Recognizing that financial markets participants require greater flexibility in working practices, Thomson Reuters today announced that its Eikon Messenger service would be made available across all major mobile device types, providing its growing community of users with greater agility to connect and transact business with counterparties over an open messaging system.

Working practices across the financial industry are changing as financial firms respond to their employees’ growing expectation that thetechnology experience they are used to in their personal lives is matched in the workplace.  Increasingly, advanced, flexible technology is being seen as a differentiator for firms in hiring the best talent and in servicing their clients. 

“Financial professionals need the ability to connect instantly and seamlessly with both internal and external contacts regardless of time and location,” said Yvette Jackson, global head of collaboration services, Thomson Reuters.  “True to our philosophy of being device and network neutral, Thomson Reuters will offer clients a mobile messaging service that combines an intelligent and intuitive design with advanced compliance tools and open network connectivity.  This is another example of how Thomson Reuters is at the forefront in combining advanced technology with industry-leading UX design to improve workflow and flexibility for all industry professionals on a global scale.”

Mobile access will be available to all users, whether using Eikon Messenger as part of a Thomson Reuters Eikon subscription or through a standalone, free-of-charge account.  Users will have the same functionality and services on their mobile devices as on the desktop version, including file sharing, chat rooms and directory access.  Eikon Messenger’s compliance functions, including industry-leading Bilateral Chat controls, also apply to mobile devices at no charge.  The ability to find and connect with other users on the move whilst maintaining the highest standards of compliance will help increase flexibility and productivity for the industry.

Eikon Messenger has over 250,000 users across more than 170 countries and 24,000 firms.  Users can also connect with hundreds of thousands of other contacts via Eikon Messenger’s interoperability with other messaging systems.

Eikon Messenger utilizes a Bilateral Chat function that enables users to create conversations limited to a maximum of two companies at one time, helping to prevent unauthorised multilateral chats and supporting users’ efforts to meet compliance requirements. Eikon Messenger also offers full audit trails and transcripts to help users comply with the varied global regulations around recordkeeping and transcript recall.  As a result, all Eikon Messenger conversations and content are archived, including chat rooms, file sharing, forms, and screenshots.

Eikon Messenger is currently available on BlackBerry devices and on Apple iOS for iPhone and iPad, with support for Android devices forthcoming.