HYCM has recently launched the mobile trading app, HYCM Trader. What were the reasons that led you to this?
Mobile trading is no longer the future of online retail trading; that’s already happening.
We see that more and more traders shift from web platforms to mobile apps, and this will only increase with time.
Think about it; nowadays, we do almost everything via our smartphones.
So, it is not a surprise that users want the ability to trade at their fingertips too. Mobile trading provides more flexibility and the possibility to trade anywhere anytime.
The perception of trading is changing as well.
Today, people are more tech-savvy and educated about different assets such as forex, CFDs on stocks and cryprocurrencies*. The regulation played its role too by phasing out unreliable companies.
There is more trust and understanding of the industry. Therefore, trading is becoming more common among the general public.
Moreover, the rise of the new generation of retail traders pushed the boundaries of traditional platforms. So, it was a very logical step for us to develop HYCM Trader, an app that can accommodate the trends and needs of the modern world.
Many brokers offer MT4/MT5-based apps; why did you decide to make your own proprietary app?
Indeed, the majority of brokers tend to use apps based on traditional platforms, and that's why they all look the same.
So, firstly, we wanted to differentiate ourselves. Making our own app gave us the flexibility the traditional platforms don't have, and the possibility to offer more to our clients.
For instance, the HYCM Trader app combines our client portal and trading functionality.
You can register, upload documents for KYC, get approved, fund your account, and trade - all in the same app.
This is different from the traditional apps where users usually have to switch between the brokers’ client portal mobile website and the app.
Another point was that, although traditional platforms like MT4 and MT5 are the most widely used, they lack on User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX).
It is simply very old.
Our goal was to provide our clients with a better experience, so we worked a lot on our UI and UX. The result is HYCM Trader, a very user-friendly and modern trading application.
Moreover, having our own proprietary app allows us to offer useful features.
For example, HYCM Trader has the latest news from the leading provider, Trading Central, available for any tradable asset within the app.
So, for example, when you select to trade Gold CFD you will see all the relevant information about it providing you with the essential overview in order to help you make a more informed trading decision.
What are the most common problems that traditional platform-based apps usually have, and how is HYCM Trader different?
The major issue for traditional platform-based apps is that they are restricted by what their service provider can offer. Yes, it is a stable product but you cannot customize it much and you are limited by its functionality.
For instance, let’s look at the notifications function.
HYCM Trader has 3 different types of notifications: marketing-related notifications, trading notifications, and user notifications. User notifications allow traders to set their own custom notifications.
For example, you want to get notified when Bitcoin CFD - which is now around $19k - has reached or is about to reach $23k.
You can set a notification to alert you when the price increases or reaches your desired level, and then you can decide whether you want to open a position and in which direction.
With this easy reminder, you don't have to monitor the price constantly.
By having traditional platform-based apps, brokers become very dependable on their service providers, and if there is any issue the service provider might have, this will directly affect the broker’s business too.
As you may know, recently Apple pulled down MT4 and MT5 trading apps from the App Store.
So, automatically, brokers who offered MT4/MT5-based apps lost a big market share of potential new clients, whereas HYCM Trader is still available for download from both the App Store and Google Play.
There are other custom trading apps available in the market. How does HYCM Trader stand out from these?
From what we’ve seen so far, most of the custom apps still follow the traditional platforms’ approach to trading.
For example, on MT4/MT5 platforms you will be trading in lots, but the new generation of traders understands measurements in a different way.
They prefer to trade in the actual units of a chosen asset. It does make more sense to trade CFD on Oil in barrels and EURUSD in dollars than lots, doesn’t it?
Also, other custom apps tend to focus on instant market execution. In the HYCM Trader app, you can set limits such as ‘take profit’ and ‘stop loss’, as well as make a pending order by opening a position that will be executed if the price reaches your desired price level assuming there is no extreme volatility in the market, of course.
What features do you plan to add to the app within the next year?
We are now incorporating social network authentication to make it even easier for our clients to onboard.
With this feature, users will be able to register with their social network IDs, which will also be used for authentication when revisiting the app, instead of having to create and enter login details every single time.
Currently HYCM Trader is available in 4 languages - English, Arabic, Italian, and Spanish – and we plan to add more.
Apart from that, we have weekly updates. Our app is new and evolving but it is not about fixing bugs anymore; the vast majority of these releases include on average 3-4 new features.
For example, we launched HYCM Trader with 2 types of graphs, and now, we have 5. We had 2 types of indicators, now, we have 11. This is not a part of the core functionality, but it does make a difference for the traders, as they now have more tools to choose from.
Last, but certainly not least, we will have some big news about the HYCM Trader app in the near future. We can’t reveal any details just yet, so stay tuned for the upcoming releases!
How do you see mobile trading evolving in the near future?
Offering traditional platform-based apps is entry-level, and brokers who choose to go down this easier path will technically be offering mobile trading but their apps will just be like everyone else’s.
It is quite difficult to deliver a new successful trading mobile app that actually works. You need to have the right IT resources, and security and infrastructure departments, not to mention effort, time, and money, to be able to build, develop, and accommodate such an app.
Not every broker out there is capable of this.
But if a broker wants to stay ahead of the competition, it definitely needs to have its own custom trading app.
Otherwise, it will get trapped in what was offered for so many years and won’t be able to offer what the trader may want.
And it is not easy, if possible at all, to modernize the old technology that traditional apps use. If we look at the most successful brokers today, they all have their own platforms.
So, in terms of technology, I think we will clearly see a shift towards custom-made apps in the near future while traditional platforms will not evolve much.
I believe that trading and investing will soon become something very common and popular, and the newer generation of traders will certainly prefer to trade on easy-to-use all-in-one solutions like the HYCM Trader app.
Download the HYCM Trader app from the Google Play or Apple Store.
*Note: Cryptocurrencies are not available for trading under HYCM (Europe) Ltd and HYCM Capital Markets (UK) Limited.
About: HYCM is the global brand name of HYCM Capital Markets (UK) Limited, HYCM (Europe) Ltd, HYCM Capital Markets (DIFC) Ltd, HYCM Ltd, and HYCM Limited, all individual entities under HYCM Capital Markets Group, a global corporation operating in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
High-Risk Investment Warning: Contracts for Difference (‘CFDs’) are complex financial products that are traded on margin. Trading CFDs carries a high degree of risk. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent expert advice if necessary and speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Please think carefully whether such trading suits you, taking into consideration all the relevant circumstances as well as your personal resources. We do not recommend clients posting their entire account balance to meet margin requirements. Clients can minimise their level of exposure by requesting a change in leverage limit. For more information please refer to HYCM’s Risk Disclosure.
*Any opinions made in this material are personal to the person expressing the opinion. This material is considered a marketing communication and should not be construed as containing investment advice or an investment recommendation, or an offer of or solicitation for any transactions in financial instruments. Past performance is not a guarantee of or prediction of future performance. HYCM does not take into account your personal investment objectives or financial situation. HYCM makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, nor any loss arising from any investment based on a recommendation, forecast, or other information supplied by an employee of HYCM, a third party, or otherwise.
