Skilling Review 2023
Skilling is an online trading broker that aims to make trading simple and accessible to everyone in a transparent and secure environment by building a revolutionary trading platform. With a team of committed developers, specialists, and marketers, the broker strives to provide the best possible experience to traders around the world.
In this post, we reviewed the company’s brokerage services, examining its regulations, platforms, global access, registration, account options, leverage, trading fees, customer support, education, and reputation.
Regulation and Security
The broker is regulated in multiple jurisdictions as follows:
- In Cyprus, Skilling Ltd is licensed and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) under CIF license No. 357/18.
- In the UK, the broker is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), under Reference Number (FRN) 810951.
- In Seychelles, Skilling Seychelles Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority under license No. SD042.
Negative Balance Protection
This safety mechanism, enforced by the regulators, ensures that no client is responsible for paying back a negative balance when margin calls and stop-outs do not function correctly. So, traders can’t lose more than what they invest and won’t end up owing the broker.
Funds Segregation
Skilling keeps clients’ funds in fully segregated client trust accounts held at some of the top banks. So, the broker can’t use clients’ funds to run its operations, and if it were to become insolvent, its creditors can’t lay claim to those funds.
Data Security and Privacy Policy
Skilling protects clients’ personal information using the best encryption and SSL technology. So, the storage and transmission of clients’ sensitive data on its platforms are safe and secure.
Is Skilling available worldwide?
Operating from Cyprus, Skilling offers its brokerage services to traders from different parts of the globe. However, it states that its services are not available in countries and jurisdictions where the use of such services would go against the local laws and regulations.
Supported Platforms
The broker provides traders with a good selection of advanced trading platforms, including the following:
Skilling Trader
Skilling Trader is the broker’s proprietary trading platform specially designed to suit traders of all experience levels.
Skilling Trader is a direct result of the company’s years of hard work to create a unique, simple, and powerful trading platform designed by expert traders to satisfy the needs of beginner and advanced traders alike. Some exciting features of the Skilling Trader include:
- User-friendly and intuitive trading experience
- Full web and mobile support
- Ultrafast order execution.
Skilling cTrader
Skilling cTrader is an advanced trading platform designed to meet even the most demanding traders’ expectations. cTrader is one of the most well-known trading platforms in the world. It was developed in 2010 by Andrey Pavlov and Ilya Holeu, founders of Spotware. It’s a multi-asset CFD and forex trading platform that allows for fast entry and execution and provides advanced charting tools, order types, level II pricing, and more.
Its user-friendly interface is available on several devices. Clients can use cTrader via the web browser or phone or by downloading the cTrader desktop application from Skilling.
Skilling’s integration with cTrader unlocks access to a powerful trading platform with more advanced trading capabilities, such as fast entry and coding customization, and various indicators to help you make better trading decisions.
MetaTrader 4
MetaTrader 4 is a forex & CFD trading platform that has established itself as the industry standard for more than 16 years. It is the most famous trading platform for retail forex traders. With the retail forex community, it has up to 90% market share.
The main characteristic that the MT4 has over other trading platforms is that it’s very versatile and easy to customize. And given its wide community of users, support is easily available. Regarding customizations, it allows users to write their trading robots and scripts. Despite MetaQuotes releasing a new version in 2013 (MT5), MetaTrader 4 continues to be the preference today.
Skilling provides the platform as a desktop application for Mac and Windows computers, a web-trading terminal, and a mobile app for smart mobile devices.
Mobile apps
All the trading platforms at Skilling are also available as mobile apps that are compatible with Android and iOS mobile devices. The broker allows traders to trade forex, stocks, futures, and more, at any time and from anywhere, through their handheld mobile devices.
Traders can easily download the mobile versions of the available trading platforms from the relevant app stores. Mobile apps are ideal for traders who want to access their trading accounts and check trading positions on the go.
Other trading tools
The broker also provides traders with some other helpful trading tools, including the following:
Skilling Copy
Join one of the world’s largest social trading communities with Skilling Copy. This tool allows traders access to multiple opportunities you can effortlessly copy.
Copy trading, also known as social trading, is, in essence, a community that brings together amateur and seasoned investors. It allows experienced traders to put forth their trading strategies for others in the community to follow and copy at a fee.
Copy Trading with Skilling is simple, transparent, and reliable. With the award-winning Skilling cTrader Copy platform, you can choose from over 1000 strategies and providers to follow and copy. Click here to know more about the risks and returns expected in Skilling Copy.
With Skilling Copy, you can use the in-depth performance statistics to research Strategy Providers and review their performance results and trading style to determine the most suitable strategy to copy.
Account Types
Skilling offers three main types of accounts: Standard, Premium, and MT4. All trading accounts share similar features, such as leverage, several assets to trade, support for scalping strategies, or negative balance protection. However, there are some differences also.
