Plus500 Review
Based in the United Kingdom, Plus500UK Ltd. introduced its trading platform in 2008 by the name of Plus500, which has been designed to enable people to trade in numerous markets. The trading instruments available on the platform include cryptocurrencies, shares, indices, forex, commodities, options and ETFs and all of them are leveraged. The trading platform has become an industry leader because it has taken several steps to ensure its clientele can enjoy a seamless trading experience and prioritizes the security of their funds. Currently, it offers more than 2,000 instruments to traders all around the globe.
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Regulation
Since it is based in London, UK, Plus500 is regulated and authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). But, that’s not all as it is also regulated by other agencies in different parts of the world. Other authorities that regulate Plus500 include the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. As it is highly regulated, traders can rest assured that it is a safe and reliable platform as it is subject to stringent rules and regulations.
Countries
Access to Plus500 is provided in more than 50 countries. Interested traders from all around the world can use the platform in more than 30 languages, which means that most people can use Plus500 in their native language. Traders have to report and pay taxes as per their local laws and in some countries, Plus500 may be required to withhold the tax.
Products
Trading of CFDs and forex is supported by Plus500, which includes cryptocurrencies, indices, options, shares, ETFs and commodities. As mentioned above, you can get access to more than 2,000 trading instruments on Plus500. This includes 65 forex currency pairs, 10 cryptocurrency pairs, 27 indices, 81 ETFs and 20 commodities. As far as options are concerned, they are divided into different categories. Shares are also categorized according to their popularity as well as country. Traders who are interested in cryptocurrencies will be pleased to know that the crypto pairs supported on Plus500 include XRP/USD, XMR/USD, IOT/USD, NEO/USD, ETH/USD, LTC/USD, EOS/USD, BCH/USD, BTC/USD and ETH/BTC. Support is offered for pairs involving Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, EOS, Monero, IOTA, Ripple, NEO and Litecoin.
Trading
You have to go to the Trade Screen on Plus500 for opening a position. The next step is to choose the instrument you are interested in and then click on Buy/Sell. Doing so causes a popup box to open where the position screen is displayed. Here, the price or rate becomes visible and you can choose the size of the trade accordingly. This is also where the margin needed for opening the trade and the value of the position can be seen. If you want to manage your risk, you can set Stop Orders. The rates are constantly updated depending on the market movements and will continue to change until you click on Buy/Sell.
You will have to go to the position screen for setting a Trailing Stop order on Plus500. Click on the Advanced option where a box for Trailing Stop will be shown. You can activate this option by setting the pip requirements. Four types of Stop Orders are offered by Plus500, which include Guaranteed Stop Orders, Close at Profit Orders (Stop Limit Orders), Close at Loss Orders (Stop Loss Orders) and Trailing Stop Orders.
If you want to close a position, you should go to the main screen or the Open Positions tab. Here, you have to select the Close Position option, which will open a popup box asking you to confirm or cancel your request. You can also use the popup box for partially closing a position. It should also be noted by traders that some trading methods are prohibited on Plus500, which include an automated data entry system, hedging and scalping as well as insider trading. Trades will be deemed void and Plus500 may close your account if you participate in these prohibited trades.
You cannot lose more money than what is in your account. A Margin Call is offered by Plus500 for avoiding this issue. This happens when all or any of your open positions are closed by Plus500 because your equity is lower than the maintenance margin requirement. You can prevent this from happening by keeping an eye on your account balance to ensure you have enough funds. Notifications can also be set to alert you if your equity is nearing the maintenance margin.
Margin Trading
Traders need to be able to comprehend margin calculations because all trades on Plus500 are done with margins. You should bear in mind that the requirements for initial margin as well as maintenance margin level are different for every financial instrument. You can find instructions for margin calculations in the FAQ section of Plus500.
Demo Accounts
Those who are new to the world of trading want to get some practice in before they put their money at risk. Plus500 caters to these traders by offering them a demo account, which is completely risk free because you will not lose any money while using this account. This account can be opened free of cost and you can choose this account type during the registration process. The only difference between a demo account and an actual account is the fact that you don’t have to trade with real money in the former. Apart from that, everything from the platform setup to the market conditions is same.
To help traders in getting a feel for trading, the initial amount in the demo account is automatically reinstated by Plus500 if it goes below 200 EUR or its equivalent. The demo account doesn’t have any time limit, which is quite impressive as competitors don’t offer unlimited demo accounts. It is also possible for traders to make a switch between their demo accounts and live accounts. This enables them to hone their skills on more complicated strategies and trades in the demo account while continuing their trades in the live account.
