Plus500 Review
Plus500 founded in 2008 with headquarters in Isreal is the best CFD and online forex broker. They are a London Stock Exchange-listed global company regulated in multiple jurisdictions. Plus500 have a focus on innovation and technological edge. This can be seen in their user-friendly interface and easy signup process that allows you to be trading within a day.
Overview
| Nationalities | No USA Clients |
| Account Funding | $100 for debit/credit cards and electronic wallets $500 for bank transfers |
| Is a corporate Account Possible? | NO |
| Sign Up process | Fast |
| Funding options | Bank transfer, Credit/Debit card, Skrill, PayPal |
| Max leverage Europe |
|
| Forex: Spot Trading | NO |
| Currency Pairs | 70 |
| Stock index CFDs Stock CFDs ETF CFDs Commodity CFDs Total CFDs | 33 1800 92 22 1947 |
| Cryptocurrency | YES |
| Commodities | 22 |
| Stocks | 1816 |
| Penny Stocks | NO |
Regulation and Trust
Plus500 is a listed company on the stock exchange with their financial information available to the public. They are regulated by several financial authorities including the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) of New Zealand, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and the Israel Securities Authority (ISA). They do not hold a banking license. The amount of investor protection you get depends on the country you sign up from. For the UK, this amount is £85,000 however there is no protection in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore and Israel.
Commissions & Fees
Plus500 has low trading fees, no account fee and no withdrawal fee. However, should you not login after 3 months, an inactivity fee is charged at $10 per quarter. There is no commission since everything is included in the spread. Traders can expect the spread cost for EUR/USD to be from 0.6 pips. Plus500 will give you the first 5 withdrawals per month for free. Thereafter a fee of $10 is charged. The minimum withdrawal amount is $100 with a penalty of $10 should the withdrawal be less than the minimum amount. As of January 2020, all new Plus500 clients can expect to pay a conversion currency fee. This fee will be up to 0.3% of the trades realised profit and loss.
Community
Plus500 have over 200 thousand active customers and over 35 million positions opened. They are the main sponsor of Atletico de Madrid and major partners of the Plus500 Brumbies. They offer exclusive bonuses for both Brumbies and Atletico de Madrid fans. They have a large social media presence with 10k followers on Instagram and nearly 200k followers on Facebook. They are also present on Twitter.
User Experience
Opening up a Plus500 account is fast and fully digital, making it a smooth process. It is the best trading platform, user-friendly, and has a two-step login, ensuring the safety of your information. Whilst the platform is easy to understand for even first-time traders, the platform can’t be customized to suit your own preferences. One function to take note of is the fact that you can set up alert and notifications. This allows you to be first to know if the price of an asset changes or reaches a certain level. The mobile trading platform is similar to the web platform in terms of its simplicity and ease of use. The app can be downloaded for an iOS, Android or Windows phone.
Functionality & Tools
Plus500 has advanced trading tools. They give you the option to use their Plus500 Traders Sentiment tool which shows the proportion of Plus500 buyers and sellers. You can also make use of the economic calendar to search for macro or corporate events. They have a quality charting tool with 107 technical indicators and editor tools. However, there is no news feed, no fundamental data available and no trading recommendations provided.
A risk-free demo account is available to traders however there are only very basic educational videos that lack depth should you be a first time trader.
Trading Platforms
Whilst there is the best stock trading platform and mobile trading platform, there is no desktop trading platform. The Plus500 mobile app available on Google Play store has a 4.1-star rating with more than 5 million downloads. It is one of the highest-rated CFD trading apps on Apple’s App Store and Google Play due to its ease of use and advanced features. The app uses a two-step login and biometric authentication can also be used.
Customer Service
Plus500 provides a live chat to answer any questions or uncertainties you may have. The live chat is quick and reliable and gives you the opportunity to provide feedback at the end of the conversation. You can also contact Plus500 via email, however, the response takes longer than the live chat. Their customer service is available 24/7 unlike other brokers such as FxPro.
Summary
Plus500 has many pros and cons. They are the best broker for CFD trading should you be looking for a highly regulated, user-friendly platform and easy sign-up. However, provided research and education could be enhanced. There is no minimum balance, they offer competitive spreads, no withdrawal fee above $100 and 24/7 customer support.
80.5% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with Plus500. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Low Minimum Deposit
Founded in 2008, Plus500 is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE: PLUS) and is part of the FTSE 250 Index.