Standard Account
With a minimum deposit requirement of $100, the Skilling Standard account is ideal for beginners. This zero-commission account is available on Skilling Trader and Skilling cTrader, with spreads from 0.7 pips.
Premium Account
Skilling Premium Account differs from the standard account mainly on the spreads (which start from 0.1 pips); however, the Premium account is subject to commission charges ($30/million dollar volume or $3 per standard lot size). The starting deposit is €5,000.
MT4 Accounts
The broker offers two MT4 accounts: an MT4 account with a minimum deposit requirement of $100 and an MT4 Premium account with a minimum deposit requirement of $5,000.
Signing Up
To open a trading account with Skilling, click the “Sign Up” button at the top-right corner of the broker’s website. You will be directed to the short online application page, where you will be required to provide your email and create a password, as you can see in the form below:
Then, you will be sent an email where you have the link to the page where you create your profile and answer questions about your trading experience. You will be required to submit your means of identification (a government-issued ID) and proof of address (a utility bill or bank statement not more than three months old) to verify your account.
Deposit and Withdrawals
Skilling supports a range of payment methods for account funding and withdrawals. The minimum deposit for the platform is 100 EUR, GBP, USD or 1000 NOK, SEK for standard Skilling accounts, while premium accounts have a higher minimum limit of 5,000 EUR, GBP, USD or 50,000 NOK, SEK
Payment options supported by Skilling include bank transfer via the Trustly platform, VISA or Mastercard Debit and Credit cards, and ePayment options, such as Skrill, Neteller, and so on.
Skilling does not currently support payment through cryptocurrency or other platforms like PayPal.
There are no additional charges for depositing money into a Skilling account, regardless of the payment method used.
Instruments
Skilling currently offers a diverse range of tradable products, including:
- Currencies: Over 73 different currency pairs are available through the Skilling platform, including USDCAD, GBPPLN, EURJPY, and GBPAUD, among others.
- Crypto Assets: Available cryptos include Bitcoin (BYC), Ripple (XRP), and Litecoin (LTC), as well as several other lesser-known cryptocurrencies. They can be traded directly through the Skilling platform.
- Indices: Over 15 different indices are available through Skilling, including but not limited to DE30, AUS200, HKComp, and SPA35.
- Commodities: A variety of commodities are available for trade through Skilling’s platform, including Gold, Silver, Oil, and Gas.
- CFDs on Equities: Skilling offers over 300 different CFDs on equities, including Amazon, Apple, Tesla, and Uber.
Commissions and Fees
Skilling’s trading fees include spreads, commissions, and swaps. Spreads start from 0.7 pips on standard accounts and 0.1 on Premium accounts. A commission fee of $3 per lot per side is charged on Premium accounts.
Swaps are charged on overnight positions, and the details can be found on the trading platforms. Any inactive accounts for longer than 12 months will also be charged a 10 EUR fee, which the platform is transparent about upfront.
Available Leverage
Leverage is borrowing money from the broker to increase your position size. Traders use it to increase your potential profits, but it can also magnify losses.
Skilling offers leverage of up to 1:500 on all the live trading accounts for non-EU traders. As per ESMA regulations, the maximum leverage available to EU-retail traders is 1:30. For higher leverage, qualified retail clients may request to be treated as an ‘Elective professional,’ enabling them to trade with higher leverage as per the applicable laws and regulations. Click here to find the requirements for ‘Elective Professional’.
Analysis and Education
The broker provides traders with a good selection of educational resources, such as market analysis, learning articles, ebooks, FAQs, and market news.
Customer Service
The broker’s customer support team is available from Monday to Friday, between 04:00 and 22:00 CET, to answer any of your questions via live chat, telephone ( +44 208 080 6555), or email (support@skilling.com). Alternatively, visit their help desk, where you can find many frequently asked questions.
Reputation amongst Traders
The broker has received many positive reviews on multiple trading forums and websites. On Trustpilot, for example, it got 4.6 out of 5 based on 105 reviews. Many traders praised the broker for its responsive and knowledgeable customer support team.
Awards
Over the years, Skilling has received a few awards from some of the forex industry’s most respected bodies. Skilling has recently been nominated in several categories, including Best Trading Platform, for this year’s Global Forex Awards 2022 – Retail.
Can beginners trade with Skilling?
Skilling provides some training resources and offers a demo account to help new traders get familiarized with its trading platforms and learn to trade. In addition, its minimum deposit to start trading is only $100. So, yes, beginners can trade with the broker.
Summing Up
Skilling is an online trading broker that strives to provide transparency in the financial trading world. It is regulated in multiple jurisdictions. The broker provides traders with intuitive trading platforms and offers competitive trading conditions. With different account types designed for specific traders, the broker is suitable for both beginners and experienced traders.
