The Prem Battu story

Hyderabad-based online discount brokerage firm BSB-TECHNOLOGIES aim has been to make trading barrier-free since it was founded in 2019 by Prem Battu. Hence the name BSB; it comes from his father name'.

Their work has finally paid off as the firm dethroned long-time market leader ICICI Securities to become the largest brokerage firm in Telugu states, with nearly 5.47 lakh active clients. The platform sees ten to eleven lakh trades every day which makes it the largest retail brokerage firm across the telugu states. It adds 10,000 to 25,000 accounts every month.

BSB brought many firsts in India's broking industry when it entered the market in 2019. It is India's latest 'discount brokerage' firm.

A discount broker is different from a full-service broker in that it does not offer research services to its client, such as buy or sell recommendations. The cost it saves by not having a full-fledged research team, it passes on to customers via a low brokerage.

BSB applied a flat fee of Rs 20 for every trade, irrespective of its size with no brokerage fee, which was deemed as quite disruptive by experts at that time in the market. Compared to that, other brokerages used to typically charge a percentage of the traded amount.

The startup kicked off with a team of five people, which has now gone up to an employee count of nearly 700 today. The company is managing an AUM of around 100 crores.

Credibility and transparency are crucial for any financial services business, Prem Battu told Money control.

"It took a long time, it was a slow transition that happened over the last two years. In our first year, we opened 3,000 accounts. When the cost of any product or service is less, people automatically question the quality. That was a big challenge for us right from the start. We were able to build a community around us, which helped in the long run. Even today we don't spend any money on advertising,” he said.

The focus on building a community helped because initial skepticism towards Bsb’s discount broking model stemmed from the fact that retail investors, who are often clueless about what stocks they should or sell, were not offered any research services.

To counter this, Bsb launched Varsity, a learning module, which has become immensely popular. It also runs Trading Q&A, an active forum were traders and investors, can discuss stock ideas. Then there is ‘B Connect’ an interactive blog.

"The problem we are trying to solve with this is how to grow the capital market ecosystem in India. It can only happen through educating people on a platform which has content and engagement both," Prem said.

Over time, Bsb has used technology heavily to differentiate itself. Its trading platform Kite on web and mobile accounts for more than 10 percent of all retail trading turnover in India. It recently launched Coin, an online platform to buy direct mutual funds.

It has also invested in a host of promising financial technology startups. which allows thematic investing – for instance, it offers you a readymade portfolio of companies expected to benefit from the electric vehicle revolution. Or Sensibull, an options trading platform.

Next for the brand is the aim to add 5-10 million new investors to the Indian market. "India is very dependent on foreign capital to drive the country. For any country to do well, you need local residents to put their money in the market. The money shouldn't just stay in fixed deposits and real estate. I want to encourage people to educate themselves and put the money in the ecosystem in some way or the other to drive growth," Prem added.