The Importance of Trading Software Mobile Terminal — Will the Desktop Version Be Replaced?
The 21st century is an Internet-based era, and more precisely, a mobile Internet-based era in the second decade. As technology advances and 5G starts to roll out, a growing number of people now get used to using mobile phones in life, work, entertainment, and inevitably, investment.
Compelling statistics indicate how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed people’s way of investment. According to The Wall Street Journal, more than 260,000 new accounts were opened on E*Trade in March 2020 alone, which was higher than the total number of new accounts opened in any previous full-year period. The momentum of investment Apps even overshadows the rise of game and entertainment Apps. Forbes reported that in 2020 the fintech App market in Europe has grown by 72%, and according to a survey done by DepositAccounts, 91% of Americans banked virtually, completing at least one banking activity online or on a mobile app, and over 40% of them said they used mobile bank Apps more often than they did prior to the pandemic.
The Mobile Finance Report 2020, jointly published by Adjust and Apptopia on October 20, noted that mobile users across the world spend more time in financial Apps in 2020. In the first half of 2019, users were spending an average of 7.7 minutes per session in-app, but by 2020 that rose to 8.35 minutes—an increase of 8.9%. The Report also concluded that would-be investors on mobile devices are highly active after 30 days, with the average user across all channels and sources registering around 3 sessions a day, a full session more—on average—than users in other finance sub-verticals.
To help brokers find investors’ habits in using trading software and to help software providers meet users’ demand, Fazzaco has conducted a survey on 141 investors. The results showed that investors favored desktop and mobile versions most, while web-page and tablets are less used.
On which terminal do you usually use trading software (You can choose more than one answer)
As we have expected, investors favored desktop much more than webpage and mobile more than tablet. This result is rational, because investors have no reason to open a web page instead of a desktop version when sitting in front of a computer, or use a larger tablet instead of a more flexible mobile that shares almost the same features.
What has interested us is the comparison between mobile version and desktop version. Despite convenience, mobile trading software, mostly MT4, lacks enough indicators, EA, and early warning features, and is less capable in checking the market situation of multiple assets. The desktop version still remains the top 1 choice for investors, which can be partially attributed to the large proportion of full-time traders who sit in front of their screens all day long.
Notably, the gap between the desktop version and mobile version is as low as 16.31%. Given that 5G technology is gaining popularity and mobile internet is speeding up, it is possible that mobile trading software may take place of the desktop in the near future. Brokers who fail to provide mobile features and fintech companies who are incapable of developing or reluctant to develop mobile versions would be phased out of the market.
In a survey on forex trading software done by Fazzaco, we found that 33 out of 37 products are equipped with mobile features and 24 with web page versions. Most of the mobile-friendly trading software products are compatible with iOS and Android systems, which is an embodiment of software providers’ efforts in responding the call of the times.
Let’s skip MT4/MT5, which continue to dominate the forex market, and cTrader, which is most likely to become a qualified challenger to MetaQuotes. Saxo Bank, FXCM, and CMC Markets are large brokers that have developed their own trading software with mobile features, which is a demonstration of their own strength.
Other less famous software like AIRSOFT, Sirix, NEXTRADE, Speedtrader, and Fortex 6 arer also mobile-friendly. AgenaTrader has developed a collection of three types of mobile-friendly trading software Mercury, Neptune, and Andromeda. Hummingbird Trading App, with the slogan of “intuitive crypto & forex trading for mobile”, is dedicated to mobile trading and abandons desktop and web page versions, which in a sense represents the trend of the market.
On the contrary, AlgoTrader, Quantower, and TimeToTrade are desktop-only trading software. Moreover, NinjiaTrader, another relatively well-know software is not mobile-friendly either, which might be the reason for its failure in rivaling MetaQuotes together with cTrader.
The year of 2020 has witnessed a series of black swan events and high market volatility, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic that arose people’s huge demand on remote working and life, which is both an opportunity and challenge for all fintech companies. The worldwide pandemic and panic accompanied with it have yet come to an end. How to ensure steady profit against the backdrop of mounting uncertainty? How to deal with an unexpected influx of users. These are the questions worth fintech companies and brokers paying attention.
As a leading B2B forex platform, Fazzaco is committed to establishing a transparent industry chain for both solution providers and forex brokers. To find more information, please check Fazzaco's Trading Software Provider List.
Fazzaco has endeavored to keep information displayed accurate, but we cannot guarantee this article is up-to-date and error-free. All the content is provided for general information purpose and should not be taken as or constitute any form of professional advice or suggestion.
Subscribe Now
