Skilling Video Review
VIDEO
Review sections
Investor Protection & Regulations
“Skilling is authorized and regulated by CySEC. The broker protects investors by strictly conforming to the regulatory stipulations of client account segregation, ICF membership and creating a digitally secure environment for its clients’ registrations and trading.”
Skilling Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) under CIF license No. 357/18. Click here for details.
Skilling states clearly that in line with the regulatory rules, all clients funds are kept in segregated bank accounts. The broker does not use traders’ funds for its day to day running activities. So, the funds will still be available even if Skilling goes bankrupt.
Investor funds are further protected by the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) for Cypriot Investment Firms (CIFs). The ICF will compensate clients if the broker becomes insolvent.
The broker website and platform is protected by a Secure Socket Layer (SSL). This makes sure that all data is encrypted before transmission over the internet. The reason is to keep away from fraudsters and cyber criminals who steal credit card details, account login credentials and user data.
Tradable Products
“Skilling offers the following assets for trading: 73 currency pairs, 5 Crypto assets, 17 indices, 5 commodities and over 230 CFD equities are available for trading.”
The following instruments are available for trading on the Skilling Platform:
The above list was taken from www.skilling.com and is correct at the time of writing. The assets list can be changed without prior notice.
The CFD Equities listed in the table are from Sweden only. Skilling offers over 148 US equities, 37 Sweden equities, 18 Norwegian, 26 from Germany, and 3 Canadian equities.
Account Opening
“One type of Accounts is offered by Skilling. It is the Standard account. The account opening balance is $/€50. A Demo account with a virtual balance of $10,000 is available for practice purposes.”
One main type of account is provided for clients. The maximum leverage is 1:30, which is in keeping with ESMA regulations. Four account currencies are allowed: they are EUR, USD, NOK and SEK. The account has transparent pricing and there are no commissions on Forex, indices and commodities but a minimum of 0.004% on nominal value is charged as commission for trading cryptocurrencies.
The account types available on Skilling are:
Standard Account: $50 is the least amount required to open this type of account. The typical spread for the EURUSD is 1.3 pips.
Demo Account: This is a risk free account provided for practice purposes. Clients can use the demo account to familiarize themselves with the trading platform, test their strategies and understand the markets. A virtual account balance of $10,000 is preloaded into the demo account. The demo account is only available for 30 days.
To open a new account, click on the “Sign Up” button found on the home page. Clicking on the “Open Account” button found on some WebPages within the Skilling website will also lead to the account opening form.
Fill the form and click “Create Account”. Immediately the account is opened. You are then prompted to try a Demo account or to complete the account registration in order to open a live account.
If you choose to open a live account , 5 more forms requesting for personal details, source of funds and trading experience will be displayed in succession. But, if you choose to try the demo account, you are immediately logged on to the “Skilling trading platform”. Demo trading can commence immediately with the virtual trading capital provided.
If you choose to open a real trading account (by clicking Real Trading), a maximum deposit of €2,000 is allowed for unverified accounts. To trade with unlimited funds, complete the verification process. This is done by uploading a passport or identity card as well as a utility bill. Skilling does not provide its services to residents of the United States of America.
Deposit & Withdrawals Options
“Credit/debit card, Bank Wire Transfer, Skrill and Neteller are the payment options accepted by Skilling brokerage firm.Withdrawals are processed the same day with one free withdrawal per month. Deposits are free”
Due to Anti Money Laundry (AML) regulations, Skilling cannot accept third party deposits or transfers. The client’s name on the trading account must match the name on the funding source such as bank account, e-wallet or credit card. Cash or cheque deposits are prohibited. Skilling does not charge deposit fees. One free withdrawal is given to each client every month after which a fee of €12.5 is charged for every additional withdrawal within the same month. Withdrawals are usually processed on the same day and the minimum withdrawal amount is €50.
