SMS alerts, tips on stocks: This idea means business

Imagine if one phone call or SMS could alert you about the latest stock tips and you could trade real time with your cellphone?

In what could enthuse the trading fraternity of Gujarat, an Ahmedabad-based start-up, Mayavi Telecommunications Pvt Ltd, has come up with a multilingual voice and SMS-enabled solution named "Stocktrak" that would not only send investors stocks alerts but also enable them trade real-time into stocks.

Currently incubating with CIIE (Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship) at IIM Ahmedabad, the start-up was set up with a capital of Rs 40 lakh in 2009 by two friends Himanshu Khatri and Nalin Awasthi and has now grown to a six-member team.

"By installing the service, an investor can get live updates in the broker's voice or on his SMS service. By entering a seven-digit security pin code, he can even trade his shares instantly through SMS, email or a phone call. The service is fast, multilingual and does not need an expensive phone to run. No major market movement goes unnoticed and the investor can even access the quantity and value of one's holdings anytime," said Awasthi.

The service for brokers also helps him broadcast his advisory in his voice to around 5,000 of his investors at a time. "We found it has helped us increase our delivery of customer service from 20 to 25 per cent to around 40 per cent. We are able to track client portfolios on a day-to-day basis and can get a customer's entire stock history and respond to him promptly at competitive rates of Rs 40 to 50 per month," says a senior business development executive employed with an Ahmedabad-based brokerage firm.

After conducting a pilot test with two brokerage firms that tested the offerings on a mixed group of 3,000 brokers and dealers, the company is now looking at taking the product to banks. "As of now, we are not charging for the software but only for the phone calls and SMSes that a client uses. This makes trading a cheap and cost-efficient option. Currently, we are working on getting a PCI DSS certification, which sets international standards for securing data compliance with respect to storage and transmission and mobile software services," Awasthi added.

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