XM

XM is a well-established broker where you can speculate on 50+ currency pairs. Speculation on cryptocurrency, stocks, commodities, and indices is also possible.

With this broker, you will get access to the popular third-party platforms MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5).

I like that I could select from three different account types based on the particulars of my trading strategy. There is one account type for micro-traders, the standard account, and then there is a special Zero Account where you pay commission on your trades but get access to tight spreads. With the two other account types, you do not pay a commission on your trades. The Zero Account is popular among high-volume traders, for which it makes sense to pay a fixed commission to get tighter spreads.

Good things to know about XM

• This broker is a market maker and can be your counterpart in trades. This model has both pros and cons.
• Copy trading is not available with XM.
• Automated forex trading is available using MT Expert Advisors (trading robots).
• XM does not charge fees to process your deposits and withdrawals.
• XM does not accept PayPal or cryptocurrency transfers.
• XM is not licensed in the U.S. and does not accept U.S. traders.

Regulation

XM is active through subsidiaries around the world, in order to comply with local laws and license requirements.

Here are some examples of licensing authorities that have granted XM a license:

• Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)
• Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC)
• UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
• Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA)
• Financial Services Commission of Belize (FSC)

It is important to know which license your particular trading will fall under. Germany and Cyprus are for instance both members of the European Union, which means that in addition to national law, EU regulation will also apply, e.g. when it comes to limiting access to leverage for non-professional traders.

Similarly, the UK and Australia are known for having quite a few rules in place to limit how much debt a non-professional trader can take on, and this will impact your trading ability if you are not classified as a professional trader.

On the other hand of the spectrum, we find Belize, a country in Central America which has opted for a more hands-off approach and is not capping leverage for non-professional traders, nor requiring brokers to provide negative account balance protection.

XM is a market maker

XM is a market maker and trades are executed through the in-house dealing desk. Therefore, your broker will also be your counterpart in trades. This creates a conflict of interest.

Many traders are okay with this set-up as long as they get really quick execution speeds. If you dislike having your broker as your counterpart, you need to look for a broker with another set up, e.g. an ECN broker.

With XM, 99.35% of orders are executed in less than one second.

XM does not do re-quotes or rejections.

Account types

Ultra Low Micro Account

This is a great account for small-scale traders just starting out. You will not pay any commissions, so you do no have to worry about fixed-sized commissions eroding your profits.

With this account type, 1 lot is only 1,000 units. The minimum trade volume is 0.1 lots.

Spreads: From 0.6 pips (floating spreads)

Available base currencies: USD, EUR, GBP

Maximum number of open orders: 300 positions

Ultra Low Standard Account

Many XM traders eventually opt for a standard account as they outgrow their micro account.

Just as with a micro account, you do not pay commissions in your standards account, the spreads start at 0.6 pips (floating spreads), you can have up to 300 open positions, and the available base currencies are USD, EUR and GBP.

A major difference is that 1 lot is now 100,000 units instead of 1,000 units. The minimum trade volume is still 0.01 lots, but each lot consists of much more units.

Zero Account

This account differs from the two above in many ways. This is an account designed for trade strategies that require really low spreads and where the trader is okay with paying a commission in exchange for this.

So, with a Zero Account, the spreads start at 0 pips, but you will always be paying commissions on your trades: 3.50 USD per lot. Lot size is the same as for a standard account (1 lot = 100,000 units) and minium trade volume is 0.1 lot.

GBP is not available as base currency for a Zero Account; it has been replaced with the JPY. Hence, the available base currencies are USD, EUR and JPY.

While you can have up to 300 open positions with the two accounts above, you will only be permitted a maximum of 200 open positions with a Zero Account.

Does the minimum deposit change depending on account type?

No, it is just 5 USD (or the equivalent) for all three account types. This has helped make XM popular among novice traders who wish to start out small.

Can I get a swap-free account?

A swap-free account is available. This type of account is also known as a Muslim / Islam / Sharia / Halal account, since it caters to traders who want to adhere to the Sharia ban on interest.

Can I get a PAMM account?

No, XM does not offer PAMM accounts.

Forex trading and speculation

Over 50+ currency pairs are available, so you can not just find majors and minors here – you will find plenty of exotics too.

Examples of available pairs:

• AUD/NZD
• AUD/USD
• EUR/AUD
• EUR/GBP
• EUR/USD
• GBP/USD
• NZD/USD
• USD/CAD
• USD/CHF
• USD/JPY

A lot of fx speculation at MX is carried out using Contracts for Difference (CFDs). Leverage is available.

