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Start Trading

Start Trading

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Frequently asked questions

Account applications - Demo

What information do I need to provide to set up a demo account?

To open a demo account all you need to do is provide a valid email address and password. Once you have opened a demo account, you will need to activate it by clicking on the verification link sent to your registered email address.

What are the differences between a demo and live account?

The main difference between the two accounts is that a demo account uses virtual money, whereas a live account requires you to deposit your own funds. The demo account will help familiarise you with the app, introduce you to trading, and allow you to test trading strategies in a risk-free environment. The live account is for when you want to trade ‘for real’ with your own money used to fund the account. You will also be exposed to the risks involved in trading and could lose your entire investment.

Reuters news and Morningstar quantitative equity research are only available with a live account. Additionally, shares are only available to trade for the first week after you’ve opened a demo account.

Will my demo account expire?

No, you can keep your demo account open for as long as you like and use it to test strategies, even after you've opened a live account. Add more virtual funds at any time via the 'Payments' menu.

Account applications - Live

How do I open a live account?

You will be able to apply for a live account within the app, after you have set up a demo account. When you are in the app, select the ‘Login’ button on the top navigation, then select the ‘Live Account’ button to go to the application form. Use your demo account login details to get started and then follow the step-by-step instructions to complete the additional fields.

Why do you ask for my personal financial and employment information?

As a UK regulated financial services firm we are required to comply with industry 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) requirements to identify our customers and check they are who they say they are. We are required to verify your identity and obtain information about your source of income and wealth, plus your level of experience with financial products. Security of clients' personal information is of the utmost importance to us. For more information, please read our privacy and security policy, which explains in more detail how we deal with the personal information that you provide us.

How long does it take to process an application for a live account?

Our aim is to help you start trading as quickly as possible, and you will get a response from us within 60 seconds after you submit your online application form. However, there may be cases where additional documentation is needed before we can process your live account application.

What additional documentation could I be asked to provide when applying for a live account?

In order to complete your live account application, you may be asked to provide:

1) A scanned copy or clear photograph of a valid UK photo driving licence that shows your current address. Or
2) A clear and readable copy of one document from List A and one document from list B below:

List A:

  • Valid passport
  • Valid photo driving licence
  • Valid national ID card

List B:

  • Bank statement in your name, posted to your residential address (no online statements)
  • Mortgage statement in your name
  • Utility bill (please note we cannot accept final demands, reminders, online bills or mobile phone bills)

All documents in List B should be dated within the last three months. We need to see the complete documents. Online bank statements printed and stamped at the bank branch will be accepted. You can email scanned versions of your documents to newaccounts@cmcmarkets.co.uk. Alternatively, hard copies can be sent to us by post at the below address:

Client Management team
CMC Markets
133 Houndsditch
London EC3A 7BX

Do I need to deposit funds to activate my account?

You can sign in to your account as soon as your application has been successful and you have clicked on the verification link sent to your registered email address. However, you won’t be able to place a trade unless there are sufficient funds in your account to open a position.

First steps

How do I fund my account?

You can fund your account using a credit or debit card or by transferring funds from your bank account. We do not accept cheque or cash deposits. Please ensure that any payment you make to fund your account is from a card or account in your name. Any payment from third-party sources will be returned.

We do not accept AMEX or Diners cards. If you send funds to us from outside of the UK, then additional charges may apply to bank transfers.

Charges will be deducted from the payment amount and net proceeds credited to your trading account.

Do I have to deposit a minimum amount to start trading?

There is no minimum deposit amount on CMC Start, however you won’t be able to place a trade until there are sufficient funds in your account to cover the margins required to open a position, plus any running losses.

How do I place my first trade?

You can view the full list of tradeable instruments in the ‘Product Library’. Once you have decided which instrument to trade, tap on the 'Sell' or 'Buy' price and an order ticket will appear. Choose between 'Market Order', 'Limit Order', or 'Stop Entry Order', input the trade size and then hit confirm. Add any 'Stop Loss' and 'Take Profit' orders, then place your trade.

On the app you can swipe from left to right anywhere on the order ticket to reveal a chart, and can use price sliders to set trade levels directly from the chart.

How do I close out a trade?

To close your trade, navigate to your positions from the Account dropdown menu, select the trade you want to close and choose the X – you can then tap on the button to close your position.

