We built an algorithmic trading platform that connects securely to the user's own brokerage account and runs automated strategies. Paper trading lets users test a strategy first, and a live dashboard shows every trade.
Client: Harbor JourneyIndustry: FinTech & Financial ServicesService: SaaS & Software
Overview
Client
Harbor Journey
Retail FinTech trading platform for retail traders
Engagement snapshot
The challenge
Many retail traders wanted the discipline of automated strategies but didn't have the time or coding skills to build their own trading systems.
Trust mattered just as much. The product had to automate trades without ever holding customer money (a non-custodial design), and give users a clear way to test and understand a strategy before putting real money behind it.
Users could miss the right moment when every trade depended on them acting by hand.
Asking users to move money to a third-party platform would have been a major barrier to trust.
Users needed to test a strategy before committing real funds.
The solution
Users authorise the platform to send approved trade instructions, while their money stays in their own brokerage account.
The strategy engine reads market conditions and decides when the user's rules should trigger an order.
The dashboard shows trade activity, performance and the reason behind each action.
Key features
Users can try a strategy against live or historical market behaviour before using real funds.
Business impact
More user confidence
The platform sends trade instructions but never holds or moves user money itself.
Business impact
100% non-custodial
Strategies can route orders for supported instruments through one controlled execution workflow.
Business impact
Less manual trading
Before and after
Before
One tightly connected app
If the interface, strategy logic or execution failed, they could all fail together.
After
Separate services
Trade execution keeps running even if another part of the product has a problem.
Before
Opaque strategies
Users couldn't easily see why a trade had happened.
After
Test and review
Paper trading and a detailed history make it easier to understand how a strategy behaves.
Before
Manual action
Users had to be at their screen to place time-sensitive trades.
After
Orders sent straight to the broker
Approved strategies submit orders directly through broker APIs.
Results
100% Non-Custodial
User money stays in the connected brokerage account. The platform never holds it, which removes the risk of handing funds to a third party.
Before: High RiskAfter: 100% Safe
Automated Strategy Execution
Strategies run without the user logging in to place every order. Before, automated trading was hard to use without coding skills.
Before: Hard to UseAfter: Set & Forget
Sub-45ms Execution Response Time
Direct broker integration brought execution response down to 45ms, from under 100ms.
Before: < 100msAfter: 45ms
Testimonial
“Traders on our platform wanted automation without handing over their funds. The platform is 100% non-custodial, so money stays at the broker, while their rules trigger orders in under 45ms. Availability is at 99.9%.”
Kyle AndersonHead of Product, Harbor JourneyKey results
Trust and control
Broker authorisation details are protected by secure storage and controlled access.
SECUREEach trade in the history keeps the strategy and market context behind it, so users can review it.
TRACEABLEExposure controls help keep automated strategies within approved limits.
CONTROLLEDThe client owns the trading platform, execution services and front-end code built for the project.
100% OWNEDFaster delivery
Because these parts were already tested, the team could spend its time on the strategy engine and broker integrations, and the platform launched sooner.
Our tested broker connection components gave the platform scoped access to send trade instructions without touching user funds.
Existing backtesting tools let users try strategies against historical market behaviour before going live.
Monitoring keeps watch over every running strategy and the services behind it, with the platform running at 99.9% availability.
Ready-made exposure controls keep each automated strategy within its approved risk limits.
Non-custodial means the platform never holds or moves user money. Users give it scoped access to send approved trade instructions to their existing brokerage account, and their funds stay with the broker the whole time. This removed the trust barrier of asking retail traders to deposit money with a third party.
The platform includes paper trading, so users can run a strategy against live or historical market behaviour without using real funds. A detailed trade history and a live dashboard show what the strategy did and why, which helps users understand how it behaves before they connect real capital.
Orders go straight to the broker through direct API integration, with execution response under 45ms, down from under 100ms. Trade execution runs as a separate service, so it keeps working if another part of the product has a problem, and the platform runs at 99.9% availability.
If you want to offer automated strategies but custody is a barrier, we can build on your users' existing broker accounts, with paper trading, risk limits and a clear trade history.