XM Review · 2026

What is XM?

XM is a forex and CFD (Contract for Difference) broker founded in 2009 under the parent group Trading Point Holdings Ltd, based in Limassol, Cyprus. The group operates four sister entities, one for each licensing region: Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd in Cyprus, Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd in Australia, Trading Point MENA Limited in Dubai, and XM Global Limited in Belize. According to figures published by the group, the brand serves more than 15 million clients across 190+ countries. Ownership remains private; no public-exchange listing exists for any group entity.

Which regulators license XM?

The group discloses five regulators across four onshore jurisdictions plus Belize. The Cyprus entity is licensed by CySEC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission) under license 120/10, which carries EU passporting rights under MiFID II and Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) coverage up to €20,000 per retail client. The Australian entity holds AFSL 443670 from ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission). The Dubai entity sits under DFSA (Dubai Financial Services Authority) license F003484, the South African entity under FSCA (Financial Sector Conduct Authority) 49976, and the offshore entity XM Global Limited under FSC Belize 000261/397. Each license shows active status in the corresponding public register as of the scan date.

Trading platforms

The broker runs on the two industry-standard MetaTrader clients: MT4 (MetaTrader 4) and MT5 (MetaTrader 5). Both are available on Windows desktop, macOS desktop, browser-based WebTrader, and native iOS and Android apps. The MT5 build supports stock CFDs and a wider instrument set than the MT4 build, while MT4 retains a deeper third-party expert-advisor (EA) library. TradingView chart integration was added in 2024, letting clients view live MT5 account positions and place orders directly from TradingView charts. No proprietary platform and no cTrader option is offered.

Account types

Five live account models are listed on the official site. The Micro and Standard accounts both require a $5 minimum deposit and carry the same 1.0+ pip starting spread (the gap between bid and ask), differing only in lot size: Micro uses 1,000-unit lots, Standard uses 100,000-unit lots. The Ultra Low account starts spreads from 0.6 pip with no commission. The Zero account opens at 0.0 pip raw plus a $3.50 commission per lot per side. A separate Shares account exists for direct equity dealing at a higher minimum. All accounts accept Islamic (swap-free) conversion on request.

Minimum deposit

The published minimum is $5 across Micro, Standard, Ultra Low, and Zero accounts, which sits well below the typical 100-250 USD industry band common at CySEC- and ASIC-regulated brokers. The Shares account requires a higher entry, listed on the broker's account-types page. No deposit fee is charged on any tier. The figure is identical across all five regulated entities, although Australian and European clients trade under stricter leverage caps once funded.

Spread and commission structure

Pricing splits cleanly by account model. Standard and Micro quote typical EUR/USD spreads from 1.0 pip with no commission. Ultra Low quotes EUR/USD from 0.6 pip, also commission-free, with the markup baked into the price. The Zero tier quotes EUR/USD from 0.0 pip raw and charges $3.50 per lot per side, totaling $7 round-turn (equivalent to roughly 0.7 pip effective on EUR/USD at typical volumes). Spreads on gold and indices follow the same structure, while exotic forex pairs (EUR/TRY, USD/ZAR, USD/MXN) widen sharply during low-liquidity hours.

Leverage and margin requirements

Maximum leverage, or trading on a multiple of your posted margin, varies by the entity holding the account, because each regulator imposes its own cap. Under the FSC Belize entity (XM Global), retail leverage reaches 1:1000 on major forex pairs. Under the CySEC and ASIC entities, the retail cap is 1:30 on major forex per ESMA and ASIC retail rules, stepping down to 1:20 for non-major pairs and 1:5 for stock CFDs. Margin call sits at 50% and stop-out at 20% across every entity, both explicitly documented on the contract-specifications page.

Tradeable instruments

The instrument shelf is dominated by forex and CFDs (instruments that track an underlying price without owning it). The forex catalog covers 55+ pairs spanning majors, minors, and exotics. CFD classes include 1,400+ single-stock CFDs, 30+ stock indices, commodities (gold, silver, oil, agricultural), energies, and crypto CFDs (BTC, ETH, and major altcoins). Crypto CFDs are not available to clients under the Cyprus (EU) or MENA entities. Real share dealing sits separately in the Shares account, available to clients onboarded onto that specific tier.

Deposit and withdrawal methods

Funding routes vary by region but cover bank wire, Visa, Mastercard, Skrill, Neteller, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and crypto (BTC, ETH, USDT) for clients under the Belize entity. Local payment rails appear in Africa (M-Pesa, Airtel Money) and Southeast Asia. Card and e-wallet deposits credit instantly. Wire transfers take 2-5 business days. Withdrawal processing time is listed as same-day from the broker's side, with bank-receipt time depending on the route. No internal withdrawal fee is charged; intermediary banks may apply their own.

Fees beyond the spread

Beyond spread and Zero-account commission, the broker discloses two carry costs. Swap, overnight financing on leveraged positions, applies on Micro, Standard, Ultra Low, and Zero accounts; Islamic accounts replace swap with an administration fee on certain instruments after a grace period. An inactivity charge of $5 per month triggers after 90 days of no trading activity, debited from the account balance. No deposit fee and no withdrawal fee is published. Currency conversion is applied when the trade currency differs from the account base currency.

Customer support

Support runs in 30+ languages via live chat, email, and regional phone numbers, with operating hours quoted as 24/5 across the trading week. The official help center publishes structured articles by topic (account opening, KYC, deposits, withdrawals, platform setup). Live-chat response is typically under a minute during European trading hours; out-of-hours queries route to email. The South Africa and Australia entities provide local-business-hours coverage in addition to the central desk.

Mobile app and trading experience

The MT4 and MT5 mobile apps run natively on iOS and Android. Public app-store ratings sit above 4.4/5 on both platforms, based on tens of thousands of reviews. Both apps support full order management, chart drawing, multiple timeframes, and push alerts. The broker operates an in-app news and economic-calendar feed inside MT5 mobile. No proprietary mobile app exists; the trader experience is functionally identical to any other MT4/MT5 broker on phone.

XM bottom line

Five active licenses across CySEC, ASIC, DFSA, FSCA, and FSC Belize cover the broker's main operating regions, and the EU and Australian entities sit inside Tier-1 retail protection frameworks (ICF up to €20,000 and ASIC client-money rules). The $5 entry, the full MT4, MT5, and TradingView stack, and the Zero account at 0.0 pip plus $3.50 commission make the broker accessible to small-balance traders. The trade-offs are clear: no US or Canadian acceptance, 1:1000 leverage available only via the Belize entity, and no proprietary platform. Standard- and Micro-account spreads from 1.0 pip sit above raw-ECN rivals; cost-conscious traders gravitate to Ultra Low or Zero.

Forex and derivative products carry high leverage; some or all invested capital may be lost. This content is for information only, not investment advice. Verify the broker's current regulation status with the relevant authority's official site before any investment decision.