MT5 Fee Discounts: Compare Contract Size, Tick Value, and Suffixes

Can I compare one MT5 gold lot directly across two brokers?

Check the full symbol, contract size and tick specifications before normalising exposure. Identical lot labels do not establish that two accounts are charging for the same economic quantity.

Normalize contract size before comparing money

Contract size is the amount of the commodity, currency, or financial asset represented by one lot. For a first exposure check, use lots × contract size. Where a CFD notional also requires price and currency conversion, add the relevant price and conversion only after confirming the symbol's calculation mode. One universal formula should not be forced across Forex, CFD, futures, and exchange instruments with different specifications.

Consider two hypothetical gold CFDs. Symbol A has a contract size of 100 underlying units, while symbol B has a contract size of 10. A position of 0.10 lot in A represents 10 units. A position of 1.00 lot in B also represents 10 units. Comparing a 0.10-lot fee on both symbols would be misleading because B would represent only one unit. The sensible pair for this hypothetical exposure is A at 0.10 lot and B at 1.00 lot. These values teach the normalization method; they are not a description of any named broker's gold contract.

A reusable worksheet can calculate:

• target underlying units = the common exposure selected for comparison;
• required lots = target units divided by contract size;
• tradable lots = required lots adjusted to that symbol's minimum volume and volume step;
• actual underlying units = tradable lots multiplied by contract size;
• residual exposure = target units minus actual units.

If the volume step prevents an exact match, retain the residual instead of declaring the positions equal. Do not multiply by leverage to manufacture equality. Leverage affects the margin required to support a position, but it is not a multiplier that changes the instrument's contract size. The guides index contains related account and fee diagnostics, but each comparison must use the live properties of the exact symbols involved.

A lower rate is meaningless until the exposure is equal

The most dangerous shortcut in an MT5 fee comparison is treating 1.00 lot on two screens as the same position. MetaTrader 5 is the trading platform, while the connected broker server supplies the symbol and its contract conditions. Two instruments that appear to track the same market can have different contract sizes, minimum price increments, tick values, profit currencies, or calculation modes. A lower commission number can therefore sit on top of a larger or smaller economic exposure.

MetaTrader's official Market Watch and Symbol Specification help says a desktop user can right-click the symbol in Market Watch and select Specification. The broker-set fields include the full symbol name, spread, contract size, margin and profit currency, calculation method, tick size, tick value, trading mode, and sessions. That live specification is the starting evidence for a comparison; a generic table copied from another broker is not.

MIM's official platform page identifies MIM as the broker environment offering an MT5 terminal and describes support for Expert Advisors. The Current CFD broker conditions can be used to check TradePayback's displayed service scope, but the exact instrument properties must still be read from the MIM account's MT5 specification. MetaQuotes, the broker, and a payback service have different roles. No number in the worked examples below is an offered MIM, PU PRIME, or Vantage rate or live product specification.

This focus also distinguishes the guide from two existing questions. The MT5 cashback guide identifies which broker account and settlement evidence belong together. The signup guide diagnoses live-account and server login problems. This article begins after a successful login and answers a different question: how can two exact symbols be normalized to the same exposure before their costs and any confirmed discount are compared?

Treat the suffix as part of the instrument identity

A server may list names such as XAUUSD, XAUUSD.a, and XAUUSDm. There is no universal rule saying what a, m, or any other suffix means. The broker can use a suffix to separate account configurations, liquidity routes, trading hours, volume limits, contract sizes, or another property. The correct method is not to decode the name by intuition. Open the Specification for each full symbol and compare the fields.

Start a worksheet by copying the symbol exactly as displayed, including every suffix or prefix. Add the broker, server, account type, specification timestamp, and timezone. A specification can differ between account types or change later, so a current screenshot should not automatically overwrite the evidence for an older deal. For a historical investigation, the deal statement and any specification captured at the time are stronger evidence than today's screen.

If a mobile or web build does not expose the same menu label, do not invent a tap path. Use the broker's documented route or confirm the values from the desktop Specification. A screenshot should show the full symbol and server context; a cropped number without that identity is weak audit evidence.

Use tick size and tick value as a second control

Tick size is the minimum price movement recognized for the symbol, while tick value expresses the monetary effect of a tick under the symbol's terms. The official MQL5 symbol-property reference exposes contract size, tick size, general tick value, and separate profit and loss tick-value properties. A familiar pip convention or the number of decimals displayed is therefore not enough to validate a risk comparison.

For a simple reasonableness test, use price move ÷ tick size × tick value × lots. Return to the hypothetical pair. Suppose A has a tick size of 0.01 and a tick value of 1 account-currency unit per lot. A two-unit price move contains 200 ticks, so at 0.10 lot the result is 200 × 1 × 0.10 = 20. Suppose B has the same 0.01 tick size, a tick value of 0.10 per lot, and is traded at 1.00 lot. The result is 200 × 0.10 × 1.00 = 20. Agreement between the contract-size exposure and the tick-P/L control makes the denominator more defensible.

