IIFL also known as India Infoline Financial Limited is a full-service broker is known to be a pioneer in the Indian stock broking segment. They have more than 4 million customers across their 2300 branches through 18500+ workforce. The conglomerate is also listed on both exchanges as INDIAINFO on NSE, allowing security trading transactions.
This IIFL Review 2020 discusses the various offerings with modern transaction modes and the lowest brokerage through the 5paisa trading platform, IIFL also offers full-service stockbroking services. Since its inception in 1995, IIFL has gained popularity based on its accurate research supported by a strong in-house research team and a dedicated customer support system.
Besides, the firm has also been acclaimed for its quality of services, support, and performance across the sector. Some of its latest achievements include:
Awarded ‘Best Customer Services Excellence in Financial Services’ in the Customer Service & Loyalty Category at the World Quality Congress and Awards 2018.
- Recognized by ET Now and Broadcast One as a ‘Disruptor’ in the BFSI sector for innovation through technological intervention in NBFC space.
- ‘Best Performing Primary Lending Institution’ under CLSS for EWS/LIG – Second by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
- ‘Best Broker with Global presence’ award at the BSE-IPF D&B Equity Broking Awards in 2012 due to its presence in cities like Hong Kong, New York, Colombo, London, and Singapore through various subsidiaries.
- IIFL’s research team has also been awarded many accolades over the years.
IIFLmainly allows its customers to trade in Equity, Currency Trading, Commodity Trading, IPOs, Mutual Funds and Bonds segments.
Here is a detailed look at their services:
Trading Platforms
IIFL offers the following trading platforms to its customers:
IIFL Trader Terminal
This is an executable application that needs to be downloaded and installed on the users’ laptop/desktop to start trading. This app is made especially for those who are active traders and like to trade in high volume. Here are some of the features of the app:
- Suitable for high volume trading with a powerful interface and super-fast order execution
- Live streaming of market quotes and prices for multiple stocks
- Access to Live Intraday price charts which get updated live
- Get instant P&L of your present and past trades
- Follow as many stocks as you want and get instant alerts on any price movements
- Easy cancellation of past and present orders at the click of a button
- Track the top gainers and losers of the day
- Facility to square off all your trades at the click of a button
- Online fund transfer facility with banks like HDFC, ICICI, etc.
- Access to research reports, market calls to help you with your trades
- Online intraday calls, technical analysis tools and much more at the click of a button
Here is the look and feel of the terminal:
IIFL Trader Terminal Web
The trader terminal application is also available as a browser-based platform where you just need to login and start trading without having to go through the hassle of installing software. This terminal is made for those customers who don’t want to trade in high volumes and doesn’t offer super-high-speed execution of trades.
Users can log in based on what particular segment they want to trade-in. Some of the different logins are below:
- Equity
- Currency
- Commodity
Some of the features of this application are:
- Heat maps
- Ease of access from your browser
- Research reports and real-time tips
- Advanced tools and charting patterns
Here is the browser-based application looks like
IIFL Markets Mobile App
IIFL Markets is the mobile app from India Infoline which is available for Android, ios and Windows users. This app is very highly rated on the Android App store with a rating of 4.⅗. Some of the features of the mobile app are below:
- Access to live market updates and news on the tap of a button
- Trade from anywhere using a single swipe feature which allows you to place a trade by swiping
- Set price alerts of securities across all segments
- Make multiple watchlists across different segments
- Easily connect with the customer support at the tap of a button
- Users can now apply for an IPO through the mobile app
- Get all the required information about stock from price to latest news and updates at a single click
Here is how the app looks like:
IIFLs Mobile App is one of the top-performing apps in its segment with great features and fast loading speed. However, that being said it can still be improved in a few sections.
IIFL Customer Care
These days the customers have very high expectations from customer care. The resolution quality, turn around time, skills of the customer care executive are all the factors that affect the customer care service.
IIFL provides the following modes of communication with the customers:
- Offline branches
- Toll-Free Number
- Phone Number
India Infoline services its customers via the above channels but it is understood that clients having higher trading volume get better service than the customer having lower trading volumes. This is something that can be improved upon.
