Forex traders usually use both an online trading platform and its associated mobile app, as well as other tools that allow them to get hold of news that will affect their activities on the market and help them plan their trades. A lot of this software has evolved only recently, giving traders the opportunity to trade on the go and manage their accounts however they choose. In turn, this has attracted a lot more people to forex.
Naturally, a lot of this technology overlaps with technology used in other financial sectors like banking. Here, we look at three pieces of fintech functionality that forex traders couldn’t trade as they currently do without:
Account Management
Forex traders are trading with real money in real time, and they need to be able to fund their accounts, see how much money they have in them at any given time, and of course withdraw money back into their bank accounts if they want to. To use any kind of forex software for real, a user needs to create an account with a broker and fund it in some way. They also need to be able to see up to the minute, compliant information about their current account with their forex broker.
The systems that allow them to do this are similar to those used in all kinds of other places, and come from the fintech industry where moving money between accounts and displaying account data was one of the earliest problems solved.
Real Time Trades
A forex trader works on the basis of pricing information about different currencies, which is constantly changing. They wait for certain thresholds to be met as part of their strategies, and then want to be able to instantly make those trades. Real time trading is one of the reasons that forex caught on so much more when internet speeds became faster – knowing that they have a fast and stable connection, even when using mobile data, a trader can know that they are trading at the price and moment they want without any problems. This capability too, is something used extensively in all kinds of areas that use fintech.
Analytics
Another thing fintech had given forex is the ability for traders to access in-depth data analysis while staying within the software they are using to trade. Analytics modules let them see data displayed about the things they are most interested in in the way they find easiest to work with, and this data is dynamic – changing as things move on the markets. Fintech analytics are invaluable to traders at all levels, and are something that it would be very difficult for a non-professional to trade without access to (at least successfully).
These are just three aspects of financial technology that make it possible for the current generation of currency traders to enjoy streamlined, information-rich trading environments like Oanda, where they can harness great analytics tools, real time transactions and reliable account management to make their trades with complete confidence.
Luke Hatkinson-Kent
