Is XTB regulated?

The XTB broker is regulated by many financial authorities in different countries like:

• FCA: The Financial Conduct Authority of UK
• CySEC: The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission
• KNF: The Financial Supervision Authority of Poland
• CNMV: The National Securities Market Commission of Spain
• IFSC: The International Financial Services Commission of Belize

Is XTB a scam?

XTB safety is divided into 2 parts: the safety of the broker itself and the safety of the client.

Broker safety

XTB has a long track record since its foundation in 2002 and has survived from many financial crises up-till-now with more than 250,000 users worldwide. XTB is also listed in the Warsaw stock exchange in Poland and publishes its financial statements regularly. Also, XTB is regulated by top-tier financial authorities like the FCA which is trustworthy.

Client protection

The XTB client has protection according to his/ her country from different regulators. The table below shows the client protection amounts.

XTB Legal Entities Table

XTB also provides a client negative balance protection for forex and CFD trading, but only for retail clients from the European Union. The non-EU clients are not covered by any negative balance protection.

2-step verification

Unfortunately, XTB lacks the two-step verification method while logging in.

XTB is primarily a forex and CFD broker with the ability to trade in cryptocurrencies. It also provides a real stock and ETF trading for some European clients.

Disclaimer: CFDs have a high risk of losing money rapidly. 79% of retail investor accounts lose money due to leverage when trading CFDs with this provider. CFDs are not complying with the islamic religion. And if you want to trade in CFDs you should consider a swap-free account to follow islamic rules. Learn more about CFDs for muslims.

XTB Offering of Investments

Note: The FCA bans crypto trading for the UK retail customers from 6th of Jan 2021. The real stocks and ETF trading are also available for XTB traders in Europe except the UK, Cyprus, Hungary, and Italy. XTB real stocks and ETFs

Countries available

XTB provides an account for European clients and from different countries all over the world. A special note here is that you cannot open an XTB account if you’re from the US. XTB countries list

Min deposit

For individuals, the min deposit is 0$ and you can deposit the amount you want,but the min deposit for corporates is relatively high of £15,000.

Account types

XTB provides 2 types of accounts with different features:

• The standard account: Pros: no commissions Cons: wider spreads
• The Pro account: Pros: tighter spreads Cons: there’s a commission.

In addition to the previous account types, you can open an islamic account that follows the islamic rules by providing an evidence that you line in a muslim country.

XTB - Account comparison

XTB also provides a demo account with 0 fees if you want to experience the trading platform with no risk. There’s an option to join the XTB affiliate partner program if you want as well.

How to open an account

You can open an XTB account in minutes through these steps:

1. Enter your email address and your country of residence.
2. Add some personal information.
3. Select trading platform, count type, and base currency.
4. Answer some questions regarding your financial status, employment status, and trading experience.
5. Activate your account by verifying your identity and residence.

XTB - Account opening

Notes: You can verify your identity through video or by uploading a scanned copy of your ID, passport, or driver license. For a residence proof, you can use utility bills or bank statements.

Before diving into the trading fees and commissions, you should know that they are different according to your account type.

• Pro account: €3.5 /£3 /$4 per lot commission plus spread cost.
• Standard account: spread cost only.

For the islamic account there’s a commission as well. For simplicity, we divide this section into 3 parts: Commissions, trading fees, and non-trading fees.

Commissions

The commissions vary from account type to another. Commissions by Account Type

Trading Fees

Forex fees

• For standard account the minimum spread is 0.35 pip
• For pro or the islamic account the minimum spread is 0.28 pip

Index fees

From more than 40 indices all over the world, the spread is between 0.25 to117 pips, which is very competitive.

Commodity fees

For more than 20 commodities, the spread is between 0.016 to 12 pips.

Stock and ETF CFDs

With more than 1,800 instruments all over the world, the spreads start from 0.0012 pips. Disclaimer: CFDs have a high risk of losing money rapidly. 79% of retail investor accounts lose money due to leverage when trading CFDs with this provider. CFDs are not complying with the islamic religion. And if you want to trade in CFDs you should consider a swap-free account to follow islamic rules. Learn more about CFDs for muslims.

Cryptocurrencies

For more than +20 cryptocurrencies, the fees range between 0.5%-2.5%. Please note that the availability and cost of these cryptocurrencies may vary according to your country.

Non-trading fees

For the non-trading fees, XTB has the best options when compared with other brokers as the following:

• Account fee (standard account): $0
• Account fee (pro account): $0
• Deposit fee: $0 for bank transfers and credit cards, and 2% fee when using electronic wallets
• Withdrawal fees: $0 for the transfers above $100

(you can check the full withdrawal fees in withdrawal fees section)

• Inactivity fee: €10 monthly after one year of inactivity and if no deposit was made in the last 90 days.

Account Currencies

The XTB account has 5 base currency options for its users. Those currencies are USD, EUR, GBP, HUF, and PLN.

Notes:

• You will not be charged with conversion fees if your account has the same currency with your bank account or when you trade assets with the same currency of your account.

• If you want to avoid being charged with conversion fees, you can open a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank.

Deposit

Options

XTB allows several ways to deposit with a no minimum deposit. This includes credit cards, bank transferred, and electronic wallets. XTB deposit methods

XTB supports depositing using different electronic wallets such that:

• Paypal
• Paysafe (formerly Skrill)
• Neteller
• Paydoo
• PayU
• SafetyPay
• ECOMMPAY
• BlueCash
• Blik
• Sofort

Fees

XTB charges nothing when depositing using bank transfers and credit cards, but on the other hand it charges 2% of the amount deposited when using an electronic wallet.

Time

Depositing using credit cards or electronic wallets is instant while depositing using a bank transfer may take several business days.