Is cryptocurrency speculation available?

Yes, you can use XM to speculate on cryptocurrency.

Examples of other asset types that are available for speculation at XM are stocks, commodities and indices.

Other assets than currency

Stocks

Shares in over a thousand companies from various parts of the world are available for speculation. You can, for instance, speculate on the share price of MasterCard, McDonald’s and BP.

Commodities

Both metals, energies and agricultural commodities are available. You can, for instance, speculate on the price of gold, silver, palladium, platinum, Brent crude oil, WTI oil, natural gas, cocoa, sugar, and wheat.

Indices

The list of available indices is long and includes well-known indices such as Nasdaq 100, FTSE 100 and Dax 40.

Commissions

If you pay a commission or not depends on your account type. You only pay a commission when using a Zero Account. For more information, go to the section about account types above.

Spreads

The spreads depend on your account type. The tightest spreads are offered by the Zero Account. For more information, go to the section about account types above.

Trading hours

Trading hours vary depending on the underlying asset.

For traditional forex trading:

From Sunday 22:05 GMT to Friday 21:50 GMT.

Holiday closures are displayed at the XM web site.

Leverage

How much leverage you can be offered by XM is impacted by applicable laws and license regulations.

Within the European Union, ESMA caps leverage at 1:30 for traders that have not been classified as professional or sufficiently experienced traders. For certain types of trading that is deemed especially risky, the caps are even lower.

The UK FCA and the Australian ASIC are examples of entities that have similar caps in place.

When XM is free to set their own caps, they will offer up to 1:1000 in leverage.

Platforms

XM will give you access to the two well-known third-party trading platforms MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5).

Both are extensive platforms from the same developer.

The MT4 is a bit more focused on forex, while the MT5 was developed to be broader.

Both platforms can be downloaded and installed on the computer.

Both platforms can be used directly in the browser window.

Both platforms are available as mobile apps for Android devices and Apple (iOS) devices.

Both come with excellent tools for technical analysis, but the MT5 is a tad sharper in this regard. For me personally, getting my technical analysis done with the tools provided by the MT4 platform is not a problem, but traders who want access to even more tools can opt for the MT5.

Time frames for charts: 9 on the MT4, 21 on the MT5

Graphical objects: 31 on the MT4, 44 on the MT5

Integrated indicators: 30+ on the MT4, 38 on the MT5

Another difference is that the MT4 has 4 pending order types and the MT5 has 6 pending order types.

A downside with the MT4 and the MT5 is that they are so extensive that they can feel a bit overwhelming to the novice trader.

Can I do automated trading?

Yes, special trading robots called Expert Advisors (EA:s) can be utilized for automated trading. The platform includes what you need to learn how to program your own EA:s, but it is also possible to buy or rent EA:s made by others.

Education, analysis and more

• The XM research hub provides daily analyst insights and frequent updates regarding financial news. You can also find plenty of trading ideas, strategy building help, and more at this hub. I like that it is easy to filter for forex-related resources.
• The Market Pulse tool allow you to sort assets by online mentionings and can be helpful when you need to gauge market sentiments.
• The online learning centre contains educational materials in many different fashions, including videos, webinars, and text. Educational material is available for various experience levels, from beginner and up.
• XM has a podcast channel.
• Traders subscribed to the XM VIP Education Package gets access to more education and special features, such as additional technical indicators (e.g. River, Inchimoku and Bollinger Bands).

Opening a free Demo Account at XM is quick and easy

Opening a free Demo Account is quick and easy. It only took me a few minutes to complete the process.

The XM demo account comes with $100,000 in play-money, so you can actually feel how it is to use the platforms to place orders. I very much like demo accounts that come with play-money over the demo accounts where we are essentially only permitted to look around but not actually do anything. It is difficult to develop a true feel for the interface of a platform without actually placing orders.

You get to keep your XM demo account even after having switched over to real-money trading, so you can keep using the demo account to test-run new trading strategies on the MT4 and MT5, to see how they hold up to real market data. Simply log into the client area and use the arrows at the top to switch between live mode (real-money account) and demo mode (play-money account).

How to open an XM Demo Account

Opening an XD demo account is easy and it only took me just a few minutes to complete the process and get started exploring.

1. I went to the XM web site and selected “Open A Demo Account”.
2. I completed the registration form online. This process includes giving them your email address.
3. I link was sent to my email address and I used it to verify the email address.
4. I could now log in to the client area.
5. I accessed the demo account from the homepage dashboard.
6. From the top menu, I picked the platform (terminal) I wanted to start exploring.

