Paytm Money has entered stockbroking, primarily targeting those who are new to the field, in a challenge to established rivals such as Zerodha, and startups such as Groww and Upstox.
Paytm Money, a subsidiary of One97 Communications Ltd, which operates Paytm, has been planning to enter the stockbroking business from its inception in October 2018. It got permission from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in April 2019.
Paytm Money will build products for users who are new to trading.
With a full-scale launch expected in September, Paytm Money expects to reach 100,000 daily trades within six months and achieve 250,000 customers in the first year.
Paytm Money chief executive officer Varun Sridhar said in an interview that it currently has 90,000 users who are on a wait list for stockbroking, with almost half of Paytm Money’s total user base wanting to try it.
Sridhar said that almost 60% of Paytm Money’s user base has never invested in public markets till now.
Paytm Money claims to have more than 6 million users. In its stockbroking service, cash delivery trades are free and intraday trade commissions are around ₹10.
“With a bank, and other financial offerings, Paytm’s aim currently is financial inclusion, and owing to the demographic the company targets, it is really easy for the platform to get access to a new set of users that has never traded before. Hence, cost is definitely a USP (unique selling proposition) for us for stock broking. Also, only 25% of Indian population currently trades in the public market. With Paytm Money’s entry and the scale we provide, we can definitely expand the size of the market," said Sridhar.
In the next 6-8 months, Paytm Money plans to bring in new products and features for educating the customer and focus on alternative investment features to help reduce investor’s risk.
“The key to investment is not to make money, but to avoid losing it, and that’s the product philosophy," said Sridhar.
Paytm Money plans to enter the derivatives segment as well as provide options around futures trading.
It is also looking to launch new features for high-frequency traders.
For stock broking, Paytm Money allows users to discover and set price alerts for as many as 50 stocks and get notified when the price is reached.
Further, investors can also create and customize multiple watch lists to track real-time price changes for up to 50 stocks.
The platform will also allow users to automate stock investing by setting buy orders on a weekly or monthly basis.
Also, with the built-in brokerage calculator, the investor can discover the transaction charges and know the exact break-even price to sell stocks profitably.
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