How a Popular Stock-Trading App Stays Competitive yet Compliant

Mobile apps are democratizing online trading; gone are the days when you needed a broker at a Bloomberg terminal to make your trade. Instead, access to real-time financial news and information, ease of use, a captivating user experience, notwithstanding the ability to shape the arc of your financial future from the palm of your hand, are making millions of users gravitate to mobile trading apps.

While online trading has been around for a while, these mobile apps have succeeded in bringing trading to the masses. Indeed, these apps are markedly different from incumbent online trading solutions because they are strategically oriented towards the needs of younger users – millennials and digital natives accustomed to the ease and instantaneity of their preferred apps.

The Webull app is at the forefront of this mobile revolution in online trading; built by Webull Financial LLC, it is used by over 9 million people around the world. Driven by its mission to provide everyone with an equal opportunity to control their financial future, Webull Financial is a zero-commission, online broker-dealer with no minimum deposit requirements to open an account.

Like any other financial entity, Webull needed to implement a Customer Identification Program (CIP) into its account opening process. This was done to comply with regulations such as Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML). Regulated entities will testify that identity verification, the core component of the CIP, can often delay customer onboarding – often, users grow impatient with the elongated wait times, and abandon the onboarding process altogether. According to Webull CEO Anthony Denier, “a fast and reliable customer identification process during the account opening process was crucial for us.”

Fortunately, Webull was able to find a solution that perfectly fitted with its requirements; after using the solution for only six months, Webull was able to onboard over 100,000 customers instantly, while simultaneously meeting all regulatory requirements.