This is an offshore, unregulated, and relatively new broker offering CFDs on Metals, Forex, Commodities, and Indexes. RBFXpro is not popular in the market, very few traces can be found on the internet about the RBFXpro LTD company. The location of the broker is, according to the unconfirmed sources, in Vanuatu, and on the same address used by at least 20 other brokers with a similarly unknown background. Whatsmore, the broker claims to have an Administration Office in The Royal Courts of Justice, London, which is, obviously, a false statement used for manipulation.
Visitors to the RBFXpro website will not be impressed with the design, structure, or content. It is sloppily made, spelling errors are common and transparency is low, especially the Company Profile section where there is no specific or relevant information. Some of the pages are empty or are dead links. Trading Conditions are presented better where traders can see most of the information needed for trading. By the looks of the website, the broker is focused on the Russian market as there are some pages made in Russian only. A lot of false promotional statements are present such as that RBFXpro is one of the most well-known companies in the industry yet it is barely noticeable on the internet. In this RBFXpro review we will analyze what services are offered and their quality by sections.
Account Types
The broker offers Cent Account and several with normal contract sizes. The main features of the Cent Account are no minimum deposit, fixed spreads, micro-lot minimum trading sizes, and Forex only trading. Any additional information about the leverage and other conditions is not disclosed.
Normal contract accounts are classified into two groups Forex Classic and ECN. They are differentiated by the spread type. Under the Classic class, there are 3 account types called Micro, Mini and Standard. Mini Account is the most affordable with a minimum deposit that is a bit above what is usually offered in the industry as a basic package. The Account has the largest maximum leverage and is entitled to have a 50% bonus. We are unsure what kind of bonus this is, details are in the Bonus and Promotions section of this RBFXpro review. It is also stated that there are Stops levels but not how much. The next tier is the Mini Account with a higher deposit minimum.
There are no evident advantages for investing double the amount of the Micro Account except for the higher maximum trade size. The leverage is reduced compared to the Micro Account, according to the table published on the website, there are no other differences. Some may wonder what is the actual benefit of having a higher Account tier. Standard Account requires now a steep minimum deposit and has even lower leverage for some instruments. All other trading conditions are the same except the maximum trade size limit increase.
The second class where the ECN-mini and ECN-pro Accounts are offered has the floating spread type. None of them have commissions and the ECN-mini have the same minimum deposit requirement as the Classic Mini. Also, these Accounts have less tolerant Stop Out and Margin Call levels than Forex Classic accounts. The highest tier, ECN-Pro account has a very high minimum deposit requirement and further decreased leverage. There are no other evident differences except for the increased maximum trade size limit. We expect a major difference in the spreads, more info on this category in the Spreads section. All ECN Accounts do not have Stops and Limit levels as per the broker trading conditions, also they are not qualified to receive any bonuses.
Note that the actual range of account types during the registration process is different. The drop list offered us a Forex Classic account, ECN account, ECN-pro account, and ECN VIP account. Additionally, there are Invest, Partner, and Demo accounts that are grayed out. Deposit currency offered are USD and EUR only. There are differences in the asset range offer, Classic accounts do not have the same assets as ECN. More info in the following sections.
Platforms
RBFXpro offers only the MetaTrader 4 platform by MetaQuotes. The MT4 is usually available for Windows, Mac, and mobile devices running on Android and iOS operating systems. In the case of the RBFXpro, only the desktop platform is downloadable while mobile platform links do not work. Also, there is no web-accessible version that most brokers have. This way, one could easily see what are the trading conditions and the market situation online, without any installation. Once installed the MT4 client will present you two RBFXpro servers, Demo and Live, with 123.8ms ping and Demo with only 26.6ms. The client is not on the default template, the background is set to white with a black candle type chart.
