XM Review 2019

XM was founded in 2009 and it is Global CFD and FX broker. It is authorized and regulated by top-tier regulators, like the UK FCA or Australian ASIC.

XM is considered safe because it has a long track record and is regulated by top-tier regulators.

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71.61% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Recommended for forex and CFD traders looking for MetaTrader platforms and low trading fees.

XM pros and cons

XM has low trading fees. The account opening is user-friendly and fast. From a demo account to webinars, you can use a lot of educational tools.

XM has a limited product portfolio as it offers only CFDs, forex, and crypto. The research tools are limited as no fundamental data and news are provided. Lastly, it charges a monthly $5 fee after 90 days of inactivity.

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XM review
Fees 4 stars

XM has low trading and average non-trading fees.

We ranked XM's fee levels as low, average or high based on how they compare to those of all reviewed brokers.

To get things rolling, let's go over some lingo relating to broker fees. What you need to keep an eye on are trading fees, financing rates, and non-trading fees.

• Trading fees occur when you trade. These can be commissions or spreads.
• Financing rates or overnight rates are charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than a day. A leveraged position means that you borrow money from the broker to trade.
• Non-trading fees include things like withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.

We also compared XM's fees with two XM alternatives, XTB and eToro. You'll see the fees stacked up against these brokers below because they are similar in factors like products offered, client profile and fee structure.

Trading fees

XM trading fees are low.

XM has three account types which differ in pricing. The Standard and Micro accounts charge higher spreads and there is no commission. The XM Zero account charges lower spreads, but there is a commission. The following calculations are based on the standard account.

It is super hard to compare trading fees for CFD brokers. What did we do at Brokerchooser? Instead of quoting long fee tables, we compare brokers by calculating all fees of a typical trade for three assets.

These are the assets we chose:

• Apple, a large US stock
• Vodafone, a large European stock
• EURUSD, a popular currency pair

A typical trade means buying a position, holding it for one week and then selling. For the volume, we chose a $2,000 position for the stocks and $20,000 for the EURUSD transaction.

This super catch-all benchmark includes spreads, commissions and financing costs for all brokers.

The verdict? XM's stock CFD fees float between eToro and XTB, while the forex fees are very similar to the competitors. 

Financing rates

XM financing rates are generally average. Financing rates are charged when you hold your leveraged positions for more than a day. It can be a significant proportion of your trading costs.

We liked that there is a swap calculator on the website where you can easily calculate the financing costs for forex products. However, the financing rate calculations are not fully transparent for stock CFDs which is calculated as an interbank rate plus markup, but the markup is not presented.

Non-trading fees

XM has average non-trading fees. There is no account fee and withdrawal fee for withdrawals above $200.

There is an inactivity fee of $5 per month after 90 days of inactivity. This keeps charged monthly until your balance reaches $0, in which case your account is archived.

XM review
Account opening 5 stars

XM account opening is hassle-free and straightforward. Your account is ready for trading on the same day.

Can you open an account?

XM accepts customers from all over the world. There are only a few exceptions. For example, you can't open an account from the USA, Canada, China, Japan, New Zealand, Israel, etc.

What is the minimum deposit at XM?

The required XM minimum deposit is $5 for standard and micro accounts. It is very low, almost no minimum deposit.

If you open a XM Zero account, the minimum deposit is $100.

Account types

XM offers three account types which differ in pricing, base currencies, minimum deposit, and contract size.

XM doesn't offer corporate accounts.

How to open your account

XM account opening is fully digital, fast, and straightforward. You can fill out the online application within 20 minutes. After, our account was verified on the same day.

You can select many languages beyond the English: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, Filipino, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Russian Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Vietnamese.

To open an account at XM, you have to go through these steps:

1. Give your name, country of residence, email address, and telephone number.
2. Select the trading platform (MT4 or MT5) and account type
3. Add your personal information, like date of birth and address
4. Select the base currency and the level of leverage
5. Give your financial information and answer questions about your financial knowledge
6. Verify your ID and residency. You can upload national ID, passport, or driver's license for verifying your ID. Utility bill and bank statements are accepted for residency verification.

XM review
Deposit and withdrawal 5 stars

XM's deposit and withdrawal are cost-friendly, fast, and can be done in several forms.

Account base currencies

At XM, you can choose from 7 base currencies. This offer is more than at the competitors.

Why does this matter? Two things. First, if you fund your account in the same currency as your bank account, you won't be charged a currency conversion fee. Second, if you trade assets in the same currency as your account base currency, you will not have to pay a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on the currency conversion fees can be to open a multi-currency bank account. Revolut or Transferwise both offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. The account opening only takes a few minutes on your phone.

