Fears of #technology displacing human workers are often dismissed by futurists as technophobia or Ludditism, but a Monday “strategy update” from the Dutch bank ING may change the conversation. In the next five years, the bank expects to reduce its workforce by around 5,800 workers, mostly in Belgium and the Netherlands,Read More
Bank Innovation
UK-based #Freetrade will be launching a new commission-free #platform for #trading stocks and shares. The company will be joining iDealing, another UK brokerage, that has opted for a zero commission model for stock trading.
Freetrade‘s mobile-first investment platform seeks to democratize investing and targets demographics that have been priced out of investing on the stock exchange notably due to costly broker fees. These include Millennials, which currently counts some 14.8 million individuals in the UK alone.
Freetrade’s mobile app was designed to make stock market investing more accessible for UK investors, the company says. It offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to search for companies that are trading on an exchange. The platform has no restriction around portfolio sizes and operates on a zero-commission model “so low value traders are not excluded.”
Additionally, the company will introduce fractional share dealing to the UK market, an option available in the US through the likes of DriveWealth and Stash Invest that has yet to be brought in the UK.
A fractional share is a share of an equity that is less than one full share. They are considered as an efficient way for investors to diversify every penny in their investment portfolio.
Furthermore, the Freetrade app will offer access to a network of independent financial advisors (IFAs) using a model similar to &8220;Uber and Airbnb.&8221; Independent advisors will be able to provide advice directly through the app, providing thus people new to trading with access to the same professional advice as more seasoned investors.
&8220;We came across the model they have in the US, and not being satisfied with simply bringing the same concept to the UK, we looked at how we could raise the bar,&8221; said Adam Dodds, co-founder of Freetrade.
&8220;Professional advice is an intrinsic part of making a good investment decision, and no one, as far as we can see, is offering low-cost, flexible access to IFAs and other advisers,&8221; he said.
&8220;We are creating a world-first – an Uber or Airbnb model for IFAs, alongside a zero commission trading model. With all these elements combined, we’re unlocking the stock market for millions of people, and creating an investment platform that will massively disrupt a huge market.&8221;
Freetrade is in the process of applying to the UK&8217;s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to become an execution-only broker. The company plans to start officially trading by early 2017.
Earlier this month, Freetrade announced that it has been selected to join Octopus&8217; #fintech program, Octopus Labs. Octopus is a UK fund management business managing over £6 billion worth of assets on behalf of over 50,000 retail and institutional customers.
The 12-week acceleration program will give Freetrade a workspace in Octopus&8217;s London headquarters as well as top level mentoring from financial industry experts and successful entrepreneurs.
The success of American companies such as Robinhood and Loyal3 has demonstrated that zero commission trading models can work. Robinhood Markets Inc., the Palo Alto-based company behind the popular commission-free stock trading app, has announced plans for international expansion in 2015. The company said it will start with Australia and China.
Although Robinhood says it has no plans to start charging commissions to trade stocks, the company launched Robinhood Gold premium features last week, reports Techcrunch.
For US$ 10 per month, users can skip the three-day waiting period with instant deposits and reinvesting, trade 30 minutes before and 2 hours after the market is open, as well as borrow up to double the money in their account to trade on margin with leverage.
Featured image by ESB Professional via Shutterstock.com.
The post Freetrade to Launch Commission-Free Trading Platform in The UK appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
Our thesis at Daily #Fintech Advisers is that consumer banking innovation is coming from two poles – the UnderBanked and the #PostBanked. #Wearables impacts the PostBanked. These #economies are characterized by high productivity, high labor costs and plenty of disposable income. So people in these countries a) have the moneyRead More
Bank Innovation
Our thesis at Daily #Fintech Advisers is that consumer banking innovation is coming from two poles – the UnderBanked and the #PostBanked. #Wearables impacts the PostBanked. These #economies are characterized by high productivity, high labor costs and plenty of disposable income. So people in these countries a) have the moneyRead More
Bank Innovation
Our thesis at Daily #Fintech Advisers is that consumer banking innovation is coming from two poles – the UnderBanked and the #PostBanked. #Wearables impacts the PostBanked. These #economies are characterized by high productivity, high labor costs and plenty of disposable income. So people in these countries a) have the moneyRead More
Bank Innovation
EMV isn’t the only innovation coming soon to a pump near you. The financial software company FIS, which says it has been in the loyalty space for over twenty years, has just launched another such #program, starting with gasoline sales. Customers in the program, which is currently offered at participating BP gas stations,Read More
Bank Innovation
#Hedgeable, the #roboadvisor geared to you-know-who, is expanding its target audience to #small businesses. The nation’s biggest generation– yes, it&8217;s millennials again — wasn&8217;t big enough. Hedgeable isn&8217;t the only #startup looking beyond millennials and consumers in general to pitch its wares. In the past decade, many fintechs in wealthRead More
Bank Innovation
This is the second post on financials and #funding for #Innovation in large corporations (in the #Financial Services industry).
In the previous post we talked about how one can think about the amount to be invested in Innovation by comparing the investment to the premium of a call option.
This post is about how to deploy capital, possibly in a cleverer way.
Let’s start with describing the status quo in most Financial Services companiesbriefly:
In the context of Corporate Innovation these four points make fast progress of initiatives almost impossible.
To address these issues we propose a capital deployment model for Innovation efforts in Financial Services firms that follows the StartUP / Venture Capital model with multiple funding rounds:
The key to keep in mind here is the iterative deployment of capital. Similar to a startup that gets funding in smaller and growing chunks as risk decreases we believe this to be the right model to be applied inside financial services firms as well.
In order to facilitate a quick decision making process and avoid long waiting periods we recommend to have a VC partner like group that can deploy capital at each stage. Ideally they are empowered to take decisions within 48 hours for their portfolio. The Project Owner (like a Startup CEO) in turn gets the freedom to spend the funding he has “raised” until the next milestones is (or is not) hit. Alignment of interest andempowerment are therewith given.
It is important to realize that as with startup funding there is always an option to abandon. For more information with regards to (real) optionality please refer to this good MIT deck.
Of course the devil is in the detail and all of the above is easier said than done; especially Financial Services companies with existing and often stiff processes. But there is hope. If you want to talk more about this please get in touch – at Lightbulb Capital we’d be happy to work with you on this tricky challenge.
[linkedinbadge URL=”https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-liebau-b136923″ connections=”off” mode=”icon” liname=”Dan Liebau”] is Founder of Innovation Research & Advisory firm – Lightbulb Capital
Image source Buying #Health & #Life #Insurance today is like filling in a form to tell Netflix what movies we say we like at that moment in time – versus what movies we actually watched recently. You fill in a snapshot report of your health, with blood samples and otherRead More
Bank Innovation
#Federal #Reserve governor Lael Brainard delivered a major speech on #blockchain today.
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