With the rapid growth and expansion of the online retail binary options sector and the increasing numbers of traders who enter this world on a daily basis the question of what actually makes the best binary options broker becomes more relevant and crucial than ever. The choice of broker is indeed an important factor of a trader’s successful experience with binary options trading, and it does make a lot of sense to do your research well before opening a trading account and committing funds, but you should also bear in mind that the choice of broker alone, even if it is a good broker or even the best there is, is not sufficient and does not guarantee profitable trades, since it cannot, for example, offset a purely conceived or executed strategy.
Because there is a plethora of brokers out there and an equally large number of sites, guides, forums etc which compare and contrast these brokers, information on them is readily available and thus it is relatively straightforward for every trader to access this kind of data and be able to make an informed and wise decision about which broker to trade through. However, it would be equally critical and wise if one also spends time and effort not only to locate the best binary options broker to go with, but also the best trading strategies to implement.
Having said that, it is true that using the best binary option brokers to trade through can indeed make a significant difference to your trading results. Nevertheless, with the industry increasingly moving towards more regulation and with the most reliable brokers obviously being the regulated ones, it is questionable whether noteworthy differences really exist between different brokers, or whether they all basically offer traders the same service without much differentiation.
The short answer to this conundrum is that there are a few aspects in which the offering of different brokers does differ from one another and these are therefore the points to look out for and compare, when trying to discern which is the best binary options broker to open an account with and trade through.
Returns
One key area which separates the poor from the best binary options brokers is definitely the profitability of the contracts that they offer. Perhaps driven by the fierce competition between brokers for customers, brokers tend to use the rates they offer as a measure to attract potential customers and thus the range of returns offered varies quite considerably from broker to broker.
To illustrate this more clearly, let us use an example. When checking in a number of brokers, the returns they offer for a a typical hourly binary option contract on the EUR/USD, ranges from 72% to 83%, thus revealing an 11% difference between the top and the lowest return on offer which is definitely noteworthy. Especially over a succession of winning trades, the difference in profitability between two traders trading the exact same contracts, but one doing so with 72% returns and the other with 83%, would prove significant in monetary returns.
Platform
One element that differentiates brokers from one another is the actual trading platform they use, which in turn is what determines what the broker offers in terms of functionality and trading features. This is one of the most rapidly changing aspects of binary options trading, since in order to stay abreast of competition and stand out, brokers are continually expanding their range of contracts and adding new features to their platforms.
When it comes to picking out a broker on the basis of the functionality and features offered, the decision essentially comes down to a choice between the underlying trading platforms offered. Very few brokers have their own platforms however, since most of them are ‘white labels”, using the platforms of the handful of platform providers. This basically means that there is often actually a lot less difference between brokers then you may be led to believe at first glance. Therefore, the choice of platform is often as simple as picking the one that offers the features that you want and you like the look of most, because what suits your own needs and preferences best does not necessarily suit the next person as well.
Support
The true quality of the support offered by a broker can be hard to discern if one does not have a direct, personal experience, because often the reputation of brokers is unjustly tarnished by the comments of dissatisfied customers on the internet, which may or may not be entirely true. The opinion of others is a useful tool, but a broker should not be judged solely on what some customer says about the broker, especially if we have the one side to the story.
The quality of your trading experience however greatly relies on good support from your broker. This support will come in terms of technical assistance, a readily available customer service department that answers your questions and queries, both on your account and on your trading. Part of effective support is also the proper banking procedures, easy deposits and timely, secure and hassle free withdrawals. This latter point is something that regulated and long established brokers are in a better position to offer, since they tend to have a more sufficient infrastructure to deliver this kind of services to their clients, no matter where they are based across the globe.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, one could argue that the best binary options broker is actually the one that interferes with your own trading process as little as possible, providing you with the smooth environment in which to implement your strategies is a focused manner and occupy your mind only with what is really important when trading binary options, the trading itself!
As a general suggestion, we would advice traders, especially the least experienced ones, to ensure they trade through brokers that are regulated. Moreover, preference should be given to those brokers offering good returns, and which can accommodate the trader’s own trading strategies, especially through the provision of good customer support and the effective and reliable management of a trader’s account.
For a list of brokers, both regulated and unregulated, that we consider to be trusted and reliable, you can visit our top binary options brokers comparison table which gives you easy and fast access to all sorts of relevant, useful and important information, to assist you in discerning which is the best binary options broker for you.