Where can I find my account number in the app?

On Apple devices, select the 'More' button and then 'Account Details'. On Android devices, select the side menu (button with three lines) or swipe from the left and select 'Account Details'.

CFDs

What are CFDs?

A Contract for difference (CFDs) is a leveraged product which enables you to trade on the price movement of financial instruments. You can speculate on both rising and falling prices. A CFD is a leveraged product, which means you only need to deposit a small percentage of the full value of the trade to open a position (known as trading on margin). Trading on margin allows you to magnify your returns, but any losses will also be magnified as they are based on the full value of the position. With CMC Start you have negative balance protection, which means you can’t lose more than the funds in your account. Learn more about CFDs

Which instruments can I trade using CFDs?

You can trade CFDs on a large range of popular FX pairs, indices, commodities, shares and treasuries.

I’ve calculated my profit and loss but it doesn’t seem to add up? What should I do?

Please make sure you have taken into account any additional costs, such as overnight holding costs, or the premium for guaranteed stop-loss orders. Profit and loss on CFD trading accounts is also calculated in the currency where the product is based, and then converted into your account currency.

Can I open more than one trade on the same product?

Yes you can. Open up your 'Positions' on the app to see your separate position clusters, or a combined total with your average entry price.

Why can’t I short a CFD on a share but I can buy it? It says 'shorting not allowed'

Some shares have restrictions placed on them, so you can only buy the share and not sell it.

What are price adjustments?

In the event that a listed issuer of a security (on which you hold an open CFD position with us) announces a share sub-division or share consolidation, or makes changes to its capital structure by way of rights issues, bonus issues or cash dividend payments, we will make an appropriate adjustment on the relevant listed share CFD on the ex-date or the corporate action effective day.

Can I access the app when I go abroad?

Yes, you should be able to access the app when travelling abroad, providing you have sufficient network connection or are connected to Wi-Fi.

Managing your risk

What are the risks?

All trading involves a level of risk. CFD trading is a leveraged product, which means you only need to deposit a small percentage of the full value of the trade to open a position, known as trading on margin. Trading on margin allows you to magnify your returns, but any losses will also be magnified as they are based on the full value of the position.

Remember that with a CMC Start account you have negative balance protection, so you cannot lose more than the funds in your account. We also offer a range of risk management tools including regular, trailing and guaranteed stop-loss orders (GSLOs), which can help to secure potential profits and reduce losses.

What is negative balance protection?

Negative balance protection ensures you do not lose more money than the funds in your account.

What are stop-loss orders?

Stop-loss orders allow you to specify a price at which a position will be closed out by the platform if the market moves against you. If there is market volatility or gapping, stop-loss orders may be executed at less favourable prices, either higher or lower than you may have anticipated, depending on the direction of your trade.

What are guaranteed stop-loss orders (GSLOs)?

For a small premium, GSLOs give you 100% certainty that your stop-loss will be executed at the exact price you want, regardless of market volatility or gapping. We will refund 50% of the premium if the order is not triggered.

What does market volatility and gapping mean?

Financial markets may fluctuate rapidly and the prices of our instruments will reflect this. Gapping is a risk that arises as a result of market volatility. Gapping occurs when the prices of our instruments suddenly shift from one level to another, without passing through the level in between. There may not always be an opportunity for you to place an order or for the platform to execute an order between the two price levels.

What other order types can I use?

Limit and stop entry orders: limit orders and stop-entry orders are used to enter a trade at a specific price above or below the current market price.

What other risk management tools can I use?

Trailing stop-loss orders: a trailing stop-loss will follow a price as it moves favourably for you, remaining at the distance specified when the order was placed.

Can I partially close trades?

Partially close trades: it's possible to close only a portion of existing trades. For example, if you have a CFD trade of 10 units on the UK 100, you can choose to close out one part (4 units) leaving the other 6 units in place.

How do I add a stop-loss order to my trade?

When you are placing a trade and have the order ticket open, navigate to the ‘Stop Loss’ section. Via the drop-down button on the right, select whether you want to set up a regular stop-loss order, a trailing stop-loss order, or a guaranteed stop-loss order. Enter either the points away from the market price, the stop-loss level you want your stop loss to be executed at, or the amount that you are willing to lose – the adjacent box will then populate based on what you have input into the other box.

