OANDA Review

Initial Deposit: $0

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Overview

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OANDA Review
Rating
Overall
Offering of Investments
Commissions & Fees
Platform & Tools
Research
Mobile Trading
Education
92%

Trust score

OANDA Review

Tradeable Symbols (Total): 124

Year Founded: 1996

Publicly Traded (Listed): No

Bank: No

OANDA is not publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by six tier-1 regulators (high trust), zero tier-2 regulators (average trust), and one tier-3 regulator (low trust). OANDA is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC)Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC)Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA)Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Learn more about Trust Score.

OANDA is considered low-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 92 out of 99.

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Pros 👍🏻

  • Founded in 1996, OANDA is regulated in six tier-1 jurisdictions, making it a safe broker (low-risk) for forex and CFDs trading.
  • Excellent quality market research articles and daily analysis updates can be found in the Market Pulse hub.
  • OANDA produces its own podcast series, “Market Insight”.
  • The fxTrade mobile app has a great balance of features and ranks highly for ease of use.
  • OANDA’s offering of research tools, news, and market analysis is excellent.
  • Social copy trading is available via ZuluTrade (though it requires a $500 deposit).
  • TradingView platform offered alongside several VPS services for MT4 hosting.
  • OANDA provides multiple options for algorithmic trading, including via API as part of its Algo Labs offering.

Cons 👎🏻

  • Offers fewer video market updates than its peers.
  • Though the educational material is good, OANDA’s video content is not comprehensive, and mostly takes the form of platform tutorials.
  • OANDA’s spreads are below average, trailing discount leaders CMC Markets and IG by a wide margin.
  • OANDA’s fxTrade desktop and web trading platform is good – not great – and trails platform leaders such as IG and Saxo Bank.
Description

About OANDA

OANDA Global Markets Ltd is a company registered in BVI number 2026433. It is authorised and regulated by the BVI Financial Services Commission, number: SIBA/L/20/1130.

Company Overview

The name OANDA is an acronym for “Olsen & Associates” or “Olsen AND Associates”. It is registered in the United States and provides its clients with a wide range of financial services in most countries of the world. The company was founded in 1996 and is currently regulated in four jurisdictions. The main regulator of the broker is the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Oanda Canada is licensed by IIROC.

The company has several significant awards to its credit, including a victory in the category “Best Forex Trading Technologies” from the UK Forex Awards, “Best Trading Platform” from FX Week, as well as “Best Customer Service” from the US Foreign Exchange Report.

Commissions and Fees

OANDA’s trading costs are generally steep, with high effective spreads across both its default and core pricing, compared to the best brokers. While not a discount broker, OANDA’s main advantage is its automated execution across its account offering.

Spreads: OANDA’s bid/ask spreads (the fees clients pay to trade) are most comparable to FOREX.com and FxPro, while the minimum spread cost (or lowest advertised rate) may be slightly higher than those firms that list a sub-pip spread (less than 1.0 pip). For example, the average non-core pricing at OANDA was 1.2 pips on the EUR/USD pair during Q1 2019.

Core pricing: OANDA’s core pricing features lower spreads, but includes a per-side commission of $5 per $100,000 worth of currency (or roughly $10 per round turn standard lot). This option requires a $10,000 minimum deposit, and when factoring in the commission, the all-in cost ends up being nearly identical to the commission-free pricing. For example, let’s say the spread on the EUR/USD is 1.4 pips under the default pricing structure, and the spread for core pricing is only 0.4 pips. Once you factor in the commission-equivalent of 1 pip (0.5 pips per side), the total cost for core pricing ends up coming to 1.4 pips – same as the default price.

Micro lots: In most cases, the smallest contract size for trading forex is one micro lot. However, OANDA brings this minimum trade size down by three orders of magnitude – to 1 unit or 0.001 micro lot.

Transparency: As part of its push for greater pricing transparency, OANDA continually publishes a trailing average of its spread across nearly all time frames. However, because it does not publish a number that reflects the average spread over a fixed period – such as one day or one month – it is difficult to make precise comparisons.

About Fees

It’s safe to say that Oanda’s fees are low in general. They either don’t charge a brokerage fee for things other brokers do charge for, or they only charge a small amount. This means that you can use Oanda even in case you trade frequently like multiple times a week or daily.

Assets Fee level Fee terms
EURUSD Low The fees are built into the spread, 0.9 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours.
GBPUSD Low The fees are built into the spread, 1.2 pips is the average spread cost during peak trading hours.
S&P 500 CFD Low The fees are built into the spread, 0.3 points is the average spread cost during peak trading hours.
Inactivity fee Low £10 per month after one year of inactivity

Account Type

Account Type Description
Standard an account with a minimum deposit of $1. Spread type – floating, minimum spread for currency pairs is 1.1 pips. Stop Out level is 50%. Suitable for newcomers.
Premium an account with a minimum deposit of 20 000$. Spread type – floating, minimum spread for currency pairs is 0.8 pips. Stop-out level is 50%. High volume traders.
Core an account with a minimum deposit of $1. Spread type – floating, minimum spread for currency pairs is 0,2 pips. Stop-out level is 50%. Suitable for newcomers.
Swap-free Spread type – floating, minimum spread for currency pairs is 1,6 pips. Stop-out level is 50%. Suitable for Traders who do not wish to pay or receive interest on their accounts.
Premium Core an account with a minimum deposit of $ 20 000. Spread type – floating, minimum spread for currency pairs is 0.2 pips. Stop-out level is 50%. High volume traders.

