The last decade has seen a massive rise in smartphone adoption in India. With the introduction of telecom technology such as 3G and 4G offering better speeds and growth in affordable smart handsets coming to market, a substantial chunk of the population now can change the way they go about day-to-day operations.
One such activity that has been affected by this trend is traditional options to invest. The tech wave has paved the way for investment platforms to come to the foray. These platforms allow both new and experienced users to manage their investments with ease and at affordable prices.
With the rising adoption, however, there’s a stiff competition amongst investment apps, mostly those coming into existence over the last five years. In this article, we discuss one such app, which is the ETMONEY app.
What is ETMONEY?
Part of the digital arm of the Times of India Group, Times Internet, ETMONEY was established in November 2016 and has claimed over $1 billion in investments from 750,000 Indians since its inception. The app is considered one of the key players in the investment platform space, receiving a high Google Play Store rating of 4.6.
ETMONEY offers a low-cost route for any user to invest in direct mutual fund plans. The app also has multiple adjacent offerings such as loans, insurance, and tracking of external funds on the app, which we will discuss in greater detail below.
ETMONEY App Review for Mutual Fund investment
To evaluate the ETMONEY app, we take a look at some of the key segments the app offers under the following categories:
1. Features
ETMONEY provides a host of features for users to use. This includes various ways for users to make better investment decisions, as well as features outside of just mutual fund investments:
Smart solutions: The smart solution feature offers users recommended investment plans based on their financial goals. Depending on the user’s investment criteria, the ETMONEY app provides ready-made portfolios to the user to invest in to achieve his or her targets. Some examples are portfolios focussed on tax saving, high growth, etc.
Mutual fund recommendations by category: For the more experienced users, the ETMONEY app provides the option of classifying mutual funds into top companies, top-rated funds, SIPs starting at 500 per month, etc. These categories are useful for users who are aware of where they would want to invest and seek more options along with those categories.
SmartDeposit: Another interesting feature of the ETMONEY app is the SmartDeposit feature. Enabling this feature ensures that a small portion of the user’s monthly amount (as per the user’s choice) is automatically invested in obtaining a stable return on investment in the long run. This feature is particularly useful for those users who do not have much time to follow their finances and often end up with idle money in their accounts.
While the features mentioned above help users in mutual fund investments, the ETMONEY app offers certain adjacent services, which are described below:
National Pension System (NPS): Through the ETMONEY app, users can also invest in the NPS, offering a way to save on tax payments as well as providing financial security for a life post-retirement.
Insurance: Through the ETMONEY app, users can also procure insurance. The app offers life, health, car, and bike insurance options. Users can select the protection they want and can get a quote through the app.
Loans: The ETMONEY app also provides users the option to check their CIBIL score and avail for personal and business loans. The app even offers an ETMONEY credit card, which comes with a range of attractive offers for general purchases and websites. Further, through the app, users can also track their loans, so they never miss a payment. (Loan Pass, another feature in the app is discussed in a separate section below)
Tracking bills and expenses: True to their definition of being a one-stop-shop for all your financial requirements, the ETMONEY app also enables users to track their bills and expenses so they can stay on top of all their monthly payments. The automated bill calendar reads data from the user’s reminder SMSs and captures the information to help remind the user of payments to be made before deadlines.
2. Is ETMONEY safe to use?
The app is safe to use, given that it is registered with SEBI. Further, the encryption of user data provides security to users and prevents data from being leaked or misused.
3. How good is ETMONEY customer care?
While the ETMONEY app does not offer a phone number to contact a representative, it has an inbuilt chat feature that promptly helps users address any queries they may have. This is also supplemented by well-defined FAQs to give users a seamless experience.
4. ETMONEY App charges
The app is a free app where users do not have to pay to create an account or for general investing. The charges levied are limited to the charges of asset management companies depending on the funds you choose to invest in.
5. Loan Pass review
The Loan Pass feature enables users to obtain instant loans of Rs 3000 to Rs 5 lakh. This paperless mechanism is seamless and offers users a great experience. Users need to provide necessary information such as monthly income, Aadhar details, PAN card details, address, etc. If the user meets the eligibility criteria, then they can secure the loan for the desired tenure.
The bottom line
The ETMONEY app is one of the key players in this financial investment segment, commanding a good number of users. The varied list of features on the app, well beyond the traditional mutual fund investment, makes it a prime contender for any user to invest their hard-earned money.
Though they claim that the app has a chat no app has no such facility. There is no phone number to speak about the issues.
Pathetic system, multiple SIPs are created for one transition and multiple debits in my bank account.
Option suggested by the customer care, they have referred the matter to technical team and they will revert, no one has reverted till date. Alternative I was told I can cancel the multiple SIPS, but there is no provision in the app to cancel the multiple SIPs, though the option to modify is available, even that does not work!!
CAN ANYBODY SUGGEST A WAY TO REDEEM A mf units through etmonoy app