XTB Review: One of the World’s Largest CFD Brokers

XTB is a good option for traders who want to keep their costs as low as possible whether it’s the cost of making a trade (the bid/ask spread) or not having to pay for things like wire fees. At XTB, accounts outside of the UK can get up to 500:1 leverage, but accounts in the UK can only get up to 30:1 leverage. The company puts a lot of emphasis on customer service and provides helpful tools for learning and research that a new trader would find useful. This article will tell you more about this broker so you can choose the best one for the way you trade.

Overview : Website

Country of regulation: UK, Poland, Cyprus, Spain, Belize, Dubai

Trading fees class: Low

Inactivity fee charged: Yes

Withdrawal fee amount: $0

Minimum deposit: $0

Time to open an account: 1 Day

Demo account provided: Yes, 76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

Products offered: Real stocks and ETFs (only for some European clients), CFD (forex, equity, indices, crypto, commodity)

X-Trade, which was established in 2002 as Poland’s first leveraged foreign exchange brokerage company, changed its name to X-Trade Brokers in 2004 to conform to new Polish laws. In 2009, it changed its name to XTB Online Trading (XTB). In 2016, it went public and started trading on the Warsaw Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol XTB.

XTB presently offers access to a number of markets, including FX, shares, indices, metals, commodities, and even cryptocurrencies. The company has been slowly making inroads into the fiercely competitive and constantly evolving online brokerage industry. Both the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom have registered the firm there, where it is subject to regulation (FCA #522157). (KNF). Like many other forex brokers, XTB doesn’t allow American traders.

The “xStation 5” web-based platform from XTB is their flagship product. This makes up the entirety of XTB’s online service to the user, together with the widely used MT4 (downloadable) platform and a useful mobile app. Although XTB’s ancillary expenses were conventional for the industry, it was difficult to overlook how much lower spreads constantly set it apart from the competition. When identifying XTB’s attractiveness to price-conscious traders, Investopedia’s rating system took this into account.

Customer Service

A modern online broker that does not prioritize efficiently and satisfactorily meeting the needs of its customers may be doomed to fail. This is not a secret to XTB. Contact options include email for existing and prospective clients, local phone assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and live chat. In addition, clients are assigned a dedicated account manager for assistance with account-related concerns.

Chat support is not as reliable as phone support. Not infrequently, for instance, live chat queries are diverted to an email form. However, functional assistance is provided in the end. On xStation 5, a phone number is readily accessible, and chat support can be initiated directly from the trading platform, which is highly convenient. The availability of online customer service in multiple languages increases XTB’s appeal to a broader clientele. Additionally, the broker operates satellite offices to assist licensed operations in a number of regions.

Products

XTB gives you access to a wide range of financial instruments in a variety of asset classes. The list of products includes:

• 48 currency pairs
• Over 20 global indexes
• Major commodities
• More than 1,500 global stock CFDs
• 60 ETF and cryptocurrency CFDs

The absence of spread betting tools is where the variety of products falls short. For non-U.K. accounts, XTB offers maximum leverage of up to 500:1, while U.K. accounts receive leverage of up to 30:1.

Pricing

XTB’s fees and costs are competitive among online FX brokers. XTB’s minimum FX spreads for account structures are unique. “Standard” account minimum spread is 0.5, whereas “Pro” is 0.1. Pro accounts have a $3.50/lot commission. One normal lot is 100,000 units of the base currency. Therefore, a minimal spread of 0.45 is still among the finest in the business.

XTB reports that EUR/USD spreads were 0.43 (Pro accounts) and 1.02 (Standard accounts) last quarter. The 0.43 average spread was before the commission, so the actual average EUR/USD spread for Pro accounts was 0.78, which is among the finest in online forex brokerage, if not the best. XTB fees for cryptocurrency (Pro) and stock CFD (Standard and Pro) transactions.

XTB charges a €10 inactivity fee if there is “no position opening or closure in the last 365 days and no cash deposit in the last 90 days.” There are extra costs for small cash withdrawals, credit card withdrawals, and e-commerce sites (Skrill, Neteller, and SafetyPay). Wire transactions are free, as are account opening and cancellation.

XTB has no minimum deposit requirement for live account opening. However, logic suggests that this amount will be subject to the margin requirements of the customer’s smallest trade size. International clients with a high balance get cashback refunds and welcome bonuses, while U.K. clients with a high volume get lower spreads. 

Trade Experience

xStation 5, XTB’s proprietary trading application, is a streamlined, stable, and user-friendly trading platform that is accessible via any web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer). The simplicity of the user interface contributes to its overall appeal. It’s not the most feature-rich platform, but its usability makes it appear to be more functional than it actually is.

This is the company’s flagship product, and it offers an updated look and feel, one-click trading, and full integration across desktop and mobile platforms, all of which should prove beneficial to traders. The entry of trades, creation of watchlists, and modification of charts appear to be simple and intuitive. Also accessible from within the trading application are FAQs and educational materials. Traders receive notifications on the platform or mobile application directly.

However, there were negative aspects as well. It was not possible to create personalized indicators. XTB offers the standard MetaTrader4 platform, which includes this and other features for traders already familiar with the third-party software.

xStation 5 offers three fundamental order types with the option to attach “take profit” and/or “stop loss” orders. In addition, the trader has the option of converting the standard stop loss to a trailing stop loss either before or after the trade is executed.