How can I attach a stop loss or take profit order to an existing position?

Open your 'Positions' from the dashboard screen and then select the position to which you would like to attach the stop loss or take profit order. Then select 'Stop Loss' or 'Take Profit'.

Why has my stop-loss not executed when I can see the price has reached the level?

If you're currently long (with a buy position), make sure you're looking at a sell chart. If you're short (with a sell position), make sure you're looking at a buy chart. If you still feel the stop loss should have been executed, please contact our Customer services team.

Costs

What are the additional costs that I need to be aware of (aside from spreads and margins)?

The list of costs and charges below is not exhaustive. Please see our costs for more comprehensive explanations.

Overnight holding costs: at the end of each trading day at 5pm (New York time), any cash positions held in your account may be subject to a charge called a 'holding cost'. The holding cost can be positive or negative depending on the direction of your position. You can view individual instruments holding costs by navigating to its product overview via the product library. The amount charged will a percentage of your total trade size and the individual instruments holding cost.

Rollovers: commodities and treasuries which are offered as forward contracts have a fixed expiration or settlement date. You are able to automatically rollover forward positions to keep a trade open beyond its expiry date, and there will usually be small charge for this.

How is the guaranteed stop-loss order (GSLO) premium calculated?

The premium charged for GSLOs will vary by product and depend on your trade size. The estimated cost will be displayed within the order tickets before you agree to apply a GSLO to a position, and will automatically be deducted from your cash balance once you have confirmed the GSLO.

Do you charge commissions?

No, there is no commission charge with a CMC Start account.

Do you charge market data fees?

No, there are no market data fees with a CMC Start account.

Where do the prices come from that I see on the platform?

The prices for CMC Start instruments are generated in real time, electronically, by our platform. While they take into account various prices from a number of sources, the prices at which you open and close trades are exclusive to CMC Start and are not the same as prices you may see elsewhere.

Is there a dormant account charge on a live account?

Yes. A monthly inactivity charge of £10 will be deducted where funds are available. An account shall be considered dormant if there are no open positions and there has been no other trading activity for a continuous period of two years.

The monthly inactivity charge of £10 will be deducted from a dormant account, usually within the first two (UK) working days of the month, until either:

  • The account is closed (by you or CMC Markets)
  • Trading activity recommences on the account
  • The balance of the account is reduced to zero

Once the balance of a dormant account has reduced to zero, we will not deduct further monthly inactivity charges.

If you decide to reactivate your dormant account by trading again, the inactivity charge for up to three previous months (to a maximum of £30) where this has already been deducted will be refunded to your account.

Security

What does CMC Markets do with my personal information?

We may use your information to make further enquiries about you, including checks to combat fraud. We do not sell your personal information to any third parties for marketing purposes. For further information, please read our privacy and security policy, which explains in more detail how we deal with the personal information you provide us.

How can I reset my password?

You can reset your password by selecting ‘Forgotten Password’ on the login page of the app. We will then send instructions for changing your password to the email address you use to log into your account.

Withdrawing funds

How can I withdraw funds from my account?

You can withdraw funds from your account by selecting the 'Payments' icon and then the 'Withdrawals' tab. Alternatively, you can call our Customer Services team for assistance. Please be aware that for your protection, we may request additional information and/or proof of identity before processing the withdrawal request. We don’t transfer funds to a third-party account so please ensure that the bank account is in your name. Note: if your bank details are on file we will process your request the same day as long as your request is before the cut-off time of 2pm.

Having problems?

I am having issues logging in to the app. What can I do?

If you find that you're unable to log in to the app, please ensure that you have installed the latest version via the relevant app store. If you have our app running in your device's background, but find that you can't log back in, you may need to force close the app and reopen it for this to work.

What information should I have available before contacting you about log in problems?

If after attempting the above you are still having issues accessing your account via our mobile app, it would be useful to obtain the following information before contacting our Customer Services team to help improve resolution times for issues:

  • Account ID and email address
  • A summary of the problem you are experiencing
  • Have you tried replicating the issue on another machine? Did the issue still occur?
  • Date and time when the issue occurred
  • Screenshot of any error message you may have received
  • Which handset and operating system are you using?
  • Are you using wireless or a network connection?
  • If you are using wireless, which Internet Service Provider are you using?