Why can a broker be reluctant to pay money out and what shall you do retrieve your earnings?

Every trader may come up against a situation where the broker delays withdrawals for a long time without explaining or even explicitly refuses to pay out profits. Reasons may include everything from really existing problems concerning the process of withdrawal orders to trivial customer fraud.

But do not panic if you get in such a situation because in most cases, it is not as bad as you think and your chances to regain your well-earned money are still high. In this article, we will speak about reasons why a broker can be reluctant to pay your money out and what shall you do in such a rough situation.

Delay or Refusal?

At first, it is necessary to make certain whether the broker really refuses to pay out or just prolongs the withdrawal. If you read real-trader reviews about brokers, you may be shocked with the prevalence of negative comments claiming that the broker does not pay. However, in reality, over 90% of these reviews are written by panic-mongers who oftentimes are not familiar with the scheduled period each broker sets to process withdrawals.

Withdrawal pending periods are generally well-described in the broker’s terms of use policy, but most users are lazy to read such long documents. Having received their money, say, within 14 days after placing a withdrawal request (as stated on the broker’s website), these traders simply forget about deleting their negative reviews, thus, striking fear into the minds of other users.

Suppose you are a trader. You make a request for cash out, but your money does not land into the bank account for a long time. What shall you do then?

• Make sure that the scheduled period of payment is expired. As a rule, pending periods are stated in the withdrawal section on the broker’s website. It also may be written in the user agreement (which we never read while registering with any website).
• If the pending period is not over yet, just be patient to wait – your money will surely drop in your wallet. If all pending periods are expired, assure yourself that you did not create a withdrawal request within holidays/weekends. Remember that only business days count when it comes to withdrawing.
• If it is obvious that the broker exceeded all pending limits but your money still does not appear in your account, create a ticket to the broker’s customer support service and ask for explanations. Your further actions will depend on what the broker will reply. Generally, such delays are caused by some technical/maintenance issues on the server’s side. However, reputable brokers always notify their clients about possible withdrawal problems during maintenance/repair periods.

If the broker does not give a precise answer, feeds with promises or even ignores your ticket, it all seems like a refusal to withdraw the money. However, with responsible, tried-and-true brokerages, such situations are impossible.

Why may a broker refuse to withdraw money?

Suppose, you deal with a fair broker with a good reputation, but the operator still refuses to process your withdrawal order. Why does this happen?

• Absence of verification. A well-regulated brokerage company is not allowed to pay out money to clients who did not identify their personalities. Generally, the verification process requires a trader to upload a selfie with an ID or a paid utility bill.
• Presence of unwithdrawablebonus. Despite brokers grant generous deposit bonuses which go directly to a client’s trading account, a bonus cannot be withdrawn until it is played through several times. To withdraw a deposit containing a bonus, a trader must earn a sum which is 20-30 times as big as the bonus.
• Violation of the brokerage’s rules. Each broker’s website has a user agreement where all the rules to obey are clearly described. But traders rarely read such documents. Without knowing the rules of the game, it is very easy to break one and stay unpaid.

How to regain money?

A fully-compliant, solid broker will do everything possible to smooth the waters and withdraw your money as quickly if possible, bringing an ocean of apologies and promising a lot of perks to make you happy again.

But what if your broker turned out a scammer?

You need to document all transactions with the broker, including the history of your account replenishment on the broker’s website and correspondence with the customer support service. It will not hurt to record all phone conversations with your broker, too.

If all friendly negotiations with the broker bring no results, it is time to apply to CySEC or FCA (provided the broker is regulated by any of them. Information about regulations and compliance must be available on the broker’s website). These authorities control the activity of financial organizations and help to resolve disputes.

When making a complaint, do not forget to attach all the relevant documents proving that the broker refuses to withdraw your money (screenshots, bank statement, etc.). If your broker is not regulated by any of these bodies, your chances to return money are minimal, but you still may call the police and complain of the broker’s fraudulent activity.

Conclusion

Generally, there are good reasons why brokers refuse to withdraw money or do so with heartbreaking delays. There is nothing to worry about just to be patient and wait for the X day when your earnings land into your account.

If the broker deliberately refuses to process your withdrawal order, it gives grounds for making a complaint with regulatory bodies – they will punish the broker if it is registered with them (all official brokers are). If not, say goodbye to your money.