If you are new to Forex trading and want to keep it simple and browser-based, Plus500 is a decent choice – though you will need to get your educational support from another source.
If you expect phone support from your provider and non-proprietary software (such as MetaTrader or cTrader), then you would be better off elsewhere. On the plus side, Plus500’s spreads are very tight for an automated market-maker and the mobile app is excellent.
Plus500 was founded in 2008 in Israel and has grown into one of the largest online brokers in the world – not only is the company publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, meaning an additional level of scrutiny, it’s subsidiaries are regulated by seven national authorities:
Plus500UK Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 509909).
Plus500CY Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC Licence No. 250/14).
Plus500AU Pty Ltd holds AFSL #417727 issued by ASIC, FSP No. 486026 issued by the FMA in New Zealand and Authorised Financial Services Provider #47546 issued by the FSCA in South Africa.
Plus500SG Pte Ltd (UEN 201422211Z) holds a capital markets services license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore for dealing in capital markets products (License No. CMS100648-1).
Plus500IL Ltd is registered in Israel and licenced to operate a trading platform
As per regulations, all client funds are kept segregated from the brokers own and Plus500 also offers negative balance protection, ensuring that clients cannot lose more than they have put into their account.
Plus500 does not highlight any industry recognition it has received, but the company did win the Best Trading App Award from Daytrader.com in 2019.
Trading Conditions
While Plus500 is not a traditional market maker, the platform is self-contained and operates similarly to a market maker.
As soon as a client places a trade on the platform, an automated system (with no human interference) sets a hedging trade as the counterparty to protect Plus500 against any potential loss by acting as the counterparty. Because it is a closed system where Plus500 is the counterparty, there are few requotes and fast trade execution.
Plus500 makes a profit from the difference in the buy and sell spreads.
Account Types
Aside from a fairly standard demo account, Plus500 offers a single account with a minimum deposit of 100 USD.
There is no account choice at Plus500, which is unusual as most of its serious competitors have a number of account types with tighter spreads linked to higher deposit requirements.
The demo account gives the trader a practice area before you put up any money. The Plus500 platform is different from other brokers, so I would strongly advise you to have a good look around before you commit with a deposit. Some traders will enjoy the Plus500 platform, but others will prefer a more traditional layout.
Live Account
Besides the demo account, Plus500 only offers one other type of account with a minimum 100 USD deposit amount.
Spreads and Commissions
The spreads at Plus500 are variable with EURUSD spreads often below 1 pip. As spreads are dynamic, expect them to be higher in times of low liquidity and for non-major currencies.
Depending on your location, leverage up to 1:300 is available and no commission is charged on any trades.
The currency pricing used at Plus500 is taken from a third party and reflects actual market value, Plus500 will then add the spread to create the trading price. Spreads are published alongside the instrument on the platform.
**This is only illustrative of what you can expect of the Plus500 platform**
Deposit & Withdrawal Fees
Deposits and withdrawals are generally commission-free, though a 10 USD withdrawal fee is charged after more than five withdrawals have been made in a single month. Withdrawals via bank transfer may also incur a 6 USD charge.
Plus500 also requires a minimum withdrawal amount of 50 USD for Skrillex and Paypal and 100 USD for bank transfers and credit card. Withdrawals below this amount incur a 10 USD fee.
Withdrawal takes 3-7 days depending on the payment method. This is slower than expected, as most brokers process all withdrawals within one working day.
Deposit and withdrawals methods include Credit Card, PayPal, Skrill, and bank transfer.
Inactivity Fee
Plus500 charge an inactivity fee of 10 USD per month after 3 consecutive months of inactivity.
Plus500 For Beginners
The educational section of Plus500 is poor, especially when compared to its competitors, as is the analytical material available. Customer service is excellent though.
Education Material
Plus500 lacks a dedicated educational section, apart from a small collection of short videos grouped under the title of Trader’s Guide. Aside from this, there are some helpful tips for new traders in its FAQ section.
Most of the FAQs are dedicated to queries directly related to trading with Plus500 – subjects include Account Verification, Deposit and Withdrawal, Fees and Charges, Opening an Account and Submitting Identification Documents.
The truly educational part of the FAQ section is called Trading and contains 32 FAQs. Though many of these 32 FAQs relate to Plus500’s trading conditions and platform there are also explanations of common concepts in CFD trading such as Leverage, Margin Calls, Pips and Stop Loss Orders.
Though this is all useful information for new traders, it is recommended that you seek further education before trading on a live account.
Analysis Material
Plus500 offers little real analytical material for traders. On occasion, Plus500 sends notification and newsletters on the platform which can be seen on the right corner, but Plus500 does not provide any guidance on how to trade or analyst recommendations.
**This is only illustrative of what you can expect of the Plus500 platform. No actual.**
Customer Support
Plus500 offers 24/7 customer support via email, online chat and WhatsApp message in 31 different languages. This is a much higher level of service than is commonly available.
The only way the customer support could be improved is by offering phone support for more complex queries and troubleshooting.
Trading Platform
Unlike most Forex brokers, Plus500 only offer their proprietary trading platform. This could be a concern as most similar providers also offer MetaTrader 4 or 5 in conjunction with any first-party software.
The Plus500 platform is web-based and obviously made to appeal to new traders who want to avoid the complexity of more common platforms. The platform looks fantastic, is very easy to use and has a solid reputation in the trading community. Exceptionally, it is available in over 30 languages.
Unfortunately, the platform is not customisable so traders used setting up their own charts over a bespoke workspace will be disappointed.
Mobile Apps
Plus500 mobile apps are free for Android and IOS. They offer all of the features of the web and downloaded version of the trading suite, and make a convenient on-the-go trading solution.
**This is only illustrative of what you can expect of the Plus500 platform.**
Trading Tools
Plus500 offers a few basic trading tools within the platform.
You can set automated price and percentage alerts which will inform you when a certain price has been reached or when a price has increased or decreased by a chosen percentage.
You can also view trader sentiment and set alerts to inform you when a predefined percentage of traders are buying or selling an instrument.
All of these alerts can also be sent via email and SMS.
Evaluation Method
We value transparency and openness in the way we review the partners. To bring transparency to the forefront, we have published our review process that includes a detailed breakdown of the Plus500 offer. Central to that process is the evaluation of the reliability of the broker, the platform offering of the broker and the trading conditions offered to clients, which are summarised in this review. Each one of these is graded, and an overall score is calculated and assigned to the broker.
Plus500 Risk Statement
Trading Forex is risky, and each broker is required to detail how risky the trading of Forex CFDs is to clients. Plus500 would like you to know that: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76.4% 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.
Overview
Plus500 is a leading brand in the CFD trading industry and has a loyal following of traders. With a strong focus on making the trading platform accessible to beginners, there is a strong appeal for beginners but the education and research area could be developed further. The customer service and support team are available 24/7 to help with questions anyone may have.
Trading Forex and CFDs is not suitable for all investors and comes with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 75-90% of retail investors lose money trading these products. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
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