Plus500 Review – CFD Trading Platform

Item: Plus500 Review – CFD Trading Platform
Rating: 4
Author: Zarihoun Traore

Demo account

Open account

72% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

Pros

Positive aspects of the game

Access to over 2,000 trading instruments
Regulated by many regulations
Guaranteed stop-loss orders
Functional and Easy-to-use platform
Negative balance protection for customers

Cons

The disadvantages we highlight

No API
Research resources and education are non-existent or limited
Doesn’t accept U.S. customers

17 minutes

Plus500 is an Israeli listed CFD trading platform on the stock exchange, with offices and subsidiaries in the UK, Australia, Singapore and Cyprus.

Plus500 is one of the leading CFDs (contract for difference) providers. It offers trading facilities on forex, commodities, shares, ETFs, indices, and options. Currently, it offers nearly 2000 instruments and advanced features and tools to help traders well manage the trading account that includes stop loss, guaranteed stops and stop limits, along with push notifications and emails.

Traders who are interested in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, plus500 is one of the brokers which offers cryptocurrency CFDs.

Plus500 offerings

Plus500 provides opportunities for trading more than 2000 CFDs in 7 different market categories. Either you want to get exposure to prices of cryptocurrencies, forex, commodities, shares, indices, or options, all of this is possible through CFD offerings of plus500.

Commodity CFDs:

Plus500 offers trading in over 20 commodities CFDs. These include valued metals such as platinum and gold, energy commodities like gasoline and oil, and other agricultural commodities such as coffee and wheat.

Stocks CFDs

The platform offers trading in over 1000 shares CFDs. These include stocks from the leading stock exchanges.

Cryptocurrency CFDs:

At the platform of plus500, several well-known cryptocurrencies are available for trading as CFDs. You can do Crypto CFD trading 24/7, unlike other instruments that only allow trading from Monday to Friday.

*Availability subject to regulations.

ETFs CFDs:

Plus500 offers its clients to speculate on the costs of more than 90 ETFs (exchange-traded funds). These include SPDR, USA500 and VXX volatility by CFDs.

Forex CFDs:

Over 60 currency pairs are covered by plus500’s forex CFDs, including three major pairs such as GBP/USD, EUR/GBP, and EUR/USD.

Indices CFDs:

Index CFDs are available for trading on plus500 and it covers stock market indices from around the globe. They include ASX 200, NASDAQ 100, USA 500, France 40, and UK 100.

Options CFDs:

The company provides call and put options CFDs for more than 20 popular stocks, currency pairs, and indices.

Plus500 beginner guide video

Plus500 alternatives

Plus500 is a top-of-the-line trading site with a diverse range of products and features. A few other trading sites with similar products and features are listed below.

Trading Platform	Fees	Our valuation	Review	Promotion	Website
1	Zero commission* Spread from 1 pip	4.8 5/5 Stars	eToro Review	None Available at this timet	Trade Now Disclaimer: Your capital is at risk.
	Low fees Fees starting from 0.01%	4.5 4.5/5 Stars	Prime XBT Review	50% de bonus de bienvenue	Trade Now Disclaimer: Your capital is at risk.
	Zero commission* Spread from 1.4 pips	4.3 4.3/5 Stars	Vantage FXReview	50% de bonus de bienvenue	Trade Now Disclaimer: Your capital is at risk.
	Zero commission* Spread from 0.8 pips	4.0 4/5 Stars	Blackbull Markets Review	None Available at this time	Trade Now Disclaimer: Your capital is at risk.
	Zero commission* Spread from 0.7 pips	4.0 4/5 Stars	Skilling Review	None Available at this time	Trade Now Disclaimer: Your capital is at risk.

Plus500 Account types

Account type:

Plus500 gives the same CFD account to all its clients or traders, while it provides a professional account to the traders who fulfill two of the three requirements. For traders with a pro account, specialized services are offered that are required by many regulators. The traders having standard account get leverages limited to 1.30, while traders having professional account enjoy leverages of 1:300.

Demo accounts

The platform offers a demo account that provides features and functionalities the same as a retail account. 50,000 USD is a starting virtual balance, and when you go below 200 USD( or the equivalent currency amount), your balance will be automatically refilled. The major benefit of using a demo account of plus500 is that you have an unlimited time limit to use the demo account.

How to open your account?

You need to follow some simple steps for opening an account at plus500.The process can be completed on both desktop and mobile as it is wholly digital. This makes it very easy to join the platform wherever or whenever you want.

