XM Broker Review 2023 – Pros and Cons Uncovered

 

The XM broker was founded in 2009 by a group of interbank dealers looking to expand the forex market's services. In our XM review, we see that the company has transformed into a broker with many online assets. It has headquarters in the Republic of Cyprus and is registered under the name Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd.

XM Group (XM) is a group of regulated online brokers. Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd was established in 2009 and it is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC 120/10), Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd was established in 2015 and it is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC 443670) and XM Global Limited was established in 2017 and is regulated by the Financial Services Commission (000261/158).

Currently, XM provides over 700 tradable instruments and these includes Forex Trading, Stocks CFDs, Commodities CFDs, Equity Indices CFDs, Precious Metals CFDs and Energies CFDs” in more than 190 countries.

One of their bonuses is a free VPS service, which traders can use to connect to the market faster with low latency.

Note:

• Free VPS is for clients who maintain a minimum balance of $5,000 or currency equivalent.
• Trading bonus and Loyalty Program are not eligible for clients registered under Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd.

The XM review also shows that they provide additional features like six calculators from the all-in-one calculator and the pip cost calculator. This can be helpful when traders are strategizing or researching economic ideas.

XM has a presence in more than190 countries, with over 1.5 million clients. When trading with them, you will most likely find their services excellent, their customer service impeccable, and their approach to clients welcoming.

 

XM Broker Review 2023 Quick Summary

🏢 Headquarters	Cyprus, Australia, Belize and Dubai
📆 Established	2009
🗺️ Regulation	ESMA, CySEC, ASIC, FSC and DFSA
🖥 Platforms	MT4 and MT5
📉 Instruments	Stocks CFDs, Commodities CFDs, Equity Indices CFDs, Precious Metals CFDs and Energies CFDs.
💳 Minimum Deposit	$5
💰 Deposit Methods	Multiple local payment methods available
📱 Mobile Trading	Available
🌍 Web Trading	Available
💵Minimum Trade Size	0.01
🎢 Maximum Leverage	1:888 ( Note: “This leverage is not available to all the entities of the Group. The maximum leverage for clients registered under the EU regulated entity of the Group is 30:1” )
🌍 ECN	Available
🤖 Robots	Available
🎯 Scalping	Allowed
☎ Customer Support	24/5

What We Like About XM

• It is a great broker for beginners who have little money. The XM minimum deposit is only $5.
• Education provision is vastly powerful with seminars, market outlook reports, webinars, tools, and educational articles.
• They are heavily regulated in almost every jurisdiction on the planet, making them a very safe choice.
• They provide high leverage that goes up to 1:888, except for European clients and Australian clients capped at 1:30 for legal reasons.
• You can trade over 700 instruments in all asset classes.
• They have negative balance protection.

What XM Could Improve

• The XM trading platforms are limited to MT4, MT5, and Webtrader.
• XM is not exactly marketed as a high-volume professional forex broker company.

XM Regulation

As we mentioned earlier, this company is heavily regulated in many jurisdictions in the world. Some of the most significant regulation agencies that oversee it are:

• The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission ( CySEC )
• The Belize Financial Services Commission (FSC)
• The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
• The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA)

All of these regulatory agencies are from first-world countries with strong law enforcement measures in place. When trading with this broker, you will not have to worry about safety. We also found out during this XM review research, that the broker is more widely regulated.

They are registered in over 10 European countries, each with a different regulatory agency like the FSB, AMF, CONSOB, ACP, FIN, KNF, FI, and Europe's MiFID. Each of these agencies oversees countries like Spain, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Netherlands, Italy, and Sweden.

There is no doubt that XM is one of the leading forex brokers on the planet. To offer additional investor protections, the broker also does the following:

• They have an investor compensation fund under the CySEC jurisdiction of up to €20,000
• Clients enjoy negative balance protection in any jurisdiction so that they never lose more than they deposit.

With their long track record to back all this up, there is nothing to make you feel unsafe at XM.

XM Bonus for Deposits & Promotions

XM global gives out a non-deposit $30 trading bonus to new clients who have just signed up. XM also offers a two-tier bonus on deposits that could go as high as $5,000. To find out more about this, you should read their full terms and conditions to ensure that you are eligible for something.

