Kakao, a mobile messenger firm, entered into the stock trading market on February 6 through its fintech spinoff Kakao Pay. The move is expected to enhance the growth of the financial technology industry and the brokerage market, as explained by the local analysts.
South Korea’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Commissions, approved Kakao Pay’s request on February 5. This approval now enables the company to acquire a controlling 60% stake in a local brokerage firm, Baro Investment & Securities, The Korea Herald reports.
After the acquisition, the stock trader was renamed to Kakao Pay Securities. Lee Dong-Yoon, an analyst from KB Securities, commented:
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“Kakao currently runs — via its spinoffs and affiliates like Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank — payment, transfer and banking services, and the latest acquisition of Baro will help vitalize the fintech market.”
Dong-Yoon recommends that investors should ‘buy’ on the Kakao stock. Kakao Pay had over 30 million subscribers as of 2019, with the number of monthly active users now exceeding 20 million. In Q3 2019, the total transactions reportedly reached 12.9 trillion won ($10.9 billion).
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An analyst of eBest Investment & Securities, Seong Jong-Hwa, deeply assessed Kakao Pay’s potential in the fintech area and the stock market. Kakao Pay has fully prepared technical preparations to build systems to connect to Baro’s current cash management accounts, according to the eBest analyst.
The systems will enable the platform to trade global and domestic bonds, stocks, and funds. Kakao Pay officially launched its online stock trading business on February 6.
During the launch, the company said that it would start accepting preliminary applications from its users to upgrade their Kakao platforms with the company’s new stock trading services.
Kakao Pay Securities will aim to nurture its financing services for businesses, as explained by Kim Dae-hong, CEO of the stock company. It will also work closely with Kakao Pay to provide stock brokerage services for individuals.
