Winston Churchill famously said: ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.’ This approach seems to be behind the global transformation of businesses towards a more society-oriented model that tries to ensure that the local community and, more broadly, the world thrives.

With that aim in view, some companies effectively reduce their carbon footprint. For instance, Mercedes-Benz Group’s Ambition 2039 strategy involves shifting to a fully electric vehicle fleet.

Other companies aim to support local communities facing challenges often related to education, infrastructure, and environmental conditions.

What does this trend, or rather a new societal norm, have to do with fintech companies? In what ways can they help, and what actions do they already take to improve our world? This article aims to answer these questions for emerging and already established fintech companies, as well as for their clients.

Fintech companies and corporate social responsibility

Fintech companies can advance social causes in several unique ways: from bringing financial services to people who have not had access to them to promoting financial literacy. Here are some of the most pressing issues fintech companies are already addressing:

• Giving made easier. Some companies, such as Fidelity Charitable, present an opportunity to contribute cash, securities, and other assets to donor-advised funds at public charities. This makes it possible to increase tax savings for donors. Others, like Binance Charity, attempt to revolutionise global giving by employing Web3 technology, which makes donations more transparent, efficient, and, most importantly, direct.
• Serving the underserved. Financial exclusion in rural and underdeveloped areas has become a major issue many fintech companies decide to centre their CSR activities around. In some cases, the whole purpose for creating a fintech service is built around bridging this gap. For instance, the mobile financial service bKash was specifically designed to cater for the 70% of the Bangladesh population who live in rural areas and have limited access to formal banking.
• Advancing financial literacy. Unfortunately, few schools teach banking, investments, and savings, while those are some of the most important skills students might need in their adult life. Fintech companies become increasingly aware of the issue and start developing educational courses that serve their clients and a much wider audience.

Other charitable activities major fintech companies are involved in include environmental projects, such as HSBC’s efforts to help preserve Taipei’s Guandu Nature Park in Taiwan, emergency aid and various initiatives corresponding to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

What can just one fintech company do to advance social causes worldwide?

Let’s take one fintech company to illustrate the CSR approach in fintech and its impact. In 2022, the international Forex broker OctaFX directed its efforts at helping local communities overcome global challenges. Here’s what it managed to accomplish:

• The broker helped 1855 people and 46 small businesses in emergency situations, mostly during natural disasters.
• OctaFX supported educational efforts of 4452 students and 50 schools and organisations by funding scholarships, extracurricular educational workshops, professional courses, renovating and building new schools and classes, purchasing computers and other necessary educational equipment.

In total, OctaFX helped more than 6000 people across multiple countries, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Some of the most impressive projects included the following:

• In India, the broker helped construct six computer classrooms for the Lala Bulaki Das Babu Ram Sahai Hindu Mahila Inter College in Tilhar.
• In Malaysia, OctaFX provided twelve-month allowances to six students pursuing different degrees in Malaysian universities.
• In Indonesia, the broker provided humanitarian aid for families affected by an earthquake in Cianjur district, which left 58,362 people hurt and displaced.
• In Pakistan, OctaFX financed the Health, Education and Safety (HES) project, which aimed at improving the health, education, and safety of children in twelve rural areas of Muzzafargarh, Punjab.
• In Nigeria, OctaFX provided fifty unemployed youths with ICT training as part of the charitable project Youth Employability Skills (YES).
• In Mexico, the broker is currently sponsoring Empowerment Program, which is going to benefit 110 elementary school students in Fundación Dr. José María Álvarez I.A.P.

The current CSR trend in the fintech industry is set to expand, while both stakeholders and employees expect their values to align with those of their companies.

As more companies start to actively participate in socially beneficial projects, we become yet closer to a more sustainable, educated, and healthy future for the world.

OctaFX is a global broker providing online trading services worldwide since 2011. It offers commission-free access to financial markets and a variety of services already utilised by clients from 150 countries with more than 21 million trading accounts. Free educational webinars, articles, and analytical tools they provide help clients reach their investment goals.

The company is involved in a comprehensive network of charitable and humanitarian initiatives, including the improvement of educational infrastructure and short-notice relief projects supporting local communities and small to medium enterprises.

On a side note, OctaFX has also won 60 awards since its foundation, including the ‘Best Online Broker Global 2022’ award from World Business Outlook and the ‘Best Global Broker Asia 2022’ award from International Business Magazine.

Meanwhile, technology and telecommunications were significantly impacted and remained in the red. As we head into 2023, it is crucial that we approach it with caution and preparedness to avoid any unexpected twists and turns.

In its 2023 Investment Outlook Report, global forex broker OctaFX sheds light on the continuing trends from 2022, delving into the expected performance of various sectors such as finance, technology giants, healthcare, and others during the year.

The report describes the expected economic and financial situation for 2023. As we look ahead to 2023, the U.S. economy is expected to continue its recession in the first half of the year but then recover and gain strength by the end of the year.

The business cycle will outpace the economic cycle, bringing a more optimistic outlook for public equities. However, the U.S. Fed will likely raise rates to contain inflation, and this, along with a slowdown in inflation, may cause the rise of the US dollar to slow down or even reverse.

According to the report, while the U.S. struggles, Europe will also experience a recession while China gets a booming reopening. The commodity market looks attractive, with all commodities expected to continue their strong two-year run, including Energy. The bullish super cycle will persist due to falling global oil production, resulting in higher prices.

