XTB – Broker Review and Trader Feedback

XTB is an award-winning online Forex and CFD brokerage firm founded in 2002. Over the last 15 years, they have established themselves as reputable brokers in the retail forex space. They have also expanded their operations and tremendously increased their customer base. The headquarters of the brand are in Poland, but the brand also has 12 other offices around the world. The official website is available in 16 languages.

XTB is authorized and regulated by five regulatory authorities in different countries. These are:

• The International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) in Belize (license number IFSC/60/413/TS/17).
• CySEC in Europe (license number 169/12 ).
• Securities and Exchange Commission in Poland (license number DDM-M-4021-57-1/2005) and supervised by Polish Financial Supervision Authority.
• The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK (license number 522157).
• Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) in Spain (license number 40).

Over 1,500 trading instruments are offered on cutting edge platforms which run on both desktop and mobile devices. XTB was recently awarded “The Highest rated Forex and CFD Broker of the year 2018” at the Wealth and Finance International Awards.

Multiple trading instruments: Over 1,500 trading Instruments, across Forex and CFD’s.

Multiple regulations from different countries: FCA, Belize and CySEC among others.

Award winning proprietary platform: A proprietary built trading platform and MT4.

Multilingual customer support in over 10 languages: Available through live chat, phone, email and physical address.

Promotions available: Cash back rewards, refer a friend promo and other bonuses.

Traders from the USA are not accepted.

The demo account only runs for 30 days.

Limited bonus scheme: bonuses and cash back reward schemes are only available to non-European clients.

No VPS is provided for traders who may need it.

XTB makes its money from the spread charges and commissions. For FX transactions, spreads start from 0.1 pips. Spreads are equally competitive for indices and commodities transactions. For stocks and ETFs, commissions are as low as 0.08% of trade size. Transaction costs on cryptocurrencies are low when compared to those of other brokers. Inactivity fees are not charged on dormant accounts. Rollover charges apply for open positions at midnight.

XTB offers 48 currency pairs, 35 indices, 21 commodities (energy assets, precious metals and agricultural products) as well as 1,610 stock CFDs for trading. These stocks come from different quoted companies across the globe. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are also available for trading on the XTB platforms. In addition, the XTB asset index features 95 ETF CFDs and 25 of the world most popular cryptocurrencies. This is a large number compared to what is available from competitors. In summary, a total of over 1.800 trading instruments can be traded on the XTB trading platforms.

What trading platforms are offered on XTB?

xStation 5 - This is XTB’s sophisticated yet user-friendly trading software. It has won industry awards courtesy of its superb features. It has fast execution speeds, advanced chart trading, technical analysis, market sentiment, trader statistics, equity screener, trader’s talk, etc. It features complete trade management and every tool needed by all levels of traders. It is downloadable as a desktop app that runs on the windows and MAC operating systems.

MT4 - MT4 is the most popular trading platform among forex traders today. It is fully customizable, rugged, scalable and suitable for all types of traders. The MT4 is available on the XTB trading platform. It features automatic monitoring, advanced charts, signal indicators, live analysis and so much more. It equally enables traders to use Expert Advisors (EAs) which automates forex trading. The MT4 is currently available only on Windows PC.

xStation 5 mobile App - XTB has presented reports to show that 50% of trades are placed via the mobile interface. Therefore, it is important that their flagship trading app is also designed for mobile devices. So, the xStation 5 is available on android and iOS. It gives the trader complete access to his accounts in order to execute trades, view charts, perform analysis etc. The android and iPhone versions are downloadable from their respective stores.

Smartwatch app - This is the xStation 5 app designed for smartwatches running on Android or iOS. Traders can trade the markets right from their wrist watches. It features a simple and easy to use interface. It is also capable of managing orders and executing trades. The smartwatch app is downloadable from the Apple store or from the Google Play Store.

