OANDA is one of the most trusted brokers in the world; its growth has been attributed to its expansion to new countries, and stamping their mark in those countries by registering their company. They have been in the financial industry since 1996 to date; this makes them one of the seasoned brokers in the business.
They have cross registered in several countries, those countries have proven to be centers of economic excellence for many years, and their presence there sends a clear message that they believe in the same.
They are registered in the United States as OANDA Corporation; they are regulated by the CFTC as a Commercial Merchant and Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer. They are also a member of the National Futures Association registered under the number 0325821.
In Canada they are registered as OANDA Canada, they are regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and their clients deposits are protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund.
In the United Kingdom they are registered under the name OANDA Europe Ltd, their registration number is 7110087, and they are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under the registration number 542574.
In Singapore they are called OANDA Asia Pacific Pte Ltd; they have a Singapore Capital Markets License, registration number Co., Reg No 200704926K.
They are also registered in Australia as OANDA Australia Pty Ltd they are regulated by ASIC, their registration number ABN 26152088349, and they are a member of AFSL their member number 412981.
They are also registered in Japan as OANDA Japan Co. Ltd, they are licensed by the Institute Financial Futures Association under the number 1571, and they also have a First Type Financial Instruments Business Director of Kanto Local Financial Bureau license with their registration number 2137.
Their United States clients do not have access to the hedging and 50:1 leverage, and their spread betting services only cover United Kingdom and Ireland clients.
OANDA COM: Trading Platforms
OANDA decided to go their own way by creating a proprietary platform that encompasses what they offer as a top broker. Their platform is called the fxTrader which is one of the best forex and CFD trading platforms in the business. They have won several awards because of their innovative platform as proof to its effectiveness.
The platform is customizable and has extremely fast executions, as per tests made it executes trades in 0.057 seconds 98% of the time. That is some pretty fast execution, the platform also allows hedging and it was built with the high volume trader in mind.
The platform also has a mobile trading platform built that can downloaded from the Apple Store and Android Play Store as well. They also offer a demo platform that gives the same real-time pricing and volatility as the one offered for the live account.
OANDA COM also have the MT4 platform that allows hedging, has competitive spread across the major pairs offered, it is customizable and it has been developed in a way it can be bridged with the fxTrade platform.
Review of their Products
OANDA has over 90 currencies offered to their clients. They also have precious metals, Contracts for Difference, commodities, equity indices, and bonds.
The CFDs and precious metals are not available to be traded by the United States residents; also the precious metal Palladium is not available to Canadian residents. All other products are available for trading to the clients of the countries listed above.
Those few exceptions are simply made because of the laws laid out by the regulatory bodies of the given countries. All the same there are a lot of instruments to choose from and they are more than enough to build their portfolios.
OANDA Education
OANDA has been very supportive of their traders’ growth. They have created the OANDA Academy where traders can select from two groups the material that fits them well.
They have the instructor-led learning; where there is the free education tab and the premium education tab specifically for their clients.
They have the self-directed learning that is based on specific tradable instruments, these are; introduction to currencies, commodities and precious metals, and exploring technical trading.
They have they Market Pulse for market updates, it runs 24/7 and the market commentary section based on analysis provided by their in-house analysts.
Deposits and Withdrawals
OANDA has several deposits and withdrawal options that are based on their locations around the world. The following are some of their options, PayPal, credit and debit cards, wire transfer, Bpay, China Union Pay, checks, and online banking transfer just to name a few.
All the available options can be found in their help portal in their website. The deposit option determines your withdrawal channel which means if you use a VISA credit card to deposit; your withdrawal will utilize the same VISA credit card.
There are charges attached to these transactions and they can be found in the help portal under the deposits and withdrawals sections in their web page.
OANDA: Review of their Customer Support
OANDA has ensured that their customer support is as interactive as possible. They have a live chat that is available 24/7 for any urgent issues raised by their clients.
They also have telephone numbers that can be used if you have an urgent issue that requires urgent attention. Their online help portal is well structured and it is very easy to navigate your way through it.
In the help portal you can easily find the frequently asked questions section where most of the questions that you may have will be answered in a clear and concise manner. All these channels have been created to give you an easier time trading.
Verdict
OANDA has proven to be a world class broker as from their products all the way to their platforms. They have well structured educational resource and an extensive help portal. Without a doubt choosing OANDA as your broker will be one of the best decisions you would have made for your trading career.
