Q: How do I verify my account?

Identification document - Driver's license, Photo ID, Firearm Owners ID (FOID), Tribal ID, U.S. Military ID, Passport or Passport Card is used to authenticate your identity. The stated document should show an identity picture, number, full name, date of birth, date of issue and expiry as well as governmental institutions. Proof of Address Document - Utility bill, Cable/Internet bill, Landline bill, Mobile phone bill, Bank/Credit card statement, Lease agreement, Mortgage statement, Insurance statement or card, Government agency letter (universities), Medical bill, Pension, Salary slip/Employment contract, Vehicle registration form. Such a document is used to authenticate the registered address in your account. Permission Letter - in case of work experience in the financial sector - a document issued by the employer will be required. The required documents should be issued within the last 3 months, showing your name, the registered address in the account and the logo of the issuer. We guarantee that we will make no other use of these documents, nor will they be disclosed to any third party.

Question 1

How do I verify my account?

Accepted Answer

Identification document - Driver's license, Photo ID, Firearm Owners ID (FOID), Tribal ID, U.S. Military ID, Passport or Passport Card is used to authenticate your identity. The stated document should show an identity picture, number, full name, date of birth, date of issue and expiry as well as governmental institutions.

Proof of Address Document - Utility bill, Cable/Internet bill, Landline bill, Mobile phone bill, Bank/Credit card statement, Lease agreement, Mortgage statement, Insurance statement or card, Government agency letter (universities), Medical bill, Pension, Salary slip/Employment contract, Vehicle registration form. Such a document is used to authenticate the registered address in your account.

Permission Letter - in case of work experience in the financial sector - a document issued by the employer will be required.

The required documents should be issued within the last 3 months, showing your name, the registered address in the account and the logo of the issuer. We guarantee that we will make no other use of these documents, nor will they be disclosed to any third party.

Question 2

How can I fund my account?

Accepted Answer

In order to deposit funds, please follow the instructions below:

1. Log in to your trading account’s “Real Money” mode.

2. Click Funds Management -> Deposit (on mobile device versions it is available through the Menu button).

3. Choose your preferred method among the available options.*

4. Fill in the fields and click the "Submit" button.

These are the supported methods and their details:

Debit cards - minimum sum per transaction - $100

Wire transfer - minimum sum per transaction - $200

Plus500 does not charge fees for deposits.

* Prepaid and credit cards are not accepted.

Question 3

Are there any fees?

Accepted Answer

The Trading fees that Plus500 Futures charges are a commission fee of $0.49 per Micro contract and $0.89 per Standard contract (per side). There is also an Auto-Liquidation fee of $10 per contract.

Aside from the fees charged to clients, there is also an additional NFA Regulatory Fee of $0.02 per side and per contract and Exchange execution and clearing fees for non-members. Exchange fees can be checked on the CME group exchange website: https://www.cmegroup.com/company/clearing-fees.html

Question 4

How can I withdraw?

Accepted Answer

To open a withdrawal request, click on “Funds Management” → “Withdrawal” → then select your preferred withdrawal method → fill in the required fields and click on the "Open a Withdrawal" button (on mobile devices, you can access the “Funds Management” screen from the menu button).

Withdrawal requests are normally processed within 1-3 business days. Any additional processing time you may experience before receiving your funds may be due to your bank or financial institution processing time.

The following is a list of the withdrawal methods available:

Bank transfer
Card withdrawals

While your preferred method is taken into consideration, please note that it is Plus500’s policy to process withdrawals to the same payment method that was used to deposit. The withdrawal method you chose will then act as a backup.

Should you require further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Question 5

What are ‘Funds in Transit’ and how might they affect my account equity?

Accepted Answer

When you deposit funds into your Plus500 Futures account, the settlement duration can take up to three business days. During that time, you are able to trade with these funds, but cannot yet withdraw them.

Due to the settlement time, you may receive a notification that states you are on a Margin Call. Once the settlement takes place, (generally up to three business days), you will stop receiving these notifications. No action is required on your end in such cases.

Question 6

How can I extract reports?

Accepted Answer

The Plus500 Futures Platform allows you to generate a monetary history report, daily and monthly statements by clicking on "Menu" then "Tools" -> "Reports" -> and clicking Show Report/Sent by e-mail.

Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Question 7

How can I close a position?

Accepted Answer

Among the reasons for position closure we have the following:

Offset a trade (manual liquidation) - most common method of exiting a trade. To offset a position, a trader must take out an opposite and equal transaction to neutralize the trade. With Plus500 Futures the user can offset a trade by either clicking on the close button next to the order he wishes to close (from “Portfolio=> Open”) or by opening an opposite position for the same number of contracts.

Execution of an offset Limit order or Stop order- when the conditions of the offset Limit order or Stop order are met the order will be executed and this will result in the offset of the trade.

Auto-liquidation for contract expiry - If a trader has not offset or rolled his position prior to contract expiration, the contract will expire and it will be liquidated automatically as Plus500 Futures does not support delivery.

Auto-liquidation for insufficient equity- In the event that the Customer’s Net Equity falls below the Intraday margin requirement and/or the full margin requirement during the closing period, we may Auto Liquidate some or all of the open positions or/and live orders.

Price limits - if positions are held within a predetermined number of ticks in front of lock limit up or down moves, those positions may be subject to auto-liquidation as any initiating position orders.

Question 8

What is a Futures contract?

