Most of new traders were taught in rather outdated environments, where the prices were displayed in four decimal pricing. That format are likely to be deprecated as its counterpart, five decimal pricing, rises in popularity.
Most of new traders were taught in rather outdated environments, where the prices were displayed in four decimal pricing. That format are likely to be submerged as its counterpart, five decimal pricing, rises in popularity.
Five decimal pricing, according to forex industry bigwigs, is going to be implemented accross the board for all major trading platforms, as it provides more precise ask & bid spread that every trader should be looking forward to.
Meet Pipette, A Fraction Of A Pip
Let's say you were trading in EUR/USD pairs, a unit of pip usually stands for US$10 in four decimal pricing where a single lot is offered at US$100,000, that's what the textbook said to you. However, you can only net US$10 profit by each increment of one pip alongside your ordered market directions.
Whereas in five decimal pricing model, you can gain a fraction more of that same aforementioned deal.
Note that a single pip in five decimal pricing valued at one-tenth of its counterpart in four decimals (e.g. US$1 to US$10, respectively). That's a smaller value though, so how can we gain a fraction more as mentioned before?
Given the same time frame, five-decimals pricing moves much faster due to its tighter spread. By the time you made one pip profit in good ol' four decimals, you came up with at least ten pips or more if you're dealing with the new pricing model.
Easy, right? From the picture above you can figure out that the spread gives you 1.7 pips (see, a fraction more!), and that's only possible in five decimals.
It doesn't stop there, here are some other options that are also worth your consideration:
- Expert advisors (EA) love long decimals, more decimals equal to faster signals.
- Hey, we do know that there are traders looking for landslide spread to minimalize trading cost, can you get it any smaller than a fraction of a pip? Done deal.
- Scalpers, this is your nature-call, enough said.
Here Come The Brokers
Following the new pricing model hype, queueing major brokers appealed to us by giving options to switch from four to five decimals pricing or plunge headfirst to it from day one. As per this writing, here's a small example of retail brokers providing five decimals pricing. Pick at your own leisure.
1. Instaforex
This Russia-based broker will give us the option to switch to five decimals display exclusive to a server, which is instaforex.eu. By default, Instaforex will offer us to trade in four decimals; even so, returning clients may transfer their balance to a new server by opening new accounts.
InstaForex is an international broker that provides trading services to traders globally. Since it was founded in 2007, InstaForex has provided for clients from various countries as many as 7 million traders. Based in Kaliningrad, Russia, InstaForex always attempts to improve the quality of the company in order to captivate the hearts of their clients.
Their hard work can be proven, one of which is by achieving a variety of awards, including Best Forex Cryptocurrency Trading Platform 2018 by UK Forex Awards, Best ECN Broker Asia 2018 by IBM, Forex Broker of the Year for Eastern Europe 2018 according to le Fonti Awards, Development, and Success award at Financial Olympus 2016-2017, etc.
There are 4 types of account offered by InstaForex representing a universal trading tool that help to work on international financial markets, such as Insta.Standard, Insta.Eurica, Cent.Standard, dan Cent.Eurica. Trading account types differ by the methods of accounting spreads and commissions, which are picked by the trader opening an account.
Insta.Standard account is relevant for standard trading terms on the Forex market and allows a trade to be settled with classical spread and with no fees. Traders will be charged a fixed spread every time they make a transaction. Spreads that are provided ranging from 3-7 pips. The main advantage of this type of accounts is its universality, as a trader can change the trading leverage and work with a deposit size convenient for traders.
Different from Insta.Standard accounts, Insta.Eurica accounts do not require payment of any spread on opening a deal. Therefore, this type of InstaForex account is suitable for beginner trader with a minimum transaction of 0.01 lots.
There are also other types of accounts InstaForex, namely Cent.Standard and Cent.Eurica which can be used for beginner traders because they can use the minimum transaction volume, which is 0.0001 lots (the cost per lot is USD0.1 cent). Deposit currencies that can be used by traders are EUR and USD (for all types of accounts).
