Here Are the 11 Pros and Cons

Oanda Fact sheet

Trust is the number one factor when deciding between brokers. The more tightly regulated the broker is, the better for its customers’ safety.

Here is the list of Oanda’s regulators:

• U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
• Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). 
• Financial Conduct Authority(FCA).
• Monetary Authority of Singapore.
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

The high number of reputable regulatory bodies guarantees security for Oanda's clients. However, the lack of negative balance protection and the fact that the broker does not keep funds in segregated bank accounts is a downside.

When you make a deposit, the funds have to go somewhere. Many brokers create new accounts for each trader and provide increased safety. Having a mixed account simply means that the broker has higher accessibility to your money.

Oanda offers Forex pairs and CFDs to its customers. CFD is short for Contract for Difference and it allows you to trade certain assets without owning them. By trading CFDs you can benefit from short-term price fluctuations and not worry about crypto wallets, liquidity, and other factors. 

Welcome bonus

Oanda offers a one-off welcome bonus. As you deposit funds, you will get awarded 50% of your initial deposit and the money will be transferred to your account. The maximum amount is $1000. 

Keep in mind that in order to qualify for the reward, you need to deposit at least $25. Furthermore, the promotion is aimed at Oanda Global Markets Limited clients and other Oanda entities are not eligible.

Forex trading on Oanda

Oanda offers 48 currency pairs among which are 10 major pairs and 38 minor and exotic pairs. Currency trading carries a high risk as most inexperienced traders blow up their accounts. It’s recommended that beginners avoid trading exotic pairs due to low liquidity and high spreads. 

With Oanda you can open 3 types of accounts to trade currencies and CFDs.

• Standard
• Core
• Islamic

Fees and policies differ to fit traders’ personalities. We’ll discuss each account type in detail.

Leverage is starting from 200:1. This simply means that with every $1, you have the power to control $200 in the market using borrowed money. 

The minimum lot size is 0.1 and what’s more, full account verification is not needed if you’re depositing less than $9 000. 

Spreads start from 1 pip. Spreads are the difference between selling and buying prices. Oanda uses a 1 pip markup on asset prices, meaning, in the live environment, fees can be higher. High liquidity guarantees tight spreads. Therefore, if you wish to pay fewer taxes while trading, you should trade major pairs and other liquid assets.

Stock CFDs trading on Oanda

Oanda offers EU share CFDs. Fees start from 0.1% and margin from 5%. You can trade the stocks using MetaTrader 5 and fxTrader. MetaTrader 4 (MT4 ) does not offer stock CFDs. MT4 is solely made for Forex trading.

Stock CFD trading is mainly a preferred choice for day traders who are interested in short-term investing and price speculations. Furthermore, you can buy or sell CFDs and benefit from any market conditions whether it’s bearish or bullish. Long-term investors like to own actual stocks. 

It’s important to note that Oanda’s portfolio is limited. 

Indices trading on Oanda

The broker offers Index CFDs. Such as UK100, US30, US500, Germany30, Europe 50, and more. 

Indices measure the performance of certain companies. For instance, Germany30 measures the performance of the top 30 German companies that are publicly traded in the stock market. In general, traders use indices to get a clear idea about the health of the economy. 

Even if you choose to avoid trading indices, keeping an eye on their performance can improve your results. For example, a bearish German30 and a Bullish US500 might help you predict the direction of EUR/USD.

Cryptocurrency trading on Oanda

Cryptocurrencies have made a lot of people super rich in the past several years. But did you know that you can make money trading crypto CFDs even when the price is falling?

Oanda offers 13 major cryptocurrency CFDs and 18 crypto pairs in total. Trading a crypto CFD gives you an opportunity to benefit from price moves in any direction. 

Another huge advantage of trading CFDs is that you don’t need to worry about crypto wallets and how to cash out. As mentioned before, CFDs are great for speculative traders and investors prefer owning actual assets.

What’s more, crypto CFDs have higher liquidity and as a result tighter spreads than actual coins. To put it in simpler words, It’s easier to buy/sell something when there are a lot of buyers and sellers. 

Commodities trading on Oanda

Commodities are raw materials. Companies mine or grow them. With Oanda you can buy or sell popular commodities such as:

• Brent crude oil
• Corn
• Copper
• Natural gas
• Soybeans 
• Sugar
• West Texas oil
• Wheat and more.

Commodity prices are affected by economic conditions such as supply and demand and political decisions. For instance, wars can increase the demand for oil and increase the price. Climate change can affect corn production etc.

A variety of account types helps traders choose the trading conditions that best suit their trading style and personal preferences. 

