KakaoTalk app introduces stock trading function

An image of KakaoTalk logo / Yonhap

By Anna J. Park

Customers of Kakao Pay Securities are now able to purchase Korean and U.S. stocks through KakaoTalk, Korea's most frequently used mobile messenger app.

The brokerage subsidiary of Kakao conglomerate announced Tuesday that the stock trading service became available on KakaoTalk earlier that day. The stock brokerage service allows customers to place orders on the Korean stock markets, as well as pre-markets, regular trading sessions and after-markets of the U.S. stock markets.

Users can simply click the personal asset button in their KakaoTalk messenger to enter the main page of the Kakao Pay interface. They can check real-time prices and place or cancel stock purchase orders through the app. They can also receive KakaoTalk messages notifying them of order completion.

A promotional image for Kakao Pay Securities' stock trading function in the KakaoTalk app / Courtesy of Kakao Pay Securities

However, in order to use the service through the mobile messenger, users should first open a stock account with Kakao Pay Securities.

The Kakao Pay app also offers more sophisticated trading functions, such as order price corrections and after-hours trading.

“Kakao Pay Securities is striving to create an enjoyable investment culture through which users can have fun predicting the stock price of companies they are interested in and conveniently place stock purchase orders inside the KakaoTalk messenger application,” an official from the brokerage firm said.