This is one query that I get a lot asking review of an App XYZ for mutual fund investments. Or some people ask me which app is better ABC or XYZ.
To explain this, you’ll first need to know some key terms about mutual funds before I can explain this further.
AMC‘s are the Asset Management Companies like ICICI, Aditya Birla, HDFC etc. These are the company that handles our money and invests on our behalf.
RTA‘s are the registrar and transfer Agents whose primary role is to look after data related to the investors’ activities and keep a record of them.
So basically speaking RTA’s are authorized by AMC’s to provide technology for a common man to invest money. The two common RTA’s are CAMS and Karvy. They cater to almost 95% of the AMCs. For investing with Franklin Templeton they have their own in-house RTA. Otherwise, you should always be contacting CAMS or Karvy for investments.
The best websites for your investments are always Karvy [https://mfs.kfintech.com/mfs/] and CAMS [https://mycams.camsonline.com/]. They also have their own mobile apps and you should always use that.
There are two main reasons because of which I don’t suggest using any 3rd party apps.
The first and most important reason is that Karvy and CAMS apps provide more services than any other app. This is because first features are implemented on CAMS and Karvy and then only it can be implemented on other 3rd party apps. Even after years, I haven’t seen 3rd party apps provide basic features like STP which provides for Systematic Transfer from one fund to another or even some latest features like CSIP which is free term insurance cover with a SIP.
The second problem arises when you approach a 3rd party company for investments. You are giving away your details including investments to another company. The first thing to consider here is that no one is out there giving you free services. Everyone is trying to make money one way or the other. You should never be shocked when a company contacts you to give pre-approved loans or other offers because there is someone out there selling your data making money. Well, you can ignore this scenario if you are using your bank’s app for investment or are doing through a paid advisors app as you are in a safe spot then.
I had myself tried out many apps and ended up getting frequent calls with offers. How would you feel a 3rd party company knowing how much you are worth and then they are telling others also how much money you have and they start calling you.
This is the main reason why I always trust CAMS and Karvy apps as they are operated directly by RTAs.
You can always switch from your existing app to CAMS and Karvy at any time. This is because your details are already with them. You just need to activate your account with your registered email id and PAN card as you already will be having an account there. You won’t need to tell the 3rd party app about your plan to stop using the app also. Neither would you lose a single penny when switching to Karvy or CAMS. The funds purchased from any other app can be withdrawn from CAMS and Karvy app anytime.
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