At the time of writing this XM review, there are promotions where clients get a deposit bonus of up to $500 and up to 4,500.

*Clients registered under the Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd and Trading Point of Financial Instrument Pty Ltd are not eligible to receive bonuses.

XM Trading Fees

This is one of the most sensitive areas when it comes to forex trading. It is always good to know how much a broker will charge you to not pay more for less. So, what does XM charge, and is it favorable to you?

Let's find out.

Usually, we look at how much you have to pay in the standard markets that cut across all brokers. We pick brokers that are comparable in both scale and features to XM and use them as benchmarks. That way, we know how high or low the fees on any broker can get.

So, we will look at the details on how much you would pay, trade a certain amount, over one week, on specific XM markets, and other brokers.

As with our other broker reviews, we will pick the stock index, the stock CFDs and Forex. For the index, we will show fees for SPX and EUSTX50. For the stock CFDs, we will look at Apple and Vodafone. The currency pairs include EUR/USD, GBP/USD, EUR/CHF, and AUD/USD.

In any trade, we will assume that you buy into a leveraged position for a week and then sell. The trade volume is $2,000 for the stock index and CFDs and $20,000 for the forex pairs.

We will use the following leverages; 1:30 for forex, 1:5 for stock CFDs (you always have to be careful with stock CFDs), and 1:20 for the stock index.

The comparison includes commissions, spreads, and other financing rates for XM real accounts and other brokers with similar features. 

For comparison, brokers like XTB and eToro, charge about the same. eToro charges $2.4 for the S&P index, $2.7 for EUSTX50 and $6.3 for the Apple CFD fee. They do not have the Vodafone one. XTB, on the other hand, charges $2 for S&P, $2.7 for the EUSTX50, $17.9 for Apple, and $20.9 for Vodafone. 

XTB charges $15.0, $11.1, $10.0 and $6.6 for the same pairs, while eToro charges $19.6, $16.2, $12.4 and $11.8 for the same pairs, respectively. As you can see, XM stacks up fairly with higher fees in places and lower in others.

Trading Real Stocks:

Clients outside Europe can trade real stocks on the XM Share account. The commission you pay is dependent on the market you are trading.

NOTE: These figures used are estimates used for benchmarking during the XM review compared with other brokers. Your experience may slightly differ, as the markets tend to change and fluctuate.

XM Withdrawal and Deposit Options

XM review details show that they have a 0% policy on deposits and withdrawals. All e-wallets, major credit cards, and wire transfers above $200 are all covered. Account funding is instant, with no hidden fees or commissions on withdrawals and deposits.

At the XM broker, there is no actual minimum. Even the $5 XM minimum deposit is imposed to adhere to the restrictions placed on electronic funding platforms like Skrill and Neteller. You can use credit cards, Payoneer, UnionPay, Neteller, or Bank Transfers to withdraw money.

Withdrawal of amounts that are under $200 falls subject to a $15 administration fee. This is not uncommon, either. However, it is a little unusual as it forces the smaller depositor to consider when to make the withdrawal and when to sit tight and wait for the profits to go above $200.

Generally, the XM minimum deposit is great for small-time traders who cannot afford to pay $100 or $200, which is the standard requirement for many competitors who go up against XM.

* Deposit & Withdrawal methods depend on the clients' country of residence and are available in the members area of the client.

XM Account Opening

As with any other broker, the XM account opening is quite easy and fully digital. All you need to do is make sure that you are giving the correct information. You will also have to be prepared to offer proof of identity and proof of address.

Submit a copy of your ID, passport, or other official documentation that's accepted as proof of identification. For the address, submit a bank statement or other official documents that detail where you live.

Submit the information and wait for approval.

After approval, you can fund your account, log in to any of the XM trading platforms, and start trading.

There is no limit on the number of XM demo accounts you can open. However, the number of XM live accounts you can open is limited to 8.

Using the same email address for all your additional accounts is always essential. This is so you can manage all the accounts from the same area in the client portal/Members Area.

If you want to have a fresh start, you can open a new account with another email address, using the same credentials for identity and address.

XM Account Types

There are four major account types, plus the XM demo account. To understand what XM account types can offer you, we are going to break them down. That way, you will match your ability, strategy, and budget to the right one.

