XM or XM Global limited is an online CFD and forex broker and belongs to Trading Point Global Ltd. The broker was founded in 2009 in Belize and currently provides its services to clients from 196 countries. The broker is regulated by the IFSC, CySEC, ASIC and DFSA.
The broker offers 7 asset classes to trade from forex, stocks CFDs, commodities, equity indices, precious metals, energies, and shares. The broker offers trading platforms from a third party, the most popular MetaTrader across 15 devices.
XM charges very competitive fees in terms of spreads or commissions compared to its competitors. The broker offers a ton of educational resources and trading tools. On top of that, providing access to a demo account and plenty of promotions, XM is an excellent option for beginners.
XM Global Limited is more than a decade old in the financial industry, so it has evolved into a broker with millions of clients. A trader would like to stay with XM when it offers super-fast account opening, no extra fees on transactions and low trading fees. On the other hand, the broker requires a $5 minimum deposit for opening an account. The broker doesn’t disclose its financial statements and is currently not a traded company on any exchange.
XM Global offers 1000+ instruments of forex and CFDs to trade. Whatever your interests, there are plenty of options to choose from, including over 55 currency pairs and CFDs on precious metals, energies and equity indices with the most competitive spreads and with the no rejection of orders and re-quotes execution of XM. The broker however lags in providing cryptocurrencies to trade. Keep in mind that cryptocurrencies are said to be the future alternative to fiat currencies. The minimum balance to trade is just $5. It would be great if the broker expanded its cryptocurrency offering in the near future.
Moreover, traders cannot trade bonds, options or ETFs with this broker. Traders can only trade real shares with a dedicated shares account with a high minimum deposit requirement and no leverage provided. But the broker pays dividends to its stock traders. XM provides shares trading only on its MT5 trading platform.
XM Instruments Summary
| Instruments | XM | FP Markets | FxPro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex | 57 | 61 | 70 |
| Stocks | 1286 | 10,000 | 1,700 |
| Indices | 24 | 14 | 19 |
| Commodities | 15 | 13 | 31 |
| Cryptos | x | 5 | 17 |
XM Instruments Summary with Trading Platforms
| Instruments | MT4 | MT5 | WebTrader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Stocks | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Indices | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Commodities | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cryptos | x | x | x |
Commission Fees
XM Global offers trading with tight spreads for all accounts. The commissions charged by the broker are very competitive as compared to the other brokers. However, a trader can choose to trade with or without paying commissions. The trader is obligated to pay a commission of $7 per order of a standard lot if he trades on a zero account with zero spreads. The traders are provided with cashback rebates by trading only a standard lot. However, rebates vary for each type of account. Cashback rebates from the XM Group are a percentage of the transaction cost returned to the customer on each trade, resulting in a reduced spread and higher win ratio. If your rebate is one pip and your spread is three pips, your net spread is only two pips. Many traders assume there must be greater expenses somewhere else to compensate, but they quickly discover there is no catch, and Forex rebates genuinely decrease transaction costs. It’s worth considering that the broker pays a maximum cashback rebate of $7.5 to its clients. On other accounts commission fee is built into the spreads.
| Instruments | Micro | Standard | Zero | Ultra Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forex | $0 | $0 | $3.5 per side | $0 |
| Stocks | $0 | $0 | $3.5 per side | $0 |
| Indices | $0 | $0 | $3.5 per side | $0 |
| Commodities | $0 | $0 | $3.5 per side | $0 |
| Cryptos | $0 | $0 | $3.5 per side | $0 |
Spread Fees
XM offers traders very tight competitive spreads on all accounts. The broker claims to offer spreads starting from 0.6 on standard accounts, which could vary in market peak hours. However, traders can start trading with zero spreads on the XM zero accounts, but a $7 commission per standard lot is charged per order opened and closed combined. Below is a table of minimum spreads across different asset classes in different accounts.
| Instruments | Micro | Standard | Zero | Ultra Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forex | 1 | 1.2 | 0 | 0.6 |
| Stocks | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Indices | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Commodities | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.3 |
| Cryptos | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Deposit and Withdrawal Fees
XM Global has a huge advantage over its competitors in this regard. The broker does not charge any deposit or withdrawal fees except the deposits made via bank transfers of less than $200. The broker does not allow cryptocurrencies to be used as a payment option, as it does not offer to trade this asset class either.
| Payment Method | Deposit Fee | Withdrawal Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Wire Transfer | No Fees | No Fees |
| Credit/debit Card | No Fees | No Fees |
| Electronic Wallets | No Fees | No Fees |
| Cryptos | N/A | N/A |
Inactivity Fees
After 90 calendar days, trading accounts are considered dormant without trading, withdrawal, deposit, internal transfer, or further trading account registration activities. Inactive accounts will have any remaining bonuses, promotional credits, and XMPs immediately deleted. A monthly inactivity fee of $5 is charged from inactive accounts or the total value of the free balance in these accounts if the free balance is less than $5. If the trading account’s free balance is zero, there is no inactivity fee.
