Firms that provide currency traders with access to a trading platform that allows them to buy and sell foreign currencies. A currency trading broker, also known as a retail forex broker, or forex broker, handles a very small portion of the volume of the overall foreign exchange market. Currency traders use these brokers to access the 24-hour currency market. 



|||Forex brokers are usually compensated through the bid-ask spread of a currency pair. For example, a retail forex broker may buy euros for 1.5475 U.S. dollars and, at the same time, sell euros for 1.5478 U.S. dollars. The spread in this case is $0.0003, or 3 pips. 

It is valuable to do some research to find out whether a broker has a good reputation and has the functionality that you are looking for. Most major forex brokers will allow prospective clients to use a practice account so that they can get a good understanding of what the system is like. It is a wise idea to test out as many platforms as possible before deciding on which broker to use.