On offer is a whole range of data regarding mutual funds, fixed deposits, bonds and debentures, housing/car finance/personal loans, real-time stock quotes, insurance and the bullion market. Online application forms, list of transfer agents and brokers (with address and telephone), tax-planning, retirement ... you name and it's there. There are a few innovations, too. Like walletwwatch's user-specific query design and loan-swap facility or indiaFN's real estate and credit card information.

Designed bySatyam Infoway Ltd, a fully-owned subsidiary of Satyam Computers, walletwatch is a free-entry website containing a whole gamut of personal finance products. With user-desiged queries, the site is a very valuable source of information. For instance, one can rank debt instruments according to yield, coupon rate or even issue price and make a choice. Orders can also be placed for such investments through a credit-card or by opening an account in HDFC Bank. Walletwatch also allows seasoned investors to plot pattern formations using 10 technical indicators.

Company fundamentals, mutual fund NAVs, research reports, bullion prices also form part of the package. The site also gives real-time stock prices of both NSE and BSE, although direct trading is not possible. However, Satyam has tied up with Karvy Investor Services and IL&FS subsidiary, Investmart, to provide transaction services support through their NSE VSATs. The loan swap is a novel idea which allows a person to swap his loan repayment with a betteroption.

IndiaFN is the brainchild of Dutt-Stock Broking Ltd and offers a series of investment options free of cost. From insurance to credit cards, from information on depositories (including charges and addresses of DPs) to financial news, from corporate announcements (like dividend/bonus/AGM) to loans, they are all there. Novel features include information on real estate, on-line banking, insurance and bookscafe, which lists the name, price and publisher of books on finance and investments.

The problem with indiaFN is that some of the data is old. For example, in the bonds segment, the sole entry is the February issue of ICICI's Safety Bonds. The March issue, which is currently open for subscription, does not find a mention. Similarly, in the India-dedicated overseas funds, a few NAVs are as old as June 1998. Yet another problem with the site is the restricted access in some segments which call for an exclusive arrangement with the company. For any data on saving schemes, tax-planning and IPO primers,for example, this kind of an arrangement is necessary. DSJ's capitalmarket is tilted in favour of equities, with very little or no information on other products. However, there is some data on mutual funds and the debt market. The USP is the BSE news flash and intra-day technicals. However, the data on non-equity products is dated.

While net-based personal finance is an innovation, it has its limits. With E-commerce yet to take off in India, transaction payment and security are major hurdles. Second is the authenticity of the data and its continuous updation. Third, none of the three sites even mention small saving schemes like NSE, PPF and Post-Office Deposits, which account for a considerable portion of a household's disposable income. Fourth, at present, all these sites are free, but with rising costs and little advertisement revenue, a paid subscription could be likely in the future. Last, NRIs cannot be actively associated with most of the site facilities thanks to the RBI guidelines.

-- NanditaDatta