On November 29, Worldpay, a world leader in online payments, in collaboration with Finance Magnates and IG Group, a global leader in online trading and investments, hosted an exclusive webinar.
Centred around the first study conducted by Worldpay and GlobalData, “Trading Up: The Current Preferences of Traders and Investors”, the webinar took a deep dive into the latest trends shaping the online trading and investment landscape, with a focus on customer behavior, from payment choices to trading style, asset preference and more. If you want to learn more about the ways you can optimize your customer experience (CX), download the full report here.
A pioneer with over three decades of experience in the payments industry, Worldpay services more than 1 million merchants globally. The global leader empowers merchants to process payments in 135 currencies across 225 markets and provide the experiences their customers want.
Recently, the payment processor has released new research, in collaboration with GlobalData, a worldwide provider of data, analytics and insights. The research was presented on November 2 at Hong Kong Fintech Week, where it gained significant attention.
“We are thrilled to receive such positive feedback from the industry on our report”, said Alex Orechoff, Senior Director of Financial Services & Gaming for Vertical Growth at Worldpay. “Our research aims to bring trading companies closer to their customers by helping them better understand how they behave and what they desire.
“In the webinar we hosted with Finance Magnates and IG Group, we explored some of the key findings and how they can be applied, to increase trader loyalty and improve the customer experience.”
What trading and investment platforms should know
In the report and webinar, Worldpay revealed the most pressing aspects facing the online trading industry: customer retention and improving conversion rates.
The research provides invaluable support for financial industry players in establishing a deeper connection with their clients by understanding their needs and the main drivers of their choices.
Comparatively examining the answers of 10,000+ traders and investors in 10 countries, including the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Australia, the UAE, Japan, Singapore, Brazil and Argentina, Worldpay’s report covers all the touchpoints of the customer journey - from onboarding to trading/investing and payment journeys. It presents global trends before diving deeper into the nuances of the 10 aforementioned countries. Some of the highlights that were tackled head-on at the webinar include:
Understanding key payment trends
Traders and investors around the globe expect extra convenience and speed when depositing into their chosen platform. Therefore, trading and investment companies should keep up to date with the latest payment trends, to meet client demands.
Payment behavior varies by country, age, trading preferences and other industry-related factors. In an evolving, mobile-first space, as much as 58.9% of the world’s traders and investors turn to their mobile devices to access investment platforms. As such, they also tend to choose convenient and flexible payment methods, such as credit/debit cards and digital wallets.
Looking further, as many as 40.5% of traders globally use cards to fund their trading accounts. The next payment method topping traders and investors’ preference list are digital wallets, with 1 in 5 using solutions such as PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay, the research finds.
While cards and digital wallets are the payment methods of choice for traders and investors aged 18-24, in parallel, a widespread tendency to use bank transfer is observed, especially among older traders, aged 45-65+.
Establishing the correlation between payment preferences and asset choices
Trading choices and payment preferences are intrinsically correlated. For example, more tech-driven and/or lower-cost instruments such as Forex, cryptocurrencies or ETFs could require instant payment provided by payment cards and digital wallets.
Conversely, stock trading and investing, which may require larger deposits that could benefit from lower transaction fees and bank-level security, are broadly linked to investor preference for bank transfers. 36.0% of investors use bank transfers to fund their trading accounts. This tendency is observed more in countries such as the U.S., U.K., Australia and Brazil.
When it comes to pay-in and pay-out methods across geographies and age groups, the research finds that there is a slight difference - 48.8% of the surveyed traders globally most recently used bank transfers for withdrawals and only 15.1% used cards.
Crypto payouts may also be gaining traction, with 8.8% of traders preferring to receive their funds in digital currency.
Offering traders the freedom of choice
Expanding their research beyond payments, Worldpay’s report found that trader preference for an investment platform is influenced by a variety of factors, including the availability of educational resources, real-time analysis and news, among others you can find in the full report.
At the same time, the variety of payment options available is a key driver of customer satisfaction. 1 in 5 investors said they would look for an alternative provider if their preferred payment method is unavailable.
Other decision-making factors influencing traders’ choice of payment methods include security, valued most by 1 in 3 investors, simplicity and speed, most important to 1 in 4 investors, and transparency, with a focus on instant notification of transaction success, appreciated most by 1 in 5 investors.
All these elements underscore the need for balance and diversity that providers should aim for while ensuring the utmost security in a friction-free and transparent environment where traders can access their preferred instruments and use their desired payment solution. To gain more insights, you can watch the webinar recording here and download the report here.