MT4 Mobile App - The MT4 mobile app is built for devices running on android or iOS. The XTB MT4 mobile app grants full access to charting, technical indicators, order management, strategy tester and much more. A trader can easily monitor the markets, listen to market news, place trades, manage his accounts and perform his analysis with the app. The MT4 app is user friendly, exhaustive and fast. It is downloadable from the Google Play Store or the Apple Store.

For practice purposes, XTB provides a demo account with $100,000 virtual money. The demo account gives access to over 1500 trading instruments including forex, indices, shares and commodities. The proprietary xStation 5 trading platform is fully available for testing with the demo account. It equally features tight spreads which starts from 0.2 pips. Unfortunately, the demo account is only available for 30 days after which the prospective client is expected to complete the application for a live account and make a deposit to commence live trading.

A minimum deposit of $250 is required to open an account with XTB. After, the initial deposit, there are no minimum amounts required anymore. The client can deposit any amount he desires. There are two types of accounts available with XTB brokers.

Standard Account - for this account type, the minimum spread is 0.35 and the minimum order is 0.1 lots. There are no commissions on cryptocurrencies, forex, indices and commodities. For stock CFDs and ETFs, the commission starts from 0.08% per lot.

Pro Account - the Pro account type has a minimum spread is 0.28 and the minimum order is 0.1 lots. Commissions on cryptocurrencies start from $4. Commissions on forex, indices and commodities start from $4 per lot. For equity CFDs and ETFs, the commission also starts from 0.08% per lot.

Account opening with XTB is as simple as filling a form. Personal details such as name, address, email, phone number and account related info are inputted. You can immediately download a selected platform and start trading using a demo account. Later, verifications are done where the client will have to upload a government-issued ID card and a utility bill. If you are from Europe, you can be identified by the Experian software, so you won’t have to upload anything. A minimum is $250 is required to activate a live account. There are several payment options which include debit/credit cards, bank wire transfer and e-wallets such as Skrill, Astropay and Neteller.

Deposits can be done via a bank transfer, a credit card, such as VISA, Maestro and Mastercard, or using an e-wallet such as PayPal and Paysafe. Yet, please note that the card deposits can only be made in USD, EUR and GBP and they have to be made from a bank account registered in the client's full name. E-wallet payments are only accepted for deposits. XTB do not charge any fee but the operators usually charge a transaction fee of 2%. Normally, e-wallet transactions are instantly processed.

The withdrawals are transferred to a bank account indicated in your Client Office and if the withdrawal request is submitted before 1pm GMT, XTB will process it the same day. If not, the processing is transferred to the next working day. Generally, XTB does not charge fees for deposits or withdrawals. However, there are fees of 20 USD / 16 EUR / 12 GBP / 3000 HUF for withdrawal requests below a threshold of 100 USD / 80 EUR / 60 GBP / 12 000 HUF. Bank wire transfers take about 2-7 business days to complete. The customer bank may also charge a fee.

XTB offers a well-organised “Trading Academy”. The lessons are arranged into basic and intermediate trader levels. There are 27 basic lessons and 15 intermediate lessons. The lessons are arranged in such a way that it can be accessed sequentially or randomly. The content includes tutorials on MT4, xStation 5, CFDs and general forex trading. The style of lecture presentation is professional.

Additionally, XTB give their clients a comprehensive news and analysis on the website and on the xStation 5 platform. A live commentary and economic calendar are also featured.

XTB provide adequate security of traders fund by keeping them in separate bank accounts. XTB is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, therefore their operations are transparent. Their financials are disclosed on a regular basis. Their proprietary trading platform, xStation 5 is laudable as it is fast, robust and sophisticated. XTB charges are low when compared to other competitors.

The multichannel support is multilingual and very efficient. Their “Trading Academy” is designed to benefit tyro and intermediate traders. They also provide expert news analysis and an economic calendar.
Furthermore, they have bonuses and a cash back reward scheme to encourage and appreciate faithful customers.

Conclusively, XTB is highly recommended for traders at all levels.