According to information obtained by Forex Magnates' reporters, MetaQuotes has decided to unilaterally increase the technical support fee charged to White Labels of Metatrader powered brokerages to $1,000 per month.
In its announcement to clients, the company cites that the decision was forced upon it by increasing operation costs. For existing clients the price hike will take effect starting from April 1st, 2015, giving firms some time before the new technical support fee will come into force.
Introducing brokers who sign up for the Metatrader platform starting from January 2015, the new price will take effect starting next month. The costs for technical support associated with the mobile versions of the Metatrader platforms, however, will remain unchanged at $750 per month.
'Forced' Diversification Away from Metatrader
While MetaQuotes has described the move as “forced” upon it, this could be a factor which could force platform diversification efforts by brokerages going forward. The domination of Metatrader in the platform space is certainly far from over, but also far from certain.
Just like in any business, persistent reliance on a single provider for a certain service prompts the emergence of new and sometimes better products. We have seen a number of companies take aim at delivering a better integrated platform solution to the market.
Arguably, some have succeeded, and it will only take time to break traders' habits of using a very familiar platform for trading. Some brokerages have developed or purchased their own platforms, while others have a choice from a set of emerging companies.
A number of alternative platform solutions from NetDania, Spotware and Tradable, to name a few, are gathering traction in becoming very strong product offerings with full solutions ranging from high quality mobile apps to advanced algorithmic trading features.
