XM – Forex Broker Review in 2020 | Forex and Crypto Brokers Review

Pros, Cons, and Conclusion of Review – XM

Pros of XM

Already obtained global reputation and reliability from 3.5 Million clients in 196 countries for 10 years operation
Well-balanced service between fast execution, high leverage (1:888), bonus (Account Opening Bonus and deposit bonus), and security measures of customers’ fund
Fast execution based on policy “Execution is everything”
Variety of educational contents including “XM Live” of webinars
Reliable “Tier1” licenses
Financial stability
Variety of trading instruments

Cons of XM

Relatively wide spread

Conclusion of XM

XM has been operating for 10 years, and already established global reputation as one of top-level forex brokers with 3.5 Million Clients in 196 countries with Tier1 licenses. Well-balanced service of fast execution ( “Execution is everything” policy), high-leverage (1:888), bonus (Account Opening Bonus and deposit bonus), and security measures of customers’ fund.
Their service is suitable for wide range of traders from beginners to experienced traders. Beginner can start trading by small deposit and opening bonus in XM. After that, depending on skill improvement, traders can utilize XM service for long years.

Company profile and licenses

XM.com (http://xm.com/) is operated by XM Global Ltd.
XM has been operating for 10 years, and already established global reputation as one of top-level forex brokers with 3.5 Million Clients in 196 countries,

Trading Point Holdings Ltd is the holding company of Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd, XM Global Limited, Trading Point of Financial Instruments UK Ltd, Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd, and Trading Point MENA Ltd.

Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) (license number 120/10).
XM Global Ltd is authorized and regulated by the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) in Belize (license number 000261/106).
Trading Point of Financial Instruments UK Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 705428).
Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (AFSL 443670).
Trading Point MENA Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) (reference no. F003484).

Website of Trading Points Holdings Ltd : https://www.trading-point.com/

CySEC, FCA, ASIC license are top-level licenses in the industry. While many other competitive brokers are operating without those strict licenses. This point also ensures reliability of XM.

Trading Condition

Account Type

XM provides several types of account types as follows.

	Micro Account	Standard Account	XM swap free account	XM Ultra Low Account	Shares Account
Base currency	USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF, AUD, HUF, PLN, RUB, SGD, ZAR, THB	USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF, AUD, HUF, PLN, RUB, SGD, ZAR, THB	USD, EUR, THB	USD, EUR, AUD, ZAR, SGD, THB	USD
Contract Size	1lot = 1,000	1lot = 100,000	Standard 1 Lot = 100,000 Micro 1 Lot = 1,000	Standard Ultra 1 Lot = 100,000 Micro Ultra 1 Lot = 1,000	1 Share
Leverage	1:1 to 1:888 ($5 – $20,000) 1:1 to 1:200 ($20,001 – $100,000 1:1 to 1:100 ($100,001 -)	1:1 to 1:888 ($5 – $20,000) 1:1 to 1:200 ($20,001 – $100,000 1:1 to 1:100 ($100,001 -)	1:1 to 1:888 ($5 – $20,000) 1:1 to 1:200 ($20,001 – $100,000 1:1 to 1:100 ($100,001 -)	1:1 to 1:888 ($5 – $20,000) 1:1 to 1:200 ($20,001 – $100,000 1:1 to 1:100 ($100,001 -)	No Leverage
Negative Balance Protection	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Spread on all majors	As low as 1pip	As low as 1pip	As low as 1pip	As low as 0.6 pip	As per the underlying exchange
Commission	No	No	No	No	Yes
Maximum Open/Pending Order	200 positions	200 positions	200 positions	200 positions	50 positions
Minimum trade volume	0.01 Lots (MT4) 0.1 Lots (MT5)	0.01 Lots	Standard 0.01 Lots Micro 0.1 Lots	Standard Ultra 0.01 Lots Micro Ultra 0.1 Lots	1 Lot
Lot restriction per ticket	100 Lots	50 Lots	Standard 50 Lots Micro 100 Lots	Standard Ultra 50 Lots Micro Ultra 100 Lots	Depend on each sahre
Hedging allowed	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Swaps	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Admen fee	No	No	Yes	No	No
Minimum deposit	USD5	USD5	USD5	USD50	USD10,000

Trading Instruments

Forex: 57 currency pairs

AUDCAD	AUDCHF	AUDJPY	AUDNZD	AUDUSD	CADCHF	CADJPY	CHFJPY	CHFSGD	EURAUD
EURCAD	EURCHF	AUDJPY	EURGBP	EURHKD	EURHUF	EURJPY	EURNOK	EURNZD	EURPLN
EURRUB	EURSEK	EURSGD	EURTRY	EURUSD	EURZAR	GBPAUD	GBPCAD	GBPCHF	GBPDKK
GBPJPY	GBPNOK	GBPNZD	GBPSEK	GBPSGD	GBPUSD	NZDCAD	NZDCHF	NZDJPY	NZDSGD
NZDUSD	SGDJPY	USDCAD	USDCHF	USDCNH	USDDKK	USDHKD	USDHUF	USDJPY	USDMXN
USDNOK	USDPLN	USDRUB	USDSEK	USDSGD	USDTRY	USDZAR

