Our verdict on Plus500
I would point a casual New Zealand trader here, one who wants a single platform and an NZD account. What gives me pause is the thin evidence: Ross Collins's tests hold no spread for this broker, our global test holds no fill time either, and the firm publishes neither an average nor a minimum EUR/USD spread on its New Zealand pages, so no cost number appears on this page. The NZ desk score is 76, an editorial desk judgement built from the same eight categories, drawn from published sources rather than any test.
My recommendation stands for that reader. The statement states that Plus500AU keeps the interest on client money and pays none of it to clients (page 29), and that all client money sits in one pooled account (page 31). If pooled client money and forgone interest bother you, read those pages before you deposit.
Pros
- Holds an active derivatives issuer licence from the FMA, granted 30 September 2016
- Negative balance protection: a sub-zero balance is restored to zero (page 9)
- A guaranteed stop order closes at exactly the specified price (page 29)
- No dealing commission, with the spread built into the quoted price (page 27)
- A demo account, per our global broker data, plus deposit minimums that vary by method and appear on the platform, with the statement requiring every deposit in New Zealand dollars (page 5)
Cons
- Our global broker test holds no measured order fill time for this broker
- No published average or minimum EUR/USD spread exists, and a client finds a spread only inside the platform or as a delayed figure on the New Zealand instrument page
- An inactivity fee of up to US$10 a month after three months with no login (page 30)
- A currency conversion fee of up to 0.7 per cent for any conversion from NZD (page 30)
Plus500 score breakdown
| Area | Rating |
|---|---|
| Trading Costs | 7/10 |
| Trading Experience | 8/10 |
| Trust | 9/10 |
| Trading Platform | 6/10 |
| Customer Service | 8/10 |
| Range of Markets | 8.5/10 |
| Education | 7.5/10 |
| Funding | 8/10 |
NZ desk assessment, scored from published information, not tested
How is our rating calculated?Our New Zealand assessment
76 is Plus500's NZ desk score, an editorial desk judgement scored from published information, not tested. Plus500 uses its own platform, and NZD deposits carry minimums depending on the deposit method. Its New Zealand EUR/USD spread is not costed in this comparison, so no comparable cost figure appears for it here. Compare our CMC Markets review.
No spread, fill time or account behaviour was measured, and a spread not costed here is not scored as zero.
- Score basis:
- Editorial rating set by our team, 8 weighted categories
- Source review:
- 16 October 2026
How popular is Plus500 in New Zealand?
Plus500 ranked 3rd for search interest among the 6 brokers we review in August 2026, on 1,130 branded Google searches from New Zealand, behind BlackBull Markets and CMC Markets. Search interest measures attention, not quality; the score above is the review verdict.
- 1,130
- Brand searches, August 2026
- +0.9%
- vs July 2026
- 390
- Login searches
- 12.2%
- Share of all searches
Source: Google search volume, New Zealand, August 2026.
How this is measured
Google Ads reports how many times a month people in New Zealand searched each broker's brand terms, and the brokers are ranked on that figure alone.
A term counts for a broker only when that broker's own website holds the first organic Google result for it in New Zealand; bare brand words that any company could own are left out.
A month-on-month change prints only where the previous month reached 1,000 searches, because Google rounds smaller volumes.
These figures were collected once and are not refreshed monthly, unlike the monthly refreshes for this site's other markets; the first-organic-result check, which determines which search terms count for which broker, was run once on 20 September 2026 and does not repeat.
How safe is Plus500?
Yes, a New Zealand client of Plus500 contracts with Plus500AU Pty Ltd, which holds an active derivatives issuer licence from the Financial Markets Authority, granted on 30 September 2016. The licence is the thing that authorises the issuing of derivatives, and it is the licence that matters to you as a trader.
The entity also holds the FSP registration FSP486026, which is a registration on the Financial Service Providers Register. The two are different things, both held, and an FSP number on its own is never evidence of FMA regulation. On the FMA’s own page for this licensee, read on 19 September 2026, the derivatives issuer licence shows as Active.
