FX Empire Discusses Vision, Challenges, and Successes with CEO and Founder of Moneta Markets, David Bily

After spending over ten years in the finance industry, Bily noticed that many brokerages were falling short of addressing traders’ needs. Next, he shares with FX Empire how everything began, and what’s next for Moneta Markets.

Where did the idea for Moneta Markets come from?

With over a decade of experience in the finance industry, I saw an opportunity to create a brokerage that offered traders a better experience with more transparency and advanced technology. Building on past successes and experiences, Moneta Markets was born.

In an industry where there are several giants who have resisted evolving with technology and customer demand, I wanted to make superior trading technologies accessible to more people and help them achieve their financial goals with confidence. This requires agility, which older and more established incumbents lack due to the many layers of red tape. It’s this red tape that presented a significant gap in the market and hence an opportunity for me to build a broker from the ground up that can rapidly respond to an ever-evolving industry and clients’ ongoing requirements, not built on legacy technology, and dated industry standards.

How did the vision for Moneta Markets change as the business grew?

I had initially envisioned Moneta Markets as a pure web-based brokerage. The plan was to create an all-in-one trading platform, client portal, and onboarding package so users could access global markets with ease. However, as the business grew, so did the demand from clients for access to MT4 and MT5. While it was quite a surprise, it was evident that the Metaquotes platforms aren’t going away anytime soon, so it was vital to cater to this demand.

Our vision for Moneta Markets is constantly evolving to focus on things like new technological innovations and how we can improve customer-centricity on an ongoing basis. We realized that to stay competitive and continue providing value to our clients, we needed to constantly improve our technology and services. We also became more committed to educating our clients about trading and investing, helping them make informed decisions based on their own goals and risk tolerance.

What differentiates Moneta Markets from other brokerages?

There are a few key things that set Moneta Markets apart from other brokerages. Firstly, we are responsive to the needs and feedback of our network of clients and partners. We dedicate our resources to improving what we offer, such as adding products to trade and reducing costs by cutting our spreads and commissions. Our Gold pairs are our most widely-traded product, so we went to the extent of completely removing swap fees on all gold products.

A lot of effort also goes into the way we communicate with our clients. As a global brand, it’s important for Moneta to communicate with clients in their language. Our website, emails, and 24/7 customer service are available in the primary languages of the regions that we operate in. Our effort to incorporate multiple languages into our customer service experience has been a key contributor to creating brand loyalty.

As newcomers, we had the advantage of starting with the latest technology. It’s not just about offering a range of platforms to trade with, but the way in which those platforms interact with liquidity providers, data centers, and all the other moving parts. A robust infrastructure behind the scenes delivers true value to clients, so we dedicate resources to ensure we can provide the best prices and lowest latency to clients. We achieve this by setting up data centers and trade servers in strategic locations, using top-tier liquidity providers, and improving the way liquidity providers communicate with platforms.

Have you faced any unexpected speed bumps as the brand’s founder?

As the executive of a fintech company, my goal has always been to offer the best technological trading solutions and infrastructure. This proved to be quite a challenge, as it required significant in-house resources to custom-develop exactly what was needed. It was crucial that all components integrated seamlessly, from our custom CRM to our Client Portal, App, MT4, and MT5 platforms. There are many moving parts, and each requires unmatched stability and an exceptional level of security for our clients. It’s an ongoing process to optimize and keep improving our platforms, which is not without its difficulties, but we have a great team dedicated to ensuring that we are at the forefront. Our increasing client base solidifies that we are delivering value through technology, and I want that to continue well into the future.

Another more recent issue was when MetaQuotes, for whatever reason, pulled their MT4 and MT5 apps from the Apple App Store. In a world where people are always on the go, access to a portable trading solution is imperative, and MetaQuotes’ removal from the App Store essentially pulled the rug out from under our feet at the time. However, it also provided the catalyst to bring forward the development of our own trading app, which in turn was a blessing in disguise. While the MT4 and MT5 apps are now back on the App Store, I believe launching our new AppTrader will set a new standard for mobile trading.

Broadly speaking, the industry at large is experiencing the challenges of regulators tightening their grip. While this creates new challenges to overcome, it is a good thing because it separates those who operate with transparency and with the client’s best interests in mind from those who tend to operate in a manner that is less than favourable to the client.

We’ve certainly had plenty of challenges along the way, and I’m sure there will be more to come, however, they have taught us the importance of persistence and resilience.

Can you describe Moneta Markets’ recent growth?

While there was some initial trial and error, we have really started to gain traction in the industry. It took a little longer than anticipated, but the challenges and learnings we faced early on gave us a fantastic opportunity to solidify what we offer to build the foundations for rapid growth and expansion. In fact, we recently hit a major milestone reaching and surpassing 100 employees with offices around the world, putting us at the medium-sized enterprise level, which is something I’m very proud to have achieved in such a short period of time. I am always on the lookout for great talent to join the Moneta team and be a part of its growth and importantly contribute to that growth well into the future.

Moneta Markets has also experienced strong growth in user numbers and trading volume recently. We’ve expanded our offerings to include new products, and robust trading platforms, in fact, our web-based Pro Trader platform now integrates seamlessly with both MT4 and MT5, and we are constantly striving to improve our trading conditions. We have recently deployed several new Data Centres in key locations worldwide, upgraded our MetaTrader 4 servers, and are in the process of launching a new MetaTrader 5 server. To keep up with, and ensure we are prepared for Moneta’s continued growth, it’s vital that our trading infrastructure meets and exceeds expectations when it comes to stability and ensuring clients continue to experience the trade execution speed that they have become accustomed to.

We put a lot of emphasis on partnering with the right people and companies, who are instrumental in supporting our growth. Our customer satisfaction ratings have also remained consistently high, which we believe is a testament to our commitment to quality service and the key to building a trusted reputation.

What’s next for Moneta markets (12-24 months)?

We see the Middle Eastern region as a key market for future growth, so we are in the process of setting up an office in Dubai, which is expected to be ready within the next month or two. We have also been experiencing strong growth in the Latin American regions, and are setting up multiple offices there within the next quarter, too.

In the next 12-24 months, we plan to continue expanding our product offerings and investing in our technology to improve the trading experience for our clients, which is an ongoing process. We are excited about the launch of AppTrader, our custom-built mobile trading app, which should be on the market within the next couple of weeks. It’s been a huge project for us, but we have a fantastic team of UX professionals and developers who have worked tirelessly to assemble what we think will be a new benchmark for mobile trading. It has been designed so it can operate as a standalone, all-in-one trading app with account management, a range of tools and educational resources, and of course, an intuitive and responsive trading module that also integrates seamlessly with our client’s preferred desktop platforms.

We are also in the process of rolling out our education portal which features a library of how-tos, financial news, live educational sessions, and more, to empower traders to make better decisions and improve their trading outcomes. We will continue to work around the clock to do what it takes to capture market share, with the ultimate goal of building Moneta into a brand with an industry-wide reputation for excellence.