The pillar guide
Every regulated broker pays introducing partners (IBs and affiliates) a commission on the volume their referred clients trade - it is the industry's standard customer-acquisition cost, typically a few dollars per standard lot. A cashback programme signs you up under a partner link and then shares that commission back with you, usually weekly or monthly. Your spreads, swaps and execution are identical to a direct signup: the rebate comes out of the broker's marketing budget, not your pricing. That is the entire mechanism - no catch, provided you understand the two rules below.
Rebates are funded by what the broker earns per lot, so realistic rates differ by account model. On raw-spread accounts (IC Markets, Pepperstone Razor) the broker earns a ~$6–7 round-turn commission, supporting rebates of $1.50–2.50 per lot - effectively a transparent discount on the commission. On commission-free standard accounts (XM), the broker earns the spread markup, which funds much larger rebates of $6–8 per lot. Gold pays more than FX almost everywhere. If an offer is far outside these bands, something is being hidden.
You deposit with the broker, always. A cashback provider only tracks your volume through the partner relationship and pays rebates out - it should never ask for a deposit, custody funds, or "manage" your account. That single test filters out nearly every cashback scam.
These are the rebate programmes available through WizeGorilla, each with verified per-lot rates and a calculator on its page:
up to $5.50 / lot
Exness pays some of the highest IB rebates in the industry, which means the cashback you can claim per lot is correspondingly rich - especially on gold, where volume-heavy traders can claw back a meaningful share of the spread on every trade. Rebates stack on top of Exness's already-tight pricing.
Payout
Weekly, to your trading account or e-wallet
Accounts
Standard, Pro, Raw Spread, Zero
up to $2.50 / lot
On a raw-spread account the commission is the whole cost - so a per-lot rebate is a direct, transparent discount on it. High-frequency and EA traders running serious monthly volume through IC Markets recover hundreds of dollars a month without changing anything about how they trade.
Payout
Monthly, to trading account
Accounts
Raw Spread (MT4/MT5/cTrader), Standard
up to $2.00 / lot
Pair the industry's best TradingView integration with a straight per-lot refund. On the Razor account, cashback effectively drops the round-turn commission toward $5 - bringing Pepperstone's all-in cost in line with the very cheapest venues while keeping its top-tier FCA/ASIC trust profile.
Payout
Monthly
Accounts
Razor, Standard
up to $8 / lot
Because XM's commission-free accounts carry wider spreads, its partner programme pays exceptionally high rebates - which is exactly what makes XM cashback so valuable. Claiming back several dollars per lot materially narrows the effective spread, turning a mid-cost broker into a competitively-priced one while you keep its bonuses and education.
Payout
Weekly or monthly
Accounts
Micro, Standard, Ultra Low
Legitimate cashback is simply commission-sharing: the broker pays introducing partners for referred volume, and the partner rebates part of it to you. Red flags for illegitimate operations: providers that require deposits TO THEM (a rebate service never holds your money), rates far above what any broker pays partners, and no visible payment track record.
Because it's their own marketing budget at work - partner commissions are the broker's customer-acquisition cost. Rebated traders also trade more volume and stay longer, which is exactly what brokers want.
It scales with the broker's markup: raw-spread brokers (IC Markets, Pepperstone) support roughly $1.50–2.50/lot; standard-account brokers with wider spreads (XM) support $6–8/lot; gold rebates run higher than FX at metals-focused brokers. Anyone promising far above these bands is either diluting your spread elsewhere or not paying.
Rebates are generally treated as a reduction of trading costs or as income depending on your jurisdiction - keep your payout records and ask a local tax professional. Nothing on this page is tax advice.
Risk warning: CFDs and leveraged products are complex instruments and carry a high risk of losing money rapidly. Between 70–85% of retail accounts lose money trading CFDs. Never trade with money you cannot afford to lose. Disclosure: WizeGorilla is reader-supported - we may earn a commission when you open an account through our links, at no cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure and review methodology.
