OptionGround Review
Broker | OptionGround |
---|---|
US Traders Accepted | |
Company Name | AFACT SOLUTIONS |
Headquarters | British Virgin Islands |
Regulation | No |
Bonus Type | Match bonus |
Bonus Size | 30% |
Max Payout | 85% |
Out-of-Money Reward | 15% |
Trading Platform | TechFinancials |
Deposit Options | Credit/debit cards, wire transfer |
Deposit Currencies | British Pound, US Dollar, Euro |
Minimum Deposit | $250 |
Minimum Trade | $25 |
Maximum Trade | $1,000 |
Online Since | 2008 |
Trading Instruments | Currencies, commodities, stocks, indices |
Number of Trading Instruments | 40 |
Binary Option Types | High/Low, One Touch, Boundary |
Customer Support Types | Phone, email, live chat, mail |
Education Offered | FAQ, glossary, how-to pages |
Tools Offered | Daily highlights and market analysis, early closure |
Commission | $30 fee for more than one withdrawal per month |
Languages | English |
Demo Account | Yes |
OptionGround is a binary options website operated by a company called AFACT SOLUTIONS, located in the British Virgin Islands. The company is not regulated, but has some promising features, including an easily accessible bonus account that you could theoretically use indefinitely before trading live. While OptionGround does not provide a lot of resources or training, they have a simple, clean website layout and make it easy for customers to locate information. While there are many areas where they are lacking, they some substantial promise and may well be worthy of closer investigation.
Opening Your Account
When you open an account with OptionGround, you can deposit in British Pounds, US Dollars or Euros. The minimum deposit is $250 or equivalent, and you can deposit using a credit card or wire transfer. Sadly the company does not offer other deposit methods at this time. Match bonuses of up to 30% are offered on accounts as large as $5,000. Along with match bonuses, the website also offers $50 referral bonuses and special holiday promotions, including risk-free trades.
The main reason that OptionGround is an intriguing binary options website is apparent right from the moment you fill in your personal information to open an account. You will notice that you have the option of opening a paid account or opening a demo account, right from the start. When you open a demo account, you’ll be given $1,000 in virtual currency which you can use on free trades. You don’t need to contact customer service or anything; you can go straight to the TechFinancials powered trading interface and start placing demo trades immediately.
Not many binary options websites offer demo trading at all, much less make it easy to find if they do. Sometimes you have to search all over a website to find out whether there is a demo account, and then it is highly restrictive, allowing you to make several trades before you have to switch to a live account. Other sites make you deposit real money in order to trade with a demo account. It’s excellent that you don’t need anything to demo trade on OptionGround but an email address. It means you could theoretically trade indefinitely with virtual money before going live. Demo trading is a very important step to becoming a profitable trader, so with a situation like this you really improve your chances of success.
Trading with OptionGround
OptionGround allows you to trade as little as $25 and as much as $1,000. That upper limit might be a bit tight for some traders who have larger accounts, but should be fine for most traders. There are 40 different currencies, commodities, stocks and indices, and you can do one of three types of trades: High/Low, One Touch, or Boundary. Boundary trades are a great feature since they allow you to profit in ranging markets. You also have early closure available to you if you want to exit a trade early to cut losses or prevent a winner from turning into a loser.
Drawbacks
There are a few drawbacks to OptionGround. One drawback is that there isn’t much in the way of trading resources. There is a glossary, FAQ, some basic how-to pages, daily highlights and market analysis, and that’s it. There are no account tiers, so you don’t get any extra services like account management or trade signals at the higher levels.
Another drawback concerns withdrawals. There is a $30 fee anytime you want to make more than a single withdrawal each month. The other issue with withdrawals is that there is a $100 minimum. That is pretty high, and could make it difficult to get at your own money. This is a red flag, though with this particular broker it may not be a deal breaker.
Conclusion
OptionGround has one of the nicer binary options websites we’ve seen while writing our reviews. It was extremely easy to find all the information we were looking for on the site, and there were no major information gaps. Transparency is always a good quality in any company which will be handling your money. There is not that much information available on the company on other websites. On the website, the company states it has been operating since 2008, so this seems a bit unusual. It is probable however that the website itself opened in 2012, and thus the lack of press elsewhere. Customer service is available via live chat, phone, email, and postal mail.
We were not particularly pleased about the lack of resources and trading tools, but the types of trades available are great. The withdrawal minimum and fees were also problematic, but not necessarily enough in this case to convince us that the company is untrustworthy.
The demo account is really a standout feature on this site. Many new traders really underestimate the importance of demo testing, and this is in part because most binary options sites don’t even offer the option. In other markets, traders do not even consider trying their luck in the market without first training up in real time using virtual currency. Demo testing gives you the opportunity to find out how well your trading method really is likely to perform in real life, and also to learn how to use the trading platform without risking real money. Why make a silly mistake and pay for it with cash, when you can make the mistake in demo phase without losing a penny?
We love how easy it is to find the demo account feature and get set up and start testing, which weighs heavily in favor of the company and the site. If you are serious about trading and hope to make consistent profits over time, then check out OptionGround or another site which allows you to demo test indefinitely. There are only a handful of them out there, but trading with a site like this could make the difference between success and failure. We also recommend you talk directly to an agent on the customer service team and make sure that you are satisfied with the service before you invest your money.