BNP Paribas joins BSE to launch Facebook trading app

Seeking to attract young investors to the Indian capital markets, Geojit BNP Paribas has launched 'Flip Social', a stock trading application suite for Facebook, in association with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Investors accessing this Facebook application will be able to trade on BSE and at the same time be in touch with their friends without leaving their Facebook page, said Ashish Kumar Chauhan, managing director and chief executive officer of the BSE.

He inaugurated the new service in Mumbai today along with A P Kurian, chairman of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

The application suite, which resides in Facebook, includes a trading application, investment tutorials and a stock market game that will give players a virtual real time experience of trading in the Indian stock market.

Facebook users can carry out transactions on BSE's trading platform using their access credentials.

A Balakrishan, chief technology officer, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services said, ''Geojit has been on Facebook since 19 September 2010, and we have more than 1,00,000 'likes'. We are expecting them to become users.''

Chauhan added, ''QFIs (qualified financial investors) can also connect through Facebook. It will be an interesting way to connect with QFIs across the world.''

Geojit BNP Paribas has an extensive presence in the Middle East via joint ventures and partnerships with local business groups based in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman.

The method of trading on the Indian market has been changing from the open outcry system in the 1980s to the internet-based trading platform in the 1990s.

According to latest estimates of the total trades in the stock market, 40 per cent of trades happen through the internet and 10 per cent through mobile phones.