In this XS.com review, we introduce the broker and the group of companies operating in the Forex/CFD market under the licenses of several regulators. Potential clients are promised competitive spreads, the most popular assets with maximum liquidity, professional support, and modern trading terminals. However, these are promises that can be heard from every scam broker. Those who want to open accounts on this platform and fear becoming victims of yet another scam can refer to our materials about this project below. In them, we have made an effort to thoroughly analyze the activities of the platform, highlighting both its advantages and problems.
XS.com General Information
| Website | https://www.xs.com/ |
| Phone Number | +248 432 3314 |
| support@xs.com | |
| Address | F20, 1st Floor, Eden Plaza, Eden Island, Seychelles |
| License | №SD089 from Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA) |
| Minimum Deposit | No deposit minimum |
| Assets | CFDs |
| Leverage | Up to 1:2000 |
| Trading Platform | MetaTrader 4/5 |
Registration and Client Portal Review
It is immediately clear that the official XS.com website was created by a team of experts who understand what clients want from brokers. Therefore, the site contains a significant amount of information that traders seek. However, not all design decisions are unambiguous. For example, the gray text on a white background does not cause difficulties when surrounded by headings, controls, and images. However, large blocks of text, due to poor contrast, are quite hard to read.
Some content can also be criticized, such as:
- To assess the trading conditions for any of the account types offered by the broker, you will need to check at least 3 pages. This is not very convenient, although the information is quite comprehensive.
- Strangely, the broker lacks important tools for traders, such as an economic calendar, calculators, news feeds, and analysis. Experienced users can easily find these on third-party resources, but what about beginners?
- Some important information is incomplete. For example, the adaptive leverage system is only discussed in general terms, with no specific ratios provided by the company.
However, these omissions do not spoil the overall impression of the website. What is more concerning is the rather lengthy registration form, which potential XS.com clients must complete. It requires the following information:
- First and last name.
- Nationality (it’s unclear why?).
- Country of residence.
- Date of birth.
- Phone number.
- Email address.
You must also read and agree to the broker’s key documents, and confirm that you are not a resident or tax resident of the US or other countries where the broker does not operate.
The next step involves email verification. The user is required to enter a PIN code sent via email to the address provided earlier. Once this step is completed, the new client gains access to their personal account.
However, if you think the process is finished here, you are mistaken. It seems the entire group of companies has decided to adhere to the strictest regulatory requirements, so the functionality of the personal account is initially quite limited. To unlock all functions, additional personal information must be provided, and verification needs to be completed.
After unlocking, the personal account’s features are not much different from the standard. It includes:
- Opening trading accounts.
- Account funding.
- Withdrawal request submission.
- Profile editing, including security settings.
- Viewing transaction history.
- Contacting support.
What differentiates it from a standard set is the “Downloads” section, where links for downloading desktop and mobile versions of MetaTrader are available. Here, you can also find an economic calendar widget from MQL5.com, which would have been more useful on the official website.
Account Types Review
XS.com certainly did not skimp on the number of account types. The broker offers 9 types: 3 regular (Preferred), 3 Pro, and 3 for partners. Additionally, almost every account is available for trading in MT4 or MT5 (with minor differences in terms). Each account type is also available as swap-free (Islamic).
The Preferred account types include:
- Cent. The base currency is US Cents. The standard lot size is 100,000 cents, the minimum volume is 0.01 lots, the maximum is 500 lots, and the maximum number of orders is 500. Spreads start from 1.1 pips, leverage up to 1:1000, no dynamic leverage. StopOut level is 10%. This account is available only in MetaTrader 5.
- Micro. A dollar account with micro-volume trading. The standard lot size is 1,000 dollars, the minimum volume is 0.1 lots, the maximum is 500 lots, and the maximum number of orders is 500. Spreads start from 1.1 pips, leverage up to 1:1000, no dynamic leverage. StopOut level is 10%. This account is available only in MetaTrader 5.
- Standard. A dollar account with standard conditions. The standard lot size is 100,000 dollars, the minimum volume is 0.01 lots, the maximum is 100 lots, and the maximum number of orders is 100. Spreads start from 1.1 pips, leverage up to 1:2000, dynamic leverage is applied. StopOut level is 20%. This account is available in MetaTrader 4 and 5, with additional CFD instruments available in MT5.
Pro accounts differ by having a minimum deposit of 500 dollars. They offer smaller spreads starting from 0.7 pips, larger maximum order sizes (600 lots), and up to 600 orders.
The Elite account offers spreads starting from 0.1 pips, but a trading commission of 3 dollars per lot is charged. The maximum order size is 100 lots, with a maximum of 100 orders.
For the VIP account, the minimum deposit is 100,000 dollars, but client risk is reduced by a maximum leverage of 1:500.
