Author: Eduardo Montero
Fees and commissions are a determining factor when choosing the broker that best suits your trading, as in one way or another they will affect you if you are a trader, that is why we spend a lot of time and effort in analysing each of the brokers that we could recommend, and thus provide you with clear and organised information on this important aspect so that you can save those long hours of searching.
In today’s article we have brought you details of the fees and commissions of the XTB broker, a financial intermediary with almost 20 years of experience and which is increasingly recognised internationally for its financial services.
Main features of XTB
XTB was founded in 2002 in Poland, but today it has a physical presence in more than 10 countries around the world, including United Kingdom, Poland, France, Latin America, Middle East, North Africa or South Africa.
With more than 15 years of existence, this intermediary has managed to endure over time thanks to the quality of its services and the degree of confidence it gives to its clients by being regulated by the main regulatory bodies in the financial world, such as: the FCA, the CySEC, the CNMV, the IFSC, among others.
In addition, client funds are held in segregated accounts and under a clearing system that protects a portion of the client’s balance in the event of the broker’s bankruptcy.
Among its most outstanding features we can mention that it offers:
- Possibility to trade Stocks and ETFs spot (for european clients).
- Free Demo Account
- Low spreads for FOREX
- Relatively low minimum deposit.
- Wide range of financial products
- Free, high quality education and training.
- …
If you want to know more features of this broker, its main advantages and disadvantages and what are the opinions that their customers have you can see this article: XTB Reviews
Summary of XTB’s main commissions
Before going into the details of each of XTB’s fees and commissions, let’s take a look at a summary of these so that you can see at a glance if this broker could be a good option for you.
I also advise you to read to the end of the article so that you know all the details and can make a final decision if you are thinking of investing with this financial intermediary.
Commissions you will have to pay if you trade with XTB:
- Open and close buy or sell trades on CFDs (leveraged instruments) in the form of spreads.
- Hold trades at night or on weekends on leveraged asset positions (CFDs), known as a swap or overnight rate.
- Inactivity fee of $10 USD or equivalent for inactivity, i.e. not logging in for 12 months or more.
- Currency conversion. This applies to deposits and withdrawals that are not in the same currency as your account currency, which can be USD, GBP, EUR.
- Commission associated with withdrawals of small amounts. These will be detailed below.
XTB Free Services:
- Open an account.
- Use your xStation 5 platform, including all of its tools
- Online seminars, basic, intermediate and advanced courses, all about trading and investments.
XTB commissions and fees in detail.
XTB, like most other brokers, applies a commission scheme based on operational and non-operational fees.
Operative: These are those that are applied when you carry out commercial operations, that is to say, buying or selling positions. The most common are:
- Swaps
- Spreads
- Fixed and variable commissions
Non-operational: These apply even if you do not carry out commercial operations, for example, the most common in this category are the fees for:
- Currency exchange
- Inactivity
- Deposits and withdrawals
- Use of platforms, tools and other services.
As for operational fees, it should be noted that they are very varied and depend on the market and asset in which they are traded, so we will look at each of them separately on a market-by-market basis.
Fees on Stocks and ETFs spot (only for European clients).
XTB offers its European clients the possibility of trading in real company shares on a spot basis, i.e. without leverage, and also in ETFs on a spot basis, although this option is not available for clients in other countries.
For these markets XTB does not charge any extra commission, i.e. you will pay the real price of the share without additional charges, except that this applies to traders with a monthly volume of less than €100,000.
However, you will not pay commissions but you must take into account that the real price will have a variation that is given by the interbank prices applied by the liquidity providers, in other words, the price of the asset will have an associated spread, which is different for each asset and changes depending on the market conditions.
The images below show the spreads of the most popular instruments in both markets (equities and spot ETFs).
Commissions on Contracts for Difference (CFDs)
In the case of Contracts for Difference (CFDs), which are available to all XTB clients, you will be able to invest on a leveraged basis, although the size of the leverage may differ depending on the region in which you reside.
For example, for the foreign exchange market (FOREX), if you are an XTB client residing in the European Union you will be able to trade with a maximum leverage of 1:30, while if you reside in othe countries the maximum leverage will be 1:500.
At this point you should bear in mind that the broker can modify these values without prior notice and at any time it deems appropriate.
However, XTB, in the same way as for the non-leveraged market, its fees come from the spreads, except for ETF CFDs where there is a brokerage commission.
Another thing you should know is that in some markets such as FOREX this is measured in pips, while in others such as cryptocurrencies it is calculated on a percentage basis.
Let’s take a look at the details of the XTB spreads for each of the market types.
– Currencies
For currencies the spreads are the lowest, starting from 0.1 pip for some of the major assets.
– Commodities
Commodities trading is also very economical as XTB offers very competitive spreads in this market, starting as low as 0.03 pips for assets such as Oil, Silver and Natural Gas.
