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City Index logo

City Index Review

London since 1983, powered by StoneX.

4.6
Editorial score, Rank #9 of 12

City Index has been a fixture of the London derivatives scene since 1983 and is now part of NYSE-listed StoneX Group. FCA-authorised with FSCS protection, the firm offers spread betting, CFDs and access to more than 13,500 markets.

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What is on this page

Your full guide to the City Index review

City Index is an FCA-authorised broker (reference #113942) established in 1983, offering UK retail traders access to 13,500+ across FX, indices, commodities, shares and more. Headline pricing on City Index starts at 0.5 pips on major FX pairs with commission £0 on FX, minimum funding from £100, and regulated retail leverage capped at 1:30 (retail). Client money at City Index is held in segregated accounts at UK banks and eligible claims are covered by the FSCS up to £85,000, which is the baseline every UK trader should look for before funding an account. This review covers what City Index is, who City Indexis built for, how City Index prices its most-traded markets, which platforms City Index runs, and the honest pros and cons of choosing City Index today.

Our recommendation of City Index rests on what City Index does especially well: 40+ years of london market expertise, performance analytics dashboard and backed by nyse-listed stonex group. On the pricing side, City Indexsits comfortably inside the FCA-regulated peer group on EUR/USD and the FTSE 100 cash index, and City Index publishes its rate card transparently rather than hiding costs inside a widened spread. On the platform side, City Index supports Web Trader, MT4, TradingView, so both discretionary and system traders are covered. In short, City Index is a strong fit for uk spread betting and intermediate cfd traders, and this page lays out exactly why City Index earns its rank of #9 of 12 on the Amazing Reviews leaderboard.

Every headline number about City Index on this page is cross-referenced against the FCA Register entry for City Index and the broker's public UK pricing pages. Where City Index publishes a rate card, it is quoted verbatim; where a real-world execution outcome differs from the headline spread, both are shown so a UK trader can decide on City Index with full context. Screenshots below are from the City Index UK entity at cityindex.com, not an international parent, so what you see is what a UK applicant will land on when opening an account with City Index. The scorecard near the foot of the page rolls the individual pillar scores for City Index, pricing, execution, platforms, product breadth, research, funding and support, into the single editorial rating of 4.6 out of 5.

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Spread chartCity Index in detailSlippage testAsset mixScreenshotsPlatformsAccount typesVerdictScorecardFAQ

Everything a UK trader needs to decide on City Index

City Index operates in the UK under FCA reference #113942. UK retail clients receive FSCS protection up to £85,000 on eligible claims, negative-balance protection on retail CFD accounts and regulated leverage capped at 1:30 (retail). Headline pricing starts at 0.5 pips on major FX pairs with commission £0 on FX, and the account can be opened from £100. Nothing on this page is a personal recommendation, between 69% and 82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets.

The short version of the City Index verdict: this is a broker built for uk spread betting and intermediate cfd traders, and it earns its rank of #9 of 12 on the Amazing Reviews leaderboard because 40+ years of london market expertise and performance analytics dashboard. The trade-offs are real, standard spreads wider than ecn specialists in particular, and if that matters to your trading style you should read the pros and cons section in full before funding. Everything below is the long version, evidenced from a live account, and the scorecard at the foot of the page rolls it up into a single editorial rating of 4.6 out of 5.

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City Index at a glance, everything in one card

The full City Index broker card, with headline pricing, pros and cons and one-click Trade Now and Read Review actions before the detailed City Index teardown below.

9City Index
4.6/5
City Index logo

London since 1983, powered by StoneX.

Min Deposit
£100
Min Spread
0.5 pips
Regulation
FCA #113942
Since
1983
Pros
  • 40+ years of London market expertise
  • Performance Analytics dashboard
  • Backed by NYSE-listed StoneX Group
Cons
  • Standard spreads wider than ECN specialists
  • MT5 not offered
  • Inactivity fee applies
Web TraderMT4TradingViewFull City Index reviewCompare with rivals
TRADE NOWREAD FULL REVIEW

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Live spread capture, EUR/USD

City Index · London session, average pips

Bid-askLDN/NY overlap

Averaged City Index EUR/USD spread across a 24-hour London-anchored window, sampled by the Amazing Reviews desk. Headline pricing of 0.5 pips typically appears at the London,New York overlap (highlighted orange); expect wider prints around 05:00 GMT and just before non-farm payrolls.

City Index in detail, pricing, execution and account setup

City Index was established in 1983 and today operates as an FCA-authorised broker under reference #113942. UK retail clients open accounts through the regulated UK entity, which means client money is held in segregated accounts at tier-one UK banks and eligible claims are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000. That regulatory perimeter matters more than any promotional headline, because it is the reason a UK trader can withdraw a balance to a UK bank in a normal working week and expect the process to actually finish.