FMA regulation and global licences
The group’s regulators are ASIC, the FCA in the United Kingdom, CySEC, MAS, CIRO in Canada, the CFTC, the FMA in New Zealand, the DFSA in Dubai, EFSA, the JFSA, the CMA, the FSCA in South Africa, the FSA in Seychelles, the SCB, and Bappebti in Indonesia. The FMA licence is the only one of the fifteen that reaches your account; the other fourteen cover clients elsewhere. The FMA is the regulator that covers your account, and if you want to see what a 2016 grant actually authorises, our derivatives issuer licence and full register of licensed providers page walks through the terms every licensee, Plus500AU included, operates under.
FMA enforcement history
A search of fma.govt.nz on 21 September 2026 under 3 search terms returned no FMA enforcement action against this company: Plus500AU Pty Ltd, Plus500AU, Plus500.
Source: the Financial Markets Authority, fma.govt.nz, searched 21 September 2026.
Plus500 client money and dispute scheme
A New Zealand client of this broker contracts with an Australian company, and the pages that follow set out where that arrangement leaves your money and who hears a complaint if something goes wrong.
History and ownership
The FMA register names the licensee Plus500AU Pty Ltd; the trading name on that entry is styled Plus500au Pty Ltd. The entity is an Australian company, one of four brands in our rated New Zealand set whose contracting entity is incorporated outside New Zealand, and this one sits in Australia.
Where a New Zealand client’s money is held
Client money is held on trust in a designated client money trust account with an eligible deposit-taking institution, separate from the firm’s own money (page 31). All client money sits in one pooled account, not held separately per client (page 31). The firm keeps the interest, calculated daily, and pays none of it on to clients (page 29), and using the service relinquishes your right to interest on money in those trust accounts (page 31). If you were expecting your balance to earn anything while it sits with the broker, it will not.
Who a New Zealand client contracts with
The statement states that Plus500AU Pty Ltd is both the product issuer and the sole distributor, acting for nobody else (page 32). The FMA states that insolvency of the provider is a risk to read the statement for, and that a client may be an unsecured creditor. That is the counterparty position you take on when you open the account.
How to complain, and who hears it
The dispute scheme is Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL), approved under the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008 (page 32). Its toll free number is 0800 347 257 (page 32). The statement requires you to give the broker 20 working days before the complaint may go to FSCL (page 32). FSCL charges the complainant nothing (page 32).
Plus500 at a glance
The table below gathers what a New Zealand trader needs before opening an account, drawn from the FMA register, the product disclosure statement and our global broker test. Where a figure comes from our global test rather than a New Zealand one, the table says so.
| Fact | What the record says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Contracting entity | Plus500AU Pty Ltd | FMA register |
| FSP registration | FSP486026 | FMA register |
| Licence status | Active | FMA register |
| Licence granted | 30 September 2016 | FMA register |
| Published score | 76 out of 100, NZ desk score | Editorial desk assessment, scored from published information, not tested |
| Platforms | Plus500 Trading Platform | Our global broker test |
| Client money held at | held on trust in a designated client money trust account with an eligible deposit-taking institution, separate from the firm’s own money | Product disclosure statement, page 31 |
| Negative balance | negative balance protection: recourse is limited to money in the trading account and a sub-zero balance is restored to zero | Product disclosure statement, page 9 |
| Close-out level | forced liquidation begins without notice once account equity falls below the margin close-out amount | Product disclosure statement, page 7 |
| Dispute scheme | Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL), approved under the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008 | Product disclosure statement, page 32 |
| Inactivity fee | up to USD 10 a month after three months with no login, capped at the remaining balance | Product disclosure statement, page 30 |
| Base currencies | a New Zealand resident’s account is denominated in NZD | Product disclosure statement, page 30 |
Some of the abbreviations on this page are expanded to the regulator's full name: a broker regulated by ASIC is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission; by FCA, the Financial Conduct Authority; by DFSA, the Dubai Financial Services Authority; by CIRO, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization.
