Investment Apps In India

The last few years have seen many changes, the financial world is no exception, gone are the days when one had to invest their money visiting banks and filling out never ending forms that are time consuming, especially for the working class.

Welcome to the world of online finance where there are many ways available to invest at the click of a button. These include mutual funds, fixed deposit, recurring deposit, digital gold, silver, stocks etc.

The current generation is an impatient generation, they are knowledgeable and want to get rich quick, they do not want to work for the rest of their lives, instead they believe in multiplying their earnings to the maximum in the shortest possible time, so that they can enjoy when they are still young.

This is where the presence of financial investment apps have changed the way we view investments, each app has its own unique features, some are goal based apps, some apps primarily deal with mutual funds, there are savings apps and alternative investment apps to name a few.

Some apps have established themselves as trustworthy app, they have been around for more than a decade and most investors are familiar with them, they include apps such as ET Money, Zerodha, Groww etc. while others such as upstox, 5 Paisa and kuvera have caught the attention of those who invest regularly online.

There are some things that we need to keep in mind before investing online such as verifying whether the app is approved by SEBI , the Indian government regulatory body, the schemes are have all the relevant data available, that makes it easier to decide how you want to invest.

Financial investment apps that are genuine, have a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram etc., they have a FAQ section that answers your questions and a customer service team that responds to your questions at the earliest.

Finance investment apps are the way forward, there is no going back to the old ways, there is one problem that has not been addressed satisfactorily, that is safety and security, the government and need to take steps to safeguard the interests of the investor, in cases of theft and false information that is used to cheat investors of their hard earned money.

Cryptocurrency - An Overview

A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency designed to work as a medium of exchange. It uses cryptography to secure and verify transactions as well as to control the creation of new units of a particular cryptocurrency. Essentially, cryptocurrencies are limited entries in a database that no one can change unless specific conditions are fulfilled.

here have been many attempts at creating a digital currency during the 90s tech boom, with systems like Flooz, Beenz and DigiCash emerging on the market but inevitably failing. There were many different reasons for their failures, such as fraud, financial problems and even frictions between companies’ employees and their bosses.

Notably, all of those systems utilized a Trusted Third Party approach, meaning that the companies behind them verified and facilitated the transactions. Due to the failures of these companies, the creation of a digital cash system was seen as a lost cause for a long while.

Then, in early 2009, an anonymous programmer or a group of programmers under an alias Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin.
Satoshi described it as a ‘peer-to-peer electronic cash system.’ It is completely decentralized, meaning there are no servers involved and no central controlling authority. The concept closely resembles peer-to-peer networks for file sharing.

One of the most important problems that any payment network has to solve is double-spending. It is a fraudulent technique of spending the same amount twice. The traditional solution was a trusted third party - a central server - that kept records of the balances and transactions. However, this method always entailed an authority basically in control of your funds and with all your personal details on hand.

In a decentralized network like Bitcoin, every single participant needs to do this job. This is done via the Blockchain - a public ledger of all transaction that ever happened within the network, available to everyone. Therefore, everyone in the network can see every account’s balance.

Every transaction is a file that consists of the sender’s and recipient’s public keys (wallet addresses) and the amount of coins transferred. The transaction also needs to be signed off by the sender with their private key. All of this is just basic cryptography. Eventually, the transaction is broadcasted in the network, but it needs to be confirmed first.

Day Trading - How It Works

Day trading is  defined in simple terms as the buying and selling of a security in a single trading day.

When you purchase a specific number of shares at the start of trading, you will have sold your position by the end of the trading day, and then start all over again the following morning.

Day trading is done by using trading strategies to take advantage of the small price movements in high liquid stocks or currencies.

It is interesting to note that in a country with a population of over 1.2 billion, there exists millions of active trading accounts in India.

As we find traders that continue to make millions of rupees each year, day trading in India is on the rise. 

In order to join the increasing numbers of switched on traders, you need an accurate and comprehensive resource to turn to and one needs to follow an expert guide to making money on day trading in India.

Beginners who are still learning the basics should read tutorials and watch how-to videos to get practical trading tips. 

Experienced day traders can explore more advanced topics such as automated trading and how to make a living on the financial markets.

When you want to trade, you use a broker who will execute the trade on the market and it is important to note that the broker you choose is an important investment decision.

India currently has around 70 brokers to choose between and there are numerous top global brokers you can turn to. 

You will find that due to the high number of trades that take place on any given day, speed of execution should play a factor.

