Exness — where your money sits between the account and the market · South Africa

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What moves your money from one place to another

• Most withdrawals are processed automatically, 24/7 — the return leg starts when the request is approved, not when a working day begins
• No minimum initial deposit on Standard and Standard Cent, so the first amount to cross into the account can be as small as you like
• Raw spreads from 0.0 pips on the Raw Spread and Zero accounts — the entry cost is taken once, at the moment the order fills
• Negative balance protection — an open position cannot pull the balance below the funds already deposited
• Swap-free (Islamic) accounts available, so nothing is added or taken at the nightly rollover
• MT4, MT5, the Exness Terminal and the Exness Trade app read one and the same account, so balance, margin and the running result never disagree between devices
• One base currency is fixed when the account is opened, which keeps conversion at the two ends of the path instead of inside every trade
• Balance, equity, margin and free margin are shown live, so where each part of the amount sits is readable before an order is placed

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Each step on the path has its own page

The pages below follow the same route in more detail: getting the account open, getting money onto it, holding a position, and getting the settled amount back out.

In short: the shape of the path

Exness has run as a global broker since 2008. On the way in, an account can be opened with no minimum initial deposit on Standard and Standard Cent. In the middle, the entry cost is taken at the fill while the result of the trade is still moving. On the way out, most withdrawals are processed automatically. You can also read independent Exness reviews on Trustpilot. CFDs carry a high risk of losing money — confirm the current terms before depositing.

Processing times may vary depending on the chosen payment method.

The five places one amount can be

Free balance is money sitting on the account with nothing claimed against it. It is the only state in which the whole sum is available for a new order or for a withdrawal request, and it is the state the account comes back to between trades.

Margin is the part carved out of the balance when an order fills. It has not left the account and it has not been spent — it is reserved against the size of the position and released the moment that position is closed. Free margin is simply what is left over after the reservation.

The open position holds the third figure. Between the fill and the close, the distance between the entry price and the current price is recalculated on every tick. It moves the equity line up and down, but it is not on the balance, and none of it can back a withdrawal while the trade is still running.

Closing turns that moving figure into a fixed one. The result is written into the balance, the reserved margin returns to free margin, and the trade settles into the account history — the one state in which the number stops changing by itself.

The fifth place is outside the account. A withdrawal request takes an amount off the free balance and hands it to the route it travels on; from that point the account no longer sets the timing.

What holds an amount up, and where

On the way in, the delay is almost never inside the terminal. The account is credited once the incoming transfer is confirmed on the other side, so the gap between sending and seeing is a gap in confirmation rather than in bookkeeping.

At the point of entry, the hold-up is the fill itself. A market order takes whatever price is available when it reaches the server. A pending order changes nothing about your money while it waits: the amount behind it is still free balance, and it is not reserved until the level is touched and the order becomes a position.

In the middle, nothing is held up so much as suspended. The running figure moves while the market for that instrument is open and freezes when it closes for the week. A position carried across a weekend keeps its size and keeps its margin reserved, but stops repricing until trading resumes.

On the way out, the first request usually waits on verification rather than on the amount. Once the profile is complete, the sum leaves free balance quickly and the remaining wait belongs to the route it travels, not to the account.

Reading the account line as a map

Four numbers on the terminal footer describe the same money in four ways. Balance is what has been settled. Equity is balance plus whatever the open positions are currently worth. Margin is the part reserved. Free margin is equity minus margin, and it is the figure that decides whether the next order can be opened at all.

Margin level, shown as a percentage, is equity divided by margin. It is not a separate pot of money — it is the ratio between two of the states above, which is why it moves when neither a deposit nor a withdrawal has happened.

When those figures disagree with what you expected, one handover has not happened yet: an order that has not filled, a position that has not closed, or a request that has left the balance and has not landed.

Following one amount from arrival to exit

1. The account is opened and the profile verified. Nothing moves in either direction until this gate is passed.
2. The base currency is fixed at that moment. An amount arriving in another currency is converted once, at the edge, and then lives on the account in a single unit.
3. A transfer arrives and appears as free balance. The whole sum is available: it can back an order, move to another trading account, or be requested back out.
4. An order is placed. Until it fills, the money has not moved — a pending order reserves nothing.
5. The order fills. Margin is reserved out of the balance, the entry cost is taken there and then, and the position starts producing a figure that moves.
6. The position is closed. The moving figure stops, the result lands on the balance, and the reserved margin is released back into free margin.
7. A withdrawal request is made against free balance. The amount leaves the account first and reaches its destination afterwards — the two events are not simultaneous.
8. Both the trade and the transfer settle into the account history, in the order they happened.

An amount tied up in an open position cannot be withdrawn; only settled free balance can leave the account. Processing times may vary depending on the chosen payment method.

Where the amount sits at each step

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Which figure answers which question