Plus500 Broker Review – transparency and low spreads

Plus500.cz is a regulated broker where you can trade over 2,000 CFD instruments, consisting of forex pairs, stocks, indices, cryptocurrencies, commodities, ETFs and options. Plus500 supports 32 languages. One of the main reasons why the broker is so popular is its minimalist fees (spreads), which are only 0.6 pips* for the EUR/USD currency pair, for example. A real account is available with the broker from a deposit of CZK 2,500, the demo account is unlimited and takes approximately 15 seconds to set up.

Plus500 – Broker Overview

Minimum deposit	100 USD
Regulated broker	Yes
Regulation	CySEC, FCA
Trading platform	own
Demo account	Yes

Plus500 Review – Trading Platform

Plus500 has a trading platform that is very simple to use and easy to navigate. There are 7 chart types to choose from for technical analysis (candlestick, step…) and popular indicators can be added to the charts and can be set as needed. Once you have created certain settings that you want to use in the future, it is possible to create so-called templates here. These can then be applied to any chart so that you already have indicators with your settings on it, for example.

Available assets on the platform Plus500

There are over 2,000 tradable assets (CFDs) on the Plus500 platform, these consist of stocks, forex pairs, commodities, cryptocurrencies, indices, options and exchange traded funds (ETFs).

• Stocks – The broker offers stocks from literally all over the world. So there are European stocks (Tesco, Vodafone, Ryanair…), but also American (Tesla, Amazon, Apple…), Asian (Toyota, Mazda, Panasonic…), or Australian. Two popular Czech stocks available at the broker include shares of Erste Group (which includes Česká spořitelna) and ČEZ shares. The total number of stocks available at Plus500 is around 1,400, of which just over 900 are American.
• Forex – You can trade major currency pairs such as EUR/UD or GBP/USD, as well as cross and exotic pairs. The total offer counts 72 different forex pairs, of which two are popular world currencies against our Czech crown – EUR/CZK, USD/CZK.
• Commodities – 2 dozens of commodities, of course there is gold, coffee, oil, or wheat.
• Cryptocurrencies – 12 cryptocurrencies are currently available for trading. All of these cryptocurrencies are traded against the US dollar.
• Indices – There are approximately 3 dozen indices available on the platform, most of them are European. The broker also offers one Czech index, the PX (Czech 15), which is the official index of the Prague Stock Exchange. This index consists mostly of well-known Czech companies (e.g. Kofola, O2, Avast, Moneto, Philip Morris, KB, ČEZ, etc.).
• Options – Around 200 call and put options are available here. Some of the most popular ones include Germany 30, oil, or Apple.
• ETFs – There are nearly 90 publicly traded funds (ETFs), consisting of the world’s most popular titles such as iShares, SPY, or XLF

Plus500 Demo Account

You can create a demo account with Plus500 without any fees or initial deposit. You only need an email to open it. Once you’re logged into the platform via the demo account, you can trade just like you would with a real account. The only difference is that you only trade fictitious tokens.

Plus500 Fees

Plus500 basically charges 4 types of fees. Spread, night fee (sometimes referred to as swap), inactivity fee and currency conversion fee. In rare cases you may also see withdrawal fees, but these are very rarely charged.

Spread

The spread is the difference between the price at which you buy a contract for an asset and the price at which you sell the contract back to the broker. Spreads are different for each asset and vary according to current market conditions. However, the more popular the instruments you trade, the smaller the spreads tend to be. Plus500 is known for offering some of the lowest spreads in the industry. Now let’s take a look at how big spreads the broker charges across different asset classes.

Asset Category	Selected Representative	Spread*
Major currency pairs	EUR/USD	$0,00006
Cross currency pairs	EUR/GBP	$0,00011
Exotic currency pairs	USD/CZK	$0.030
Shares	Facebook	$0.33
Czech shares	ČEZ	$1.72
Cryptocurrency	Bitcoin	$34,98
ETF	iShares Silver	$0.04
Commodities	Gold	$0.23
Indices	Germany 30	$0,72

*The spread is the difference between the “ask price (demand) ” and the “bid price (offer)”.

The data was measured on January 25, 2018 at 17:38 GMT+1. Even though spreads don’t change very often at the broker, they can be different at other times.

Where to find the spread value for Plus500?