Withdrawal

Options

XTB charges nothing when you withdraw your money with a minimum of 100$. The way to withdraw your money is by a bank transfer only.

XTB withdrawal methods and fees

Fees

If your withdrawal amount is under a specified amount, XTB charges you with a fee according to your account base currency as shown in the table below.

XTB min withdrawal fees

Time

It takes 1 business day to withdraw your funds.

XTB works on different versions for platforms like mobile, web, and desktop.

Web

The web version is available in 2 platforms:

• xStation 5: which is customized platform for XTB trading
• MetaTrader 4 (MT4): this is a third party platform

Languages

The xStation 5 is available in a variety of languages like English, Arabic, Chinese, and more. xStation 5 Languages

User interface (UI)

The UI of the web trading platform looks complex when you first look at it, but it seems much easier when you start working with it. It has a user-friendly design that’s customizable and easy to use.

xStation 5 UI

Login and Security

Unfortunately, the web trading platform lacks the two-step verification method for much security.

Searching

You can search in the web trading platform by clicking on ‘Market Watch’ and enter the product, or you can browse by categories like the Forex Pair, CFDs, real stocks, and more.

xStation 5 - Search

Placing orders

There are 4 types of orders:

1. Market
2. Limit
3. Stop
4. Trailing stop

In addition to those 4 types, there’s another order which is the time limit ‘Good ‘til time’ or GTT. A useful tool in this platform is the trader calculator that helps you calculate different parameters in your trade.

xStation 5 - Place order

Notifications and alerts

You can customize the notification settings as you like for particular events and push SMS messages, email, etc.

Portfolio and reports

The web platform has a clear portfolio and fee reports with an ability to push daily reports via email. 

Desktop

The xStation 5 also provides a desktop version with similar UI and functionalities as the web platform.

xStation 5 - Desktop Version  

Mobile Platform

The xStation 5 as well as the MT4 have mobile applications for their platforms that are available for IOS and Android devices. And in this review we will consider the xStation 5 mobile application.

Languages

The mobile platform is available with the same languages like the web trading platform.

User interface (UI)

The interface of the mobile platform is very user-friendly with the most important tools for any trader.

xStation 5 Mobile App - UI

Login and security

Unfortunately, the web trading platform lacks the two-step verification method for much security, but at the same time you can set a fingerprint verification in your mobile device to provide more security.

Searching

Like the web trading platform, you can type the product name in the search bar or browse in different categories smoothly.

xStation 5 Mobile App - Search

Placing orders

Same as the web platform, there are 4 types of orders:

1. Market
2. Limit
3. Stop
4. Trailing stop

In addition to those types, there’s another order which is the time limit ‘Good ‘til time’ or GTT.

xStation 5 Mobile App - Place Orders

Notifications and alerts

You can set your preferred notification alerts in your mobile such that the market alerts or market news.

When it comes to research and tools, XTB provides very useful charting in a user-friendly manner with the main fundamental data.

Sources

There are 2 sources for the information in the research part:

1. Using xStation 5 trading platform
2. Using the XTB website in the ‘market analysis’ section.

The research tools are available in a number of languages like English and Arabic with the ability to show news commentary in our language if we set the language to English.

Trading ideas

You can find short-term trading ideas in the news flow, but when you try to search for a specific term, you will spend more time to find your term as the trading ideas are not well-structured.

Fundamental data

When you try to view the fundamental data, you’ll find it very limited and you can not access neither the financial statements nor the operational metrics.

XTB - Fundamental data

Charting

XTB provides great charting tools that allow you to use 35 technical indicators with the ability to save charts.

XTB - Charting

Newsfeed

The news feed here is a mix of recommendations, market, and data releases from the economic calendar. In the economic calendar, you can see upcoming events with a short summary per each along with its historical data.

XTB - Newsfeed

Other tools

Market sentiment analysis

This shows the percentage of long and short positions among clients for each asset

Heatmap

This tool shows a visualization of winners and losers.

XTB - Heatmap and Market sentiment analysis

Stock scanner

This filters the stocks you may trade on using 15 different factors like market capitalization, P/E, beta, and debt-to-equity ratio.

XTB - Stock scanner

ETF Scanner

This tool is like the stock scanner and provides 10 different factors to filter the ETFs like cumulative return and the total value of assets.

Options

XTB supports different customer service channels like live chats, phone calls, and emails with a fast response time.

Languages

The languages available for customer service are many with the support of major languages like English, German, Arabic, and more.

XTB - Customer service

Experience

For the live chat, it works very fine with faster responses and relevant answers.

Phone calls also work fine with the support of many languages and countries. For the emails, the customer service team replies within a day without any problem.

Options

XTB supports different customer service channels like live chats, phone calls, and emails with a fast response time.

Languages

The languages available for customer service are many with the support of major languages like English, German, Arabic, and more.

XTB - Customer service

Experience

For the live chat, it works very fine with faster responses and relevant answers.  

Phone calls also work fine with the support of many languages and countries. For the emails, the customer service team replies within a day without any problem.

Does XTB allow bot trading?

• No, XTB does not allow bot trading on their platform.

Does XTB give a bonus?

• Yes, it gives up to 50% of your first as a bonus if the following conditions applied:

1. Bonus is given for some new clients who are non EU/UK.
2. You’re allowed to get a bonus if you trade with a minimum of 15% of your first deposit.
3. Your first deposit should be at least 100 USD.

 Does XTB provide active trader discounts?

• Yes, XTB will rebate a portion of the spread (from 5% to 30%) back to them when they reach certain volume thresholds.

Does XTB allow scalping?

• Yes, it allows scalping through their platform xStation 5 and the third party trading platform MT4.