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Deposit fees and options

XM charges no deposit fees. Besides the bank transfer and credit/debit cards, you can use a lot of electronic wallets:

• Neteller
• Skrill
• Skrill 1-Tap
• MuchBetter Wallet
• Trustly

The bank transfer can take up to three business days, while transfers from credit and debit cards and electronic wallets arrive instantly. You can only deposit money from sources which are on your name.

Withdrawal fees and options

XM charges no withdrawal fees if you withdraw above $200 or equivalent. If you withdraw less than $200, $15 is charged.

You can use the same options for withdrawal as at the deposit.

For credit/debit cards and electronic wallets, the withdrawal amount can't exceed the amount you have deposited there.Therefore, all profit can be withdrawn only by bank transfer.

How long does it take to withdraw money from XM? We tested the debit card withdrawal and it took 2 days business days.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How do you withdraw money from XM? You can withdraw money from XM by following these steps:

• Log in the account management
• Go to the Withdrawal Funds
• Select the withdrawal method
• Add the withdrawal amount

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XM review
Web trading platform 3 stars

The web trading platform of XM is provided by MetaTrader. It is highly customizable, available in a lot of languages, and has a clear fee report. On the negative side, it lacks a two-step login and the design is outdated.

XM does not have an in-house developed trading platform, it uses third-party platforms: MetaTrader 4, and MetaTrader 5. These platforms are very similar to each other in functionalities and design. One major difference is that you can't trade stock CFDs on MetaTrader 4, they are available only on MetaTrader 5.

In this review, We tested MetaTrader 4 as it is more used among the customers.

MetaTrader 4 is available in exceptionally lot languages.

Look and feel

XM's web trading platform has great customizability. You can easily change the size and the position of the tabs.

However, the platform feels outdated and some features are hard to find. For example, it took time until we found how we can add an asset to the watchlist.

Login and security

XM provides a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be more secure.

Search functions

The search functions are OK. You can find the assets in categories. However, categorization is a bit confusing as there are more forex categories.

We missed the classical magnifying search function when you can type the assets' name manually.

Placing orders

You can use the basic order types. You will not find very sophisticated orders like the "one cancels the other" order.

• Market
• Limit
• Stop
• Stop-loss

If you are not familiar with the order types, read this overview.

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Good 'til canceled (GTC)
• Good 'til time (GTT)

Alerts and notifications

You can't set alerts and notifications on the XM web trading platform. This feature is available only on the desktop trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

XM has clear portfolio and fee reports. You can easily see your profit-loss balance and the commissions you paid. These reports can be found at the History tab. We didn't find a way to download them. 

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71.61% of retail CFD accounts lose money

XM review
Mobile trading platform 4 stars

XM has a great mobile trading platform, offered by MetaTrader 4. It is well designed and user-friendly. On the flip side, it lacks the two-step login.

XM offers MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 mobile trading platforms. Similarly to the web trading platform, we tested the MetaTrader 4 mobile trading platform.

After you downloaded the MT4 mobile trading platform, you have to access the relevant XM server, e.g. XMUK-Real UK. 

The mobile trading platform is available in 21 languages. This is one of the most extensive offers.

Look and feel

XM has a great mobile trading platform, we really liked its design and user-friendliness. You will easily find all the features.

Login and security

Similarly to the web trading platform, XM provides a one-step login.

Search functions

The search functions are good. You can search by typing the name of the product or by navigating in the categorized folders. The categorization of the assets is a bit confusing as there are more forex folders.

Placing orders

You can use the same order types and order time limits than on the web trading platform.

Alerts and notifications

You can't set alerts and notifications on the XM mobile platform. However, you can set mobile push notifications on the desktop trading platform. It would be much easier if you could set these notifications on the mobile trading platform.

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71.61% of retail CFD accounts lose money

XM review
Desktop trading platform 3 stars

XM's MetaTrader 4 has a desktop version. In design and functionalities, it is almost the same as the web trading platform. One major difference is that you can set price alerts on the desktop trading platform.

You can use MetaTrader 4 and 5 desktop trading platforms. We tested the MetaTrader 4 desktop trading platform.

It has the same design, available in the same languages, offers the same order types, has the same search functions, and offers the same portfolio and fee reports.

The major difference is that you can set alerts and notifications in the form of e-mail / push notification on mobile / notification on the desktop trading platform. To set email or mobile notifications, you have to add your email address and your mobile MetaQuotes ID (it can be found in MT4 app's settings). You can add them if you go to the Tools and then the Options.

