The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) has conducted a mystery shopping visit campaign among institutions offering investment services to retail investors in France via mobile applications.
It notes that client journeys are, for the most part, simple and quick, making it easier to “invest on the stock market, and encourages professionals to step up their efforts in terms of information and education.”
As part of its retail investor protection remit, the AMF regularly conducts mystery shopping visits to “assess the marketing practices of institutions distributing investment products and to suggest ways in which they can improve.”
To take account of changes in investor habits, the aim of this new campaign was to study the information “provided to clients over mobile applications before they make a decision.”
The AMF also looked at the use of “incentive mechanisms by these applications.”
Conducted between November 2024 and January 2025 by the IPSOS research institute on “behalf of the AMF, the campaign targeted the mobile applications of 14 financial institutions with a high profile among new retail investors.”
The mystery shopper was tasked with opening “a securities account, making an ETF investment, and also buying a fractional share if this option was proposed.”
The main findings of these mystery shopping visits are as follows:
- in almost two-thirds of cases, securities accounts were opened in less than five minutes, but some took up to 72 hours or more. This rapid access to investment services can limit the time available for reflection and for less experienced investors to realise what risks are involved;
although the regulatory documentation is available in most cases, major differences in terms of information remain, with some documents only available in a foreign language and transparency surrounding fees still - being in need of improvement;
on some platforms, the presentation of financial instruments (ETFs and fractional shares) is ambiguous, as it does not always make it clear that they may be derivatives; - marketing strategies aimed at new investors based on the norms of video games and social media (community features and copy trading), which, by concealing the risk aspect behind a fun appearance, can encourage impulsive investment decisions;
- finally, educational support varies greatly from one application to another, with resources (tutorials, FAQs and webinars) of varying quality. These sometimes present oversimplified or fragmented information that can affect retail investors’ understanding of the risks involved.
In order to improve institutions’ practices when retail investors invest via a mobile application, the AMF will report “the results of these visits to the institutions concerned that fall under its supervision and to industry groups.”
It will also enter into discussions with its European counterparts at meetings with “the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), and particularly with those that supervise foreign-based institutions targeting a French audience, whose applications the AMF has tested.”
As covered, the AMF is an independent public authority responsible “for ensuring that savings invested in financial products are protected and that investors are provided with adequate information.”
The AMF also supervises the “orderly operations of markets. “
