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Learn how we've helped comdirect, a German online bank with over 3 million customers, and Placera, one of Sweden's largest financial sites, build and launch their social trading platforms to engage and educate their customers.

Placera had a popular investment forum built with outdated technology that no longer lived up to their standards. So, they decided to close it down in 2021.

The closed forum meant missing out on substantial traffic and engagement. Placera wanted to build something new and better.

Partnered with StockRepublic, implementing BankID to address identification concerns, created and customized a scalable social trading platform, and laid the framework for a brand new customer acquisition channel.

, one of Sweden's largest financial sites and a wholly owned subsidiary of Avanza, with approximately 400,000 unique visitors per week, quietly deactivated its discussion-centric forum at the end of 2021. While it had served a key function for the company for many years, the technology had slowly become outdated. It no longer lived up to Placera's and Avanza's high standards.

However, the forum had always been a popular feature for Placera and Avanza, generating substantial traffic and attracting important visitors. So it was ideally not something that they wanted to be without. That's why Placera reached out to StockRepublic in the early summer of 2022. As they were picking a path forward, their team was trying to determine whether they should buy or build a new solution. Placera needed a forum with identified users, a build from scratch using modern technology, and a solution that would seamlessly fit into the Placera platform as a whole.

From a technical standpoint, they needed an API product that could fetch Avanza's essential financial instruments, from stocks and bonds to funds and certificates, and then mirror them on the Placera forum. A solution that would enable users and contributors to tag, talk about, and follow all of Avanza's financial features and instruments.

Lastly, the company also needed the distribution of data and information to be a two-way street, with content from the Placera forum effortlessly flowing into the Avanza trading platform.

, we could create a scalable and customized solution, allowing them to build and expand the platform in sync with user growth and needs. For example, we made integrating the forum with third parties more straightforward. We utilized that, starting with implementing BankID as an identification layer for users who’d like to contribute to the forum to minimize and prevent illicit activities.

As part of the customization, we also removed direct messaging, edit post functionality, and the option of removing posts. The features are a part of our standard offer but weren’t needed by Placera to kick things off.

To meet Placera’s expectations and ideas, we also rearranged how posts are presented and how the forum is centered. Normally, StockRepublic presents the oldest post first, followed by the rest. However, because the Placera Forum had historically shown content in reverse order, we flipped the script to please their audience. In the same vein, we built their solution centered around the companies and the financial instruments, as opposed to the individuals using it, as that was and is their primary focus.

The Placera Forum and the Avanza app can exist independently while still remaining connected. With this independence, Avanza can, for example, utilize the Placera Forum to create content and gain users, regardless of where those people have their bank account, and build relationships with potential new customers. This intersection of the Placera Forum and Avanza creates a customer acquisition channel for the company driven by user-generated content from real investors. A potential gold mine as it pertains to long-term audience growth.

Placera

Placera upgraded its investment forum in partnership with StockRepublic, using modern technology and BankID for user identification. The new social trading platform seamlessly integrates with Avanza, fostering user interactions and enhancing customer acquisition.

Placera Capitalizes on Substantial Traffic with Social Trading

comdirect relies on StockRepublic's social trading platform to power their new investment community, hi!stocks. The white label application is built and hosted by StockRepublic, customized to the comdirect brand and trading APIs. The collaboration between comdirect and StockRepublic meant that hi!stocks could be launched faster, with a full set of features.

The new social trading app helps retail investors answer the question, “What should I buy - and when?”

StockRepublic built a white label, fully anonymized social trading platform

No internal developer resources were needed to implement the solution

The fully compliant and BaFin-approved (German financial regulator)  social trading app is now in app stores for iOS and Android

The need to stand out and create a close relationship with your customers is stronger than ever in the retail investing space. comdirect was already aware of how essential the community component of trading had become in recent years – and the social media storm around the GameStop saga didn’t make it less obvious. They realized that in order to attract and keep  customers in this market, they had to provide more than just low fees. After comprehensive due diligence on new tools and ways to further engage, educate, and attract the new generation of investors, the choice fell to StockRepublic.

comdirect was searching for someone who had done this before, and with experience from building and growing strong and trustworthy investment communities in five markets, StockRepublic was a clear choice. comdirect wanted a short time-to-market while still offering full social trading functionality.

The end product hi!stocks features a fully branded, personalized, and anonymous platform where users can share their portfolios, get ranked on their performance, learn from top investors, and discuss investing with peers. While being anonymous makes it easier to open up about personal finance, the connection to one's real portfolio creates unprecedented trust in the community. This contributes to an honest discussion and makes everyone more informed.

The goal of hi!stocks is to make investing available for everyone, and it fits in perfectly with comdirect's slogan of “mehr verstehen, mehr vermögen,” understand more, gain more.

better investor return than the DAX index

5.6pp

hi!stocks, the social trading app we developed with comdirect, has been recognized as a Financial Product of the Year by the German Institute for Service Quality (DISQ).

hi!stocks: Germany’s Best Finance Product of 2023

comdirect partners with StockRepublic to launch hi!stocks, a social trading app blending social networking and...

comdirect teams up with StockRepublic and launches hi!stocks

hi!stocks

hi!stocks, a collaboration between comdirect and StockRepublic, offers 3M+ Germans a unique, fully-compliant social trading experience. Users can share portfolios, learn from top investors, and foster a close-knit investment community. This all makes investing accessible, enjoyable, and more insightful for everyone.

hi!stocks: an investment community for comdirect

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Placera Capitalizes on Substantial Traffic with Social Trading

hi!stocks: an investment community for comdirect

Placera Capitalizes on Substantial Traffic with Social Trading

hi!stocks: an investment community for comdirect

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