Oanda

Trusted: Headquartered in Sydney and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), OANDA has a good reputation in the Forex trading community and the company has received multiple awards for its customer service and customer satisfaction ratings. 

Safety Features: ASIC is a tier 1 regulator and it requires OANDA to provide negative balance protection for all clients and to keep its operational funds segregated from client accounts. It also prevents OANDA from offering leverage higher than 30:1 on Forex pairs or offering promotions or bonuses. Finance professionals and wealthy clients can waive these safety features by proving their wholesale trader status.

Some Australian traders may find the low leverage levels and lack of bonuses restrictive. Unless you qualify for wholesale status the only way around these restrictions is to trade with a broker which does not have ASIC regulation, which means less protection.

We found that OANDA’s account-opening process is seamless and hassle-free compared to other brokers, and we were pleased that our trading account was ready for trading within a day.

We tested the account opening process, which took approximately 10 minutes to complete, and once our documentation had been submitted, our accounts were ready for trading within a day. 

OANDA offers corporate and individual accounts, but we will focus on opening an individual account:

How to open an account at OANDA:

1. New traders will have to click on the “Start Trading” button at the top of the page where they will be directed to register an account.    
2. OANDA’s intake form requires clients to fill in their country of residence, and personal details,  (including name, country of residence, and telephone number). 
3. Next clients must confirm their citizenship, filling in their identity or tax number.
4. The fourth step requires traders to confirm their home address.
5. Lastly, traders are required to fill in their employment status and financial details. 
6. Note that verification documents are not needed for traders who deposit less than 9,000 USD. 
7. For clients that deposit more than 9,000 USD, OANDA needs at least two documents to accept you as an individual client:

1. Proof of Identification – OANDA accepts all government-issued identification documents such as passports, national ID cards, driving licenses, or other government-issued ID. The document must be valid and must contain a trader’s full name, date of birth, a clear photograph, and issue date, and if it has to have an expiry date, that should be visible as well.
2. Proof of Address – Proof of residence/address document must be issued in the name of the OANDA account holder within the last 3 months and must contain a trader’s full name, current residential address, issue date, and issuing authority.

After the application is approved, traders can log in and fund their accounts.  We advise you to read OANDA’s risk disclosure, customer agreement, and terms of business before you start trading. 

Overall, OANDA’s account-opening process is quick and efficient, and accounts are generally ready for trading within one business day. 

While offers over 70 Forex pairs, the limited choice of instruments may leave some professional traders disappointed.

The Spread Pricing Account has trading costs included in its variable spreads, while the Core Account offers tighter spreads in exchange for a small commission per trade. Neither account has a minimum deposit requirement.

The trading costs on the Spread Pricing Account are built into the spread and are the same as the costs on the Core Pricing Account, which has a small commission per lot traded.  Overall OANDA has some of the lowest trading costs in the Forex industry- the average cost of trading one lot of EUR/USD is 9 USD at most other market makers, so whichever OANDA account you choose will be lower cost than most other brokers. 

We opened and tested OANDA’s Spread Pricing and Core Pricing Accounts.

Spread Pricing Account

A commission-free account, the Spread Pricing Account has no minimum deposit, leverage of up to 30:1, and access to all tradable instruments.  Spreads start at 0.7 pips on the EUR/USD, which is tighter than other market maker brokers.

Core Pricing Account  

Costs are included in the spread and the commission that is charged on this account.  Spreads start at 0.1 pips on the EUR/USD which, like the Spread Pricing Account is tighter than other brokers, and a commission of 7 AUD (round turn) is charged.  Leverage is up to 30:1 for Forex pairs.  

With support for MT4 and its own in-house mobile trading app, OANDA’s mobile platform support is better than other brokers.

Both of OANDA’s mobile platforms are available on both Android and iOS.  

OANDA App

We downloaded and tested the OANDA app on an iPhone 11 and were impressed that we could access all our accounts with one login. The app integrates seamlessly with MT4 and you can trade directly on the charts, view multiple time frames, deposit and withdraw funds, choose from a huge number of technical indicators, and access VPS services. We were also pleased to find how easy it is to set risk and profit parameters on our order ticket. 

MT4 Mobile App

Traders should be aware that there is some loss in functionality when compared to the MT4 desktop trading platform, including reduced time frames and fewer charting options, but traders can close and modify existing orders, calculate profit and loss, and trade on the charts.  

