Korea Investment & Securities courts ISA customers with hotel dining vouchers, gift cards

As individual savings accounts, known as ISA, draw growing interest as a tax-saving and long-term asset management tool, competition among brokerages to attract customers is intensifying. Korea Investment & Securities is launching an ISA enrollment event offering hotel dining vouchers, gift cards and asset transfer rewards.

Korea Investment & Securities announced Thursday that it will run a promotional event for brokerage ISA account customers through July 31.

Under the event, customers who hold a Bankis ISA brokerage account, sign up for the "stock and ETF accumulation" service and complete purchases of at least 1 million won will be entered into a draw — 30 winners will each receive a hotel two-person course dining voucher worth 600,000 won. The stock and ETF accumulation service automatically purchases shares or exchange-traded funds on a set schedule.

Benefits for new customers are also available. Those who open a new brokerage ISA account and make a net deposit of at least 1 million won will receive a 10,000-won gift card. Customers transferring assets from another financial institution will receive up to 910,000 won in rewards depending on the size of their net deposit. Customers who make an early deposit of at least 5 million won by June 30 will receive an additional 10,000 won.

Korea Investment & Securities will also offer special-issue promissory notes on a first-come, first-served basis to ISA account holders. Customers may subscribe for up to five times their ISA deposit amount, subject to a ceiling of 1 billion won. As of Thursday, the pre-tax annual yields are 4.0 percent for the six-month tenor, 4.1 percent for nine months and 4.2 percent for 12 months.

An ISA allows holders to invest in a range of financial products — including shares, bonds and funds — within a single account while receiving tax benefits. Annual contributions are capped at 20 million won, with a total limit of 100 million won. Income generated within the account is exempt from tax up to 4 million won under the general public tier. Earnings above that threshold are subject to a separate flat tax of 9.9 percent.

"As customer interest in tax savings and diversified investment has grown, we designed this event to maximize the structural advantages of ISA and deliver differentiated benefits," a Korea Investment & Securities official said. "We will continue to introduce effective products and services that help customers steadily grow their assets."

As ISA has established itself as a leading tax-advantaged investment vehicle, marketing competition among brokerages has expanded. Shinhan Investment is also running a cash reward event for new and transferring brokerage ISA customers through Aug. 31.