Timeframe settings are on Daily and H4 and there are no other changes from the default presentation with 4 major currency pairs. ECN type account will have a BTC/USD pair set as first on the daily timeframe, having the rest of the template look the same. The About window shows the latest update of the MT4 with the registration to RBFXPRO LIMITED in Vanuatu. We have opened the indicators and templates folder to see if there is anything new or altered but we have not found anything. One-click trading buttons are turned off but can be enabled. The Symbols are very nicely composed into several groups that accurately depict what instrument category is inside. ECN type accounts will have an “e” suffix in the instrument name that makes the 4 starting template charts show “waiting for the update” from the market.
In the Specification, there is enough information filled in about the trading conditions except for the Cryptocurrencies where the swap is missing. The terminal is showing all the trading columns correctly. The execution times are 98ms on average with small deviations of 10 ms but with good consistency, proving to be a good condition for fast trading and Expert Advisors. Some of the crypto-assets and other rare instruments are off quotes, meaning they are listed in the platform but do not have any trading value in this condition. Also, on some occasions, the server responded with “not enough money” on non-exotic currency pairs. This is a false warning where the underlying problem is actually low liquidity.
Leverage
RBFXpro has set the decreasing leverage maximum as the deposits go higher. So for a Micro Account, the maximum leverage is 1:500, 1:200 for Mini and two levels are for the Standard Account type, 1:200 and 1:100 for some assets. From the ECN class accounts, ECN-Mini has 1:200/1:100, and ECN-Pro 1:100. We will check the most affordable Micro and ECN-Mini accounts for the asset-specific leverage in the MT4 platform. Mini Account Forex assets leverage is 1:500 including the less liquid currency pairs like the USD/NOK. For Cryptocurrencies, the leverage is 1:5 and Stocks 1:20. As for the ECN-Mini, the leverage is settable to 1:500 level and there is no difference. This points out that the published table is outdated.
Trade Sizes
According to the table published, all accounts have the 0.01 lots minimum trade size volume. Additional steps are also on micro-lots. The maximum trade size starts with 5 lots for the Micro Account and up to 100 lots for the ECN-Pro. We have found out that in the MT4 platform the maximum trade sizes are somewhat different but this is not critical. The maximum is 100 lots for the Mini Account and 50 lots as published for the ECN-mini. For the Indexes, the minimum trading volume is 1 lot and 100 maximum. For commodities, the minimum is 1 lot and 500 lots maximum trade size but note that the contract sizes are smaller, 100 units instead of the standard 1000 barrels for both Oil type assets. Crypto assets all have 0.01 lots minimum trade size and 100 lots maximum, including the low-value coins with the 1 unit contract size.
Stop level varies across Forex currency pairs, so, for example, EUR/USD has 0 but EUR/JPY has 30 points, or AUD/CAD – 70 points. The biggest Stops level is for the NOK quoted pairs at 450 points. For commodities, it is set from 7 to 8 points and for stocks is up to 10 points. Precious metals Stop level is set at 60 points. For those not familiar, the Stops level defines the range around the price of an asset (in points) where the pending order placement is not possible. Stop level for the ECN type accounts is set to 0 for all assets confirming the published specification table statements.
Margin Call is set to 25% for the Classic accounts and 100% for the ECN type accounts. Stop Out is at 50% and 130% respectively.
Trading Costs
RBFXpro is a no commission broker, even for their ECN type accounts that are promoted to start from 0 spread. The negative swaps are the only other trading only costs. They are calculated in points and tripled on Wednesdays but for the crypto they are unknown. As the Cryptocurrencies listed in the MT4 are not mentioned on the RBFXpro website, we do not have any other information about these assets, let alone their swaps.
