Octa

No ASIC Regulation: Octa has a good reputation but it is not regulated by ASIC and is regulated by a single tier 2 regulator: CySEC in Europe. Even more concerning, Australian residents will be trading under the subsidiary Octa Markets Incorporated which is registered with St. Vincent and Grenadines FSA.  The SVG FSA is not a regulator and does not supervise trading or protect traders.

On the other hand, Octa does have a good reputation and its European operations are overseen by one of the better regulators in Cyprus. But Australian clients must rely solely on the reputation of Octa as no additional measures exist to ensure client protection.

Safety Features: In a show of good faith, Octa segregates all funds from the company’s operating capital, and offers negative balance protection to all its clients.  No regulatory oversight also means that Octa can offer higher leverage and bonuses to Australian traders, which may be attractive to some.

The account opening process at Octa is hassle-free and accounts are ready for trading immediately. Account verification is only required for withdrawals.

All Australian residents are eligible to open an account at Octa, if they meet the minimum deposit requirements stipulated by the deposit method they choose.  

Creating an account is straightforward, the process is fully digital, and accounts are available for trading immediately:

New traders will have to click on the “Open Account” button at the top of the page where they will be directed to register an account.    

1. Octa’s intake form requires clients to register an account with an email address and a password.
2. Next, new traders are directed to fill in their personal details (including name, country of residence, email address, birth date). 
3. Traders then need to select their preferred account type (MT4 or MT5), live or demo account, level of leverage, and account base currency.
4. Once this step is complete, traders can make their first deposit via several payment channels and can start trading. 
5. Traders are only required to submit any verification documents to Octa when they want to withdraw funds. These include:
   1. Proof of Identification – Octa accepts all government-issued identification documents such as passports, national ID cards, driving licenses, or other government-issued IDs. 
   2. Proof of Address – Proof of residence/address document must be issued in the name of the Octa’s account holder within the last 6 months and must contain a trader’s full name, current residential address, issue date, and issuing authority. 
6. We advise that you read Octa’s risk disclosure, customer agreement, and terms of business before you start trading. 

Octa does have 30 cryptocurrencies to trade at 25:1 leverage. This isn’t the largest selection in the world, but it is a wider selection than most other brokers. Leverage is up to 500:1 for Forex trading.

Both of Octa’s accounts require a minimum deposit of only 100 USD and each account is associated with a different trading platform (MT4 or MT5). Fees are the same on both accounts.

We opened and tested OctaFX’s MT4 and MT5 accounts:

MT4 Account: The MT4 Account requires a minimum deposit of 100 USD, and no commission is charged on trades. Spreads average at 0.7 pips, tighter than other similar brokers. Leverage is up to 500:1 for Forex trading, and the margin call/stop out is 25%/15%. Metals, indices, and cryptocurrencies are also available to trade. Swaps are charged every night a position is held open.

MT5 Account: The minimum deposit is also 100 USD on the MT5 Account. Spreads average at 0.7 pips on the EUR/USD, and no commissions are charged. The MT5 trading platform has some extra features, including depth of market, an integrated economic calendar, and full-size tick charts.  The other difference is that swaps only apply from the third night a position is held open. 

Leverage Restrictions: Octa has a couple of odd rules on leverage: Traders can only modify their leverage levels once every 24 hours and leverage restrictions apply to all deposits.

Octa’s proprietary mobile app is one of the best in the industry.

Octa Mobile App

Easy to use: After downloading the app, we found it easy to open new real and demo accounts, manage our leverage, deposit and withdraw funds, and trade on the charts. 

Account Management: After downloading the app we found it easy to open new real and demo accounts, manage our leverage, and deposit and withdraw funds. Switching to the MT4 app to access our trading account was a simple and quick process.

Trader Tools: Useful tools include the Market Insight tab, a feed of market news and trading ideas from reliable news sources, and a profit calculator. It also features a market monitor so we could keep tabs on our favourite trading instruments. None of these tools are ground-breaking, but they all worked as expected and the profit calculator took into account the different swap rates on MT4 or MT5.

Customer Support: Support was available 24/5 from inside the app. We found the customer support team helpful and responsive.

The app also lets you manage any bonuses or contest accounts you have open with Octa. 

MT4 and MT5 Mobile Trading 

The MT4 and MT5 trading platforms are available on both Android and iOS mobile devices and tablets. There is some loss in functionality when compared to the desktop versions of these trading platforms, including reduced timeframes and fewer charting options.

