Also known as:Notional Value, Notional Turnover, Contract Value
What is Notional Volume?
Notional Volume is the total underlying market value controlled by a leveraged position, not the margin the trader posts to open it. One standard lot of EUR/USD carries a notional value of €100,000 even though the client may have deposited only a few hundred dollars of margin to control it.
The distinction exists because leverage lets a small amount of capital command a much larger position. Margin is what the client risks; notional is what the trade actually represents in the market. Commission and rebate structures can be tied to either, and the two produce very different payout math.
Key takeaways
Notional = the trade's full market value, not the posted margin.
1 standard lot EUR/USD = €100,000 notional regardless of margin.
Crypto, indices, and equities often pay rebates on notional.
High-notional instruments pay more per trade under notional deals.
Never compare per-lot and per-notional offers as if they were equal.
Many brokers — especially in crypto, indices, and equities CFDs — calculate IB rebates as a percentage of notional turnover rather than a flat fee per lot. If your deal pays 0.002% of notional and a client trades $5,000,000 of notional Bitcoin in a month, your rebate is $100 on that flow, independent of how many "lots" the platform reports.
Because lot definitions vary by asset while notional is a raw dollar figure, notional volume gives partners a consistent way to compare earnings across instrument classes. A single Nasdaq-100 CFD and a single gold CFD have very different notional values, so per-lot thinking misleads where notional-based thinking clarifies.
How it works
Notional value equals contract size times the number of contracts times the current price of the underlying (for FX it is the base-currency amount per lot). The broker's system logs the notional turnover a client generates, and a percentage-of-notional rebate applies your agreed basis-point figure to that total. A 0.001% (0.1 bps) rate on $10,000,000 of monthly notional turnover yields $100.
The payout swings hard with asset choice because notional per lot varies enormously: one lot of EUR/USD is ~$108,000, one lot of US30 (Dow) can be over $400,000, and crypto CFDs can be larger still. Under a notional-based deal, steering marketing toward high-notional instruments raises rebate per trade without any change to trade count — but you must confirm the broker actually pays on notional, not per standard lot.
1
Confirm the rebate basis
Check whether your deal pays per standard lot or as a percentage of notional turnover — they are not interchangeable.
2
Get the notional per instrument
Ask the broker for the notional value per lot on the instruments your clients trade most.
3
Estimate monthly turnover
Multiply expected lots by notional per lot across each instrument to get total notional turnover.
4
Apply the rebate rate
Multiply total notional by your basis-point rate to project the rebate.
Why it matters for partnership: When your rebate is a percentage of notional, high-value instruments (Bitcoin, major indices, gold) pay far more per trade than a micro FX lot. Know your deal's basis so you can project earnings by the asset mix your clients actually trade.
Formula
Notional Volume = Contract Size × Number of Contracts × Underlying Price
Real World Example
An IB on a crypto CFD broker like PrimeXBT is paid 0.0015% of notional turnover. A client trades 40 lots of BTC/USD in a month; with each lot representing roughly $65,000 of notional at prevailing prices, monthly notional turnover is about $2,600,000. The IB's rebate on that single client is around $39, and the figure scales linearly as the client's notional turnover grows.
Per-lot vs Notional-based rebates
Basis
How it pays
Best-suited flow
Per standard lot
Fixed $ amount per lot traded
High-frequency micro-FX scalpers
Percentage of notional
Basis points of contract value
Large indices, gold, crypto positions
Pro Tip
Before choosing a notional-based deal, ask the broker for the exact notional value per lot on your top instruments — a Dow or Bitcoin lot can be four times the notional of a EUR/USD lot.
Common Pitfalls
Comparing a per-lot offer against a percentage-of-notional offer as if the units were the same, then mis-projecting earnings by an order of magnitude when the real instrument mix is priced in.
FAQ
Is notional volume the same as margin?
No. Notional is the full market value the position controls; margin is the small deposit the trader posts to open it. Leverage is the ratio between them.
How do I calculate notional value?
Multiply the contract size by the number of contracts by the underlying price. For FX, one standard lot equals 100,000 units of the base currency.
Why do crypto and index deals pay on notional?
Those instruments have large, variable contract values, so a percentage of notional gives a fairer, more consistent rebate than a flat per-lot fee.
Does trading a bigger instrument always earn me more?
Under a notional-based deal, yes — higher notional per trade raises the rebate. Under a per-lot deal, instrument size makes no difference to the fee.
How do I compare a per-lot and a notional offer?
Convert both to expected dollars using your clients' real instrument mix and turnover. Never compare the raw rates directly — the units differ.
Where do I see notional turnover?
Your broker's IB back office and MT5/cTrader reporting expose notional or contract value per trade so you can reconcile rebate calculations.
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