XTB: Review and Guide to Getting Started

A Polish broker that’s one of the fastest growing around, XTB boasts 317,000+ customers. It’s been around for over 15 years and has physical offices in 13 countries, including the UK, Poland, Germany, France, and Chile. 

This broker is also publicly traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE: XTB.PL). Their financial statements are published as a matter of public record.

Their awards include the Best Brokerage House in Europe from the Global Banking & Finance Review, the Best CFD Trading Provider from the M&A Global Awards in 2018, and the Best Financial Educator from the World Finance Exchange and Brokers. Broker Chooser named it the “Best CFD Broker for 2021.” They competed with 70 other brokers for the title. They won the Bloomberg “1st Place Globally in the European Forecasts” award and the Forbes “Best Brokerage House in Poland” awards as well. 

XTB has an industry reputation for lightning-fast transactions and transparency in all their dealings. Forexbrokers.com gives it a trust score of 92 out of 99. 

They work tirelessly to improve their trading platform. One of their stated goals is to offer the very best trading platform on the market. “Technology” is one of their core values, along with “Trust” and “Support.” 

Is XTB right for you? Here’s what you need to know.

Account Types Offered

XTB offers a Standard account and an Islamic swap-free account.

You can launch either account with a minimum deposit of $250. The major difference between the two is in the starting spreads offered and the commissions required.

While the XTB account offerings lack the multitude of options you may find with other brokers, there’s something to be said for the straightforward approach. In addition, customers report that opening an account is quick and easy.

Trade Types Offered

XTB allows you to trade on over 2100 global markets across an impressive array of cryptocurrencies, Forex pairs, indices, commodities, stock CFDs, and EFT CFDs. There are enough products of every stripe to keep even the most voracious trader satisfied, from Bitcoin to Tesla. 

XTB is known primarily for being a CFD and Forex broker, which means you’ll be dealing with some fairly high-risk instruments where you do not own the underlying assets. Instead, you’ll be speculating on those assets. This is considered a very risky way to trade, but it’s also in line with most of the industry, which does not tend to offer access to less volatile financial products. 

If you are in the UK then you will not be able to trade on crypto currencies as of January 6, 2021, per new FCA regulations. 

Trading Platforms & Tools

XTB has their own proprietary platform called xStation 5. They also have a mobile version of the platform. This award winning platform offers free market audio commentary, a comprehensive video tutorial section, a stocks screener, and real-time performance stats. 

This award-winning platform offers a simple, intuitive design and access to a multitude of tools such as comprehensive charts, risk management tools, news from XTB’s analysis team and access to market sentiment. It offers access to email, SMS, and push notifications for margin calls, deposits and withdrawals, closed and open positions, as well as other features. It also offers clear portfolio and fee reports.

Mobile trade alerts will allow you to respond quickly to any events that might impact your trades. A Chief Market Analyst sends customers breaking news and key technical information through Whatsapp. 

Some traders have found XStation 5 to be a little too simple for their needs. Investopedia notes:

“The order ticket is limited to initiating basic market and pending orders with provisions for ‘stop loss’ and ‘take profit’ orders. The trader also has the option of making the stop loss a trailing stop loss, should they so desire. XTB does not provide a trading journal, nor do they provide tax accounting tools on the platform. The client chooses the trade size and the order ticket populates with pertinent information, such as the contract value (in either EUR or GBP) margin required (GBP) spread cost, commission (if any) pip value, and swap costs. Unlike some competitors platforms, xStation 5 does not have a built-in tool for analyzing trading activity. This omission dropped them in the lower ranking tier for this category, as the ability to drill down into one’s trading activity beyond the basic metrics can be invaluable to all traders.” 

If you prefer to use XStation mobile then you’ll find it has a sleek design and a multitude of features to recommend it. While it doesn’t have as many charting features as the PC version it still offers easy-to-read trend lines and drawings that will let you analyze and make trades even when you’re on the go. This app is available both for Android and Apple users.

