xForex Review by professional Forex trading experts the “ForexSQ” FX trading team, Finding out everything you need to know about the broker is in this xForex Review.
xForex Review
XForex offers two basic accounts: Standard and Premium. The main difference between the two is the initial deposit required – the account with the higher deposit offers lower spreads.
Of course, the broker offers a demo account as well, which is always appreciated by newbies.
The Company
XForex is a trade name used by XFR Financial Ltd. The company was founded in Cyprus in 2003 and is regulated by the CySEC. The company also has an Australian subsidiary, OCM Online Capital Markets Pty Ltd., an ASIC-regulated company.
XForex offers trading in currency pairs, CFDs (shares, indices and commodities), as well as bitcoin through both its proprietary web-based platforms.
Security of Funds
Cyprus-based XFR Financial Ltd., a brokerage doing business as XForex, is licensed and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC, license No 108/10). Its Australian branch – OCM Online Capital Markets Pty Ltd., on the other hand, is authorized and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
Cypriot financial watchdog CySEC applies certain rules and requirements to brokerage companies, one of them being the requirement such firms to hold a minimum capital in order to conduct their business activities legitimately. CySEC requires forex brokers to hold at least €1,000,000. As regulation of financial services providers usually involves such a requirement, Australian brokers are obliged by ASIC to hold a minimum of $1,000,000. The highest amount required as a minimum capital is $20 million and it applies to US-based brokers.
Furthermore, all CySEC-regulated companies are members of the Investor Compensation Fund, which serves to protect and secure the claims of covered clients and provide them with compensation of up to 20,000 EUR per person, in the event that the broker becomes insolvent. Similar compensation schemes apply in other jurisdictions – for example, FCA-regulated brokers in UK are under the umbrella of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, where the maximum compensation cover is £50,000 per person. Such compensation schemes serve as additional guarantee to clients’ funds.
Unlike many EU-based brokers, Australian ones are not covered by any compensation scheme.
Additionally, XForex operates under Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), which provides a harmonized regulatory regime for investment services across the 30 member states of the European Economic Area.
Trading Conditions
Minimum initial deposit
XForex requires a minimum initial deposit $100, which is an average amount. FXTM for instance, also Cyprus-based, requires $100 too (for its Standard account). Exness, also CySEC-regulated, requires no deposit (for its Mini account) and as much as $2000 for the Classic account.
Average Spreads & Commissions
This broker charges no commission fees, however the spreads offered aren’t particularly competitive, ranging from 2-5 pips on EUR/USD. XForex offers fixed spreads only. For purposes of comparison, Exness offers fixed spreads amounting to 2 pips, as well as variable ones 0.9 pips on EUR/USD, for its commission-free accounts; Easy forex, another Cyprus-based brokerage, also provides fixed spreads, from 1.8 pips on EUR/USD.
You may look up real-time spreads of 15 leading brokers at Topforexbrokers.com
Additionally, Inactivity fee of up to $5 is charged on XForex accounts which are not used for a period of 3 months.
Leverage
Leverage levels provided by XForex vary, depending on the financial instruments traded: forex – up to 1:400; Indices & Commodities CFDs – up to 1:200; Shares CFDs – up to 1:50; bitcoin – up to 1:10 (protective leverage).
The maximum leverage level of 1:400 is considered comparatively high. Easy forex offers the same maximum leverage of up to 1:400, while other CySEC regulated brokers provide even higher leverage levels: FxPro – up to 1:500, FXTM – up to 1:1000.
Although a leverage 1:400 truly means that you can start trading with as little as $100 to gain the effect of $400 000 capital, traders must not forget that the higher the leverage, the higher the risk of heavy losses.
Trading Platforms
Xforex have developed their own proprietary trading platforms – XTRADEand the older Xforex WebTrader. They are both web-based and simple, in fact lacking many of the advanced features and tools that MetaTrader 4 provides. Unlike the Xforex WebTrader, the XTRADE platform offers built-in charts and mobile versions.
Bonuses available
There are two types of bonuses offered to clients of Xforex: first deposit bonus and account verification bonus.
The welcome bonus of ranges from 20% to 60% ($50 – $6,000), depending on the initial deposit submitted and is transferred to the account as long as a c trader reaches certain trading volume. It expires 30 days after the deposit date.
The account verification bonus, on the other hand, is a $25 cash bonus, which clients receive upon account verification and can be used for trade.
Methods of Payment
There are just two methods available to Xforex’s clients to make withdrawals from and deposits to their accounts: via Wire Transfer and Credit Card. Popular e-wallet payment systems, used by many brokers, such as Skrill, Neteller and PayPal are missing.
Xforex is a well-regulated broker, offering trading in FX, CFDs and bitcoin through its in-house trading platforms.
The Broker is not a safe forex broker, Instead you can use Plus500, XM, eToro, Fxpro or AvaTrade forex brokers.
xForex Review Conclusion
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