What is one-click trading and how does it work?

One-click trading helps you execute opportunities faster than ever. But what is one-click trading, and how does it work? Find out here.

• What is one-click trading?
• How does one-click trading work?
• How to activate one-click trading
• Advantages of one-click trading
• One-click trading risk management
• One-click trading FAQs

What is one-click trading?

One-click trading is a feature on dealing platforms that – as you might have guessed – enables you to open and close positions with a single click. It is usually available on both desktop trading platforms and mobile apps, where it is often referred to as ‘one-tap’ or ‘one-swipe’ trading.

When you open a position traditionally on a trading platform, you follow several steps:

1. Open your market’s deal ticket
2. Choose to go long or short
3. Set your position size
4. Set your stop loss and take profit levels (optional but recommended)
5. Execute your order

With one-click trading, those five steps are reduced to just one. Simply tap buy or sell, and your order will execute automatically, enabling you to take advantage of opportunities as soon as they arise.

How does one-click trading work?

One-click trading works using saved parameters instead of requiring you to manually fill in the details of each trade. Once those parameters are set, all you have to do is choose whether to go long or short in order to open a position.

On the City Index Web Trader platform, for instance, you can set your standard trade size for each market when you activate one-click trading. Then when you choose to buy or sell, your trade is opened instantly using that position size. We’ll even auto-populate it with the size from the last time you traded that market.

The same process applies when closing positions. Instead of opening a deal ticket and confirming your trade, you simply click once and the position is closed.

To see how one-click trading works without risking any capital, open a City Index demo trading account.

How to activate one-click trading

Here’s how to activate one-click trading on our award-winning Web Trader platform, mobile trading app and MetaTrader 4.

Enable one-click trading on Web Trader

To enable one-click trading on Web Trader, follow these steps:

1. When you log in, you’ll see a ‘one-click trading’ toggle in the top-right-hand corner. It will default to OFF

2. Switch it to ON, and you’ll see a notification confirming that one-click trading is activated

3. Your ‘Markets’ view will now include an extra ‘Quantity’ column where you can input your trade sizes

4. To change your settings, click on the user icon and then select ‘Platform Settings’

5. Here, you can decide where one-click trading is enabled

Enable one-swipe trading on our mobile app

On the City Index mobile trading app, you can activate ‘one-swipe’ trading, an exclusive, intuitive way to execute faster than ever on your phone.

1. Log in to your trading app, and select the hamburger menu at the top right

2. In the menu that appears, tap ‘Enable Quick Trading’

3. You’ll now see that Quick Trading is enabled, and you can select your chosen sizes for each market. However, by default you’ll still be asked to confirm trades

4. To disable this, tap ‘More’ followed by ‘Settings’ and disable ‘Quick Trade Confirmation’. You can choose whether to do the same for closing positions here too

5. Now you’ll be able to open positions in a single swipe. Simply choose your market, and swipe left to buy or right to sell

6. Swipe all the way, and you’ll see a notification that your position is open

How to activate one-click trading on MT4

You can also enable one-click trading on MT4:

1. Log in to your MT4 platform, and select ‘Tools’, then ‘Options’

2. On the ‘Trade’ tab, tick the box next to One Click Trading

3. A disclaimer box will appear. Read it and tick the acceptance box, then select ‘OK’

Start one-click trading with City Index

To activate one-click trading on any of the platforms covered above, you’ll need a City Index account. Follow these steps to open one and start trading:

1. Fill out our short online application form and add some funds
2. Log in to our Web Trader platform or download our mobile trading app
3. Enable one-click trading
4. Configure your order quantity
5. Place an order using one-click trading

Alternatively, you can buy and sell our full selection of stocks, indices, forex, commodities and more with a City Index demo account, which gives you virtual funds to try out trading on live markets with zero risk.

What are the advantages of one-click trading?

The chief advantage of one-click trading is that it enables you to execute opportunities faster. In rapidly moving markets such as forex and commodities, a few seconds can have a significant impact on your bottom line from a trade.

This is particularly true for intensive trading styles such as day trading and scalping, which involve making lots of positions that profit from very small market movements. When you’re only maintaining positions for minutes or even seconds at a time, being able to execute the moment you spot an opportunity is crucial.

Trading with set parameters can also help with consistency. Instead of setting up your trade sizes each time you open a position, you can fix them according to your trading plan.

Risk management using one-click trades

However, one-click trading can also increase your risk, if you’re not careful. Without trade confirmations, you can easily dive into losing trades without proper preparation – and your positions won’t have stops and limits attached at the outset.

Because of this, comprehensive risk management when one-click trading is key. We’d recommend that you:

• Create a trading plan first. To mitigate the risk of opening positions impulsively, create a trading plan and ensure that every opportunity your trade fits it
• Get used to trading with confirmations first. We wouldn’t recommend activating one-click trading until you’ve got some experience under your belt
• Trial one-click trading in a risk-free environment using a City Index demo. You can use a trading demo to see whether one-click trading fits your style
• Attach stops and limits to open positions. Stops are your best tool to prevent running losses

One-click trading FAQ

What can I trade using one-click trading?

You can use one-click trading to open positions on any of our range of 1,000s of markets, across stocks, indices, forex, commodities and more. All you need to get started is a City Index account.

Can I cancel my one-click trades?

No, because one-click trades execute instantly you will not be able to cancel them – which makes pre-planning and careful consideration important.

Which platforms can I use one-click trading on?

With City Index, one-click trading is available on:

• Web Trader
• Our mobile trading app (as one-swipe trading)
• MetaTrader 4

Follow the instructions above to activate it.

How do I disable one-click trading?

It depends on which trading platform you’re using:

• On Web Trader, you can click the one-click toggle at the top of the platform
• On our mobile app, select ‘Disable Quick Trading’ in the hamburger menu
• On MT4, select ‘Tools’, ‘Options’ then untick ‘One Click Trading’