It’s no secret that MetaQuotes really wants brokers and traders to migrate towards MetaTrader 5. However, most of the major feature upgrades hitting MT5 were also arriving soon after to MT4. Examples are one click trading, trading signals, mobile trading upgrades, and millisecond reporting. On the server side, there are quite a few differences between the two platforms. Perhaps the most important is direct integration to Liquidity providers, thus reducing the need for a broker to partner with a third party liquidity bridge provider. However on that front, MetaQuotes launched capabilities for a direct MT4 to MT4 STP solution last year. Without considerable differences for the platforms though, the rationale to launch MT5 has been muted.
Adding to the reasons why traders may prefer MT5 over MT4, MetaQuotes has announced new features coming to the platform as part of Build 965. Included in the update are enhanced trading from chart features, transferring of money between accounts, one-time password, and easier search. With the new Build, MT5 users will be able to enter Stop Losses and Take Profits direct on their charts by dragging lines that indicate open positions. While trading from charts isn't new, the new feature reduces a step in the process of entering orders.
Another upgrade is the ability for users controlling numerous accounts on the same trading server to transfer money between the two accounts. This is a feature that many brokers provide via their Client Portals, but it now arrives directly on MT5. Additionally, brokers can process money transfers manually by entering the changes in the MetaTrader Manager or via back office software if it is integrated with their MetaTrader servers. The new feature provides a solution for smaller firms that may not have integrated back office services to handle customer initiated transfers. While for many users, there is little need for using multiple accounts, it is a practice often found by customers using EAs or trading signals, with separate accounts for different strategies.
It will be interesting to see if these features eventually find themselves appearing on MT4, or if MetaQuotes will begin to provide enhancements that are MT5 specific.
(Correction - the article initially related that millisecond reporting was unique to MT5, which in fact had been added in Feb 2014 to MT4)