Contract Specification page does not show the swaps levels as in the MT4 platform so we confirm that even this table is outdated. EUR/USD swap is -1.28 points on the long and a positive 1.4 on the short side. USD/JPY swap is also low with 0.66 points on the long and -3.28 on the short, GBP/USD swap is also very low, both sides have below 1 point swaps, and AUD/USD has 1.94 points on the long and -1.61 point on the short side. As we move toward less common pairs like the GBP/AUD the swaps are increased to double digits, -22.3 points on the long and 4.83 points for the short. Similar is for the EUR/NZD with not so negligible -35.6 points for the long position and 7.93 points on the short. This setup means that the longer-term traders should not seek to trade minors or crosses and focus on the majors only. Gold swap against the USD is -8.41 on the long side and 0.058 on the short.
Inactivity fees may exist as per the legal documents published. Considering that most of the content is outdated the information should not be taken seriously. RBFXpro will charge a fee of $5 per month during the entire period of inactivity.
Assets
The asset list on the website is outdated as we have observed some more assets in the MetaTrader 4 platform available. Namely, ECN accounts do not feature cryptocurrencies but the Classic does. Whatsmore, Stocks are also listed in the MT4. Starting with the Classic account category, there are 34 currency pairs, most of which are majors and crosses and a very limited range of exotics. They are USD/ZAR, EUR/ZAR, EUR/TRY, and Scandinavian currency pairs. If you are not seeking exotics, this range is enough. Note that you may find liquidity problems with the exotics mentioned.
Indexes range is limited to only 7 majors in total. There are S&P 500, Nikkei 225, NASDAQ 100. FTSE 100, DJ30, and CAC 40. Precious metals range is minimal, spot Silver and Gold against the USD. Similarly, minimal ranges are for other categories. The commodity range is composed of two Oil types, Brent and Crude Oil and there are also Stocks. Stocks range traded as CFDs are very small compared to the industry average that offers this category. A total of 5 popular companies are offered, all from the US, Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Facebook, and Microsoft.
The highlight of the RBFXpro range offer is Cryptocurrencies. This is one of the best offers with over 70 pairs. There are many altcoins and many combinations with the BTC and another crypto further extending the cryptocurrency range. Aside from the majors, there are rare to see coins such as Ardor, Synereo AMP, Bytecoin, Monero, Blackcoin, Bela, Burst, Decred, Expance, Florincoin, Golem, Lisk, OmiseGO, and many more and rare combinations. Now, in practice, there is very low liquidity with these exotics and therefore off quotes. This means only the majors are possible for trading.
ECN Accounts do not have much to offer in terms of the instrument range. There are a total of 31 currency pairs tradeable. There are 31 currency pairs in total, others are listed but closed for trading. Aside from Forex, there the same Oil, precious metals, and Indexes offered as with the Classic accounts, Stocks are left out.
Spreads
Classic accounts have fixed spreads while ECN accounts have dynamic spread types. Classic Mini account has higher spreads than the industry average. Starting with the majors, EUR/USD has 4 pips, AUD/SUD 2 pips, USD/JPY 2 pips, CHF/JPY 5 pips, GBP/USD 3 pips, and NZD/USD 4 pips. Higher spreads are for the crosses, for example, AUD/CAD has 7 pips, AUD/NZD 9 pips, EUR/AUD 7 pips, and GBP/NZD 9 pips. The wide spread is for the EUR/NOK and USD/NOK with 45 pips. Precious metals spread is also somewhat wider than usual with 60 points. Bitcoin against the USD has a dynamic spread moving a bit above $1 and this is one of the best spreads for BTC in the industry.
ECN-mini account spread is not below 1 pip for any asset. ECN-pro interestingly does not have lower spreads at all, on the contrary, EUR/USD spread was around 20 points while for the ECN-mini was around 14 points. This fact makes RBFXpro Accounts packages completely illogical. Other assets have similar spreads, not going above 20 points except for the EUR/NZD with 31 points, and GBP/NZD with 40 points. The wide spread is attributed to the Scandinavian exotics at 100 points flat, since the liquidity is non-existent. Spot Gold against the USD is at 30 pips and Silver at 19.
