OptionWeb

Why Doesn’t OptionWeb Suck In 50 Words

The owning company is regulated, which is always a good thing, they were founded back in 2012, which makes them an old-timer and with enough experience to service even the most demanding of traders. I am not saying that a new broker is automatically bad, but knowing that OptionWeb is doing binary for several years now, gives traders an added amount of confidence.

Why Does OptionWeb Suck in 50 Words

This might be just me, but I feel like the information presented is a bit tangled and maybe even a bit misleading. For example, I click on “Why OptionWeb” and I am directed to the regular page where they say they are the best (nothing surprising here). Then I see “Guaranteed Withdrawals” and I think “Wow, that’s great” and I click on it but guess what: I am directed to the previous page where they tell me how great they are, without any info on how they “guarantee” my withdrawal.

Is OptionWeb A Scam?

The brokerage has been in business for a few years, which is a relatively long time for the binary options industry and on top of that, they are regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) since 2012. The company is transparent and so far there is no scam suspicion. One thing I didn’t like though: their website states they are “Authorized by all European Union regulative authorities, amongst which UK’s FCA…” but upon further investigation, it turned out this is not true. On the official page of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), there’s no trace of OptionWeb or the owning company Lionsman Capital Markets Ltd. I’ve contacted their support and after a lot (a LOT) of back and forth, the representative confirmed they are not authorized by the FCA to let alone “all” European Union regulative authorities.

Should I Open An Account With OptionWeb?

OptionWeb was founded in 2012, owned and operated by Lionsman Capital Markets Ltd., a company regulated by CySEC with license number 175/12. Their listed address is 18 Evagora Papachristoforou, Petoussis Bros Building – 4th Floor, CY-3030 Limassol, Cyprus. OptionWeb is very popular among French and Italian traders but residents of the U.S. and Canada are not allowed to open accounts.

The platform they use is the latest SpotOption version and a lot has been said about it; it’s the most widely used among binary options brokers and it’s a very good product but it’s the “safe” option. Usually, if a brokerage wants to innovate, they build their own platform but that is more costly and time-consuming of course. Going with SpotOption, they make sure they offer a polished product, without taking any unnecessary risks. A good addition is a downloadable version of the platform; the online version works just fine and you can access it even if you are not on your computer but the downloadable version offers bigger buttons and chart.

The account structure offered by OptionWeb is a bit different than with other brokers in the way that all your deposits add up and eventually if you keep depositing you will be moved to the upper tiers of accounts. For example, their lowest account is Starter and requires a 200 EUR deposit; the next account is Standard and requires a 1,000 EUR deposit but if your combined deposits (over time) reach 1,000 EUR, then your account will reach Standard status and you will benefit from all the extra features offered by this type of account. This way you can start with the lowest account to test their service and execution and then slowly climb your way to the upper brackets (Gold, Platinum, Diamonds). However, the requirements for the higher accounts are huge (“Diamonds” requires a combined payment of 250,000 EUR) but it’s important to note that returns for In The Money trades can reach 90% for the Platinum account (required combined payments for this account type: 50,000 EUR).

Overall, OptionWeb is not bad but it doesn’t excel in any particular area. I like the fact that it offers the possibility to climb the account ladder and reach better trading conditions over time but other than that, I believe you can find better trading conditions with other brokers.

OptionWeb Complaints

There are no major complaints against this brokerage but some traders have said that the platform is clunky and slow to transmit orders and others have complained about the requirement to upload identification documents. The thing about IDs is very normal and is required by almost all brokers due to anti-money laundering policies and a slow platform can be attributed to more than one cause (slow client internet connection is one of them). Overall, nothing alarming and nothing out of the ordinary.

OptionWeb Bonus

Bonuses are limited-time offers and are subject to change so you will have to discuss the amounts and percentages with your account manager. As a general rule, the bonus can be withdrawn after a 40 times volume has been reached. If you want to withdraw funds from an account before the bonus turnover has been reached, all bonuses will be canceled and removed from the account; profits may also be canceled.

OptionWeb Withdrawal

There is no minimum withdrawal account but any withdrawal below 100 units (depending on the account currency) will be charged a 25 unit fee. The withdrawal time for the Starter and Standard accounts is 5 days and it reduces for the upper-tier accounts (24H for Gold, Platinum, and Diamonds).

OptionWeb Extras

A Demo account is available but only for Standard and above accounts. Other than that, all the regular SpotOption features are available.

OptionWeb Ratings

User Friendly 16/20

The website is available in 7 languages, the platform is user-friendly and fully functional but the website could be improved in terms of clearness of information. U.S. and Canadian customers cannot open accounts with this brokerage.

Number of assets and expiry times 15/20

The asset structure differs from most brokers: the higher the account, the more assets become available. This means that the lowest account offers only 80 assets, while the more expensive ones offer 180 and even more assets. I don’t consider this the best way of categorizing clients and I believe that all assets should be available for all traders with active accounts. The expiry times are the usual seen on a SpotOption platform, ranging from 60 seconds to 10 minutes, half an hour, hourly and Long Term.

Commissions, Support, and Effective return 15/20

There are no commissions for registering but withdrawals below 100 account units (EUR, USD, GBP) will incur a 25 unit fee. Live Chat was slow to answer questions and offered incorrect information (see section “Is OptionWeb A Scam?”). The effective return scales up according to the account tier; the lower accounts pay up to 83% for ITM trades while the higher tier accounts pay up to 90%.

Deposit, Payment, and Bonus 16/20

The minimum initial deposit is 200 USD and can be made through credit/debit cards, e-wallets (Neteller, Skrill), or wire transfers. Withdrawal must be made through the same method used for deposit and the processing time differs according to account tier, ranging from 5 days to 24H. The required turnover for the bonus is 40 times and the bonus amount and will be discussed with an account representative.

Website Extras 14/20

A demo account is available, the owning company is regulated by CySEC and overall this brokerage doesn’t have major complaints online.

OptionWeb Overall Ratings + Regulated (+3) = 79/100