OANDA DEPOSIT METHODS

Oanda offers several deposit methods including:

  • Credit/Debit Card
  • PayPal
  • Bank Wire Transfer (BACS, CHAPS, SEPA)

Unfortunately, at present, you’re unable to make a deposit using electronic wallets such as Neteller and Skrill. Deposits made via credit/debit card and PayPal will take one business day to appear in your account. Deposit time by wire transfer varies depending on the processing time of your bank.

Deposit method Minimum deposit Average processing time Fees
Credit Cards None Immediate Your bank may charge you a fee
Debit Cards None Immediate Your bank may charge you a fee
PayPal None Up to one business day. eCheques will take one business day after being cleared by PayPal. A fee will be charged by PayPal when funds are deposited. Please contact PayPal for more information.
Internet banking via Faster Payments  None One to two business days Your bank may charge you a fee
BACS or internet banking via BACS None Two to three business days Your bank may charge you a fee
CHAPS payment None One to two business days Your bank may charge you a fee
SWIFT None Two to five business days Your bank may charge you a fee
SEPA Credit Transfer None Two to five business days Your bank may charge you a fee

Leverage

Leverage is the reciprocal of margin. For example, 5% margin is the same as 20:1 leverage.

Let’s say you have a USD account with a maximum leverage set to 20:1 and a long 10,000 EUR/GBP open position. The current rate for EUR/USD is 1.1320/1.1321 (the current midpoint rate of EUR/USD is therefore 1.13205).

Your margin used is position size x margin requirement = 10,000 EUR x 5% = 500 EUR.

The margin used in your account currency = 500 x 1.13205 = 566.025 USD.

The maximum leverage allowed per trade in the US is determined by the National Futures Association (NFA) – the regulatory authority in the US.

Whilst OANDA offers different instruments that have different margin requirements, you have full control of the trade size you would like to open and can manage your risk by adjusting your trade size accordingly. The larger the amount of your available funds that you use in a trade, the greater the risk. Experienced traders would not risk all of their funds on any single trade.

Is OANDA safe or a scam ?

OANDA is considered low-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 92 out of 99. OANDA is not publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by six tier-1 regulators (high trust), zero tier-2 regulators (average trust), and one tier-3 regulator (low trust).

Is Oanda Legit?

Oanda is a member of the National Futures Association (NFA # 0325821) and is registered with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Thus, it’s a legit broker.

Trading Flatform

A trading platform is a gateway to forex and CFDs markets. Oanda provides the clients with fxTrade, its proprietary, award-winning trading platform suite, which can be safely accessed from anywhere on any device at any time. The clients can take advantage of its advanced charting interface and trade directly from there in real-time. It also offers MetaTrader 4(MT4) platform, which is taken as a de facto standard in forex trading platforms.

Broker Oanda
Proprietary Trading Platform Yes (fxTrade)
Desktop Platform Yes
Web Platform Yes
Mobile App Yes
Charting Yes (Proprietary/Tradingview)
Demo Yes
Social Trading/Copy Trading Yes
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) Yes
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) No
cTrader No
Order Types Market Order, Limit Order, Take Profit Order, Stop Loss Order, Trailing Stop Order
Alerts Yes
Watch lists Yes

Customer Service 

OANDA’s customer support is available 24/7 via email. The broker advertises its business hours as being from Sunday 1PM EST – Friday 6PM EST but “live chat” and phone support are not available for the entire duration. Limited availability for chat and phone support aside, OANDA’s representatives were courteous and knowledgeable when they were accessible.

The support website also has a good knowledge base and searchable archive that should answer most questions about the trading platforms and order types. But this experience is likely to be inadequate for both very experienced and very inexperienced investors.

Education 

A series of educational videos and articles is available for new and experienced investors alike. Live webinars are also available and cover a wide range of subjects, including market analysis, platform education, economic analysis, and Q&A sessions. Minor annoyances include the fact that the images and videos use inconsistent platforms, and some information is out of date compared to current trading platform releases. Not all of the education is in a single place, and navigation can be difficult.

Final Thoughts

Oanda is a great choice for traders interested in Forex and CFDs. It is easy to get started with and its fxTrade trading platform offers a great trading experience for traders.

The company is built on the trust and confidence of its clients, which is evident from its experience of 25 years. Its regulatory status is authorized by some top-tiers financial regulatory bodies around the globe.

FAQ’s

What information is mandatory for my payment?

Information that is required for your payment depends on the payment type (local or standard/SWIFT payment), payer country, payer legal entity type, beneficiary country, beneficiary entity type and payment destination country.

How can I upload my identification and other documents?

To upload a copy of your ID, take a close up photo of your ID in a well lit room. Save the photo to your mobile device or computer. Follow the on-screen instructions for uploading your ID.

What is the conversion timeline?

  • 97% of conversions are available within the same day. All our currencies are converted on the same or next day, from when funds are received.
  • 12-month forwards are available for all currencies. You can manage your FX risk for an entire year in advance.

Is there a minimum transaction amount?

No. You are welcome to make transactions of any size on the OANDA FX payments platform.

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