This is the part that trips people up: XTB does not run classic forex-style deposit-match bonuses for retail clients in the EU or UK. Since 2018, ESMA product-intervention rules, mirrored by the FCA after Brexit, ban CFD providers from offering trading incentives to retail clients in those markets. That is a regulatory prohibition, not a marketing choice, and it applies to every FCA- or CySEC/KNF-regulated CFD broker, not just XTB.
Instead, XTB competes on structural things: 0% commission on stocks and ETFs under the turnover cap, interest paid automatically on idle cash, and periodic free-share promotions. The free-share offer is structured to be compliant: eligible new clients open an account, deposit the local minimum within seven days (50 EUR in the current German campaign) and receive one real share, with no requirement to trade, typically capped to a set number of participants and time-limited. That structure is deliberately different from a forex deposit bonus, since it is a welcome incentive rather than a trading incentive tied to volume or margin.
Terms vary by country and entity. UK offers, for instance, have required UK tax residency and excluded anyone who held an XTB account in the prior 12 months; other regions occasionally run their own referral or cashback promotions. The campaign live in September 2026 runs through XTB's German branch: one Porsche AG preference share, worth about 45 EUR at the end of September, for new clients who deposit at least 50 EUR within seven days, capped at the first 5,000 participants until November 30, 2026, and not exchangeable for cash. We found no live UK free-share offer. Always check the specific terms PDF for the country you are opening the account in rather than assuming a promotion advertised for one market applies globally.