Traders who do not like either version of XStation may opt back in to the more familiar and popular MetaTrader4. If you switch to MT4 you will have to download the platform.

Customer Support

XTB distinguishes itself from competitors by making their customer support team available 24/7/365. They have an “open door policy,” which means they encourage their traders to reach out to their customer service team for just about anything. 

They offer support in 16 languages. 

You can contact them at +48 222 739 976. 

Deposits & Withdrawals

XTB offers a number of deposit and withdrawal methods including bank transfers, credit cards, and a number of e-Wallets. The e-Wallets include Skrill, Paysafe, SafetyPay, and Neteller.

Bank transfers are free unless your own bank charges you a transfer fee, as are credit card transfers. EWallets still come with some fees of 1% to 2% depending on the e-Wallet you’re using.

If you’re not careful you will face currency conversion fees. One way around this is to open a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank that supports such functionality. This is the smart option for jet setters who often need access to multiple currency types.

Spreads, Commissions, and Fees

The minimum spread is 0.5 pips on a Standard account, with no commission on most instruments. Stock CFDs and ETF CFDs do come with a commission of 0.08% per lot. Islamic Swap-Free accounts are similar, with spreads starting at 0.7 pips, though commissions rise to $10 per lot on most instruments. 

You’ll find the highest fees on the stock CFD products, so watch out if that’s your area of interest.

That said, XTB is widely considered to be one of the best brokers for keeping their costs low in the industry. 

Be advised that XTB does charge an inactivity fee. Be sure you are ready to use your account for trading before you send them any money. The fee is 10 EUR per month if there is no opening or closing position on your account within 365 days and no deposit within 90 days. These are generous terms: most competitors wait far less time before they begin taking money out of an inactive account. 

Regulation

XTB is regulated by multiple authorities including the International Financial Services Commission in Belize (IFSC), the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK (FCA), the Police Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). 

Of these, the UK’s FCA is the toughest regulator, but these multiple licenses certainly speak to a broker who is willing to be honest and transparent with their customers. 

This type of regulation also means that most customers should have ample recourse if XTB breaks the law or cheats them in any way. 

Reputation

XTB has a very good reputation on Trustpilot, with a 4.0 rating across 414 reviews. Of these, 64% are rated at “Excellent” and only 14% are rated at “Bad.”

Happy customers have a variety of good things to say about the platform. Here are a few examples.

“Excellent broker. Really good spreads for NASDAQ, easy-to-use platform, and excellent team. I thought they didn’t listen to us, but nowhere near the reality. They called me and asked me about all the improvements I suggested. For sure, this is my broker.” -Andrés Gómez

More good things to say about the customer service team:

“I am happy with this company and the account manager I appointed is more than helpful and pleasant to speak with. The desk is easy and efficient to use.” -Douglas Sharman

Another example:

“Imagine having a large office in front of your screen, with numerous desks working and covering the vast spectrum of geopolitical and analytical events—in real time—there, assisting you. Warning you, advising you of technical levels and all that may move the needle up and down on, at least, any major financial instrument worldwide. That has been my experience using XTB. That is why I keep using them. It’s much more than just a trading platform with intrinsic tools, it’s the news explained from a Market’s perspective and a pre/post dissecting tool of what makes the economic environment we all live in.” -Luis Santos

It doesn’t look like XTB is dealing with any major news scandals and so all in all has a very solid reputation. 

Accepted Countries

If you’re not in a country where XTB does business you’ll know very quickly, because XTB will lock the web page you’re on so that you can’t even read it. While they’re available in nations around the world you won’t be able to use their services if you live in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Slovakia, Singapore, Mauritius, Israel, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Uganda, Cuba, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Kenya, or Romania. 

Alternatives

Compare Pepperstone and Vantage FX for brokers with a similarly stellar reputation. Compare Avatrade and AXI for brokers with similarly outstanding educational and research resources. Compare Forex.com if you’re looking for a broker that’s available in the United States or Canada. 

