[Asia Exclusive] Toss Securities Surpasses 3.5 Million Accounts in Two Months... Overwhelming Speed

Random Drawing Giveaway of One Share Effective
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Jae-min Park, CEO of Toss Securities. / Photo by Dong-joo Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Toss Securities' number of accounts surpassed 3.5 million just over two months after its launch. It is rapidly expanding at a pace that overwhelms existing securities firms. As Kakao Pay Securities, which will compete for the 2030 generation 'Joorini (stock investor + child)', is set to enter the retail market in earnest in the second half of this year, fierce competition is expected.

According to Toss Securities on the 7th, the number of newly opened accounts approached 3.5 million as of the 4th. According to the Korea Securities Depository, the total number of active stock trading accounts was 39.62 million as of March 12. Considering that Toss Securities launched its Mobile Trading System (MTS) on March 15 and started opening new accounts, it has quickly reached a market share of over 8%. Compared to Korea Investment & Securities, the third-largest securities firm, which surpassed 4 million accounts after 15 years in March, this is an overwhelming speed.

The 'Receive 1 Stock Gift' event, where customers receive a stock just by opening an account, was effective in acquiring new customers. During the first event last month, more than 1.7 million new customers were attracted. Since the 20th, existing customers have also been able to participate, and additional stocks can be received by recommending to others in the ongoing second event. Within a week of the event, 700,000 additional new customers joined.

Although there are concerns about excessive cost increases due to this cash-like promotional event, Toss Securities views it as an efficient marketing strategy. CEO Park explained, "The stock gifting event is something other securities firms have also conducted," adding, "The high participation was largely due to it being held within the Toss platform, which has a large MZ generation (born between 1980 and early 2000s) user base."

Along with this, the convenience of the MTS also attracted the attention of new investors. The use of simple terms like 'purchase' instead of 'buy/sell' and an intuitive design received favorable reviews. Recently, based on customer feedback, candlestick charts were added, and key corporate financial indicators such as Return on Equity (ROE), Price-to-Earnings Ratio (PER), and Price-to-Book Ratio (PBR) were enhanced. Additionally, features like 'Real-time Major Issues' that provide important market news and 'Today's Discovery,' an investment education content, were also added.

The key going forward is to settle these newly acquired customers as 'genuine customers.' According to the securities industry, the estimated number of accounts per individual investor is 4 to 5. According to the Korea Securities Depository's 'Status of Listed Company Owners as of December 2020,' there were 9.19 million stock owners (excluding duplicate owners) among 2,352 listed companies.

Kakao Pay Securities' entry is also a strong variable. Like Toss Securities, it targets novice stock investors in their 20s and 30s. Kakao Pay plans to embed the MTS it is developing with its subsidiary Kakao Pay Securities by the end of this year not as a separate application but within the 'national messenger' KakaoTalk and the Kakao Pay app. Currently, KakaoTalk allows users to create general securities accounts and trade funds through Kakao Pay. They intend to add stock trading functions as well. This makes Kakao Pay Securities the biggest competitor to Toss Securities, which also relies on familiarity, ease, and convenience as its strengths.

CEO Park stated, "I do not consider any particular securities firm as a competitor and believe we will create many new markets," adding, "Although we will eventually overlap with Kakao Pay Securities, which currently only handles funds, we will steadily secure genuine customers and establish Toss Securities."