– Stock Indices
For indices, the lowest spreads you can find at XTB are around 0.20 pips, but the average spread is around 3 pips, which is very competitive compared to other similar brokers. You can for example take a look at this article on eToro’s broker fees and compare with XTB’s fees.
– Cryptocurrencies
The cryptocurrency market is also offered by XTB broker. Trading leveraged crypto-assets also involves paying spread fees, in this case, being a more volatile market than the traditional one, spreads tend to be higher.
XTB Swap Commission (if you trade with leverage)
So far we have seen a part of XTB’s commissions, the spreads in this case, but we still have another operating commission that although it does not affect all traders like the previous one, it is important that you know about it as it could affect you regardless of the trading style you use.
I am referring to swap fees, rollover, or also known as night commissions.
Rollover is the movement of a contract change in an underlying due to the expiry of the contract. This change is made automatically in order to keep the position open in Contracts for Difference (CFDs) contracted in XTB.
This type of fee is applied when you keep an open position overnight or after the close of the session (which coincides with 17:00 hours in New York, or 23:00 hours in Spain).
At this point it is valid to clarify that if you are a European client and you trade Stocks or ETFs on a spot basis, you will not have to pay these fees.
Let’s see the swap fees charged for each of the different types of markets and financial instruments.
With XTB you will not need to learn these percentages or calculate the swap rate as before opening any position, you will be able to know the approximate daily rate you will pay on rollover trades.
As shown in the image below:
XTB Fees per exchange rate
At XTB you can only hold your account in US Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR) or Pounds Sterling (GBP) depending on your country of residence.
However, this means that for deposits, withdrawals, or any trading operation involving a currency other than the base currency, a transaction fee for the exchange rate will apply.
For example, let’s say you are from Latin America, which means that the base currency of your account is USD, but you wish to make a deposit by bank transfer paying with Mexican Pesos.
This would involve XTB making an exchange from Mexican Pesos to USD, and this transaction will generate a currency exchange fee.
Also, for example, if you trade from Europe in euros and you want to buy an American shares (Amazon, Alphabet, Costco, Visa, Nike, Meta, Apple, Netflix, Tesla,…) that is quoted in dollars.
In XTB this commission is around 0.5% of the total transaction.
Commission for inactivity of your trading account
Brokers often charge an account maintenance fee to clients who do not show activity for some time, in some brokers this period is 2 to 3 months, while in others the period is longer.
At XTB an inactivity fee is applied when you do not log in to your account for more than 12 months, where you will be charged, in this case, $10 USD of your available balance.
So if you think you are going to be out of the market for longer than 12 months, it is advisable to activate an alert notification to at least log in a couple of times during the year and get rid of this fee.
Fees for deposits and withdrawals at XTB
At XTB there are several methods for depositing funds, some of which are completely free of charge, while others are not.
All deposits via bank transfers are free of charge, while if you deposit via credit or debit cards such as Visa or MasterCard, they will only be free of charge if the deposit is made in dollars (USD).
And as for electronic payment methods, if you deposit using Skrill you will be charged 2% of the amount deposited
NOTE: Please note that depending on the country you reside in, the deposit methods and currencies accepted may vary.
On the other hand, all withdrawals by bank transfer are free of charge if they exceed a minimum amount set by XTB which varies depending on the currency of the account.
Set minimum | Commission (if withdrawal is less than minimum) |
60 GBP | 12 GBP |
200 EUR | 16 EUR |
100 USD | 30 USD |
12000 HUF | 3000 HUF |
To save yourself these high fees, it is advisable to accumulate as many withdrawals as possible, at least until you exceed the established minimum.
Bear in mind that even if the XTB broker does not charge commission, your bank or the payment method you choose may charge you some kind of fee for receiving the funds, currency exchange,…
Is XTB an expensive or cheap broker?
Throughout this article we have looked at each of the XTB broker’s fees and commissions, and as you will have seen, in some respects their fees can be low, while for others they are a little higher.
For example, their spreads are some of the most competitive in the market considering that they do not charge extra commissions.
Their swap rates are quite tight as well.
But the same cannot be said for small withdrawals below the minimum threshold, where the fee can sometimes be more than 30% of the amount withdrawn.
However, taking into account that this commission can be avoided by accumulating as much balance as possible before withdrawing, and that the operating fees are quite low, we can conclude that XTB is a relatively cheap broker when compared to other similar brokers where the spreads are much higher.
For a more in-depth analysis of XTB’s commissions and fees you can visit their website https://www.xtb.com/ or you can also open a free demo account to test their trading platform and conditions risk-free and see if it is the right broker for you.
If you have any questions, or want to address something specific regarding what we saw in this article, do not hesitate to write to us in the comment box, we will be happy to read you, as we would also be very happy if you share this content with your friends, or in your social networks, to reach more people.
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This post is also available in Spanish: comisiones de xtb