Account Types
It is recommended by Plus500 that traders only open one live account and they have the right to close accounts opened subsequently. However, each case is assessed individually. If an additional trading account is allowed by Plus500, funds cannot be transferred between the accounts and they are operated independently. The platform only offers individual accounts and company or corporate accounts are not available.
Payment Methods
The payment method you choose to use on Plus500 may require you to provide some additional documentation for the purpose of verification. If you are choosing to deposit with a debit or credit card, you may be required to upload a photo or scan of your card, your credit card statement or a document from the bank. If you are going with bank transfer, you may have to upload a photo or scan of your bank statement or proof of payment. If you are going with PayPal or Skrill as your payment method, online verification is performed by Plus500 in several business days.
Deposits
Any payment processing fee is usually covered by Plus500 when it comes to making deposits. On some rare occasions, a fee might be charged on transferring payments in or out of your Plus500 account, but these are mostly charged by your payment issuer or bank. This usually happens in the case of international transactions. The only fee that will be charged by Plus500 itself would be if you exceed the number of monthly maximum withdrawals allowed.
Fee
There are no fees or commissions associated with most of the services that are offered by Plus500. As mentioned above, there are zero charges for making deposits on the platform. Similarly, you don’t have to pay anything for live share CFD prices, real-time forex quotes, rolling positions, closing and opening trades and dynamic graphs and charts. Bid and ask spreads are used by the company for generating its profits. Even then, you can find some of the tightest spreads in the industry with Plus500. You can view the spreads by logging into your account, searching for the product you are interested in and then clicking on the details icon.
There might be some additional fee charged by Plus500 in some cases, which usually depends on the trading activity. Overnight funding involves some fees and the amount is added or subtracted to the account when a certain position is held for more than a certain period of time. If you decide to minimize your risks by using a guaranteed stop order, you are provided with a guarantee that a position will close at the rate you specify. In return, the spread is wider than it is usually provided with a regular order. Moreover, an inactivity fee is charged by Plus500 of up to $10 for accounts that are not used by traders for at least three months.
Risk Management Tools
As there is a considerable amount of risk involved in the trading process, a range of tools are provided by Plus500 for keeping your risks at a minimum. The first of these tools is the ability of setting a Close at Loss (Stop Loss) or a Close at Profit (Limit) order. These levels can be set when you are editing existing positions or opening new ones. Through this risk management, you can establish a rate at which point you can automatically close your position, which minimizes your loss and protects your profit for Close at Loss and Close at Profit orders, respectively.
However, one thing you should remember is that there is no guarantee that the position will close at the exact price you have specified. If there is a sudden rise or fall in the market price, slippage does occur. Hence, your position will then close at the next available price. You can use this risk management feature without incurring any cost and can limit your losses and lock in your profits. You can also use guaranteed stops, which impose an absolute limit on the potential loss you may suffer.
Even if the price moves significantly against you, no slippage is taken into account and the position will close only at the price you have specified. This particular tool is only available for some financial instruments. It cannot be added to an existing order and can only be used for a new one. Plus, it is not possible to remove it. Trailing Stop is also a risk management tool offered by Plus500, which is great for locking in profits. Your order will stay open as long as the price movements are in your favor and the order will close if the direction of the price changes. You can also use this feature free of any cost.
Safety
Extra measures are taken by Plus500 for protecting their clients’ funds. One of the most important one of these is segregating client funds, which is in accordance with the rules outlined by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). As for hedging, Plus500 uses its own money and client funds are not given out to any third parties for this purpose. In addition, the platform is not exposed to any corporate or sovereign debt and doesn’t invest the money that belongs to its retail clients.
Customer Support
In most of the countries where Plus500 is available, it provides traders with 24/7 customer support through chat and email. Most of the simple and common questions are answered in the FAQ section. There is a search bar provided so you can easily navigate this section according to the category. Some of the available topics are Account Verification, Fees and Charges, Deposits, Opening an Account, Withdrawals, Financial Instruments and Regulators. Videos are also included in FAQ answers to make it easier for clients to understand. You can get in touch with customer support agents if you don’t find your answer here.
Conclusion
A regulated broker, Plus500 offers plenty of trading instruments and enables people to use their mobile app or browser for making investments. The platform is quite straightforward and well-designed, which makes it suitable for traders of all backgrounds.
| ROBOT | RATING | PROPERTIES | TRADE |
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Top Rated Robot |
80% Acclaimed Win Rate$250 Min DepositAccepts Credit Card |
Trade Now |