The latest on the rollout

Could Freetrade launch tomorrow May 1st ?
I think I’m becoming obsessed with checking my phone for updates !!!:blush:

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Dear Richard, I’m afraid not tomorrow! :worried: But we are very close: Freetrade Invest Hub

We haven’t given an exact date because those tasks in the post represent a bit of a moving target. We expect the first live trade to occur very soon though!

We’ll let you know via the app as soon as there is progress. :wink:

We see a lot of demand for Freetrade from the EU; European expansion is actually one of the objectives of the upcoming CC raise!

I can’t give an exact date or timeline, simply because we hate setting timelines we can’t guarantee. But it’s an important priority.

More details from Adam on Europe here.

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When are you likely to start admitting first users?

As per the insider information, soon. Just need to be a bit patient.

And here are the detailed reasons why there are reasonable delays.

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I wonder if the crowdfund is resulting in a bit of a delay, both getting it organised and also maybe waiting to see if any investors qualify for free accounts, might be easier to onboard someone straight into a free account instead of setting up subscription then having to cancel it to switch it to free?

Just thoughts

The crowdfunding is locked in to start at 1pm on Wednesday (16th May). No delay!

In terms of enabling free Alpha, it won’t make a difference in terms of onboarding customers. :ok_hand:

Ah no I wasn’t implying the crowdfund was delayed, only that maybe crowdfunding was the top priority and thus slowing down account opening.

But just idle conjecture to fill space on my part.

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Ah, got it now! :man_facepalming: Our focus is on crowdfunding for the next few weeks indeed, but the product development is progressing behind the scenes.

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@adam has topped up his Freetrade account. :money_mouth_face: :fire:

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We’ve done the first live trade today! Adam bought the FTSE 100 tracker VUKE.

This is how the process looked like. The backend looks quite unassuming, doesn’t it?

This is how the order appeared on the website of the London Stock Exchange. Adam went all in.

That’s the story of our first live trade!

Let’s see how long it takes for @rob_h to chime in with more technical details. :sunglasses:

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image

Congratulations @adam and the entire @freetrade_team!

I bet it’s all feeling very real now?

Bring on 1pm tomorrow! :money_mouth_face:

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Technical details? Nah, they’re boring! It’s done. Crest messages en-route. Account(s) updated. Settlement T+2. Historic moment. If you want more technical details then ask @Viktor to publish my latest blog post/rant concerning trade and settlement - it’s insightful. OK, no it’s not, it’s weird.

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The one with the magic helper elfs buying and selling sprouts at a local street market? :fairy: That’s a masterpiece. It will go out soon!

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@Viktor How many people are on the Beta testing version? Ans when do you expect to start rolling out the app? Feels there is a good opportunity to get free marketing to have the app go live and raise £3m… and tripple that wait list.

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It’s only @adam on the platform at the moment!

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Hi, are atere any updates on rollout?
What is left to do?
What month are you going to start rolling out iOS app?
Thanks,

Adam

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Slow and steady for the early app rollout, then we’ll ramp things up quickly when we are comfortable that all systems are working as intended.

Last week: The first funding of an account (mine) and first trade being executed and then settled. :tada:
This week: Onboarding other Freetrade team members, doing our first batch trade and buying securities that will have corporate actions to test those processes amongst other things.
Next week+: Hooking up the front end app to the brokerage platform to test trades using the shiny buy and sell buttons.

Key point is that we are a financial institution that is the custodian of our clients’ cash and securities. We need to make sure all the back-end systems and controls are working perfectly before onboarding external customers. We also need to make sure the front-end app experience is integrating flawlessly with the other systems before pushing it out to customers in significant numbers.

As they say, only one chance to make a first impression!

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Will you be issuing a beta for people to test, maybe using TestFlight? Happy to do this if so.