Accepted Answer

A legal contract between two parties aiming to buy or sell, at an agreed-upon future price and date, a particular asset or security is known by the term ‘Futures.’

Commodities like Gold, Soybeans, Crude Oil, Corn, and more are traded most often via futures contracts. Furthermore, currency, Cryptocurrency, interest rate, and Index traders have made Futures contracts popular as well.

Question 9

What are the different types of Futures contracts?

Accepted Answer

Plus500 offers a range of diverse categories of Futures contracts, from agriculture, Forex, precious metals, stock Indices, and more. However, the trading mechanism behind all of these contracts is the same, whereby two parties agree to purchase or sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price and date.

Question 10

Why trade Futures?

Accepted Answer

A range of unique factors make Futures contracts an enticing way to trade, from high liquidity to large trading volumes.

With Futures contracts’ high leverage and low commissions, the barriers to entry for day traders can also be relatively lower, however, the flip side of the coin is that the Futures market is, at times, characterized by a high level of volatility, and losses, including losing more than your account balance, can occur.

Question 11

What are micro and e-mini Futures contracts?

Accepted Answer

When traditional Futures contracts began to grow expensive beyond the reach of the average traders, fractional contracts known as Micro contracts came into use.

Micro Futures contracts grant access to Futures markets for a smaller amount of money than traditional Futures.

As mini Futures contracts grew more expensive, in a similar fashion, micro e-mini Futures contracts entered the market in 2019.

With micro e-mini Futures contracts’ attractive price points, the possibility to trade against the stock market as a whole became more available to ordinary investors. The increased liquidity and accessibility of micro e-mini Futures also widen their appeal to investors.

With Plus500, you’ll gain access to e-mini and micro Futures contracts on a range of instruments from the EUR/USD Forex pair, to the S&P 500, and beyond.

Let’s take a look at an illustrative example of how these contracts function:

With a Dow e-mini Futures contract, you get exposure to the 30 blue-chip stocks tracked by the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). The micro e-mini Dow Futures contract represents 1/10 of the original Micro Dow Jones Industrial Average Contract. In this way, the financial commitment needed to trade a micro e-mini Futures contract is much less than that of the original Futures contract.

It’s important to note that along with increased affordability and accessibility, e-mini Futures also come with heightened volatility.

Question 12

How to trade Futures

Accepted Answer

When two parties, a buyer and seller, form an agreement for the purchase or sale of an asset at a previously determined time and price, the resulting agreement is known as Futures. Futures are commonly used to trade on a variety of different markets, from Crypto, traditional Indices, and Commodities, to interest rates and more.

With the use of your personal trading strategy, you’ll be able to harness the power of Futures contracts to speculate or hedge on the price of the contract’s underlying asset.

That being said, it’s important to incorporate risk management and exit strategies into your own trading style. Plus500’s “Stop Loss” and “Take Profit” tools can aid you in minimizing risk exposure while trading Futures.

Question 13

How to trade E-mini Futures

Accepted Answer

On our platform, you can start trading e-mini Futures with as little as $100 as your first deposit, but it is important to remember that your account must contain enough funds to avoid auto-liquidation due to lack of margin resulting from day trading fluctuations.

However, e-mini Futures also generally have the lowest intraday margins.

Question 14

What is margin?

Accepted Answer

When trading Futures contracts, you must have a certain level of funds in your account in order for your position to remain open, known as margin.

With margin, the possibility of trading instruments of greater value is open to the trader. The level of margin needed to open a position is lower than the instrument’s actual value, so the trader uses what is known as leverage to trade.

Margin is what enables Futures traders to trade instruments whose value is greater than the amount needed to open a position. This mechanism is called leverage. Leverage increases potential profits, but potential losses grow as well.

There are two important forms of margin used in Futures trading: the intraday rate and the full-day rate. The intraday rate is the level of funds needed to first open a position, and is generally considered low-cost. Conversely, the full-day margin is that which exchanges require following the closing bell of the trading day to keep the position open. Understanding the difference between these two is exceedingly important for Futures traders.

While margin rates encompass a wide range, intraday margin generally begins from $30 for micro e-mini Futures contracts and extends to $2000 for standard Futures. This variance includes a large degree of variation depending on the underlying asset, time, and type of Futures contract.

Margin alerts are issued when a trader has a losing position open on a Futures contract. The margin alert functions to warn the trader that they must deposit more money into their account to cover the gap between the account’s current level of funds and the contract’s margin requirement in order to avoid auto-liquidation.

Question 15

At what time does the Futures market open and close?

Accepted Answer

Broadly speaking, Futures contracts usually start trading on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET, and close on Friday between 4:30 and 5 p.m. ET. On a daily basis, Futures contracts typically start trading at 5 p.m. ET and close the next day at 4 p.m. ET.

Depending on the type of Futures contract and the underlying instrument, opening times may vary.

As a whole, the Futures market is accessible during most hours of the day. This is also considered one of its main advantages as it allows trading to flow smoothly most days of the week.

Question 16

What are the differences between stock trading and Futures trading?

Accepted Answer

Futures trading is different in nature from that of the traditional stock market. Shares represent fractional ownership of an index-listed company, whereas Futures contracts essentially give the trader exposure to an underlying asset, whether it be an agricultural commodity like corn or a Crypto coin like Ethereum.

Furthermore, Futures contracts can be more varied than traditional corporate stocks, and can be accessed for comparatively lower margins. However, the trading of both shares and Futures are generally organized by brokers and exchanges.

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