Not so long ago, forex trading could only be performed using your laptop or a desktop computer. The online forex trading industry has seen a staggering growth over the last few years in terms of technology, which saw retail trading expand tremendously to all corners of the world.
One of the brokers who responded to the increasing demands of being provided with an easy way into the online financial markets was FXTM, recently having released a new version of their mobile application, the ForexTime app. We are pleased to be joined with FXTM’s Vice President of Corporate Development and Market Research, Jameel Ahmad, to discuss the growth of mobile trading and FXTM’s response to that demand.
LR: Hello Jameel, and thank you for taking the time to talk to us today. It’s a fact that we live in an era where being able to trade on mobile devices has opened up a lot more possibilities for traders. How important is mobile trading to FXTM? And what’s your projection let’s say, for a year from now?
Jameel Ahmad, FXTM
Jameel: It’s true that being able to trade away from your desktop and not being restricted to the home or office environment has really opened up the forex industry to more people and created countless opportunities for traders. The latest version of our ForexTime app, which enables users to access live market news and information and their own personal workspace, MYFXTM, has seen an overall 70% growth in downloads during the first half of 2016. Providing clients with the ability to enter the financial markets whenever and wherever they wish, straight from the palm of their hand is one of our industry’s biggest advancements.
If we take into account the numbers from 2015 and compare them to 2016, I believe that in a year from now mobile trading can double in popularity. The capabilities that traders have, in terms of their mobile trading experience will probably broaden which will likely drive more and more clients to choose trading on mobile rather than on their desktop. We are excited to match the progress of the industry and the increasing needs of traders and investors with the developments of our products and services and the future advancement of the ForexTime App.
LR: How does FXTM respond to the mobile trading trend?
Jameel: We’ve further developed our mobile application with the newest version of the ForexTime App being fully equipped to meet the needs of any on-the-go trader, as it’s now integrated with their own personal workspace, MyFXTM. This upgrade allows traders to open their trading account in minutes with the ability to upload all necessary documents straight to the application. Accounts can be approved in less than 12 minutes and traders can fund their accounts – on average – in less than 5, these statistics have been checked by PwC and are published on our website.
The mobile app also provides traders with the opportunity to browse through our list of trading accounts, choose the one that best suits their needs and open it straight from the application. This also includes FXTM Invest, our investment and copy trading program, which allows clients to subscribe to experienced traders’ strategies or the PAMM program where clients can invest in portfolios or provide strategies. In addition, clients can choose and download via the app, their preferred trading platform on their device, including the MetaTrader 5 which was recently made available from FXTM with the option of hedging. Being able to monitor funds directly from the app has also given our traders an extra amount of freedom, as they can deposit or withdraw using one of our trusted and secure payment methods straight from their device. FXTM’s clients can also easily sign up for FXTM’s contests or get information about upcoming local seminars.
All these new features – combined with the pre-existing ones which focused more on the user’s ability to keep track of everything that took place in the market with the use of the economic calendar, daily market analysis from the FXTM team, live currency rates and live forex news – have really shifted our clients’ trading experience by allowing them to keep on top of every aspect of their forex trading career through their smartphones or tablets. This was one of our goals while we were developing the ForexTime App, we wanted to provide traders with the freedom to control their trading experience from anywhere and being able to do it quickly and with ease.
LR: Which accounts do you find are most popular with clients who perform their trades via a mobile device?
Jameel: Our FXTM Pro Account is used to execute trades on mobile devices more than any other trading account, with 4.3% growth this year alone. Designed for the needs of professional traders, our Pro Account offers supreme conditions with no commissions or requotes.
The second largest account with an increase in growth at 4% in mobile trading over the first half of 2016 is the Cent Account, in which traders receive the same competitive terms as they do with any other Standard Account with the difference that the funds are indicated in cents. There has also been a rise in mobile trading in all other FXTM Standard Accounts including FXTM’s Shares Account, which has a direct connection to the NYSE and NASDAQ exchanges for their product pricing.
Our numbers also show that there has been a 10% growth in the popularity of mobile trading on Demo Accounts. Traders on the Demo account can practice their strategies in real market conditions and experience our trading terms such as fast execution speed without any risk to their funds.