ABN Amro has unveiled a new online brokerage for active investors, comprising a menu of pay-per-use automation options with optional human advisory services.
The A-Trader service will be phased in over a six-month period for a selected group of active investors who the bank says will be closely involved in refining the system.
Jan Peter Schmittmann, chairman of the management of ABN Amro Netherlands says the chief characteristics of A-Trader are its flexible composition and pricing as customers pay only for the information and functionalities they wish to receive.
"With A-Trader ABN Amro will be offering the most modern and comprehensive form of online brokerage service," he says. "By developing the system in partnership with the customers, we will be able to provide a tailor-made service."
The online brokerage will be complemented by a new advisory service run out of the Dutch bank's Amsterdam dealing room. The bank says that a small-scale pilot project in Rotterdam demonstrated the appeal to customers of direct contact with well-informed advisors.
Earlier this year the bank cut charges for its Direct Investment service, through which customers can submit orders online, to the call centre and by mobile phone without going through an advisor.