The most significant trend of recent years has been the growth of mobile trading. And mobile spread betting has continued to grow strongly in the last year, with ever increasing number of mobile deals being transacted compared to past comparable periods.
Today, a mobile phone with wireless Internet access is not just a useless gadget or advertising gimmick. In a number of ways a mobile phone is equivalent to having a portable computer in your pocket. It is just so convenient, you can monitor open positions, check news, set price alerts and view charts plus numerous other functions all from your smartphone. I read a report somewhere that by 2014 more people will be using mobile devices to access the internet, than desktop computers. That is mobile smart phones and ipads, androids, slates etc which is all interesting. In fact, you can already use a mobile phone to access the Internet, send e-mails and today you can even use it for trading on the move.
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Spread betting providers have taken advantage of this by developing mobile dealing platforms, albeit initially these were severely limited in scope due to slow connections and small screens. While spread betting from mobile phones has been available for several years from some providers, the small screen size and limited data processing capacity made it difficult for customers to view price charts and news.
However, over the last few years cell phones have begun to advance not just in the area of technology but also in their application and trading from a mobile phone is now a reality. The emergence of Wi-Fi as well as new technologies like Blackberry and the Apple iPhone has allowed spread betting companies to develop advanced mobile applications which empower traders to monitor an entire portfolio of spread bets and orders with their large-view touch-screen formats, as well as updating watchlists of prices.
Armed with your Android or iPhone, you can now trade from anywhere, whether waiting for a train or at your desk. In fact, the iPhone apps have proved to be an instant hit with customers. The bigger screen and better graphics of the iPhone allow for superior charting than ever before and today, you can use a mobile dealing platform not only to monitor your positions but also to place new orders including stop and limit orders almong with charting, newsfeeds, and account-management tools. The ability to execute spread betting trades on the move means traders and investors can keep more closely in touch with markets and act more swiftly when they spot trading opportunities. This is why the main spread betting providers are at the forefront of these advances.
The iPhone's larger screen and faster internet speed has made mobile trading much easier. 'In the past, mainly due to restrictions of screen size rather than technology, it may have been more difficult for clients to check historical data such as charts and news to help them formulate an opinion on a market while on the go, but this is now all made much easier with the iPhone.' - David Jones at IG Index.
Spread betting apps and trading tools are now being launched on a regular basis and most spread betting providers say they are constantly working on ways of improving their applications to make trading online even easier.
It is interesting to note that only about 3 per cent of trades at IG Index are currently placed using a mobile phone, although one in 10 clients use a mobile phone to access their accounts and check prices. The company's popular trading platform PureDeal gets over 45,000 unique users every day, and at least some 6,000 of them access it via their mobile phone. In March 2010 it was reported that 5000 people a day were accessing IG's mobile dealing platform to place about 100,000 mobile trades a month compared to a million via a normal computer. This seems to support the notion that mobiles are mainly used to monitor positions, rather than used to trade aggressively while away from the screen - their value is in the peace of mind they provide.
Likewise, mobile trades still account for less than 10% of Capital Spreads' trading volumes although this number is rapidly growing. The company has recently launched an Anroid app and has experienced uptake of over 200% between April and June 2011.
PDA/mobile dealing is mainly available at IG Index - meaning you can trade, research the markets and monitor spread betting positions and watchlists on the move using your mobile. IG Index has been supporting mobile dealing for at least 6 years but mobile trading at IG Index has really taken off in August 2010 when it launched its iPhone app.
The number of deals completed on mobile devices by IG customers has soared since January 2010 from just over 100,000 a month to over 450,000 as of June 2011. The percentage of trades now performed on a mobile device has risen over the same period from under 5% to close to 14%. More than 10% of IG's new accounts are now opened on mobile, and also that mobile users deal more often and in larger size than non-mobile users with nearly double the monthly revenues. Tim Howkins, chief executive, told analysts that he believes mobile is a 'key competitive differentiator' for IG. He added that the company now employs 40 people who work on mobile development 'and that's a scale of investment that really very few of our competitors can match'.
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IG has introduced native apps over the past year for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android while apps for Windows Phone 7 and various tablets were in the pipeline. In particular, the IG platform has been specially adapted for use with the iPhone and iPod Touch allowing support for the latest technology advancements - with tilt, drag and swipe functionality. Mobile dealing at IG provides the same vast range of markets one can access from their desktop.
The IG Index mobile application lets you open, close and edit trades or attach orders such as stops and limits to fully control the risk, add markets to your watchlist or check charts as well as view market information or check relevant Reuters news. At present you can access live prices without having to log in, load charts that dynamically update, and you can also check an aggregate view of all trading positions. Spread traders looking for trading ideas and strategies may soon be able to get these from IG Index as well, when it brings together trading tools and recommendations for online and iPhone clients.
