UK Broker AJ Bell to Launch Trading on Facebook Messenger App

UK fund supermarket AJ Bell is planning to launch a trading service on Facebook’s Messenger platform in a move to broaden its appeal to millennials. The broker said it intended to launch the service in the next three months, enabling retail investors to buy and sell shares through the app.

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AI-Based Software

The service works by enabling customers to communicate with the platform via a bot, an artificial intelligence-based software program. As well as issuing instructions for the buying and selling of shares, users will be able to access their accounts, receive post-trade costs and charges, request quotes and access market data and research through the app.

The company believes that it is the first to enable the Execution Execution Execution is the process during which a client submits an order to the brokerage, which consequently executes it resulting in an open position in a given asset. The execution of the order occurs only when it is filled. There is typically a time delay between the placement of the order and the execution which is called latency.In the retail FX space, reliable brokers always strive to deliver best execution to their clients in order to maintain a solid business relationship with them. This is a co Execution is the process during which a client submits an order to the brokerage, which consequently executes it resulting in an open position in a given asset. The execution of the order occurs only when it is filled. There is typically a time delay between the placement of the order and the execution which is called latency.In the retail FX space, reliable brokers always strive to deliver best execution to their clients in order to maintain a solid business relationship with them. This is a co Read this Term of a trade using Facebook’s Messenger app and it is also working on upgrading its system to allow retail investors to buy and sell funds through the platform.

AJ Bell's digital strategy director Tim Huckle commented: “We have created a secure authorisation framework between the Facebook Messenger platform and AJ Bell Youinvest”. Huckle personally piloted the service earlier this week buying £500 worth of Facebook shares.

Broad Appeal

Using the platform is designed to appeal to the 18-30 demographic which constitute the majority of the 900 million monthly users of Facebook Messenger. If it proves successful, the outcome could see the realisation of the asset management industry's ambition to develop social media-based distribution networks for Retail Trading Retail Trading In finance, retail trading refers to individual traders, trading through a broker, or on a platform. This can include novice traders and experienced traders. Trading and investing are divided into two categories, retail and institutional. Institutions include investment banks like JP Morgan or Citibank and global central banks like the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. When we talk about retail trading however, we usually are referring to forex trading, but there are retail trade In finance, retail trading refers to individual traders, trading through a broker, or on a platform. This can include novice traders and experienced traders. Trading and investing are divided into two categories, retail and institutional. Institutions include investment banks like JP Morgan or Citibank and global central banks like the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. When we talk about retail trading however, we usually are referring to forex trading, but there are retail trade Read this Term and software companies' desire for greater commercial use of bot technology.

The announcement comes two months after Facebook opened up its AI tools to outside companies to encourage them to develop their own bots to communicate with Facebook customers.

Although the offering is still subject to approval from regulators and Facebook, AJ Bell has said that it does not anticipate any problems in this area because it intends to use the tool to communicate with existing clients, adding that "trading through Facebook is no different to trading through the website or through our mobile app from a regulatory perspective".