Summary

Founded in 2016, Skilling is a Scandinavian-owned fintech company that makes trading simple and accessible to everyone in a transparent and secure environment. It is a CFD broker that is authorized and regulated by the Financial Authority Conduct (FCA) in the UK, Cyprus Security Exchange Commission (CYSEC) in Europe, and the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA). The broker is based in London, Cyprus, Malta, and Spain. The Skilling Group has more than 70 people from different countries in the world, working together in its offices in London, Cyprus, Malta, and Spain.

There are 900+ financial instruments you can trade on this broker, and they include forex, shares, indices, cryptocurrencies, and commodities. You can trade all these instruments using contract for difference (CFD) with leverage, depending on your location. The leverage you can use to trade on this broker is up to 1:30 for clients in the UK and EU, while clients in Africa and other regions can use up to 1:500 leverage to trade. However, it has different trading platforms to trade, namely Skilling Trader, Skilling cTrader, MetaTrader 4, and Skilling Copy. These platforms are available on web, desktop, and mobile. You can download them on Google Play Store or the Apple Store.

Skilling offers different payment methods and account types, which will be enumerated later in this article. It also gives access to educational materials, which are beneficial to newbies. And lastly, the company has a news section where users can stay updated on the latest information and news in the market.

In this review, we will take a closer look at the Pros & Cons, Regulations, Supported Offices, Deposits & Withdrawals, Account Types, Leverage, Spread, Educational Materials, Customer Support, Users’ Reviews, Account Opening Procedure, Other Products and Services, Trading and Non-Trading fees, Trading Platforms and Payment Methods.

Regulations

Trading with a regulated broker gives traders and investors a sense of security and trust. Skilling is authorized and regulated in the UK, Europe, and Africa. Here are the regulatory bodies that authorize the broker and the address of their offices.

Skilling Ltd (UK): It is authorized and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

• Firm Reference Number: 810951

Skilling Ltd (EU): This entity is authorized and regulated in Europe by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CYSEC) with its office address at 62 Athalassas Avenue, Strovolos, CY-2012 Nicosia, Cyprus.

• Registration number: HE37352

Skilling (Seychelles) Ltd: This is authorized and regulated in Seychelles by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). It is located at Suite 4G, Global Village, Jivan’s Complex, Mont Fleuri, Mahe, Seychelles.

• Company number: 8425574-1.
• License number: SD042.

Skillpro Malta Limited: This is the “payment agent” of the broker and it is also registered in Europe. The office is located at 13, Baystep Mansions, Triq C Alfred Gauci, St Julians STJ 1181, Malta.

• Registration number: C78263.

Supported Countries

Skilling offers its services to clients in the following countries: UK, France, Spain, Romania, Germany, Italy, and most countries in Europe. The broker also offers its trading services to African and Asian countries like Nigeria, Ghana, China, Taiwan, Thailand, South Africa, Seychelles, and many more. However, the residents of Israel can only open an account with the broker if they are eligible for a Professional Classification according to their national legislation.

Available Assets

There are 900+ trading instruments on Skilling inclusive of Forex, Shares, Indices, Commodities, and Cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrencies

The broker hosts 50+ CFD cryptocurrencies on its trading platforms. With CFDs, you aren’t required to buy cryptocurrencies on any exchange, but at the same time a position will make both bullish and bearish market trading feasible.

A CFD trader never owns the underlying asset, but is still entitled to receiving revenue from any price changes that the asset in question undergoes. At Skilling, clients can trade cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin CFD or speculate on other popular ones such as Ethereum, Iota, or Litecoin – with spreads.

Shares

Skilling gives its customers access to 700+ share CFDs. Investors can benefit from both trading in a bullish (i.e. well-performing) market and also when there’s a decline in the market (bearish) as share CFDs can be bought or sold with contracts for difference. The broker offers all the big-name brands like Amazon, Netflix, Alibaba, Apple, Google etc. These shares can be traded with industry-low spreads and no commission whatsoever.

Commodities

The company offers its account holders 10+ commodities, both hard and soft ones. These commodities can be traded with tight spreads starting from 0.7 pips on both standard and premium accounts. You can choose between energies, like oil and natural gas, or metals such as gold and silver when trading hard commodities. As for soft commodities, sugar, cocoa, and coffee are just some of the more popular options among many others.

