Channel grew 14-fold in three months from 70,000 followers

Platform to serve as hub for investment information, product updates and customer engagement

[Provided by Kakao Pay Securities]
[Provided by Kakao Pay Securities]

Kakao Pay Securities said Wednesday its official KakaoTalk channel has surpassed 1 million friends, ranking first among domestic brokerage firms' official KakaoTalk channels based on friend counts appearing in "securities" searches as of June 22.

The channel's growth has been rapid. Starting with about 70,000 friends on March 24, the channel crossed the 1 million mark in roughly three months — a more than 14-fold increase. Over the same period, its ranking among brokerage channels climbed from 15th to sixth and then to first.

A "Add Friend, Get Shares" campaign running since March drove much of the growth. By offering share rewards and requiring only a channel subscription to participate, the company quickly converted users interested in investing into channel followers. At the height of the campaign in late March, the channel added a net of more than 50,000 friends in a single day.

With a direct communication channel now reaching 1 million users, the company said it is also seeing cost savings by delivering messages to customers without intermediaries.

Kakao Pay Securities plans to use the channel to distribute investment information, announce new products and services, engage with customers and offer priority access to benefits. The company is also reviewing exclusive perks for channel friends.

To mark the milestone, Kakao Pay Securities is running a "Get Shares" event from this month through July 8. All users who apply will be entered into a draw: one winner will receive shares worth 1 million won ($651) and 99 others will each receive shares worth 10,000 won.

"Reaching 1 million friends on our official KakaoTalk channel is meaningful because it gives us a direct foundation for communicating with users," the company said. "We will continue to develop it into a channel that delivers the investment information and benefits people need at the right time."

Kakao Pay Securities is one of the emerging brokerages showing notable growth as its custodial assets expand. The company announced on June 2 that its custodial assets had exceeded 20 trillion won, a figure measured as of May 29 — just 29 trading days after reaching 15 trillion won. The company's custodial assets took seven months to grow from 5 trillion won to 10 trillion won, three months to go from 10 trillion won to 15 trillion won, and just one and a half months to climb from 15 trillion won to 20 trillion won.


th5@heraldcorp.com