The live terminal may expose different tick values for profitable and losing moves. The value may also reflect account-currency conversion and can change when a conversion rate changes. Record the calculation mode, profit currency, account currency, and both directional values when supplied. If the shortcut differs from the statement result, do not insert an unexplained adjustment. Check the calculation mode, currency conversion, directional tick value, contract size, and lot unit.

Compare each cost component at that normalized exposure

Only after exposure is normalized should the cost comparison begin. Keep spread, commission, overnight financing or administration, conversion, and any confirmed customer discount in separate rows. A single field called "fee discount" can hide a wider spread, a round-turn commission, or a holding charge that becomes important for the intended holding period. A promotion must be recorded with its date, product, and account restrictions rather than described as permanent pricing.

MetaTrader's official Executing Trades documentation describes CFD deal value and execution-cost formulas that use contract size and volume. It also explains that commission presentation depends on the broker's charging terms. For a pre-trade estimate, use documented account conditions and clearly labeled spread observations. After execution, replace estimates with actual deal and statement entries instead of forcing the realized record to match the advertisement.

Use a purely illustrative example. At the same exposure, account A has an estimated spread cost of 8, round-turn commission of 4, and a confirmed discount of 3. Its trading-related net cost is 9. Account B has spread cost of 5, commission of 7, and a confirmed discount of 1, producing 11. Looking only at commission would suggest the wrong ranking. These numbers are teaching assumptions, not an actual quote. Market P/L and holding cost remain separate from the comparison.

A percentage discount also needs a named base. If it applies only to a commission, do not apply it to spread, swap, or a tax. If it is paid later as a rebate, show the gross charge and later payment as separate events rather than rewriting the broker statement. A missing written rule should be marked unconfirmed, not replaced by a rate copied from another account.

Build an evidence packet that another reviewer can reproduce

A useful comparison can be reproduced without access to a password. Save the exact symbol and server, the Specification timestamp, contract size, calculation mode, tick size, tick value, profit currency, allowed volume step, and a screenshot or export. Add the source of the commission condition and the observation time for any spread estimate. For a confirmed discount, retain its eligible account, products, start date, basis, exclusions, and settlement evidence.

Then calculate in a fixed order: identity, target exposure, tradable lots, tick-P/L cross-check, gross cost rows, and confirmed discount. Keep formulas visible. If a reviewer cannot replace a hypothetical cell with an account value and reproduce the total, the worksheet is not ready for approval. Never send a master password, investor password, authentication code, or remote-access credential as evidence.

The same method can compare MIM with another supported CFD broker, or two account types at one broker, but it does not establish that either account is available in every jurisdiction. Product access, onboarding, and regulatory restrictions must be checked separately with the relevant broker. A cost comparison is not an eligibility or suitability determination.

Re-run the comparison when the specification changes

Capture a new specification after changing account type, receiving a new server assignment, encountering a different suffix, or moving to a new contract month. Re-run it after a broker announces a contract, session, or pricing change. If an Expert Advisor is used, check whether its symbol mapping preserves suffixes and reads live properties rather than assuming one contract size. MIM's MT5 page states that its environment supports EAs, but that does not prove any particular EA handles every broker suffix or specification correctly.

For historical trades, do not silently replace the old specification with the new one. Store snapshots by effective date and link each deal to the relevant version. Where the effective condition cannot be established, label the result provisional. Trading extra volume merely to test a fee or discount is not a sound audit technique; verify the units and written terms first.

FAQ

Does a different suffix always mean a different account type?

No. The broker defines the suffix. It may distinguish an account configuration, pricing route, or another property, but the name alone is not proof. Compare the full Specification and ask the broker through an official channel if the mapping is unclear.

Can I compare one lot across two brokers?

Only after proving the contract size and calculation basis are the same. Normalize lots × contract size to common underlying units, then use tick size and tick value to cross-check the monetary effect of the same price move.

Which comes first, contract size or tick value?

Use contract size to align the exposure, then use tick value to validate the P/L effect. If only one control matches, investigate currency conversion, calculation mode, directional tick values, or the selected symbol.

Is the account with the lower commission automatically cheaper?

No. Compare spread, round-turn commission, holding cost, conversion, and only a confirmed discount at the same exposure and holding period. A single component cannot establish the all-in cost.

Can today's Specification be used for last month's deal?

It is supporting evidence, not proof of the past condition. Prefer the historical statement, a dated specification snapshot, and relevant broker notices. If the effective value cannot be verified, record it as unresolved.