[DigitalToday reporter Sangyup Oh] Korea Investment Securities will expand benefits for new customers of its non-face-to-face account opening service BanKIS, including the payment of investment support funds.

Korea Investment Securities said on Sunday that from August it will provide first-time BanKIS account openers with an additional 20,000 won in investment support funds that can be used to buy domestic shares, on top of its existing benefit of randomly awarding two shares from KOSPI200 constituent stocks.

The investment support funds can be used like cash when buying domestic shares for 1 week after the account is opened.

The benefit will apply equally to customers who open accounts not only through Korea Investment Securities' website and mobile trading system (MTS) but also through partner platforms.

Korea Investment Securities provides account-opening linkage services with the global financial information platform Investing.com, the digital asset exchange Coinone, and internet banks such as Kakao Bank, Toss Bank and K Bank.

An influx of younger investors through partner channels is also increasing. As of June, people in their 20s and 30s accounted for 51.2 percent of new accounts brought in through partner channels, exceeding half.

Jin Kwak (곽진), head of the eBiz division at Korea Investment Securities, said, "We are strengthening benefits and infrastructure so customers familiar with mobile platforms can access financial markets through partner channels and start their first stock trading." He said, "We will broaden the investor base through diversification of digital channels and differentiated services."