OANDA offers full support for the MT4 and OANDA web trade platforms, which is average compared to other similar brokers.

OANDA Web Trader

The OANDA web trader is web-based and offers a streamlined trading experience, appealing to traders who want to avoid the complexity of third-party platforms.  We found that the platform looks fantastic, is very easy to use, and has a solid reputation in the trading community.

The powerful platform combines an intuitive interface, a suite of technical analysis tools, a sophisticated charting package, and allows users to create watchlists, analyze charts, place and monitor trades.  It also allows traders to access TradingView’s top indicators and drawing tools.  Overall, the platform is a good choice for beginner traders because it is easier to set up and use than the MT4 platform.

MT4

The advantage of brokers offering third-party platforms such as MT4, is that traders can take their own customised version with them should they decide to migrate to another broker.  Additionally, there are thousands of plugins and tools available for the MT4 platform.   However, MT4 is not as beginner-friendly as the in-house platforms offered by other brokers.

In line with Anti-Money Laundering policies, deposits and withdrawals at OANDA cannot be made to/from third-party accounts.

Trading Account Currencies: The base currencies available at OANDA include USD, GBP, EUR, SGD, HKD, JPY, AUD, CHF, and CAD. OANDA offers a broad range of base currencies and offers accounts denominated in AUD, which is good for Australian residents who will likely have AUD bank accounts. Australian traders will therefore be able to avoid paying conversion fees, unless trading on instruments with other base currencies, such as the EUR/USD.  Conversion fees can make trading expensive, and are usually not presented on the fee report, but affect profitability.

Deposit and Withdrawal Fees: While no fees are charged for deposits, OANDA charges fees for withdrawals by bank transfer.

OANDA offers a variety of trading tools, including MT4 Premium Tools, TradingView, and a Trading Performance Portal.

MT Premium Tools

The MT5 Premium Tools are a host of powerful forex trading indicators, including an alarm manager, keyboard trading, mini terminal, tick chart trader, and more.  These are provided by FX Blue Labs. You can access over 15 indicators and nine expert advisors in a single download. Popular features such as Renko charts, one cancels the other (OCO) orders, keyboard trading, tick chart trading, and advanced trade management are all included free of charge to OANDA MT4 traders.

Trading Performance Portal

The Trading Performance Portal is a behavioural analysis tool that is designed to help you improve your trading patterns. Powered by Chasing Returns, OANDA’s portal analyses your trading history and helps you focus on your strengths while identifying areas you can improve.

Advanced Charts Powered by Trading View

TradingView’s advanced charting solution is available through the OANDA Trade platform. Leading indicators and drawing tools include trade-through charts and 65+ technical indicators. Traders can analyse market trends using drawing tools such as Pitchforks, Gann Fans, Elliott Waves, and more.  Overall, an excellent addition to the suite of trading tools on offer at OANDA.  

OANDA Connect App

The OANDA Connect app provides direct access to content from Dow Jones, market news sentiment, as well as two calendars to stay up to date. Dow Jones FX Select provides real-time breaking news, expert trend analysis, and in-depth policy commentary developed by a global team of Dow Jones business news reporters and editors. It is available in a variety of languages.

OANDA’s analysis section is excellent compared to other brokers, curated by its in-house analysts and third-party provider, Market Pulse.

Market analysis is supplied by OANDA’s MarketPulse service. MarketPulse is an award-winning news site that delivers round-the-clock commentary on a wide range of asset classes, as well as in-depth insights into the major economic trends and events that impact the markets. 

The 24/7 coverage at MarketPulse is provided by six expert analysts and professional traders with decades of experience covering and trading the full range of markets. All analysis is detailed, accurate, and posted within minutes of a market event occurring.

In addition to MarketPulse’s text-based coverage, regular videos and podcasts are also published.

The education section is extremely limited and contains only a handful of articles aimed at beginner traders. These articles address the fundamentals of trading, like pip trading, leverage, and market orders, among others.

Demo Account

OANDA’s demo account mimics the conditions found on the Spread Pricing Account and is available with a virtual 100,000 USD balance. The demo account will not expire if you request this from OANDA customer service. 

Support is available via email and live chat 24/5. For the purposes of this review, we found the customer support to be responsive but not knowledgeable of OANDA’s products and services.