The following payment options are acceptable:
Credit/Debit Card: The major cards like Visa and Master cards are accepted. Card transactions are limited to €5,000 per transaction and a maximum of €20,000 per day for a card. For withdrawals, the same card used for deposits must be used. Skilling states that card transactions take approximately 3 working days.
Trustly: This is a bank ePayment solution available for selected countries. The payment is instantly processed or completed within a day depending on the banks involved.
Skrill/Neteller: These e-payment systems take a maximum of one day to process deposits or withdrawals.
Web & Desktop Trading Platforms
“The only platform provided is the “Skilling trading platform”. It is available as a web trader which runs on a web browser.”
Skilling provides only its own proprietary platform for all the trading activities. The Skilling trading platform is web-based. The major advantage is that there are no downloads or installation of any software. It runs on all operating systems and on all devices. The Skilling platform features the following:
There are about 70 indicators which include the popular ones like moving average, Ichimoku cloud, MACD, Bollinger bands, etc. These indicators are important for technical analysis.
There are 10 chart styles: Bars, Candles, Lines, Area, Renko, etc.
The platform has full order management including trading history
Account management features including account balance, history and account deposits using the various payment options. Withdrawal requests and withdrawal history are also logged.
Trade from the symbols listed on the left panel or trade from charts
The experience of this platform is a smooth one. Visually the platform is much more modern than the ever popular MT4 platform, there are more parameters and indicators available here. Also you can trade directly from the charts here. The academy is available directly from the platform. The only thing you cannot do is engage in automated trading, as with the MT4.
Mobile Trading Platforms
“No mobile phone apps are provided.”
No separate mobile trading apps are provided by Skilling. The web based ‘Skilling trading platform’ works on all devices including mobile phones, phablets and tablets. This means the same features are available through your mobile device as through your desktop device.
Trading Features
“The Skilling trading platform is web based. It has customizable Watchlist, trade assistant, order management, account management with deposit options and lots of other tools.”
The Skilling trading platform has a clean and simple interface. It is easy to use and does not require any special user training. Here are some of the features of the Skilling Trading Platform:
The ‘Watchlist’ shows real live quotes on trading instruments arranged by popularity and country. There is also a search bar for looking up an asset. The Watchlist is fully customizable as a trader can create his own Watchlists in order to closely monitor his favourite instruments or frequently traded assets.
The platform’s Dashboard features a “Trade assistant”. It functions like a trade wizard that places trades for a trader using a series of interactive questions, windows and a series of steps.
There are 8 timeframes from 1 minute to 1 month.
You can also access news and economic calendar from the dashboard together with lessons.
Commissions & Spreads
“Skilling charges on the spread. It also charges commissions on equity CFDs and Cryptocurrencies.
The table below represents the asset symbols and the pip sizes for currencies, cryptocurrencies, indices, commodities and the commissions on CFD equities. For Pro Premium account holders, 0.005% commission on nominal value is charged on Forex trades. The minimum charge is €8. For Standard account holders, the charge on forex trading is built into the spread. Indices and commodities are charged based on the spread for all accounts.