Indices

Indices trading allows you to deal with a group of shares as opposed to stand-alone stocks. All you have to do is open one single trade, and you will be granted exposure to the whole sector or economy under that specific index. Indices, just like the stock market, are very liquid. However, they have the added advantage of experiencing lower volatility in their respective markets because any abrupt changes in certain equities can easily be offset by others within the index.

Clients can take account positions in 15+ indices. Some indices listed on this platform include S&P 500, Germany 40, UK100, and Spain 35.

Forex

There are 70+ forex pairs to choose from – including major, minor and exotic pairs. Users can trade the industry’s most popular forex pairs such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, and EUR/JPY, all with very low spreads.

Spreads

Spreads starting from 1.0 pips make it one of the most competitive spreads in the industry. Skilling traders’ spreads vary depending on the type of financial instrument they have opened a position in, and even the type of account they hold.

Leverages

Retail clients from the UK and Europe can trade these instruments with a maximum leverage of up to 1:30. Major forex pairs can be traded with leverage up to 1:30, minor forex pairs, gold, and major indices with leverage up to 1:20, minor indices and other commodities with up to 1:10 leverage, shares with up to 1:5 leverage, and cryptocurrencies with up to 1:2 leverage.

However, elected professional clients from the UK and Europe can trade with a maximum leverage of up to 1:200. Professional clients can trade major forex pairs and major indices with leverage up to 1:200, minor forex pairs, gold, and minor indices with leverage up to 1:100, commodities with up to 1:30 leverage, shares with up to 1:10 leverage, and cryptocurrencies with up to 1:2 leverage.

Meanwhile, retail clients from other parts of the world can trade with higher leverage on Skilling, using up to 1:500 leverage to trade major forex pairs and major indices, up to 1:200 leverage to trade minor forex pairs and gold, up to 1:100 leverage to trade minor indices and other commodities, up to 1:10 leverage to trade shares, and up to 1:50 leverage to trade cryptocurrencies.

In addition, clients that deposit up to $1,000 can only use up to 1:50 leverage to trade cryptos. Any deposit above $1,000 will use up to 1:5 leverage to trade cryptos.

Following table shows the maximum leverage and minimum spread offered by Skilling to its International clients.

Fees & Commission

Trading Fees

Spreads

Spreads start from 1.0 pips and are variable depending on the asset being traded and the type of account the trader is registered with.

Commission

Commission is charged only on FX pairs and Spot Metals given that the client has a Premium account. All clients will have to pay commission fees on their crypto trading activity. For FX and Spot Metal, $30 per million USD is taken as commission. Moving onto crypto trading, charges start from 0.1% of the value of the position. It is worth noting that if the account’s base currency is not USD, clients will be charged in their respective account base currency.

Rollover rate/Swap fees

Positions held until the end of each trading day (22:00 GMT) may be subjected to swap fees. The applicable rate and direction of your trade will determine if the rollover or swap fees is negative or positive. You will be charged in the base currency of your account, and it is all done automatically. On Wednesdays, the swap fees are calculated and charged thrice to the account for the weekend.

The swap fees are different for each type of financial instrument, please refer to this page for more information on how they are calculated for each instrument.

Non-Trading Fees

The broker covers most if not all processing fees, meaning that there are no withdrawal and deposit fees on most payment methods. For deposits and withdrawals via Neteller and Skrill, however, Skilling reserves the to impose a small fee of up to 2.9% on the amount deposited or withdrawn.

Crypto CFD trading warrants an administrative fee every 30 days, given that the position remains open during this period.

Currency Conversion Fee

All trades that are denominated in a currency other than the account base currency are subjected to a currency conversion fee of 0.7%. The fee is 0.7% of the trade’s total profit or loss and can be seen once the position closes.

Trading Platforms

Skilling offers about 4 different kinds of trading platforms including Skilling Trader, Skilling cTrader, MT4, and Skilling Copy. All of these platforms can be accessed via Desktop and mobile devices. The features of Skilling Trader Platform are discussed below:

Desktop Trading Platform

There are many features of this platform that can prove to be very useful for both experts and beginners. Features like algorithmic trading, customization, and charting tools will help you take your trading strategies to the next level.

Customization

All information displayed on the Skilling Trader is designed to be user-defined so that they can have control over the final look. Many features can be tweaked to fit a trader’s specific needs. You don’t need to understand a programming language to customize indicators.

