What is a Demat A/c?
Demat A/c is simply short for Dematerialized A/c. Its purpose is to hold all your Financial Securities in an electronic form, eliminating the need and hassle of physical handling of securities and related documents.
There are 2 depositories in India, namely National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) & Central Depository Services Ltd. (CDSL). These depositories hold all the securities in our Demat A/c, in order to offer efficient trading and settlement in the markets. For this, we must open a Demat A/c with a broker (also known as a depository participant) recognized by SEBI.
Just like we have a Bank A/c to keep our cash, we need a Demat A/c to store our securities in an electronic form.
Today, I am going to share my story of how I opened my Demat A/c with Zerodha. There are 2 ways through which this is possible: offline & online. I opened my a/c online; however, I will quickly walk you through the offline process as well. So, let’s begin!
a) Offline account opening
First, you need to download the application forms from their website. Take a printout, fill it up, sign it and send the application to Zerodha via courier at the address mentioned on their website.
After this, you should schedule a meeting with a Zerodha representative who will complete your in-person verification. The representative will guide you with all the documents needed and take signatures wherever necessary, to complete the account opening process. Right now, all of this might take more time than before due to the pandemic. However, you can open an account online as I did. How? Let’s find out...
Before I started with the process, I ensured to keep a scanned copy of my PAN card, Aadhar, signature, and canceled cheque/bank statement in the device from which I was opening my account.
Step 1: Mobile Number & Email verification
I visited the Zerodha website and clicked on the “Sign up” section to start my account opening procedure. The first step was mobile number verification wherein I had to enter my number. After I hit the ‘Continue’ button, I received a 6-digit OTP number which I had to key in on the screen.
Next was email verification. I entered my email id and received a 6-digit OTP in my mailbox. I entered it and pressed continue.
Step 2: PAN verification
For this step, I had to enter my PAN and DOB as per my PAN. The portal asked me to pay a sum of Rs. 300 as an account opening fee. Various payment options like UPI and Net banking were available for the same. I had to fill in all the necessary bank details to complete the payment.
Step 3: Digilocker
After the transaction was successful, the Zerodha portal redirected me to the “Digilocker” window. Digilocker is an online locker wherein we can keep our government-issued documents in an electronic form. I had to separately sign in for Digilocker with my Aadhar, so Zerodha could access necessary documents uploaded in the locker.
Step 4: Personal Details
This step was very simple. Here, I just had to enter my personal details like Name, occupation, trading experience, and bank details carefully.
Step 5: Webcam IPV
For In-person verification (IPV), all I had to do was give my webcam access to Zerodha, write the code flashed on the screen on a blank paper, hold it up to the camera and click a picture. I had to save this picture as my IPV and move ahead with e-signing.
Step 6: E-sign
E- signing was done by uploading my PAN, Aadhar, Income Proof, and signature which I kept handy before starting the process. A Digio dialog box appeared on my screen for registration with the NSDL. I verified my email again. After this, I could see my complete form, check everything, and click on ‘Sign now’.
Voila! I successfully applied for opening a Demat A/c. Within 24 hours I received a mail from Zerodha with a PIN to activate my account. I was instructed to Log in using the same and change my password immediately and that was all.
Isn’t opening a Demat a/c easy peasy lemon squeezy? So, hurry up and click the link below to open your Demat A/c today!
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