There are mainly two categories of companies in the area of online share trading. First category falls under the traditional banks turned brokers. Examples are ICICI and HDFC. Second type are those companies who are solely into broking; examples for these pukka brokers are Sharkhan, Geojit etc. The services these companies provide for trading online are also known as e-broking. 

The difference between these two categories is that banks handle both banking and online trading in a more integrated manner. However brokerages are focused more on brokerage services and they depend upon a bank for banking transactions.

Banks offer integrated banking and trading:

Banks provide online trading services which are meant only for retail traders who trade from home, office, and from any other place with an Internet connection.

Pure brokers on the other hand like Geojit has tie-up with UTI bank for their clients banking needs. Another difference is that pukka brokers offer additional trading system features such as a trading floor, trading terminals etc. These features are however not the keen interest of a small retailer and especially one who is new to trading. In fact the major beauty of online trading is that you can carry out trading from the convenience of your home avoiding a visit to your brokers office.

Online share trading houses who are exclusive brokers extent facilities which are often not offered by banks. They provide services such as the following. What each trading house offers may differ and some of them provide basic services and additional services as an option. You have to evaluate different trading facilities to understand each one and the differences.

Some features of these trading houses include: