AnswersFees and refunds

When is the challenge fee refunded on FTMO, The5ers and FundedNext 2-Step CFD/FX accounts ($100K)?

FTMO and FundedNext refund the challenge fee with the first reward, so on these two accounts passing the evaluation does not by itself bring the fee back. The5ers works differently on its High Stakes New account: the fee comes back in parts, partly as Hub credit, which is not cash, and partly as 70% of any amount paid with outside money, added to the funded account's equity. On all three, a refund with a reward is a different rule from cancelling a purchase.

Market
CFD / FX
Sources checked
2 October 2026

When the firm’s pages behind this answer were last checked.

Answer
Published 4 October 2026

What each refund is worth: an illustration

The amounts below are invented to show the mechanics; they are not any firm's price.

On FTMO 2-Step Standard and FundedNext Stellar 2-Step, a $500 fee is refunded with the first reward. Until that reward, the whole $500 is a cost you have carried. If the account never reaches a first reward, this rule returns nothing.

On The5ers High Stakes New, take a $400 fee paid entirely by card. The rule adds three parts:

Hub credit = 10% × $400 + 20% × $400 = $40 + $80 = $120 (not cash)

Added to the funded account's equity = 70% × $400 = $280

If $100 of that fee had been paid with Hub credit, the 70% would apply only to the $300 paid by card, giving $210, because a fee paid with Hub credit is excluded.

Equity is not cash in hand. Money added to a funded account's equity reaches you only through that account's payout rules, and account credit and its effect on equity explains why a higher equity figure does not mean more loss room.

What is not established

  • FundedNext: how the refund is paid (to which payment method or account) and how long it takes. Our verified rule says only that the fee is refunded with the first reward.
  • FTMO: how the refund is paid back. The verified rule says it comes with the first reward and that the fee is still paid upfront.
  • The5ers: whether the Hub credit percentages also exclude a part paid with Hub credit. The verified rule states that exclusion for the 70% only.

Refund with a reward, or cancellation?

Cancelling a purchase for your money back is a separate rule, with its own time limit and conditions on each account. Compare the cancellation refunds of these accounts, and see when a fee refund reduces the cost for how to record either kind.

The evidence

Each value exactly as the account pages show it. Its ⓘ opens the conditions, any calculation and the sources.
AccountFee refund with a rewardChecked
The challenge fee is refunded with the first reward. It still has to be paid upfront.
2 October 2026
Hub credit of 10% of the fee on passing step 1 and 20% on passing step 2; Hub credit can only be used toward a new challenge and cannot be withdrawn. On the funded account, 70% of the part of the fee paid with your original payment method (not Hub credit) is added to equity and can be withdrawn with the first payout, once the account has made at least $150 profit and been active for 14 days.
2 October 2026
The challenge fee is refunded with the first reward. This is separate from cancelling a purchase.
2 October 2026

Sources

The pages behind each figure above, what each supports here, and when it was checked for that.

Figures from release pfw-release-2026-10-24-pilot-2, approved 24 October 2026. Reviewed by a site member and AI assistants.