Searching 'Shin Ramyun' shows 'Nongshim' stocks... Toss Securities without HTS, all-in on convenience

Revolutionizing Function and Design with User-Friendly MTS for Beginners
No Complex Installation HTS; Easy Web Access on PC
Strategy to Establish as the 'First Stock Trading App' for Future Generations

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Viva Republica, which has emerged as a leading domestic fintech (finance + technology) company through its simple remittance service 'Toss,' is officially launching Toss Securities. Without creating a separate PC-based Home Trading System (HTS), it aims to target novice stock investors in their 20s and 30s with a simplified mobile trading system that minimizes complex trading screens and difficult item names.

According to the financial investment industry on the 19th, Toss Securities, which positions itself as a mobile-specialized securities firm, plans to release a Mobile Trading System (MTS) with significantly enhanced features. First, it will greatly reduce complex trading screens and difficult terms. Terms like 'buy' and 'sell' stocks will be replaced with words that investors can easily understand. A faster and more intuitive stock search method will also be introduced. When entering a representative product, related stock items will be searched immediately. For example, entering 'Shin Ramyun' will link to the 'Nongshim' stock. This is considered a step beyond the Korean initial consonant input stock search function recently introduced by securities firms such as Ebest Securities.

They decided not to create a separate HTS. Instead, they will operate a Web Trading System (WTS) that can be used simply by accessing the website without installing any additional programs. When accessing the website, Toss Securities' MTS will be implemented on the web. It is expected to be more convenient than the existing HTS, which required installing various security programs and going through public certificate verification procedures. Unlike most domestic securities firms that started with HTS and expanded to MTS, Toss is designing all strategies centered on mobile from the beginning.

Through this, Toss Securities is expected to focus on relatively underserved young novice investors in the stock market rather than competing head-on with large securities firms. Among the existing 18 million Toss members, 10 million (60%) are customers in their 20s and 30s, so the strategy is to establish itself as the first stock trading app for the many novice investors in the future. After obtaining the financial investment business license from the Financial Services Commission the day before, Toss Securities CEO Jaemin Park emphasized, "We designed all MTS functions from the perspective of investment beginners and completely reorganized key services such as menu composition, naming, and investment information exploration. This will be an alternative for investors who found existing securities programs complicated or had vague fears about stocks," reflecting this strategy.

Toss Securities will first recruit some pre-customers to conduct a closed beta test (CBT) and then start operations early next year. This is a process similar to launching a new game. Since there are no offline branches, all services from account opening to investment will be provided online. Starting with domestic stock brokerage, the service will later expand to overseas stock brokerage and collective investment securities (fund) sales.

Industry views on Toss Securities are mixed. While it is expected to become the dominant securities app for investors in their 20s and 30s, who will be major investors in the future, there are also opinions that it will be difficult to create an immediate impact. This is because loyalty to main securities firms is high, so customer churn may be low. The fact that Kiwoom Securities has maintained the number one market share for 15 years despite various system failures reflects this atmosphere.

A financial investment industry official said, "With the stock investment craze like the 'Donghak Ant Movement,' the proportion of MTS users has increased sharply, but over time, people tend to prefer HTS with various functions," adding, "However, if the main target is novice investors who start with MTS, even if they later realize the usefulness of HTS, the trend could be to use Toss for mobile and other securities firms for HTS."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.