XM Global has not yet developed its own trading platform. Instead, it offers a complete Metaquotes Suite for its clients. The broker provides fully customisable MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms across 16 types of devices. Each platform carries its own variations according to the device, but the main trading theme and tools remain the same. MT5 platform contains more timeframe options and is used for trading CFDs and shares mostly. There is no fee charged for using any trading platform. The broker facilitates its traders with various trading tools and education to help them become better traders. The broker offers free VPS service to its clients to automate their trading seamlessly.
XM Web Platform
XM offers MT4 and MT5 platforms as its web trading platforms. You may utilise the full functionality of XM MT4 and MT5 WebTrader for fast online trading on both demo and live accounts without having to download anything. Opening and closing trades, setting stops and entry limits, putting direct orders, setting and modifying limit and stop loss, and charting are all possible with just one click. All the indicators and objects can be used on these web platforms to ease the technical analysis. The fun part of these web trading platforms is that the traders can access them from any internet device. However, web platforms lag in providing price alerts. Let us tell you about some key features of these web trading platforms.
- Selection of periods
- Active orders can be seen on the chart
- Customisable graphical objects
- More than 1000 Instruments from 7 asset classes to invest
- Trading from the web browser
- One-Click Trading (User Friendly)
- All Order types supported
XM Mobile Platform
XM Global offers MT4 and MT5 mobile trading platforms to its clients. These MetaQuotes platforms, with super-fast execution and very little to no requotes, make trading fun. Traders no longer need to carry a big device like a laptop to have complete access to their trading account. In a matter of seconds, trades may be opened, monitored, and evaluated. Traders can do research and technical analysis using several trading instruments. All compatible iOS and Android smartphones can use the mobile trading app. These are some key features of mobile trading platforms:
- User-friendly
- Good search function
- Price alerts
- Full account access
- 30 technical indicators
- News alerts via push notifications
- Market Analysis tool
MetaTrader 4
MT4 is the most widely used by the world’s leading brokers. XM Global offers MT4 to its clients as a benchmark. You can find the following features when you look at the platform:
- Over 1000 Instruments
- 1 Single Login Access
- Spreads as low as 0.6 pips
- Full Expert advisor functionality (Automated Trading)
- One-Click Trading
- 50 indicators and charting tools
- 3 Chart Types
- Micro Lot Accounts
- Hedging allowed
- VPS Functionality
- Scalping allowed
MetaTrader 4 Multiterminal
The XM MT4 Multiterminal is the best option for traders who wish to manage multiple MT4 accounts with simplicity from a single terminal using a single Master Login and Password. Key features of MT4 multiterminal are:
- Support for up to 128 trading accounts
- Various Order Types
- There are three techniques for allocating resources.
- Real-time management and execution
MetaTrader 5
The XM MT5 platform contains all of the groundbreaking capabilities of the XM MT4, plus 1000 CFDs on equities (shares), making it the ultimate multi-asset platform. Traders can trade Forex and CFDs on stocks, gold, oil, and equities indexes from a single interface with no rejections or requotes. Here are some considerable features of MetaTrader 5:
- Over 1000 Instruments (Shares can only be traded on MT5)
- One-click Login
- Spreads as low as 0.6 pips
- Full EA plugins Functionality
- One-Click Trading
- All Order Types Supported
- 80 Technical Analysis Objects and technical indicators
- Market Depth of Latest Price Quotes
- Hedging Allowed
- Scalping allowed
XM Platforms Summary
| Platform | XM |
|---|---|
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | ✓ |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | ✓ |
| cTrader | x |
| Proprietary | x |
| Desktop | ✓ |
| Web | ✓ |
| Mobile | ✓ |
| Social Trading | x |
| Other (MetaTrader 4 Multiterminal) | ✓ |
XM is well-known for its educational resources. It also deserves validation for its excellent selection of trading materials and tools, which can be found on its website’s “Research & Education” page. Traders can access various helpful trading tools, including forex calculators, customised indicators for MT4, an economic calendar, trade ideas, and more. Traders can sign up for free webinars and seminars, listen to market analysis podcasts, read curated articles, and watch XM TV for trading education.
