Uni-Top seeks strong pre-launch partners
Thursday, April 26, 2001
SAMUEL YEUNG
Online trading technology provider Uni-Top is lining up strong broker partners in Hong Kong and China for the impending launch of its wireless applications in the second half.
The company has agreed a letter of intent with local online brokerage 2cube Securities, a joint venture of Chase JF and Pacific Century CyberWorks, for provision of its wireless trading platform to the firm.
A similar alliance is expected to be forged with Galaxy Securities, China's largest brokerage with a share capital of 4.5 billion yuan (about HK$4.2 billion).
Under such an alliance, Uni-top will provide wireless technology enabling allied brokers to provide services via handheld devices such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants [PDAs].
In return the company will charge brokers a fee on a per transaction basis.
Chairman John Gilbertson said a feature that differentiated the company's technology from other providers' was its emphasis on PDA applications, which he predicted to be another popular channel for online trading.
"The population of [people with] PDAs in Hong Kong is about 300,000. [We estimate] something like 60 per cent of these people are active in the stock market," Mr Gilbertson said.
Executive director Lee Wai-ki said 2cube would team up with other brokers.
"Our target will be 25 per cent of the 150 active brokers in Hong Kong," he said.
The market the company is targeting, however, is China, Mr Lee said.
"We will use Hong Kong as a showcase and our main market will be Greater China."
He expects more than 50 per cent of revenue to come from the mainland by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, 2cube managing director Chan Chun-leung said the low commission strategy already helped the firm to gain several thousands clients since its online trading service was launched in November last year.
2cube was among the first brokers breaking the stock exchange's 0.25 per cent minimum commission rule by offering a commission rate of only 0.18 per cent.
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