Below are the steps you should follow to open an account:

Click on the “start trading” button located at the top-right side of the page
Put your email address and desired password to make a basic account and then fill in the personal information.
Confirm your current employment status, trading experience, financial details, along with your past knowledge of trading.
Agree with the platform’s terms and conditions and alerts related to the risks of trading.
Attach a photo of your passport, driving license, national identity card, residence permit, a scanned photo of your utility bills or bank statement, and social security number.
The last step is to fund your account

Requirements for opening an account:

Following are the necessary details to fill to complete the registration process at plus500:

Personal information: You need to provide your full name, home address, employment status, and email address.
Regulatory information: This section includes information such as your prior experience in trading, average annual income, and knowledge about the basics of trading.
Documentation: It includes a scanned photo of your passport/ driving license/bank statement/residence permit/utility bill and tax or social security number.

For opening an account, you will need to provide proof of your address and identity. It allows the platform to meet KYC guidelines. KYC (know your customer) guidelines make you feel safe and stop the broker from any accidental illegal activity like money laundering.

Becoming a professional-client at plus500:

Traders who wish to become a professional account holder must fulfill two of the following three criteria:

Sufficient trading activity:

You must have 10 transactions per quarter on average by the past four quarters with plus500 or any other broker.

Portfolio size:

You should have a financial instrument portfolio of about 500,000 euros. Cash savings can also be considered but not in place of direct commodity ownership, property portfolios, or the national value of those instruments.

Relevant work experience:

You should have at least one year of working experience in the financial sector that needs knowledge of relevant services and products.

Features of plus500:

Some useful features of plus500:

‘Close at Profit’ [Limit] and ‘Close at Loss’ [Stop loss]

Plus500 provides instructions about stop loss and limits to take profits which have pre-defined in the trade setup.

Guaranteed stop:

This feature of plus500 saves the trader’s capital in any case of market gaps or huge slippage. You can use guaranteed stop in some certain assets on plus500. A checkbox will appear beside every asset that supports this feature. While setting up a new trade, a guaranteed stop should be selected. It doesn’t apply to active positions.

Price alerts

Plus500 allows setting price alerts to get notifications whenever any asset hits a certain buy or sell price. This feature can be seen as a bell icon in the instrument list. Click on the bell icon to open a “price alert” screen. This price alert is shown in the form of email, SMS, or push notifications to the traders.

For example, if the gold is trading at the price of $1205 per ounce and you are hoping for it to be traded at $1050. If the price ever reaches this point, you will receive a notification about the new price. This feature is useful for traders who trade with limit orders.

Trailing stop:

It is a trade protection feature that protects your position from reverse movement during locking in gains when the price is in the direction of trade. A trailing stop only acts with the trade when it is in the position of profits. Whenever a trade reverses its position, it freezes and closes the position if it touches the trailing stop level already pre-set.

Plus500 Leverage

When opening a position, leverage refers to borrowing money from a broker.

Forex & Currencies – Leverage is up to 1:300*
Indices – Leverage is up to 1:300*
Commodities – Leverage is up to 1:150*
Stocks– Leverage is up to 1:20*
ETF- Leverage is up to 1:20*
Cryptocurrencies – Leverage is up to 1:20*

*Leverage varies depending on the regulation and the entity with which the account is opened. Furthermore, being a professional client can assist in achieving the aforementioned leverage.

Plus500 payment methods

Plus500 accepts different payment methods according to their convenience. But every deposit method has its deposit level. You can find further details on the deposit section of the trading platform. Below are the payment methods you can use:

Electronic wallets (Skrill or Paypal)
Direct bank transfer of funds
Credit/debit card ( some limitations can occur according to your area)

Plus500 minimum deposit

The minimum deposit amount at Plus500 varies depending on the deposit method. Deposits made with credit/debit cards or electronic wallets cost $100; bank transfers cost $300.

Open account

72% of retail investor accounts lose money

Trading platforms:

Plus500 offers different trading platforms to its customers that can be compatible with your smartphone, tablet, and desktop devices. Trading platforms are as follows:

iOS Trading app for iPads and iPhones
Plus500 web trader that can run on internet explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
Windows phone app
Android trader for android devices
Windows 10 trader, that runs on the computer that uses windows 10 software

Is plus500 safe?

Plus500 acts as principal and fences its exposure to avoid market risk and eliminate material losses. Plus500 is registered with the following authorities to keep the platform safe:

Plus500UK Ltd is regulated and authorized by FCA #509909
PLUS500CY Ltd is regulated and authorized by the Cyprus Security and exchange commission, (Lic No 250/14)
Plus500AU Pty Ltd FSP No 486026 issued by FMA and AFSL #417727 issued by the ASIC in New Zealand.
Plus500SG Pte Ltd, is regulated and authorized by the MAS (#CMS100648-1) and IE Singapore
Plus500SEY Ltd is regulated and authorized by Seychelles financial services authority with license No #SD039.

