A Case Of Stock Till You Drop
Sun Herald
Sunday July 25, 1999
SHARE investors will be able to go on a shopping spree in the first reward scheme to be offered by a stockbroker.
Australia's first discount stockbroker has renamed itself Pont and introduced the novel rewards scheme for share trading as well as offering the cheapest Internet-based brokerage rate yet.
Its $27.95 brokerage will be $1.05 below the Commonwealth Bank's ShareDirect, $21.55 below E*Trade and up to $70 cheaper than traditional brokers on share trades up to $14,000.
But Pont will also give 10 reward points for every $50 spent in brokerage. As well, there will be bonus rewards for clients who introduce a new customer. Pont charges a flat $50 for phone trades, irrespective of their value.
"For the first time share traders will get double benefits - discount rates plus reward points," said Pont's managing director Simon Brooker.
That means 20 phone trades would earn 200 points, enough for a $20 gift voucher from Myer/Grace Bros; 500 points can be redeemed for a $50 voucher, and 1,000 points for a $100 voucher. In effect this is another 2 per cent off for heavy share traders.
In another aggressive move, Mr Brooker said: "All new clients who sign up, which is free, will get a cheque for $10. You can sign up on the phone (1300 651 001)."
The new Internet site is expected to be up and running on Friday.
For trades worth more than $14,000 the brokerage will be 0.25pc of the value. This compares with ShareDirect's 0.3pc. E*Trade's 0.1pc is the cheapest for trades over $75,000 on the Internet. But Pont's $50 phone flat rate is cheaper again.
The broker has changed its name from Zenas Direct Holdings to Pont Financial Group, and includes two directors from the original Pont Securities which challenged the domination of the old money stockbroking firms.
The re-emergence of Pont is a direct assault on the lucrative Internet trading brokers ShareDirect and E*Trade which report record numbers of clients and trades.
None of the Internet brokers offers advice.
Mr Brooker said: "This is for the do-it-yourself investor.
"We are testing the program but hope to have the online service (www.pont online.com.au) up and running by the end of the week."
Pont will be the second broker after E*Trade to offer "straight-through processing" to the stock exchange computer.
Mr Brooker made no secret of the fact that Pont is gunning for the 40,000 active clients of ShareDirect and E*Trade's 20,000.
© 1999 Sun Herald
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