Orbex Ltd is a fully licensed Cyprus investment firm, operating under the supervision of CYSEC, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. Orbex brokerage services for Forex and CFD trading, are also registered in 28 European Union countries and regulated under the strict EU MiFID rules protecting investors in financial markets. Orbex takes compliance very seriously, segregating client’s funds in Tier-1 banks and contributing to the Domestic Investor Compensation Fund.
Established in 2011, Orbex Ltd offers a comprehensive ECN broker service with a wide range of instruments for online trading in a diverse range of products on the MetaTrader platform. These include trading in Foreign Exchange Currency Pairs, CFDs, Futures Contracts, Commodities, Equity Indices and Precious Metals.
In 2016, Orbex received prestigious industry awards for, ‘Best Education Provider’ and ‘Best Analysis provider’. These were in addition to earlier awards in 2013, for ‘Best FX Forecast and Strategy Provider’, ‘Best FX Technology Provider’ and ‘Most Innovative ECN Broker’.
Orbex provides top quality free educational services including video tutorials, E-Books, Webinars, expert analysis as well as strategy advice from highly trained industry professionals. Orbex aims to keep customers at the forefront of its operations providing, ‘100% secure online trading facilities’, 24/7 multi-lingual customer service and advantageous terms allowing clients to trade with confidence.
Since 2017, Cyprus law strictly forbids the use of any bonuses by brokerage firms aimed at attracting new clients or rewarding existing traders.
Account Features
The Orbex Brokerage Service offers 6 types of account, all Swap Free, meeting the diverse needs of its trading clients. It’s important for traders to check the features of each account to see exactly what they get when they select an account type. Notably, the Orbex trading software allows up to 50 lots per trade which is less than some online brokerage firms.
The minimum deposit to open a Fixed Spread or Variable Spread account is €500 with Leverage capped at 1:500. Significantly, the default leverage set by the CySec regulation is 1:50 and is only increased by Orbex when clients request it. Depending on the type of account chosen, spreads can be as low as 0.8 pips. Notably, ‘Scalping’ is permitted in all account types, except the ‘Orbex Classic Account’. Whilst Scalping may sound painful, it’s simply a trading strategy where traders attempt to maximise profits by buying and selling large volumes of currencies over very short time periods.
Classic Account
The Classic account is a fixed spread account requiring a minimum deposit of €500. It’s suited to traders who like a stable trading environment and offers leverage up to 1:500. Currently the spreads are fixed at 1.9 and no commission is charged, even though traders can access expert advisors and free VPS hosting. The classic account does not permit scalping and the stop out is 20%.
Standard Account
With a minimum deposit of €500 and a stop out of 20%, traders can open a standard account with variable or floating spreads as low as 1.5 and no commission. The standard account is often preferred by traders who want to follow market prices in real time, which facilitates ‘scalping’. Leverage up to 1:500 can be requested from Orbex as well as expert advice and free access to VPS hosting. A key point to remember is that floating spreads are subject to market volatility and thereby riskier than fixed spread trading.
Premium Account
To open a commission-free Orbex Premium account, traders must deposit at least €5,000. The leverage provided can be up to 1:500 whilst the stop out is 20%. The premium account features variable/floating spreads as low as 1.2 making it very attractive. Variable spreads reflect market volatility and make scalping an option. Traders can consult expert advisors and access the free VPS hosting facility.
The VIP Account
Traders need to deposit at least €25,000 to open an Orbex VIP account with access to free VPS hosting and expert advisors. Significantly, the commission-free VIP account, features variable spreads as low as 0.8. Leverage up to 1:500 allowing traders to take massive positions. With variable spreads open to market fluctuations, traders can take advantage of rapid changes to execute scalping in forex markets.
Islamic Trading Account
For traders who follow the Islamic faith and Sharia law, Orbex provides a specially designed Islamic account where the application of interest is not carried out in any way.
Copy Trading/Social Trading Account
With a minimum deposit of 500 in EUR, USD, PLN or GBP, Orbex gives clients access to the FXStat Tradebook, a fully automated copy trading system, allowing hedging and scalping. Copy Trading offers spreads as low as 1.5 and allows clients to copy what hundreds of successful traders are doing in forex and metals trading, with only a $10 commission. The stop out is set at 20% and traders can get up to 1:500 leverage.