Once you have logged into your trading account, for example, use the top search to find the asset you are interested in and click on the info icon.

Once you do so, you will see a table with information about the trading asset, including information about the spread (the difference between the bid and ask price).

Night fee

A night fee is charged to positions that are open overnight. The current fee for your underlying asset can be found again on the platform in the trade information. The overnight fee is usually charged for buy positions where it is quoted in negative values. If an asset has a plus value for overnight funding, this means that this value will in turn be added to your investment. In the trade information table you also have whenever the overnight fee is charged, so you can adjust when you close the trade based on this information.

Inactivity fee

A user who has not created any transactions on the platform within 3 months will be charged an inactivity fee. The fee is set at $10 (or equivalent in another currency) and is charged quarterly. If the amount in the trading account is less than this amount, the maximum amount is charged. However, even an inactive account can never go into the negative.

Leverage

The financial leverage that a broker offers varies by asset type. Ordinary retail clients can use the following leverages:

Shares	1:5
Forex	1:30
Indices	1:20
Commodities	1:20
ETF	1:5
Cryptocurrencies	1:2
Options	1:5

*Current as of 04.07.2020

Plus500 Review -Account Funding

You can use Paypal, Skrill, credit cards or bank transfer to make withdrawals and deposits with Plus500. The broker does not charge any withdrawal or deposit fees (unless you exceed the withdrawal limit or request a withdrawal below the minimum withdrawal amount). You will need to check individually whether the transfer of funds is charged by your bank or other financial institution of your choice when using Plus500 Broker.

Personally, I recommend using the same deposit method as when making a withdrawal, you will then avoid the complications that could arise when verifying the payment, where the broker has to find out if they are sending the payment to the person who previously deposited the money.

Plus500 Deposits

If you decide to open a trading account in Czech crowns, the minimum deposit is CZK 2,500. For accounts in dollars, the minimum deposit is 100$ and for accounts in euros 100€. The broker also offers accounts in other popular currencies, the minimum deposits are always the approximate equivalent of $100.

Plus500 Withdrawals

Withdrawals are processed and authorized within 1 business day. Once the withdrawal is confirmed by the company, it is then up to the withdrawal method you have chosen, as this will determine how long it takes for the funds to arrive. Plus500 allows 5 free withdrawals each month, once this limit is exceeded you will be charged $10* per withdrawal. The minimum withdrawal amount for Paypal and Skrill is $50. For credit cards and bank transfers it is then $100. If you decide you want to withdraw a lower amount, you’ll pay a $10* fee. However, there is an exception for credit cards, where a refund is possible to the card that deposited the money to the broker (called a refund), here the fee is not even for withdrawals below $50*.

*Or the equivalent of this amount in another currency, e.g. CZK

Professional trader status with Plus500 broker

If you want to trade CFDs with higher leverage, up to 1:300, you can apply for a professional account. However, only really experienced traders will qualify for this status, as you must meet at least 2 of the following 3 conditions:

1. You have made on average at least 10 CFD/FX trades with a significant investment in the last 4 quarters (it doesn’t matter if with Plus500 or another broker).
2. Your financial portfolio exceeds EUR 500,000 (e.g. investments in equities, derivatives or cash)
3. You have at least 1 year of relevant experience in the financial sector where you have worked/are working in a senior position.

Trade smart – use stop loss and take profit

In order to limit your trading risks to the minimum possible, you need to learn how to use the Stop Loss (SL) and Take Profit (TP) tools correctly. Both of these functions will automatically close your trade when the asset reaches the value you set. SL closes the trade at a defined loss, TP closes the trade at a defined profit. For you, this means that you don’t have to constantly monitor the market and worry that your position will be more of a loss than you are willing to accept (or, on the other hand, will safely close in a sufficient profit).

Plus500 also offers a guaranteed stop loss, unlike most CFD brokers. This is extra useful in volatile markets where the value of an asset can jump and fall very suddenly. For example, if you set a guaranteed stop loss on Bitcoin at $8,000, you are guaranteed that the trade will close at exactly that value, never lower. The trade is evaluated this way, for example, despite the fact that the market price of Bitcoin never even got to this value, because the market took a major dip at one point and the price dropped from $8010 right away to $7950, for example.

