[ad_1]
By Sameer Patil
From its inception as an open call floor exchange in the late 1800s to becoming the second country after China to transition to a T+1 equity settlement by 2022, the Indian stock market has come a long way. It is emerging as one of the largest market ecosystems in the world. Undoubtedly, technology has been a key driver of dramatic change in the brokerage industry.
Thanks to the advancement of technology, the stock market is no longer limited to the rich. Anyone with a smartphone and internet access can buy and sell stocks online from the comfort of their home. This has contributed to the growth of the economy by democratizing the process of investing in stocks.
The introduction of electronic trading in the mid-1990s and SEBI’s decision to legalize direct market access in 2009 were two significant milestones in the revolutionary journey of Indian stock markets. This has opened doors for technological innovation to enable brokers and customers to use electronic and automated trading and reduce manual errors.
Today, stockbrokers use modern technology to provide services that save investors time and money. For example, they can provide real-time quotes, allow you to place trades online without having to physically lock your orders based on your brokers, and offer research and analysis tools. Automation of processes, improved market intelligence, better customer communication and improved security to protect customer data, have helped the stockbrokers meet the current business challenges. Aadhaar-based e-KYC has facilitated a fast, paperless account opening process, and UPI has made the transfer of funds to brokerage accounts much faster.
During Covid-19, these systems were put to the test, and the stock exchanges and their trading systems proved extremely robust and reliable. The BSE, for example, has provided several brokerage technology solutions to all its members, namely the turnkey platforms. BOLTPlus On Web™️ (BOW) is one such powerful integrated real-time marketing solution offered by BSE Tech Infra Services Pvt Ltd. Due to its careful system design, scalability, simple user interface, easy accessibility with limited infrastructure and support from BSE, many business members were working from home.
As part of its ecosystem, BSE has 1,300+ brokers with over 100,000 branches to trade on the platform for over 11 million investors. A large number of transactions require flawless, error-free execution. The BOW platform allows the user to view real-time market prices and execute orders on multiple exchanges (BSE, NSE, MCX and NCDEX) in real-time with real-time price stream, risk management with a single window.
BOW Services ensures that all members, especially small scale members, stay connected and trade with the latest technology at no cost. This allows members to focus on their business expansion plans with guaranteed technical support from BOW. Going forward, BSE will continue to retain trading members for business continuity through BOW.
The BOW platform enables BSE to offer electronic gold receipt (EGR) trading that Indian regulators have approved for trading. EGRs are “objective” and “interoperable between vault managers” are allowed. The BOW platform thus enables ordinary Indians to easily transact and invest in gold.
The way forward
BSE understands that the imperative for a business solution is to deliver business innovation with greater efficiency, speed of execution and reduced costs, so there is continuous innovation in motion. At BSE, we believe in exemplifying how a century-old organization can meet today’s business challenges with a strong focus on technological innovation. BSE plans to grow BOW based on market needs, and innovate around speed, capacity and flexibility – the ability to handle increased volumes, reduce latency and volatility, and integrate trading across asset classes and markets.
(Samer Patil is Director General at BSEE. Views expressed are those of the author.)
[ad_2]
Source link