Stock CFD: 1,140 items (USA, UK, France, Germany, Netherland, Spain, Switherland, Belgium, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Austria, Russia, Australia, Brazil)

Shares : 100 items

Stock Indices: 18 items
AUS200,CHI50,EU50,FRA40,GER30,GRE20,HK50,IT40,JP225,NETH25,POL20,SING,SPAIN35,SWI20,UK100,US100,US30,US500

Commodities: 8 items
COCOA(Cocoa), COFFE(Coffee), CORN(Corn), COTTO(Cotton), HGCOP(High Grade Copper), SBEAN(Soybeans), SUGAR(Sugar), WHEAT(Wheat)

Precious Metals: 2 items
Gold , Silver

Energies: 5 items
BRENT(Brent Crude Oil), GSOIL(London Gas Oil), NGAS(Natural Gas), OIL(WTI Oil), OILM(WTI Oil Mini)

Spread and Swap

XM discloses detail spread and swap information on the official website.
Spread and swap level of major currency pairs for each account type are as follows.

Currency Pair	Spread as low as	Average spread	Swap Long	Swap Short
Standard
EURUSD	0.00016	0.00017	-5.58	-0.78
USDJPY	0.015	0.016	-1.75	-4.15
GBPUSD	0.0002	0.00024	-4.05	-3.15
AUDUSD	0.00016	0.00019	-2.01	-1.91
EURGBP	0.00018	0.0002	-4.05	-0.95
Micro
EURUSDmicro	0.00016	0.00017	-5.58	-0.78
USDJPYmicro	0.015	0.016	-1.75	-4.15
GBPUSDmicro	0.0002	0.00024	-4.05	-3.15
AUDUSDmicro	0.00016	0.00019	-2.01	-1.91
EURGBPmicro	0.00018	0.0002	-4.05	-0.95
XM Swap Free
EURUSD	0.00016	0.00017	2	7
USDJPY	0.015	0.016	2	5
GBPUSD	0.0002	0.00024	3	5
AUDUSD	0.00016	0.00019	4	3
EURGBP	0.00018	0.0002	3	6
XM Swap Free Micro
EURUSDmicro	0.00016	0.00017	2	0.07
USDJPYmicro	0.015	0.016	2	0.05
GBPUSDmicro	0.0002	0.00024	3	0.05
AUDUSDmicro	0.00016	0.00019	4	0.03
EURGBPmicro	0.00018	0.0002	3	0.06
XM Ultra Low Standard
EURUSD#	0.00006	0.00008	-5.58	-0.78
USDJPY#	0.006	0.008	-1.75	-4.15
GBPUSD#	0.00006	0.00011	-4.05	-3.15
AUDUSD#	0.00009	0.00011	-2.01	-1.91
EURGBP#	0.00007	0.00011	-4.05	-0.95
XM Ultra Low Micro
EURUSDm#	0.00006	0.00008	-5.58	-0.78
USDJPYm#	0.006	0.008	-1.75	-4.15
GBPUSDm#	0.00006	0.00011	-4.05	-3.15
AUDUSDm#	0.00009	0.00011	-2.01	-1.91
EURGBPm#	0.00007	0.00011	-4.05	-0.95

Trading platform

XM offers MetaTrader 4 and 5 for each devised as follows. Each software can be downloaded from XM official website.

PC/Mac
MT4 for PC, MT4 for Mac, MT4 Multiterminal, MT4 WebTrader
MT5 for PC, MT5 for Mac, MT5 Webtrader

Smartphones
MT4 for iPhone, MT4 for Android, MT5 for iPhone, MT5 for Android

Tablet
MT4 for iPad, MT4 for Android, MT5 for iPad, MT5 for Android

Leverage

XM offers maximum leverage of 1:888, in case volume is from 5USD to 20,000USD.
In detail, please refer to account type table.

XM’s maximum leverage “1:888” is one of biggest leverage to compare with other brokers.

Margin call and Stop out level

Margin call level is 50% and Stop out level on all account is 20%.

XM’s stop out level “20%” is average level to compare with other brokers.

Deposit and withdrawal methods

XM offers a wide range of payment options for deposits/withdrawals: by multiple credit cards, multiple electronic payment methods, bank wire transfer, local bank transfer, and other payment methods.

