Forex - MoneyShow.com

What retail traders want
The key features and functionality that retail traders
are looking for from FX trading platform providers
are, according to Interbank FX vice president of
customer experience, Marilyn McDonald: broker
integrity; execution; and spreads. This is the trifecta of
must haves, she claims, adding: “One without the
others is ok, but the retail trader should look for a
company that provides all three. For instance, a
broker can supply the lowest spreads. However,
without good execution then spreads don’t really
mean much. Slippage could eat up more than the
trader would have ‘paid’ to enter the trade with a
broker that had slightly higher spreads.”
First and foremost, retail clients want consistency, says
Greg Michalowski, FXDD’s vice president and chief
currency analyst. He states that if spreads remain
consistent, and if the executions are consistent, the
client is happy. Additionally, if support is
knowledgeable and reliable, and if the trading
platform allows the client to act freely, the client
remains content.
Michalowski adds: “I believe the mobile experience
has the potential to be the next major advancement in
Retail FX. There are still connectivity issues that
continue to hold the advancement back, but with
improved wireless infrastructure, the potential for
growth is definitely there.”
Yet most retail traders are looking for simplicity and
immediate understanding of the platform itself, says
Mario Persichino, head trader at leading Italian broker
Cfx Intermediazioni, so they can understand how to
place an order without any help. “Programming
courses offered by brokers are a very helpful
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Service, innovation
and security:
taking key steps to improve the
Retail FX trading experience
instrument of learning for end users. At the same time,
clients are looking for all of the information they need
about economics news and about the forex market.
But the most important thing required by users is a
very liquid market; they need to see all prices in real
time and want their orders executed fast,” he notes.
Be competitive or lose out
Retail FX brokers are ramping up their platforms and
technology infrastructures to take their service
provision to the next level, by expanding functionality
beyond the realm of what off the shelf platforms
deliver, according to Hayel Abu-Hamdan, head of
business development at MIG BANK. He says in a
world of vanilla offerings, platform differentiation is
key. This includes improvements in the desktop
feature set as well as truly usable mobile connectivity
on smart phones. MIG BANK is working on a new
proprietary platform that it expects to launch shortly.
Also, Abu-Hamdan points to new functionality of
solid API offerings as another area being ramped up
by retail FX brokers. “As retail customers are
becoming more sophisticated, certain client segments
are branching out and writing their black boxes to
automate their dealing strategies. Having a solid, easy
to integrate API is a must have offering to address this
growing demand,” he notes. “Value added post trade
services for enhanced reporting and analysis tools for
post trade strategy and trade performance evaluation
could draw client interest as well.”
Retail FX brokers are definitely raising their games,
claims McDonald. She says Interbank FX is very
concerned with server up time, for the speed of
execution. “Milliseconds count, no matter where the
january 2010 e-FOREX | 147