Providing a glimpse of future opportunities to their customers and partners, end of the year updates are a popular feature used among many Forex brokers. Recent updates included emails to partners from both eToro and Markets.com.
eToro
2014 ended strong for eToro which secured $27 million in new financing from Russian and Chinese investors. The funds are expected to lead the social trading broker to focus on global growth during 2015.
This contrasts to 2014 where products were on the forefront, as they related that stock and mobile trading were a main focus. As a result, according to eToro, 60% of customers use the firm’s mobile app as their main trading device. Also, they reported that 70% of their clients have at least one stock position open.
Unlike FX and CFD products, stock trading at eToro isn’t offered on a real-time basis but is provided more similarly to mutual fund investing. Customers enter a dollar value that they want to invest, rather than a share amount, with trades being opened or closed at the end of trading for each security.
For 2014, eToro also reported that their growth rate was four times that of 2013. As the growth leads into 2015, beyond their focus on global expansion, eToro is planning to launch its new OpenBook social Trading Platform next year. With the platform update, eToro also plans on expanding its asset base for increased copy trading alternatives.
Operationally, the major change expected for the beginning of 2015 is higher minimum deposits. Starting January 5th for German clients, minimum first-time deposits are being raised to $200 from $50. eToro explained that “a larger entry deposit amount will put the trader in the right mindset for a more serious investment experience, and will allow for a better discovery of the advantages of eToro and Copy Trading.”
Markets.com
Similar to eToro, Markets.com also plans on continuing to be active during the coming year. For the broker, 2014 ended with the launch of a proprietary Webtrader platform. The broker also aimed to broaden its brand globally through the sponsoring of Arsenal FC.
With much of 2014 being focused on forex and CFD traders, binary options are a point of importance during the upcoming year, 2015.
In its end of the year update to partners, Markets.com related that in addition to their webtrader that was launched for forex and CFD traders, a new mobile app will be introduced for binary options customers. Also, the firm related that they will be launching a new binary options brand: OnlyOption. The new brand will be in addition to their existing TopOption binary options broker business which is believed to be a core point of growth for the overall company.
During 2014, the broker began to segregate its white label technology unit into a separate brand: Keystone Trading Technologies. This began with their 2014 launch of Keystone as a binary options provider in January. Since then, forex trading and back office solutions have also been rolled into Keystone’s list of services. As a result of the consolidation of trading technology products under the one brand, we expect broker white labels to be a core point of emphasis for the broker next year.
