XTB

XTB Group is an umbrella group for many subsidiaries regulated by different national authorities across the globe. It is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Belize International Financial Services Commission, the Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego (KNF) in Poland, and the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores in Spain.  In addition, XTB is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, and as such is required to regularly disclose its financials.

Global clients will be trading under the subsidiary, XTB International, regulated by the IFSC in Belize.  The IFSC’s regulatory oversight is less strict than regulators in the UK and Europe. The IFSC requires brokers to keep client funds in segregated accounts and issue monthly statements to their clients, but it does not require brokers to offer negative balance protection nor restrict leverage to protect traders.  

XTB segregates all client money from its operating capital, but does not offer negative balance protection to clients. Additionally, XTB offers high leverage to its clients – up to 500:1 on some of its account types. It also has no minimum deposit requirements, which means for traders who deposit small amounts, it will be difficult to hold a substantial trading position without getting stopped out and losing the money in their trading account, and possibly going into a negative balance. On the whole, this is an irresponsible move on the part of the broker. 

On a positive note, since XTB is a publicly listed company, it adheres to strict capital requirements and external audits, adding another layer of security.  Additionally,  all funds are insured through Lloyd’s of London, one of the world’s leading providers of specialist insurance, providing coverage of up to 1 million Euro, GBP, or AUD (depending on the region). The insurance is available to all XTB clients, including those regulated under the IFSC.

With numerous industry awards and recognition, XTB has won Best Brokerage House in Europe 2019 (Global Banking & Finance Review), Best CFD broker including Highest Rated FX & CFD Broker 2018 (Wealth and Finance awards), Best CFD Broker 2017 (FinTech Awards), and Best Financial Educator (World Finance Exchange & Brokers).

Overall, considering its long history of responsible behaviour, strong international regulation, and strict internal processes, XTB is a safe broker to trade with.  However, traders should be aware of the high leverage, low minimum deposit requirements, and lack of negative balance protection, which could see their trading accounts wiped out or even incur a negative balance.  

The account opening process at XTB is user-friendly, fully digital and accounts are ready for trading within one day.

Australian traders are not eligible to open an account at XTB.  While there are no minimum deposit requirements to open an individual account, corporate accounts require a 15,000 EUR minimum deposit.  

Creating an account is straightforward, the process is fully digital, and accounts are usually ready within one day. XTB offers individual and corporate accounts, but we will focus on opening an individual account:

1. New traders will have to click on the “Create an Account” button at the top of the page where they will be directed to register an account.    
2. XTB’s intake form requires clients to fill in their personal details (including name, country of residence, email address, birth date). 
3. Next traders need to select their preferred account type (Standard or Swap-Free), and account base currency.  
4. Once this step is complete, clients are required to fill out a questionnaire that helps XTB assess the trader’s investment knowledge, experience, and expertise to deem the suitability and relevance of the services on offer. While most brokers don’t include this step in the account-opening process, it is a responsible move in an industry that is often accused of an irresponsible approach to consumer protection.  
5. XTB requires at least two documents to accept you as an individual client:
   1. Proof of Identification – XTB accepts all government-issued identification documents such as Passport, national ID card, driving license, or other government-issued ID. 
   2. Proof of Address – Proof of residence/address document must be issued in the name of the XTB’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. After the application is approved, traders can login and fund their accounts
7. We advise that you read XTB’s risk disclosure, customer agreement, and terms of business before you start trading. 

Overall, XTB’s account-opening process is fully digital and hassle-free and accounts are generally ready for trading within one business day.  

XTB’s range of financial instruments for CFD trading, including Forex, shares, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and ETFs.

Unlike most other brokers, XTB only offers two account types – a Standard Account and a Swap-Free Account.  The trading costs on the Standard Account are included in its variable spreads, while traders are charged a spread mark-up and a commission on the Swap-Free Account.  

However, while XTB advertises a minimum mark-up of just 0.1 pips (EUR/USD), the website indicates a 1.0 pip difference between the bid and ask price.  

