Review: TopOption's Credibility Makes It a Household Name in Binary Options

Binary label options, TopOption, was launched almost two years ago with its platform provided by SpotOption, with solid backing in terms of Marketing and advertising from its parent company Markets.com.

Regulated under the CySEC , the broker provides separate accounts for user funds in which sums up to EUR 20,000 are insured against any error or glitch. This has granted TopOption a necessary credibility to become one of the most recognized brands in the business.

Wide Array Offering

In terms of instruments offered, the selection is in line with what SpotOption provides for clients. The main currency pairs are complemented with some more exotic ones, adding to the indices and commodities.

It is worth noting that TopOption was among those which chose to include pairs between different stocks, enhancing their marketing campaigns aiming to attract traders who want in on the action with Twitter, Alibaba and similar companies that have large IPOs.

Option types on offer are the standard Up/Down, One Touch and Option Builder for custom payout and expiry time. There is also Pro Option for users who want a more advanced charting tool.

Turbo options are also available, but they are only offered in their sixty seconds version, with relatively low payouts between 68% and 70%, which is largely in line with other brokers. However, options that last less than a minute or are for two and five minutes, aren't been offered.

Options are available every 15 minutes during active trading hours and there is a diverse offering of long-term binary trades – daily, weekly, monthly – but we have to note that they can have some unusual times of expiry.

The exact expiry time of these options is 17:10 GMT and the end of the respective in European trading hours. Some traders find this point troublesome, complaining it makes it harder to make their decisions on technical analysis.

As most charting tools offer hourly and daily bars and candlesticks, their usefulness is limited to analyses of long-term weekly and monthly options. This is because the expected price change is bigger over the longer course and the outcome of trades doesn't differ between 17:10 GMT and the more typical end of day expiry time of 22:00 GMT.

The interface of the platform has the standard layout with clearly visible trading buttons, but also with a focus on the payout percentage.

Another plus is the price display on the price axis of the chart. Prices are shown in round numbers, which is always a help to traders who want to find out what the movement has been compared to, a psychological advantage that acts in terms of support or resistance.

Payouts for the regular options vary in wider ranges but are generally higher than the majority of other brokers – case in point being the 85% payout for hourly expirations for the most traded currency pair EUR/USD.

TopOption incentivizes both new and existing traders with depositing bonuses. Deposits of $200-500, which are probably the most common ones, will grant the account holder with an additional 50% while bigger sums are gratified with A 100% figure. These deposits however, have a larger-than-usual turnover requirement – before traders can make a withdrawal they need to be played through 40 times from their accounts.

Proactive Approach

One area in which TopOption stands out is their customer service. A dedicated account manager is assigned to every trader, and the company's approach is proactive and aimed at providing either information or a service in a straightforward and quick manner, be it about the platform or something related to identification or deposits & withdrawals.

Overall, the broker can be placed among the better service providers in the binary options space. The higher payouts for the most traded options, the clearer access to trading and the availability of account history, coupled with very good customer service from their staff, have made them a reputable name in the industry.