Because the broker takes on the risk of having to fund out of their own pocket should a sudden price jump in your asset occur, this instrument is charged a larger spread. For example, for the EUR/USD pair the spread is normally 0.6 pips, with a guaranteed stop loss activated it is 0.9 pips.

Attention; keep informed about price changes

If you want to be notified when the price of an underlying asset changes, you can have Plus500 send you an alert. There are a total of 3 types of alerts to choose from. The first one informs you if your asset reaches a certain price. The second type alerts you if the hourly change or daily change is X percent (determined by you). And the third type notifies you when the percentage of buyers exceeds a percentage value (again, set by you). You can set the notifications to pop up on the broker’s platform, or even have the broker send them to you via email or SMS.

Unlike Stop Loss and Take Profit, which automatically close your trade, notifications really only work as notifications, so they don’t do anything to your open position.

Customer support at Plus500 broker

The broker’s customer support works 24/7 and can be contacted via live chat or email. Personally, I have the best experience with resolving my queries via email, as live chat sometimes takes a while to connect you with Czech-speaking staff.

Plus500 Review – Regulation

Plus500 is authorised to offer its services in 50 countries around the world. Importantly for Czech and Slovak clients, it is regulated by the Cyprus Financial Services Authority CySEC (licence no. 250/14), which oversees the company’s operations and provides protection for clients from European countries where applicable. It is also important that Plus500 holds a so-called notification from the CNB (see this link) and the NBS (see this link). In addition, Plus500 is regulated by

• In England by the FCA (Plus500UK Ltd – licence no. 509909).
• In Australia by the FSA ASIC (Plus500AU Pty Ltd (ACN 153301681) – licence no. 417727).
• In New Zealand f. FMA (Plus500AU Pty Ltd (FSP #486026).
• In South Africa f. FSCA (Plus500AU Pty Ltd (l.n. 47546).

Mobile application

Today, it is almost a necessity for a broker to offer a mobile app. Plus500 has one, of course, and it doesn’t look bad at all. While I’m not a proponent of trading on mobile, I still installed it on my phone, which runs on Android, and tested its usability. The app is very simple and includes all the same features as the desktop version. I can imagine trading on it as well, but for now I’ll stick with the desktop version anyway.

Some interesting facts about Plus500 broker

• Plus500 Ltd is listed on the London Stock Exchange, so anyone can trade its shares (symbol: PLUS:LN)
• The broker is the main sponsor of Atlético de Madrid Football Club (winners of the Europa League for 2017-18)
• In 2019, traders created trades worth $1,310+ Billion on the platform
• In 2013, it was the first broker in the world to offer Bitcoin trading using CFDs

Plus500 – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is Plus500 a scam?

No, Plus500 is a CySEC regulated broker with millions of traders worldwide. It is also one of the most popular CFD brokers in the Czech Republic offering full Czech language support. Plus500 also holds a so-called notification from the CNB, see link.

What is the minimum deposit with Plus500?

The minimum deposit at Plus500 broker is set at 2 500 CZK or 100$. The company also offers an unlimited free demo account on which traders can test trading and the broker’s platform.

What deposit and withdrawal methods does Plus500 offer?

Credit and debit cards, Skrill, bank transfer and Paypal can be used to withdraw and deposit funds with Plus500.

What are the Plus500 fees?

Plus500 charges a total of 4 fees (spread, night fee, currency conversion fee, and inactivity fee). Plus500 does not charge any withdrawal* or deposit fees (5 withdrawals per month are free). Plus500 spreads are very fair, for example on the EUR/USD currency pair they are 0.6 pips*, in the previous section you can see what they charge on popular forex pairs.

Plus500 Review Conclusion

Pros

• regulated broker
• low spreads
• wide range of assets
• platform in Czech
• trading account in CZK

Cons

• automated trading systems not supported

Plus500 is an attractive regulated broker with a very good reputation. What I appreciate about the company is its transparency, low spreads and wide range of investment assets. You can read about another low spread broker here. What I also like is that the broker also thinks about us Czech traders, offering not only a platform in Czech, but also customer support and a trading account in CZK. The only major drawback I see with the broker is the fact that it does not support automated trading systems.

You can test the broker’s offer and the company’s trading platform on a free unlimited demo account. In case you have any questions about Plus500’s broker offerings, or you already have some personal experience, I would be glad if you would join the discussion below this Plus500 review.