Long-term investors, short-term speculators, professionals, beginners, etc. all have different tastes when it comes to choosing a broker.

Fees, platforms, leverage, number of trading instruments, base currencies, and acceptance criteria differ among the account types. 

Oanda offers 3 types of accounts. We’ll discuss all of them in this article to help you choose the one that fits your needs.

Pros & cons of Oanda account types

Oanda Demo Account

Demo accounts are an essential tool for novice traders to become professionals. Many brokers offer free demo accounts and Oanda is no exception. Oanda offers 3 types of live accounts and demo account versions of all three. These accounts are helping traders in numerous ways.

• Getting familiar with tradings platforms
• Learn technical analysis using the tools offered by the platforms
• Developing and testing trading strategies
• Backtesting trading strategies manually or automatically
• Learning how to use algorithms in their trading

Demo accounts help both beginners and experienced traders. It’s obvious why novice traders are using demo accounts but you may be wondering what benefits can it bring to professionals. 

Trading conditions are often changing. Great trading systems might lose effectiveness over time. Demo accounts help create and test new strategies.

Oanda Standard account

As the name suggests, the Standard account is suitable for all kinds of trading. Most novice and some experienced traders choose the standard account. The reason for this might be that novice traders are not yet sure about their trading style and like to experiment to see what works for them. 

Full account verification is not required for accounts with a lower than $9 000 initial deposit for all three accounts. This can be very comfortable for many traders as going live becomes fast and easy using lower funds. On the other hand, it can negatively affect the security of your funds. 

As for the fees, the commission for this account is $0 but the spread markup is 1 pip. The markup simply means that for every trade you make, the broker will charge you 1 pip. In live conditions, the spread can be much higher if there's low liquidity. Therefore, in order to pay fewer taxes, you should trade highly liquid FX pairs and CFDs.

The base account currencies are USD, EUR, HKD, and SGD. Leverage is 200:1. The account offers over 200 instruments and a 50% Stop Out level. 

Core account

The account type is a little bit different from the Standard account. It’s mainly aimed at high-frequency traders, intraday, short-term, and algorithmic traders.

The broker offers MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 as its platforms. With the Core account, you can use trading algorithms (Expert Advisors) to automate your trades.

The spread markup is only $0.2, which is very attractive for high-frequency traders. On the other hand, there’s a $40 commission per million dollars traded. 

The base currencies, leverage, Stop Out levels, and the number of instruments is the same as for the Standard account. 

Swap free account

Swap-free accounts are also known as Islamic accounts. The reason why so many brokers offer swap-free accounts is to allow people of the Islamic faith to trade. Islamic accounts charge no interest for holding open positions overnight. 

On the downside, the account has the highest spread markup among the three account types. Spreads start from 1.6 pips. The commission is set to $0. Leverage goes up to 200:1. Base currency is only USD and the number of instruments is very limited. The swap-free account only gives you access to 26 instruments.

Getting started on Oanda - Main steps

Making an informed decision can significantly reduce risks in the business of trading. Every broker has its pros and cons. It’s important to create your own criteria and choose the broker that best fits your needs.

Now that we have covered most of the important topics you need to consider while choosing your broker, we’ll walk you through the detailed process of opening a live account. 

Step 1: Create a trading account

In case you have decided to trade with Oanda, the first step is to go to their website and click Start Trading at the top right corner. 

You’ll be required to provide details about your personal information, citizenship, address, and employment status. After you fill in the data, you will be asked to verify the details.

Don’t be confused if you don’t see your login credentials right away. The broker needs from 2 hours to 3 days to review your information. Keep your phone close as the broker might call you regarding your application. You should keep checking your email regularly. 

Step 2: Time to choose a platform

As you’re waiting for your login credentials, you can download and install trading platforms. You can choose between MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. Both are very similar platforms in terms of user experience. However, you should note that MT5 is a newer version and offers a higher range of assets. Whereas MT4 is mainly used for trading currencies.

Step 3: Deposit funds

When it comes to funding your account, the minimum initial deposit is $0. Keep in mind that depositing and withdrawing money from your account may take time depending on the methods used. 

Funds will be transferred instantly if you use a credit card or other online banking methods. For other methods, the process might take up to 3 or more business days.

What’s more, In case you deposit less than $9 000, you can deposit the money and start trading right away without verifying your documents.

Step 5: Start analysis & trading

After the funds are transferred to your account you’re all set to start trading live. The first trade is very exciting for every trader. 