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71.61% of retail CFD accounts lose money

XM review
Markets and products 1 stars

At XM, you can trade only with CFDs, forex, and cryptos. It lacks real stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, options, and futures.

XM is a CFD and forex broker with a high amount of currency pairs offered. On the flip side, the amount of CFDs they offer is lower compared to some XM alternatives.

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71.61% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

You cannot change the default leverage level of the products. However, we think this is something you should be in control of.

XM review
Research 3 stars

XM offers wide range of technical-based analysis, a great economic calendar, and has an OK charting. On the negative side, it doesn't offer fundamental data and lacks news.

XM's research tools have two sources:

• "Research and education" section on the website
• MetaTrader trading platforms

The "Research and education" section is more limited if you choose a language other than English. For example, there are no technical analyzes and market overviews on non-English websites.

Trading ideas

XM does not provide trading ideas.

Fundamental data

XM does not offer fundamental data.

Charting

XM has OK charting tools. These charting tools can be found on the MetaTrader trading platforms.

You can use 31 technical indicators and other editor tools, like trendlines or Fibonacci retracement.

On the negative side, the design is outdated and some features are hard to use. For example, we hardly found how we could remove an indicator from the chart.

News feed

The news is missing. You can find some market updates on "Research and education" on the website, but these updates are only for a few products.

As a plus, there is a great economic calendar. We liked that the calendar has a filter function where you can filter for countries, data type, and importance.

Other research tools you will enjoy

You can find a lot of analyzes which are based on technical tools. These analyzes have great quality and cover assets from forex to stocks.

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XM review
Customer service 4 stars

XM's customer service is fast and available in a lot of languages. There are email, phone, and live chat too. However, they are not always the most relevant and available 24/5 only.

You can contact XM via

• live chat
• telephone
• email

Beyond English, you can contact XM in a lot of languages, including minor ones, like Hungarian.

The live chat is fast in replying for the first message then gets a bit slower if more questions asked. We've found that sometimes the same question needed to be asked multiple times to get straight answers.

XM phone support was fast. However, we didn't get always relevant answers. For example, we didn't get a clear answer to how the swaps are calculated.

Email support works great. We received answers within a day and they were relevant.

One thing we missed is 24/7 availability as they are available only 5 days a week.

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71.61% of retail CFD accounts lose money

XM review
Education 5 stars

XM does a great job in education. It offers many educational videos and webinars in great quality. You can use a demo account, watch trading platform videos, while written educational content is missing a bit.

At XM you can learn in the following ways:

• Demo account
• Platform tutorial videos
• General educational videos
• Webinars

Most of the education section on XM is based on video content. You can dive deep in topics ranging from an introduction to the financial markets through money management and trading strategies to technical analysis. Each chapter has several lessons, all available for XM users only.

Beyond these prerecorded materials, they offer live training both online and offline for various experience levels. 

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71.61% of retail CFD accounts lose money

XM review
Safety

XM is regulated by top-tier regulators, like FCA. It is a well-established brand but it is not listed on any exchange, does not disclose financial information and does not have a bank parent.

Is XM regulated? Yes, it is regulated by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the International Financial Services Commission of Belize (IFSC).

XM is based in the UK and was founded in 2009. Is XM safe? To be certain, it is best to check two things: how you are protected if something goes wrong and what the background of the broker is.

How you are protected

XM operates more subsidiaries and depending on your residency, one of these subsidiaries will serve you. This is important for you because the investor protection amount and the regulator differ from entity to entity.

Negative balance protection is provided. If the balance on your account goes into negative, you will be protected.

Background

The company behind the XM brand, Trading Point of Financial Instruments UK Limited was established in 2009. The longer the track record of a broker, the more proof we have that it has successfully survived previous financial crises. Trading Point of Financial Instruments is a private company.

Being in operation for a long time and being regulated by top tier regulators, like the FCA are all great signs for XM's safety.

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XM review
Bottom line

XM is regulated by more authorities globally, including the top-tier FCA.

On the plus side, the trading fees are low. We liked the seamless and hassle-free account opening. There is a wide range of educational tools and they have great quality.

XM has some drawbacks though. Its product range is mainly limited to FX, CFDs, and cryptos. The research tools are limited, covering mainly some technical tools and technical-based analysis. A monthly $5 fee is charged after three months of inactivity. 

We recommend XM for clients who prefer CFD and forex trading and are looking for MetaTrader trading platforms. Feel free to test it via the demo account.

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71.61% of retail CFD accounts lose money