Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Spread bet and CFD trading accounts are leveraged, meaning you can open a position with a small deposit (margin) instead of paying the full value of your position upfront. As a result you can get greater market exposure, which magnifies profits and losses.
Applicable fees and costs may differ depending on your investment choices, including how long you hold your position open.
Each fee or cost is explained below:
See our average spreads for individual DFBs, futures and forwards markets.
To calculate the total spread cost, you can simply multiply the monetary value of the position per point by the spread. It’s important to note that CFD position sizes are based on contracts or lots, which means the calculation involves an extra step.
Spread
The spread is expressed in ‘points’ and is the difference between the bid and ask price. It varies depending on the market conditions, time of day and instrument you wish to trade. Large trades may be subject to wider spreads. Learn more here.
In most cases, we add our spread on top of the underlying market spread as our charge for the trade. Our spread charges apply to trades for all markets except CFD share trading, where a commission is charged instead of adding our spread to the market spread.
Please note: spreads aren’t charged as a separate fee and won’t be shown in your trade history, but rather included in your purchase or selling price. Immediately after opening your trade, you’ll notice that your position will start at a loss equal to the spread at the time you placed your trade.
Usually spreads will be tighter for daily funded bets (DFBs), and wider for futures and forwards contracts. This is because overnight funding fees are included in the spreads of futures and forwards. Before placing a trade, you can view the spread on the deal ticket as indicated below:
Spread betting calculation example:
Say you wish to open a £10 per point long position on the FTSE 100 the full spread between the bid and ask price is 1 point.*
The spread cost of opening this trade would be: £10 per point x 1 point spread = £10
Your position will then be opened at a loss of £10, as the spread is built into the bid and ask prices. All else equal, the FTSE 100 would have to increase by one point to cover your spread cost to break even.
*The example given is for illustrative purposes only. Please check the costs and charges before trading. Figures may not add up to a given total due to rounding.
CFD trade calculation example:
Say you wish to purchase 1 contract of the FTSE 100 (1 contract is valued at £10 per point), and the full spread between the bid and ask price is 1 point.*
The spread cost of this trade would be 1 contract x £10 per point (value of the contract) x 1 point spread = £10
*The example given is for illustrative purposes only. Please check the costs and charges before trading. Figures may not add up to a given total due to rounding.
Commission
Commissions are charged when trading shares using a CFD account and are calculated as a percentage of the transaction value for most markets, with minimum charges, or as cents per share as summarised below.
| Share category | Commission per side | Minimum online charge | Minimum phone dealing charge |
| UK (FTSE350) | 0,10% | £10 | £15 |
| UK (non-FTSE 350) | 0,35% | £10 | £15 |
| US | 2 cents/share | US$15 | US$25 |
| Canada | 3 cents/share | C$25 | C$25 |
| Euro | 0,10% | €10 | €25 |
| Australia | 0,10% | AU$8 | AU$8 |
| Hong Kong | 0,25% | HK$100 | HK$100 |
See a full list of commissions for other markets.
Overnight funding
Spread betting and CFD trading uses a leveraged, derivative product. This means capital will need to be lent and managed when holding these positions – which leads to overnight funding.
Overnight funding is a daily interest fee applicable when daily funded bets (DFB) and cash CFD positions are held through 10pm (UK time). There’s no overnight funding on futures and forwards, as it’s built into the spread.
Learn more about the charges and how we calculate overnight funding for each market.
Borrow fee
Deposits and withdrawals (including forex conversion fees)
Please be aware your bank may charge you upon transactions, especially if an international transfer is required. It’s advised to check with your provider before making any deposits or withdrawals.
Forex conversion fees (when trading)
*The example given is for illustrative purposes only. Please check the costs and charges before trading. Figures may not add up to a given total due to rounding.
Extra services charges
Direct market access (DMA): there’s no charge for using DMA to trade CFDs on forex* and shares, or buy and sell shares via our share dealing service. However, you may need to pay a monthly exchange fee to access live DMA prices for some shares.
Live price data feeds: obtaining live share prices from an exchange – whether that's to trade share CFDs or buy and sell shares via a share dealing account – incurs a monthly fee.
ProRealTime charts: subscribing to ProRealTime charts costs £30 per month. This is refunded if you place four or more trades a month. We reserve the right to charge you for the service if your qualifying trades are of an extremely low value.
Account documentation fee: we charge a US$50 fee on accounts that have not supplied a mandatory W-8 or W-9 form before the dividend ex-date of a qualifying trade on a US-incorporated stock. We don’t apply this fee to accounts with up-to-date documentation or accounts which haven’t entered into qualifying trades. We’ll notify you if you’ve entered into a qualifying trade and need to complete a form.
* From 2 July 2018, regulatory interventions mean certain products are unavailable to retail traders. As a result, we can only offer Forex Direct to professional traders. To find out more about this, and to check whether you’re eligible for a professional account, please see our professional account page.
Are you finding this article useful?