Here are some of the best features our XM review found out about the accounts:

• You can trade both standard and micro-lots.
• There is unlimited access to expert advisor trading on MT4 and MT5.
• You can access technical analysis and free intra-day market updates.
• The execution speeds are the same on all accounts.

With a low and competitive minimum deposit of $5 across all of them, it is correct to say that anyone can open an account. As we mentioned earlier, XM account types are not designed to target high-volume traders. They are ideal for traders who do not stake too much or trade vast amounts.

XM Micro account is low-cost and easy to use. With a low XM minimum deposit of $5, it comes in as one of the cheapest accounts to open.

You can use the leverage of up to 1:888, without commissions. You will pay broker fees with spreads. There is negative balance protection to ensure that you never lose more money than you deposit.

With the XM micro account, you can open up to 300 positions at the same time.

XM Standard Account

The deposit is still $5, with the leverage reaching a maximum of 1:888. You can open the same number of positions simultaneously on this account, as in the Micro account.

Negative balance protection is also available on this platform.

XM Ultra-Low

The spreads are low or zero in most cases. The trading costs are, therefore, much lower here than in the other accounts. Like Micro and Standard, you can open up to 300 positions, reach maximum leverage of 1:888, and trade a minimum lot size of 0.01. The difference here is that the minimum deposit is $5.

* The XM Ultra Low Account is not eligible to receive bonuses. More Info on XM account type.

All three main accounts are market-maker types.

The Fourth Option: XM Zero

The XM ZERO account allows you to operate with standard lots, lower spreads starting at 0 pips and it has minimum initial deposit of $5. XM ZERO account has a $3.5 commission per $100,000 traded.

• Leverage: 30:1
• You can only use MT4 and MT5.

For more details about the accounts, feel free to check out the full tables on XM's website.

Key Details To Note About XM account Types

• All XM account types allow scalping, hedging, use of EAs, and automated trading.
• XM Ultra Low and XM Zero accounts are not available to all the entities of XM Group.

We think that this selection is refreshing and fair. It allows traders to pick their lane and trade at a comfortable pace and with rates suitable to them.

XM Platforms

You will have the option of choosing between MT4 and MT5. The platforms are available on desktop, web, and mobile. XM MT4 is the most widely used, given that it is the platform with the highest number of users in the world.

You can get clear reports on fees on the desktop, customize your charts and workspaces to be how you like them, and get price alerts by setting notifications. The best part about the notifications is that they can help you stay away from the terminal and still be able to trade by knowing when to close or open positions.

On WebTrader, you will have access to the same functions that you will find on the desktop. The only difference is that you will not have to install the app if you access it from the web.

On mobile, access the relevant XM server to get the best service. Both Mt4 and MT5 are available for download on iOS and Android devices.

XM MT4

From the software that pioneered trading platforms, traders get everything they want. Using this platform, you will have access to:

• All the tradable instruments across all the asset classes
• One-click trading
• Spreads as low as 1 pip
• Full EA trading
• Technical analysis tools
• 50 indicators and charting tools
• 3 different chart types

MT4 is one of the world's most reliable platforms, and it will not fail you here.

XM MT5

MT5 is the same as MT4, except it has new features and offers traders direct access to liquidity providers. It has more features that help traders analyze the market and employ many trading strategies.

You can enjoy functions like 'Fill or Kill,' 'Immediate or Cancel,' technical analysis, fundamental analysis, and over 79 analysis tools.

XM WebTrader

WebTrader 4 is accessible on your personal computers without downloading the app. You get access to the same features, with built-in news provided.

XM MT4 Multiterminal

This tool is excellent for traders who want to manage their multiple MT4 accounts from one place. It has one master login and password that allows you to oversee everything you have. It supports up to 128 trading accounts and has multiple order types, management features, 3 allocation types, and real-time execution.

Top XM Additional Features

As always, value is gained from a broker when they can offer you more than the competition. I think that, in this regard, XM has proven itself to be more than enough. You can get additional tools that come from Avramis, among other features.

