Changes to XM's Loyalty Program

In December 2025, XMTrading's Loyalty Program underwent a major renewal.

Previously, anyone could reach the highest rank (ELITE) simply by accumulating "active trading days." However, under the new rules, the emphasis has shifted heavily towards "trading volume."

In short, the method of opening a hedged position and leaving it open just to rank up is no longer viable.

This raises two important questions:

• Ultimately, which is better: the Standard Account with XMP or the tight-spread KIWAMI Ultra Low Account?
• Is there any value left in intentionally using the Standard Account, which has wider spreads?

In this article, we will explain the mechanics of the revised Loyalty Program, calculate the real trading costs, and compare which account type you should choose.

Conclusion: If You Prioritize Trading Costs, Go With the "KIWAMI Ultra Low Account"

To get straight to the point, when comparing pure trading costs (Spread minus XMP rebate), the KIWAMI Ultra Low Account is superior in almost every scenario.

You might hope that "XMP can cover the wide spreads," but as the calculations will show, the barrier set by the KIWAMI account is quite high.

Register for a KIWAMI Ultra Low Account

Summary of Changes to the New Loyalty Program

First, let's review what has changed.

The good news is that the holding time required to generate points has been reduced from 10 minutes to 5 minutes.
This makes it easier to earn points even with trading styles leaning towards scalping.

The bad news (or rather, the stricter aspect) is that "Trading Volume (Number of Lots)" is now required to rank up.
If you use the old method of "holding a minimum lot in a Micro Account and leaving it," you will stay at the Bronze rank forever.

Conditions and Return Rates for the New Ranks

To reach the highest rank, "Elite," you need a trading volume of approximately 3,000 Lots (equivalent to $300 million) per quarter (3 months). This is a significantly high hurdle for average retail traders.

For cross-JPY pairs, 1 Lot moving 10 pips equals 10,000 JPY. However, for dollar-straight pairs, the profit/loss is affected by the exchange rate.
(e.g., If USDJPY is 150 JPY, 1 Lot moving 10 pips equals 15,000 JPY in P/L.)

What is the "Real Spread" Including XMP?

Now, let's calculate the "Real Cost," which is what everyone cares about the most.

While XMP can be exchanged for "Cash," the exchange rate for cash is extremely poor.
Therefore, our calculations assume you will exchange XMP for "Credit (Bonus)" to use as trading margin.

The exchange rate for Bonus Credit is: XMP ÷ 3 = Equivalent in USD

Even at the Highest "Elite" Rank, It Often Can't Beat the KIWAMI Account in Real Spreads

Let's compare the real cost when trading 1 Lot, using USDJPY as an example.

Prerequisites:

• Standard Account Spread: 2.4 pips (Average)
• KIWAMI Ultra Low Account Spread: 0.7 pips (Average)
• Elite Rank Return: 30 XMP (per 1 Lot)

Calculation of the Rebate Amount:
30 XMP ÷ 3 = $10 (approx. 1,500 JPY) in credit return.
When converted into pips, this equals a rebate of approximately 1.0 pips.

Comparison of Real Spreads:

As you can see from the table above:
Even if you climb all the way to the highest Elite rank and fully utilize XMP, the KIWAMI Ultra Low Account is still cheaper right from the start.

If your rank is Bronze or Silver, the gap becomes even wider.
Therefore, if you prioritize "tight spreads" and "total trading costs," the correct answer is to forget about XMP and use the KIWAMI Ultra Low Account.

However, for some currency pairs like EURUSD, if you are at the ELITE rank, the real spread of the Standard Account can actually reverse and become cheaper than the KIWAMI account. So, for dollar-straight pairs, there is still value in choosing the Standard Account.

Register for a KIWAMI Ultra Low Account

Is There Still Value in Using the Standard Account Despite Wider Spreads?

You might think, "If it loses in trading costs, there's no reason to use the Standard Account," but that's not entirely true.
This is because the Standard Account has a powerful weapon that the KIWAMI account lacks: the "Deposit Bonus."

1. Boosting Margin with "Deposit Bonus" + "XMP"

The biggest advantage of using XM is undeniably the deposit bonus.
If you deposit up to $500 (or equivalent in JPY), you receive a 100% bonus, allowing you to start with double the margin. This strategy cannot be executed with a KIWAMI account.

Furthermore, by converting accumulated XMP into credit, you can "increase your margin without spending your own cash."

• KIWAMI Account: Spreads are tight, but there are zero deposit bonuses, meaning you need a certain amount of your own capital.
• Standard Account: Spreads are wide, but with bonuses and XMP, you can build a margin buffer where "losses don't hurt your own wallet as much."

If your trading style is not about scalping a few pips, but rather "utilizing bonuses to aim for large price movements via day trading or swing trading," then the combination of the Standard Account + XMP remains highly potent.

2. The Standard Account is Excellent for Crypto and Nikkei 225

While the Standard Account loses to the KIWAMI account in Forex spreads as mentioned above, the story changes when it comes to CFD instruments.

For example, instruments like Bitcoin (BTCUSD) and the Nikkei 225 (JP225) have highly competitive spread settings even on the Standard Account when compared to the KIWAMI account or other overseas brokers.

Because these CFDs are fundamentally highly volatile, there are many cases where the "benefit of increasing your margin level via deposit bonuses" far outweighs the drawback of slightly wider spreads.

Conclusion: KIWAMI is Advantageous, But the Standard Account Still Has its Place

The renewed Loyalty Program has become stricter for casual users since the ranking condition is now based on "trading volume."
However, the fact that "points are awarded for holding positions for just 5 minutes" is great news for day traders.

Blindly using the Standard Account simply "because you get XMP" will result in a loss due to trading costs.
We highly recommend clearly defining your purpose: using the "Standard Account to receive bonuses" or the "KIWAMI Account to lower trading costs."

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