Affluent Trade Review – Steer Clear of this Broker

Affluent Trade Review

The fascination with the financial markets had always existed, but it wasn’t until online trading was introduced that more and more people turned towards this space. Today, there are millions of people all over the globe who are trying to make profits here, or want to do so. This has resulted in hefty demand for online brokers who unlock the doors of these markets. But, it has also led to the rampant spread of scam brokers because they have a huge victim pool to choose from. Therefore, going through this Affluent Trade review is a good idea because it can help you protect yourself.

Many a times people have been so eager to get started with their online trading journey that they failed to look closely at the broker they are signing up with. Hence, they end up getting scammed, which means their capital is wiped out and they have to start from scratch. This can be highly frustrating and can even demotivate people enough to push them into abandoning their trading journey altogether. But, why let these cybercriminals drive you out of the markets? Rather than doing so, you should be proactive and choose a good broker, while steering clear of those that have a ton of red flags.

An excellent example of such a broker is Affluent Trade, which is a UK-based brokerage that seems to be a reasonable platform. However, a closer look into it can shed some light into the many problems associated with it. What are they? You can uncover some of them in the review here:

Lack of authorization

Any broker that’s not authorized cannot and should not be trusted because they do not prioritize their customers at all. If they did, they would have gone through the process of getting a license because it can lead to strong investor protection. It is usually unregulated, unlicensed and unauthorized brokerages that turn out to be scammers, so you don’t want to sign up with one. This is the case with Affluent Trade, which does have an address in London, United Kingdom, but is an unauthorized platform.

First off, you will not find a company name mentioned on their website, so there are no details about who is behind the broker. Moreover, for Affluent Trade to be actually operating from UK, they would need a proper license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the regulatory authority in the country. But, this doesn’t seem to be the case because there is no license number mentioned on their website and you can run their name through the FCA online register as well to check.

Malicious policies

If lack of authorization wasn’t already a big enough problem, you will come across a ton of other issues when you scour through the Affluent Trade website. You can check their FAQ section and it will disclose some of the ways the broker plans to drain the funds from your trading account. They have come up with a variety of clauses for this purpose. To begin with, they charge a withdrawal fee of 3.5% and there is also a profit clearance fee on every trade that is between the ranges of $1 and $5.

You will also have to pay a monthly maintenance fee on Affluent Trade of around $7.5 and a dormant account fee of $10 per month is applicable after inactivity of 60 days. In addition, you will also come to know that trading bonuses are offered here, which further confirm that the broker cannot be operating in the UK. After all, these bonuses are banned by the FCA because they come with exploitative conditions that are unfair to traders.

This is exactly what you will discover when you check the bonus policy on the Affluent Trade website. They have imposed minimum trading volume requirements to be fulfilled in order to withdraw the profits you make with your trading bonus. The problem is that once your account has been credited with the bonus, it is not possible to distinguish it from the funds you deposited. Hence, thanks to the Non-deposited funds clause, you will not be allowed to make a withdrawal until the minimum trade volume requirements are met, as the profits from the bonus and from your funds cannot be physically separated.

Fake trading platform

The problems are not over yet, as a look at the trading platform provided by Affluent Trade appears to be fake. The first thing to note is that it is not the MT4 or the MT5 trading platform that you would expect from a top broker in the market. Instead, it is a web-based trading platform that doesn’t look functional at all and is not something you should settle for. This is because it is the most important tool provided by any broker, so they should offer you the best in the market, rather than some unknown platform with no credibility, whatsoever.

High leverage

Amongst the trading conditions provided by a broker, leverage is an important one because it affects your ability to trade. Leverage provides you more room and while you may consider the 1:200 leverage provided by Affluent Trade to be appealing, you shouldn’t forget that it comes with a lot of risks as well. In addition, the FCA has imposed a limit on leverage and it shouldn’t be higher than 1:30, yet you will find higher leverage available here. This is another indication that Affluent Trade has nothing to do with the FCA and is operating illegally in the United Kingdom, if it is truly based there.

Final Thoughts

Just because Affluent Trade offers you cards and wires as deposit, it shouldn’t mean that you should be willing to risk your money. Yes, the former option does allow you to file for a chargeback in case something goes wrong, but why go through all the hassle? The minimum deposit may be $250, but it is not something you would want to waste on a scam and fraudulent brokerage like Affluent Trade.