On the “Contract Specs” page, you’ll find almost complete contract specifications for all available assets. These details are linked to account types. This is also where you can see the swap fees for position rollover.
Overall, XS.com’s trading conditions appear quite attractive, and in most cases, they are comparable to those offered by other licensed brokers. However, there are a few questions to consider:
- The company offers a maximum leverage of up to 1:1000 or 1:2000. Now it is quite clear why they chose to register in Seychelles, as the Seychelles regulator does not limit the maximum leverage. Does the broker take customer risks into account, considering that leverage at 1:1000 (or 1:2000) goes far beyond acceptable levels? Or is the profit from spreads, swaps, and commissions insufficient, so the platform allows traders to lose their entire deposit in a very short time, to then record their significant losses as profits?
- The company uses a dynamic leverage mechanism on some accounts. This involves reducing leverage as the account balance grows. What are the specific limits for these adjustments? Why doesn’t XS.com provide ratios for calculation? Why not apply this to all account types?
- On lower-tier accounts, the StopOut level is as low as 10%. Does the broker consider this an acceptable level for minimizing trader risk? For some reason, we don’t think so.
In short, there are some disappointments. While the regulated platform doesn’t openly take traders’ money, with such high leverage, it doesn’t need to — most clients lose their deposit (and usually more than one) in their first trades. It’s a rather honest way to take traders’ funds, which is no different from the methods used by scammers.
Trading Platform
XS.com offers clients the option to trade on MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms from MetaQuotes. Both platforms are highly popular among traders and are considered some of the best in the industry. Most users are well aware of their features, advantages, and drawbacks.
Therefore, we won’t spend time describing the terminals. We’ll just note that the broker offers more accounts for MetaTrader 5. In accounts available on both platforms, MT5 users can trade with a larger number of instruments due to the addition of CFDs on stocks.
XS.com – Deposit and Withdrawal of Funds
The broker’s website lists four methods for making financial transactions:
- Bank debit/credit cards.
- Bank transfers.
- Payment systems Skrill and Neteller.
For each method, almost all important conditions are provided (both for deposits and withdrawals):
- Minimum and maximum transfer amounts.
- Transaction processing time before funds are credited to the recipient’s account.
The only missing detail is the fees. However, the company has promised to accept deposits and send funds to traders without additional charges. Only the payment systems’ fees will be charged to the client’s account.
Important note! Payment transactions are not available without verifying personal information in the personal account.
Verification
In accordance with the Client Agreement, which includes KYC provisions, and the AML policy, XS.com requires verification of a client’s personal data. The trader must provide:
- Proof of Identity. A copy of a national ID card, driver’s license, or passport must be submitted to the company (uploaded on the personal account page).
- Proof of Address. A copy of a utility bill or bank statement is required. The document must show the full details, with the address, name, and surname clearly visible.
The broker’s requirements are in line with standard industry practices. Therefore, clients should not face any problems during the verification process.
Additional Options
XS.com offers several interesting additional options for traders:
- Civil liability insurance up to $5 million. The insurer is the London-based company Lloyd. Clients’ accounts are automatically insured. An insurance case is considered when a user suffers losses due to inaction, negligence, fraud, or failure to perform actions or services by the broker. However, the company has not provided documentation confirming the existence of the policy.
- Getting an XS Master Card. This prepaid card allows funds to be transferred to the broker’s account and withdrawn to it. It works only with the broker’s mobile app.
- Using the AI-Powered Personal Trading Analysis Report. The trader’s trades are analyzed by AI algorithms, which highlight over 40 patterns in their behavior. All these are reflected in the report.
Is XS.com a Scam?
Overall, the broker interacts with clients at a fairly good level. It’s not flawless, but it’s also not accurate to say that the platform is a scam. Let’s take a look at what an analysis of the official company information reveals.
Legal Information and License
On the Regulation page, the broker lists all companies in the group, including their registration details and licenses under which they operate.
XS.com is managed by XS Ltd, which is registered in Seychelles. It operates under license No. SD089 issued by the local financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA). This information is indeed found in the regulator’s database.
In addition to XS Ltd, the group includes:
- XS Prime Ltd, registered in Australia with AFSL No. 374409 from ASIC.
- XS Markets Ltd, registered in Cyprus with license No. 412/22 from CySEC.
- XS Finance Ltd, registered in Labuan (Malaysia) and operating under license No. MB/21/0081 from the Financial Services Authority of Labuan (LFSA).
- XS ZA (Pty) Ltd from South Africa with license No. 53199 from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).
Verification shows that all these companies and their licenses indeed exist. In fact, the broker offers each client the option to work with the company most suitable to them in terms of territorial reach. All users who are planning to view the site or register are warned if a particular company does not operate officially in their country of residence. Registration is not prohibited, but the responsibility for violating local laws is placed on the client.