Another important factor is the lower the fees and commission rates, the more profit you take home, and many will reduce their commission the more you trade.

One needs to make sure that the broker is regulated as they are legally obliged to protect your financial interests.

Whatever maybe the day trading strategy that you follow, you will need assistance at some point, so look for online brokers that have quick response times and strong customer support.

As a day trader you have to demand competitive spreads so find brokers with profitable spreads in order to get the money in the bank.

Reward Points - How They Work

In general, you earn a certain number or percentage of rewards for every dollar you charge on your credit card. Some cards reward you more for spending in certain areas or may only give you rewards on certain purchases

eward points are an incentive for customers to use their cards as much as they can. Banks gain from the interchange fee from merchant outlets, which in turn gain from higher sales. The user of a card, especially a credit card, benefits only if he uses it judiciously.

Do you know why reward points earned on credit/debit card transactionsexpire if not redeemed on time? Is it a significant loss? Why would a card company deduct the reward points if not redeemed? And, of course, why do card companies give reward points for using their cards in the first place?

When a bank offers you a credit/debit card, it talks at length about reward points. It is difficult to make sense of such talk, but for credit card companies, reward/loyalty programmes are an important element of their sales pitch.

Are reward points useful for card holders? Why are they important for card companies? The answer lies in the economics of reward points that we try to explain here.

Every time you use your credit/debit card for a transaction, the card company earns an 'interchange' fee from the merchant outlet. It can vary from 1% to 2.5%. The outlet can negotiate a lower fee if its volumes are high.

Apart from the 'interchange' fee, the card company makes money from the annual fee it charges from card holders and interest earned on rolling over unpaid bills. They share a part of earnings (mostly from interchange fee) with the card holder in the form of reward points to encourage him/her to use it more frequently.

Diners Club International

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We are all familiar and have used Visa, MasterCard or Amex but most of us do not pay attention to Diners Club credit cards exists in India. 

It is difficult to compare them as each has its own unique features and it depends on what you are looking for from a credit card and where you plan to use it. 

Apart from that, there are also differences in how these businesses operate.

Visa & Mastercard are networks that process the payments and charge a fee for that where banks pay them for their global network coverage with thousands of ATM’s and merchant terminals

They are not a bank with a physical presence and they do not have the money that you hold on the credit/debit card, neither liable for any dispute. 

They operate as the ones who are responsible for processing the payment for the banks and merchants and when it comes to Diners Club Credit cards are issued by Diners Club themselves and process the payments on their own network.

 They are known for being better at dispute handling and becomes easy for them to save you from any legit issue with merchants.

You will find that Diners charges higher transaction fees to the merchants because its their primary source of income. 

Diners also affiliated with banks to issue co-branded cards which aim to increase its number of cards that are available in the market.

Diners Club also has better offers as compared to others when it is used at restaurants and hotels across the globe.

Visa, Mastercard has the biggest network in the world and Diners stands nowhere near to it when it comes to global reach.

You must keep in mind that if you hold Amex or Diners card, you need to have a Visa or Mastercard as Diners Cards are accepted only in big cities and major locations. 

Diners cards are known for giving cashback offers and rewards points because they charge higher transaction fee to merchants which in turn given back to regular customers. 

Diners has hundreds of affiliated lounges across the world with t he higher end cards like that gives you unlimited access to these lounges worldwide. 

You will find others that are known for charging high annual fees and giving back equivalent or more amount of reward points and welcome bonus. Most visa/MC cards don’t have welcome bonus, except the top variants.

The thing to keep in mind is the strong buyer protection that almost always favors the customer when there is a dispute. While Visa/Mastercard don’t have that level of buyer protection.

Only it serves as a status symbol because its generally given to HNI customers in India with income in that range. 

Public Provident Fund [PPF] - An Overview

The Public Provident Fund (PPF) is one of the most popular savings option in India and this is the tax benefit it offers - it comes under the EEE (exempt-exempt-exempt) tax status.  

This means that at the time of investment, the interest earned, and the amount that is received at maturity are all tax-exempt or free. 

PPF is an financial option that comes with a lock-in period of 15 years and the maturity date is not calculated from the date of the opening of account.

The date of calculation of maturity is taken from the end of the financial year in which the deposit was made irrespective in which month or date the account was opened. 

 It is among the few investments that not only offer you tax benefits under Sec 80C of the Income Tax Act, but also the interest income is exempted from tax.


The other advantage is that it helps to build a long term investment corpus for retirement when looked at from an interest and tax perspective.


