Plus500 Review

Plus500 is a renowned company that offers lots of different assets without charging commission. They serve people worldwide. In the US, Plus500 Futures offers futures trading in different types of assets. It is quickly growing in Europe and Asia as a provider of contracts for difference (CFDs). They have more than 1,000 different things you can trade, and over a million people use their services. We checked them out to see if they’d be a good choice for traders. 

🏢 Headquarters	United Kingdom
📅 Year founded	2008
🗺️ Regulation	CySEC, FCA, ASIC, FMA, FSCA, MAS, ISA, DFSA, FSA
💻 Trading platform:	WebTrader and proprietary mobile applications
💰 Account currency:	USD
📊 Accounts:	User, Demo
💵 Withdrawal:	Wire Transfer, ACH, Visa, Mastercard
💵 Deposit:	Cards (only Visa or MasterCard), Electronic wallets (PayPal or Skrill)
🚀 Minimum deposit:	$100
⚖️ Leverage:	1:50 (CFTC), 1:50 (NFA)
☪️ Islamic account (swap free)	No
🎮 Demo Account	Yes Available
💱 Spread:	From 0.8 pips
🔧 Instruments:	Forex, CFDs on stocks, cryptocurrencies, indices and commodities, real stocks (not available for all countries), futures (for U.S. residents only), options, ETFs
📋 Orders execution:	Market Execution
☎ Customer Support:	24/5
📚 Education	Provided

Plus500 is a global company that offers online trading. They have their own technology for trading platforms. With Plus500, you can trade different things like Contracts for Difference (CFDs), shares, and futures. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is part of the FTSE 250 index. Their main office is in London, UK and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, which means they follow certain rules when offering Contracts for Difference (CFD) trading. It has one of the best trading apps on Apple’s App Store and Google Play. It’s easy to use and has many advanced features.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Licensed in 10 countries for security.	Doesn’t offer micro-type or Cent-type accounts for low-risk trading.
Offers over 2800 trading options.	Doesn’t support automatic trading.
Easy-to-use trading platforms for browsers and phones.	Some popular trading strategies aren’t allowed.
Clear pricing – all costs are included in the spread.
Adjusts trading conditions to follow rules.
Provides free educational resources, analysis, and practice accounts.
Customizable alerts for trading.

Plus500 Fees

Plus500 lets traders trade without paying commissions. Instead, they have dynamic spreads, which means the difference between buying and selling prices can change. There’s no minimum amount you have to trade, but it depends on what’s happening in the market. Some fees for trading are really competitive. For example, trading contracts for difference (CFDs) on crude oil, certain stock market indexes, and specific stocks are quite cheap compared to other brokers. However, some fees are just average. If you’re a trader, we suggest you look at the assets you want to trade and compare the costs with those of other brokers. This way, you can figure out if Plus500 has better prices for your trading strategies.

If an asset doesn’t have a dynamic spread, its price won’t change much while you hold onto it, according to the Plus500 user agreement. For example, at 9:44 am London time on August 31st, 2022, during the early part of the London trading session, we saw a spread of 0.8 pips in the EUR/USD pair. This is like paying $8 for a standard lot. Remember, though, that these spreads can change because of what’s happening in the market and how much trading is going on.

Regulation and Security

When you trade with a regulated broker, it helps protect you from fraud and wrongdoing. We suggest traders always check if a broker is regulated and confirm it by looking up their license in the regulator’s database. Plus500 operates through nine regulated entities. This is also a publicly listed company in the UK and part of the FTSE 250 Index. Since it started trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in July 2018, they has had a clean regulatory history.

All money that clients deposit with their Cyprus subsidiary is kept in separate bank accounts, as required by the Cyprus Security and Exchange Commission’s (CySEC) rules. Plus500AU Pty Ltd also holds client money in a separate trust account, following Australian legal requirements. It’s a good choice for active traders. Because it is well-financed and has a trusted reputation, the risks of default or wrongdoing are very low, in my opinion.

