FlowBank is an online bank headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The flowbank.com website is owned and operated by FlowBank S.A, a company regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). Traders have access to both physical shares and CFDs, currency pairs, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies. The name FlowBank comes from the concept and definition of the word “Flow”. Flow refers to the maximum level of concentration a person can achieve when focused and absorbed in an activity, the company notes.
In accordance with the regulations of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), Flow Bank provides protection against negative balances, keeps customer funds in separate accounts and is part of the clients’ compensation scheme. The latter means that if Flow Bank declares bankruptcy, traders can still get their money back.
Flow Bank offers access to over 50 currency pairs including majors (EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, CAD/USD, etc.), minors (CAD/CHF, AUD/CAD, etc.), and exotics such as EUR/TRY, EUR/PLN, etc. The maximum available leverage is different for each currency pair. Most major pairs are leveraged up to 200:1. Most minors allow traders to use up to 100:1 leverage, and exotic pairs have a maximum of 50:1 leverage. Keep in mind that trading with too much leverage is dangerous and most novice traders blow up accounts due to opening too large positions. Keep in mind that trading with too much leverage is too risky and usually leads to unjustified losses. Instrument spreads depend on account type. The EUR/USD pair is the most liquid and has the tightest spreads. The minimum spread on EUR/USD using the Platinum account type is 0.5 pips. On Classic accounts, spreads start from 1.1 pips.
Flow Bank is one of the few brokers that offer both real and CFD shares, and you can choose to trade short-term through CFDs or invest long-term in companies through real shares. More than 4,600 company shares are available as CFDs. Trading fees on the Classic account start from 0.1%. On US CFD stocks, fees start from 2 cents per share. Traders can access companies from Switzerland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, the UK, the US, Finland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Austria. When investing in physical shares, keep in mind that you can only invest in one direction and you do not profit in falling markets.
Flow Bank offers trading on 14 popular indices. Leverage varies by index type and ranges from 200:1 to 50:1. Spreads start from 0.9 points.
The company provides CFDs on commodity futures including metals and energy, coffee, sugar, cotton, wheat, and more. CFDs are also available on 4 spot commodities including gold, silver, light crude oil and Brent oil. Leverage varies by commodity from 100:1 to 50:1.
There are 2 different live retail accounts available – no spread and no commission account types.
Classic Account – This account does not require a minimum initial deposit. The maximum leverage available is 200:1 and varies depending on the asset class you are trading. Spreads on this account are larger and for EUR/USD start at 1.1 pips.
Platinum Account – The name suggests that the trading conditions here are better, but to open such an account you need to invest at least CHF 100,000. The spread for the EUR/USD pair starts at 0.5 pips and a commission is charged when positions are opened.
You can trade through the well-known MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) terminals, as well as through the proprietary FlowBank Pro platform, available both for personal computers and as mobile applications.
MetaTrader platforms are reliable and widely used by traders at all levels. MT4 and MT5 are very similar in terms of how they look, but there are some differences in what they allow you to trade. MT5 is slightly more complex, offers more indicators and time frames and is designed for trading different asset classes, while MT4 is primarily developed for currency trading. MT4 and MT5 can run even on older computers and are very reliable. MetaTrader software also supports automated trading in the form of Expert Advisors (EA).
The FlowBank Pro platform has a more modern design and supports multi-asset trading. It can be installed on personal computers, used directly in a browser or as a mobile version.
Various deposit options are available, including by credit/debit card or bank transfer. A deposit by card is immediately reflected in the account, while that made by bank transfer can take up to 3 working days.
Withdrawals take longer as withdrawal requests are first processed by the brokerage (can take up to 2 business days) and money transfers back to your bank account take additional time.
