The exact definition that decides whether your first trade is refundable.
Secure Start is built around one simple promise: if your first eligible trade closes at a loss, we refund it (up to the program cap). To make that work fairly, "loss" needs an exact definition. This article gives it.
The Short Version
Your first eligible trade has a loss if it closes at a worse price than where it opened, after swap and trading costs. Anything else (a flat close, a winning close) is not a loss and the refund does not apply.
What Is Included in the Loss Calculation
Counted toward the loss:
- The price difference between open and close.
- Swap charges accrued on the position while it was open.
- Commission, where applicable on the instrument.
What Is Not a Loss
- A trade closed at the same price as it opened (after costs) — that's a flat trade.
- A trade closed in profit, even by a small margin.
- A position you closed by mistake and immediately reopened — only the very first eligible trade counts.
One Trade — Not Many
Secure Start covers your first eligible trade only.
- If you place multiple trades in your first session, only the first one to close is the eligible trade.
- If that first trade is profitable, the Secure Start eligibility is consumed — even if later trades on the day lose.
- Splitting an order into partial closes does not multiply coverage. The position is treated as one trade.
Hedged or Pending Orders
- A pending order counts from the moment it's activated, not when it's placed.
- A position created by closing the opposite side of a hedge does not start a new eligibility — the eligibility was used when the original first trade opened.
What the Refund Equals
The refund equals the realised loss on that first trade, up to the program cap published in the Secure Start Terms. The cap is in your account base currency.
Important: Floating P&L doesn't count — only the realised result when the position is closed.
Worked Examples
Example 1 — Refundable
- First eligible trade: Buy 0.1 lots EUR/USD at 1.0900.
- Closed at 1.0860. Result: −40 pips. Swap: −$0.20. Commission: $0.
- Realised loss: ~$40.20.
- Refund: $40.20 (within the cap).
Example 2 — Not refundable
- First eligible trade: Buy 0.1 lots EUR/USD at 1.0900.
- Closed at 1.0905. Result: +5 pips. Swap: −$0.20.
- Realised P&L: +$4.80. The trade is in profit after costs. No refund.
Example 3 — Cap applies
- First eligible trade: Buy 1 lot XAU/USD.
- Realised loss: $1,250.
- Refund: cap value, not the full $1,250.