Money9 Initiative: All you need to know about Demat accounts

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In a series of video explainers, we have put together everything you need to know about how to begin your stock investment journey.

Demat account or Dematerialised account provides the facility of holding shares and securities in an electronic format.

During online trading, shares are bought and held in a Demat account, thus, facilitating easy trade for the users. Demat account holds all the investments an individual makes in shares, government securities, exchange-traded funds, bonds and mutual funds in one place.

Watch the video here to know more about how to open one and get started:

While Demat accounts make executing investment ideas a seamless affair, they come with their own fair share of charges. These charges are a small price to pay for the convenience of trading electronically.

Here’s a quick video about the kinds of charges your brokers may be levying. It will help you in finding out the charges you are incurring to use the services by your broker and then decide whether you should stay put or move to a broker which has lesser charges.

After all, a penny saved is a penny earned.

Are you looking to transfer your shares from your current Demat account to another?

While there are many reasons why people look to transfer shares, the most common reason that people transfer shares from one Demat account to another, is because they want to switch from one broker to another.  If an account holder’s requirements from his/her current broker are not being met, it calls for a new broker.  An individual operating multiple Demat accounts can also choose to merge all of the existing accounts into one functional account. In this case, a transfer of shares from the old account(s) to the new one(s) is required.

Here are quick steps to follow to know the entire process of transferring shares and the documents you may need:

Do you know there are three types of demat accounts in India which cater to different types of investors?

Some accounts are meant for NRIs who wish to invest in Indian stock markets.

There are basically three different types of Demat accounts that cater to different investors. They are —Regular Demat; Repatriable Demat and Non-Repatriable Demat account.

Here’s a short video explainer on the types of Demat accounts available and the one suitable for you:

Often, we end up opening an account with the hope that soon we will begin trading and investing in stock markets. But then, we get busy with our daily activities and forget that we even have an account. However, you must note that you end up paying for possessing a Demat account. At other times, you may end up having more than one Demat account.

Here’s a look at the steps you need to follow to close your Demat account: