Founded in 1996, Oanda has become a global online Forex broker offering low deposit requirements, quick execution, unique trading platform, and advanced charting features. Although it is headquartered in the US, Oanda has a presence in Canada, Europe, Australia, and Asia and provides Forex trading services to clients all over the world. It offers over 100 instruments, including Forex and CFDs of commodities, indices, bonds, and metals.
Pros
· Oanda is regulated in all the regions where it has a presence.
· With this broker, you can trade with as low as $1.00 — you can’t get that elsewhere.
· It doesn’t charge commissions; the cost of every trade is only in the spread, and its spread is not significantly different from those of brokers that charge commissions in addition to the spread.
· Oanda has its own trading platform, the FxTrade, renowned for exceptional execution.
· The rich FxTrade API Libraries make it easy to set up automated trading.
· Additionally, Oanda offers the MT4 platform.
· Its mobile apps have a customizable interface to enable you to use your preferred parameters.
· Oanda has educational resources for traders at various levels of experience and offers an extensive range of research and analysis tools.
· It has well-articulated FAQ pages that address most of the questions clients have.
Cons
· Oanda does not offer additional protection of traders’ capital when trading with leverage, as traders are warned that their losses can exceed their investment.
· Oanda is not an ECN broker, so its spreads are slightly higher on average than those of ECN brokers.
· While it has a 24/7 customer support services, they can be slow some times, but usually they are swift and professional.
· Oanda does not offer single stock CFDs, and neither does it offer cryptocurrency CFD trading.
· Even though Oanda has a lot of educational and analysis resources, they are not easily accessed on the Oanda page — one is taken to external pages when trying to access some of the resources.
Overall Ranking
Overall
Investment Opportunity
Commissions & Fees
Safety
Research
Smartphone Usage
Customer Service
Education
Platforms & Tools
Overall
Investment Opportunity
Commissions & Fees
Safety
Research
Smartphone Usage
Customer Service
Education
Platforms & Tools
Extended Review and Information
Oanda was founded in 1996 to provide free currency exchange information over the internet, but it has grown to become a global company offering forex & CFD trading, corporate FX payments, currency data, and exchange rate services for a wide range of organizations and investors.
It is a California-based company, but with operating licenses in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan, and Singapore, it has offices in the major financial centers around the globe.
Oanda’s unique trading platform, the FxTrade platform, was launched in 2001, making it the first fully automated forex trading platform. It is equipped with advanced charting features and easy-to-use functions.
How to Open your Account
To open a demo account, you simply fill all the necessary information on the page that opens. Unlike other brokers who allow demo-trading for only a limited period, Oanda allows you to trade on a demo account as long as you want. You can fund the demo account with any amount of simulated money you want, which makes it easy for you to practice with the exact amount you wish to invest.
For a live trading account, you have to fill in your country of residence to check if Oanda accepts new clients from your country. After that, you are taken to a page where you can fill all the necessary details and upload the requested documents — means of identification and a utility bill that is less than three months old.
There is only one account type you can open with Oanda, irrespective of your trading capital — the standard account. The account requires no minimum deposit, as you can trade with any amount you have.
Trading Instruments Available
With Oanda, you can trade more than 100 instruments, such as currency pairs and CFDs of commodities, indices, bonds, and metals. Oanda offers all the major currency pairs plus more than 55 other currency pairs, including exotic pairs.
Deposits and Withdrawal Methods
There are several ways to deposit or withdraw from Oanda, depending on your location. The most common options are PayPal, Credit & debit cards, and Bank wire transfer. Chinese traders have other options, such as China Bpay and UnionPay.
You will find a guide on the FAQ page about deposit and withdrawal processes, or you can contact the customer service. Furthermore, there may be some charges, depending on your method. A wire transfer can cost up to $30 or more, but the first transfer of the month is without charges.
Interface
All the trading platforms — the web, FxTrade, mobile apps, and MT4 are pretty easy to use and offer several analytical tools. Trading can be done directly on the chart, and you can use different types of orders. With the FxTrade platform, you can get charts from MultiCharts, which is very helpful for sophisticated chart analysis.
However, not all the resources on the FxTrade platform are fully integrated. For example, you can’t open news or economic analysis on the platform without being taken to a web page.
Education and Research
Oanda has impressive research and educational resources, which cater to traders of all levels of experience — from novice traders to the well-experienced traders. There are tutorial resources for developing trading strategies and risk management tools. In addition, webinars are organized from time to time. But on the downside, locating these resources is not always easy.
Commissions and Fees
Oanda doesn’t charge commissions. The cost of every transaction is factored into the spread. However, the spread is not significantly different from those of other big brokers, which charge commissions in addition to the spread.
There may be other charges though. In 2016, Oanda introduced an inactivity fee, which affects accounts that have been without any trading activity for up to two years.
Customer Support
Oanda offers a 24/7, multilingual customer service. During trading hours, you can reach the customer service team through the live online chat or over the phone, but during the weekends, you may only reach them through the email. The response time may be slow sometimes.
Awards
· The Best Retail FX Platform, from the FX Week — eFX in 2018
· Value for Money, from Investment Trends US FX Report in 2018
· Highest Overall Client Satisfaction, from the Investment Trends US FX Report in 2018
· No. 1 Forex Broker in Singapore, from the Investment Trends Singapore CFD & FX Report in 2017
· The Best Platform Features, from Investment Trends US FX Report in 2017
· The Best Value for Money, from Investment Trends US FX Report in 2017
· The Best Forex Trading Technology, from the UK Forex Awards in 2017
Regulations and Jurisdictions
One of the best features of Oanda is that it is licensed in all the regions where it has a presence. Oanda attained licenses from major regulatory agencies around the globe, such as:
· The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the US
· The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK
· The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization (IIROC) in Canada
· The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) in Australia
· The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in Singapore
· The Financial Service Agency in (FSA) Japan
Conclusion
Oanda is a forex broker with a global reach. Offering a wide range of products, competitive pricing, and unique trading platforms, Oanda stands out as one of the best brokers out there. But there is a need to improve its customer service response time on average. Additionally, it can do better in protecting traders from running a negative balance, but realistically there is only so much that they can do. Despite these minor negatives, we highly recommend Oanda to traders of all levels.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73.5% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading 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. This does not constitute as investment advice or personal recommendations as your specific financial circumstances have not been considered. No warranty is given in regards to the accuracy and completeness of information. Past performance is not an indicator of future results.