Upstox Vs SAS Online Comparison: Which Discount Broker is Best?

Discount Broker Compare: Upstox Vs SAS Online

Welcome everyone to this Upstox Vs SAS Online brokerage comparison. As you are all aware, this article is a comparison between two discount brokerage firms in India; namely Upstox and SAS Online. However, before we go onto the comparison part, I would like to say a few things about discount brokers for our new readers.

In the stock market, there are two types of brokers: Full-Service Brokers & Discount Brokers. The discount stock broker is an individual broker or a brokerage firm that specializes in providing trading facilities for their clients at a discounted rate.

In contrast with full-service brokers, they offer lesser number of services or products but do so in a discounted rate, i.e. money-savers for those in the market.

Who are we comparing?

In this article, we are going to compare two discount brokerage firms, Upstox vs SAS Online. While the former is a well-known firm in the country, the latter is an albeit new but popular one. Let’s learn a few things about these two firms before we move on to comparing them.

Upstox (RKSV): –

This Mumbai based discount brokerage firm was earlier known as RKSV Securities. It is one of the best discount brokerage firms in India.

Their brokerage costs are quite low, and they provide somewhat high margins to their clients. Other than that, they also have very generous trading platforms keeping in turn with today’s world.

Upstox deal in Equity, Currency, Commodity and Derivatives Trading and as such have been doing so quite well.

They do have a large client base including strong backing from some of the eminent names in the Indian share market. Established in 2011, they have been in the stock broking business for around 8 years now.

SAS Online: –

SAS Online or South Asia Stocks Online was incorporated in 1993 however; their discount brokerage arm under the same name was founded in 2013.

With proper use of the technologies at hand this discount brokerage firm has been able to stand in equal footings with the other top discount brokers in the country.

Within a mere six years, they have been able to acquire a client base of 30,000+ thanks to their highly skilled and experienced team of experts.

One of the striking features this firm has is its single centralized office at its headquarters in New Delhi.

They have leveraged technology to save up on the real estate and as such provide services to their clients with the help of this technology like online trading platforms and customer support and many more.

As I said earlier, there are a few aspects one needs to consider while comparing two discount brokerage firms, some of which are services/products offered, account opening and maintenance charges, Demat account features, and many more.

Upstox Vs SAS Online: A full comparison

In this comparison, I have tried to keep things as simple as possible, with various information’s in a tabular form, so that you can get a full and clear picture. So, without further ado, let us begin!

Company Overview

In this section, we will compare the various information’s regarding the organizations themselves.

Upstox Vs SAS Online: Services/Products

In this section we will look at the various services or products these firms have to offer. Here we will only look at the services without dwelling deep into them; just an overview.

Both Upstox and SAS Online offer services like Stock or Equity Trading, Commodities Trading, Currency & Derivative Trading. Both offer equity and equity derivatives on both NSE & BSE exchanges, whereas Commodities are offered by both the firms on MCX.

Upstox offers online Mutual Funds investment options whereas SAS Online does not. Both SAS Online and Upstox offer Exchange-Traded Funds or ETFs.

However, they do have some shortcomings, where neither one of the two firms offer certain services like Debt, Banking, Forex, Insurance, Equity SIP, Portfolio Management Services (PMS) and online Initial Public Offerings (IPO).

Account Opening Charges and AMC

Here we will look at the various charges associated with the trading and Demat accounts offered by these firms.

These charges include the account opening as well as annual maintenance charges of the Trading and Demat accounts offered by both the firms. There is another section exclusively for the Demat Account comparison between these two firms.

Both Upstox and SAS Online offer Trading and Demat accounts to their clientele. Opening charges are also quite affordable. Trading AMCs are free for both the firms, but they do charge some AMC on their Demat accounts.

The depository source for Upstox is CDSL whereas SAS Online deals in both CDSL and NDSL. Both Upstox and SAS Online provide DP services.

SAS Online Vs Upstox Demat Account

The word Demat is derived from the word ‘dematerialized’. Thus, a Demat account is used to hold every asset a trader holds in the market from shares & government securities ETFs to various bonds and mutual funds bought.

These assets or shares are bought and converted into electronic forms that are then held in the Demat account. One can use the account to deposit a dematerialized share or to withdraw one and sell.

In India, Demat Account services are provided by various depositories such as NSDL, CSDL, etc for free. They are of course provided via the intermediaries or discount brokers like Upstox, SAS Online and many others in the line.

