Rapid Increase in MZ Generation Users... Samsung Securities Simple App 'O2' Reaches 600,000 Downloads in 4 Months

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] Samsung Securities announced on the 26th that 50,000 customers participated in the KakaoPay IPO subscription on the first day through its simple investment app, Today's Investment (O2·Otu).

In particular, the 2030 generation, which has recently emerged as a new driving force in the stock market, accounted for 61%, showing a strong trend of MZ generation's IPO investment using simple investment apps.

Otu promotes easy investment for anyone and allows easy subscription with just a few clicks during IPO subscriptions. The IPO subscription menu is placed at the top to make it easily noticeable, eliminating inconvenience for beginner investors. From IPO terminology to allocation methods and related regulations, explanations are provided in an easy-to-understand manner to help first-time IPO investors avoid difficulties.

Otu has caused a sensation in the simple investment app market, recording 601,000 cumulative downloads within four months of its launch, gaining popularity for its convenient UI (User Interface) and easy, intuitive terms such as 'Invest Now,' 'Sell,' and 'Go to IPO Subscription,' making it user-friendly for beginner investors.

Among investors using Otu, 57% belong to the MZ generation. Customers who opened accounts less than a year ago account for 67.4%, and small investors with balances under 10 million KRW make up 93%, playing a significant role as a customized app for beginner investors starting their investment journey.

The average monthly usage time per Otu user is about 620 minutes (10.3 hours), and the most frequently used menu by investors is 'Today's Stocks,' one of Otu's representative features.

In 'Today's Stocks,' not only the current prices of held and interested stocks are shown, but also AI algorithms analyze investors' stock trading patterns to provide stock information that investors might be interested in, stocks most held by top-performing customers, and stocks invested in by investors of similar age groups and asset levels. Through this, users can obtain high-value investment information based on big data as well as their own stocks of interest.

Unlike most securities apps that have separate order screens for domestic and overseas stocks, Otu allows orders for both domestic and international stocks on a single screen, catering to the recent trend of investors investing in both markets simultaneously.

The second most used menu by investors is 'Recommended Products.' Rather than simply listing financial products, 'Recommended Products' selects a few core products based on themes and trends to provide to investors, helping beginner investors who find it difficult to decide on investment directions by narrowing their choices.

Over the past three months, the funds recommended by Otu achieved a return of 0.9%, outperforming the overall public offering funds by 2.0 percentage points. This showed relatively high performance even amid adjustments in domestic and international stock markets.

Representative funds favored by investors include Samsung Untact Korea, AB US Growth, KTB IPO High Yield, Kiwoom Global Subscription Economy, and Samsung China Mainland Small & Mid Cap.

Seungho Lee, Vice President and Head of the Digital Division, stated, "If existing securities company MTSs are like department stores or discount stores displaying many products for sale, simple investment apps can be likened to curated shops that provide investors with expert-selected core products and convenient trading functions for optimal service." He emphasized, "We will continuously upgrade the functions and content of simple investment apps so that the large influx of beginner investors in the digital investment market can achieve the best investment results with minimal effort."

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