A Simple Guide to Building an Investing App

You may remember your father, or even your money-savvy grandmother, telling stories about how they would have to call or meet with a broker to invest their money. Those days have been long gone. 

When it comes to using investing apps, it seems like the market is currently monopolized by companies like Robinhood. But, there’s always room for competition, and investment apps are no different.

Are you unsure where to begin with building an investment app? Read on to learn everything you need to know!

Where do I start building a mobile investment app? 

Regardless of which type of investment app you choose to build, the first step should always be to do your homework. Just like with any other business venture, you’ll want to conduct market research to identify your target audience, and then you can determine what that target audience needs and what they have disliked with other investing apps in the past.

From there, you can work on building your investment app based on what type you decide to launch!  Once you’ve built your app with trading capabilities, you can integrate with Tradier Brokerage who serves as the broker dealer of record. 

What are the different types of investment apps that you can build? 

Self-Directed App:

Self-directed investment apps give individual traders and investors the ability to place their own trades at their own discretion. What qualifies an app as self-directed is if the user is initiating and placing trades in their own brokerage account, at their own discretion. In simple terms, a self-directed experience is a trade or investment that is defined solely by the holder of a brokerage account. 

Advisory App:

Unlike the self-directed app where the individual has control, with an Advisory App, an advisor is managing the trades and investments with limited trading authority into brokerage accounts, on behalf of the account holders. This means that the advisor is authorized as an RIA (Registered Investment Advisor) and holds the appropriate licenses. This accreditation gives such advisors the discretion to place trades and/or rebalance portfolios of their brokerage account holders that they manage.  

4 Steps to Building a Self-Directed App:

1. Visit https://documentation.tradier.com and review the API Documentation needed. As you get started, you can register for a free sandbox account to test out your API Documentation.
2. Once you decide to proceed (or if you have any questions), you’ll want to reach out to  sales@tradier.com. They have a fast response time and once you reach out, someone will get back in touch with you immediately, or within 1 business day at the most, to set up a conversation with you. 
3. The Tradier sales team will then send you a Platform API agreement and the access keys to get started.
4. Once you have completed the build process you are all set to launch the app! Tradier also has a “Platforms Page” where you can opt in to be listed, as well as other marketing initiatives.

4 Steps to building an Advisory App:

1. Visit https://documentation.tradier.com and https://advisors.tradier.com/ to review the API documentation you need. 
2. Once you decide to proceed (or if you have any questions), you’ll want to reach out to sales@tradier.com. Just like with the self-directed app, they have a fast response time and once you reach out, someone will get back in touch with you immediately, or within 1 business day at the most, to set up a conversation with you.
3. The Tradier sales team will then send you an Advisory API agreement and the access keys to get started. Both the Tradier support and product teams will be there to help you every step of the way! 
4. As you build and launch your advisory app, the same Tradier support and product teams can help you in any and every way that you need!

Whether you’ve built other finance apps before, or whether designing and building an app is entirely new territory for you, Tradier has you covered. We know navigating the process of building and launching an investment app can be a confusing and stressful one, which is why we want to help! With our team, you’ll have the support you need, every step of the way.

Get in touch with Tradier today to get started!