Plus500 spreads and commission
On the fees page of its New Zealand website, read 13 October 2026, Plus500 tells clients to log in, search for an instrument and open its Details icon to view the spread, and it publishes no EUR/USD average or minimum. Nothing on our panel was measured on a New Zealand account: whatever evidence this page carries is carried over from global testing. Ross Collins’s spread tests hold no spread figure for this broker.
One spread, no commission account
Plus500’s New Zealand EUR/USD instrument page displays a live figure labelled simply as the spread, and the quote it shows is delayed rather than an average. Its fees page for New Zealand clients states that no dealing commission is charged. No round turn or cost figure is computed for it here.
The statement sets out the pricing model on page 27: the spread is the firm’s principal revenue, built into the quoted price and not billed separately, and there is no dealing commission. Plus500AU runs one pricing model, the one spread, no commission account.
What it costs to trade with Plus500
The spread is the whole of the pricing model, but the statement reaches further into a New Zealand account than the spread does, and three of its fees can touch yours.
Other fees a New Zealand trader should check
The statement calculates overnight funding at the end of each trading day, and it can be positive or negative (page 27). An inactivity fee applies after three months with no login, charged monthly while there is no login, and it can never exceed the remaining balance in the account (page 30). Any conversion from NZD carries a fee of up to 0.7 per cent of a transaction’s realised net profit and loss (page 30). If you fund in NZD and trade instruments priced in other currencies, that conversion fee is the one to watch.
Plus500 deposits and withdrawals
Your account runs in the base currency the accounts section names, and any conversion from NZD attracts the conversion fee the costs section sets out. Funding comes in at 8.0 for this broker (our global panel).
Deposit methods (NZ clients)
The statement states there is no fee for accepting a credit card payment (page 30).
Withdrawals
The minimum withdrawal is the lesser of US$50 or the available balance, and a withdrawal request below that minimum incurs a fee of US$10 to process (both page 30). If you plan to draw small amounts out regularly, that fee is the one to plan around.
Plus500 accounts and minimum deposit
This broker has one pricing model, the one spread, no commission account the spreads section sets out. A New Zealand resident’s account is denominated in NZD, because the client is a New Zealand resident (page 30).
Minimum deposit
Deposit minimums vary by method, and the firm’s New Zealand help pages point clients to the deposit screen on the platform for the level that applies, while the statement requires every deposit to be made in New Zealand dollars (page 5). Our global broker data also records a demo account, so you can try the platform before the deposit matters.
Plus500 trading platforms
The statement calls the platform the Plus500 Platform, the firm’s own software (page 27). Our global broker test counts one platform type for this broker.
Copy and social trading
The one platform our global broker data lists for this broker is the firm’s own software, and no copy trading service appears under this entity’s name in that data. For the brand’s worldwide offering, read our global review of Plus500, which covers what the group runs outside this entity.
Plus500 app
Plus500 execution speed and slippage
Our global broker test times market and limit orders across the brokers on its panel, and this broker is not one of them. This broker therefore has no fill time and no place on the panel. Our global test holds no measurement of Plus500AU Pty Ltd at all, and nothing anywhere on our panel was taken from a New Zealand account.
What the statement does commit to is the price on a controlled exit. A guaranteed stop order closes at exactly the specified price, for a premium deducted when the order is placed and not refundable once the order has executed (page 29). That premium is the guaranteed stop percentage multiplied by the spread, rounded up to two decimal places (page 29). In plain terms: your exit price is fixed, but you pay for the certainty up front, and you do not get the premium back even if the stop never triggers.
Plus500 markets
The statement states on page 3 that the underlying reference instrument may be a commodity, a currency, a share, an index, a cryptocurrency, or another financial instrument listed on the platform. The range of markets available through this broker comes in at 8.5 (our global panel). The FMA states that forex trading through contracts linked to an exchange rate is trading a derivative, and that it classes retail forex trading as derivatives trading rather than currency dealing, so what you are trading here sits in the derivatives framework our guide to what a CFD is and how New Zealand treats it explains.
