Gamification advances binary options tech: How far has MarketsPulse come since Mickey Winitsky became CEO?

A very much debated question of identity has surrounded binary options ever since major platform providers SpotOption and TRADOLOGIC began venturing into the gaming sector by developing land based terminals alongside their existing product range of trading platforms, whilst TechFinancials and Tradesmarter stuck closely to the technology-focused, chart orientated financial instrument trading platforms with FX brokerages as their target audience.

The vast success that SpotOption and TRADOLOGIC have earned by taking the gaming route as an addition to retail sales-based dedicated binary options brand establishment has placed these two platform companies ahead in terms of market share by a substantial margin, proving the correlation between gaming and binary options, and dispelling much of a connection between retail spot FX trading and binary options. Companies offering FX-style platforms with shared wallet solutions to sell to FX brokerages have been notable by their silence compared to the dominance of these two giants.

So where does MarketsPulse stand?

One of the original binary options platform providers, MarketsPulse was founded by Rachely Esman, a former military technology engineer. The company’s initial launch concentrated on treating binary options as a financial instrument, with an intelligent, technologically advanced approach. Not only was Ms. Esman a First Lieutenant in the Mamram division of the Israel Defence Force, a proving ground for many of the world’s successful technological innovators, before going on to become Director of R&D at Modelity Technologies in September 2007, but indeed the company’s former VP Business Development also did not come from a sales, internet marketing or gaming background.

Shay Hamama left the company last year, however his education ranges from several science and mathematics degrees from Bar Ilan University, from which he graduated at a remarkable 19 years of age, before joining the Israel Defence Force and rising to Head of Development, a position in which he led the design and implementation of some of the most technologically advanced systems on earth.

This is a far cry from any of the large binary option platform providers ethos, most of their founders coming from marketing, sales and affiliate businesses, and indeed online casinos, a path often followed by the management of their brands also.

Last year, following the departure of Mr. Hamama and the elevation of Ms. Esman from CEO of MarketsPulse to Chairwoman of holdings company Jivy Group, the company took the step of appointing a gaming industry professional as its new CEO, blending the technologically advanced nature of the firm with gaming. Perhaps this is the way the entire sector has to operate.

Mickey Winitsky has previously been Affiliate Director & Head of SEO at NeoGames Technologies, a position he held for three years until 2012, then VP Clients at DMG, before joining Caesars Interactive Entertainment as Head of Acquisition in 2013, leading to a COO role at Pariplay, a division of NASDAQ-listed Majesco Entertainment.

How has MarketsPules evolved since appointing a gaming industry executive as CEO?

Today, FinanceFeeds CEO Andrew Saks-McLeod spoke to Mr. Winitsky to ascertain the direction that he has taken the company in since assuming the leadership position.

“As you say, MarketsPulse since its start had invested everything into technology and built an amazing platform. The company then showed the industry that its prioritization of technology was a main part of the company’s ethos. MarketsPules did not go out with sales tricks, instead taking a sales approach of word of mouth” said Mr. Winitsky.

“The company has gained its customers via reputation. At the time that I took the leadership position at the company, the main thing that the owners thought was that we needed to better understand our customers and what they really need. We have a great development team and customizable product but had been on a long distance from the end user, the actual trader” he said.

MarketsPulse then met me. I came along with mainly operational experience. 80% of my experience is centered on how traders are onboarded, how they are being retained, how to treat them to get the maximum.

Mr. Winitsky then explained how he provided the correct formula to take the company forward “These attributes, together with marketing experience, they found a good fit in me, in that I can take the company from a very strong technological foundation to offering all the extra services around the platform.

“I used to explain it like this: We are like a company that can build an amazing engine, but it is not enough just to give a key to a performance car to an inexperienced driver. If you have the engineering excellence of something like a Rolls Royce Ghost, which is top of the range and highly sophisticated, but no driving license, it will be a total mismatch” said Mr. Winitsky, who considers this to be a very tangible similarity to MarketsPulse’s situation in the market prior to his joining.

Structuring the brands correctly is vital in the binary options platform sector. Mr. Winitsky takes this very seriously “I have been pushing this since i joined. A lot of customers are extremely interested as they see us as a premium platform provider, and there is a great deal of trust. Everything from the acquisition strategies and onboarding and even how to remunerate the sales team of the brands is important. The brands should know how to remunerate their sales teams and give them salaries and bonuses based on goals which are appropriate to B2C business environment” he said.

Not one of the crowd – how to give customers what they want

Our longevity has everything to do with our long term strategy. Our ethos has always been to penetrate large firms like DMM Securities, which is a customer of ours and one of the largest firms in the world. We also provide service to ETX Capital in the UK. They wanted a third party provider who could provide them a bespoke appearance and functionality, they wanted it to be specific to ETX Capital and therefore the technological aspect of our platform allowed it to have bespoke appearance and functionality” explained Mr. Winitsky.

Many brokerages do not want a platform that can be recognized as a third party system. Our trading floor looks different for each customer. We aren’t a cookie cutter platform provider which has off the shelf solutions, we are a premium provider. We are expensive but we have a value proposition.

As a result of this, we are the only foreign technology provider in Japan. We believe that in the long run if we do business with the established brokers is the right way to do it. When the large trading companies choose a platform, they do massive due diligence on their suppliers, hence the ability to satisfy their requirements.

Additionally, We have superior infrastructure in China which stands out in comparison, a region which, as you know, the most fertile ground for this type of technology and has a huge potential in terms of brands. HY Markets and Hantec are companies which are 100% Chinese and they are our customers, standing us in very good stead for sustainability in the world’s most interesting economy” concluded Mr. Winitsky.