XTB’s accounts were assessed to compare the costs to those of other forex brokers.  The costs were evaluated based on the trading fees on one lot (100 000 USD) on the EUR/USD, including the spreads and commission.  

When making this calculation, we used one lot of EUR/USD as a benchmark as it is the most commonly traded currency pair and it usually has the tightest spread.

All trading costs are included in the variable spreads on the Standard Account, but traders are charged a spread markup in addition to a commission on the Swap Free Account.  The costs on the Standard Account are lower than those on the Swap-Free Account, and the swap-free option is only available to Muslim clients.  

Compared to other brokers, XTB’s trading costs are around the industry average on the Standard Account, but significantly higher than average on the Swap-Free Account.  The average trading costs at most good brokers tends to be around 9 USD per lot of EUR/USD.

Swap Fees 

Another important cost to consider is the swap rate charged on positions held overnight.   Interest is paid (or received) for each night a position is held.  In the case of Forex instruments, the amount charged depends on both the positions taken (i.e. long or short) and the rate differentials between the two currencies traded.  XTB’s swap rates are published on its website for each financial instrument.  Note that these only apply to the Standard Account.  

XTB offers two account types, which is limited compared to other brokers, and one of the accounts is a swap-free account.  XTB’s accounts are more suited to beginners than more experienced traders.  

Standard Account

XTB’s Standard Account is a commission-free account with variable spreads starting at 0.70 pips on the EUR/USD.  Traders should be aware that spreads average closer to 0.9 pips. 

Islamic Swap-Free Account

Islamic accounts are commission-based swap-free accounts, with variable spreads starting at 0.7 pips on the EUR/USD, and a commission of 10 USD round turn per lot traded.   The trading costs on these accounts are much higher than other brokers.  

Demo Account

XTB also offers a demo account with virtual funds that can be topped up on request.  Demo accounts do not expire unless there is no activity on the account for more than three months, at which time they will be suspended.  However, they can be reactivated at any stage.  Demo accounts are a great way to practice trading in a risk-free environment, and it gives traders an opportunity to familiarise themselves with XTB’s platform.

Overall, XTB’s accounts are more suited to beginners than more experienced traders, and trading costs are around the industry average on the Standard Account, and higher than average on the Swap-Free Account. Additionally, traders should be aware of trading with high leverage and low initial deposits, as this may cause them to go into a negative balanc

XTB’s mobile trading apps are limited because it only offers support for xStation5, but it offers a good mobile trading experience. 

xStation 5

A mobile version of the xStation5 application is available, which seamlessly connects to the application’s desktop version, and it is available on both Android and iOS mobile devices and tablets. 

The mobile app is well-designed and it has excellent search functionality, and it allows traders to work from anywhere, with functionality to close and modify existing orders, and calculate profit/loss in real-time.

Overall, XTB’s mobile trading app provides an excellent trading experience.

Following a move away from MT4 (customer service was unable to give us details on why this is the case), XTB has focused its efforts on developing its proprietary xStation5 platform. Winning Best Trading Platform 2016 (Online Personal Wealth Awards) and Best Trading Platform 2017 (FX Cuffs Awards), XTB has successfully built a trading platform that is intuitive, powerful, and fast.  

Many other brokers offer support for third-party platforms such as Metatrader 4 and Metatrader 5, which is an advantage for forex traders who want to take their own customised versions of the platform with them should they choose to migrate to another broker.  Additionally, third-party platforms tend to have many additional plugins and offer the use of expert advisors, which are unavailable on xStation5.  However, the benefits of using xStation5 are numerous.

xStation 5 offers many of the same advanced trading features found in MetaTrader 4, but the xStation5 platform adds the XTB touch. It introduces XTB sentiment data directly into the platform, so traders can view the percentage of clients trading long or short and on which instruments. It also offers powerful charting tools, one-click trading, stop loss functionality, multiple order types, price alerts, and real-time performance statistics so you can evaluate your trading moves and identify areas for improvement.  