Opening a Plus500 Account

To open an account, you need to live in a country where Plus500 works, like the UK, Cyprus, France, Italy, Germany, or Mexico.

Here’s how to open a real Plus500 account:

1. Go to the their website and click on ‘Start trading’.
2. Sign up on the website.
3. Click on ‘Account’ in the left menu and enter your details.
4. Confirm your email and phone number.
5. Provide some documents: a copy of your passport, proof of where you live (like a bank statement), and proof of your payment method.
6. Put in your first deposit (at least $100) and start trading.

Account Types

Plus500 gives all traders the same type of trading account. They don’t try to persuade you to upgrade by depositing more money. However, in some places like the UK, Cyprus, and Australia, you can upgrade to a Pro account.

The minimum deposit is $100, and the highest leverage depends on where you are.

It offers free demo accounts that you can use as much as you want. When you start, you have $50,000 in your demo account. If your balance drops to $200 or lower, it puts your balance back to $50,000. But remember, these amounts might not be what you’d have in a real account, so the demo might not be entirely realistic.

Now, Plus500 users can change their demo account balance by themselves. This new feature lets users adjust their demo account to match what they’d like to invest in.

Deposits and Withdrawals

The trading platform manages all transactions. There are five options available, depending on where you live. Plus500 doesn’t take fees for deposits or withdrawals, but there’s a 0.70% fee for converting currencies if needed. There are also costs from third-party payment processors, so it’s good for traders to check those. To save money, it’s best to avoid making lots of small withdrawals.

Plus500 says it takes between one and three business days to process withdrawals internally. If you’re using an external service, it might take longer, as listed in the FAQ section, even for fast online services.

Trading Platforms

Plus500 has used its own trading platform since it started. They don’t use other platforms like MT4 or Trader. They made a very advanced trading system with many tools and features. You can use it to trade more than 2,000 different things. Their platform works on a market-making system. This helps them run their platform without needing to connect to a large pool of money.

There are two versions of Plus500’s platform. There is one version you can install on your Windows computer. The other version, called WebTrader, works through a web browser. If you use Mac OS or Linux, you can only use the WebTrader version. Windows users get the best experience using the platform.

However, there are some things to be aware of. The platform doesn’t allow scalping, doesn’t work with EAs or bots, and doesn’t have social trading. But for most trading needs, the platform works well.

Research and Education

Plus500 doesn’t provide research for trading, but it offers well-written market commentary in the News & Insights section. Traders can find ten short videos along with written content, which gives a good introduction. It has a Trading Academy with various educational resources like eBooks, video guides for traders, and FAQs. These resources help both new and experienced traders. They also provide webinars for premium users.

Customer Support

Plus500 uses its FAQ section to answer most questions. You can also get help anytime using the live support feature on the trading platform, which we suggest for any questions. It offers support through email, live chat, and WhatsApp. Because it explains its products and services well and ensures everything runs smoothly, we think traders won’t need much help from customer support.

Is Plus500 a Scam?

No, Plus500 is not a scam. It’s a real and well-known company that has offices in trustworthy places like Cyprus, Australia, and the UK. They follows rules made by different governments to operate legally in the countries where it works. These rules help make sure they do things properly. For example, they follow the rules of financial organizations like the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.

They follow the rules of securities commissions in Cyprus, the UK, Singapore, and Australia. They have to register properly in these countries. This means if something goes wrong and you lose money because of them (like if they cheat you), you might get your money back. In the UK, you can get up to £85,000 back if something like this happens.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you’re a CFD trader who likes smooth and easy trading, Plus500 is a reliable broker and a great choice. Their platforms are really easy to use on both mobile and desktop. Unlike many other CFD brokers, they also lets you trade real stocks on their Invest platform, which is good if you want to do long-term investments as well as trading. But if you’re looking for cheap options, you might want to check somewhere else. The fees for forex trading with this broker are normal, but the fees for CFD trading are a bit higher.