Comparison of Online Stock Brokers in The Philippines

There are 21 Online Stock Brokers in the Philippines according to Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) but we are going to discuss only two of the brokers namely; Philstocks and COL Financial. I personally have an account on these two online brokers. There are other promising online brokerage firms but it would be unfair to make a review about them without experiencing their service firsthand.

COL FINANCIAL

        COL Financial has been in the business for 15 years already. Their vision is to allow a low-cost and easily accessible means to invest in the Philippine Stock Market.

SAMPLE USER-INTERFACE

MOBILE APP:

EASE OF OPENING AN ACCOUNT:

       > When I opened an account with them it took me almost a week before I got my account.

      The following are the steps in opening a COL account:
      1. You need to decide what type of account you will open: COL STARTER, COL PLUS or COL PREMIUIM.
      2. Download and fill-out their forms. Click here.  
      3. Photocopy one (1) valid government ID - For Filipino Residents
      4. Send originally signed forms and requirements, either personally or thru courier, to either of these addresses:

COL FINANCIAL BUSINESS CENTER
2403B East Tower, PSE Centre
Exchange Road, Ortigas Center,
Pasig City 1605, Philippines

COL, FINANCIAL MAKATI INVESTOR CENTER
Mezzanine, Citibank Center,
8741 Paseo de Roxas
Makati City 1227, Philippines


(I used the first address when I sent my documents to COL.)

      5. Then, you will receive an email from COL containing your Account ID and instructions on how to fund your account (Please refer below to the minimum-amount-required section in making your initial deposit).

      6. Once you have funded your account, you will receive an email containing your system generated password. It is usually within 2-3 days from your initial deposit. 

          

          The Final email should look something like this:

 

MINIMUM AMOUNT REQUIRED:

*What is the difference between the three accounts?

Fig. 2 shows the comparison of features of the three account types.

FEES IN FUNDING YOUR ACCOUNT:

Deposit Channel	BDO	BPI	MBT	CHINABANK
Internet Banking	Php 10.00	Php5.00	Php4.00	Php10.00
Phone Banking	Php10.00	Php20.00	NOT AVAILABLE	NOT AVAILABLE
ATM	Php10.00	Php20.00	NOT AVAILABLE	NOT AVAILABLE
Over-the-counter	Php20.00	Php110.00	Php25.00	NOT AVAILABLE
Express Link	NOT AVAILABLE	Php5.00	NOT AVAILABLE	NOT AVAILABLE

FEES IN BUYING AND SELLING STOCKS:

 

REMAKS:

            PROS:
                      *COL has an EIP or Easy Investment Program. This is for the long-term investors using the Peso-Cost Averaging. This method would lessen the risk of losses by buying a stock with a fixed amount on a regular interval. This feature is suitable for those investors who are unable to buy stocks during trading hours or have no time monitoring the stock prices. It has automated the buying of your stock picks as long as you have enough buying powers in your account.

                       * Customer Service is great. They have a prompt and responsive CS. You will have no problem asking them anything about the ins and outs of the stock market trading.

                       * There is a vast collection of researches in their website which you can use in deciding what stocks to buy.

                       * I never had a problem withdrawing my money from them.

                       * IMO, their trading interface is the most user-friendly especially to newbies. 

             CONS:
                        * Most of the time their trading system lags. You will have a hard time executing your orders and stock quotes are sometimes delay. These problems are not important to long term investors and those who are using the EIP.
                      
                       *In their mobile app, once you have posted an order you can't make any changes or cancellation on it. If you want to change your order you need to go directly to their website.

WEBSITE:  

https://www.colfinancial.com/ape/Final2/home/HOME_NL_MAIN.asp?p=0
                   
                     You can also contact them thru these numbers:
                     Trunk line - (632) 636-5411
                     Customer Service Hotline - (636) 6-515-888
                     Fax No - (632) 636-3512
                     E-mail - helpdesk@COLFinancial.com

PHILSTOCKS.ph

     Philstocks Financial Inc is a brokerage firm established since 2001 and was previously called Accord Securities Inc.

