Exness

Exness’ exit from the UK/EU retail market following the regulators’ restrictions intended to safeguard traders does not speak highly of the group. However, Exness is regulated by multiple second-tier authorities, including the Kenyan CMA, the South African FSCA and the Seychelles FSA.

FSA Regulation: Italian traders will be trading with Exness (SC) Ltd, authorised and regulated by the FSA in Seychelles.  

Safety Features: Although Italians will be onboarded through the FSA Seychelles – traditionally a weaker regulator – we still consider Exness a safe broker to trade with. Firstly, it holds licences from several regulators worldwide. Secondly, it provides all clients with negative balance protection, meaning traders cannot lose more than their initial deposit. Finally, it is regularly audited by Deloitte, one of the world’s most reputable audit firms.  

We found the account opening and verification process at Exness easy. Our account was verified within 48 hours, which is longer than average, but we were able to make a deposit and start trading while we waited.  

It took us about 5 minutes to open an account at Exness. We could immediately deposit funds into our accounts and start trading, but our accounts were only ready for trading after two days.

From the Exness homepage, we clicked on the New Account tab where we were directed to register an account.    

1. Exness’ registration form required us to fill in our country of residence and email address and choose a password. This allowed us access to Exness Personal Area. 
2. By default, a real trading account and a demo trading account (both for MT5) are created in the new Personal Area; but it is possible to open new trading accounts.
3. From our new Personal Area, we clicked on the Open New Account in the ‘My Accounts’ area.
4. We chose from the available trading account types, and whether we wanted to open a real or demo account. We then chose between the MT4 and MT5 platforms, set our max leverage, and chose our account currency (note that this cannot be changed for this trading account once set): Finally, we created a nickname for this trading account, set the trading account password and clicked Create an Account.
5. Our new trading account appeared in the ‘My Accounts’ tab.
6. While you can deposit up to 2000 USD and trade for 30 days without account verification, it is recommended that you verify your identity as soon as possible. Note that deposits with cryptocurrency or bank cards require a fully verified profile.
   Exness will also need:
7. Your Economic Profile – this is a short questionnaire detailing your economic knowledge and financial background.
   1. Proof of Identification – Exness accepts all government-issued identification documents such as Passport, national ID card, driving license, or other government-issued ID. 
   2. Proof of Address – Proof of residence/address document must be issued in the name of the account holder within the last 6 months and must contain a trader’s full name, current residential address, issue date, and issuing authority. 
8. Once verification is complete, traders will be able to deposit up to 50,000 USD. If your Exness account is not verified within 30 days of account registration, deposits, transfers, and trading functions will no longer be available.

A large number of Forex pairs: With over 100 Forex pairs on its books, Exness offers one of the largest sets in the industry, including majors, minors, and exotics.

High Leverage: Exness has 34 cryptocurrencies to trade at 400:1 leverage. This isn’t the largest selection in the world, but it is a higher level of leverage for crypto trading than any other broker. The high leverage on the crypto CFDs is potentially risky given the volatility of these assets, and traders are advised to use lower levels than the maximum offered. 

We opened and tested all of Exness’s accounts and found that its trading costs are slightly higher than average on its Standard accounts, but significantly lower than average on its Pro accounts.

Trading costs are a little higher than average across all three of the Standard Accounts – most good brokers’ entry-level accounts have a trading cost of 9 USD per lot of EUR/USD traded.  However, with no real minimum deposit requirements to speak of, these are still good accounts for beginner traders. The fees are particularly low on the six Pro accounts, with trading costs of only 6 – 7 USD per lot of EUR/USD traded. 

We opened and tested Exness’s accounts:

Standard Cent Account (MT4 only)

With a 3 – 10 USD minimum deposit (depending on the payment provider), micro-lots unlocked, and spreads as low as 0.3 pips, this is a great account for new Forex traders who want to learn without too much risk. However, spreads are closer to 1 pip on this account.

You will only be able to trade Forex and metals with this account, and the MT5/Exness web trader trading platforms are not supported.

Standard Account (MT4/MT5/Exness web trader)

This account also only requires a 3 – 10 USD minimum deposit (depending on the payment provider), and trading conditions are broadly similar to the Cent Account, but you will have access to MT5/Exness web trader and more assets, including cryptocurrencies and indices.

Raw Spread Account (MT4/MT5/Exness web trader)

This account has a minimum deposit of 200 USD, a 3.50 USD (7 USD round turn) commission, and spreads that start at 0 pips on the EUR/USD. It is available on MT5/Exness web trader.

Pro Account (MT4/MT5/Exness web trader)

The single instant execution account offered by Exness, this account has a minimum deposit of 200 USD and spreads that start at 0.6 pips (EUR/USD) but guarantees no slippage. It is available on MT5/Exness web trader.

Zero Account (MT4 or MT5)

This account has a minimum deposit of 200 USD and 3.50 USD (7 USD round turn) commission, but traders are guaranteed 0 pip (EUR/USD) spreads for 95% of the trading day on 30 pairs. It is also available on MT5/Exness web trader.

All accounts feature market execution, apart from the Pro Account, where instant execution is provided for all CFDs, except on cryptocurrencies. All accounts are available as swap-free Islamic accounts for Muslim traders.

Exness Trader App

We enjoyed how easy it is to use the Exness app. It has a sophisticated dashboard and intuitive home screen. It allows you to view trading signals, curated by TradingView for each instrument, which is very convenient. Simply click the ‘overview’ button:

It also displays the market sentiment on the buy and sell buttons:

Additionally, it’s simple to place orders, set price alerts, create watchlists, and view live prices and charts:

MT4 and MT5 Apps

The Exness MT4 and MT5 apps allow traders to work from anywhere, with nine timeframes, 30 indicators, and interactive currency charts. Functionality to close and modify existing orders, calculate profit/loss in real-time, and tick chart trading further empowers traders while on the move.

