While we assume most of you already understand, lets quickly relook at what a trading platform is.
What is a Forex Trading Platform?
A forex trading platform is a software that enables trading, such as opening, closing, and managing market positions through a financial institution such as a forex brokerage.
These trading platforms may also be specific to certain instruments or markets such as stocks, currencies, options, futures.
For the most part, forex trading platforms such as MT4/MT5 are offered at a subscription fee. However, on rare occasions, some fx trading platforms, especially the ones new to the market are offered for free in exchange for commissions on a specified number of trades per month.
Traders across the globe use a wide variety of trading platforms depending on their trading style and volume. However, MT4/MT5 by MetaQuotes is highly popular among most traders with 15 million users worldwide. This is because MT4 trading platforms are user-friendly, comprehensive and flexible at the same time.
Additionally, MT4/MT5 does not have any strings attached, in the sense, there are no trading volume quotas to meet. This is another reason why MT4/MT5 is offered by most forex brokerages universally.
How to pick the right trading platform for your forex brokerage?
As a forex brokerage, picking the right trading platform is crucial. This decision must be based on the features and the fees involved. Heres a checklist of things to look for while choosing the trading platform for your brokerage.
1. White-labeling & Customisation
Its an important lesson to borrow from massive retailers. Giant retail stores have been selling their own branded groceries at a much lower price because white-labelled products sell.
Retail or FinTech, the concept here is the same. Simply subscribe to a product that has been developed by one company and market it as your own. It gives you a ready-made solution effortlessly, without the hassle of spending a ton of money and time.
Additionally, a white-labeled forex trading software boosts the visibility of your fx brokerage, strengthening the loyalty of your existing clients.
Look for a forex technology provider that doesnt just offer white-labeled forex solutions, but is also able to customize as per your business needs.
2. Reliability
Every single customer of yours may have their own unique style of trading. Some may prefer using a desktop-based trading platform, while some may choose a web trader or even a mobile trader.
Irrespective of where the trading platform is hosted, the stability and reliability of the platform is of utmost importance. This can be a deal maker or a breaker with avid traders who make large, frequent trades as they are always looking for a forex trading platform that never or seldom crashes.
3. User Experience & Flawless Trading
It is important to note that your future customers will interact with these trading platforms, a lot more than they would with your brokerage or your website. Therefore, the user experience is the factor that will decide how long your customers will stay with you.
A trading platform, whether desktop, mobile or web that allows for placing an order or closing a trade immediately in one click is an ideal one. Not to mention, the swift opening of several graphs in a single click.
In addition to single-click trading, management of stop-loss and overall navigation are advantages that a trader may consider. Also, if a platform offers several charts and tools, the ability to access and apply with ease is critical.
4. Support & Updates
While choosing a forex technology provider it is important to choose one where support is included free of cost. A technology partner who offers forex turnkey solutions should be able to help you with questions or issues whenever you face any.
Additionally, a partner with a strong tech team like Sanfrix, can rectify issues and can also deploy any new software updates immediately.
5. Platform Availability & Accessibility
In this day and age, you must offer your clients the flexibility to trade from anywhere at any time. Therefore, trading platforms must be accessible across devices such as web, mobile, and tablets.
This isnt just a flexibility feature for your customers, but also an advantage to the 0verall growth and profit of your forex brokerage business.
A forex technology provider like Sanfrix is able to offer intuitive forex trading platforms that can be accessed as a web trader, mobile trader (iOS or Android App) or on tablets. Furthermore, they can be fully customized and branded to your liking in terms of look and feel as well as the functionality.
6. API-as-a-Service
We cannot stress the importance of partnering with a provider that doesnt just offer full customizable trading platforms but also has immense API capabilities.
The veterans in the technology team at Sanfrix have catered to numerous clients with their API needs as far as forex technology is concerned. Any external plugins, custom development, and APIs can be flawlessly integrated into any of your existing systems whilst making sure the communication with the trading platforms are intact.
7. Variety Of Assets
An ideal forex technology provider will offer a wide array of instruments such as major and minor currency pairs, cryptocurrencies, index, stocks, forex, energies, metals, commodities, and futures.
8. Trading Simulation & Demo Capabilities
Many traders like to test their trade strategies ahead of time to ensure theyre working without losing actual money. A good Fx technology provider should be able to offer simulations and demo capabilities to hypothetically test trades. On the other hand, a feature like this acts as a practice space for amateur traders.
9. Tools & Charting Capability
Charting capability is one of the most essential features of a trading platform. Several forex traders rely on the charting to visually examine the movements of prices on charts.
Also, another important feature to look for is if your provider allows a trade to be placed directly from the chart.
Furthermore, traders use technical analysis methods to forecast pricing. Tools such as Fibonacci retracing, Gann signals, and more help in such an analysis.
10. Costs and Pricing Models
Finally, the cost and pricing models play an important role in decision making. A technology provider such as Sanfrix charges a flat subscription fee and does not charge you based on trading volumes. This feature should be your primary concern when looking at pricing options as this can eat into your profits.
Additionally, we at Sanfrix understand that start-up costs can be overwhelming and therefore, we can work out a pricing plan that works best for your business type ensuring youre only paying based on your usage.
Sanfrix offers all of the above features and more. To fully explore all the exciting possibilities, request a free demo today!
