A Review of Oanda FXTrade

Introduction

Oanda is a market maker broker that offers an automated and internet-based forex trading and currency information service through its fxTrade system. Incorporated in 1996 in Delaware USA, the company currently has one of the largest and most precise databases of currency rates. Oanda is regulated in the U.S. by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and National Futures Association (NFA #0325821).

In Singapore, it is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, in Canada by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and in Europe by the Financial Services Authority in the UK. In Japan, it has a Type 1 Financial Instruments license from the Japanese Financial Services Agency and is a member of the Financial Futures Association of Japan with registration number 1571, and it is registered with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau #2137.

Asset Index

The asset index is given as follows:

Platform used

Oanda provides the following platforms:

a) Online Forex Trading – This platform gives the user the opportunity to access the fxTrade web interface from any popular web browser. Access to the fxTrade interface is granted through fully encrypted internet connections, and it does not require any software installation.

b) Mobile Forex Trading – By using apps that are custom-made for either Blackberr, iPhone, iPad, or Android mobile devices, traders have the opportunity of accessing Oanda’s low spreads. All that is required is to download the app to the specific device and then sign in with your fxTrade account.

Users of other mobile can also access their fxTrade accounts by pointing their browsers to the address – http://m.fxtrade.com and then logging in to the fxTrade account.

c) MT4 Forex Trading – Traders have the opportunity of accessing the consistent liquidity and low spreads available on Oanda on MT4. This is made possible through the custom-built technology that enables Oanda fxTrade to bridge directly to MetaTrader.

d) Automated Forex Trading – Users of corporate trading softwares also have the opportunity of accessing Oanda’s low spreads by building Oanda’s API libraries into your software systems. The Oanda fxTrade API libraries are available in Java, C++, .NET and the FIX version.

Deposits and Withdrawals

The following methods are available to traders to make Deposits and withdrawals on Oanda:

a)      Bank Wire Transfer

b)      Credit Card

c)      PayPal (USD accounts only)

d)      Checks (USD accounts only)

Minimum Deposit

There are no minimum deposit amounts on Oanda.

Maximum Deposit

There is a limit of 10,000 units of currency or 100,000 JPY per calendar month for deposits by credit card, and a limit of up to 100 USD in total for deposits from unverified PayPal (USD accounts only) accounts but, no limits for deposits from Bank wire transfers, verified PayPal (USD accounts only) accounts and Checks (USD accounts only).

Minimum Withdrawal Limit

There is no minimum withdrawal limit only that there must be enough funds remaining in your account to prevent margin calls on your prevailing trades.

Maximum Withdrawal Limit

There is no maximum withdrawal limit.

Conditions for Deposits and Withdrawals

The conditions for making deposits and withdrawing funds on Oanda are:

a) The name listed as the Oanda account owner must match the name on the domiciliary account where the trading funds originated from (no third party payments are allowed). This is especially true for PayPal accounts where the name and/or email address must tally with your Oanda account.

b) Withdrawals are only possible to the same account that was originally used to make the deposit.

c) Checks must be drawn from a U.S. bank, and the currency must be in USD.

Customer Support

The Oanda customer service can be reached 24 hours a day, from Sunday 1 p.m. EST to Friday at 6 p.m. EST through any of the following means:

a)         Live Help – online chat

b)         Email – frontdesk@oanda.com

c)         Phone – +1 212 858 7690 or 1 877 OANDA FX