Is Freetrade more focus on expansion to other countries rather than improving the platform?
Like for instant - should be standard features but it is not on Freetrade.
-Auto Investment & Allocation.
-Dividend Tabs to see Total Div received
-And other little features that should be on the app but it isn’t yet.
I feel like the strategy to expand to other countries with half baked app is Freetrades main core goals at the moment. Which I really do not agree with! Should be focusing finishing the app features first and really nail down the UK market.
I would rather see Freetrade focus in the UK market and acquire 5 million users in the next coupe of years rather than 100,000 users down under or somewhere in Europe.
Would you rather see Freetrade focus in the UK market and really try perfect the app features and acquire millions of users or would you rather see them expand around the world with half baked platform?
As an investor in FT I’m very excited about the expansion than the app features
As a FT user I do also care about development of the features you talked about
FT have pledged to work on both simultaneously in 2021 and the recent AMA just reassured me that feedback is being addressed They admit the app isn’t there yet but they can’t miss the opportunity to expand because of it.
I have to use multiple apps to get the basic info like dividends etc.
The more off app I have to go the more I think is freetrade worth using. Looks great, used too have great customer service, but if It can’t tell me ex div dates it makes it almost impossible to make an investment decision without other apps.
They are missing an opportunity to be the number one platform in the UK. Unless they going to raised ÂŁ100million investment in the next year or so then. Why bother expanding abroad when you have enormous clientele in the UK that still need to be acquired?
Series B coming soon and another crowdfunding so that should inject serious capital to use.
They’re not necessarily after profits but a start up needs growth. Strategically it’s the right thing to do if they can - as long as they don’t neglect the product itself.
in the latest AMA Duncan talked about the product roadmap:
Autoinvest is a high priority deliverable for 2021. With this is coming “pro mode” where you will have all the data you need to make your investment decisions without leaving the app.
I agree… their competitors aren’t exactly as “transparent” - but they offer a lot more on their products which leads people to them… there is an argument to be had that you can have multiple platforms to work with… but if one product seemingly has more to offer than another… the lacklustre one will simply get relegated.
admitedly the competitors have been around longer… however, the devs are the devs… the business is the business, the core of the app will be the same accross all regions (at least i’d like to think so) … so there is no reason that the devs left to their own devices with enough capital behind them cannot kick this out the park… the expansion will just piggyback off that. however, i personally think they have a long way to go still in terms of product improvement…
There is a saying “Get your own house in Order” BEFORE Yada!Yada!Yada! The app,as it is now,expanding to Europe will do more harm to Freetrade than good. Remember that at this moment in time Freetrade UK has(in my opinion succeeded because of the community) European countries don’t have the same community. The product needs a massive amount of work. Autoinvest is as basic as you can get,people have been asking for it on the Community Forums for at least 2 years. lol
I disagree with most of what’s been said in this thread
Firstly Freetrade can do both at the same time. I would even go as far as to say one is dependent on the other. In order for Freetrade to a become profitable and sustainable business they need to increase their user base. The best way to do this at this stage is to expand into other markets. Becoming profitable will allow Freetrade to continue growing their development team and build out all the features users want over the decades to come, not just the next few years.
Secondly what’s best for users in the UK is not necessary the best for users in the EU and beyond. So I expect requirements to change or re-prioritise as Freetrade expands into new markets. The challenge here is to balance the two, but without expansion those requirements won’t present themselves.
Ian (CTO) has also said that starting Freetrade Australia will allow them to be developing Freetrade around the clock.
Finally to call the Freetrade app half baked in an absolute joke. This is coming from someone who has used far inferior trading platforms before. Yes they don’t have every single feature available from every other UK competitor, but that will change in time.
Crack on with expansion Freetrade team, you’re doing a great job
I can’t find any Autoinvest feature in my HL account. Can someone be of assistance and point me to it?
I wonder if anyone have any insights on other brokers. Let’s do it alphabetical and start with… AJ Bell?! Is there any AJ Bell happy customer who could confirm if they support Autoinvest?
I think it best not to compare Freetrade with the dinosaurs of the investing world. Let’s strive to be at the very least equal to or better than TTOT(regarding APP functionality) in this instance.
you know you can’t say a bad word on these forums about FT… you get lynched.
but just look at the download figures from FT and compare them to T212. Yes T212 is not as trustworthy etc.
with the european expansion i wonder who’s needs will be prioritised the european market or the UK’s … it will be like brexit all over again LOL
as for the comment above about 24x7 development… you don’t need to exapand in to another country to be able to develop 24x7.
performance wise we know it could be better, intrument wise we know it could be better… what do people complain about the most on here… the slow execution, the slow pricing updates, the lack of stocks compared to X. there was a thread of a guy trying to sell off 200k of stock… nope sorry you can only do that in 9k chunks.
honestly if the dinosaurs of the investment world were to spend 10 million quid on a developent team and reduce their fee’s FT would struggle.
many different people have many different perspectives and expectations.
Take me for example. I signed up for the waiting list in August or September 2017. I’ve got access to the app in April 2019. That’s an 18 months wait. It was desperating to wait, agonising. And when I finally got in I got really excited. Eventually I relaxed and I’m happy I don’t have to pay £11.95 every time
most people using FT won’t be in that boat… and when comparing will sign up to FT and it’s competitors (its free to sign up after all)… for the average user if they find that it’s competitors have more to offer they will use those instead.
we know they are doing a great job and their achievements so far a very good… but these flaws will only be exagerated when other users from other regions start using it… their 2 star rating on google play will become 1. with a fraction of the downloads of their competitors. It feels like we’re the BETA testers for the app.
You might have missed yesterday’s AMA session with the company management.
FT’s team is fully aware and working hard to address most of the points you mention.
A nitro boost is coming in a form of series B and crowdfunding to accelerate things later this year.
Also don’t forget that FT’s mission is to get everyone investing by making it simple and that your needs are not necessarily a good representation of the whole population looking for a long term investment app.
Try giving a complete beginner a Bloomberg terminal just to see how it goes.
This is very interesting,Viktor acknowledges that they didn’t improve the Freetrade App for 18 months. I seriously hope they at the very minimum offer Autoinvest on US shares in the next few months before hopefully on boarding UK shares ASAP
