The Hindu Business Line : Trading on mobile may soon be reality

Cell mate
The registered base of online trading customers is 15 lakh
The segment is also growing fast Potential customers
Young professionals in the software, engineering, BPO and other industries who are not intimidated by technology
Others who may find mobile trading to be less intimidating than online trading

Mumbai , July 8

It is not yet possible to buy and sell equity shares using your mobile telephone, but the technology for this is ready, the mobile operators are ready, and the stockbroking houses are waiting in the wings too.

Direct online trading, where any layperson can register, and buy and sell shares through the Internet, is already rather a success. The players such as ICICI Direct, HDFC Securities, Geojit Securities, Kotak Street and Sharekhan are seeing a substantial growth in their registered base. They now want to extend their services to mobile trading too.

These broking houses have applied to the stock exchanges for permission to offer mobile trading and the stock exchanges in turn are awaiting permission from SEBI.

Growing fast

According to estimates, largely collated from claims made by these players from time to time, the registered base of online trading customers is 15 lakh and growing very fast. Individual players variously expect their subscriber bases to grow between 50 per cent and 100 per cent annually.

At Motilal Oswal for instance, the number of active (who trade at least once a month) online customers is 23,000, and this number represents a 600 per cent growth over the last one year, said Mr Amit Golia, head of e-broking at Motilal Oswal.

It appears that a large number of online traders are young professionals, in the software, engineering, BPO and other industries — in short, those who are not intimidated by technology.

Untapped potential

Depending on their office situation, some of them trade from their desktops at their office itself. Others whose offices are stricter about these matters, would trade from their homes or use their laptops wherever they are, or visit cybercafes. If the trading facility were made available on the mobile too, a large number of these customers would use this facility.

"Mobile trading suits these people since they are not investors who are putting in massive amounts but might do two or three trades in a day. On the mobile one can see four or five scrips and their details at one time," said an executive with another e-broking facility.

High volumes

But while the trades per person made through mobiles may be low, the volumes could be high, earning revenues for the broking house, the software provider and the mobile company.

And the mobile being less intimidating than the computer, more people may move to online trading through the instrument. Says Mr Sudhanshu Varma, CEO, Asian CERC, which has the software solutions for mobile online trading ready. "Actually online trading does not need you to be technologically skilled. But people fear that it might. Once they get rid of the fear they would trade more easily."

In times of crisis, such as the current market volatility, online trading is less risky, he said. Mobile trading of course will just have to wait for SEBI's nod.

More Stories on : M-Commerce | Stock Markets | Regulatory Bodies & Rulings

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Global agri-commodity price outlook positive

OECD indicators favour India

Rlys favours Govt-backed freight corridor project

British Gas plan put on hold

SAIL charts Rs 37,000-cr expansion to face competition

ONGC decides to shelve refinery plans in Rajasthan

Trading on mobile may soon be reality