AvaTrade vs FlowBank 2024

AvaTrade is not publicly-traded and does not operate a bank. AvaTrade is authorised by four Tier-1 regulators (Highly Trusted), three Tier-2 regulators (Trusted), zero Tier-3 regulators (Average Risk), and one Tier-4 regulator (High Risk). AvaTrade is authorised by the following Tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), the Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) via Friedberg Direct, and regulated in the European Union via the MiFID passporting system.

FlowBank operates a regulated Swiss bank, and is authorised by one Tier-1 regulator (high trust): the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

AvaTrade is a trusted global brand best known for offering an extensive selection of trading platforms for forex and CFD traders, as well as exceptional educational content that helped it nab Best in Class honors for Beginners in the ForexBrokers.com 2024 Annual Awards.

As a relative newcomer to the Swiss online brokerage scene, FlowBank already has a lot to offer its customers. FlowBank clients benefit from the advantages that come with holding a Swiss bank account, and its brokerage services provide access to more advertised symbols than any online broker that we’ve reviewed thus far.

To open a trading account with AvaTrade, you'll need to make an initial minimum deposit of $100.

FlowBank requires a minimum deposit of $0 before you can open an account and start trading.

It's important to make sure that your forex broker accepts the funding options and deposit methods that work best for you. AvaTrade offers Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit), Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw), PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw), Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) and Neteller (Deposit/Withdraw) for banking, whereas FlowBank provides Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) and Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw).

Comparing the trading costs of forex and CFDs is not easy. Not every broker publishes average spread data, and pricing structures vary. Based on our thorough, data-driven testing of each broker's commissions and fees, we found that AvaTrade offers better pricing overall for traders.

Methodology: When testing each broker's commissions, fees, and pricing, we analyze multiple trade scenarios and award points based on the expansiveness (or inexpensiveness) of the broker's spreads. We then run multiple scenarios for different investor types, incorporating any miscellaneous fees, to determine an "all-in" cost per trade. Learn more about how we test.

At ForexBrokers.com, we track over 110 international regulatory agencies and sort them by tiers (Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-3, Tier-4, and Tier-5) to help you choose well-regulated, highly trusted forex brokers. Learn more about our proprietary Trust Score rating system. Based on our research on the regulatory status of over 60 brokers, we've found that AvaTrade holds 4 global Tier-1 licenses, while FlowBank holds 1. AvaTrade holds 3 global Tier-2 licenses, while FlowBank holds 0.

After evaluating each broker based on their number of held licenses, years in business, and a range of other data-driven variables, we've determined that AvaTrade (94) earned a higher Trust Score than FlowBank (80).

To compare the trading platforms of both AvaTrade and FlowBank, we tested each broker's trading tools, research capabilities, and mobile apps. For trading tools, AvaTrade offers a better experience. With research, AvaTrade offers superior market research. Finally, we found AvaTrade to provide better mobile trading apps.

Here’s what trading platforms are available at AvaTrade:

• Proprietary Platform - Yes
• Web Platform - Yes
• cTrader - No
• DupliTrade - Yes
• MT4 - Yes
• MT5 - Yes
• ZuluTrade - Yes
• TradingView - No

Here’s what trading platforms are available at FlowBank:

• Proprietary Platform - Yes
• Web Platform - Yes
• cTrader - No
• DupliTrade - No
• MT4 - Yes
• MT5 - Yes
• ZuluTrade - No
• TradingView - No

The MetaTrader trading platform suite is wildly popular among forex and CFD traders across the globe. Both AvaTrade and FlowBank offer MetaTrader 4 (MT4). Forex traders also appreciate the ability to engage in social copy trading. AvaTrade and FlowBank both offer copy trading.

AvaTrade provides traders 55 currency pairs (e.g., EUR/USD) compared to FlowBank's 52 available pairs. If you are interested in trading CFDs, FlowBank offers traders access to 408600 CFDs, while AvaTrade offers access to 1260 CFDs; so FlowBank offers 407340 more CFDs than AvaTrade.

We found in our testing that FlowBank offers a more diverse selection of investment options than AvaTrade, allowing you to trade Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs), U.S. Stocks (CFD), Cryptocurrency (Derivative), Social Trading / Copy Trading and Spread Betting. Neither have Cryptocurrency (Physical).