Customer can deposit money in any currency, and it will be automatically converted into the base currency of each account, by XM prevailing inter-bank price.

Zero fee on deposit and withdrawal for Credit card, Electoronic wallet, and Wiretransfer over 200USD.

Fast Execution

In official website, XM discloses 99.35% of all trading orders are executed in less than one second, with no re-quotes and no rejections.

XM discloses their philosophy “Our business model relies on the firm conviction that in forex execution is everything”.

XM’s business philosophy “Our business model relies on the firm conviction that in forex execution is everything” shows source of XM business strength and reliability.

Brokerage Model

XM brokerage model is NDD method.

Scalping is possible or not

XM allows scalping and using automated trading tools called EA on MT4 or MT5.

Promotions

XM offer variety of promotions as follows.

Trading bonus (Account Opening Bonus)

XM provides bonus of 30USD (Equivalent to: 25 EUR, 20 GBP, 25 CHF, 3000 JPY, 30 AUD, 1000 RUB, 100 PLN, 7000 HUF, 40 SGD, 347 ZAR, 1000 THB) as an account opening bonus.

This 30USD can be used for trading as margin. The only requirement is to open an account with XM (In other words, there is no requirement of deposit for this bonus.)
This trading bonus can be used as margin. That means customer can start forex trading without depositing money and without financial risk. The bonus cannot be withdrawn, but profit can be withdrawn.

The only requirement of the trading bonus (Account Opening Bonus) is to open an account with XM. In other words, there is no requirement of deposit for this bonus.
The trading bonus (Account Opening Bonus) is one of special features of XM. Most forex brokers do NOT offer this kind of bonus. The bonus might be great benefit if the customer does not have experience in forex trading,

Deposit Bonus

XM offers the following deposit bonuses.
50% deposit bonus up to 500USD or currency equivalent.
20% deposit bonus up to 4,500USD or currency equivalent.

50% deposit bonus is awarded up to a deposit of 500USD, and after that 20% deposit bonus is awarded up to 4,500USD (for deposits over 500USD). This bonus also can be used as margin, but cannot be withdrawn.

10-Year Anniversary Promotion

XM provides special promotion for their 10th year anniversary for existing customers and new customers, festive promotion with lucky draw prizes worth a total value of $1,000,000.

Royalty Program

XM offers unique royalty program as follows.

Clients get “XMP” (=XM points) for each trade. There 4 loyalty statuses called “Executive”, “Gold”, “Diamond”, and “Elite”.
Clients status will be upgraded automatically after periods of trading activity.as follows.

Executive: 7XMP per lot
Gold: 10XMP per lot (+30 Days)
Diamond: 13XMP per lot (+60 Days)
Elite: 16XMP per lot (+100 Days)

The amount of XMP per lot traded increases proportionately. This allows clients to earn XMP at a faster rate. The more XMP clients have, the more clients are able to redeem for credit bonus rewards.

Bonus = XMP / 3
(For example, XMP 3,000 points is equal to 1,000 USD.)

This means that clients can decrease actual spreads by this royalty program.

Safety of Clients’ Fund

XM adopts several measures to ensure safety of clients’ fund as follows

Negative Balance Protection

XM adopts Negative Balance Protection, to ensure that customers’ account never ends up as negative balance.

“Negative balance” means that customers bear debt as liability. A broker’s system is constantly monitoring customers trading account. If significant price movements in forex market which would lead to a negative balance happen, The broker resets customers’ account balance as 0 “zero”. As a result, customers NEVER lose money more than customers’ deposit, and customer NEVER bear debt. In other words, the broker covers (compensates) the costs of customers’ any additional losses.

Segregation of clients’ funds

Clients’ funds get transferred to the Company’s segregated client bank account. These funds are off balance sheet and cannot be used to pay creditors in the unlikely event of the Company’s insolvency.

Bank accounts

XM maintains client and operational bank accounts with banking institutions of great repute.

Supervision by the regulator

As a regulated Securities Service Provider Licensee, XM is obliged to meet strict financial requirements. XM is thus required by law to maintain sufficient liquid capital to cover clients’ deposits, possible fluctuations in the Company’s currency positions, and any outstanding costs. In addition, an external auditor conducts an annual audit of the Company’s financial statements.

Other Points

Research and Education

XM offers verity of research and educational tools as follows.

Research	Markets Overview, News, XM Research, Trade Ideas, Technical Summaries, Economic Calendar, XM TV, Podcast
Education	XM Live, Live Education, Educational Videos, Forex Webinars, Platform Tutorials, Forex Seminars

The most impressive content is “XM Live” in the “Forex Webinars” menu. The content is really “Live” (Not recorded), so XM user can access real time market analysis based on real time market condition. You will feel as if you are trading together with the XM expert staffs.

Please refer to our anther post as follows.