Plus500 leverage and margin in New Zealand
The FMA describes leveraged forex trading as borrowing money to place a bet, with the full borrowed amount repayable on a loss. Keep that in mind before you size any position here. When you sit down to trade, check the trading session in New Zealand time so you know which hours your market actually runs.
How leverage interacts with margin on this account
The statement states that forced liquidation begins without notice once account equity falls below the margin close-out amount (page 7). It also states that recourse is limited to the money in the trading account, and that a balance which falls below zero is restored to zero (page 9). Together they mean the firm can close your positions without warning, but it cannot come after the rest of your money: what is at risk is the money sitting in the trading account, not the whole of what you have ever deposited.
Plus500 customer support
Reaching the firm runs three ways, per the statement: email via the Contact Us section of its New Zealand website, a phone line, and a letter posted to Australia (page 32). The phone number is 0800 758-750 (page 32). The broker advertises support around the clock on its own New Zealand page, which we read on 20 September 2026; that is an advertised claim, not something we tested. Customer service sits at 8 out of 10 (our global panel).
Plus500 vs CMC Markets vs Axi for New Zealand traders
On cost, the comparison has to be like for like, so both rivals are quoted on their one spread, no commission account. Ross Collins’s spread tests put CMC Markets at 0.8 pips on EUR/USD with nothing billed as commission, a US$8.00 round turn on 1.0 lot, and Axi at 1.45 pips on the same basis, a US$14.50 round turn. Since Plus500 prints no average or minimum spread, it brings no cost figure of its own to that comparison. I would weigh the two rivals against each other on cost, and leave this broker out of it, because only CMC Markets and Axi carry tested numbers here.
On score, the NZ desk scores put CMC Markets at 86.8 and Axi at 80, both ahead of this broker in our rated New Zealand set. The contracting entities differ too: CMC Markets NZ Limited for CMC, and AxiCorp Financial Services Pty Ltd for Axi.
What other review sites say about Plus500
These are ratings of Plus500 from other platforms, read on the date shown and expressed on each platform's scale, so you can weigh them against our own score.
| Platform | Rating | Volume | Read on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot | 4.2 / 5 | 20,206 | 1 November 2026 |
Plus500 holds a Trustpilot rating of 4.2 out of 5 from 20,206 reviews, checked 1 November 2026.

Our score is based on published criteria and is not influenced by these third-party ratings.
Should you open an account with Plus500?
Yes, if you want a single-platform broker with an NZD account and a guaranteed stop, and you accept that Ross Collins’s spread tests hold no spread for this broker and our global test holds no fill time for it.
I would send a casual New Zealand trader here and not a cost-first one. You can check any instrument’s spread on the platform itself, because the firm publishes no EUR/USD average, and an idle account, or one funded in NZD, still faces real costs, with the inactivity fee and the currency conversion fee both set out in the statement. The pooled client money and the interest the firm keeps belong in your decision, not in a footnote to it.
Before you deposit, read the product disclosure statement yourself, so you know exactly when forced liquidation begins and what recourse you have if your balance falls below zero.
Plus500 FAQs
What Is the Cheapest Alternative to Plus500 for a New Zealand Trader?
Does Every FMA-Licensed Derivatives Issuer Take New Zealand Retail Clients?
Is Plus500AU a Long-Standing FMA Derivatives Issuer Licensee?
What Address Does Plus500AU Give a New Zealand Client for Written Contact?
Which Brands on the New Zealand Section Set Out a Guaranteed Stop?
Testing log
| Record | Detail |
|---|---|
| FMA register read | 19 September 2026, licence status active. |
| Product disclosure statement | The statement is dated 17 September 2026 and we read it in full on 20 September 2026. |


