Rakuten Trade customers will soon be able to trade United States (US) stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the digital stockbroking platform as it begins expanding its cash-upfront share trading account services to include access into foreign markets.  

“With this enhancement, our clients will now have access to trade stocks like Apple Inc and Tesla Inc, as well as ETFs that are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASDAQ, in addition to over 1,000 stocks on Bursa Malaysia,” said the chief executive officer of Rakuten Trade, Kazumasa Mise in launching this new feature, which is set to be officially rolled out on 27 January 2022.

Kazumasa further explained that customers with a cash-upfront account who wish to trade foreign stocks must first opt in and enable the service. Once enabled, they can then go ahead and trade while enjoying a range of benefits offered by Rakuten Trade, including low brokerage fees of between RM7 to RM100, competitive exchange rates, as well as access to research reports from three sources (in-house research team, Rakuten Securities, and Motley Fools).

Additionally, Kazumasa noted that this development is intended to help the platform serve its customers better. “We are a business that evolves in tandem with what the clients want and need. With the roll-out of the foreign market trading service, we are ensuring a more consistent growth in new retail investors year-on-year,” he said, adding that many customers have requested for this particular service since Rakuten Trade launched in 2017.

Moreover, this update is expected to help amplify Rakuten Trade’s value proposition and diversify its revenue. “Malaysian stock market was going down towards the end of last year, our brokerage revenue was also affected. Thus, we are looking for an alternative revenue source,” Kazumasa stated, although he also stressed that Rakuten Trade had remained profitable since April 2020 thanks to its clients, many of whom were just starting out in their share investing journey.

Finally, Rakuten Trade said that the US stock market is only the first overseas market that it aims to break into. Aside from the US, the platform also hopes to launch its Hong Kong share-trading services by the second quarter of 2022.

In conjunction with the launch of its US share-trading service, Rakuten Trade is currently running a campaign that rewards customers with one free US share when they sign up for a cash-upfront account and activate their foreign trading service. There is also a referral programme that lets you earn 1,776 Rakuten Trade (RT) Points when you successfully refer friends who sign-up and activate their cash-upfront account, as well as enable their foreign market service.

(Sources: Rakuten Trade, The Malaysian Reserve)

• TAGS:
• ETF
• Exchange-Traded Funds
• Kazumasa Mise
• Nasdaq
• New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
• Rakuten Trade
• Rakuten Trade Points
• Stock Trading
• Stocks
• US Stocks