Forex margin rates

Our tiered margining system means we can offer competitive rates that reflect the size of your position and associated liquidity of the market.

What is margin in forex trading?

Forex markets are leveraged, meaning you don’t have to pay the full value of your trade upfront. Instead, you’ll put up an initial depositwhich is a fraction of your position’s total valueto trade. This opening amount is called marginalso sometimes referred to as ‘deposit margin’.

Margin is usually required on leveraged trades. Bear in mind that the profits and losses of leveraged trades are calculated on the full position size, not the margin amount. This means that you could lose or gain more than the amount you paid to open the trade.

Capital Required

Our forex trading margin rates

All our margins are kept at low rates. Major forex pairs like EUR/USD and USD/CAD have margin rates starting at just 2%. 

We offer tiered margining, meaning there are different margin requirements at different levels of exposure. Smaller lot sizes attract our lowest margin rates because they generally benefit from better market liquidity.

You can see a summary of tier one margins for some of our most popular markets below.

MAJOR FOREX PAIRMARGIN REQUIREMENT (TIER 1)
EUR/USD2%
GBP/USD5%
AUD/USD3%
USD/CAD2%
USD/CHF3%
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  • A huge range of currency pairs with low spreads and fast, reliable execution

  • Trade on our award-winning trading app* available on iOS and Android

  • 24/5 Support from people who know forex

Man smiling at screen

Open an account now

  • A huge range of currency pairs with low spreads and fast, reliable execution

  • Trade on our award-winning trading app* available on iOS and Android

  • 24/5 Support from people who know forex

What’s maintenance margin?

Maintenance margin, also known as variation margin, is extra money that we might need to request if the market moves against you. It ensures you’ve got enough money in your account to fund the present value of the positioncovering any running losses.

This type of margin is charged via a ‘margin call’, which is a status applied to your account when it’s fallen below the minimum required to keep a position open. Should you go into margin call, we will attempt to notify you by email. However, it’s important to note that’s it’s always the obligation of the client (you) to monitor accounts and ensure that you have sufficient funds to cover both margin and losses at all times.


* #1 Overall Broker, #1 Mobile App, #1 Trust Score, #1 Education, #1 Web Platform are accolades presented to IG, parent company of tastyfx, on January 23, 2024, during the ForexBrokers.com 2024 Annual Awards. Accolades were awarded by the ForexBrokers.com research team based on demonstrated excellence in categories considered important to investors, traders, and consumers. Click here to learn about how they rate brokers.