As we all know, bonus program is one of the few perks that many best forex brokers offer. However, there are still arguments against it as it’s mostly the small, untrustworthy brokers that offer bonus programs. Therefore, I’m writing this article as a mean to take the initiative to take the matter into my own hand and give you a clearer, throughout understanding of bonus programs. This article will be based on these various main points:
Bonus withdrawal
Types of forex bonuses
Suggested brokers based on bonus programs
Disadvantages of each type of forex bonuses
Popular bonus cheating ways
Seeing as most of the confusions among the popular arguments are about whether or not you could withdraw bonuses, let us start off with bonus withdrawal:
1. Bonus withdrawal
It’s widely known that the bonus money can rarely be directly withdrawn, but instead you’d have to complete a certain condition beforehand such as:
Lots traded requirements
Most brokers that offer bonuses require its trader to complete a certain number of trading before they can directly withdraw the bonus money. For example, to withdraw a $50 bonus, a typical broker would require you to have traded at least 10 lots. This number isn’t a lot and can easily attain so you shouldn’t be worrying that much about this requirement, as it’s there largely to deal with the bonus cheaters.
No direct withdrawal
There are brokers that strictly forbid its user to withdraw the bonuses. However, the money would still be in their account so they could use that bonus to practice trading and gain profit that way as the profits gained from trading with the bonus are fully withdrawable.
2. Types of forex bonuses
Now that we’ve got the withdrawing issue out of the way, below are the 3 main types of bonus programs that most brokers offer:
Welcome bonus: This is the primary bonus that cheaters like to exploit. As its name suggests, this bonus gives the new traders a quick boost in money, usually about $30 to $50, and has certain conditions that come with it.
Deposit bonus: is the bonus that boost your deposition by x%. The boost range can vary from 20% to 100% of your total deposition and most of the time this bonus is only applied on your first deposition.
Lot back bonus or Loyalty bonus: This is the bonus program that most experienced traders prefer, as it minimize your trading costs based on your loyalty/commitment to your broker. The bonus amount is based on various things such as trading currency, account type, your account’s age.For instance:XM’s spread for EUR/USD is 1.4 pip, and they will lot back $3 for each completed trading lot. It means you only pay $11 for each EUR/USD lot instead of $14 of the original spread.
3. Suggested brokers based on bonus programs
Here’s a few brokers with the best welcome bonus programs that I’ve personally done business with over my years of trading:
Best welcome bonus: $30 welcome bonus - XM
MORE DETAILS ABOUT XM WELCOME BONUS PROGRAM HERE
Best welcome bonus: $50 welcome bonus - FBS.
MORE DETAILS ABOUT FBS WELCOME BONUS PROGRAM HERE
Best deposit bonus: 100% deposit bonus – XM
MORE DETAILS ABOUT XM DEPOSIT BONUS HERE
Lot Back Bonuses: Rebate 2 - $16 per lot - Exness
MORE DETAILS ABOUT EXNESS LOT BACK BONUSES HERE
4. Disadvantages of each bonus type
Bonuses are fun and profitable but they have their downsides too. Below is my review of the 3 types of forex bonus programs:
Welcome bonus:
Fixed and small amount. You can only get as much as $50 from the welcome program and it isn’t a lot, especially for forex traders who deal with large amount of money.
Strict withdrawing policies.
Mostly offered by small, unreliable brokers
Deposit bonus:
Strict withdrawal policies.
Can’t withdraw directly
Lot back bonus:
Isn’t available for beginners
5. Popular bonus cheating ways
This is kind of off-topic but I’ve got to share with you that there are ways to exploit the bonus system too. There are two methods with which you can exploit the system into withdrawing your bonus although it’s known to be hard to perform and depends heavily on the broker’s withdrawing policies.The details about each method are as follow:
Method 1: You need to create 2 new accounts and hedge those 2 together, which means letting one account win and the other one loses to balance out the win rates. This method should only be done on brokers with loose withdrawal policies.
Method 2: the second method involves taking advantage of the broker’s high leverages. You need to create 2 new accounts and hedge those 2 just like the first method, moreover you’d also need to take advantage of your broker’s high leverages to open big trading positions.And that’s the end of this article. I hope that I’ve given you enough knowledge about bonus programs so that you could choose a broker based on bonus programs on your own. Of course, you could always browse our guide for choosing your broker here. Overall, I wish you good luck in your trading career and have fun trading.