The LSE Directory / Retail brokers
CommSec, formally Commonwealth Securities Limited, is an Australian online share trading and investing platform that lets retail customers buy and sell ASX listed shares, exchange traded funds and managed funds through a web and mobile brokerage service. It also runs a telephone based broking desk, a cash management account called the Commonwealth Direct Investment Account (CDIA), margin lending, contracts for difference and self managed superannuation fund administration. The platform is a wholly owned but non guaranteed subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), and it operates as a market participant of ASX Limited and Cboe Australia Pty Limited and a clearing participant of ASX Clear Pty Limited. CommSec's main differentiator is scale through bank channel distribution rather than price competition: it is bundled with CBA's retail banking relationship, which gives it the largest customer base of any Australian online broker. Beyond core ASX trading it offers international share trading across 13 overseas markets, with US brokerage starting from USD5 a trade, and CommSec Pocket, a low minimum micro investing app aimed at younger, first time investors that trades a curated list of ETF based "investment themes" rather than individual stocks. This two tier structure, a full service broker for established investors alongside a simplified app for beginners, lets it serve both ends of the retail market under one brand, unlike single product challenger apps that offer only one style of account. CommSec began trading in 1995 and launched its share trading website in 1997; in 2008 it became the first Australian brokerage to launch a mobile optimised trading site and to release a home grown iPhone app. It expanded partly through consolidation, absorbing broking operations including Colonial First State, TD Waterhouse and IWL, the former Westpac broking subsidiary acquired in 2007. Commonwealth Bank reported in October 2024 that CommSec was approaching 3 million customers, with 343,000 new accounts opened in the 2024 financial year, a 37 percent year on year increase; nearly half of its customers were under 40, and international trading account numbers grew 96 percent year on year. It holds Australian Financial Services Licence 238814 (ABN 60 067 254 399) and is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. CommSec markets itself under the line "the home of investing" and is pushing mobile and international trading as its growth areas: by late 2024, 48 percent of trades were executed via mobile devices, and CBA's own reporting singled out CommSec Pocket, whose user base skews younger (about 75 percent under 40), as a fast growing part of the retail franchise.
