Also known as:Attrition Rate, Client Turnover, Customer Churn, Logo Churn
What is Churn Rate?
Churn Rate is the percentage of clients who stop trading, withdraw their capital, or abandon their accounts during a defined period. It is the mirror image of retention: if 100 traders start the month and 12 go inactive by month-end, churn is 12%. It tells a partner how fast their referred book is leaking value.
Churn is measured over a window — monthly, quarterly, or annually — and can be defined two ways that matter for IBs. Logo churn counts the number of clients lost; revenue churn counts the trading volume or commission lost. Losing five micro-lot beginners hurts far less than losing one client who traded 40 standard lots a month, so serious partners track revenue churn alongside headcount.
Key takeaways
Churn = clients lost ÷ clients at period start, over a fixed window.
Track revenue churn (lots/commission lost), not just headcount.
Most churn hits in the first 90 days — fix onboarding first.
A few points of churn reduction compounds LTV faster than more ad spend.
70–80% of retail CFD accounts lose money, so risk education is retention.
In retail brokerage the numbers are brutal. Regulator disclosures under ESMA and the FCA show that roughly 70–80% of retail CFD accounts lose money, and a large share go dormant within 90 days of first deposit. A monthly account-inactivity churn of 15–25% is common for cold, ad-driven traffic; educated, well-onboarded books can run under 10%. Because CFD and forex commissions are recurring (rebate per lot, revenue share on spread), every churned client zeroes out a future income stream, not just a one-time sale.
Churn is the single metric that separates a growing IB from a treadmill IB. When new-client acquisition merely replaces losses, commissions plateau no matter how much ad spend goes in. Driving churn down even a few points compounds: it lengthens average client lifespan, lifts lifetime value, and lowers the effective cost of every acquisition.
How it works
You pick a period and a definition of "lost." For an IB, a client is usually churned when they stop generating trading volume — no trades for 30 or 60 days, or a full withdrawal to zero balance. You take the count active at the start of the period, count how many of them went inactive by the end, and divide.
The subtlety is the denominator and cohort. Blending brand-new signups with a seasoned book hides the truth, because most churn happens in the first weeks after first deposit. Cohort analysis — tracking each monthly intake separately — shows whether your onboarding is improving over time. Pairing logo churn with revenue churn then tells you whether you are losing tyre-kickers or your best-paying traders.
1
Define the churn event
Decide what counts as lost: no trades for 30/60 days, full withdrawal, or a closed account. Keep the definition fixed so periods stay comparable.
2
Set the measurement window
Choose monthly for fast-moving ad traffic or quarterly for a stable book. Report both logo churn (clients) and revenue churn (lots or commission).
3
Snapshot the starting cohort
Count clients active at the start of the window. Segment by acquisition month so first-90-day churn is visible separately.
4
Count the losses
At period end, tally how many of the starting cohort hit your churn event. Note whether they withdrew, went dormant, or moved to another broker.
5
Calculate and diagnose
Divide losses by the starting count. Trace the biggest losses to a cause — blown accounts, poor spreads, slow support, or weak education.
Why it matters for partnership: Recurring IB rebates only compound if clients stay active. High churn means you re-buy the same revenue every month; cutting it a few points raises client lifespan, LTV, and the ROI of every acquisition dollar.
Formula
Churn Rate = (Clients Lost During Period ÷ Clients at Start of Period) × 100
Real World Example
An IB on IC Markets starts January with 200 active traders sending an average 8 lots each. By month-end 24 have gone dormant or withdrawn fully, a 12% logo churn. But two of them were the book's heaviest traders at 45 lots each, so revenue churn is closer to 19% — a bigger hit to the monthly rebate than the headcount suggests.
Logo churn vs revenue churn
Aspect
Logo churn
Revenue churn
Measures
Number of clients lost
Trading volume / commission lost
Best for
Community size, funnel health
Income stability, book value
Blind spot
Treats all clients as equal
Ignores small-account attrition
IB action
Improve onboarding & reactivation
Protect and grow whale traders
Pro Tip
Segment churn by acquisition cohort and instrument — if one traffic source or one high-leverage product drives most of your losses, cut it before it drains your book.
Common Pitfalls
Chasing new signups to mask attrition, so ad budgets balloon while net active clients flatline — an unsustainable acquisition treadmill.
FAQ
What is a normal churn rate in forex?
Because retail trading is high-risk, churn runs high. Cold ad-driven traffic can churn 20–25% a month, while educated, well-onboarded books often keep it under 10%. Compare against your own trend, not a universal benchmark.
How do I calculate monthly churn as an IB?
Take the number of active clients at the start of the month, count how many went inactive or fully withdrew by month-end, and divide. Multiply by 100 for a percentage.
What is the difference between churn and retention rate?
They are complements of each other. If churn is 12%, retention is 88%. Retention frames the clients you kept; churn frames the ones you lost.
Does churn affect my IB commission?
Directly. Rebates and revenue share are recurring per trade, so a churned client stops paying you every future period, not just once. Lower churn compounds income.
Why does most churn happen so early?
Many first-deposit traders over-leverage and blow accounts within weeks. Strong risk education and a guided first-trade experience are the most effective early-churn defenses.
Should I track logo churn or revenue churn?
Both. Logo churn shows community health; revenue churn shows income stability. Losing one whale can outweigh losing ten micro-lot beginners.
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