Plus500 fees:

The company generates most of its revenue from trading costs from spreads charges on more than 2000 assets. It doesn’t get any commission on trading but there are other indirect fees involved. Some assets have higher costs than other brokerage companies and some have lower costs to balance out. Plus500 remains transparent about all the expenses involved to give its clients a clear idea.

The company claims that it doesn’t charge any withdrawal fees unless the trader exceeds the monthly limit of the withdrawal amount. It also charges $10 monthly inactivity fees, if you don’t log in for 3 months on your account.

“There some more charges for which you can find more information at https://www.plus500.com.cy/en/FAQ/FeesCharges/DoYouChargeAnyFees“;

Plus500 withdrawal time:

The time period is based upon the payment system and the third party remitter. Withdrawals are processed within 1 business day.

The withdrawal screen on the trading platform has withdrawal criteria for each payment process. Processing less than the minimum withdrawal sum can result in charges to your account.

The following withdrawal methods are available. Some of the approaches may not be available in your area.

Electronic wallets- PayPal or Skrill. Funds will be credited to your account after your withdrawal has been approved.

(From) bank to bank funds move. Funds should be issued within 5 business days from the authorization of the withdrawal. Deposits could be subject to delays if the bank/local institution's law / legislation needs further account approval.

Funds should be received in the cardholder's bank account according to the card issuer's processing time.

Who is plus500 best suited for:

The company is best for people who want access to huge financial markets with low costs for trading and easy to use platform for their trades. The platform attracts traders who prefer manual transactions.

Plus500 bonuses:

The company offers a reward to its clients for using the platform in a form of bonuses. It offers first deposit bonus such as 80 TPoints and A$/S$80 or R850, for SILVER it is 200 Tpoints and A$/S$300 or R1,600 and for BRONZE it is 150 TPoints and A$/S$200 or R1,000.

Each Plus500 Bonus Code grants more funds, tied to trading points, required to make cash withdrawal.

The other three levels of the program – Gold, Platinum and Diamond – require a minimum deposit of A$7,500, A$/S$15,000 and A$/S$75,000. The total amount of bonus capital and TPoints are awarded accordingly.

“T&Cs Apply. Bonuses are not available to retail clients of Plus500CY Ltd and Plus500UK Ltd”

Summary:

Plus500 provides an enticing trading experience with its zero-commission model. The clients of this platform appreciate international trading with CFDs for some assets like cryptocurrencies, shares, indices, commodities, and more. Moreover, the platform lets its clients check their strategies on the demo account that will never expire and can be carried with the live trading dashboard.

However, plus500 rejects the model of the multi-account facility for one individual and has room for improvements in its model. Its reputation is well deserved as an easy to use and powerful model.

Read our eToro review

Plus500 FAQ

What is a CFD?

Contracts for Difference (‘CFDs') are financial products that enable customers to benefit from all the benefits of a position on stock, index, ETF, forex, options, cryptocurrencies or commodity without the physical possession of the instrument. At the quoted price, when the position is closed, the customer enters into a CFD the difference between the price and the CFD price is settled in cash.

What are the benefits of trading CFDs?

In recent years, CFDs have become increasingly popular and are likely to be the preferred way to trade the financial markets. Some of the CFD's trading benefits include no bills or stamping duties. Many of the inefficiencies in the exchange trading of the basic shares will be removed. The cost and the delay of the physical delivery, registration and all costs incurred by a broker in the holding or custody of shares are avoided. The second big advantage of CFD trading is that customers are able to trade with margin leverage. Trading of CFDs means that customers can trade their portfolios without having to link large quantities of capital into shares, indices or commodities. In addition, any financial claims, such as dividends, are directly adjusted to your account in cash. However, the holder of the equity share does not have access to any voting rights available to the equivalent CFD. You cannot lose more money than your account with Plus500.

What is Leverage ?

Leverage provides a way to multiply your exposure to a financial instrument without owning a physical copy of that instrument. When trading using leverage, less capital is required compared to other methods of trading. Profits and losses are based on the size of the position, which can mean that the end result of a trade can be much more substantial than the initial outlay. Leverage trading is a form of leverage trading. The size required to open and maintain a position in an over-levered trade is called the margin. Leverage trading is called “margin trading.” When leveraging, a small increase in the price of the CFD will result in a greater increase in profit or loss.

