Increasing public awareness about the online trading system makes more retail investors employ their capital in stock markets. Demat and trading accounts have made stock trading a hot topic in a way not thought of previously. Using a trading account (eTrading), individuals can trade several dematerialised securities online and earn significantly.
What is a Trading Account?
In the online trading system, stock markets deal with dematerialised financial securities only. A trading account is required to place buy or sell trade orders on stock exchanges operating online. Once individuals have opened a trading account, they can access the stockbroker’s trading platform, linked to multiple stock exchanges.
How to Compare and Choose the Best Online Trading Account
Following are the key factors that individuals can look at to open the best trading account with the best stockbroker:
- Trade in Various Segments
Depending on market knowledge, individuals can trade in different market segments. Using a single online trading account, they should be able to trade in cash, intraday and derivatives segments.
- Investment Advisory through stock baskets
Individuals can look for a broker’s demat and trading accounts offering curated stock baskets for easy and strategic investing in well-researched stocks.
- Anywhere Trading Facility
Investors should check if the broker provides a mobile-based trading platform to facilitate anytime anywhere online trading services. It allows individuals to grab most of the opportunities in the stock market. A trading application can help individuals to filter out stocks based on technical indicators.
- Free Trading Account with Low Brokerage and MTF Interest Rates
Most new entrants want to start trading with a small capital and opt for discount brokers offering trading accounts and services at affordable costs.
- Discount brokers charge brokerage fees at a flat rate for each trade, irrespective of the trade value.
- Renowned discount brokers offer demat and trading accounts for free with unique subscription-based brokerage plans designed for beginners and professionals. For a quick answer to ‘what is demat account, a demat account is an online storage for digital financial securities, unlike a trading account.
- A few of those are known for the lowest margin trade funding (MTF) at the lowest interest rate in the industry.
- Stockbroker’s Reputation in the Market
Besides comparing various features of a trading account, it is necessary to know the reputation of a stockbroker in the industry. One of the ways to check if the broker’s trading account is legit is the registration with the SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India). Online trading is safe under the surveillance of the SEBI. Individuals must do their homework beforehand and beware of fraud calls. They can find the list of registered stockbrokers on SEBI’s official website.
- Easy-to-understand User Interface
A trading account allows investors to access the broker’s trading platform to place trade orders on relevant stock exchanges. Investors can look for an easy-to-understand trading platform so that they can place online trade orders timely without any struggle or confusion. However, it should not compromise on technological advancements for account safety.
- Research Reports and Historical Data Availability
Individuals need to work on gaining adequate knowledge about stock markets. Research reports, prepared by industry experts, can support them in the self-learning process and increase their market knowledge. Stock brokers can provide research reports periodically.
Thus, one can compare varied features of different online brokers’ trading accounts – from costs, and customer service to investment offerings. It helps to identify which trading account is the best for different types of trading styles.
Consider choosing a stock broker’s trading account offering quality online trading services and affordable subscription plans. Like many, prefer to open a trading account with a reputable discount stockbroker, offering most of the above-mentioned attractive benefits.