[Smart Finance Awards] Samsung Securities, Customized Design for Beginner Investors... Excellent Security and Accessibility for Disabled Users

Technical Division - Samsung Securities

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] Samsung Securities ranked first in the technology category in the mobile trading system (MTS) evaluation of the ‘2021 Asia Smart Finance Awards.’ It received high marks for enabling security-sensitive users to use the MTS conveniently and safely. It was also evaluated that the barriers to mobile app service access for people with disabilities were relatively low, as alternative text was provided on screens for key functions, and information different from the screen was provided to avoid confusion.

In June this year, Samsung Securities officially launched the simplified investment app ‘O2 (Otu: Today’s Investment),’ which significantly enhanced convenience. The biggest feature of O2 is its customized design for beginner investors (Tuurini: investment + child), which greatly reduces the total number of menus compared to existing competitors’ MTS that only offered some functions such as domestic stocks and funds, and gathers frequently used functions on one screen.

Looking at O2’s menus, there are a total of 78 menus, which is about one-sixth of the 510 menus in the company’s existing mPOP app. This was arranged by carefully analyzing the usage patterns of existing MTS users and selecting only the essential menus from the perspective of beginner investors to make it easy for investors to find the menus they want.

On O2’s home screen ‘MY,’ major functions such as ‘Total Balance,’ ‘Held Stocks,’ ‘Watchlist,’ ‘Reports,’ and ‘Events,’ which account for 86% of the functions used by existing asset MTS app users, are gathered. Essential core information is placed on the first screen to shorten the inquiry and transaction process.

O2 recommends customized stocks and financial products that investors are interested in based on artificial intelligence (AI) analysis. Investors can check investment information only for their interests or held stocks, and view asset status and changes at a glance. Instead of listing all products, only a few are selected, recent investment trends are explained first, and products are recommended subsequently in context. Investors can receive non-face-to-face investment consultations through chatbots, chat, FAQs, etc., suitable for the screen they are currently viewing, as well as detailed consultation feedback through images and videos.

A Samsung Securities official said, "O2 provides an easy and convenient UI/UX (user interface and experience) for beginner investors and the MZ generation," adding, "It offers only core products centered on what suits me and has implemented easy access to non-face-to-face consultations."