By Ted Twietmeyer
1-4-15

Binary trading is a relative new way to make money which also carries with it a number of high risk factors. Margin money is deposited by credit card for immediate trading once the account is setup. It is the “Terms and Conditions” of withdrawal that can have some surprising issues. I have researched three companies terms and conditions chosen at random. Some of their fees and requirements may be surprising, if not shocking. If you think banks are bad enough when they take up to 7 days to credit your account from a deposited check, wait until you finish reading this article.

Unlike trading on the stock market, binary trading is currently unregulated. You are at their mercy when it comes to withdrawing any of your money from your account. Returns on trades can range from 60% to 85% in a matter of minutes or days. But getting your funds and profits OUT of your account has surprisingly hidden expenses. In terms and conditions statements viewable online by options companies, statements about withdrawals and numerous fees are the most important areas to pay attention to. These statements are usually buried somewhere within the middle of these documents.

We will look at verbatim statements about withdrawing your money in the Terms and Conditions sections listed online at three different binary options trading companies. All the Terms and Conditions statements for each company rambles on for many pages and will not be covered.

Only pertinent extracts regarding withdrawal of funds and some of the fees will be included below. Statement extracts below are shown verbatim; any potential binary trader with ANY company would be wise to read ALL terms and conditions FIRST before setting up any account. Not shown below are other statements about numerous fees each company charges for account inactivity and other reasons.

Here is a brief review of three binary options trading companies:

Company and website: Beeoptions.com http://www.beeoptions.com/termsofuse/

“19.1. Withdrawal Procedure”

“Our site’s (www.beeoptions.com) Finance Department supervises every withdrawal request submitted. Prior to making a withdrawal, verification documentation must be submitted, verified and approved. You (the client) must contact our site’s (www.beeoptions.com) Client Services Department or your personal account manager for full and complete details regarding what documentation is required at the time of request.”

“Withdrawals are processed once a week and the deadline to submit a withdrawal request for a same-week withdrawal and review is four full business days in advance.”

“Withdrawals are subject to a 42.00 USD/GBP/AUD/CAD/EUR institutional withdrawal fee. Beeoptions is not liable for any third party transaction costs resulting from withdrawals via bank wire, credit card, ewallet or any other third party transaction. Please consult an account manager for the latest information on costs affecting transactions.”

“All accounts with a deposited amount of 251 USD/GBP/AUD/CAD/EUR/BRL or greater will be subject to a 10% levy on the account balance for each withdrawal enacted, should the account execute less than 100 USD/GBP/AUD/CAD/EUR/BRL in trading turnover.”

[Author's note: You are charged a total of $42 + 10% levy on your account balance each time you withdraw money.]

“The minimum withdrawal for wire transfers is 200.00 USD/GBP/AUD/CAD/EUR. The minimum withdrawal on any other method is 100.00 USD/GBP/AUD/CAD/EUR.”

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Company and website: RBoptions http://www.rboptions.com/content.php?id=1039

“11. Withdrawal Procedure”

“RBO’s finance department handles all withdrawal requests submitted. Identification documents must be submitted in order to process a withdrawal.”

“Initial deposit can be withdrawn via credit card provided all terms of investment rewards and bonuses have been met. RBO charges no withdrawal fees for credit cards.”

“RBO covers the withdrawal fee for the first two withdrawal of a given calendar month, any subsequent withdrawal will add a processing charge of $30, which covers the transfer fee.”

[Author's note: They apparently do not charge a withdrawal fee IF you only take out money no more than twice a month.]

“Transfer fee covers the charge of sending your earnings to your bank account, however, RBO is not responsible for any additional fees that they may charge.”

[Author's note: Transfer fee is undefined here and may not be the same fee as a withdrawal fee.]

“Once a withdrawal request has been submitted, it can take RBO up to 3 business days to process the request. Once the request has been approved please allow an additional 3-7 days for the funds to show in your account.”

