The Financial Supervisory Service will improve the fee structure to ensure that securities firms provide investors with detailed and accurate information on service fees when using "stock information provision services." The FSS plans to require securities firms to specifically compare and inform investors of the total service fees before and after subscription.
On the 11th, the Financial Supervisory Service announced that it has introduced this improvement policy following a review of the overall operational status of stock information provision services in the securities industry, prompted by recent complaints regarding such services.
According to the FSS's review, guidance on service fees after subscribing to stock information provision services was insufficient at securities firms. Furthermore, subscription-inducing events that automatically converted free users to paid plans without explicit investor consent were conducted even after the expiration of the free service period.
Currently, a total of 12 securities firms offer stock information provision services on a paid basis. The number of service subscribers totals 103,000, accounting for 0.23% of the total customer base. Securities firms' fee revenue from these services in 2025 was 67.1 billion won. Securities firms were generating and providing investment-related information, such as supply and demand analysis by stock and stock recommendations, using their own AI (artificial intelligence) or other technologies, or delivering stock information content through partnership agreements with external companies.
The issue is that securities firms are charging fees for stock information provision services without investors' proper awareness. Securities firms charge a fee of 0.05% to 0.25% per service or collect a monthly flat-rate fee based on the number of services requested by the investor.
The Financial Supervisory Service ordered improvements to this fee structure and guidance method. It pointed out that securities firms only inform customers of fees immediately after subscription and do not operate other customer guidance procedures, and that because service fees replace the basic brokerage commission, some investors are unaware that they are bearing the cost of the service.
Accordingly, securities firms will improve their practices to provide information on the fact of service subscription and the accurate service fee (distinct from trading commissions) in three stages: before subscription, periodically after subscription, and as needed after subscription. Before subscription, they will specifically compare and inform investors who intend to subscribe about the total service fees before and after joining, using examples. After subscription, they will regularly notify investors of the fact of service usage and the fee rate borne by the investor through app push notifications, text messages, etc.
Securities firms offering flat-rate fee services will add an explanation of the service fee structure to the screen in their MTS (Mobile Trading System) where trading commissions are checked. If investors request a detailed breakdown of fees, securities firms plan to provide the "basic brokerage commission" and the "stock information provision service fee" borne by the investor separately.
In addition, measures were taken to prevent securities firms from converting free trial events to paid services without separate notification. In principle, service provision will be terminated when a free trial event ends, and only investors who explicitly consent will be converted to paid plans.
The Financial Supervisory Service aims to complete these improvements by the first quarter of next year. It plans to prepare detailed implementation plans with industry bodies such as the Korea Financial Investment Association and monitor the compliance status of securities firms.
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