Charting tools

The desktop trading platform will provide you access to a state-of-the-art charting package that has a wide selection of different presentation modes and layouts to better enhance the appearance and readability of the chart.

How to open a live account using Skilling’s Desktop Trading Platform?

• Go to the official website, and click on “Sign up.” Enter a valid email address and create a new password that is at least 8 characters long, and includes numbers and an uppercase letter.

• Select your country of residence from the listed countries

• Enter your name as per your ID or Passport

• Enter your date of birth

• Provide your phone number

• You will be asked about your tax information starting with your country of tax residency. Choose your country of birth and nationality, and select either “Yes” or “No” from the option for the last question, depending on what’s applicable to you.

• Enter your residential address details, including street address, postal code, and city of residence.

• Answer all questions regarding your financial background to the best of your knowledge. Enter information about your employment status, annual income, source of funds, industry, and savings and investment as well.

• Select your level of education, the reason for trading, and investment experience from the options they’ve provided you with.

• If you have experience in either Forex or CFD trading, they will require you to select the number of years you’ve traded for and the frequency of this trading.

• Refer to your ID/National Health Insurance Card/payslips/income tax self-assessments/tax returns for your national ID number.

• Read and accept the given terms and conditions.

• Upload the image of your ID or Passport.

• Then provide your proof of address.

• You can now start trading with a live account.

Mobile Trading App

Not only does a mobile trading app allow you to trade on the go, but on Skilling, you are provided with a smooth and seamless user interface with nearly the same features as the desktop version. Get access to many technical indicators and drawing tools, a Skilling Trade Assistant and finally one-click trading among many other features.

Technical indicators and Drawing tools

You, as a trader will be granted access to all the right tools and features you could need to effectively analyze and ace your trading.

Skilling Trade Assistant

If you have no experience trading with forex or CFDs, the Skilling Trade Assistant on the mobile platform will help you settle in. The trading assistant will familiarize the platform to you by helping you understand all the trading basics. The assistant will go so far as to assist you in completing your first real trade.

One-click trading

This new feature makes it possible for you to open or close a trade on the trading platform with one simple click of a button. Just simply click on either the BUY or SELL button on the panel attached to a chart and you’re all set to place a trade. The order is sent straight through for processing, which should take only 0.05 seconds with Skilling’s fast execution speeds.

How to open an account using the Skilling Mobile Trading App?

• The first step is to download the Skilling Mobile App from Google Play or the App Store (if you’re an iOS user)

• If you already have an account, you must enter the registered email address and password. However, if you’re new, please click on “Sign up” in blue on the right-hand corner and enter the email address and password you would like to use with this account.

• After that you will be asked a series of questions, regarding your residential address, personal details, trading experience, and much more. All questions need to be answered before you can proceed to the next step.
• The final step is to provide proof of identification, which can be a picture of either your passport or identity card. The completion of this will give you complete access to the platform.

Account Types

The broker offers six types of accounts – namely Standard, Premium, MT4, MT4 premium, demo account, and a corporate account– that cater to the different needs of its clients. Features like leverage, number of assets to trade, scalping, or negative balance protection are more or less the same for all the accounts, however, there are a few key differences to put into consideration.

Demo Account

A demo account is the perfect place to get exposure to the market for the first time or even if you just want to test out a new trading strategy. Here at Skilling, beginners have the opportunity of learning about trading in a hands-on way minus the risk involved with a live account.

The broker provides traders with a $10,000 virtual fund on the demo account. It reflects market conditions and prices, meaning that traders who have used it to put a new trading strategy to work can easily follow it with their live accounts.

Moreover, such an account gives you complete access to all of the informative video content and academy articles at no additional cost.

Standard Account

This account targets beginners that aren’t that experienced when it comes to trading yet. You can open an account with a minimum deposit of $100. With a Standard account, you can trade on either Skilling Trader or Skilling cTrader.

The spreads start from 1.0 pips and the most appealing aspect of this account is that no commission is charged on trades (except for crypto trades).

The smallest lot size of 0.01 lot is available to Standard account holders. Micro-lot trading makes sure that even those traders with infinitesimal deposits can start trading. Although there is a standard minimum trading size, the maximum trading size is solely dependent on the margin in the user’s account.

Premium Account

With a Premium account, clients can enjoy spreads from 0.1 pips giving them the most competitive rates among other accounts. This account is more so for professional traders, explaining the much higher $5,000 minimum deposit.