Learning Centre
You can play around by opening a demo account. It provides you access to the XM learning centre. You can learn about trading platforms through tutorials and attend instructive videos and seminars. You can find the following trading educational materials on the XM learning centre:
- Forex courses
- Trading strategies
- Trading videos
- Trading platform tutorials
- Ebooks
- Live Q&As
News & Market Analysis
XM Global leads in the industry with its news and market analysis services that it provides to its customers. Traders can access a frequently updated market news and analysis section to make informed decisions in their trading. Trade ideas are posted to help traders. Traders can access technical summaries of their favourite instruments with a few clicks and stay informed of economic events with an economic calendar. XM TV keeps financial market news under its radar, so its customers never miss any important news event. Traders can listen to the podcasts where professional traders are being interviewed and learn from their experiences.
Trading Community
XM has an educational blog that keeps its customers updated with the global financial markets.
XM Research and Education Summary
| Resources | XM |
|---|---|
| Market Analysis | ✓ |
| Guides | ✓ |
| Videos | ✓ |
| Webinars | ✓ |
| Autochartist | x |
| Trading Central | x |
| Economic Calendar | ✓ |
| Other (podcasts, seminars, trading ideas, trading calculators) | ✓ |
Trading accounts are available in 11 different currencies and may be funded in a variety of ways. XM accepts deposits from the most popular credit/debit cards, bank wire transfers, and some e-wallets. XM does not charge any deposit fees, and the funds are available nearly immediately once they are deposited. For the Micro, Standard, Ultra Low, and Zero accounts, the minimum deposit is a mere $5 or comparable. A minimum deposit of 10,000 USD or equivalent is required to open an XM Shares account. Withdrawal costs are also waived at XM (withdrawal processing times vary from instant to 1 business day). XM covers all deposit and withdrawal transfer costs for payments. XM’s zero-fee policy also applies to any deposits and withdrawals above $200 that are processed by wire transfer. The broker does not offer cryptocurrencies to trade, neither it allows cryptocurrencies as a mode of payment.
XM Funding Summary
| Payment Method | Deposit | Withdrawal |
|---|---|---|
| Wire Transfer | ✓ | ✓ |
| Credit/debit Card | ✓ | ✓ |
| Electronic Wallets | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cryptos | x | x |
The XM Global (XM) is a regulated online broker group. XM Global is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Australian Securities, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in UK and Investments Commission (ASIC), International Financial Services Commission (IFSC). Trading Point MENA Limited is regulated by Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). The broker provides negative balance protection to its clients from EU and Non-EU.
XM Regulation Summary
| Regulator | XM |
|---|---|
| ASIC (Australia) | ✓ |
| IIROC (Canada) | x |
| CySEC (Cyprus) | ✓ |
| SFC (Hong Kong) | x |
| JFSA (Japan) | x |
| MAS (Singapore) | x |
| FINMA (Switzerland) | x |
| FCA (UK) | ✓ |
| CFTC (USA) | x |
| Other (IFSC, DFSA) | ✓ |
XM Safety
When it comes to client money safety, XM adheres to the strictest requirements. As a result, the broker client’s funds are stored in segregated accounts at top-tier international institutions like Barclays Bank.
It also follows the client money handling standards and has rigorous policies and processes for maintenance and administration. The broker keeps client funds separate from business funds and does not utilise them for any of its operating expenditures or objectives. However, the broker is not traded on any stock exchange, neither does it have a banking licence. The broker keeps its financial information private as well. But more than a decade of experience make it one of the top online brokers and trustworthy enough to consider opening an account with it.
Except for the rare question about the trading terms, most traders will rarely contact their broker’s customer service department. Even so, it’s nice to know that if you do need assistance, you’ll get it quickly and efficiently. In part, customer service at XM is well-regarded because it is available in a broad range of languages, with specialised native speakers assisting clients in their home tongue. The XM customer service desk is open 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday, at the same time as the markets are open. English, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Bahasa Malay, Bahasa Indonesia, Hungarian, Russian, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Polish, Hindi, Arabic, Korean, Portuguese, Czech, Slovakian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Dutch are among the languages spoken by representatives. Traders can reach out to representatives in several departments throughout the globe by email or phone. There is also a live chat option.
This broker is recommended because of its fast execution and the value of the trading accounts, which have lowered spreads and no trading commission options. Traders can also benefit from XM’s rapid and efficient deposit and withdrawal processing times, as well as the company’s policy of no fees on deposits and withdrawals. Finally, the broker offers Micro accounts, which allow newcomers to get going in the forex market with a minimum initial investment. On the negative side, a few traders mentioned XM’s slippage and spread widening, with a specific mention of the large gaps between the close of the NY session and the start of the Asia session. This is typical with any broker due to the lack of liquidity during these hours.