The report highlights two sectors with growth potential in 2023: Big Techs and Healthcare. The Big Techs, including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Visa, have become well-established and are expected to thrive despite the technology crash in 2022 and uncertainty in 2023. The Healthcare sector is expected to have good fundamentals that create upside opportunities.

The customer-driven move comes a few days after the widely revered broker announced its global rebranding effort. In 11 years, the brand has managed to accomplish numerous achievements.

Today, clients from over 150 countries have opened more than 12 million trading accounts with the broker. To become even closer to its clients, OctaFX decided to adopt a fresh new look backed by refined colors, space-inspired elements, and a new logo.

The duo of Tunde Onakoya and Ambrose Ebuka are the first set of ambassadors selected by the broker to help engage customers in the Nigerian forex market.

Tunde Onakoya is a 27-year-old chess master who rose to prominence with his Chess in Slums Africa project. With the project, Onakoya has inspired hope and given a new breath of life to children from underserved communities in Nigeria.

Ambrose Ebuka, 21-year-old, has a 3-year experience in forex trading. He has held Forex webinars and seminars for students of several Nigerian universities and featured as a guest speaker at several financial conferences.

Tunde Onakoya is joining OctaFX as a Brand Ambassador for charity. Ambrose Ebuka will serve as Brand Ambassador for forex education, as the global forex broker continues to keep the focus on helping Nigerians attain their financial goals.

“Bringing Tunde Onakoya and Ambrose Ebuka as brand ambassadors is a deliberate and strategic attempt to align further with the aspirations of Nigerians. We want to keep the focus on their goals with investments in knowledge acquisition and charitable initiatives.

We are delighted to have Onakoya and Ebuka join us to achieve these”, the OctaFX press office said of the unveiling of the two brand ambassadors with OctaFX.”

For Ambrose Ebuka, partnering with OctaFX will give more Nigerians access to gaining financial freedom with information-driven forex trading.

“I’ve known OctaFX to be a reliable broker consistently increasing in customer base with prudent initiatives in Nigeria.

The brand shows concern about the financial success of Nigerians through easily accessible quality education on finances. I’m excited to associate with the brand to augment all of these with my experience and expertise as a dedicated forex trader.

I believe that this partnership will aid Nigerians in achieving their financial goals through simplified forex education.”

The global broker OctaFX presents a brief overview of what copy trading is and how it works.

The social trading market is big. It will grow from $2.2 billion in 2021 to $3.7 billion by 2028, as forecasted by Research and Markets.

Copy trading is one of its main driving forces. Below are the key things both investors and traders should know about it.

What is copy trading?

In simple words, copy trading is a service that allows users to automatically copy trades executed by experienced traders. Investors can track the history of traders’ orders and see their overall performance. All they need to do is to choose a trader from the ranking and start copying.

Often, traders create their own chatrooms to share and discuss useful financial data, market insights, and trading strategies they use.

Copy trading has enjoyed greater popularity with Forex brokers, although some crypto and stock platforms also hold a significant market share.

How does copy trading work?

Copy trading platforms differ when it comes to specific conditions. In this article, we will explore the copy trading platform of OctaFX featured in the latest Research and Markets report.

This platform has master traders and users copying their orders, called copiers.

Master traders allow investors to copy their orders automatically. This way, they help novice traders and those interested in investing get a first grasp of financial markets.

Master traders often have their own chatrooms where they share useful insights, explain the logic behind their trading strategies, and chat with their copiers.

Copiers duplicate orders of master traders to their own accounts. Usually, they do it to start profiting while still learning about trading.

They have extensive analytics to help them choose the master trader they want to copy, including risk score, equity, performance details, and order history.

When it comes to the role of the broker, it simply provides a platform where copiers find master traders. OctaFX doesn’t charge either master traders or copiers any additional commission.

As the broker profits from markup—a small share in the difference between the price at which traders buy and sell an instrument—it constantly tries to bring on board new clients.

Copy trading service offers a way of entering the financial markets for the first time worry-free way by selecting an experienced trader to copy orders from. It often becomes the first step in the journey of a Forex trader.

Perspective

Сopy trading platforms are becoming increasingly popular. The copy trading market is expected to grow from $2.2 billion in 2021 to $3.7 billion by 2028, with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 7.8% during that period.

There are several factors contributing to the popularity of copy trading.

Among them:

• communication with other traders
• greater transparency since investors can see the trading history of traders
• many traders with different approaches to choose from
• typically no extra fees charged by the broker
• commissions paid only when there’s a gain.

Copy trading has a promising future as an additional service that most brokers or exchanges add to their offering to reach new audiences and markets and provide a gateway to the world of finance.

OctaFX is a global broker providing online trading services worldwide since 2011. It offers everything one needs to reach their investment goals, providing top-notch conditions utilised already by more than 11 million clients globally.

The company is involved in a comprehensive network of charity and humanitarian initiatives, including improving educational infrastructure, short-notice relief projects, and support of local communities and small to medium enterprises.

On a side note, OctaFX has also won more than 45 awards since its foundation, including the 2021 ‘Best Forex Broker Asia’ award from Global Banking & Finance Review and 2021 ‘Best ECN Broker’ award by World Finance.