The monthly active user count for securities trading applications climbed to 184 million in January, reflecting a 13.86% increase compared to the same period last year and a 5.11% rise from the previous month, according to data from Analysys Qianfan. This growth aligns with positive momentum in the financial markets.
Several securities firms demonstrated impressive user growth. The "Zhang Le Fortune Connect" app from Huatai Securities and the "GTJA Junhong" app from Guotai Junan Securities maintained their leading industry positions. In January, these apps recorded monthly active users of 12.815 million and 11.0099 million, respectively, with month-over-month increases of 5.73% and 5.85%.
Furthermore, applications from other major, well-established brokerages exhibited strong vitality. The "Ping An Securities" app reached 9.3728 million monthly active users, a 5.56% increase from December. Apps including "China Merchants Securities," "CITIC Securities信e投," "GTJA通财," and "CSC Financial's蜻蜓点金" all surpassed 7 million monthly active users, each achieving month-over-month growth exceeding 4%. During the same period, GF Securities' "GF易淘金" app saw its user base grow by 5.53% to 7.3642 million, joining the group of apps with over 7 million active users.
In terms of monthly growth rate, the top-performing app in January was Guosen Securities' "Guosen金太阳," which saw a 7.94% increase to 4.421 million active users. It was closely followed by SDIC Securities' "SDIC Securities" app, which grew 7.08% to 3.6864 million users.
Looking at year-over-year performance, many brokerage apps showed significant user expansion. The apps with the highest annual growth rates were Industrial Securities' "Industrial Securities优理宝," Guosen Securities' "Guosen金太阳," and Changjiang Securities' "Changjange号," with impressive year-over-year increases of 35.15%, 18.62%, and 18.48%, respectively.
The push for intelligent transformation continues to accelerate. Around the Spring Festival period, many brokerages rolled out updates and enhancements to their applications. A key focus for numerous upgrades has been leveraging AI tools to improve intelligent service capabilities.
For instance, the "Industrial Securities优理宝" app introduced a new smart trading tool called "Band Winner." This tool utilizes quantitative strategies, big data, and machine learning models to alert users to potential opportunities near the start of a market trend and warn of risks near potential peaks, aiming to enhance the investment experience and efficiency. Western Securities integrated an AI investment assistant named "Xiao Xi" into its app, which supports voice interaction with users and assists throughout the investment process with modules for stock selection, market monitoring, and opportunity discovery.
An industry expert commented on this trend, stating, "Brokerage apps are enriching their AI tool matrices to deconstruct professional investment research capabilities, significantly reducing the effort users expend on information filtering and market analysis. This strategy aims to reach a broader base of retail investors. The industry's service model is shifting from a simple transaction channel to an intelligent, advisory-driven approach."
A report on the development of China's securities app industry from 2015 to 2025 indicates continuous growth in user numbers, reflecting the accelerated digital transformation of the Chinese securities market and the widespread application of mobile internet technology in finance. Overall, users show a preference for apps that offer intelligent investment recommendations and provide professional educational content. The future appears promising for the fintech sector.
Looking ahead, competition among securities firms will increasingly center on the deep integration of financial technology with user scenarios. With the support of emerging technologies like AI, the ability to accurately understand user needs and deliver context-specific functions and value-added services will be crucial for gaining a competitive edge. Securities apps must continue to deepen the integration of AI technology with scenario-based operations to advance the intelligent transformation of user services. The ongoing empowerment by fintech is driving the industry's competitive focus from user base expansion to the enhancement of service value.