The Demat account opening charges are slightly higher for SAS Online in comparison to Upstox. There is no need to make an advance deposit with either one of the firms.

One interesting thing to notice here is that Upstox charges Rs. 150 for the annual maintenance of your Demat account whereas with SAS Online you can get AMC on your account for free.

Both the firms offer DP services, i.e. Depository Participant services; the sources differ somewhat as Upstox deals with the only CDSL whereas both CDSL and NDSL act as the depository source for SAS Online. The DP ID for Upstox is 81800, whereas the same for SAS Online is NSDL – IN3.

There are various other related charges like transaction charges on Debit per ISIN, Demat & Trading charges, Pledge creation and closure charges, Pledge creation and closure confirmation charges, Pledge Invocation charges and failed instruction charges. Look out to the table below for all the information.

Transaction Charges

Discount brokers offer various trading options with reduced or discounted transaction charges in comparison with full-service brokers.

They generally levy a percentage on the trade value of each and every one of your buy and sell orders executed. Different trade segments have different rates and hence charges associated with them.

The various segments compared here include Equity Delivery, Equity Intraday, Equity Futures, Equity Options, Currency Futures, Currency Options and Commodities Trading.

Compare Brokerage Plans & Charges

In this section you will find a comparison between the various Brokerage Plans and Charges from these two firms. Both SAS Online and Upstox have two plans each. The names are given below in the table. SAS Online has monthly brokerage plans whereas Upstox does not.

In the case of Upstox, the charges differ somewhat for the two plans. Upstox offers free Equity Delivery in both their plans, whereas in the case of the Flat Free plan from SAS Online, you will be charged.

Other segments like Equity Intraday, Equity Futures, Equity Options, Currency Futures, Currency Options and Commodities Futures and Commodities Options are all charged under the two Upstox plans. However, in the case of SAS Online, the Flat Free plan charges in these segments but the fixed monthly plan does not charge individually. It contains fixed charges per month, depending on the segment.

Taxes & other Government Charges

These are the taxes paid by the traders and investors (you) to the government of India. Both Upstox and SAS Online have the same margins in these taxes. These are to be paid to the Government of India. These include, Securities Transaction Tax or STT, SEBI Charges, Goods and Services Tax or GST and Stamp Duty.

Compare Exposure/Leverage or Margin

The word leverage or exposure in reference to stock market refers to the amount up to which a stock value can increase for the particular stock. In this case, it is also called margin trading where the investor would borrow capital or asset, more than which they can afford and hope for a bigger return on their investment. This can sometimes pose risks. It totally depends upon the market.

Research & Advisory

Being discount brokerage firms, neither Upstox nor SAS Online provides any research results, market analysis or advisory services to their clients. However, a table has been provided below, which can give you a basic idea of the types of researches that are done in the stock market. I’d like to add one thing to this. The various services in the table are provided by full-service brokers.

Trading Platforms & their Features

In this section we will look at the various trading platforms or softwares provided by these two firms and their features.

Trade Orders Comparison

There are various types of trade orders that you can assign your discount broker to carry out. Some of the orders mentioned here are CNC, MIS, CO, BO, AMO, and many more.

Charting Technology Comparison

Both the firms provide their clients with charting facilities, i.e. analysis & forecast reports with the help of various charts

Pros & Cons

Conclusion  

Now, you may ask why we need to consider a stock broker, let alone compare between two such brokers. Well, the reason is simple; they will carry out your entire buy and sell orders relating to your trading options on your behalf.

Earlier, those with money could only afford to hire brokers, but nowadays with the advent of technology, discount brokers have emerged in the picture so that traders from all economic backgrounds can hire them, as their charges are much lesser than their full-service counterparts.

So, with that cleared outlet us focus on the matter at hand: discount brokerage comparison. You might ask again, why we need to compare, we could just pick one. Well, there are a few discount brokers in the country, and when you try to pick one, you will face a few obstacles.

Newcomers face this issue very often. Those of you who have faced these know that it can become a nuisance. You must look out for various factors while choosing a discount broker such as the rates they charge and services they offer, the features of the trading platforms provided and many more.

This is where comparing two or more discount brokers become very useful. With a thorough comparison, you can not only understand the various features of these firms but also evaluate which one of them would suit your needs the best.