It happens, a lot of people gets confused at the beginning with the terms, it is normal. Sometimes what people get confused with too is brokerage.
Brokerage: A brokerage is a firm that acts as an intermediary between a purchaser and a seller. More commonly, a brokerage is referred to as a brokerage firm. To broker a deal is to communicate with both the buyer and seller as to acceptable price on anything sold or purchased.
Broker: A broker, a single person, or the brokerage firm completes any necessary legal paperwork, obtains the appropriate signatures, and collects money from the purchaser to give to the seller. Since the buyer and seller are employing the brokerage to complete the deal, the brokerage may collect a portion of the money obtained. In some cases, a brokerage receives money from both parties. In others, the brokerage receives a commission only from the seller.
Single person: People who like to do their own research and make all their own decisions about what and when to buy and sell, usually use brokerage firms, these firms have a tendency to charge per transaction and can be quite reasonable to employ.
Trading platform: It is the software which provides you with access to market information and allows a trader to receive and send information in order to place orders.
__________________ http://www.Panamoney.net Registered managed forex company paying 30% - 60% per month since 1 year.
Found this interesting discussion by a forum member-:
I think 99% of people confuse "Forex Platforms" with "Forex Brokers".
Example for Forex platforms are GCItrading, Easy-forex, GFTforex, Metatrader4, Oanda and many others.
"Forex Brokers" are Traders who have "forex trading firm" and they trade forex daily using "forex platforms".
Individual forex traders also use "forex platforms" for their forex trading day to day.
Correct me if I am wrong.
You are completely wrong. Forex platform is just a piece of software, while the Forex broker, in some sense, is the company that allows traders to connect to the market via the Forex platform.
That's the reason I started this thread. The 2 terms "Brokers & platforms" are very confusing. Even experienced forex traders mix-up while saying "Brokers & platforms".
I think this thread will help new traders/beginners.
__________________ http://www.Panamoney.net Registered managed forex company paying 30% - 60% per month since 1 year.
GCItrading platform which has $2 billion - $3 billion transaction per month, Is GCI a software?
I think forex platforms are much more than a software.
Maybe small forex platforms are softwares.
But big forex platforms are "complete forex world"
GCI is a Forex broker, which offers its Forex trading platform, which is software. This software connects traders with the GCI's servers and does nothing more. And it doesn't matter how many transactions are served via this platform.
GCI is a Forex broker, which offers its Forex trading platform, which is software. This software connects traders with the GCI's servers and does nothing more. And it doesn't matter how many transactions are served via this platform.
You are right, bassiclly every broker has the same kind of software.
It's all about the execution or they're support...
Well in terms of features, tools and options. All are pretty much the same excepting a few. At least the ones I've tried have happened similar though I found one on tradeview with all the benefits you get with MT4 plus additional features, faster execution and more pairs. It is Ikon Platinum. And the charting is one of the most amazing things I've found on this platform.