Trading in InstaForex is quite a given as traders can choose to trade with leverage between 1:1 to 1:1,000. With a minimum initial deposit requirement of only USD1 (for all types of accounts), InstaForex clients have the opportunity to get a 30% to 100% deposit bonus.
Not only that, but beginner traders are also exempt from confusion in determining forex trading strategies. Because Instaforex provides ForexCopy services that allow traders to copy orders from professional traders in just a few minutes.
And then, there are around 300 trading instruments offered by InstaForex for traders. In addition to currency pairs, there are also futures, shares, gold, silver, CFDs, Bitcoin, and others.
Every InstaForex client is free to choose a trading platform that can be tailored to their needs. There are four types of trading platforms available, including InstaBinary, WebIFX, MetaTrader4, and MetaTrader5. Each platform has advantages and disadvantages. InstaForex also provides video tutorials on how to register on each platform. It aims to make it easy for beginner traders who want to join InstaForex.
If a trader still confused after seeing the video tutorials, traders can contact customer service available 24 hours connected to various social media, including email, Skype, Whatsapp, Telegram, Viber, Twitter, and Phone Call. On the InstaForex website, there are around 30 languages provided to facilitate traders from various countries.
The trader can also help themselves with trading calculators provided on the InstaForex website. Traders can accumulate currency pairs, Leverage, volume, and currency used.
The payment system in InstaForex is also diverse. Traders can pay deposits via Visa, Mastercard, Skrill, Neteller, PayCo, as well as Wire Transfer. All in all, InstaForex is a well-rounded broker for many types of traders.
2. FBS
FBS already applied five decimal options to all of their account types; cent account, standard account, etc. Their unique feature is a rebate program where traders might gain kickbacks to each of their traded lots.
Since 2009, the action of FBS Holding Inc. or known as FBS in the world of forex trading has been recognized by various international institutions. With clients reaching 14 million as of 2019, FBS has received the title of Most Transparent Forex Broker 2018, Best Investor Education 2017, Best Customer Service Broker Asia 2016, IB FX Program, and many others.
FBS is regulated by FSC Belize and CySEC Cyprus. This broker has been trusted by millions of traders and 370 thousand partners from various countries. Based on their data, FBS garners about 7,000 new traders and partner accounts every day. And, 80% of the clients stay in the FBS for a long time. No wonder the broker is growing rapidly due to the incredible growth in the number of clients.
Trading products offered by FBS range from forex, CFD, precious metal, and stock. For forex trading, CySEC-regulated FBS offers leverage up to 1:30 on Cent and Standard Accounts. Clients who want to try higher leverage than that can alternatively register an account under FBS Belize.
FBS spread begins from 0.5 pips for Pro account type and from 0.7 pips for Standard and Cent accounts. On a standard account, volume orders can be made from 0.01 to 500 lots. Therefore, this account is recommended for experienced traders.
Whereas on Cent Accounts, volume orders can be carried out with a maximum of 500 cent lots or the equivalent of 5 standard lots. Cent Accounts involve a different level of risk. FBS recommends Cent Accounts for beginner traders. All account types support the following trading instruments: 36 Forex pairs, 8 metals, 3 energies, 11 indices, 127 stocks, 5 crypto pairs.
Before plunging into the real forex market, traders can practice with FBS Demo Account which consists of two types, i.e Standard and Cent.
FBS uses the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms. They offer them on Windows and Mac as well as Android and iOS mobile. These platforms provide a trading experience at traders' fingertips, allowing traders to progress as a trader anywhere at any time.
MetaTrader platforms also have a variety of mainstay features, including the possibility to create, buy, and use expert advisors (EA) and scripts, One-click trading and embedded news, technical analysis tools, the possibility to copy deals from other traders, hedging positions, and VPS service support.
Another advantage provided by FBS is a deposit bonus of 100% for clients who fulfill certain requirements. The process of FSCing and withdrawing funds can be run easily and quickly. Based on clients' testimonies, each process usually takes no more than 3-4 hours, except on holidays.