Another key difference is that, unlike the zero-commission Standard account, Premium account holders are charged $30 per million on any trades involving FX and Spot Metals.

Similar to a Standard account, Premium accounts have access to both Skilling Trader and Skilling cTrader. Micro-lot trading (0.01) is also available.

MT4

Forex retail traders have always preferred Metatrader 4 (or MT4) over other platforms. All traders can use it, however, especially within the forex community, it has a 90% of market share. The platform is now available for Skilling account holders on Web, Desktop, Android, or iOS.

The MT4 has all the same characteristics as that of a standard account, the only difference being that it is used to trade on MT4 and MT4 account holders will not be able to trade on the other two platforms – Skilling Trader and Skilling cTrader.

MT4 Premium

This is another account that offers record-breaking low spread rates similar to that of a Premium account, and similar commission is charged on trading activity.

The main factor distinguishing MT4 Premium from its counterpart, Premium, is that the account holders can use the MT4 trading platform.

Corporate (entity) Account

Corporate account is more of a sub-category and can be categorized into any one of the above accounts. By default, most accounts opened on Skilling are regarded as retail accounts, which is an account that is used by an individual trader. However, separate Corporate accounts for those that want to trade with a legal identity are also available.

The Corporate account is opened in the name of the legal entity, and the Professional status too might be attained if all necessary criteria are met.

Account base currency

Skilling users can choose from a variety of base currencies. To avoid being charged for currency conversion, the base currency chosen should correspond to the currency in which deposits and withdrawals are made.

USD, EUR, GBP, NOK, and SEK are the base currencies available to account holders.

Payment Methods

Deposit Methods

Skilling has many payment methods for its clients to choose from, their use of these can only be restricted because of their country of residence. It does not charge any deposit fees on any of the below methods, except for Neteller and Skrill.

The following list provides important information on the specifics of each provider:

You can make a deposit by logging into your account, click on Deposit on the left sidebar on your dashboard. Select your account, choose your payment method, enter the amount you want to fund your account with and you will be sent an email to confirm the transaction.

Withdrawal Methods

The same payment methods mentioned above can be used for withdrawals as well. As per company policy, in order to make a withdrawal from an account where you have an open position(s) 20% of your free margin needs to stay in the account, for that position to remain open.

All withdrawals are processed within one working day, usually. However, there are a few exceptions. For example, when paying via UnionPay, clients may have to wait up to 48 hours for their withdrawals to be processed. Likewise bank transfer, credit card and debit card methods will be processed in 2-7 working days.

How to make a withdrawal on Skilling?

1. Login and click on `Withdrawal`
2. Select account
3. Enter the amount
4. Confirm your withdrawal
5. An email will be sent shortly once the request has been approved.

Education

The broker has hundreds of articles covering all aspects of trading, from market insights to technical and fundamentals news. The information is presented in a simple, easy-to-understand manner so that traders with varying levels of experience can all benefit from the educational materials provided.

A glossary is also available, defining multitudes of key terms that every trader should be familiar with.

Customer Support

Skilling provides its clients with lots of ways to reach out to its customer support and in the process resolve any issues they might be having. Its FAQ page is comprehensive, to say the least, and there’s even a search bar to easily help you find exactly what you’re looking for. If you weren’t satisfied with the answers for whatever reason, you could always download the instructional guide or submit a request through the website.

Furthermore, the broker has a large social media presence, and you can contact the support on various communication apps, which are mentioned below.

• WhatsApp: +44 7838 498236
• Telegram: @skillingbot
• Messenger

If you prefer calling over texting, Skilling has got you covered. A customer support team is prepared to answer your questions, just call any of the following numbers:

• +442080806555
• +35722276710

Finally, you can also get your queries answered by sending an email to support@skilling.com, or by submitting a request through the website.

Reviews

What Reddit Users Say About Skilling

There wasn’t much discussion on Skilling among Reddit users. However, the few that did begin a conversation on it complained about its leverage policies.

One review did show that Skilling’s customer support team did a good job at handling the situation and offering them advice on what to do.

What Quora Users Say About Skilling

Again, just like Reddit, Quora users seemed to show no interest in it, except for one who was curious about the broker and wanted to know everyone’s thoughts.

TrustPilot Users’ Reviews About Skilling

Skilling had an impressive number of positive reviews from TrustPilot users, tallied at 85+%, with a lot of them praising its fast and excellent customer service, and a handful of others loved their low spread rates and fast execution speeds too. It has a rating of 4.6 to top things off.