Another useful feature of the platform is the trader calculator, which helps you calculate the margin, the commission, and other important parameters for each trade. Additionally, the platform is intuitive, easy to use, customisable, and easy to set up, which is a great advantage for beginner traders. 

Note that XTB does not offer scalping, hedging, or copy trading on the xStation5 platform. 

A well-regulated broker, XTB does not process payments to third parties. All withdrawal requests from a trading account must go to a bank account or a source in the trader’s name.

There are several ways to deposit funds into your trading account and some of these methods may incur additional charges. Please note that XTB only accepts USD and does not cover any currency conversion fees. 

All deposits except for bank transfers are instant and you will see this reflected in your account balance immediately.  Bank transfers from the UK/EU are normally added to your account within one working day.  Bank transfers from other countries can take from 2-5 days to arrive, depending on the country you send money from. Unfortunately, this depends on your bank and any intermediary bank.

The standard processing time for withdrawal requests is one business day, and withdrawals of less than 50 USD will be charged an additional commission of 30 USD.

XTB only offers accounts denominated in USD, which is very limited compared to most other brokers.  Most other brokers allow trading accounts to be denominated in up to 5 – 10 currencies.  

XTB only allows trading accounts to be denominated in USD, which is hugely limiting for traders.  This means that most traders will have to pay conversion fees on all deposits and withdrawals.  Conversion fees can make trading expensive, and affect profitability. 

Additionally, some traders may want to have multiple accounts with different base currencies to avoid paying conversion fees.  However, because XTB accounts are only denominated in USD, this is not possible.  

In this case, it is better to open an account at a digital bank.  Digital banks offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. 

Most other large brokers offer various technical analysis tools such as Autochartist and Trading Central, in addition to copy trading tools and VPS services.  XTB provides a few tools through its xStation5 platform:

• Market Sentiment: The Market Sentiment feature shows the percentage of long and short positions among XTB’s clients for each financial asset.
• Heat Map: The Heat Map shows the number of people who have gained or lost money.
• Stocks Scanner: The Stocks Scanner is a tool that uses 15 factors to filter stocks you may want to trade, including market capitalization, P/E, beta, and debt-to-equity ratio.

XTB’s market analysis materials are comprehensive and provide actionable trading ideas. 

XTB provides frequent market commentary and trading ideas in its Market News section. The majority of market news is available to all visitors and provides actionable trading information. However, some of the premium education and market analysis materials are only available to live account holders.

Traders receive multiple updates throughout the trading day, which can consist of brief fundamental summaries, technical trading alerts, the Trade of the Day, and the Crypto Newsletter. Some content is text-only, and the rest includes charts and trading ideas.

XTB also offers an economic calendar, a comprehensive log of all scheduled macroeconomic releases, including a potential impact rating, and detailed historical data to help traders predict the results on corresponding markets.

A wide range of fundamental and technical analysis tools are also available within the xStation5 platform, giving traders a comprehensive charting package to identify potential trading opportunities.

XTB’s Trading Academy is an extensive list of mini-courses that can be navigated either by trading experience level or by topic.  It covers basic trading concepts, including How the Market Works, Basics of Forex Trading, and an overview of the risk associated with CFD trading, to topics that are appropriate for more experienced traders such as Market sentiment and positioning, and Intermarket correlation.  The Trading Academy also offers tutorials of the xStation5 proprietary software platform.  The beginner and intermediate sections are open to the public, but expert training courses are only available to members with live accounts. 

XTB’s library is comprehensive and comprises short articles covering Platform and Account tutorials in addition to trading-related subjects such as Fundamental Analysis, Technical Analysis, and Trader Questions.  

XTB also offers one-to-one mentoring by leading experts that can be arranged through your account manager. These sessions coach traders on market analysis, including risk management and trading psychology, and are tailored to the client’s needs. The broker also operates an open-door policy, meaning that anybody can visit their local branches. 

As mentioned, XTB also operates an open-door policy so customers can visit any of their offices.  Notably, XTB has 20 local branches.

Customer support is offered in English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, German, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, and Hungarian. Overall, we found the live chat support responsive, polite, and able to answer most of our questions.