How to open a real-money XM account

Opening a real-money XM account takes a bit longer than a demo account and you need to share more information about yourself. It took me roughly 10 minutes to open a real-money XM account.

1. I filled out the short application form online. They will require information such as your name, email and country of residence.
2. I verified my email address using the link sent to it.
3. I signed in to the secure client area and selected “Open A Real Account”.
4. Now, I was asked to provide more personal details and fill out my investor profile.
5. I selected a platform, account type, and base currency.
6. I confirmed the account setup.

Inactivity fee

Your account will be considered inactive after 90 days of inactivity. This is a pretty short period compared to many other brokers. I am not fond of knowing that if I were to take a break from trading over the summer months, I would come back to an account that has been labelled inactive.

The inactivity fee is $5.

If there is no account balance, the inactivity fee is waived.

Deposits and withdrawals

Fees

XM does not charge deposit or withdrawal fees.

If you are depositing more than 200 USD and fulfil certain requirements, XM can cover your international bank charges. Contact the XM support for more information.

Methods

XM accepts a fairly wide range of transaction method types, including credit/debit cards, e-wallets and bank wire transfer. You can for instance use Google Pay, Apple Pay, Skrill, Neteller, and Sticpay here. Surprisingly, PayPayl is not on the list, and this might be a drawback for some traders.

Cryptocurrency transfers

XM does not accept deposits and withdrawals in cryptocurrency. Personally, I hope they will start doing it in the future. Some other brokers are already doing this, and I think XM could benefit from changing their policy.

Currencies

XM accepts deposits in many different currencies, but the money will be converted into the base currency of your account.

How to make deposit

Making a deposit to my XM account turned out to be quick and easy.

1. I logged in and went to the XM members area.
2. I selected “Account” in the top menu, and the selected “Accounts” in the submenu.
3. I double-checked that the “Real” account button was selected.
4. I clicked on “Deposit”.
5. I selected my preferred deposit method.
6. From here, I simply followed the on-screen instructions to complete my deposit. Since I had selected a credit card as my deposit method, I needed to enter the required credit card information.

Important: You need to verify your identity before you can start making deposits and withdrawals at XM. This is to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities.

Withdrawals

My withdrawal requests have been processed pretty quickly, typically within 24 hours. Of course, as always, XM can not do anything about how long it takes for the third-party transfer company to deliver the money to you, so chose transaction method wisely if speed is important.

Minimum and maximum transfer limits

How large the minium and maximum deposits and withdrawals are will depend on your country of residency. For some countries, there are no lower or upper limits for withdrawals.

Internal transfers between live accounts

Internal transfers between live accounts are possible.

Customer support

Hours

The support is only open during weekdays. This is common among brokers with a focus on forex trading, but it is a big minus for traders who wish to be active during the weekends too, e.g. cryptocurrency traders. If you run into any issue during the weekend, you would have to wait until Monday to get help from the support.

During the weekdays, the support is open around the clock.

Language

Support is available in over two dozen languages.

Phone support

The XM web site includes a list of local phone numbers.

Examples:

+357 25029933 (Cyprus)

+30 211 7700022 (Greece)

+612 8607 8385 (Australia)

Email support

support@xm.com

Live chat support

You will find the live chat on the official XM web site. Look in the bottom right corner.

About XM

• XM was established in 2009.
• At the time of writing, XM has around 10 million registered clients around the world.
• The company is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus. Cyprus is a part of the European Union.

Questions and answers

Is there a welcome bonus?

This depends on jurisdictions and your classification (professional vs. non-professional trader).

Many of the stricter countries and licensing authorities frown on big welcome bonus package designed to lure in non-professional clients, so XM and many other brokers are no longer offering them to traders in such places.

Sometimes, XM will run time-limit welcome bonus campaigns with small first deposit bonuses, e.g. a maximum of $30 bonus on your first deposit.

Can I get a VPS through this broker?

Yes, but you need to pay a fee for it. The fee is currently $28 per month.

The XM Virtual Private Server (VPS) service which has become very popular among traders engaged in automated trading.

At the time of writing, the service comes with 1.3 GB RAM and 25 GM hard drive capacity.

Can I trade on my phone?

Both the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform and the MetaTrader 5 (MT5) platform have their own mobile trading apps for iOS (Apple mobile devices) and Android.