If you haven't read the Part I click here and Part II here
How to choose your stock broker?
I have only tried online stock trading and have used both BPI Trade and Citiseconline. Below are my experience in using the online facility of the said stockbroker.
BPI Trade
BPITrade is an Internet Investment web site which offers the following: (1) online, real-time stock trading with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) through BPI Securities Corporation; (2) fixed income investments through BPI Capital Corporation.
With BPITrade, you have access to real-time market information, online order placement, portfolio management and research as well as a unique capability of diversifying your investments over a wide array of products at a click of a button.
BPI Securities Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BPI Capital Corporation, the investment house which, in turn, is wholly-owned by the Bank of the Philippine Islands. The Bank of the Philippine Islands, founded in 1851, is one of the country's largest commercial banks.
The fact that it is affiliated with one of the largest bank in the Philippines makes it a plus
Minimum Investment Required
There's no minimum investment required to open a BPI Trade Account. However, they require that you maintain a savings or current account with the Bank of the Philippine Islands, BPI Family Savings Bank, or BPI Direct Savings Bank.
Once you have your BPI Trade Account, you need to fund it so you can buy and sell stocks online.
The plus side here is that any cash you have with your BPI Trade earns interest so even if you are not invested in stocks, you still earn. (The interest rate is low same with savings deposit so you are better invested than to have an idle cash)
Online Facility
The website offer off-hours order setting. This means that you can place order to sell or order to buy stocks even if the market is closed. The trading hours of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) are from 9:30:00 AM to 12:00:00 PM, Manila time (GMT +8), Monday to Friday so if you don't have time to trade during these hours, the offline order is a good point for you. You can set your orders during the night.
Funding the Account
To fund the account, you just deposit at any BPI Bank. You can also enroll your account in BPI Express Online then just transfer funds from your other savings or checking account.
Clearing of Funds
Cash proceeds from the sale of stocks will be credited to your BPITrade Bank Account only on settlement date, which is T+3 (three business days after the transaction date) and thus, will not be immediately available for reinvestment. Lastly, cash proceeds from the sale of fixed income securities will be available on T+2. This is a bit of downside since other stockbroker allows you to immediately used the funds from sales transaction to buy new stocks.
Withdrawing Funds
To withdraw cash from your account, just make an online request in the bpitrade website and it will be credited to your nominated BPI savings account
CitisecOnline
CitisecOnline was established in 1999 with the vision of allowing a low-cost and easily accessible means to invest in the Philippine Stock Market. Over the years, it has developed a full sweep of services to empower the retail investor. These include real-time quotes, research services and reports, as well as expert-broker support, by providing him the tools to assist him make intelligent decisions. It also allows real-time execution of trades, which is the best practice in the local online trading industry. With its experience in servicing experienced investors looking for more convenient ways of stock trading, CitisecOnline is well-poised to drive the development of the online trading investor market in confluence with the increased penetration of internet access, broadband services and increasingly tech-savvy investing public.
It is publicly listed company.
Minimum Investment Required
For EIP and Starter (student) accounts, the minimum deposit is Php5,000.
For regular COL trading accounts, the minimum deposit is Php25,000
Online Facility
The website also offers off-hours order setting. This means that you can place order to sell or order to buy stocks even if the market is closed. The trading hours of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) are from 9:30:00 AM to 12:00:00 PM, Manila time (GMT +8), Monday to Friday so if you don't have time to trade during these hours, the offline order is a good point for you. You can set your orders during the night.
Another plus of Citiseconline is that they offer Good Until Cancelled Order (GTC). The CitisecOnline Good-Till-Cancel order allows the user to enter an order to buy or sell which will stay valid for 7-days or until the order is fully matched, cancelled, rejected, or no longer has sufficient funds or stocks. Any unfilled Limit GTC Orders will be stored in an order queue at the end of the day and will get sent to the Exchange during market pre-open of the next trading session. This is a good tool because you don't have to set another order it was not matched during the day. With regular off-hours order, once the stock market trading for the day has been completed, the order is automatically cancelled requiring you to make another one.
Funding the Account
You can deposit at any BDO or BPI account. Merchant Payment facility is also available through BPI expressonline and BDO Online Banking.
Clearing of Funds
You can use the proceeds to immediately buy another stock or even the same stock if you wish. There is no need for you to wait three days for clearing. However if you wish to withdraw the funds, you must wait three days after you sell to avail of its proceeds.
Withdrawing from your Account
You have to fill up a form, fax it to Citisec and call. They will deposit the amount to your nominated account.
