Oanda-Forex Broker

History

OANDA was spun out of an econometric research and development firm called Olsen and Associates by founders Richard Olsen and Michael Stumm in 1995.
6 years later…
Early 2001, OANDA launched its leading-edge FXTrade platform, allowing clients to participate directly in the forex market the largest, most dynamic market in the world. From day one, FXTrade set a new standard for service and efficiency. By opening the forex market to a new world of traders through innovative, more efficient features. By offering tangible advantages to all traders, speculators, professionals, hedge funds or corporations. By redefining the market and changing the way forex trading is done.

Today
Well earned reputation for reliability and integrity.
Flexible platform, allowing a trader to have sub accounts in numerous currencies.
Quick and easy login, 33 pairs - exotics such as usd/zar, usd/nok as well as spot gold (xau/usd) and silver (xag/usd). Spreads are perhaps the lowest around (in allot of cases matching the institutional platforms) and continuously falling (eur/usd 1.5 pips, usd/yen and aud/usd 2, gbp/usd 2.7, xau/usd 60 cents).
Fast and reliable execution.
Flexible order size/leverage that can be easily and quickly modified.
There is complete freedom in selecting trade size as a trade can be anywhere from one unit (eg. 1 dollar) up to 10 million units and 5000 units(ounces) for xau/usd per order.
Demo - FX GAME never expires and is identical to FX TRADE. Allows traders to try different strategies before going live.

From www.oanda.com site

OANDA has three lines of business based on its currency database. They include:

Currency Conversion and Localization
- For individuals
- For Businesses

Decision Support Tools for Institutional Investors

Currency Markets Transactions Services

Partners
American Express, Air Canada, British Airways, Sheraton, AOL, Travelocity, Netscape, Time, Infoseek (Disney), Cyberian Outpost, iVillage, Ernst & Young, Nokia, FedEx, Microsoft, DoubleClick, Conde Nast, Virgin Atlantic, United Airlines, Excite and 24/7 Media