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Arqam

Iraq's first stock trading app licensed by the Iraq Securities Commission. Investors open an account from their phone and buy US stocks and ETFs, down to a fraction of a share.

We partnered with Arqam to build all of it: the iOS and Android app, the KYC flow, the backend connected to Alpaca and the portal the team uses to run the platform.

Talk to us about your platform
Industry
Investing
Market
Iraq
Our work
App, backend and admin portal
Live at
arqam.one
The Arqam app home: total assets, the day's chart and a watchlist with Tesla, Microsoft and Take-Two.
Search in the Arqam app: Apple, Amazon, Boeing, an oil fund and Ford, each with its price and the day's chart.

The challenge

New ground, with two rulebooks to follow.

Iraqi investors had no licensed way to buy US stocks from their phone. To offer one, every part of the platform had to meet the rules of the Iraq Securities Commission and those of Alpaca, the US brokerage platform that executes the trades.

Who can open an account, how their identity is checked, how money comes in and goes out: every step had to comply on both sides and still feel simple to someone buying their first share.

What we built

An app, a backend and a portal, built as one.

Each piece was designed with the others, so investors, the Arqam team and Alpaca always see the same accounts, orders and balances.

  • The trading app

    iOS and Android: fractional shares, orders, real-time prices and a portfolio that moves with the market.

  • A custom KYC flow

    We built identity verification right into the app, in a flow designed for Arqam that meets the rules on both sides.

  • A backend connected to Alpaca

    Accounts, orders, positions and balances in sync with Alpaca, with every other service connected in one backend.

  • KYC review

    Admins review every application in the portal and send it to Alpaca from there.

  • Asset management

    The team decides what investors can trade: US stocks, ETFs, commodities and Sharia-compliant funds.

  • Deposits and withdrawals

    Money in and out by bank transfer, tracked and managed from the portal.

Inside the product

An app for investors, a portal for the team.

Investors explore US stocks and ETFs and follow every order. Behind them, the Arqam team runs the whole platform from one portal.

Tesla's page in the Arqam app: the price, the day's chart and its daily and 52-week ranges.
Every stock has its own page, with the day's chart and its daily and 52-week ranges.
A limit sell order in the Arqam app: 4 Nvidia shares at $250, with the $5 fee and the amount to receive shown before confirming.
Market and limit orders, with the fee and the total in view before sliding to confirm.
The activity feed in the Arqam app: buys and sells with fractional shares, and regulatory fees.
Every buy, sell and fee in one feed, down to fractions of a share.
The Arqam admin portal: a list of investors with their status, trading access and KYC reviewer, with filters for each stage. Personal data is blurred.
The admin portal: every investor with their status, trading access and KYC reviewer, filtered by stage. Customer data is blurred.

At a glance

The US market, open to Iraqi investors.

  • 1st trading platform licensed by the Iraq Securities Commission
  • 6,000+ US stocks and ETFs to invest in
  • 12+ US exchanges, including NASDAQ and NYSE

Figures published by Arqam at arqam.one.

Building in a regulated market? Let's talk.

From trading to public funds, we build platforms that meet the regulators' rules without getting in the user's way. Tell us what you need and you'll get a plan with the scope, the timeline and the cost.

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