FXCM and BT have certainly had one of the biggest broker-software provider relationships in the past years. BT for about three years now was supplying and supporting all aspects of FXCM's MT4 business - retail and institutional. In those three years FXCM's MT4 became one of the largest MT4 brokers in the world - though exact number of its MT4 clients is not disclosed. Largest brokers in the world such as OANDA and Alpari use their own in-house teams for all MT4 matters and I guess it's a natural move for a broker that once its clients base becomes big enough to move this sensitive part of its business in-house. This is what just happened with FXCM and BT as FXCM is moving all the MT4 technology business in-house. BT will continue providing FXCM with MT4 support for its institutional business.
FXCM's statement:
Dear Client:
FXCM is excited to announce our new and improved MetaTrader 4 with upgraded trading functionality and seamless integration with our No Dealing Desk Forex execution. After market close on Friday, December 9, you will be issued a new account that includes those improvements.
IMPORTANT: There are steps you need to take to ensure that your trading continues uninterrupted. The steps are outlined in these Frequently Asked Questions and will also be covered in an e-mail you will receive next week.
WHY ARE YOU GETTING A NEW ACCOUNT?
Currently, when you place an order, it passes through third-party software before it is sent to FXCM for execution. We have updated the integration between the MetaTrader 4 platform and our No Dealing Desk forex execution that eliminates the need for this software. With your new account orders are sent directly to FXCM.
Your new account delivers a faster, improved MetaTrader 4 trading experience. Additionally, you’ll have access to the following new features:
- No more Auto-Syncs
- Faster execution
- Close all or part of an open position
- Control Slippage with Max Deviation
- Add stop loss (SL) and take profit orders (TP) while placing a trade
- Over a dozen exotic currency pairs added
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?
Please review these Frequently Asked Questions as soon as possible. Next week, we’ll e-mail your new log-in details and important information about your new account.
Virtual Private Server (VPS) users will receive an additional e-mail with steps to ensure VPS service continues uninterrupted.
If you have any questions, please contact one of our specialists, who are available 24 hours a day, by live chat, by calling 1-888-503-6739, or by e-mail at info@fxcm.com.
Best regards,
FXCM
BT's statement:
FXCM and BT have agreed to make adjustments to the technology relationship that has been in place for the past three years to reflect the changing needs of both organizations.
We agreed that it would be mutually beneficial for FXCM to move the administration of its Direct (Organic) retail MT4 accounts to be managed in-house by FXCM's technical team. It is worth noting that the administrative overhead of managing these accounts constitutes nearly 50% of BT's total support overhead, while the revenue from these accounts contribute less than 10% of BT's total revenue base. We are thrilled to be able to redeploy those resources towards new initiatives and projects that will lead to a higher ROI for BT and our clients.
To be clear, the FXCM / BT relationship is not ending - both companies have agreed to focus the relationship on facilitating FXCM's institutional business, which is growing at a torrid pace (unfortunately I cannot disclose their exact y/o/y growth rates but from what I was told, they are considerable). The focus will be on IB's, Money Managers, Whitelabel Partners and Omnibus relationships. Additionally we will continue to grow our relationship with FXCM Pro in support of their non-margin customers.
Both BT and FXCM view this development as a natural step in the progression of the relationship - at some point the training wheels have to come off! We are very proud to have been able to leverage BT's technical and industry expertise to help FXCM grow its MT4 business from virtually zero to one of the largest (if not the largest) MT4 offerings in the world - and in only three years time! It is clearly a testament to how much can be accomplished for an organization that picks the right partner.
We at BT are looking forward to pursuing a similar growth path with our other clients and to helping create other success stories similar to this one. We pride our organization on being able to achieve these milestones with our clients.
