SK Telecom signed an affiliation contract with Tong Yang Investment Bank and SK Securities that will jointly implement an IC chip-based stock trading service. As a result, a chip based mobile stock trading service called "m-Stock" will be introduced starting on October 18th. This represents a first in the financial industry.

By launching this service, SK Telecom has completed three major chip-based financial services. These include mobile credit card, mobile banking, and mobile stock trading services. Currently the mobile credit card service infrastructure is being actively established in the market. The number of mobile banking handsets serving the three domestic mobile phone service providers, is expected to reach over 2.8 million.

The m-Stock service lets customers conveniently carry out stock trading by utilizing customer account and other personal information stored in an IC chip without the necessity to input additional customer information. This greatly improves the speed of stock trading and conducting inquiries about stock information. The company greatly shortened the access processes to the stock trading service by using the Hot Key on the cellular phone. It also facilitated customer convenience through an integrated function of stock analysis information, current price inquiry, and stock purchasing by applying integrated VM. In addition, stock trading security is greatly increased by using the IC chip, compared to a traditional WAP-based mobile stock trading service that only requires a password input.

To use this service, customers should open their own stock trading accounts in a securities firm, and then get an m-Stock chip installed in their MONETA phone. Through the affiliation contract with the securities firms, customers are allowed to use the stock trading services, as well as a variety of SK Telecom’s membership services, via their cellular phone.

SK Telecom plans to extend their affiliations with other securities firms such as Daewoo Securities, and will implement joint marketing activities with them. At the same time, the company will strengthen cooperative business relationships with banks by installing the stock trading service in the M-Bank service. This will contribute to the boom in mobile stock trading services in the marketplace.

Jin Seok Cha, vice-president of SK Telecom said, "As the m-Stock service is launched, we expect that mobile financial chip service that embraces such transactions as credit card, banking, and stock trading, will further expand into the market".