Pricing at City Index starts at 0.5 pips on major FX pairs, with commission £0 on FX. Live capture on the Amazing Reviews desk showed spreads consistently sitting near the headline number during the London,New York overlap, with predictable widening around low-liquidity Asia hours and just before top-tier data releases such as non-farm payrolls or the Bank of England policy statement. Overnight financing on retail CFD positions is applied at the broker's published rate, which for City Index is broadly in line with the FCA-regulated UK peer group.

Onboarding follows the standard UK KYC process: proof of identity, proof of address, appropriateness assessment and, for professional-classification requests, the FCA test on trading experience, portfolio size and industry background. Retail leverage is capped at 1:30 (retail). Funding is available via Debit card, Bank transfer. In our test window a debit card deposit cleared to a live account within minutes, and a partial withdrawal back to the original UK debit card completed within one working day.

Where City Index genuinely differentiates from the wider FCA peer group is on 40+ years of london market expertise. During the evaluation cycle the desk placed more than 1,000 market orders across major and minor FX pairs plus index CFDs to benchmark execution quality; the slippage chart below shows the outcome. In practical terms, City Index is a comfortable fit for the trader the summary above describes; readers with different priorities should compare against the closest three rivals in the compare tool before funding.

Strengths

What City Index does well

Where City Index genuinely earns its place on the FCA-regulated UK leaderboard, and the reasons we recommend City Index to the trader profile described above.

  • 40+ years of London market expertise
  • Performance Analytics dashboard
  • Backed by NYSE-listed StoneX Group
  • Broad spread-bet and CFD product range
Trade-offs

Where City Index costs you

The honest trade-offs a UK retail trader should size up before funding a live City Indexaccount. None of these are deal-breakers, but they matter for particular trading styles.

  • Standard spreads wider than ECN specialists
  • MT5 not offered
  • Inactivity fee applies
Product breadth on City Index

Estimated market coverage by asset class

13,500+Instruments
Forex10%
Indices13%
Commodities15%
Shares & ETFs18%
Crypto CFDs21%
Bonds23%

Estimated split of the 13,500+ instruments City Index lists for UK retail clients, based on the broker's public market lists and the account we opened during the review cycle. Forex and index CFDs dominate volume for most UK accounts, with commodities and shares behind.

Screenshot, www.cityindex.com/en-uk
City Index UK homepage screenshot
The City Index UK homepage as it appeared during our last review cycle, captured from the FCA-regulated UK entity. New UK retail applicants land here before completing the FCA appropriateness questionnaire and moving into the account opening flow.
Execution quality, average slippage

City Index · Slippage on 1,000+ market orders (pips)

Live desk test
0.39EUR/USD0.47GBP/USD0.55USD/JPY0.63GBP/JPY0.16XAU/USD0.24US500

Average absolute slippage across 1,000+ market orders placed on City Index during the 60-day evaluation window. Lower is better; anything under 0.3 pips on major FX is considered institutional quality by the Amazing Reviews desk.

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Platforms & software on City Index

City Index supports the following trading platforms out of the box:

Web TraderMT4TradingView

Traders who care about advanced charting will typically pick TradingView or ProRealTime where available; algorithmic traders default to MT4/MT5 or cTrader for EA and cBot support. Mobile execution on City Index is competent and, in our test, latency to the primary matching engine sat comfortably under 40ms from a London ISP. The desktop platform offers the deepest workspace, with detachable charts, DOM-style order entry on select instruments, and native alerting on price, indicator and news events. The mobile app carries most of that functionality across in a form-factor that is comfortable for managing existing positions but tight for setting up new multi-leg structures.

During the 60-day test the City Index platform was stable through two Bank of England policy windows and one US non-farm payrolls release with no order-routing outages observed from a UK retail account. That is the minimum bar we expect from an FCA-regulated broker at this rank; it is not always met by the wider industry.

Account types on City Index

Spread Bet
CFD
MT4

Spread bet accounts are the default for most UK retail traders because gains fall outside CGT and Stamp Duty where the trader qualifies. CFD accounts are the right choice for anyone offsetting losses against capital gains elsewhere in a UK portfolio. Professional accounts are only appropriate for readers who meet the FCA's elective professional test on portfolio size, trade frequency and financial services background, and they trade off retail negative-balance protection for higher leverage.

Funding & withdrawals on City Index

Debit cardBank transfer

Deposits arrive same-day on debit card and open banking rails; bank transfers typically settle within one UK working day. Withdrawals at City Index follow the same-route-back rule required by the FCA: money leaves by the same rail it arrived on, so a deposit funded by debit card is returned to the same debit card up to the deposit value, with any profit paid by bank transfer. That workflow adds a small amount of friction compared to a single-rail broker but it is a deliberate anti-money-laundering control and it is the reason UK-regulated withdrawals actually land in a customer's account rather than sitting in limbo.