There’s another interesting observation: most of the group’s companies were not created by the broker from scratch, but have a fairly long history. For example, Australian XS Prime Ltd has changed its name 5 times since its establishment and license acquisition in 2014. It seems that the broker buys companies that already have licenses to provide services. There’s nothing illegal about this, but we’re curious to know how committed the project is to meeting the requirements of different regulators.
Note! We have another hypothesis: the broker isn’t acquiring companies, but periodically changing the names of the firms representing it in different regions. What could explain these frequent rebrandings? Could it be related to the violation of trader rights?
XS.com Domain Info
On the Company-Story page, the broker claims to have started in 2010 in Australia. Indeed, the ASIC database shows that XS Prime Ltd was registered in 2010 and remains active. However, the company was originally named EMISSION CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LTD 15 years ago, and it has changed its name 5 times since then. We have doubts that these companies under different names were owned by the same owners. We tend to believe that the team behind the current project is simply purchasing firms with licenses to show a rich history today.
As for XS.com itself, it has only existed relatively recently.
As we can see from the whois service, the owners of the project acquired the domain xs.com, which was registered back in 1992. Web archive snapshots show that the broker’s website was only launched on it in November 2022. Prior to that, after the previous owners ceased operations, the domain was put up for sale by GoDaddy. This coincidentally aligns with the time of the last name change of the Australian company and the company RockFrost Ltd, which previously held the CySEC license before XS.
By the way, of all the companies listed above, only the Cypriot firm with a CySEC license provides Forex/CFD brokerage services on the market.
All of this leads us to believe that the broker has only existed since 2022, and the other companies were acquired to create a legend of years of experience. So far, the project’s owners haven’t had the time or resources to fully launch under the common XS brand for the Australian and South African platforms.
Contacts Review
On the contact page, XS.com has provided only an email address and information on how to easily communicate with support representatives via online chat. The chat can indeed be opened on any page of the official website.
In the footer, users will also see a single phone number with the Seychelles country code. The registration addresses of the group’s companies are located on the Regulation page. The footer also contains links to the project’s public social media pages. A look at the channels and groups shows that all were created before January 2023, which further supports our belief about the platform’s short existence.
Pros and Cons
- The website provides almost all the necessary information for traders.
- The group includes several legal entities with registrations in different countries and licenses from local regulators.
- The broker intentionally misleads clients about the duration of its existence. It claims the founding date of the oldest company in the group, though it actually appeared much later.
- The licenses shown originally did not belong to the project but were acquired along with the companies in different countries.
- The trading conditions feature enormous leverage (1:2000), which increases the risks for clients far beyond acceptable levels.
- Some of the group’s companies with reputable licenses do not yet offer brokerage services.
What can be said about the broker based on the materials from our XS.com review? It is officially registered, as are all the companies in the group, and it holds licenses for brokerage activities. However, it attempts to mislead users about its age, and it did not receive permissions for activities, but rather acquired them along with the companies. The trading conditions look attractive, but the huge leverage increases client risks to unacceptable levels. Based on this, we recommend refraining from working with this platform and choosing a more transparent and honest project.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The broker offers clients the opportunity to trade CFDs on the best terminals from MetaQuotes. However, the maximum leverage on its accounts is 1:1000 or 1:2000, which is unacceptable for clients in terms of risk.
There are no minimum deposit restrictions for retail trader accounts. However, the payment systems the broker uses set a lower transaction limit. Therefore, you cannot start with less than $15.
There is nothing stopping the platform from ensuring maximum security for client funds. According to its claims, it does this, including liability insurance for the trader up to $5,000,000. However, the broker does not provide documentary proof of these facts.
A good broker. Better than many others
XS.com is not my first experience with brokers on the market, so I have something to compare. I can confidently say that this broker operates at a higher level than my previous ones! I’ve already been able to significantly increase my capital on this platform. The trading terminal is excellent, with no freezes or glitches, and the interface is very clear and accessible. The support team also deserves praise – they provide professional help, are always available, and responses come instantly, without long waits. But most importantly, the withdrawals happen without delays, which is a major plus for me!
You can earn money!
I’ve been working with XS.com long enough to leave a fair review. It’s definitely possible to earn money here, and if you spend a lot of time and treat trading as a full-time job, you’ll earn quite a bit. I’ve always been able to withdraw, but not always within the specified time (payments were delayed by 2-3 days). I don’t see this as a big problem. For me, the downside is the huge leverage, but I can manage it. Also, it’s difficult to reach tech support. But overall, the broker is not bad!
How to get my money back?
These scammers at XS.com have really pushed me to the limit today!!! I sent the withdrawal request 10 times, but they were all rejected!! I didn’t pass the re-verification!!! Everything was fine with the documents for the first one, but now they won’t accept them!!! What should I do? Where should I go for help to get my money back???