OptionFair is a relatively new binary options broker that is attractive for beginning option traders. It provides intuitive, accessible software and offers extras such as news, training and free option signals. In this optionFair review, we look at the strengths and weaknesses of this binary option broker.

Binary options offered

Compared to other brokers, the offer of options to choose from at optionFair is below average. In total there are about 70 underlying assets (stocks, currencies, stock market indices, and commodities) on which you can open binary options. That's not a lot, but it keeps things simple and manageable.

On these assets, you can take three different types of options:

• High/low: Predict whether the price is going to rise or fall from the current value.
• Touch/no touch:Predict whether the price is going to touch a certain level or not.
• Boundary:Predict if the price at maturity falls within or outside of a certain bandwidth (also called 'in/out').

This is the typical offering that you would expect from a binary options broker, and optionFair meets that expectation. It doesn't offer any exotic options.

Risk and return

OptionFair offers a good return on most options. The range of possible returns runs from 60% to 85%, but most options have a yield of between 71% and 81%. Moreover, you can trade a number of 'high yield touch/no touch' options, for which the return rates lie between 200% and 350%. That is high, but the risk is also higher (because the strike price is further removed from the current level).

On some options, optionFair gives you back up to 15% of the purchase price if your option ends 'out of the money'. This will partly cover your risk, but the return is usually also lower. We believe that this feature does not offer much additional value.

Binary options at optionFair have fixed starting and ending times, which means that you'll sometimes enter the trade half way to maturity. You can buy an option up to five minutes before expiration. A special feature, which allows you to hedge your risk, gives you the opportunity to sell some options earlier ('early closure'). This gives you a part of the profit or loss that the option made, and you run no more risk. This is an advantage and you can use special strategies which use this functionality.

The trading platform

Binary option broker optionFair has a simple, intuitive trading platform that runs entirely in your web browser. At one glance you are able to see the list of available options, with the expiration dates and the returns. It is possible to filter the shown options, allowing you to see only those options in which you are interested.

If you click on an option, you'll get more detailed information on the returns and price chart. You can also open a technical version of the price chart, in which you can perform more extensive technical analysis. This is clearly a valuabl feature.

We believe that optionFair has developed a robust and intuitive trading platform. Especially for novice traders, its simplicity is an advantage and the technical analysis capabilities make the software also attractive for more experienced traders.

Furthermore, the optionFair website--including the trading platform--is optimized for mobile devices. That means you can also very easily trade via your smartphone. We have tested this and the mobile phone software also does look very well structured. Highly recommended!

Minimum deposit size, position and bonus

You can open an account with optionFair starting at 300 USD/GBP/EUR. That is fairly high in today's market, and can be a significant threshold for beginners. OptionFair has special VIP accounts for larger trading capitals. The advantage of those is that you get more personalized support options, and that you can buy options with higher returns than normal.

The minimum amount for which you can buy an option at optionFair is 25 USD/GBP/EUR. We think that this is quite high for a minimum account size of 300 pounds. From the risk management point of view, you should be able to trade with less than 5% of your capital. If the minimum position size is 25 pounds, then you would need to have an account with 500 pounds on it.

Something that helps a bit is that optionFair gives you a bonus on top of your first deposit, which you can use right away for trading. The bonus amount that you get is between 20% and 50% of your first deposit and depends on how much you deposit. Click here to open an account and get your bonus.

Learn how to trade binary options

A successful trader in binary options is a good customer in the long run. This is also the philosophy of optionFair, and therefore they want to help you to get better at binary options trading. If you have a trading account at optionFair, you get free access to a binary options trading ebook containing a wealth of information about how you can earn more.

In addition, various additional articles can be found on the optionFair's site in order to learn to trade more succesfully. OptionFair has, among other things, an economic calendar and daily market news. Moreover, this broker also offers free binary options trading signals via a special service called FairSignals. It allows you to increase your returns further.

Conclusion of this broker review

All in all, we are positive about optionFair. The choice of underlying products options may be limited, but the returns are good and the software is well executed. OptionFair is a suitable broker for novice traders because of its smooth and intuitive software and the training material it offers, but the high minimum deposit is a barrier to making it truly accessible for beginners. Binary options broker optionFair gets a rating above average (3.5/5 stars).