Mobile financial services provider Mobile Money Ventures LLC, a joint venture of Citi and SK Telecom, has rolled out the first mobile U.S. stock trading capability in Hong Kong with Citibank.

The new feature builds on the mobile platform deployed by the two companies last year, letting Citibank’s Hong Kong customers to trade on both the Hong Kong and American markets, including the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. As with all MMV services, the new U.S. trading feature is secured with SMS notification for every trading instruction, and no financial information is stored on the mobile device.

“Citi Hong Kong is working on leveraging their existing channels to let their customers know that this mobile service is available,” said Natalie Jo, senior vice president of marketing and customer experience at MMV, San Francisco. “We are a service provider for them, making sure they have products that have best-in-class standards for various handsets’ user interface.

“We understand their unique market dynamics and the features and functionality that they’re looking for, which are aligned with how Hong Kong customers work with their device,” she said. “The service is also aligned with their business strategy and a product their customers feel is valuable, easy to use and secure.”

Global financial services company Citi has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries.

Through Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage and wealth management.

Mobile Money Ventures specializes in mobile banking and enables financial institutions, carriers and partners to reduce time to market, leverage new growth opportunities and enhance customer loyalty.

MMV initially collaborated with Citibank to launch a mobile banking platform in Hong Kong last October which included local stock trading, portfolio management, account inquiry and management, transfer and payments, and time deposit applications. 

Citibank says that it is important for its Hong Kong customers to trade multiple markets through multiple channels, including mobile.

Through the collaboration with MMV, Citi claims to be the first bank in Hong Kong offering a mobile U.S. stock trading service.

Because it is a mobile browser-based service, it is available to any customers that have mobile Web access on their phone.

There is also an iPhone-optimized version of the site that is geared toward the touchscreen user interface.

The U.S. trading feature for Hong Kong customers joins a series of mobile banking deployments from Citibank and MMV, including the first browser-based offering in the Philippines and services in Singapore and the U.S.

The two companies will be announcing additional deployments in Asia, the U.S. and Europe in the coming months.

“Most financial institutions are looking to roll out more functionality as they get smarter with their mobile strategy,” Ms. Jo said. “Eventually Citi Hong Konog will add payment capabilities, as well as deals and rewards.

“Citibank has been offering mobile banking as a free service, one more way they empower their customers to pay bills and transfer funds on the go,” she said. “The stock trading will also be free, other than the traditional fees associated with investment trading.”