There were also a few negative reviews, calling the broker a “scam” for withholding funds and not approving withdrawal requests for no particular reason.

One user, in particular, shared his giddiness over their responsiveness. He shared his love for their products and user-friendly platform in the same review.

Another user explained that everything was going well until she applied for a withdrawal request. She accuses them of being a “scam” and alerts other users to steer clear of Skilling.

ForexPeaceArmy Users’ Reviews About Skilling

FoxPeaceArmy users did not have nice things to say about the broker. One particular user gave it a 1-star rating for canceling his trading activity without prior notice. He, like many others, advised users to “keep away”. There weren’t any positive reviews about the broker on this site.

Is Skilling Safe?

Yes! The broker is regulated by many reputable institutions. In the UK, it is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the FRN 810951. As for Europe, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has authorized the company under CIF license No. 357/18 (the ‘Company’). Finally, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Seychelles too recognizes it as a trustworthy broker.

Skilling ensures that customer accounts never go negative, therefore it has a policy of “negative balance protection”. All Skilling’s retail accounts that fall under this scheme, and in the event, they begin to lose more money than they initially deposited – they promise to zero out the balance. The broker also has a zero-leverage account that prevents clients from partaking in high-risk trading.

Skilling Ltd is a member of the Investor Compensation Fund for Customers of Cypriot Investment Firms (CIFs) and other Investment Firms (IFs) which do not fall under the category of credit institutions.

The Investor Compensation Fund will issue a payment of compensation for any claims made by covered clients against a member of the fund, as long as it can be proven that the member failed to fulfill its obligations and is acting dishonestly. Any compensation provided through this policy is capped at 20,000 EUR.

Other Products and Services

Partnership

You can earn commissions from Skilling by becoming any of the following; Introducer, Affiliate, Money Manager, and Strategy Provider. The more clients you have as any of the listed partners, the more commission you earn. You can even become multiple of the listed partners with Skilling. For example, you can be an introducer and a money manager at the same time.

Introducer

If you are an entrepreneur, trader, trading educator, and corporate introducer, you can become an introducing broker (introducer). You refer your students or clients to the broker by giving them your referral link to register. Once they register and start trading, you will earn up to 50% of the revenue generated. The more your clients generate trading transactions, the more you earn.

Affiliates

As a blogger/website owner, media buyer, email marketer, or influencer, you can become an affiliate with this broker. You promote the broker on your platform and tell your followers to use your referral link to register. By doing this, you can earn up to $800 CPA.

Money Managers

Money managers who manage funds for multiple clients can use the PAMM/MAM service. The PAMM/MAM is ideal for EAs. Percentage Allocation Money Management (PAMM) is a unique kind of trading setup that allows investors to allocate funds to a qualified trader or money manager they choose to manage the pooled funds across multiple trading accounts.

Multi-Account Manager (MAM), on the other hand, provides greater flexibility when sub-allocating trades to tailor the service according to each investor’s account size and risk profile.

Strategy Provider

As a trader with a trading strategy, you can earn commissions by being a strategy provider on this broker. Skilling-Copy is the platform where traders can copy trading strategies.

Note: The partnership offer is only available for clients in regions under the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Bottom Line

Skilling is regulated by three of the most reputable institutions across the globe: FCA, FSA, and CYSEC, showing that it is committed to providing users with a safe and secure environment. Its Investor Compensation Fund policy also prevents any client from being taken advantage of and gives them their due compensation if a member were to engage in malpractice.

The broker has a transparent fee structure and different pages and tables on its website solely to inform customers candidly about all the costs that will have to be covered. Additionally, the tight spreads and zero commission on its Standard account are all features well-received by its user base.

Account holders are granted access to 900+ trading instruments – including various forex pairs, in-demand stocks, profitable commodities, popular indices, etcetera. All these options will help you diversify your portfolio and spread risk.

The FAQ page’s commendable design makes it easy for a user to navigate. Customer support is offered through various channels. Be it over the phone, email, WhatsApp, live chat, or even via telegram – Skilling has it all! This makes it possible to contact customer support in a way that would be most comfortable for you.

Additionally, its partnership offer provides plenty of opportunities for you as an Introducer, Affiliate/Money Manager/ Strategy Provider to earn a commission either by using your expertise in the field or your social following to your advantage.