🔥 Kiwoom Securities, from a Trading App to a Lifestyle and Investment Platform - 2026.09.06

Hey, hey~ the onions are here. Kiwoom Securities’ new battleground is shifting beyond trading fees to how long it can keep users inside Hero Moon S#. Alongside adding shopping benefits and real-time chat, it has partnered with Seoul National University Technology Holdings to broaden investment links with technology companies. The trading app is taking on everything from shopping carts to investment ideas. 📈

Hero Moon S#, from a Trading Screen to a Lifestyle Platform

Kiwoom Securities revamped the ‘Lifestyle/Benefits’ menu in Hero Moon S# and began offering a function to purchase products from the Naver Plus Store ^[1]. It also introduced a service that rewards users with up to 4% of their Naver Plus Store purchases in Kiwoom Points ^[4], making the shift toward bringing non-investment activities into the app clear.

What matters here is not shopping itself but the frequency of customer touchpoints. The question is whether the app can give users a reason to open it even on days when they do not trade stocks. Of course, it remains to be seen whether these benefits will translate into actual usage and trading-service engagement. Points are tempting, but platform competition ultimately comes down to the power to make users return. Will points generate more points, or will only the points remain? That is the intriguing part. ☕

AI and Chat: The New Battleground for Retail Competition

As competition intensifies across the securities industry for AI- and platform-based retail services, Kiwoom Securities is responding by adding lifestyle and benefits features to Hero Moon S# ^[1]. Earlier this year, it also opened a real-time chat community within its mobile trading system, with research-center analysts participating directly ^[2].

This combination can be read as an attempt to bring the flow of viewing information, talking, and trading together on one screen, beyond simple order functions. As an aggressive investor, the onion naturally spots the ingredients for a bullish scenario first in changes like these. Still, the company announcing an expansion of its services and those services producing results in customer activity or earnings are two different matters. Follow-up indicators such as user numbers, time spent, and connections to trading are still missing.

Linking Platform Expansion and Venture Capital in One Story?

Kiwoom Securities signed a strategic business agreement with Seoul National University Technology Holdings to promote productive finance and expand venture capital. The two sides said they plan to connect Seoul National University Technology Holdings’ technology and startup ecosystem with Kiwoom Securities’ investment capabilities ^[3], which can be viewed as a new move to expand corporate finance and investment opportunities beyond the retail app.

If lifestyle benefits and real-time chat represent an expansion of customer touchpoints, this partnership represents an expansion of investment targets and corporate finance. Hey, hey, one side is bringing customers into the app while the other broadens investment opportunities. But an agreement is only the starting point. No actual investment execution or exit results have been presented, so it is not yet time to describe this as immediate performance.

Kiwoom Securities’ Next Checkpoints 🔥

Taken together, the latest developments show Kiwoom Securities pursuing retail platform enhancement and venture capital expansion at the same time. Hero Moon S#’s shopping benefits, analyst chat, and partnership with Seoul National University Technology Holdings have each emerged as cards for broadening customer touchpoints and the scope of corporate finance.

The onion believes Kiwoom Securities’ bullish scenario depends on repeated platform usage and tangible results from its venture capital cooperation. Going forward, the key questions are how often the services are used, whether chat connects to trading, and whether cooperation with technology companies leads to concrete investment outcomes. Can the lifestyle functions inside the app and investment partnerships outside the app be tied together into one growth story? That is precisely the link the market will be watching.