Traders also have the opportunity to develop a side business when trading with FBS, namely as an Introducing Broker (IB) or Affiliate. The FBS partnership system provides partner commissions that are already in 3 level positions. Only by introducing new clients to FBS according to certain procedures, traders can earn extra income.
Traders will also get trading education experience at FBS. They have prepared a comprehensive forex course. The course consists of 4 levels: beginner, elementary, intermediate, and experienced. Traders can take courses that will turn them from newbies to professionals. All materials are well-structured. Besides, FBS provides various forex analyzes, webinars, forex news, and daily market analysis that can be accessed easily on their site.
Traders can access the FBS website with many language choices. Of course, this will increasingly provide comfort for traders. Available languages include English, Italian, French, Portuguese, Indonesian, Spanish, and others. Live chat support is also provided 24 hours 7 days a week.
In conclusion, FBS is a widely known broker among retail traders around the world. It continually grows to become a preferred broker because of flexible trading conditions that enable its clients to trade with various instruments, low deposit, and other trading advantages.
3. XM
XM suggests their clients use five decimals pricing model from the get-go, sayonara to four decimals. Tight spreads, no-commission policy, and leverage up to 1:888, all the top features traders wouldn't want to miss.
XM Group is a group of regulated brokers and it is owned by Trading Point Holdings Ltd. Entities under XM Group have significant experience as financial services providers worldwide.
Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd was established in 2009 with headquarters in Limassol, Cyprus, Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd was established in 2015 with headquarters in Sydney, Australia, XM Global Limited was established in 2017 with headquarters in Belize and Trading Point MENA Limited was established in 2019 with headquarters in Dubai.
XM Group is regulated by the CySEC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission) - Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd, FSC (Financial Services Commission) – XM Global Limited, the ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) - Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd and DFSA (Dubai Financial Services Authority) - Trading Point MENA Limited.
XM is one of the more experienced brokers in the world of online forex trading today. Since its founding, the broker has experienced a lot of changes, including the addition of the Ultra-Low Account and EN Live Edu that is instructed by 16 global experts.
In terms of trading instruments, XM is a well-known diverse class assets provider, varying from Forex, Crypto, Stock CFDs, Turbo Stocks, Commodities, Equity Indices, Precious Metals, Energies, & Shares. XM prides itself to be the ideal broker in trading execution, offering a stat of 99.35% orders to be executed in less than 1 second. Trading in XM would be also provided with a strict no requotes policy, no virtual dealer plug-in, no rejection of orders, real-time market execution, and the choice for traders to place orders online or by phone.
Spreads on all majors can reach as low as 0.6 pips in Ultra-Low Account, while spreads on other accounts usually start from 1 pip.
To protect the client's fund in the event of extreme volatility, XM presents each account type with Negative Balance Protection. Minimum deposit of $5 applies to Standard, Micro, and also Ultra-Low Accounts. Traders who open accounts in XM are enabled a condition similar to a Cent Account environment in the Micro Account, in which the Contract Size for every lot is only 1,000 units. If it is applied with the smallest lot size in the MetaTrader platform which amounts to 0.01, it means that traders can go as small as 10 units per trade.
For the deposit, XM applies zero-fee deposits in most of its available payment methods. Traders can choose to fund or withdraw their accounts via wire transfer, credit card, as well as the most favorable e-payment choices like Skrill, Neteller, and FasaPay.
To give their clients the best experiment in trading, XM has given access to both MT4 and MT5 platforms, each is available for more than 6 display formats (PC, Mac, Multiterminal, WebTrader, iPad, iPhone, Android, and Android Tablet).
All in all, there is no doubt that XM has gone global with its deep commitment to providing services in more than 30 different languages across the world. Aside from easing traders' experience with mainstream trading platforms and high-quality trading execution, XM is open to various types of traders, from small capital traders to the more experienced ones with big deposits at the ready. Traders are even provided with a Cent Trading environment should they choose to register under Micro Account.
For their global approach, XM has ensured that traders from various countries could access their service easily. This results in the provision of different domains specified for traders in certain jurisdictions. For example, traders from Indonesia could access XM via this link.