After several consecutive months of growth that peaked in July, securities-focused mobile applications experienced a slight pullback in monthly active users (MAU) during August. According to the latest data from Analysys Qianfan, MAU for these apps reached 183 million in August, reflecting a modest 1.87% decline from the previous month but a 5.78% increase year-over-year, indicating that the overall user base remains solid. Concurrently, broker apps are accelerating the deployment of lightweight AI applications, with a focus on simplifying operations and reducing the barrier for ordinary investors to access intelligent services.

Where things stand

Looking at the competitive landscape among broker apps, Huatai Securities' "Zhang Lefortune" led the industry with 12.7241 million MAU in August. It was followed by Guotai Haitong Junhong with 11.1689 million, while Ping An Securities, CITIC Securities Xinyi Tou, and China Merchants Securities recorded MAUs of 8.9941 million, 7.7005 million, and 7.691 million, respectively. Additionally, Guotai Haitong Tongcai, CSC Financial's Qingting Dianjin, and GF Securities' Yitaojin each maintained MAU figures exceeding 7 million.

In terms of growth, most broker apps saw MAU declines in August compared to July. Yang Ling, a securities industry expert at Analysys Qianfan, explained: "After five consecutive months of growth, the August MAU saw a slight month-on-month decrease. However, the scale remains at a relatively high level, with the overall penetration rate holding steady at 16.72%. The user foundation is still stable. In July, market volatility led to a concentrated release of demand for monitoring, position adjustments, and risk management. In contrast, the frequency of investor operations decreased in August. Overall, this decline represents a normal phase of adjustment, rather than a departure of low-frequency users or a loss of core active users."

During the same period, several third-party securities service apps also reported month-on-month MAU declines. Hithink RoyalFlush, East Money, and Dazhihui posted MAUs of 37.8639 million, 18.9414 million, and 13.7448 million, respectively, down 2.1%, 2.74%, and 1.43% from the prior month. Notably, Compás Stock bucked the trend with a 6.49% monthly increase in MAU, reaching 2.2528 million in August. This made it the only platform among the top 20 broker apps and top 10 third-party securities services apps to achieve month-on-month MAU growth.

AI features become lighter and easier

Despite the monthly MAU retreat, the pace of feature development within broker apps has not slowed. A key focus of recent updates has been the deeper integration of AI capabilities across the user experience. A common thread among these updates is the embedding of AI into research, trading, and market monitoring, with brokers increasingly replacing traditional manual operations with natural, conversational interactions to enhance usability.

For instance, GF Securities recently launched an "AI Lens" feature within its app, integrating AI trading, Q&A, and market monitoring into a single service. This tool uses large language models to distill vast amounts of information in real time, helping users identify investment value from perspectives such as topics, capital flows, and signals. It can also convert user-described "investment ideas" into clear trading instructions, boosting trading efficiency.

Western Securities has also introduced an AI trading order function, aimed primarily at middle-aged and older users. This feature supports voice-activated natural language trading and allows users to manage watchlists or query stocks through conversation, eliminating the need for manual steps.

The ecosystem of broker Skills—financial plug-ins—is also maturing, with functions expanding from basic trading and quote checks to a wider array of service scenarios. Recently, CSC Financial launched a "Qingting Skill Plaza" on its app, where users can simply describe their needs in everyday language. Specific skills include an ETF screener that helps users filter and compare products based on fund size, tracking index, industry, or theme; a stock analysis skill that provides access to company fundamentals and business descriptions while enabling peer comparisons on metrics like revenue, profit, growth, profitability, and valuation; and a financial report insight skill that supports queries on earnings releases and key financial indicators, offering solid backing for fundamental analysis.

"The recent iterations of broker apps reveal a clear industry consensus: making professional services 'lighter'—simpler and more user-friendly," said Zhang Ning, director of the China Fintech Research Center at Central University of Finance and Economics. "Whether through natural language interfaces that replace multi-level menu navigation or by breaking down research capabilities into accessible, standardized modules, the essence is lowering the barrier for non-professional investors to access intelligent services. Beyond short-term MAU shifts, what truly drives long-term user retention is whether an app can deliver a stable, smooth, and trustworthy experience in high-frequency scenarios like stock selection, market monitoring, trading, and review."

Looking ahead, Zhang Ning outlined two likely trends for AI in broker apps: "First, evolution from point solutions to full-process companionship, embedding deeper into account diagnostics, asset allocation, and risk alerts to create a closed loop covering pre-investment, during-investment, and post-investment services. Second, a shift from standardized output to personalized adaptation, offering users with different risk appetites and experience levels more tailored interactions and service content."