SAMPLE USER INTERFACE:

MOBILE APP:

EASE OF OPENING AN ACCOUNT:

     > Opening an account with them took me just 3 days from the time I delivered the required documents thru courier. 

     The following are the steps in opening an account with them:

    

     1. You need first to register an account online in their website. Once you're registered, you will be given a Username and Temporary Password to view your account for 7 days. You will also receive an email detailing all the documents to be filled-out and the basic requirements you need to send to them.

     2. The email that you'll receive will also contain instructions on how to fund your account and how to submit your documents to them. The following are the options in submitting the documents:
       
         * Submit documents personally to any Accord Capital Branches
         * Avail their Pick-Up Service (Free for applications with initial investment of 100,000)
         * Send via Courier (e.g LBC, Air21, etc.)
         * Send via Mail Service

         (You can send first the scanned copies of all the requirements to info@philstocks.ph for initial screening/validation)

        (You also need to make an initial deposit  to your account worth at least Php5,000.00. There are multiple options to fund your account and the steps to do it is included in the email message that you'll receive. You need to send a scanned copy of any proof of deposit to initialfund@philstocks.ph)

     3. After sending your documents, you will receive an acknowledgement email once they receive your documents. It will take 2-3 days ,from reception, for verification and activation process. You will receive another email once your account has been activated.

       (All communications I made to Philstocks was thru email while I was undergoing the account opening process.)

MINIMUM AMOUNT REQUIRED:

         

       * You'll only need a minimum of Php5,000.00  to open a Philstocks account. These will all be use in purchasing stocks of your choice.

FEES IN FUNDING YOUR ACCOUNT:

     There are 5 options in funding your account:
     1. Weepay (Bancnet, Megalink)                 -  This will cost you additional 25php per transaction
     2. BPI Bills Payment                                  -  This will cost you additional 25php per transaction
     3. BPI or BDO  OTC (Over-The-Counter) -  Free
     4. BDO Online Banking                             -  Free
     5. Remittance or Wire Transfer                  -  Rate of the remittance company

     *Remember that "any proof of deposit" is to be emailed at initialfund@philstocks.ph when making an initial deposit. For succeeding deposits, the proof of deposit shall be sent to addfunds@philstocks.ph

FEES IN BUYING AND SELLING STOCKS:

     
     *They have the same fees with COL when executing trade orders online.

     Here is how they stated it in their website:

REMARKS:

     PRO:  

             * They have very fast trade executions

             * Reliable Real-Time Quotes

             * With existing mobile app (good looking user-interface and traders-friendly mobile app)

       * The advance setting in their portfolio window is the most useful in terms of portfolio monitoring. The advance setting shows the breakdown of your total gain or loss if you bought the same stock at different instances.

Advance Portfolio

             *Their trading platform is very suitable for traders (those who want to trade in short term).

             *Their Customer Service -for me - can be summarize in three words: "Exceeding Customer Satisfaction". 

         Aside from being responsive to my email queries, there is one event that really exceeded my expectations. I emailed them asking about how to participate in Initial Public Offering (IPO). Instead of getting just an email reply, what I got is a call from them which is just a few hours since I emailed them. The lady on the other line was very polite and specific in giving the information that I needed.

            *Fees when funding your account is minimal compared to COL.

     CONS:

           * When funding your account you have to send a proof of deposit to them thru email following a specific format on the "Subject" part of your email. Every time I make an additional deposit, I would always forget the format on the subject. This would cost me additional time because I need to review the funding process.

             * Charting in Philstocks is not as user-friendly as the charts in COL.

WEBSITE:   

 http://portal.philstocks.ph/

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated to any of these online stock brokers nor do I promote them. All information are base on experiences and researches. Rest assured that diligence has been done to make sure that all information are reliable and correct. I shall not be held responsible to any amount lost incurred when transacting between these online brokers, if such situation occurs due to unforeseen reasons.