Korea Investment & Securities boosts perks for first-time account openers

Korea Investment & Securities announced Monday that it will begin offering investment credits to first-time account openers through BanKIS, its non-face-to-face and financial platform-linked account opening service, starting this month.

Customers who open their first account this month will receive a 20,000-won ($14) investment credit — usable like cash for domestic stock purchases during the first week after account opening — on top of the existing benefit of two randomly selected shares from KOSPI 200 constituent stocks.

The benefit applies equally to customers who sign up through Korea Investment & Securities' website or mobile trading system and those who join through any of its partner channels.

Korea Investment & Securities has established partnerships with global financial information platform Investing.com, virtual asset exchange Coinone, and major internet banks including Kakao Bank, Toss Bank and K bank to offer integrated account opening services.

The firm is also concentrating on diversifying its channels so that customers can open accounts, trade shares and subscribe to financial products from anywhere without visiting a branch. The effort aims to help novice investors and those in their 20s and 30s enter the stock market with ease.

As of June, customers in their 20s and 30s accounted for more than half — 51.2 percent — of new accounts acquired through partner channels. Korea Investment & Securities recently partnered with fashion platform Musinsa to host a hands-on stock investment competition.

The company is also expanding its lineup of financial products such as bonds, and has made instruments including promissory notes and repurchase agreements available for trading 365 days a year. It is additionally focused on improving investment convenience by revamping the current-price screens for domestic stocks and ETFs on its mobile trading app "Korea Investment" and upgrading ISA management features.

"We are concentrating our efforts on strengthening benefits and infrastructure so that customers familiar with mobile platforms can access financial markets without barriers through partner channels and get off to a stable start with their first stock trades," said Kwak Jin, head of Korea Investment & Securities' eBiz division. "We will continue to expand the investment base through digital channel diversification and differentiated services."