XM Trading Tools

XM provides its clients with a toolkit that comes with algorithm-based tools to aid in trade. Avramis Despotis is the provider of most of these tools. They are available for users on MT4 and MT5. Included in the Avramis Despotis toolkit, are:

• River Indicator
• Ribbon Indicator
• Ichimoku Indicator
• Bollinger Bands Indicator
• ADX and PSAR Indicator

If you would like to use these tools, you will need to access the personal account manager.

Trading Signals from the MQL5 Community

Nothing makes trading easy for newbies than a helping hand. XM may not be able to provide you with the trading signals, but if you are using MT5, the MQL5 community will offer you that service.

A Worldwide Presence

XM has managed to visit over 120 cities globally to connect with its customers in a face-to-face setting. With an excellent seminar track record, XM has established a strong presence, driven by a commitment to educating their clients and becoming the go-to choice for many of them.

XM Commissions and Spreads

The spread's on the Micro account can be as low as 1 pip, for the XM Ultra-Low Accounts, the spreads are as low as 0.6 pips. In researching our XM review, we found that they have variable spreads because of their interbank forex market.

By offering the variable spreads, they allow traders to do more with fewer restrictions.

Regarding manual trading signals, XM offers its clients information about the most tradable instruments. Users can access messages from ten instruments generated twice a day.

The spreads change from one account to the other. The minimum spread across all of the accounts is 0.1 pips, and the average spread for major currency pairs like EUR/USD stands at 0.1 pips.

Because of the strict 'no-hidden fees or commission' policy at XM, you will always know how much you are paying.

XM Education and Research

Education is one of the things that this broker does well. They have the demo account, a great place to start when you are trying to get your trading game up. You can watch tutorials for all the trading platforms and learn more about analysis from XM's regular webinars.

Most of the education at XM comes from video-based content. You can get deep dives into topics like introduction to the financial markets, risk management, money management, trading strategies, and analysis.

There are pre-recorded videos for the traders who need to get more training about how to trade.

In terms of research, XM offers its clients access to technical analysis tools, an economic calendar, and a section dedicated to research and education alone. One downside is that they do not have fundamental data for those who may need it.

It might be useful to consider that you could have to opt for third-party sources if you need fundamental data to make trades work.

If you choose English as the preferred language in the research and education section of the website, you will be able to access many resources. If you select any other language, you will get some information but not all of it. It is possible that they haven't had time to translate all of it.

That might be limiting for some of the XM traders who are not very well versed in the English language.

XM Customer Service Experience

To reach XM customer service, you will need to use telephone numbers, email, or their live chat function. The live chat function is the fastest to respond. The first question gets answered in a few seconds. Sometimes, you will not get the best answers you are looking for.

However, there is no need to worry because you can call them and talk to a customer service agent if that does not work.

An email will take about a day before you have your answers. They are more relevant than the phone or live chat answers, which can be vague at times.

NOTE: Phone support is not available on weekends.

The General Experience

XM offers you a selection of accounts with a low minimum deposit so you can get the best out of everything they have. Any trader who is sufficiently trained/experienced in the market can quickly identify which of the accounts they will most likely benefit from.

There is a feeling of safety when trading with XM, as they are one of the most heavily regulated brokers in the world. With negative balance protection in place, you can be sure that you will never lose more than you deposit.

The general experience is one that flows smoothly, as long as you know what you are doing. The deposits and withdrawals are fast and reliable, there are no hidden fees, and the spreads are quite competitive.

Always check to see which subsidiary you fall under when signing up with XM. There are different rules for every jurisdiction. Some of them may apply in some countries and not in others. See the benefits you get and find out if something is missing in any of the requirements.

At the end of it all, the experience for each person would be different. The best thing to do is get a list of all the requirements you care about and see if this broker can meet them.

In Conclusion

We have reached the end of our XM review, and we'd like to think that you have gotten the value of every facet of this company. Do they meet your standards? Is there something you wanted that they do not provide?

As we always say, make sure that you are very well prepared for the market. XM is the best forex broker one of the rightest places for beginners for beginners, mid-level, and professional traders. If you like to do high-volume trading, they may not be the best choice for you.

However, for everything else, XM seems to be a perfectly adequate place to go to. More often than not, you will find that they have what you are looking for and will provide it to you at an affordable price.