Does plus500 offer dividends?

Dividends are taxable earnings given to shareholders and the cutoff date for shares to be counted as owned is called the ex-dividend date. When trading CFDs on equities, you don't really own the equities as you don't own the share itself. If you are holding an open trading position on the ex-dividend date, you will receive a dividend payment from your underlying position on the ex-dividend date. If you hold a buy position, your account will be credited with a dividend adjustment. However, if you hold a sell position, you will be subject to a reduction in remuneration.

Are my funds at risk in case Plus500 go Bankrupt?

All client funds are held in separate client accounts for protection, to ensure maximum security.

Does Plus500 charge an overnight fee?

Yes they do. The overnight funding amount is automatically added or subtracted from your account, depending on whether positions are left open within a certain time period.

Does Plus500 offer corporate/company accounts?

Only individual trading accounts are permitted.

What are the Margin requirements?

One of the primary benefits of trading CFDs through leverage is the versatility of the trade. CFD trading involves the trading of a portfolio of assets without having to tie up substantial amounts of capital. If you plan to maintain a position, the margins you must pay must be met. Specific initial and maintenance margin levels for each financial instrument are issued by each financial instrument.

What is the Initial Margin?

To open a new position, you must first have sufficient funds in your trading account (your account must have a certain equity level).

What is a Margin Call?

If your account falls below the required maintenance margin, all open positions will be closed out by Plus500. It is your responsibility to monitor your open positions at all times and make sure you have sufficient funds available to maintain the open positions.

What is a Pip?

The price interest point (pip) measures the smallest change in the price of a financial instrument. Typically, the price is rounded to the last decimal or symbol.

What are the risks involved in trading CFDs?

Trading CFDs is associated with certain risks. These risks may lead to financial losses for you. Monitoring all risks of your trading is your responsibility. You should not purchase a product unless you understand all the benefits and risks of that product. There are a range of risks associated with using our CFD trading goods.Volatility. Prices of financial instruments are influenced by many factors. Because of the volatile market, there is no CFD trade available that can be considered “risk free”. Given the potential for market volatility, it is recommended that you monitor your transactions. Changes in rates of exchange, and movement in markets will impact the value of investments denominated in foreign currencies.Counterparty Risk Given that you do business with us, you will have an exposure to us in relation to each transaction. We depend on your ability to meet our obligations under the terms of each transaction. Counterparty risk is an insurance risk. Leverage Risk It involves a high level of leverage. You can set up a relatively small initial margin, which secures a larger underlying exposure. When you leverage your trade, you have more potential profit and less potential loss. You should closely monitor all open positions.

Can customers be in debt to Plus500? / Can my account go into a negative balance?

Customers cannot risk more than the funds they have on their accounts.To stop your account from getting a negative balance, the “Margin Call” feature exists.

How to calculate Margin requirements at Plus500?

Initial margin = (position's opening price* trade size)* initial percentage of margin. For starters, let's say that you buy 30 Facebook CFD stocks for $75 each (a ‘Buy' position), then the position value will be 30*75= $2250. If the original margin percentage was 20%, then the initial margin needed would be 20% * 2250 = $ 450. Maintenance Margin = (position's opening price* trading size)* proportion of maintenance margin. For instance, let's assume that you buy 30 Facebook CFD stocks for $75 each (a ‘Buy' position), then the position value would be 30*75= $2250. If the percentage of the maintenance margin was 10 percent, then the maintenance margin needed will be 10 percent * 2250 = $ 225.

What cryptocurrencies are available on Plus500?

Plus500 offers 12 different cryptocurrencies as a CFD. Plus500 have: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Stellar, ETH/BTC, Crypto10, Bitcoin Cash ABC and Cardano.

How do I withdraw funds?

Click on the Funds Management button and the Withdrawal button. Select your preferred withdrawal method. Fill in the fields and click the Submit button (you can access the Funds Management screen from the menu button on mobile devices).

Author

Zarihoun Traore
Hello, I'm Zarihoun Traore, the founder and driving force behind Cryptostec. With over nine years of experience in the crypto, financial, and payment sectors, I have dedicated my career to understanding and navigating these dynamic industries. My journey has taken me through a variety of roles and projects, from SaaS and Fintech startups to casino brands, each contributing to the depth of knowledge I share with you today.My JourneyI have had the privilege of presenting at prominent events like CryptoFinance and attending numerous key conferences such as Websummit, Paris Blockchain Week, and iFX EXPO. These experiences have been invaluable, allowing me to engage with industry leaders, stay ahead of emerging trends, and bring back insights that shape the content you find on Cryptostec.
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