Security

• The Financial Conduct Authority regulates XTB U.K. under license number 522157. 
• As of 2018, XTB Europe is regulated by CySEC under license number 169/12. 
• The Belize International Financial Services Commission regulates XTB International under license number IFSC/60/413/TS/19. 
• The Polish Securities and Exchange Commission has given X-Trade Brokers DM SA a license with the number DDM-M-4021-57-1/2005. The Polish Financial Supervision Authority (Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego) is in charge of regulating the company. 
• XTB Spain is controlled by the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores under license number 40.
• As of this review, XTB South Africa is pending license approval.

Negative balance protection is provided by XTB, as stipulated by ESMA laws that went into force in 2018, but there are no guaranteed stop-loss orders (GSLO). XTB lacks two-factor authentication (2FA) but offers biometric authentication for its mobile application and requires passwords to contain upper- and lower-case letters, digits, and special characters. Two-factor authentication is not available for XTB’s mobile platform solutions, but it is available for important client office tasks like changing personal or financial data. 

Education

The educational offerings of XTB are comparable to the industry norm. Nonetheless, it is evident that the company has made this a priority. The “courses” are separated into four categories: basic, intermediate, expert, and premium, but only the first two are accessible on the website. Free access to “Premium” courses is available on the xStation 5 platform. However, registration (demo or live) is required. The “expert” category is currently empty.

Each course contains both videos and articles at the introductory level. The content does not vary from the industry standard of giving a foundational understanding of the forex and CFD markets. Fundamental and technical analysis, risk management, and macroeconomics were among the topics covered. New investors will find some useful background material, but it is unlikely that XTB’s education will be sufficient for them to become market experts. However, the material covers all the essential things a beginner should know.

Outside specialists cover advanced topics and strategy updates in the free “premium” supplemental education section. Most of the lessons include videos and tests. XTB’s academy course design aims to cover all elements of trading. This is still under progress as of this review.

Pros and Cons

Pros Clarified

• For “Standard” accounts, XTB advertises minimum FX spreads of 0.5 with no commission and 0.1 with a commission. This is unquestionably the greatest retail FX brokerage service available.
• The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), one of the most important UK regulatory bodies, is in charge of keeping an eye on XTB Online Trading (XTB). The FCA has an international reputation for ensuring that market rules are fair for both individuals and corporations. Simply said, a company’s reputation increases significantly if it is managed by a respectable government-backed organization. Even though traders know that the markets have their own risks, they would like to know that other risks, such as counter-party risk, won’t affect their money.
• The “negative balance protection” that XTB offers has grown to be a rather significant feature that most online brokers now offer. The SNB event of January 15, 2015, which shook the markets, notably the heavily leveraged retail FX market, was probably the catalyst.
• Customer service is a priority for XTB, and this includes live chat, 24/7 telephone assistance, and an assigned account manager. Anyone involved in the world of internet trading has to have easy access to a broker.

Cons Clarified

• XTB cannot accept U.S. clients and is therefore not a global broker. This would be a red flag if the company wasn’t regulated by the FCA, along with the NFA and CFTC in the U.S.
• The commissions that XTB imposes for cryptocurrency (Pro) and stock CFD (Standard and Pro) trades are not as advantageous for the client.
• XTB is one of the few prominent forex brokers that does not provide guaranteed stop-loss orders (GSLO). GSLOs safeguard the trader from market gap risk, and many brokers are ready to provide this service (for an additional fee) and assume the risk themselves.
• xStation 5 from XTB lacks back-testing and automated trading tools, leaving algorithmic traders with just MT4 as an alternative.

It XTB A Worth Broker to Get?

XTB Online Trading (XTB) provides many of the tools required for online trading success to prospective clients. It excels at providing its clients with the lowest forex spread costs in the industry. Other product offers to include expenses (spread plus commissions) that are more in line with the industry standard. Even though it has some limitations, xStation 5 is easy to use and useful, and new features like the instrument scanner and heat map make it more appealing to traders of all kinds.

Negative balance protection provides clients with peace of mind while FCA regulation lends credibility. The education catalog is adequate, but customer service is somewhat above average. MT4 provides “expert advisors,” back-testing, and auto-trading for the more technologically advanced trader. Overall, XTB Online Trading (XTB) is best for consumers who want to trade retail foreign currency markets but are on a tight budget. 

However, XTB has some drawbacks. Although several European nations offer genuine stock and ETF trading, the product selection is primarily restricted to CFDs. The last charge is an inactivity fee. For customers who like forex or CFD trading and who also wish to benefit from fantastic deposit and withdrawal options combined with quick account opening, we propose XTB. Feel free to use a demo account to test it out.

FAQs

Related Articles:

• Awonar: Another Outstanding CFD Trading Platform
• IUX Markets Review: A Reliable, Low-Priced Brokers in 2022
• Merrill Edge Review: Start Investing with Bank of America’s Financial Platform
• Fidelity Investment Review: The Best of Overall
• TradeStation Review : Best Online Broker for Stock Trading and Research
• Ally Invest Broker: Excellent for Leveling Up Your Investing Goals

Read more: Popular Brokers

Source: Investopedia