FSB: How different is the trading platform today from what it was when you launched? Is the software created and maintained in-house? My understanding is that the WorldSpreads platform is flash based and requires Java - tell us more about it.
Conor: WorldSpreads owns its own technology from top to bottom. No element of the platform is outsourced to any third parties. The platform compares favorably with other platforms in the marketplace for ease of use, the range of markets on offer and extent of features. We took a decision two years ago to design our own platform in-house, after a few difficult experiences with outside providers. We hired a team of experienced programmers in Malaysia in January 2008 and they have built an excellent platform for us, on-time and on-budget. It is a flash based platform and no down-load is required.
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FSB: What types of accounts are offered at WorldSpreads? Do you offer credit betting?
Conor: We currently offer one type of account that offers clients full flexibility to place orders (both guaranteed and non-guaranteed) that requires clients to deposit funds to cover their initial margin requirement and any running losses. We do offer credit facilities to clients on a case by case basis and those clients interested must meet our requirements.
FSB: What is the procedure for opening an account? How much do I need? Is there a minimum/maximum deposit?
Conor: We have a very simple and quick online application form, www.worldspreads.com, which takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. In order to qualify for our excellent cash back offer (£300 cash back against net trading losses in the first 8 weeks) you need to deposit £500 to open the account.
FSB: Do you offer telephone dealing?. Do you offer mobile phone trading?
Conor: We believe that a client should be able to place a trade regardless of their location so if a client is not in front of their computer, or just prefers to, we offer a full dealing service by phone (as well as customer services) without any conditions or minimums. Our minimum bet size is £1 per point regardless of if you wish to place a trade on-line or over the telephone.
Conor: We currently do not offer a mobile phone trading platform though we are developing one at the moment.
FSB: What are your trading hours? Tell us about your extended-hours dealing (do you offer after-hours trading?)
Conor: We offer a 24 hour dealing service for those markets that are open and we quote certain markets 24 hours a day (FX, Wall Street etc) from 2300 Sunday to 2115 Friday.
FSB: How do margins on CFDs compare to spread betting? (Are margins identical for both products?).
Conor: Generally companies that offer both products will have the same margins for both spread betting and CFD's.
FSB: Recently we have seen spread betting providers upping margin requirements with little or no advance notice and curbing credit accounts. What is WorldSpreads' policy on margins and credit betting?
Conor: WorldSpreads have a very positive attitude to margins and in fact we recently reviewed and reduced our margins across many of our products to ensure we are at the forefront of the market as the company with low spreads (1 point on several markets) and low margins. We build very good relationships with our clients and thus have not needed to curb our credit accounts. We always aim to communicate with our clients any changes to our margins and spreads.
FSB: Further to the above doesn't requiring a 75% margin remove one of the key advantages of spread betting/CFDs (i.e. trading on margin)? Is there a possibility that margins will again be increased in future and if so how much advance notice will clients get to cover the short-fall or wind down their positions.
Conor: We do not offer markets with margins as high as this. Worldspreads is committed to keeping the cost of trading and margins as low as possible for the clients. In the highly unlikely scenario that we were to raise our margins we would communicate this to our clients as quickly as efficiently as possible.
FSB: What are the order types that are available to be placed?
Conor: Clients can link a Stop and Limit order to an open position (they can also make the stop a 'trailing' order if they wish). In addition we offer opening orders to which clients can add 'if done' stops and limits.
FSB: You offer clients the ability to trade stops on market prices. Tell us more about this.
Conor: For those products that trade on an underlying exchange orders can be set to trigger on the Exchange price. The fill price is then adjusted to allow for Worldspreads spread. To be honest, outside a few clients who used to trade on the Exchanges, most clients prefer to set orders knowing the actual level they will be filled at.
FSB: Are there limits on how far a stop loss order can be placed from the entry price?
Conor: Generally orders must be at least 5 ticks from the market or outside our quotes in individual shares.
FSB: Do you allow clients to move stop loss orders when the markets are closed?
Conor: For non-guaranteed orders - yes.
FSB: What research, analysis and information services do you offer clients?
Conor: At WorldSpreads we offer both basic tick charts and an advanced charting package covering all of the markets we offer with over 70 technical indicators available. We also provide a Reuters news service directly from our trading platform.
FSB: Any other perks or account benefits which our readers should be aware of?
Conor: Fixed 1 point spreads on some of the most popular markets, market leading spreads across the board and low margin rates are the mainstay of our offering.
FSB: Do you offer guaranteed stops? If so, on which markets and what is the charge for using them?
Conor: We offer guaranteed orders on most markets we quote. For futures and FX the charges are usually around half our standard spread, liquid shares 0.5%, less liquid ones 1.0%.
FSB: Do you allow trading on FTSE 350 stocks? Smaller Caps?
Conor: Yes. We quote a wide range of smaller stocks and are happy to add to the range so long as there is sufficient liquidity in the underlying market.
>> Page 3 - WorldSpreads Interview Continued: Industry and Client Traits
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