5 Apps You Can Use to Buy Digital Gold This Dhanteras

The auspicious day of Dhanteras is here, marking the start of the festive season in India. It is almost customary to commemorate this occasion by purchasing metals like gold and silver as a mark of good fortune. However, this can be a hassle too. Markets and jewellery stores are often crowded around this time of the year, which not only increases waiting times but also limits the options. Fortunately, there's a convenient solution to this problem, which not only allows you to purchase gold, but also right from the comfort of your home — Digital Gold.

What is Digital Gold?

To put it simply, digital gold is an online alternative to traditional gold. It allows you to invest in up to 24-karat gold, eliminating the need to physically take delivery of it and then worry about its storage. When you purchase digital gold, an equivalent amount of physical gold is purchased on your behalf and stored in a secure and insured vault. This process takes place with regulated partners such as Augmont, MMTC-PAMP, or SafeGold.

The gold balance is maintained digitally on the platforms, and the transactions are updated as soon as you make a digital gold purchase.

Three Benefits and Three Risks of Digital Gold

Like any other investment, digital gold also has benefits and risks associated with it.

Benefits

1. No Hassle of Storage - Since digital gold is stored in a secure and insured vault by the associated partner, it eliminates the headache of storing it in a locker and decreases theft risk.
2. High Purity - Digital gold is 24K-rated and 99.9 percent pure, which is nearly impossible to find at jewellery stores. Its quality is certified by government-licensed agencies.
3. Ease of Transaction - It also involves low investment, meaning you can invest in digital gold for as low as Re. 1. Further, it has easy liquidity, enabling it to be purchased or sold off at any given time.

Risks

1. Lack of regulation - Digital gold is not regulated by authorised by either the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) or the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
2. Conversion charges - If you ever decide to convert digital gold into gold coins or gold bars, you will incur additional charges for minting, delivery, and a minimum weight threshold.

If purchasing digital gold is still on your mind after reading the benefits and risks of digital gold, you can do so through popular FinTech and payment apps in India. Here are the top five apps you can use to buy digital gold this Dhanteras.

1. Airtel Payments Bank - Airtel Payments Bank enables the purchase of digital gold in partnership with SafeGold.
2. Google Pay - This app partners with MMTC-PAMP to facilitate the purchase of digital gold.
3. Groww - Apart from investments, you can purchase or sell digital gold via Groww, in partnership with Augmont.
4. PhonePe - Another widely used UPI app in India, digital gold can be purchased with PhonePe, thanks to its partnerships with MMTC-PAMP, SafeGold, and Jar.
5. Amazon Pay - You can also make digital gold purchases through Amazon Pay. It partners with SafeGold to facilitate the purchase and storage.