When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn What Does Financial Information Exchange Mean?
Financial Information Exchange (FIX) is a vendor-neutral, standardized and connection-session-based electronic communications protocol for real-time information exchange for financial securities transactions. FIX is an open specification that supports multiple formats and types of communication between financial entities.
FIX is compatible with almost every commonly used network technology.
Techopedia Explains Financial Information Exchange
The Financial Information Exchange Protocol was originally developed in 1992 by Robert Lamoureux for trading equities between Salomon Brothers and Fidelity Investments. FIX is used for trade and pre-trade communication in the global equity markets and has become a de facto messaging standard. Its use is increasing in the fixed-income, foreign exchange and derivatives markets.
The FIX Protocol is owned and maintained by FIX Protocol Ltd., a company established solely for that purpose and responsible for keeping it in the public domain.
FIX communications include:
- Texting
- Directed email
- Stock and other securities trade allocations
- Indication of interest communications
- News messaging
- Order submissions and changes
- Advertisements
- Execution reporting
FIX is mostly used for business-to-business transactions and is designed to improve business messages and transactions flow by:
- Minimizing redundant messaging
- Increasing the number of clients
- Reducing time spent on telephone communications, written messages, and transactions and their associated documentation
FIX is similar to the Open Financial Exchange (OFX) Protocol, which is query based and mostly designed for retail transactions. The FIX Protocol is both session and application-based.