SYMBOL PIP SIZE SYMBOL PIP SIZE
CURRENCIES CFD EQUITIES
AUDCAD
0.0001
TICKER
COMMISSION
AUDCHF
0.0001
ABB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
AUDJPY
0.01
ALFA.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
AUDNZD
0.0001
ASSAB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
AUDUSD
0.0001
ATCOA.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
CADCHF
0.0001
ATCOB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
CADJPY
0.01
AZN.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
CHFHUF
0.01
BOL.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
CHFJPY
0.01
ELUXB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
CHFPLN
0.0001
ERICB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURAUD
0.0001
ESSITYB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURCAD
0.0001
FINGB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURCHF
0.0001
GETIB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURCZK
0.01
HMB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURGBP
0.0001
INVEB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURHUF
0.01
KINVB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURJPY
0.01
LUPE.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURNOK
0.0001
NDA.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURNZD
0.0001
NOKIASEK.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURPLN
0.0001
SAND.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURRON
0.0001
SCAB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURSEK
0.0001
SEBA.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURTRY
0.0001
SECUB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
EURUSD
0.0001
SHBA.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
GBPAUD
0.0001
SKAB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
GBPCAD
0.0001
SKFB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
GBPCHF
0.0001
SSABA.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
GBPJPY
0.01
SWEDA.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
GBPNZD
0.0001
SWMA.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
GBPPLN
0.0001
TEL2B.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
GBPUSD
0.0001
TELIA.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
NZDCAD
0.0001
VOLVB.SE
0,1%, min SEK100
NZDJPY
0.01
COMMODITIES
NZDUSD
0.0001
ALUMINIUM
1
USDBRL
0.0001
BUND10Y
1
USDCAD
0.0001
COCOA
1
USDCHF
0.0001
COFFEE
1
USDCLP
0.01
COPPER
1
USDCZK
0.01
CORN
1
USDHUF
0.01
COTTON
1
USDJPY
0.01
EMISS
1
USDMXN
0.0001
GOLD
1
USDNOK
0.0001
NATGAS
1
USDPLN
0.0001
NICKEL
1
USDRON
0.0001
OIL
1
USDSEK
0.0001
OIL.WTI
1
USDTRY
0.0001
PLATINUM
1
USDZAR
0.0001
SCHATZ2Y
1
USDSEK
69.3
SILVER
1
INDICES SOYBEAN
1
DOW
150
SUGAR
1
SP
51
TNOTE
1
NSDQ
61
WHEAT
1
CAC
150
ZINC
1
DAX
150
FTSE
75
IBEX
745
TADAWUL
500
VIX
506.4
CRYPTOCURRENCIES
BITCOIN
0.01
DASH
0.01
ETHEREUM
0.01
LITECOIN
0.001
RIPPLE
0.0001
INDICES
AUS200
1
BRAComp
1
CHNComp
1
CZKCASH
1
DE30
1
EU50
1
FRA40
1
HKComp
1
HUNComp
1
ITA40
1
JAP225
1
KOSP200
1
MEXComp
1
RUS50
1
SPA35
1
SUI20
1
UK100
1
US100
1
US2000
1
US30
1
US500
1
VOLX
1
W20
1
*All commissions and spreads are taken from the www.Skilling.com website at the time of writing this review. Data is subject to change at any time by the company.
Bonus & Promotions
“No form of bonus has been announced by Skilling.”
Skilling does not offer any bonuses to welcome new clients or encourage old clients. There are no trading contests or promotions. This comes as a result of the stringent CySEC regulatory measures which forbid brokers to offer retail promotions or bonuses.
Customer Support
“The customer support on Skilling is available from 8am to 9pm on Monday to Friday. The channels of support are phone, email, web chat, web form, and social media.”
The support desk is available 13 hours, 5 days a week in a few selected languages. The following support channels are available:
Instant Web Chat: This feature is accessible on the website.
“Submit a Request”: This is a short form on the “Help Desk” section of the website. A client can receive assistance by filling the form. A support staff will respond by email.
Email: support@skilling.com.
Phone Number: UK + 44 208 080 6555, Sweden: +46 40 6450 022, Norway: +47 2195 0300, Germany +49 322 2999 0101, Cyprus +357 2227 6710.
The support desk is very active. The response time is swift. Emails are replied within a few hours. The phone assistants are courteous and ready to assist. Web chat really is instant, as the name suggests.
Research
“Skilling brokerage firm only provides the Economic Calendar and Market News. These tools are used for fundamental analysis. ”
The following research tools are provided:
From the Dashboard of the Skilling trading platform, traders can access the Latest news and stories. This news updates traders on major market movements and weekly outlooks. The research is taken from third party providers.
The Skilling trading platform has a section titled “Upcoming High Impact Events”. This shows a list of global events that are likely to have impacts in the assets prices. This is like the ‘Economic Calendar’. It is provided by “Trading View”, an independent financial research and analysis firm that provide tools for traders.
