How to Open Account in OANDA

OANDA account opening is fully online and very straightforward. Read the following guide to start your journey in OANDA.

If you are planning to start online trading, you'll need to open a trading account. You can set up an account at many brokerage firms depending on your needs. The broker basically acts as the middleman that gives you access to the market. Once you've completed the trade, you can withdraw your account balance at any time you want.

However, opening a brokerage account for the first time can be quite confusing. Each broker has a different set of rules to follow, so it's important to learn about them beforehand and make sure that you have prepared all the requirements in order to register easily. In this article, we will show you how to open an account in one of the most well-known brokers in the world, OANDA. But before that, here's a quick review of the broker to get you started.

Introduction to OANDA

OANDA is a US-based brokerage firm that was established in 1996. It was co-founded by computer scientist Dr. Michael Stumm and an economist Dr. Richard Olsen, who believed that technology and the internet would open up huge opportunities for both currency data and trading. Today, OANDA has grown into a giant company that offers plenty of financial products in various regions worldwide, including the Middle East, North America, Central America, Europe, South America, Oceania, Antarctica, the Caribbean, and Asia.

OANDA is an ideal broker for any type of trader, including beginners. It offers some of the tightest spreads in the markets, no minimum deposits, and low trade sizes. The broker also supports many trading techniques such as scalping, hedging, and algorithmic trading. As for safety, OANDA is under the regulation of several top-tier authorities, such as ASIC of Australia, MAS of Singapore, FCA of the UK, and more. This simply showcases OANDA's commitment to fulfilling its responsibilities as a broker and maintaining clients' trust.

OANDA Account Opening Requirements

OANDA account opening is fully online and quite straightforward. You can just use your device to access the broker and start the registration process. However, there are several things that you need to know beforehand.

First of all, OANDA only accepts clients that are over 18 years old. This is important because forex trading is certainly not free of risk, so you need to be fully aware of the potential damage before you enter the market.

In order to verify your identity, you'll be required to provide some documents as a form of compliance with anti-money laundering regulations. This step is particularly necessary if you want to open a Premium or Premium Core account in OANDA and deposit or withdraw more than $9,000. There are two types of documents that you'll need to provide in full account verification, namely:

Proof of Identity

To verify your identity and nationality, you'll need to upload one of the following documents:

• Valid Passport
• Valid Driver's License
• Valid Photo ID

Proof of Residence

To confirm your address, you must provide one of the following documents:

• Bank or Credit Card Statement
• Driver's License
• Photo ID
• Court Papers or Summons
• NHS, Council Tax, or Tax Document
• Utility Bills (e.g. gas, electricity, water)
• TV License
• Landline Telephone or Internet Invoice (mobile phone bills are not accepted)

If you are a new client, you can easily upload the documents during the registration process in OANDA, which we will explain shortly. But if you are an existing client, you'll need to email the documents to frontdesk@oanda.com and wait for your application to be reviewed by the relevant team.

Steps to Start Trading in OANDA

1. Head over to OANDA's official website and click "Create Account" on the main page or "Start Trading" on the top right.

2. You will be asked if you live in the country that you logged in from. Select "Yes" or "No" depending on your situation. Read also the documents presented below it and then click "Confirm and Continue" to proceed to the next page.

3. As a starter, you'll need to provide some basic information for your new account. Enter your username and email address, and then choose a strong password. After that, set up a security question that will help you if you want to reset your password. Once you're done, click "Confirm and Continue".

4. Fill in your personal details, such as your first and last name, date of birth, mobile phone number, and your national insurance number according to your country. Click "Confirm and Continue".

5. On the next page, enter your residential address. You can start by typing the first line of your address and finding it automatically, or you can just enter it manually. Make sure that your address is correct before moving to the next step.

6. You'll also need to provide information about your employment details. This includes your employment status or job title, your annual income, the amount of your savings and investments, and the source of your trading funds. Once you're done, click "Continue".

7. Provide information regarding your trading experience. This includes the number of CFD trades, forex trades, and other trades that you've executed throughout your trading career. Keep in mind that there's no need to obscure your experience here. The information provided will help the broker to suggest the best trading conditions based on your expertise.

8. On the next page, there is a small quiz consisting of 9 questions related to trading. This is to ensure that you have the appropriate knowledge to start trading. Don't worry too much though because the questions are mostly considered entry-level, so any person with a basic knowledge of forex trading should be able to answer them.

9. Wait for the broker to review some of your details. This usually takes only a few seconds.

10. You will be asked to check your personal details once more. Make sure that the data you provided are correct and match your National ID Card or Passport. Click "Confirm and Continue" once you're done.

11. Provide the image or document needed for your Proof of Identity. You can choose between your Passport, Driver's License, or Photo ID. Once you upload it, click "Confirm and Continue".

12. Provide the image or document needed for your Proof of Residence. This can either be a Bank or Credit Card Statement, Driver's License, Photo ID, or others (refer to the image below).

13. Your application has been submitted! You will receive an email for your account completion along with your account ID and other information. Just simply open your email and verify your account. Then wait for your documents to be reviewed by the broker. This will probably take a few hours or so. Once it's done, you can immediately fund your account and start trading.

Keep in mind that at any step of the registration process, there's a "Save Application" button that allows you to save your application progress. This means you can close the application and come back at any time without having to input your data twice. This might be helpful if you needed some time to prepare certain documents like Proof of Identity or Proof of Residence.

Summary

All in all, opening a trading account in OANDA is very easy to follow, even for complete beginners. The process is also very quick compared to other brokers, so there's no need to wait for too long to start depositing your money. Just make sure to check the availability of the broker in your country before you register and choose the right trading account depending on your needs and expertise level. If you need an account to practice, you can open a demo account for free and immediately try the features offered.

OANDA is an award-winning broker with an outstanding reputation for more than 25 years in the trading industry. The broker supports excellent customer care and transparent pricing on state-of-the-art platforms.