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Date/Time: Fri, 29 Mar 2024 06:09:40 +0000



[Locked] - Notice: March/April 31, 2021 - Changes to Billing of Sierra Chart through Brokers

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[2021-02-25 11:37:15]
Sierra Chart Engineering - Posts: 104368
The below information is tentative, and is not yet finalized and can change and be adapted.

In order to provide the best level of service to our users, provide price consistency and actually more favorable prices to users overall and not put brokers in the middle of Sierra Chart billing and all of the associated complications of that, eliminate the unnecessary support burden that broker billing places on us and the broker, we have made a decision that Sierra Chart will not be allowed to be billed through brokers beyond March 31, 2021.

Existing and new Sierra Chart accounts cannot be added to broker billing beyond March 3, 2021.

We may still support transaction fee billing through certain clearing firms. These would be the transaction fees for the Sierra Chart Order Routing Service.

The responsibility of brokers, is to provide you a trading account, and provide all of the services related to that account, except for the trading software, and the market data feeds. It is our responsibility to provide the software, the market data feeds, and low level order routing, and handle everything related to that.

It is important that all users, have the same method of purchasing Sierra Chart services and log into Sierra Chart using the standard method (in the case of where some users use a modified method with billing through a broker).

We are improving our payment options by adding support for automatic billing to a credit/debit card. Currently this is now offered through Stripe (initially for a limited amount of users and then everyone) and we will also be supporting it through PayPal.

Support for crypto currency payments is coming soon. As well as other payment processors.

We also have US dollar and euro accounts that you can do a bank wire transfer to pay for Sierra Chart services.

When there is a transition for users to pay directly for Sierra Chart, you will continue to use your same Sierra Chart account and you will receive instructions on what to do at that time. Advanced notice will be provided. It will simply be a matter of making a payment through this page:
https://www.sierrachart.com/UserControlPanel.php?page=AddAccountCredit

And if you want to set up automatic billing you can do that.

It is that simple.

The supported packages, and that prices are here:
Description of Service Packages and Pricing: Packages

All users will pay the same price.

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Finally, this feature for the easy solution to the CME fund a trading account requirement:
Easy Solution to CME Funded Trading Account Requirement

has been changed and is temporarily not so easy because AMP is not supporting TT accounts any longer.

However, we are working with AMP, for actually a more simplified and improved alternative. We do not know when that will be available though.

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These changes are also being made, because it is very important, that we remain in control as much as possible and serve our users well. We will give our users as many payment options as possible.

If you want to pay in gold and silver, we can do that as well. We just have to work out how best to support that.


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The end of broker based billing, also allows us to properly implement as originally intended our price standardization plan:
Important Notice: Price Standardization Plan Effective March 1, 2021 | Denali Data Feed

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This change is not at all related to the discontinuance of support for TT accounts assigned to TT FIX, through the broker AMP. This change applies to all brokers.

However, that abrupt change, which is understandable on their part, does create a lot of support burden, which would be mitigated, if all billing is handled through Sierra Chart directly.

We also, are offering our own data feeds and in some cases requiring them, and historical data sources, and we can best manage access to the services most effectively and with the least amount of questions/confusion ourselves.

Each side, the broker and software/services provider like Sierra Chart, do have competing interests. We have an interest, with providing the best experience for Sierra Chart, and the best data, and do it at a reasonable price (which is very low for the industry) and do it consistently for everyone.

The broker simply wants Sierra Chart as cheap as possible. And wants customers and trading activity.

These conflict with each other.

It is best that each side handles their own operations fully themselves.

The statements in this last section, are not specific to any broker. These are statements which are applicable to all brokers/clearing firms.
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Another difficulty with broker-based billing, is there have been cases, where brokers have not made full payment and have unilaterally taken upon themselves to make billing adjustments. This is completely unacceptable. And it is for this reason, and why we we will not be allowing transaction fee billing through these brokers either. They should recognize the consequence of this, and the loss of trust.

There are times, when we communicate pricing adjustments, or corrections to individual users accounts including refunds, and we just simply get ignored.

We have been very tolerant, but that tolerance has now come to an end. And we are acting in the interest of everyone with the above changes.
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, *change* to the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing
Date Time Of Last Edit: 2021-04-01 02:05:39
[2021-02-25 14:24:14]
Sierra Chart Engineering - Posts: 104368
Here are good examples of threads which show the kind of confusion and difficulties that arise, when there is another party involved with billing of Sierra Chart:
Confusion on Data Feed and Order Routing
TT Outage - Amp CQG account
AMP Futures customer no credit Sierra Chart not working
AMP double charging?
AMP charge for Seirra Chart
SC billing for SC account through AMP

Another major one:
Notice to AMP Users. Clearing up Confusion.

(More to be listed. We can easily add probably a thousand links here.)

You should always be in control and this is nothing new and we have said this time and time again.

The end of this nightmare of billing through brokers is now over with. It will never be done again. Do not ask. It is out of the question and a huge mistake, and these brokers are not competent to be handling this since this is not their main business.

And then you have Transact who has been billing users for Sierra Chart, when the user has not used it in a particular month and when we are not even billing them. This is just simply wrong. And we have no control over that and you have no control over that. This is not going to continue.
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, *change* to the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing
Date Time Of Last Edit: 2021-03-19 05:19:10
[2021-02-28 19:32:27]
Sierra Chart Engineering - Posts: 104368
We are certain that users are going to find this, a much more comfortable situation than paying through a broker. We do have accounts that can receive US dollars and euro payments. And any excess balance we can refund to you minus any wire transfer fee.

If there is a situation, where you cannot make a payment due to some payment problem just let us know through a support ticket:
https://www.sierrachart.com/UserControlPanel.php?page=SupportTickets

And in that situation we temporarily extend you credit. This is not a problem. We have done this in the past.

If you previously asked for the USD bank account and had not made a transfer, please know that we have just set up a new one at a bank within the US. You can do a wire transfer or ACH . It does have a routing number and also SWIFT.
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, *change* to the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing
Date Time Of Last Edit: 2021-02-28 23:59:31
[2021-03-21 16:43:10]
Sierra Chart Engineering - Posts: 104368
Another thing about Sierra Chart being offered at a substantially below-market price or free and how it creates an unwanted consequence, is that now that the CME has somewhat substantial fees for market depth data, when someone gets Sierra Chart at a substantially below-market price or free , is that they then decide to pay the 30 USD CME fee for market depth when they do not necessarily need that data and can instead have top of book. So the CME gets paid more and the brokers also have earn trading fees but Sierra Chart is not receiving a fair price and has the support burden from the users, and the user is willing to pay considerably more for Sierra Chart.

One customer said they are willing to pay 10 times more. And they are happy with the ending of billing through Transact.

This is why it is important for users to be properly paying the price and understanding what the pricing terms really are.

And as we have said in another thread, without us raising prices, we are actually reducing prices, due to the massive inflation in the USD at this time. When the US government is printing trillions out of nowhere, that is creating inflation and devaluing the dollar considerably. This destruction is not going to end, and is going to get worse and worse. It is going to come in waves. The next time around they are going to have to be creating even more trillions than previously and then the next time around even more trillions than previously. It is a self-destructive process.

If users knew the truth (not fully revealed), of these billing relationships through brokers, they would be very sympathetic to the situation.

We believe very much in freedom and independence, and we are not going to get a broker in the middle of Sierra Chart. We must have a one-to-one relationship and that is what we have done.
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, *change* to the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing
Date Time Of Last Edit: 2021-04-01 02:09:52

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