Just keep in mind that trading is risky and a good analysis can help you make profitable market decisions. MT4 and MT5 have all the right tools for technical analysis. 

Best of luck to you and note that withdrawing your profits can take from 1 to 3 business days with this broker.

The fees and commissions vary between account types. In general, Oanda fees are average compared to the industry’s standard fees.

Even though the broker does not charge for overnight positions, 1.6 pips for swap-free accounts is a higher spread than what other brokers are offering with Islamic accounts. 

In addition, Oanda charges clients inactivity fees. After 12 months of inactivity, customers are required to pay $10 per month. Therefore, in case you decide to stop trading, you should contact the broker and deactivate your account to avoid unnecessary spending.

Oanda deposit & withdrawal solutions

There are numerous ways you can withdraw money from your trading account. Please keep in mind that the broker withdraws money to the source. For instance, if you used a credit card to fund your trading account, the broker will withdraw your money to that credit card.

In case you use a bank wire transfer, the withdrawal funds will be transferred straight to your bank account.

Comparing Oanda fees with other brokers

Fees and commissions are very important when choosing a brokerage firm. If you are a high-frequency trader and make 200 trades a day, 1 markup per trade can cost you a lot of money. 

Most brokers offer different types of accounts to reduce fees. Oanda offers 3 types of accounts and fees and conditions are different for each. 

In order to better understand the difference between Oanda fees and other brokerage fees, let’s make a comparison. We’ll use Oanda’s Core account type for this comparison. 

Oanda fees compared to Interactive Brokers fees

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Oanda fees compared to AvaTrade fees

Oanda fees compared to Capital.com fees

Oanda offers the MetaTrader 4, and MetaTrader 5, as well as the fxTrade mobile app. MT4 and MT5 are super famous in the trading world. 

The platforms were created in Russia and are offered by most Forex brokers. MT4 is widely used by Forex traders. The platform was created in 2005 in Russia. MetaQuotes is the parent company. The platform is filled with all the necessary indicators and tools for conducting brilliant technical analysis. 

As for MetaTrader 5, the platform is a newer version of MT4 and has a lot of similarities. MT5 offers access to more trading assets, whereas MT4 is mainly specialized in trading Forex pairs.

What’s more, due to the fact that both MT4 and MT5 have been on the markets for a long time and are widely used, there can be countless trading algorithms found to help you automate your trades. The algorithms are also known as Expert Advisors(EAs). Please note that not all of the algorithms that you can buy online make money. The Forex market is full of scams. If you’re into autonomous trading, do your own research first before buying EAs. 

Mobile trading apps are critical for most traders. It’s very difficult to conduct market analysis on a small screen, but mobile apps give you many other advantages. 

• You can manage your trades on the go. 
• You can open/close positions in emergency situations such as power outages. 
• You can fund and withdraw money from your trading accounts using mobile apps.

Oanda mobile app can be found on the App Store and on Google Play. The app is suitable for phones and works well on tablet devices. 

The app gives access to mobile charting and offers tools for trader performance analysis. In addition, you have access to market news.

Quality education can largely increase your results in trading. Many brokers provide tools and services to help beginners become professionals.

Oanda offers all the necessary tools for enhancing traders’ knowledge. The company is educating its customers on a daily basis. Traders can register and join live webinars as well as have access to recorded ones. On Oanda’s webpage, you can find seminars on how to use MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, how to manage your risks and how to use different strategies, indicators, and chart patterns. 

As for the research, the company provides an economic calendar, Forex news, and market analysis.

You can access the integrated economic calendar from your mobile app as well. Having access to the economic calendar is important when trading currencies as major financial news can lead to sharp moves in the markets.

Professional customer support can save a lot of time and help you solve lots of issues. There are some pros and cons when it comes to customer support at Oanda.

Pros

• Customer support is available 7 days a week via email. 
• The team is professional and polite. 
• The support page is well organized and most questions are answered there.

Cons

• Limited availability of the live chat function.
• Limited phone call availability.

To sum everything up, Oanda is highly regulated which increases the safety of its customers. On the downside, the broker does not have segregated accounts and does not offer negative balance protection. 

Account types are aimed at regular and high-frequency traders. In addition, the company offers Islamic accounts. 

Fees and commissions are average. Fees are ranging from 0.2 pip to 1.6 pips. There’s an inactivity fee of $10 per month after a year of placing the last order.

Customer service is great in terms of professionalism. However, live chat and phone calls are limited, which is an apparent downside.

The number of assets is limited. Although you can find all of the major currency pairs. Oanda offers just over 200 instruments on its platforms.

Overall, the broker is pretty average in most categories.