Brokerages Revamp Apps, Launch AI Trading, Forge Kakao Alliance in Digital Asset Battle

Competition among South Korean brokerages in digital finance is intensifying. Mirae Asset Securities has expanded its app into an integrated platform that includes stocks, bonds and cryptocurrency content. Daol Investment & Securities has launched a stock trading service that lets users interact with generative artificial intelligence. Korea Investment & Securities has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kakao Group to jointly develop digital asset issuance and distribution services.

On Oct. 1, Mirae Asset Securities said it had renamed its mobile trading system M-STOCK to MAPS, short for Mirae Asset Portfolio Service, and converted it into an integrated investment platform spanning stocks, bonds and coins. The revamp marks a platform overhaul aimed at broadening its digital asset business.

MAPS was first introduced in Hong Kong in June, with South Korea becoming the second market to adopt it. The home screen is divided into a Discover tab showing market trends and leading stocks and a My Investment tab displaying users' asset holdings. The brokerage also added a new section covering digital asset market information and blockchain technology. It plans to fully integrate digital assets into the app once rules such as the Digital Asset Basic Act are in place. For now, however, the app does not support digital asset trading. Over the medium to long term, the company plans to introduce an agentic wealth management service in which AI handles consultations, automated orders and portfolio diagnostics. It said it aims to build a model that surpasses Robinhood's innovation.

Daol Investment & Securities formally launched its AI-based stock investing service on Oct. 1. Its MCP Trading service links securities accounts to generative AI chat interfaces such as ChatGPT and Claude. Users can check balances, review prices and place orders through conversation alone.

If a user enters a prompt such as, "Summarize my returns on Samsung Electronics and buy 10 more shares," the system carries out everything from checking performance to submitting an order request within the chat window. The service supports both domestic and overseas stocks and also provides portfolio risk diagnostics and sector concentration analysis. Every order must go through a preview step and receive final customer approval before being sent to the exchange. Security is reinforced through a local execution model that runs only on the customer's PC, and the service does not offer fund transfers.

Korea Investment & Securities also formed a digital asset alliance with Kakao Group on Oct. 1. The firm signed a strategic business agreement with Kakao, KakaoBank and Kakao Pay to jointly develop and market digital asset issuance and distribution services. The agreement covers investment, remittance and settlement services using digital assets, the buildout of core infrastructure such as electronic wallets, and links between digital asset custody and customer-facing services.

Korea Investment & Securities had been reviewing synergy models with KakaoBank in areas including electronic wallets, stablecoins and tokenized securities distribution. The latest agreement expands that cooperation across Kakao affiliates more broadly. Chief Executive Officer Kim Sung-hwan said the firm would explore new possibilities for digital asset-based financial services by combining its financial expertise with Kakao Group's platform dominance.

The industry's broader push into digital markets reflects parallel momentum in policy discussions on institutionalizing digital assets and the rapid spread of generative AI. Brokerages are widening their scope and upgrading services on the view that traditional stock brokerage alone is no longer enough to retain customers. Competition for digital leadership among securities firms will become even fiercer, according to an industry official.

Kang Jin-kyu, Hankyung.com reporter josep@hankyung.com