MT5 bug (with multi-accounts)
There seems to be a bug in MetaTrader5 for Windows. It is possible to have multiple accounts set up in a single MT5, but for some reason and without any action from the user MetaTrader switches account user is logged to. Moreover - even without informing the user that this happened.
How I noticed it? One of our clients had demo account created in MT5 and after 1 day he also created real account. He wanted to keep trading with the real account, but MT5 kept switching the account to demo without any noticeable visual notification about this. I (and the client) wouldn't have noticed this if we didn't contact the broker to ask what is going on. The broker (AMP Global in the US) responded that for some reason MetaTrader switches the demo account and they don't know why either. What was also strange about this situation was that both: demo and real accounts go the same number.
The workaround was to uninstall MetaTrader5 from Windows completely (removing users' data) and install it again this time setting up only the real account. And accounts switching stopped, because MT5 had no other account to switch to.
If this is not the correct place to post this, I'd be grateful for guiding me to the right one :)
I cannot say if it is in 100% of cases, but I saw it several times with my own eyes.
You have first created demo account and then added real account? Because that was the scenario here.
This last case in particular, both demo and real account had the same account numbers. That shouldn't be even possible, right?
This last case in particular, both demo and real account had the same account numbers. That shouldn't be even possible, right?
Demo and Real accounts are independent of each other, so they may have the same account number.
It seems that Metaquotes did not expect this to happen, and there is a lack of distinction between account types in addition to broker names and account numbers, resulting in the bug.
My Demo account and my real account have different account numbers, so the situation you encountered never happened.
Hopefully some admin will see your post and submit it to the MT5 developers.
I also use AMP and I have yet to see a single example of a duplicate account number being used for two different account types, and this goes for all brokers I use.
However, if it is indeed your case, then it seems that it may be AMP at fault for having provided you with a duplicate account number, when they should be using different numbering for each account type.
When you go to the bank and you have a savings account and a checking account, do they give it the same number? No!
Account numbers should not be duplicated. They are a unique ID account number. So, I doubt it is a MetaQuotes is at fault here.
A single account can connect to different trading servers and automatically connect to the best connection. The only oversight in my opinion is that the system allowed it to happen instead of blocking it, but it is the broker that is at fault for having used the same account number twice for different account types.
Also, given that it is a demo account, just have them close it and give out a new demo account that does not collide with an existing real account.
When you go to the bank and you have a savings account and a checking account, do they give it the same number? No!
Account numbers should not be duplicated. They are a unique ID account number. So, I doubt it is a MetaQuotes is at fault here.
A single account can connect to different trading servers and automatically connect to the best connection. The only oversight in my opinion is that the system allowed it to happen instead of blocking it, but it is the broker that is at fault for having used the same account number twice for different account types.
For different brokers, there may be different mechanisms for Demo account allocation:
Demo account allocation may be automatic, without human intervention, and all work is completely left to the account allocation function of the MT4/MT5 software platform.
But for some brokers, Demo accounts, like Live accounts, are limited resources that need to be manually reviewed by customer service and manually assigned to clients based on the results of the review.
The life cycle of Demo accounts is also different. Some brokers provide customers with Demo accounts with unlimited validity period , while some brokers provide customers with Demo accounts that are only valid for a few weeks. After expiration, the account will be abolished and no longer used.
A Demo account request may occur before a customer gets a Live account, a familiar business scenario. But it's entirely possible that a client with a Live account will constantly need to apply for a Demo account to test his trading strategy.
Demo accounts and Live accounts may be assigned by the same department or different departments, or Demo accounts may not be assigned by any one part but by a fully automated process operated by the customer.
Therefore, if it is the broker's responsibility to ensure that Demo/Live account numbers do not overlap, then all brokers using MT4/MT5 must add a manual review:
Every time a customer applies for a new Demo/Live account, the customer service needs to retrieve the customer's information to check whether the customer already has a Live/Demo account. If so, is the Demo account number to be assigned to him the same as the existing Live account number? Or is the Live account number to be assigned to the customer the same as the Demo account he applied for before?
With at least thousands of brokers adopting the MetaQuotes trading platform, you can imagine how much unnecessary human labor this would require.
All of this can be easily avoided by the MT4/MT5 development team:
The MT4/MT5 software platform itself has already made a type distinction between Demo and live account. Demo account and Live account must be different services. No matter whether the two services exist on the same physical server or different physical servers,MT4/MT5 will never confuse the two.
They just need to add a simple conditional judgment, before the client software connects to the server, so as to add an account type check, to ensure that different types of accounts can connect to their corresponding types of services, no matter the account numbers are the same or not.
Is there a way to ensure this reaches MT5 developers? I have several customers with AMP and this issue keeps returning.
My personal observation is that when MT5 releases an official version update, you are slightly more likely to get the developer's attention by submitting bug information under the Russian forum post where the update is posted, fully explaining the problem you are experiencing.
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There seems to be a bug in MetaTrader5 for Windows. It is possible to have multiple accounts set up in a single MT5, but for some reason and without any action from the user MetaTrader switches account user is logged to. Moreover - even without informing the user that this happened.
How I noticed it? One of our clients had demo account created in MT5 and after 1 day he also created real account. He wanted to keep trading with the real account, but MT5 kept switching the account to demo without any noticeable visual notification about this. I (and the client) wouldn't have noticed this if we didn't contact the broker to ask what is going on. The broker (AMP Global in the US) responded that for some reason MetaTrader switches the demo account and they don't know why either. What was also strange about this situation was that both: demo and real accounts go the same number.
The workaround was to uninstall MetaTrader5 from Windows completely (removing users' data) and install it again this time setting up only the real account. And accounts switching stopped, because MT5 had no other account to switch to.
If this is not the correct place to post this, I'd be grateful for guiding me to the right one :)