2020 was a year like no other for the global economy. The finance sector, which gave rise to fintech after the 2008 crisis, rose to meet the challenges of the day once again. With sharp financial movements bringing a plethora of opportunity, and people locked-down at home, trading was on the rise.
The financial markets saw a huge influx of retail traders, most of whom had never traded before. Fintech firms had to respond quickly to meet their internal teams’ challenges as well as support the high volume of traffic and provide meaningful and effective trader education, while maintaining compliance.
Founded in 2008 during the earlier crisis, Plus500 a leading technology platform for trading Contracts for Difference ("CFDs") internationally, is no stranger to challenging times. An agile company, with many processes already automated and streamlined, the company was perfectly positioned to provide a stable and credible solution to rising customer demand. Earlier this year the company announced a stunning growth plan that will see it become a true leader in the fintech space.
The company had already created a niche for themselves with their cutting-edge trading solutions for CFDs on forex, stocks, commodities, indices, ETFs, options and cryptocurrencies. Their proprietary technology platform services individual traders in over 50 countries. Traders can access over 2,500 global financial instruments, for trading CFDs in 32 languages. The company offers trading services across Europe, the Asia-Pacific and other regions of the world, through operating licenses in the UK, Cyprus, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Seychelles, South Africa and Singapore.
Over the next few years, Plus500 plans to strategically expand its offerings in new markets and develop new financial and trading products, apart from CFDs. In line with this vision, the Company is set to acquiree US-based Cunningham Commodities LLC., a regulated Futures Commission Merchant, and Cunningham Trading Systems LLC., a technology trading platform provider, operating in the futures, and options on futures, market in the US. The acquisition represents a major growth opportunity for Plus500, allowing the Company to instantly expand its geographic footprint
It was their early foresight and commitment to innovation and agility that helped Plus500 not just survive 2020, but thrive. From supporting its employees to work from home effortlessly, to ensuring a client-first approach, it was the vision and strong leadership of the company that helped it continue to deliver on its mission.
That mission being to offer the latest technology and tools for trading CFDs, while evolving to the ever-changing client preferences. This commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions has led Plus500 to realign its vision to enabling simplified, universal access to the global financial markets, for its clients across geographies, devices and instruments.
The company is currently going through a key expansion phase as it evolves from a technology provider solely for CFD trading, to a multi-asset fintech firm.
The Story So Far
The success story for Plus500 is evident. From its founding over a decade ago, it took the company just three years to reach a key milestone of over 2 million monthly transactions on its platform. An enviable landmark for any fintech firm around the globe. The proprietary technology platform is compatible with multiple operating systems, including iOS, Windows, Android and Surface, as well as the popular web browsers. Traders can also choose to trade via their app, which is known for being a powerful trading solution, with numerous advanced features. The app has consistently been one of the highest rated CFD trading apps on both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. The innovative fintech was also the first to introduce Bitcoin CFDs in 2013.
The company enjoys a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange and is part of the FTSE 250 index.
In 2020, Plus500 climbed to new heights with over 84 million positions opened, more than 430,000 active clients and over $1,700 billion in traded value. During the pandemic year too, the company remained focused on its growth path, through client-centric products and services that ease trading for everyone.
Building a Foundation for Sustained Growth
Since its inception, Plus500 has remained a step ahead of its competition through constant technological innovation. At the core of its growth strategy lies the development and deployment of innovative financial instruments. This has helped the company attract and retain clients in every geography it has expanded to. The focus on technological innovation has also ensured that Plus500 offers best-in-class user experience and huge breadth of offerings, which are key to increasing trader activity on its platform.
To maintain its competitive edge, Plus500 regularly invests in R&D. In 2021, the company will set up an R&D centre in Tech Hub, Tel Aviv, with a plan to invest an additional $50 million over the next three years, in order to continue to evolve its cutting edge trading solutions and increase the breadth of its financial instrument offerings.
Through organic investments and strategic M&A, Plus500 plans to expand its CFD offerings across its existing markets, while exploring and entering new geographic markets. The company is also focused on introducing new financial products beyond tradable financial instruments, such as omni-channel products and services, such as digital wallets. The acquisition of Cunningham Commodities and Cunningham Trading Systems serves both these aims as it will help the Company expand into the US and extend their offering to include futures and options on futures. With end-to-end solutions available under one roof, the company believes these efforts will further ease the trading experience of its clients.
The Growth Plan
Plus500 remains committed to deepening its engagement with clients by providing a best-in-class experience, while strengthening and scaling its unique platform. The company believes that user experience will drive retention of loyal clients over the long term.
As well as expanding its offerings beyond CFDs, Plus500 also intends to enter into new geographies like the US with the Cunningham Commodities and Cunningham Trading Systems acquisition, while increasing its market share in the jurisdictions in which it already operates. Its leadership in innovation, client experiences and marketing initiatives will play a key acquisition role in new, regulated markets.
The past year has been a challenging one, yet the Plus500 team continues to innovate, delight and support traders around the world. Discover why millions are already trading with Plus500.