for the different tradeable assets at TradeDirect365.Spreads on the AUD/USD and other major currency pairs are fixed at 0.8 pips, and investors in the Australia 200 index, benefit from spreads from 0.9 pips, fixed for 24 hours. Moreover, TradeDirect365 provides guaranteed stop-loss orders, charging fees only once the stop has been triggered.

TradeDirect365 Trading Software

There are two distinct types of trading platform available to TradeDirect365 clients, as well as a 24-hour trading desk for customers who prefer to place orders over the telephone. The CloudTrade platform is a web-based software developed in-house by the company, and the MT4 is the most popular trading platform amongst Forex traders in South Africa and beyond.

TradeDirect365 MetaTrader4 Software Features
  • Download software to desktop
  • Customisable, easy to use interface
  • Secure and stable software using few resources on PC
  • 50 technical and analytical indicators
  • Advanced charts
  • Broad range of orders and execution methods
  • Trading from charts directly
  • For cost-effective, flexible trading
  • Competitive commissions and spreads across all markets
  • Multi-lingual support
TradeDirect365 CloudTrade Platform Features
  • Simple and functional web-based platform
  • Intuitive trading platform
  • Developed in-house by TradeDirect365
  • 24-hour fixed spreads on FX currency pairs with no commissions
  • Access to a complete range of instruments
  • Allows short trading on listed shares
  • User guides incorporated into the platform
  • Customisable charts
  • Multiple trading instruments
  • Watchlists
  • Risk management tools
  • Guaranteed stop loss order and stop trade

CloudTrade Mobile Trading  

TradeDirect365 provides a dedicated CloudTrade mobile trading app for customers with iOS or Android-powered mobile devices. Whilst the app can’t be used for trading with the demo account, it gives instant access to the live trading platform with all the instruments and trading tools. To download the free CloudTrade app, clients need to go to the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, depending on their operating system.

TradeDirect365 Scam

TradeDirect365 offers support services through multiple channels designed to suit traders all over the globe, including South Africa. Live support is available from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. However, the trading desk is open 24 hours a day, so that clients can phone in orders at their own convenience from anywhere in the world. A toll-free number is available for phoning the support team from within Australia and an international number is also given, but it’s payable. We found the live chat helpline directly on the interface very efficient and fast, making it a good solution for traders in South Africa. Trade inquiries can also be made by email to the address shown on the contact page. TradeDirect365 provides a comprehensive FAQs page on the website answering most questions that we could think of, about trading with the broker. We did not receive any complaints about TradeDirect365 scam.

Further support is provided through the educational materials on the website and the demo account. Importantly, before being allowed to trade on the live trading platform, clients are asked to pass a qualification test on Forex and CFD trading. Clients deemed to be underqualified are asked to continue practice trading in the demo account before investing real money.

TradeDirect365 Payment Methods

Customers can fund their trading accounts with bank wire transfers or with BPay (for Australian residents only). Subsequently, customers living outside Australia can only use bank wire transfer which we find a very limiting when compared to other brokers. All trading accounts with TradeDirect365 must be in the Australian Dollar base currency. However, customers can deposit in their own currencies and the funds are converted at the exchange rate of the bank used by TradeDirect365.Withdrawals are charged a bank wire transfer fee up to $20 in addition to any fees charged by the banks.

TradeDirect365 is owned by Finsa Pty Ltd, an Australian company regulated by ASIC, operating with the Australian Financial Services Licence number 422661. The company operates its business from Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast, 90, Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs, Queensland, 4556 Australia. Importantly, TradeDirect365 keeps customers’ funds in segregated accounts with top-tier banks, ensuring that the money is not used for company operations.