Online foreign exchange (forex) trading platform ClickFX has seen good growth after being on the market for two months.
The platform was launched on 1 August by one of South Africa's largest forex intermediaries, ForexPeople, and is seeing strong month-on-month growth.
"We have 103 registered users on the system, which I am very happy with as we usually sign on around 70 new clients a month, and with the forms and FICA involved, it can be quite a process," says ClickFX and ForexPeople CEO Richard Beddow.
He told ITWeb that approximately R22 million worth of forex was traded last month on the platform.
The ClickFX platform offers an "intuitive, reliable and secure way to get a competitive rate when buying or selling forex, with set, transparent costs". It can be used to transfer forex online via a desktop or mobile device.
"There's a perception that only rich people with millions can take advantage of their annual investment allowances. ClickFX now enables anyone to convert lump sums or regular smaller amounts into forex, without needing a wealth manager or offshore investment account. If customers don't have an offshore account to hold the forex, we include that setup as part of our online process," says Beddow.
He says reactions from users have been "extremely positive" so far and there are plans for growth in the pipeline.
"[Our strategy] is to make the sign up process a little smoother with an electronic signing feature and a really cool self-FICA feature," Beddow adds.
Over the last decade, the personal foreign investment allowance for South Africans has increased from a once-off R350 000 to an annual amount of R1 million without tax clearance, plus a further R10 million with SARS tax clearance. This gives South Africans the opportunity to hold a significant amount of money in a foreign currency for a range of reasons ? such as investing or securing a certain exchange rate prior to international travel.
ClickFX says until now, it was not feasible for the average person to take advantage of this because the existing forex trading services were not geared for them. However, internationally it is the norm to trade forex using a specialist online broker, usually via a smartphone or tablet.
Established in 2003, ForexPeople is a Johannesburg-based, privately-owned and managed, independent foreign exchange intermediary. It is regulated by the South African Reserve Bank, Financial Services Board and Financial Intelligence Centre.
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