Release Date: 27-07-2006

Would-be punters can download the company?s Dealing Guide from the site to see the range of bets on offer.
As you might expect, these include all the major world stock indices, currencies, commodities and interest rates. Positions can be taken on single shares including all those in the FTSE 350, S&P 500 as well as larger companies which exist on contintental European exchanges.
IG says its Average House Price bets allow punters to either profit from market volatility in the sector or hedge the value of their own property.
Clients can choose whether to take positions on the average house price for the UK as a whole (a National House Price bet), or opt for the average house price in either London or one of eleven other UK regions, (so-called Regional House price bets including the South East, East Midlands, North West and Scotland).
Binary Bets are a fairly new option which may also appeal to IG punters. Essentially, Binary Bets have only two outcomes,
For example, punters are asked to choose whether, on a particular day, the Wall Street Index will close up at the end of trading or not. The bet can only settle at two prices, nought or 100 so there are high stakes to play for (win or lose). However, as the bet develops, punters are also allowed to close out the bet early taking either an early profit or cutting losses along the way.
In February 2004, the company introduced a Mobile Dealing service which allows punters to trade live financial spread betting prices through their mobile phone (limited at this stage to particular Sony Ericcson handsets).
IG says the only cost of using the service is the charge for the GPRS network data which clients send and receive. The charge is made by, and paid to the relevant mobile supplier.
The website also makes punters a Refer a Friend offer. If you can find someone to open an account with IG and that person places a bet within three months of joining, as the introducer you get the choice of a bottle of champagne or one of a number of investment related books (including Michael Lewis's Liar's Poker, Rising through the wreckage of WallStreet).

Verdict: Plenty of innovation and bet choice. From a personal perspective, probably the most logically laid out of the websites under review here.