Oanda

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OandaOanda is an online broker for Forex trading and Contracts for Difference, and for customers in certain regions, spreadbetting is also available. You can gain exposure to a broad selection of asset types through Oanda, e.g. through the 70+ currency pairs, the 20+ CFD:s based on metal prices, and the 15+ CFD:s based on stock indices. There are even some CFD:s based on bonds. Regretably, Oanda is still not offering CFD:s based on shares or cryptocurrencies.

Oanda’s history goes back to 1996, when online trading was still in its infancy. Oanda has been a true trailblazer in the industry, and launched its first fully automated FX trading platform in 2001. Nowadays, Oanda has grown to a big enterprise with offices around the globe.

No minimum initial deposit!

While many online brokers require you to make an initial deposit of a hundred dollars or more to get started, Oanda has skipped this requirement. There is no lower limit for how little money you can put into your real-money account to activate it. If you just want to make a small deposit, such as a few bucks, and trade with that, you can. Of course, the transaction method that you select might have a limit for how small a transaction can be, e.g. $1 minimum.

Short facts about Oanda

  • Website: https://www.oanda.com/
  • Minimum deposit: None
  • Minimum trade: The minimum lot size is one unit of the base currency of the quote. Nano lots available.
  • Instruments: CFD, FX, Spreadbetting
  • MT4 integration: Yes
  • Mobile trading: Yes, for iOS, Android and Windows Mobile
  • Demo account: Yes
  • Islamic account: No
  • Auto trading: No
  • Trade signals: No

Oanda website

Forex

  • EUR/USD spread: 1.1 pips var
  • EUR/GBP spread: 1.3 pips var
  • GBP/USD spread: 1.6 pips var

Regulation

Through its various branches, Oanda has obtained authorization/licensing from six different national authorities or self-regulatory organizations.

  • USA: Authorized by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is an agency of the US government.
  • United Kingdom: Authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is a financial regulatory body that operates independently of the UK Government.
  • Canada: Authorized by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization (IIROC), which is a non-profit, national self-regulatory organization.
  • Australia: Authorized by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), an Australian government body that acts as Australia’s corporate regulator.
  • Japan: Authorized by the Financial Service Agency (FSA), a Japanese government agency and integrated financial regulator.
  • Singapore: Authorized by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which is Singapore’s central bank and financial regulatory authority.

Spreads, commissions, etc

Oanda uses an automated system to monitor global prices and set the spreads. Low volatility and high market liquidity will typically mean smaller spreads, and vice versa.

Both current and historical average spreads are clearly outlined at Oanda, as a part of their transparency policy.

Inactivity fee

Oanda charges an inactivty fee for inactive accounts. An inactive account is one that has gone two years without a single trade being placed.

Leverage

Oanda offers leveraged trading.

For retail traders within the European Economic Area, the law limits the amount of available leverag, especially for highly volatile investments such as cryptocurrency.

Account types

Standard Account

Unlike the many brokers who require a first deposit of a hundred dollars (or even more) to get you started, Oanada have no minimum deposit policy. Of course, you must fund your account if you want to do real-money trades, but you can make a very small first deposit and trade with that if you want to.

Demo Account

With a demo account, you trade using play-money. It is a great way of checking out the platforms, learn how the tools work and test various trade strategies without risking any real money.

The demo account is available for as long as you want it.

Trading platforms

FxTrade

This system is easy to use and includes a multitude of tools, but the interface looks and feels a bit outdated. Charters will be happy to learn that you can trade directly from the chart in FxTrade.

  • Account analytics are available
  • Charts from MultiCharts
  • Integrated news feed
  • Watch lists
  • Economic analysis
  • Access to historical exchange rates

MetaTrader 4

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is a third-party trading platform utilized by a wide range of online brokers.

Trading on mobile devices

Mobile trading is available.

FxTrade API Libraries

As a member of Oanda, you get access to FxTrade API Libraries, which is great if you are interested in automated trading.

Transactions

Exampels of accepted transaction methods:

  • VISA
  • MasterCard
  • PayPal
  • Bank wire transfer
  • China UnionPay
  • Bpay

Withdrawals

The withdrawal fee vary, chiefly because of which transaction method you use. For instance, a bank wire transfer will typically cost €20 – €35 depending on the circumstances.

For most methods, you are allowed to make one monthly withdrawal without paying any withdrawal fee.

Customer support

Outside of certain holidays, the email support is open 24/7, which distinguishes Oanda from the many brokers who only offer customer support Monday – Friday.

Phone support and live chat support is available during trading hours.

Support is available in the following languages:

  • English
  • German
  • Russian
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Italian
  • Portuguese

Excluded countries

Examples of excluded countries:

  • Belgium
  • The Netherlands
  • France
  • Cyprus

Traders can not use Oanda from excluded countries.