FNB Share Investing unveils innovation that simplifies share market data

First National Bank Share Investing has introduced Share Swarm, an innovation in the display of share market information. This tool will help to simplify complex stock market data for customers trading in shares.

The innovation stems from a collection of customer insights, which indicates that certain customer segments find traditional displays of stock market data overwhelming and difficult to decipher.

“Armed with this knowledge of our customers and a commitment to demystifying the share market, we undertook to move the display of share information to another level. As far as we know, it’s the first time in South Africa that the interactive qualities of the web have been used to illustrate stock market data,” says Noelle Conway, Head of Marketing and Sales for FNB Share Investing.

Share Swarm shows the performance of FNB Share Builder basket of shares in a graphical and visually intriguing way. Share Builder is the bank’s online share investing platform aimed at people who are buying shares for the first time, who want an affordable offering (R17 per month, plus trading fees) and a limited share choice to overcome the confusion of deciding which share to trade.

Historical information is also available in a customisable chart, which allows users to decide which shares they would like to compare.

In addition, Share Swarm also shows the performance of all JSE shares in a similar format, which would be of interest to anyone who tracks share performance on the JSE. “In particular, our Share Investor clients would find this helpful. Share Investor is our full range platform, which offers customers access to all JSE shares,” says Conway.

A customisable ticker tape is also present on the Share Swarm, allowing users to track their own preferred list of shares.

Conway says Share Swarm is available to everyone, at no cost, whether an FNB client or not, and can be found on the FNB website under the “Save and invest” tab. “Designed using Flash, a multimedia platform that brings animation and interaction to a webpage, we have been able to make the user experience extremely engaging. The Swarm is powered by a JSE data feed via McGregor BFA net,” she adds.

“FNB Share Investing was first introduced in November 2008. Since then, we have been dedicated to winning the hearts and minds of the man in the street retail investor who is new to share investing, who is a little cautious of it all, but who would love to give it a try.”

“We have grown the online share trading market by approximately 10% since launch by targeting this growing segment with our easy-to-use offering,” says Conway.