Minimum Deposit
The minimum deposit is stated to be from $500 for the Classic Micro account, and no deposit minimum for the Cent account. The second tier, Classic mini requires $1000, then Classic Standard requires no less than $5000. ECN accounts start from $1000 for the ECN-mini and $10,000 for the ECN-pro. These minimum deposit requirements could be out of date but at the current level, they are higher than what other brokers require.
Deposit Methods & Costs
There are several deposit methods, we will present what we see in the “Personal Office”, available once you register and sign in. There are 7 options and all 7 require USD currency. These are Bitcoin, VISA/MasterCard, WebMoney, Payeer, Advcash, Fasapay, and Payza. VISA/MasterCard and WebMoney options will redirect you to Interkassa, a Ukrainian-based payment provider that has connected to the RBFXpro as their merchant. This means the bank cards and WebMoney are not really supported, as you will have to use other methods available, such as using the bank card to purchase BTC or another crypto to deposit on the Interkassa website. Other methods work as intended.
Costs associated with the deposits are not disclosed in the Personal Office but there is some relevant info on the website for VISA/MasterCard, it is 5.5%, while other methods presented on the deposit/withdrawal page are not offered in the Personal Office.
Withdrawal Methods & Costs
The broker offers only two withdrawal options as we can see in the Personal Office, Bitcoin and WebMoney. This means that the funds are not returned using the same method and are not subject to any AML policy.
Withdrawal Processing & Wait Time
According to RBFXpro, the wait time is up to 7 days for withdrawals. Bitcoin transactions require a certain time for confirmations and the WebMoney withdrawal method could be offline as the deposit is done via Interkassa, not WebMoney.
Bonuses & Promotions
The broker offers bonuses and we are not sure which one applies. One page about the bonuses is empty while the other mentioned a 100% deposit bonus. It is said that is designed to increase trading activity with clients, therefore it could be they are based on the trading volume before they are released. No conditions or details are disclosed.
Educational & Trading Tools
RBFXpro website features an Economic Calendar that is updated every day but does not have any kind of filtering or sorting. It is made like a list with countries, impact level, and 3 figures for prognosis, actual and past event levels.
The Beginners section is intended to give some educational content. IT starts with the history of the Stock Exchange and moves on to sections about the Forex products, Fundamental and Technical Analysis, some Financial legal info, and Terminology list. All of the content is about one page long without pictures or videos. The quality is good enough but it is not well suited for beginners, also, some of the text looks like a part of a book.
Customer Service
The broker can be contacted by phone, email, and chat. None of these channels worked for us. The chat service is offline and the chat app has to be opened in Internet Explorer.
Demo Account
A demo account has a time limit of 90 days. The demo can be opened within the MT4 platform only. From the Personal Office, this option is grayed out. It is possible to open multiple demo accounts and select the leverage and the amount of initial virtual funds. Demo accounts will not be visible in the Personal Office so you cannot change the leverage once set. The demo accounts should reflect the Live trading conditions, but we are uncertain as the Live server has higher latency.
Countries Accepted
It is not known what countries are not available for RBFXpro services. The list contains countries such as the United Kingdom, but traders from the UK will be met with a page that states they cannot open an account at the moment and to check back later. Still, clients from Russia will not have this problem.
Conclusion
As we finish with the RBFXpro review, we are certain that this broker does not meet the minimal safety requirements traders can accept for trading. There are too many inconsistencies, low-quality website design, services, complex deposit methods, company obscurity, no support whatsoever, low popularity, and ratings. We can even mention low liquidity problems but at this point, traders should certainly look away and search for a better service. If RBFXpro revitalizes its business, the highlight will certainly be the Cryptocurrency offer and the possibility to have both fixed and floating spread accounts. Once that is done, RBFXpro can pursue a better image and their own space in the market. Of course, this is if the broker has the intention to get into the Forex industry seriously in the first place, but it is not always the case, unfortunately. Be especially careful when you deposit without direct payment processing to the broker bank using debit/credit cards, this will void your right to a chargeback.