Trader Education
“Skilling provides a Trading Academy where there are 6 courses designed to teach beginner traders the basics of forex and CFD trading.”
Skilling has a “Trading Academy” section of the website. A user must register and login to the trading platform in order to access the academy. The Skilling academy tracks the students’ progress on the platform’s dashboard. The academy courses are made up of written articles and diagram organized as lessons. The course is excellent for beginners.
There are 6 courses broken down into the following:
About the Markets: This course is made up of 5 lessons introducing Forex, Commodities, ETF and CFD trading.
Trading Basics: This course comprises of 16 lessons teaching the basic trading terms like spread, margin, leverage, trading psychology and risk management.
Fundamental Analysis: There are just 2 lessons on Macroeconomic data and fundamental analysis.
Technical Analysis Basics: There are 7 lessons on Candlestick charts, Line charts, Pivot points, trend lines and price channels, Candlestick charts, support and resistance levels and technical analysis.
Technical Analysis Intermediate: There are 15 lessons on Indicators like Awesome oscillator, Stochastic Oscillator, Parabolic SAR, etc
Advanced Technical Analysis: There are 7 lessons on advanced indicators like TRIX, Alligator, Ichimoku Cloud, Elliot Waves, etc.
Trading Experience
“Skilling is a regulated trader that is new to the forex/CFD market, but has benefits for new and intermediate-level traders.”
Skilling is a CySEC regulated broker that offers multiple trading instruments. Formerly known as Finovel Cyprus, the brand just repackaged and launched into the market. It is a relatively new broker which offers a proprietary platform.
The proprietary platform has some benefits for beginners. It does not require a download (not even a mobile app download). Usage is a matter of simply entering the appropriate URL on a desktop or a mobile device, and trading can commence. This allows traders to focus on the core aspects of trading and not on the technicalities of platform usage. The platform is nicely laid out and simple enough for beginners to grasp immediately.
Intermediate-level traders will also benefit from the use of the analytical tools provided for news trading. However, advanced traders who utilize complex trading styles and strategies will not find the Skilling trading platform useful, as it lacks the tools that this category of traders requires. It is therefore safe to say that the Skilling brokerage service is best for beginners and intermediate-level traders.
FAQ
Where is Skilling based?
The brokerage firm is based in Cyprus but have offices in Malta and Spain.
How does Skilling make money?
Skilling makes money from spreads and commissions.
How do I deposit in Skilling account?
The payment options accepted are: Bank Transfers through Trustly, Credit/Debit Cards like Mastercard and VISA. EPayment options like Neteller and Skrill.
What is the min. deposit for Skilling?
The minimum deposit is $/€50 for the Standard account.
What is the maximum leverage in Skilling?
Maximum leverage is 1:30 for all account types.
How do I open an account with Skilling?
Click the “Sign Up” button found on the top right hand side of the website. Fill out the form and then provide your verification documents including proof of address and proof of identity.
Does Skilling use MetaTrader?
No, only the Skilling proprietary trading platform is provided.
Conclusion
Skilling is a Forex and CFD broker that operates from Nicosia, Cyprus. The brand offers over 300 tradable assets in 5 asset classes; forex, commodities, cryptocurrencies, indices and CFD equities from different exchanges across the world. Regulated by the stringent CySEC, Skilling protect its clients by segregating customers’ account, providing a digitally secure trading environment and maintaining its membership with the ICF.
The only proprietary platform provided is web based, simple and easy to use. Only $/€50 is needed to commence real trading. An education academy for beginners is provided. There is no separate platform for mobile.
Pros Cons
Modern and fully featured proprietary platform
Good selection of instruments and assets available to trade
Highly regulated via CySEC
No access to MT4 platform to those who want it
Quite high spreads as typical spread for the EURUSD is 1.3 pips.