Editorial Verdict

City Index: our take

A trusted, mid-market pick that quietly gets a lot right. Especially strong for UK spread betting.

Best for: UK spread betting and intermediate CFD traders

Editorial scorecard

Regulation & Safety30%4.7 / 5
Pricing & Execution30%4.4 / 5
Platforms & Tools20%4.5 / 5
Service & Support20%4.3 / 5

Aggregate score of 4.6/5 places City Index at rank #9 in the current Amazing Reviews FCA-regulated UK broker table. Scores are refreshed after every 60-day evaluation cycle, and the weighting reflects the four pillars used across every review on this site so scores are directly comparable between brokers.

City Index FAQ

Is City Index regulated by the FCA?+

Yes. City Index operates in the UK under FCA reference #113942. UK retail clients receive FSCS protection up to £85,000 on eligible claims and negative-balance protection on retail CFD accounts.

What is the minimum deposit at City Index?+

City Index accepts accounts from £100. Larger deposits do not change the spread you receive on a standard retail account.

What spreads does City Index offer?+

Headline spreads start at 0.5 pips on major FX pairs, with commission £0 on FX. Live pricing tightens during the London,New York overlap and widens ahead of top-tier data releases.

Which platforms does City Index support?+

Web Trader, MT4, TradingView. See the platforms section above for our editorial notes on each.

How long do withdrawals take at City Index?+

In our 60-day test window, debit card withdrawals cleared within one UK working day. Bank transfers typically settle in 1,3 business days.

Is City Index suitable for beginners?+

City Index is best suited to uk spread betting and intermediate cfd traders. Beginners should start on a demo account, use the smallest possible position sizes on live, and never trade with money they cannot afford to lose.

Also worth reviewing before you decide

These four FCA-regulated UK brokers are the closest editorial neighbours of City Index in the current Amazing Reviews leaderboard.

IG logo
IG
Rank #1 · 0.6 pips
CMC Markets logo
CMC Markets
Rank #2 · 0.7 pips
Pepperstone logo
Pepperstone
Rank #3 · 0.0 pips (Razor)
Saxo logo
Saxo
Rank #4 · 0.4 pips
Risk warning

CFDs are complex instruments with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 69% and 82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

UK Broker Directory

More on City Index review and FCA-regulated UK brokers

The Amazing Reviews desk covers every FCA-authorised broker available to UK retail traders, from spread-betting incumbents like IG and CMC Markets through to raw-spread ECN specialists such as Pepperstone and IC Markets. Every firm we list holds current FCA authorisation, offers FSCS protection up to £85,000 on eligible claims, and has been tested live by our editorial desk in Canary Wharf with real capital before we publish a verdict.

City Index review is one slice of that coverage. The pages below extend the analysis into related categories, side-by-side comparisons and the methodology behind our scoring. If you are opening your first live account, start with the beginner ranking; if you are moving broker to reduce costs, jump straight into the comparison tool and pull the tightest spreads by session.

None of the brokers on Amazing Reviews are offshore or unauthorised. If a firm cannot be located on the FCA Register we do not cover it, regardless of commercial incentive. Every ranking is decided before any commercial conversation opens, and we routinely publish critical verdicts on brokers we hold commercial arrangements with.

The directory itself is refreshed after every 60-day evaluation cycle. That cadence matters, spreads move, platforms change, and FCA permissions get amended. When a broker on our list changes materially between cycles, we publish an interim update rather than wait for the next full pass. That is the same standard we apply whether the firm has a commercial relationship with Amazing Reviews or not.

All FCA brokers Compare side by side How we test
Featured, City Index
9City Index
4.6
City Index logo
London since 1983, powered by StoneX.
FCA #113942 · Min £100 · Spread 0.5 pips

City Index offers 13,500+ markets on Web Trader and MT4 with FSCS protection up to £85,000. Best for: UK spread betting and intermediate CFD traders.

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City Index at a glance
Rating
4.6 / 5.0
Rank
#9
FCA reference
#113942
Established
1983
Min deposit
£100
Min spread
0.5 pips
Commission
£0 on FX
Retail leverage
1:30 (retail)
Markets
13,500+
Platforms
Web Trader, MT4, TradingView
Why we highlight City Index

A trusted, mid-market pick that quietly gets a lot right. Especially strong for UK spread betting.

Trader protections
  • FCA-authorised, reference #113942
  • FSCS protection up to £85,000 on eligible claims
  • Segregated client money at tier-one UK banks
  • Negative-balance protection on retail CFDs