The way it works is quite simple. You send a text message to the number they provide, they send you an email with the program attached, you install the program, then you can open it up and access your account within a few minutes. To place a trade, locate the market, enter the stake amount in the deal ticket and simply hit buy or sell.
They have recently added an extra feature where you can display a chart which makes monitoring positions simpler. I have closed one or 2 trades with it but I think a mobile platform is only useful for checking running profits and losses on opening positions and checking price as I would never open a trade as the chart is just too small to make decisions with. If you have a trade running that you want to keep an eye on then yes a mobile is useful. What is also nice is that even if you aren't a client you can still download the iPhone applications and check real-time prices on popular markets such as the FTSE or Dow, £/$, €/$ or shares like Barclays or BP.
Mobile dealing is also available from CMCMarkets which has launched a mobile dealing platform intended to complement their web-based version. The user interface has been specially designed and the application can be used to check live prices, live streaming charts and monitor positions as well as for the placing of orders and real-time Bloomberg/Dow Jones news. The application also supports stops including trailing stop losses. The company boasts that over a third of its active client base access the company's iPhone application on a regular basis.
City Index have launched an application for the iPhone in October 2009. This not only allows spread betters to monitor existing positions (the large screen of an iPhone can fit 7 positions) but also provides them with the actual functionality of being able to open and close positions, set/amend stop loss orders, keep track of margin limits and check watchlists. It has recently upgraded the application to include streaming charts with multiple technical indicators which allows clients to analyse data and identify price patterns and trends. The application also includes real-time Dow Jones News wire feeds. City Index now estimates that around 20% of all its trades are now placed through a mobile device [as at time of writing January 2011] with most mobile trades (90%) being placed via the iPhone application - thus rising sharply from just about 3% before the iPhone application was launched - and 19% of all active clients trade through a mobile device. Of these mobile trades, 86% are placed via the iPhone (as opposed to a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile). Recently City Index has launched the trading app on Android mobiles
Josh Raymond, market strategist at City Index, was quoted as saying 'Spread betters traditionally seek out volatility to create trading opportunities, and with this comes quick price changes. It is crucial that a spread better is able to react quickly, by both monitoring live prices and trading whenever they see an opportunity, on the go.'
In January 2010, GFT Markets UK followed suit and launched their own iPhone dealing platform with real-time charting and live news flow while IG Index have also recently joined the party and launched their own dedicated iPhone application having previously just offered its iPhone customers the possibility to trade via the phone's web browser. The iPhone trading application on GFT includes prices that update automatically, technical indicators and free price alerts. The quote screen displays the current prices as well as the open, high, low and close data of the instrument as well as a daily bar chart. The system also supports full screen charts which are available in 7 different time frames (with a choice of 16 technical indicators) and also allows for inputting of limits, stops and contingent orders so as to to be fully in control. Tim Gort, a GFT company spokesman, was quoted saying: 'All of our mobile applications, including our iPhone app, simply provide our customers with more freedom to trade. Many traders are using our basic mobile application to check the markets and monitor their existing trades. With some of our more advanced Dealbook mobile applications, such as for Blackberry or iPhone, we find a significant increase in the number of customers using it for trading.'
Capital Spreads have also recently launched an iPhone application which allows clients to check live prices and open and close deals. The application also supports orders and comes with automatically updating charts. Angus Campbell, head of sales at Capital Spreads noted that there has been a marked increase in demand from traders wanting to access their spread betting account on their mobile handset. 'It's understandable. If you're a regular spread trader, you want to be able to monitor your positions as much as possible. It simply allows you to manage your portfolio better. The more you can keep on top of your deals, the better informed you are.'
Some brokers like IG Index have also introduced text message alerts to their trading platform. So for instance if you wanted to know when the FTSE is above 4,250, you can use the desktop platform to set up a free sms alert to be automatically texted to your phone when the market hits this level. You could then either execute an order by dealing through the mobile trading platform or phoning an IG Index dealer.
Although mobile phone spread betting is still relatively unpopular this is likely to change as smartphone prices continue to fall and technology becomes better established which will attract wider usage; even if most spreadbetters will continue to utilise it as a complimentary add-on to their main desktop platform as opposed to an outright replacement. At the very least, your provider's mobile trading platform should prove to be a good contingency tool when your internet connection fails or you are not able to access your computer screen. Lastly, one warning note. Beware of the impact of mobile dealing on trading psychology - spread betting trades on an iPhone or mobile application can increase the chances of making rash decisions or making 'impulse trades'. Using charts and having a proper research process and a trading plan is key to making intelligent trades.
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