State-run Union Bank of India (UBI) and Emkay Share and Stock Brokers Limited have entered into a strategic alliance which would offer Emkay's online trading services ‘emtrade’ to the bank's customers.        

This is the bank's third partnership with online trading companies. Earlier, UBI formed tie-ups with Sharekhan and IDBI Capital. The association is aimed at offering UBI's customers the convenience of online investing as well as the ability to make informed investment decisions. The alliance will offer bank customers the opportunity to invest in equities, mutual funds and initial public offerings utilizing Emkay’s online trading platform ‘emtrade’.

Under the online trading facility, any customer of UBI at any of its CBS branches can use this online trading platform from any place with an Internet connection. The tie-up with Emkay Share is expected to cater to bank’s South Indian customers. The bank also plans to sign a similar agreement with Religare for providing services in Delhi.

The bank will initially roll out this service in Tamil Nadu where it has over 20,000 customers using Internet banking. It has 22 million customers across the country of which, 2.2 lakh customers are using its internet banking service.