First time investor - Invest in Mutual Funds without stepping out

Online Friendly Mutual Funds

I went through application process for purchasing mutual funds online, spent 2 lacs to generate this study, so that you don't have to suffer. I targeted direct option with all funds as if I were a first time investor.

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With most MFs a little bit of juggling between your personal data like bank account, MICR code and PIN/password generation exercise - you will get online, you can transact online.

Here is the online friendliness meter
Red - Deceptive; First purchase is easy but online transactions are not available
Orange - Paper work involved; This is when you can't make first purchase online
Yellow - Light paper work involved; submission of forms for PIN generation is involved
Green - Good, everything can be done online; no need to step outside

One's marked in Red and Orange are least user and online friendly. Most of them use Karvy software for operations and Karvy is BAD at customer service. For Canara Robeco and IDBI - any emails you send to customer service will go to Karvy! These MFs are not even interested in talking to customers. This is bad news for investors.

Escorts has no online presence, it is very odd that they don't have it.

I chose India Post speed post for all posting of paperwork, most of it just cost 17 rupees within the city. Tracking and sms alerts are bonus.

	Online Account Opening	Online Transactions	Ease of Use / Transactions	Security/authentication
Axis	Yes, 2 step register and buy	Yes, once folio is created	Yes, fairly easy	okay
Birla	Yes, 3 steps, first log request for zero balance folio and then wait for activation, and then buy	Yes, Once folio is created	Yes, fairly easy to use	okay
BNP	No, all paper	No Need to request for a PIN. Site is also confusing as it serves both Sundaram and BNP	Not so great	Sharing concerns between Sundaram and BNP
Canara	Yes, 2 step but fully ridden with problems - fake online ease to buy but paper labor to follow	No Needs paper work with physical documents and post, twice the work	Ok, poor customer service is painful	okay
DSPBR	No, all paper and post	Yes, easy once folio is created	Straight forward	okay
DWS	No, all paper and post	Yes, easy once folio is created	okay	okay
Escorts	No, all paper and post	No online portal	No online portal	No online portal
Franklin	Yes, 2 step, register and buy	Yes, easy once folio is created	Yes	okay
ICICI	Yes, 2 step, register and buy	Yes, easy once folio is created	Yes, old style ui	okay
IDBI	Yes, 2 step but ridden with paperwork - fake online ease to buy but paper labor to follow	No, folio is frozen till all paper work is submitted, twice the work	Painful, need to submit documents and wait, poor customer support	okay
IDFC	Yes, 1 step	Yes, but will need to wait for 3rd party verification	One of the most easy websites to use	okay
JP Morgan	No, all paper	No, will need to apply through paper and post	okay	okay
Kotak	Yes, 1 step	No, will need to apply for PIN through paper and post	okay	okay
Mirae	No, all paper and post	Yes, once folio is created	okay	okay
Motilal	Yes, 1 step	Lacks username password creation ability, you have to key in folio number	doesn't show progress, apart from that is is okay	Potential risk of key sniffing as folio number is keyed in
Principal	Yes, 1 step but ridden with paper work - fake online ease to buy but paper labor to follow	Yes, once folio is created, works only on MS Internet Explorer!	only internet explorer can be used. Firefox and Chrome aren't supported!	okay
Reliance	Yes, 1 step	Yes, once folio is created	good	okay
SBI	No, all paper work	Yes, once folio is created	okay	okay
Sundaram	No, all paper work	Yes, once folio is created	okay	okay
Tata	No, all paper work	Yes, once folio is created	okay	okay
UTI	Yes, 2 step	Yes, once folio is created	okay	okay