[Author's note: In other words, allow up to 10 business days or about 2 calendar weeks. Clearly they are using your money before giving it to you, just like banks do when delaying a credit to your account and utility companies do before crediting your utility bill payment to your account.]

“The minimum withdrawal amount at Rboptions is 100 ­ EUR or USD ­ depending on the currency to which your account is set.”

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Company and website: Titan Trade http://titantrade.com/terms-conditions

“4.8 Withdrawals ­ In case the Client gives an instruction to withdraw funds from the Trading Account, the Company shall pay the specified amount (less any transfer charges, if applicable) once a duly instruction has been accepted and at the moment of payment, the Client’s margin requirements have been met. Withdrawal procedure takes 7 business days once Client’s documentation submitted and approved. The Company may cancel the Client’s withdrawal order, if, according to the Company’s discretion, the remaining funds (after the withdrawal) shall not be sufficient to secure open Position(s) in the Trading Account.”

“4.9 The Company shall debit the Client’s Trading Account for all payment charges. If the Client has the obligation to pay any amount to the Company which exceeds the amount held in the Client’s Trading Account, the Client shall immediately pay such amount upon Company’s request.”

[Author's note: “payment charges” is undefined here.]

“5.2 The Company charges a fee for transfers of funds standing to the credit of a Trading Account from the Company to the Client, currently equivalent to 35 units per transfer.”

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Titan Trade (above) may have one of the worst fee structures in the binary industry when withdrawing money. Do not be misled into thinking a “unit” is $1.00.

A sum of $5.00 is the standard “unit” in the binary options industry. A “unit” is the minimum size trade you can make when binary trading. This means that 35 units x $5.00 = $175. This implies they will charge you $175 EACH TIME you withdraw funds. After all, doesn't 35 units sound so much better than $175? Outrageous, greedy and insane.

BONUS FUNDS OFFERED BY OPTIONS COMPANIES

People often get a email, phone call or on-screen pop-up offering them bonus money in their account. Bonuses have serious strings attached. One such example is RBoptions. You need to know that once you accept their bonus, any money you deposited is now TIED UP (i.e., co-mingled) with their bonus money.

RBoptions clearly states what they require of you to access any of your money after accepting their bonus. As an example, you start with $500 in your account with the company. They offer you $1,500 in bonus funds to trade with and you accept it. Now you have $2,000 in your trading account. But can you still access your original $500? Not anymore - until you meet all their terms and conditions.

Here is why: Rboptions terms state that to withdraw ANY funds, even your own, you must first have made enough successful trades to turn $2,000 into $40,000. Only then can you access any of your money. Turning $2,000 into $40,000 is far easier said than done to meet all their requirements. Once their bonus is accepted, you become a virtual unpaid employee trying to earn $40,000 to meet all the requirements - just to access your own money again.

Here is the verbatim proof about bonuses as shown in Terms and Conditions for Rboptions:

“All funds can only be withdrawn when the preceding stipulation has been fully met and fulfilled and a trading volume of the (initial deposit amount + Bonus Amount) * 20 was reached in trading volume. To clarify this includes the original deposit and all other subsequent deposits. Please note the amount for the requested withdrawal is only deducted from your account balance once the funds have been transferred.”

“Withdrawals of bonus from the account (accounts which did not meet the required trading volume) will only be approved under extenuating circumstances and by the sole discretion of RBoptions. If such an approval was granted the total bonus amount will be deducted from the account balance along with an additional 10%-30% processing and handling fees.”

[Author's note: processing and handling fees can become quite large on large withdrawals.]

“Any indication of fraud, manipulation, cash-back arbitrage, or other forms of deceitful or fraudulent activity based on the provision of the bonus will nullify the account and any and all profits or losses garnered.”

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Other options companies are even worse which have a *30 or *40 requirement. Try to imagine the immense time and luck are required to turn $2,000 into $60,000 or $80,000 - while having many binary trades result in a loss.

Industry estimates state that about 95% of traders will suffer a loss, not gain. If there was ever was a financial industry desperately in need of regulation, it is binary trading.

Ted Twietmeyer