The Chinese market is one of the most misunderstood and hardest for brokers to enter. Given several challenges inherent to the region, the demand for on-the-ground solutions that can better cater towards Chinese clientele is instrumental. Localization remains a pain point for brokers, remaining a particular issue in the context of China.
However, RootAnt has solidified itself as a key player in China, focusing on user experience through its diverse product suite. To date, the group remains one of the only companies to help overseas financial institutions localize in Asia, namely China.
RootAnt also has gone to tremendous lengths to improve investors’ overall experience. In particular, its platform is a deep suite of fully integrated, back-end, middleware and front-end services and applications, connecting with APIs.
Finance Magnates spoke with Lincoln Yin, Founder and CEO of RootAnt, who outlines the group’s efforts in the Chinese market as well as the unique elements the country has relative to the broader market.
Lincoln Yin, Founder & CEO RootAnt
How do the latest developments by the Chinese government’s approach towards brokers affect the market?
It is obvious that not only the Chinese government, but also the global regulatory environment is going to be tightened. Specifically in China, there are more new brokers emerging this year. Some of them have unfortunately harmed the interest of traders however.
Moreover, there were some sorts of shakeup in the industry and several developments this year – what I believe is that there is an inevitable trend towards increasing the number of individuals looking for overseas investment opportunities. As such, the brokers who could really benefit and stand on the same side with the traders will survive and grow.
What do global brokers need to understand better about Chinese traders?
The very first thing specific to the Chinese market that is different with broader market is that as FX trading is Online Trading , what the traders experience will be compared with Internet products that are even more advanced than western countries. This is especially true with mobile products, which are requested as a very high level.
However for the FX industry, there is a lack of mobile solutions. Available online acquiring solutions are even worse. RootAnt is one of the first companies in this market offering a turnkey and cross-platform solution (desktop, mobile), integrated with WeChat and all for Trading Platform , along with CRM, account portal, and Affiliate/IB systems.
All of these solutions were designed specifically for the Chinese market’s user habit, which is very different with other markets. Nowhere is this truer than through the reliance on WeChat and WhatsApp.
Localization is also quite a big challenge for global brokers as the Internet giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, and others are also approaching securities trading. Collectively these augment the level of user experience for individuals even more. Consequently, the traders of global brokers will not take bad user experiences for granted nor tolerate it.
Asia, and notably the Chinese market is now the most important market for global brokers, however they are far from ready for localization and need to catch up with the intense competition. For our part, RootAnt is exactly the company who can help brokers with this challenge.
What are the major drivers for growth in Asia today?
For Asia, especially China market, traders here are keen to take risks to make a fortune. Additionally, more people are getting to know more about overseas instruments and be interested in experimenting. This trend drives the growth in Asia market for global brokers.
The trading platforms market is quite saturated, with MetaQuotes and other international players. How do you stand out?
First of all, when you take a glance at MT4/MT5 or other international platforms, none of them align with Chinese user habits, which is tremendously unique relative to worldwide markets.
Just download WeChat, Weibo and Alipay, and compare with WhatsApp, Twitter and Paypal. Our trading platform is born with the design with the Chinese user habit in mind and with improved user experience. However, our trading platform could also connect with MT4/MT5 with accounts and APIs. Of course, it also could connect with our clients’ own back-end APIs. These advantages make us very unique in this market.
And the trading platform is also compatible with our CRM/Account portal and IB system, which make the process from acquiring to retention much more streamlined.
Relationships of Chinese IBs and global brokers are crucial, but often go sour. What can each side do to foster a healthier relationship?
The value of benefiting each side is the foundation for this multi-lateral relationship –transparency is also the key. Our IB system also has a mobile version, which brings the most transparency from brokers towards IBs.
These also check the information and data in real-time. What’s more, the brokers are able to provide more support for IBs, especially tools. Our IB system is integrated with QR-code, which provides the IBs the easiest way to invite new traders to onboarding/register process.
Where can Fintech make the largest impact in China?
What we believe and the opportunity we are approaching is that Fintech should provide global brokers with localized platform/applications and solutions to increase the ratio of conversion and retention, whereby lowering the risk. Our KYC API aggregator helps brokers with real-time trader identity and credit data verification as well as anti-fraud measures.
RootAnt is a unique name for a brand. What does it stand for?
The reason that the company is named RootAnt is that we always think and act from the root, which is how we create value for our clients. Moreover, we take each single effort we take as a tiny ant, but the faith we hold is that a group of ants in the collective are huge. Ultimately, we always look for cooperation and our journey is one that is long-term – the accumulated effort will be truly amazing.
