OANDA Japan informs clients of changes to fxTrade web access

Online trading services provider OANDA Japan, a part of OANDA Corporation, has informed its clients that some of them will no longer be able to use OANDA fxTrade Web. The announcement concerns owners of computers using Google Chrome and Firefox, as these browsers have recently stopped supporting (many) plug-in extensions based on Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI).

Users of these browsers will no longer have access to the OANDA fxTrade web tool. On the brighter side, these traders will be able to use the desktop version of the program, as the broker has made such tools available for its clients.

OANDA Japan customers who trade on MetaTrader 4 can continue trading the same way as before.

Earlier this year, OANDA Corp has informed its clients of a change concerning Java, as, effective March 6, 2017, OANDA ceased supporting the fxTrade Java launcher. The brokerage explained back then that the move reflected the fact that many browsers, including Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edfe have chosen to halt supporting the Java based technology. There was no change for the Advanced Charting platform that can still be accessed via most browsers.

Talking of Java support and online trading, let’s recall that in July this year, Japanese retail FX broker Hirose Tusyo Inc (TYO:7185), also known as Hirose FX, halted support of a number of old Java tools on the Lion FX platform. The broker said the reason for the change is that these tools no longer responded to traders’ needs. Effective July 1, 2017, the Java tools available on the platform include .NET version and a version for Mac only. The old tools for Windows (PC and browser version) are no longer available. LION FX C2, a new tool developed by Hirose FX, is poised to meet the requirements of modern traders.

OANDA Japan has recently stepped up its efforts to beef up system security and to enhance its response to system failures. In July this year, the broker outlined its “System failure” response policy, which describes how the company will update its customers in case such an incident happens and how it will proceed with regard to orders that were not placed, executed or were not correctly executed.

The policy was outlined after on July 6, 2017, OANDA Japan reported that tech issues had affected its Tokyo MT4 server (OANDA Japan FX MT4) – the source being the Equinix TY3 data center. The problem was first detected around 3am (Japanese time) and the service was restored at 12.54pm (Japanese time). On July 5, OANDA Japan also reported of server issues – for about 10 minutes transactions were not possible as a result of problems with the New York server.