Like the mobile trading apps, Exness offers MT4, MT5, and its own in-house trading platform available on both Mac and PC.

While MT4 and MT5 are both excellent trading platforms, Exness’s in-house platform is easier to use for beginner traders. Still, the benefit of Exness offering third-party platforms such as MT4 and MT5 is that traders can take their own customised version of the platform with them should they choose to migrate to another broker.

For the purposes of this review, we tested all three platforms – Exness’s web trader platform, MT4, and MT5.  

Exness Terminal

The web trader platform requires no downloads or installation and is available for all devices. When you log in to your account you are immediately redirected to the platform. We found that the web trader has a clean user interface, and it is easy to navigate and search for various instruments.

Additionally, traders can set their stop levels by percentage, account currency, or even price – which makes things much simpler for beginners. The platform also comes with TradingView charts, indicators and drawing tools, providing traders with a comprehensive view of the markets.  See below:

One drawback is that the platform does not allow traders to set price alerts and notifications, but these are available on the mobile version. We were pleased to note that TradingView, one of the most popular third-party trading tools on the market, is fully integrated into the platform and provides technical insight and instant pattern recognition.

More advanced traders may prefer MT4 or MT5, both available at Exness, which allows traders to customise their indicators, has many more chart types, and has algorithmic (or automated) trading.

Metatrader 4 (MT4)

We found that, like most brokers, the Exness MT4 platform is the standard version with 23 graphical objects and 30 built-in indicators. Unlike Exness’s proprietary web trader, algorithmic trading is available, and MT4 is fully customisable.

We found that the platform’s interface is dated, but it is fully customisable. There are three chart types, including Line, Bar, and Candlestick charts, and you can access a wide selection of indicators in multiple timeframes:

Metatrader 5 (MT5)

Developed in 2010, MT5 is the newer version of its predecessor, MT4, and is available at Exness. We recommend using MT5 if you are looking for a more powerful and faster trading platform when it comes to back-testing functionality for automated trading algorithms.  Additionally, traders prefer MT5 for its depth of market display, additional technical indicators (38 as opposed to 30 on MT4), and 22 analytical tools.

In line with Anti-Money Laundering policies, deposits and withdrawals at Exness cannot be made to/from third-party accounts, and all non-profit funds are returned to the original deposit source. 

Accepted Currencies: When we opened our account at Exness, we were given the choice of more than 40 base currencies. Most other brokers only offer 5 – 10 base currencies, so Exness really shines on this front. Unfortunately Exness doesn’t offer TZS as a base currency and Italian traders will likely have to pay conversion fees.

Funds can be deposited in several ways, including credit cards, bank wire transfers, Neteller, Skrill, and a few other online payment systems, through Exness’s payment portal.

Trading Central (TC) Indicator

One of our favourite indicators, the TC Indicator is a multilingual and customizable plugin that superimposes Trading Central’s technical analysis strategies, forecast, commentary, and key levels (support/resistance/targets/stop pivots) onto MT4 live charts for most tradable instruments.

Based on selected timeframes, TC Indicator will display the latest Trading Central articles, whether on an intraday, short-term, or mid-term basis. Traders can program and fill in orders based on the TC Indicator levels directly from their MT4 screen.

TradingView

TradingView is a web-based social network that allows traders to share trading ideas, spot trading opportunities, and trade directly from its advanced charts.  It has over 12 customisable chart types, including candlesticks, Renko and Kagi, hundreds of built-in and community-built indicators, more than 50 drawing tools, volume profile indicators, and in-depth market analysis tools. Another unique feature is its customisable timeframes that can be set to any time interval and its trading alerts, available on any device, with 12 different alert conditions. 

VPS Service

Exness offers a free VPS service for all traders who deposit at least 500 USD. A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a remote terminal solution that benefits from reduced latency and downtime, as it is unaffected by power cuts or computer crashes.  Even when the trading terminal is closed, the Exness VPS will keep trading.

Most of the research content is presented in the analysis blog, which is updated every few days with thoughtful insight into recent and future events across a range of CFD markets. Dow Jones News is also available to clients with MT4 accounts, while FXStreet is available on Exness’ web trader platform.

Of course, a standard economic calendar is available, but Exness also presents a daily video of upcoming market events to watch out for with a brief technical analysis. This is provided by Trading Central but is still useful for new traders.

Exness’s education materials comprise video tutorials and webinars. 

Video Tutorials: Video education is available in five languages, including English, Arabic, Thai, Indonesian and Vietnamese. These bite-sized videos are great explainers of important concepts that all Forex traders need to understand.

Webinars: Exness also hosts frequent webinars in English, Arabic, Thai, Indonesian and Vietnamese. These cover a range of topics and will prove especially useful to new traders. Registering for a webinar does not require an Exness account, though you will have to provide an email address.

Client phone support is 24/5 in 16 languages, and 24/7 in five languages, English, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Swahili. Most brokers only offer 24/5 customer service, so this is a bonus for English-speaking traders.

Other contact forms include live chat, call-back service, phone, and emails. Support is also provided through the Exness help centre, which is frequently updated with detailed articles covering everything from trading guides to funding FAQs.

For the purposes of the review, we tested the live chat service and email. We tested Exness’s live chat and found that the customer service agents were polite and helpful.