Thirty-three brokerages go live on first day.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today launched mobile-based trading, using its proprietary Fastrade mobile application and a wireless access protocol browser-based mobile trade portal.
Thirty three brokerages, including IIFL, Angel Broking, Motilal Oswal, Geogit BNP Paribas and ICICI Securities, went live on the first day itself. They began offering mobile trading to clients either through the BSE application or one that has been developed in-house or sourced through a third party vendor. Brokers admit the launch has generated interest among investors. However, the trend will take time to catch on if the trading figures of the first day are an indication. While BSE could not gice the number of shares traded via mobile phones, brokers said individual trade figures were negligible.
Vinay Agrawal, executive director, equities broking, Angel Broking, which launched its mobile trading platform ‘Angel SWIFT’, said, “We have just started sending emails informing our clients about the launch of mobile trading. We did not execute any trade through this platform.”
Geogit BNP Paribas managed to execute only five ‘token trades’ amounting to just Rs 6,000 through its ‘Flip-Me’ mobile application. These were mainly to test the application.
Satish Menon, director-operations, Geogit BNP Paribas, attributes this to the process involved in registering the clients.
Investors can get the application for mobile trading only from their brokers after signing an agreement explaining the risks attached to trading through mobile handsets. “We are ready with the documentation that clients will have to complete before registering for mobile trading. But it will be a few more days before clients can complete the registration process and start trading,” said Menon.
Despite the no-show on the first day, brokers are upbeat about mobile trading’s prospects. However, whether their optimism is right, only investors will tell.
