Discount broking firms such as 5paisa.com are winning customers based on cost effectiveness and convenience

Mr. Prakarsh Gagdani, CEO, 5paisa.com

MUMBAI, 3 JULY, 2017 (GPN) : Many people in India, are still financially illiterate and find stock markets, shares, broking etc., some alien terms in this world. After so many huddles of incorrect information and over-coming the fear ofuncertainties, even if a common man finds his way to investing on some shares, long procedures, starting form documentations till month long verifications to just open an account, thrashes their high enthusiasm to ground zero! This can be taken as the possible reason why not much Indians prefer investing on share market and keep their money safe in lockers (as evinced by the gap in bank and demat accounts).

The most difficult and confusing part remains, which organization to trust that shall help them invest their money in most intelligent way. Here is were popular online discount broking space steps in to aid the new investor in the market. Players like5paisa.com, Zerodha, etc are decked with every possible facility for their customers to buy or sell shares online with lots of convenience and in a cost effective manner as compared to the traditional broking firms.

The primary need is client convenience. According to Mr. Prakarsh Gagdani, CEO,5paisa.com “Ease of account opening is a paramount need in the industry where a mere 3-5% of the population have demat accounts”. Giving details about the facilities provided, Mr.Gagdani adds that “5paisa.com is a one stop broking space of investor looking for a safe, convenient and cost effective procedure to invest. If documentation is in place, a client can have an account opened in an hour.”

With the e-KYC process in place, few physical signatures are needed and most of the work can be done on the basis of Aadhar, bank account documents and similar verifiable papers.

Likewise, the speed and ease of transaction in the case of a technology-driven discount broking business with minimal human interface is another influencer. As in the case of account opening, speed, simplicity and convenience are big factors.

Cost of transaction is also a vital influencer for investors. From their viewpoint, the flat cost per transaction, irrespective of size is an attractive proposition. This also brings in a lot of transparency  and removes the element of of greed from the investment advice given by the brokerage firm because the transaction fee is the same irrespective of the size of the transaction. The equity market is rife with instances where the broker pressure actually unbalances the client and he loses sight of his original goals and gets into transactions which are regretted later.

A Robo-Advisory platform introduced by5paisa.com, gives its investors options for their investment allocations with zero or minimal human interface, in a very convenient and user-friendly manner, ensuring the best and un-Biased advice for its customers. With such services and no push from the brokerage side, an individual experience a more relaxed transaction.

Coming to the post-transaction processes, the MIS in the form of contracts and ledgers are put online and can be availed at any time, expanding the comfort factor, yet again. Such process is a massive organisational convenience for both the company and the customer.

With its multi-product offering and a platform giving much convenience to the client at any stage, 5paisa.com is definitely a differentiated player in the broking space. Apart from the discount broking services, it also gives other value-added products like mutual funds and insurance. Apart from the ease of account opening and operations, 5paisa.com also provides education on myriad aspects of the product bouquet that it offers to investors. It is effectively a full-service product offering to investors at the cost level of discount broking.

5paisa.com also intends to grow its product offering to other areas like personal and vehicle loans, where its technology investment can be properly leveraged for online transaction fulfilment.” Said Mr. Gagdani while giving details about the expansion plans.

Comparing with the US equity market, where retail is 40% of total volumes and discount broking stands 70% of the retail volumes, in India, discount broking is barely at 7-8% of the total volume. This shows the glimpses of long way which discount broking in India still has to go. Efforts and remarkable services by organizations like5paisa.com are paving the way for Indian audience to come digital for investment, making the business case for discount broking an exciting one.ENDS.

 

About the Author

Sachin Murdeshwar
Sachin Murdeshwar is a Sr.Journalist and Columnist in several Mainline Newspapers and Portals.He is an ardent traveller and likes to explore destinations to the core.