We usually suggest adding £100 the first time you fund your account, as this should give you sufficient funds to place and maintain a trade.
As an example, if the minimum trade size for a spread bet on Gold is £0.50/pt, you would need to allocate an estimated margin of approximately £32.50 (5% margin rate for retail clients) to open the trade if the price of Gold were $1,300. The holding cost to keep this trade open overnight would be approximately £0.05, charged at 10pm (UK time) every night. Bear in mind that holding rates can change.
For a CFD trade, if the minimum trade size for Gold is 0.4 units, that would require an estimated margin of approximately £21.25 (5% margin rate for retail clients) to open the trade if the price of Gold were $1,300. The holding cost to keep this trade open overnight would be approximately £0.03, charged at 10pm (UK time) every night.
In this instance, the additional funds in your account would act as a buffer if the price of Gold were to move against you, as unrealised profits and losses are reflected in your account balance. Ensuring you have enough funds in your account to cover unrealised losses will mean your account balance won’t reach its close-out level in the event of adverse price movements.
In principle, you can deposit up to £50,000 per transaction when using a credit or debit card to fund your account, though your bank or card issuer may set limits below this amount. To find out if limits apply to deposits made via bank transfer or PayPal, please consult your bank or PayPal.