Bonuses & Promos

Whether or not you can take advantage of XTB’s bonuses will largely depend on where you live. They are unable to give bonuses to UK or EU residents because of FCA regulations. In other parts of the world they do offer a 50% welcome bonus to those who trade up to 15% of their first deposit amount within 60 days of opening their account.

Welcome bonuses are not automatic. Customers have to apply for the bonus.

FAQs

Is XTB a safe, legitimate trading platform?

In addition to being regulated by multiple authorities, XTB has taken extra steps to keep you safe by providing every client with free insurance purchased from Lloyds of London. Traders have coverage u to 1 million EUR, GBP, or AUD. The insurance is automatic for all clients.

Client funds are also protected up to 85,000 GBP through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) should XTB ever go insolvent. 

Add this to a 15 year track record and some impressive cybersecurity, and we can say unequivocally that XTB is one of the safest brokers around. The fact that this company is financially stable enough to be traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange is another indicator of its stability and safety. 

In short, XTB distinguishes itself as one of the most reputable brokers you could possibly do business with. 

What is XTB’s minimum deposit? 

You can get started with XTB for as little as $250.

Is XTB good for beginners?

XTB offers an impressive range of resources through its online Training Academy, as well as a full Trader’s Library, a Day Trading Guide, and a guide to taking world news events into account. Their research team is second-to-none; you won’t be left flailing or trying to figure out how to do your own research right out of the gate.

These resources include video content as well, including an 11-hour Masterclass series. 

You’ll find this content in a number of places: on the website, in the platform, and on XTB’s YouTube channel. These educational resources cover every trading instrument that XTB has to offer.

Like most reputable brokers you can take advantage of a demo account to test your understanding of the material. The customer service desk is there if you have any questions that you can’t answer with the existing resources. 

We also love to see low fees for beginners to help them minimize losses as they learn how to trade. XTB certainly fits the bill here. 

The platform is certainly intuitive, easy to use, and easy to learn. 

There is one caveat. XTB does not offer some important risk management tools like guaranteed stop losses. Those tools can be life savers for newer traders. Keep that in mind if you choose XTB. It does, however, offer negative balance protection. 

In spite of the lack of a guaranteed stop loss, XTB is a very beginner-friendly platform well worth looking at if you live in one of the countries where it does business. 

What leverage does XTB offer?

XTB offers leverage of up to 500:1. If you are in the UK you will only be able to access leverage of up to 30:1 per FCA regulations.

Who owns XTB? 

XTB is owned by X-Trade Brokers. The CEO is Omar Arnaout. Arnaout has been the CEO since 2017 and guided XTB to its best year ever in 2020, onboarding over 112,000 new accounts and generating a profit of over 75 million GBP. 

Arnaout worked his way up through the company starting in 2014, where he began as the Head of Retail Sales. Prior to that he was the CEO of xStore. This former English teacher had many other positions in financial companies around the world prior to that.

This kind of stable leadership speaks well of XTB’s future as well and lends confidence that it won’t make any abrupt shifts that might impact the customer experience.

Is XTB a market maker?

XTB is not a market maker. It has no dealing desk and is not the opposing party in customer trades. This may be a bit of a “splitting hair” distinction since they send all trades up to X-Trade brokers, their parent company and “liquidity provider.” Most industry publications don’t really make the same distinction.

They define “liquidity partner” this way:

“A liquidity artner is an entity that allows clients to hedge their risks. It connects various brokers, banks, hedge funds, traders, and financial institutions, increasing the liquidity of the joint market. The more clients a liquidity provider is servicing the better the offers that may be delivered.” 

Is XTB right for me?

XTB has a lot to recommend it. It’s commitment to transparency and ethics, along with its willingness to submit itself to some of the toughest regulators in the world, make it a solid choice in terms of safety and security.

Their award winning trade platform with its loads of features and their commitment to client education all offer even more compelling reasons to give this platform a second look. There are definitely reasons why XTB is one of the fastest growing brokers in the industry.

We think it will be an outstanding choice for many traders, especially those who are concerned with keeping costs low.