IIFL Pricing
Here are the Account Opening and Maintenance charges levied by IIFL:
| Trading Account Opening Charges (One Time) | ₹750 |
| Trading Annual Maintenance Charges | ₹0 |
| Demat Account Opening Charges (One Time) | ₹555 |
| Demat Annual Maintenance Charges(Yearly Fee) | ₹300 |
IIFL Brokerage
IIFL provides various plans to its customers based on their preference, here are the plans in detail:
IIFL Variable Brokerage Plan
This plan is suitable for traders who hold on to their trades for a long time with a time horizon between a few days to a year for a trade:
| Monthly Volume (in Lakhs) | Delivery Brokerage Fee(in%) |
| Less than 1 | 0.6 |
| 1-5 | 0.55 |
| 5-10 | 0.45 |
| 10-20 | 0.35 |
| 20-60 | 0.25% |
| 60-200 | 0.2 |
| More than 200 | 0.15 |
Intraday Trading: Brokerage applicable both sides
This brokerage plan is meant for intraday traders who trade on a very short term basis. Here are the details:
| Monthly Volume (in Lakhs) | Delivery Brokerage Fee(in%) |
| Less than 20 | 0.05 |
| 20-100 | 0.04 |
| 100-500 | 0.03 |
| More than 500 | 0.02 |
Futures Trading: Brokerage Applicable both sides
This plan is applicable for those looking to trade in futures. Here are the details:
| Monthly Volume (in Lakhs) | Intraday (in%) | Settlement (in%) |
| Less than 100 | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| 100-500 | 0.04 | 0.04 |
| 500-1000 | 0.03 | 0.03 |
| 1000-5000 | 0.025 | 0.025 |
| More than 5000 | 0.02% | 0.02% |
Options Trading: Brokerage Applicable both sides
This plan is applicable to those looking to trade-in options. Here are the details:
| Monthly Volume (in Lakhs) | Intraday (in%) | Settlement (in%) |
| Less than 4 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| 4-10 | 2 | 2 |
| 10-20 | 1.75 | 1.75 |
| 20-50 | 1.25 | 1.25 |
| More than 50 | 1 | 1 |
Flat Brokerage Plan
This plan is applicable as a conventional plan at a transactional level. Here are the details:
| Brokerage | Rate |
| Intraday | 0.50% |
| Delivery | 0.50% |
| Trade for Trade and Z group scrip | 0.75% |
| Brokerage (Futures) | 0.05% |
| Brokerage (Options) | 1% premium or ₹100 per lot whichever is higher |
| Minimum Brokerage(per share) | ₹0.05 |
IIFL Transaction Charges
Here are the transaction charges being levied by IIFL:
| Segment | Transaction/Turnover Charges |
| Equity Delivery | 0.00325% |
| Equity Intraday | 0.00325% |
| Equity Futures | 0.00210% |
| Equity Options | 0.0510% |
| Currency Futures | 0.00210% |
| Currency Options | 0.0510% |
| Commodity | 0.028% |
India Infoline charges minimal transaction charges from its clients although its brokerage is on the higher side. There are certain brokers who charge very high transaction charges by keeping their brokerage but IIFL is not one of them, hence it is one of the trusted Indian brokers.
IIFL Margin
Here are the margin details provided by the broker:
| Segment | Margin |
| Equity Delivery | Up to 20 times Intraday, 3 times for delivery |
| Equity Futures | Up to 3 times Intraday |
| Equity Options | Buying no leverage, shorting up to 3 times |
| Currency Futures | Up to 2 times Intraday |
| Currency Options | Buying no leverage, shorting up to 2 times |
| Commodity | Up to 3 times Intraday |
Complaints
Complaints are a way to gauge customer satisfaction among the client base. As per the below table, the number of complaints against IIFL has been low over the years meaning a reasonably better customer service as compared to other full-service brokers. Here are the number of complaints registered against IIFL over the years:
| Exchange | Financial Year | Active Clients | Total Complaints |
| NSE | 2019-20 | 211561 | 7 |
| NSE | 2018-19 | 221753 | 133 |
| NSE | 2017-18 | 225435 | 138 |
| NSE | 2016-17 | 197996 | 220 |
| NSE | 2015-16 | 262238 | 238 |
| NSE | 2014-15 | 286032 | 447 |
| NSE | 2013-14 | 235241 | 241 |
| NSE | 2012-13 | 1019778 | 336 |
To access the complete list of complaints registered against brokers with NSE, just click on this link
Conclusion
In a very competitive broking industry, IIFL has been able to perform relatively by providing good products and services to its clients, but their focus has always been on customers that offer large volumes of trades which needs to change if they are to survive in this industry especially after the growing competition from discount brokers who offer similar services at a deep discount. To know more about discount broker like Zerodha, read our review on them by clicking here