Orbex Demo Account
Inexperienced traders registering with the Orbex Broker Service are given the opportunity to open a free Demo trading account before risking real money in online trading. To open a demo account, Orbex asks only for your name, email address, country and telephone number. You get 30 days to use the demo account with €50,000 of virtual money for investing as you choose, across all the different account types in currency pairs and CFDs. The demo account gives you access to all the investment signals, real time trading analyses, and many more features that are included on the real money trading platform, making it an authentic trading experience.
Quick Lesson about Financial Jargon to Keep Our Readers on Board
What is a Spread and Why are Pips Involved?
A spread is the difference between two values that your broker is offering on any asset. Low spreads are advantageous to traders as they can buy assets at prices very close to those paid by the broker, reducing the cost of fixed or variable commissions. The two values of a spread are the ‘Ask’ or buying price and the selling price, called the Bid’. Typically, brokers set the ask value at a higher level than the bid value.
To measure even the tiniest changes in spreads, the industry uses ‘pips’ where one pip is 0.0001 of the underlying asset. This decimal measurement allows the smallest changes in currency pair values to be expressed in a way that everybody in the industry understands.
What is Leverage?
Leverage is effectively a loan from your broker allowing you to take a much bigger trading position in forex markets than would be possible with your own funds. Whilst Leverage allows traders to make bigger returns it can also magnify losses so it’s a double-edged sword.
What is the Stop Out?
When traders use leverage to take positions in forex trading, the broker needs to protect his money by setting pre-determined stop out levels. Subsequently, if the trader’s margin in his account drops so low that it can’t support the open position, the position closes automatically to protect the leverage money lent to the trader.
Trading Software & Assets
Whilst Orbex Brokerage Service offers 6 software options with various features, the main software platform is the popular MetaTrader 4. The MT4 Client Desktop for Windows is available in 23 languages and has a number of outstanding features including the trading stop function. Traders have access to live streamed market prices, real time analysis, multiple indicators and signals as well as fast payments.
The MT4 Multi-Terminal offers all the above plus extra tools and functionalities across multiple terminals. Traders can access several accounts simultaneously whilst receiving live news and analyses.
Orbex traders using MAC computers have access to a dedicated trading platform for MAC users. Traders have all the functions available on the Windows client, including market analyses and automated trading on this smooth functioning platform.
Orbex Mobile Trading Software
Mobile trading is a significant part of online trading and for this purpose, Orbex offers three mobile trading options. The WebTrader platform operates straight from the browser of a smart mobile device without a software download. It’s available in 41 languages and offers up to date trading opportunities across 9 different time zones.
Free MT4 mobile trading apps have been developed for Android and iOS powered phones and tablets. The Android version allows traders to access all types of Orbex trading accounts and has interactive diagrams. The app for iPhones and iPads offers even more features including analytical graphs updated at regular intervals as well as a hedging option.
Support Information
We found the multi-lingual customer support at the Orbex Brokerage Service very impressive. A competent team of professionally trained agents are available through live chat directly from the interface, 24 hours a day. A telephone service is also available, where support agents phone back the client free of charge and Emails are answered within 1 hour. Nevertheless, we suggest that traders read the extensive FAQs page on the Orbex website before contacting the support team, as there is plenty of useful information that we found very helpful.
Banking & Company Information
Orbex accepts deposits in a broad range of currencies and supports multiple payment methods. Currently clients can deposit using bank wire transfer, direct credit and debit cards, Skrill/MoneyBookers, Neteller, Fasapay, WebMoney and K-Net.
Fees are not charged on deposits, however banking services that involve fees are charged to the client. The minimum withdrawals by bank transfer is €200 per transaction and €50 by other accepted methods. Importantly, withdrawal requests are processed quickly, following verification of customer details. In line with international money laundering regulations, withdrawals are paid by the same method and to the same account used to deposit.
Security and Reliability of the Orbex Brokerage Service
Clients using the Orbex brokerage service enjoy the highest level of security with the website and data transfers protected by firewalls and SSL encryption technology. Moreover, Orbex Ltd is fully licensed and regulated by multiple financial authorities and clients’ funds segregated from company funds, in Tier-1 banks.