RakutenSecurities posted its highest-ever quarterly revenue in the first quarter,helped by a surge in account openings under Japan's tax-advantaged NISA programand rising interest income tied to the Bank of Japan's policy rate hikes,parent Rakuten Group said today (Thursday).Rakuten Securities PostsRecord Quarterly Revenue TheTokyo-based broker, a unit of Japanese internet conglomerate Rakuten Group, said its general securities account basereached 13.87 million at the end of March, up 12.4% from a year earlier. The figureclimbed past 14 million in April, adding roughly 1 million accountsin five months and extending a pace last seen in 2024 and 2025.RakutenSecurities did not break out its standalone revenue and profit figures in theconsolidated filing. The parent group attributed the broker's record quarter togrowth in financial income from an active market environment, alongside higherinterest income tied to BoJ policy rate hikes. The centralbank started raising rates in 2025 after nearly two decades of near-zeropolicy, a shift that has rippled through Japanese deposit-taking institutionsand brokerages with cash-management businesses.NISA Reform PullsHouseholds Into EquitiesJapan'srevamped NISA program, expanded in January 2024, has reshaped retail investingflows by raising annual investment caps and removing time limits on thetax-free wrapper. The shift is gradually moving Japanese household savings outof bank deposits and into equities, mutual funds and ETFs.Foreignbrokers have noticed. Interactive Brokers rolled out NISAaccounts throughits Japanese unit in mid-2025, pitching its global product range against thelargely domestic-focused offerings of local incumbents. Japanesehouseholds still hold roughly $11 trillion in bank deposits earning minimalinterest, a pool authorities have long sought to redirect into capital markets.Thecompetitive field in Japanese online brokerage remains crowded. SBI Securitiesis widely cited as the country's largest by accounts, though it does notpublicly disclose its individual account count, leaving Rakuten's claim to thetop spot dependent on methodology. MonexGroup, Nomura Securities, and Daiwa Securities round out the establishedroster, while international players have been pushing harder into Japan despite local hiring challenges.FinTech Segment OutpacesMobile and Internet ServicesAcrossRakuten Group, the FinTech segment, which houses Securities along with RakutenBank, Rakuten Card, Rakuten Pay and the insurance units, posted revenue of275.3 billion yen in the first quarter, up 23.1% year-on-year. Non-GAAPoperating income for the segment rose 33.8% to 58.5 billion yen.RakutenBank reached 18.07 million customer accounts at the end of March, up 7.3%, withtotal deposits of 12.9 trillion yen, up 12.9%. The bankbooked record quarterly ordinary income, also benefiting from BoJ rate hikeslifting investment yields on its managed assets. The fintech arm's lift comestwo years after Rakuten signaled plans to consolidate itsfinancial-services operations into a more integrated unit.The figureslanded alongside Rakuten Group's first Q1 IFRS operating profit since enteringthe mobile carrier business in 2020, an inflection point that chairman HiroshiMikitani has signaled for years. Consolidated revenue reached a record 643.6billion yen, up 14.4%, while IFRS operating income came in at 30.4 billion yenagainst a 15.4 billion yen loss a year earlier.Differentiation Moves toCrypto and US Stocks as Commissions Hit ZeroRecentproduct moves point to where the Japanese online-brokerage fight is heading. RakutenSecurities invested in 24X US Holdings late last year to position itself for 24-hour US stock trading, while SBI Securities launched crypto CFDs in September 2025 covering bitcoin,ether, XRP, solana and dogecoin, marking SBI's first crypto product. Foreign-currencyexposure and digital assets have become the key differentiators in a marketwhere domestic equity commissions have already been driven to zero.RakutenSecurities made cash equity trading commission-free in October 2023 and hassince leaned into AI-driven research tools, including a BridgeWise partnership that generated 3 million AI-poweredstock reports within 24 hours of launch in mid-2025.RakutenGroup did not provide detailed segment guidance for Securities. For 2026, theparent company is targeting high single-digit consolidated revenue growthexcluding the securities unit, "whose results are heavily impacted bystock market conditions." It alsoaims to lift both Non-GAAP and IFRS operating income for the full year.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.