The performance gap between fintech brokerages Toss Securities and Kakao Pay Securities has widened in the first half of this year. While Kakao Pay Securities is experiencing rapid growth, Toss Securities is outpacing it with its focus on brokerage and foreign exchange.
According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on August 20, Toss Securities reported operating revenue of 891.6 billion won and operating profit of 362 billion won in the first half of this year. This is four times the operating revenue (212.9 billion won) and 5.7 times the operating profit (63.1 billion won) of Kakao Pay Securities. Toss Securities also had an operating profit margin of 40.6%, surpassing Kakao Pay Securities by 12.2 percentage points.
Compared to the first half of last year, the disparity has grown even larger. In the same period last year, Toss Securities recorded operating revenue of 353.9 billion won and operating profit of 167.6 billion won, while Kakao Pay Securities reported operating revenue of 110.3 billion won and operating profit of 8.8 billion won. Consequently, the revenue gap between the two companies expanded from 243.6 billion won in the first half of last year to 669.6 billion won this year. The difference in operating profit also widened from 158.8 billion won last year to 298.9 billion won this year.
This disparity is particularly evident in their core revenue sources: brokerage and foreign exchange. Toss Securities generated 474.9 billion won in commission revenue, which is 4.8 times that of Kakao Pay Securities (98.5 billion won). In foreign exchange trading, Toss Securities earned 290 billion won, while Kakao Pay Securities made 82.5 billion won.
Analysts attribute the performance gap to the timing of their entry into the stock investment brokerage market. Kakao Pay Securities entered the industry first by acquiring Baro Investment Securities in 2020, but it only launched its mobile trading system (MTS) for stock brokerage services in 2022. In contrast, Toss Securities, which was established in 2021, launched its MTS in the same year.
Kakao Pay Securities plans to accelerate its growth to catch up with Toss Securities by expanding its business areas. On July 1, it secured approval for investment trading, including acquisition activities, and announced plans to enter corporate finance (IB) with IPO underwriting and bond acquisition. In the next 6 to 12 months, it will focus on IPO underwriting and subscription, as well as venture capital investments in startups, with a long-term goal of expanding into sales and trading as a liquidity provider for exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
* This article has been translated by AI.
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