10th November 2022

Trigger Appy: How the MT4/MT5 App Store Ban Changed the Face of Mobile Trading

This article was originally published on Finance Magnates on 10 November 2022, here: Trigger Appy: How the MT4/MT5 App Store Ban Is Changing the Face of Mobile Trading. Apple relisted both apps in a recent update (March 2023), which makes even clearer why relying on third-party tech might bring unexpected surprises.

The fragility of brokers’ dependence on third-party technology has been exposed – However, out of adversity comes opportunity

On September 23rd, 2022, Apple removed two popular front-end trading platforms from its App Store. Despite being widely used by traders and the systems themselves forming the backbone of a significant number of retail brokers, the deletion happened without warning, ripping the platforms and their functionalities from the App Store. While the reasons for Apple’s actions are still unclear, the fragility of brokers’ dependence on third-party technology has become obvious.

The platforms in question, MT4 and MT5, are front-end trading platforms that provide access to forex and CFD markets, including stocks, commodities and futures. For a long time, these platforms gave traders an easy gateway into markets and, for brokers, offered convenient bolt-on trading capabilities that became central to their operations; their removal from the mobile app store has therefore come as a shock to the industry. It severed smaller brokers’ access to key markets while larger brokers using MT4/MT5 technology had their functionality and market access cut.

In a world of countless vendor-based solutions ready to plug gaps, disruption is temporary, but questions linger over whether other third-party solutions used to fill the cracks could succumb to the same fate as MT4/MT5. The primary problem is, therefore, not in the inconvenience, but rather the reputational impact on firms reliant on these platforms. This episode has also revealed to traders that many platforms rely on the same technology and that, perhaps, their secret sauce is not so secret after all.

Necessary Wakeup Call?

MT5 deletion. They have the opportunity to take a broader look at their mobile operations, review their offering and think about what makes them different. In addition, despite the glitzy exteriors of retail broking apps, if under the bonnet the same technology powers all platforms, then there is little incentive for clients to choose their product as their platform of choice.

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