Technology reshapes the landscape of investing constantly. What started with direct dial-up connections for trade orders in the 1980s has now advanced to sophisticated robo-advisors.

Mobile trading app is one of the most widely used technologies. Large online brokers report that more and more investor annual trades have been executed using mobile devices. This shift is not just about convenience; it’s altering investor behaviour.

A pivotal study, detailed in the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Working Paper No. 28363 in January 2021 studied this phenomenon. It is based on unique data of 15,000 clients of two large German banks that have introduced mobile trading applications. Researchers analyzed all holdings and transactions, and, more important, the specific device used for each trade – PC or smartphone.

Comparing trades done by the same investor in the same month across different devices, it was documented that traders on smartphones make more intuitive decisions while using smartphones and buy more risky assets, chase higher volatility and higher skewness investments, and lottery-type assets. Moreover, investors are more likely to buy past winners.

👉 Want to influence behaviour of your users? You should consider creating a mobile trading app.