Traders can choose from a few, industry-leading platforms.

MT4 and MT5

The main benefit of using third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5 is that traders can keep their own customised versions of the platforms should they choose to migrate to another broker. Both MT4 and MT5 are available for Windows, Android, iOS, and web browser.

Overall, Octa’s platform support is about average when compared to other brokers. Additionally, MT4 and MT5 are generally more difficult to set up and are less user-friendly than the web-based platforms available at some other brokers. 

Octa Copy-trading

Octa also offers a copy trading platform free for all accounts, allowing beginners to copy the trades of more experienced, successful traders for a small fee per traded lot. Beginners simply find the Strategy Providers they want to follow and click “Copy.” Their positions will be copied automatically.  The copy trading service is also user-friendly and well-designed. This function is also available through the mobile app.

Like most brokers, Octa does not allow funding to or from third parties. All withdrawal requests from a trading account must go to a funding source in the trader’s name.

Accepted Deposit Currencies: Australians will be disappointed that Octa only allows trading accounts to be denominated in EUR and USD. Always check the exchange rate when converting from AUD to other currencies as hidden conversion fees can make trading expensive and affect profitability. 

Funding Methods: Octa does not charge any withdrawal fees, but Australian residents are limited to making deposits or withdrawals via eWallets or cryptocurrency.

Alongside industry standards such as an Economic Calendar, Profit, and Trading Calculators, Octa also offers an Account Monitoring tool and Autochartist.

Account Monitoring Tool: The Account Monitoring tool allows traders to monitor any other Octa trader’s account and sort by Balance, Gain, Trades, and Account Type. This tool also allows you to dig into the history of an account so you can learn how the account holder has managed their success. Accounts are only represented by numbers, so all holders remain anonymous.

Autochartist:  Octa also supports Autochartist, the industry-standard trading signals provider. Autochartist provides traders with automated alerts for opening and closing trades, a volatility analysis tool that allows you to better optimise take-profit and stop-loss levels, and integrated market reports. Autochartist is available on both MT4 and MT5 and requires a minimum balance of 500 USD in your Octa account. 

Like its education section, the market analysis materials available at Octa are better than most other brokers. 

Market Insights: Octa has an excellent Market Insights section which is updated frequently. Regular posts include a Daily Forecast, a Daily Review, and Weekly Review. These posts frequently offer predictions of future market movements – but be cautious and do your own research before acting on any predictions.

Octa YouTube Channel: The Market Insights section also has a daily video series, uploaded to the Octa YouTube channel, called Market in a Minute, which covers all the big news from the Forex markets for the preceding trading day. In addition to all these regular updates, there are irregular short pieces published in reaction to trading events with detailed technical insight.

Forex News: Octa also hosts a Forex News section, with short briefings on all the major news stories affecting the Forex markets, this is updated over the weekend and the articles are well-written and concise. These briefings are offered without any suggestion of how the events will affect the markets.

The educational material at Octa and its alternative website is good but focused on new traders; for more experienced traders there is little in the way of educational support.

Forex Basics: Back on Octa’s main website, the in-house education section is anchored by a collection of articles collectively called Forex Basics. Article topics range from explainers on ECN trading and Risk Management to Technical Analysis and Trading Strategies as well as more advanced concepts such as Pair Correlations and Fibonacci Retracements. These articles are detailed and well-written and offer valuable advice for new and intermediate traders.

Octa is also very active on YouTube, with a range of live trading sessions and webinars taking place on a regular basis. In addition, a workshop for novice traders is held every Saturday. 

Tutorials: Also on the main site, there is a short Tutorial section covering the MetaTrader platforms, CopyTrading, Autochartist, and CFDs, and a Video Tutorial section focused on getting started with MetaTrader. Finally, there is a FAQ section and a useful glossary of Forex trading terms. The education section also has links to the Manuals for the different platforms Octa supports (MT4 ad MT5).

Octa customer support is open 24/7 via live chat, and 24/5 via phone (with local numbers for the UK, Hong Kong, and Indonesia), email, WhatsApp, and Telegram.

Additionally, the Finance Department is open from 06:00 – 22:00 (EET) and the customer verification department is open from 08:00 – 17:00 (EET) for account setup and troubleshooting queries.