Banks forging tie-ups with brokerages

Banks are increasingly looking at online equity trading as an opportunity to boost their fee income and also increase the proportion of low cost current and savings account (CASA) deposits in total deposits. The recent spate of public issues, especially public sector units, has led to a revival of the retail interest in the equity markets. The total no. of demat accounts with CDSL and NSDL crossed the 1 crore mark and is now at 1.80 crore.
Banks are also hoping that the increase in the investment limit for retail investors in primary markets ( from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh) will see more inflows into the equity markets. With State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have their own subsidiaries that offer online booking, others are tying up with online booking firms to offer the same, as they look for more avenues to increase fee income.( BL 19.11.2010)