Since its inception, the objective was to encourage savings across income classes, minimum deposit requirements are very low and affordable.

They are also tax-free accounts, easily accessible, safe being backed by the government and simple to understand, making them a popular investment avenue for a large majority of individuals in India.

PPF accounts can be opened at any nationalized, authorized bank and authorized branches, post offices and private banks as well.

These accounts can be opened by filling out the required forms, submitting the relevant documents and depositing the minimum pay-in at the authorized branches or offices for completion.

Account can be opened by cash/ Cheque and in case of Cheque, the date of realization of C​heque in Govt. account shall be date of opening of account. 

Interest rates are set and announced by the government of India. is calculated for a financial year according to the rate announced for the said year.

The interest rates are not fixed for the entire tenure of the holding while the maximum amount that can be deposited in the account is also subject to change.

All those who are employees and working with professionally managed companies, must be aware of the Employee Provident Fund (EPF).

The employer and employee equally contribute to these funds, the return of investment is interest earnings and the total amount invested by an individual gets tax exemption under section 80C.

The option to increase the employee contribution is also available where you can withdraw your PF based on upper limits and it is allowed for some specific purpose only.

If you change your job or you quit, then you can withdraw the PF or transfer with your new employer and it is also taxable if a criterion of continuous service for five years is not fulfilled apart from certain other conditions. Returns on PF are also similar to PPF.

You can always opt for the PPF scheme as a means that is to deliver for the similar purpose of investment and saving.

Though the maturity period for PPF account is 15 years as seen above, but partial withdrawal is allowed form 7th year onward subject to the prescribed specified limit.

The option of loan against your PPF account is also allowed and the same can be availed during a specific time period.

PPF is one of the best and easiest investment tool to serve your long term financial needs and its returns are completely tax free and offers you tax savings as well. 

One should invest in it though small or big but consistently and everyone should open a PPF account right when they start working and as a parent also you should open PPF accounts in your children’s name so that once they attain maturity they continue it and enjoy the benefits of the PPF account.

Monthly Income Plan - How They Work

A Monthly Income plan or MIP can best be described as a debt oriented mutual fund which gives you income,  in the form of dividends. 

They are debt oriented funds that invest in debt instruments like debentures , corporate bonds, government securities etc. 

It has most of its money in debt and rest in equity and cash and you can decide how you want to receive income quarterly, half-yearly or annually. 

MIPs can be viewed as a financial instrument that assure some income to their unit holders every month without much risk.

Many of these schemes not only declare dividend at regular intervals, even the dividend amount declared varies accordingly.

Most MIPs offer a growth option too which make them more of the exception than the rule when compared to other investment options.

This means that unit holders are exposed to NAV related risk with their primary objective of earning a monthly income according to prevailing market conditions.

The fluctuations in the equity market are more than that in the debt market, a smaller proportion of equities may serve as a measure of capital protection. 

They have an advantage on the tax compared to other fixed income options, as unlike interest income which is taxed according to the income tax slab, the dividend distribution tax  levied is lower than the income tax slab of most investors and long term capital gains too are charged at a concessional rate

The disruption of your regular source of income due to any mishap can lead to disastrous situations especially if someone has a single breadwinner in the family.

The chaos because of the mishap is added by the financial uncertainty due to loss of the income and most people are in the misconception that a regular insurance policy which pays out a lump sum amount at the time of claim will fulfill all their financial requirements,

You  need to remember that a major portion of your claim amount is spent on the recovery of the mishap and you are left with no any stable source of income for your future.

A monthly income plan can make a difference as it is an investment gives you an alternate source of income for you and your loved ones.

Government regulations demand that dividend can be paid only from surpluses and not from the capital investment. 

This means that the dividends can be declared from earned income only and not from the initial capital value . 

This makes sure that they can not show to the world that they are constantly giving income in case they have not done well.

While the aim of MIPS is to regularly declare dividends, it might happen at times, that they do not declare any dividends because of bad performance. 

There is no regulation on the MIP’s part to declare regular dividends so if you don’t get your income once in a while just because it’s a debt oriented product, It does not mean that they are reliable.

Even MIPs can give negative return, but in extreme cases and the debt portion is influenced by interest rates. 

When the interest rate falls, the NAV rises as price of bond increases and when interest rate rises, NAV falls. 

At such times the equity portion of the fund helps to maintain the return, interest Rates and how they affect Mutual funds .

MIPs offer lucrative commissions to agents in Equity funds and due to this it becomes easy to sell MIP’s as they can be labelled as the best investment option that is available in the market today.