Mogo plans free stock-trading platform after Moka acquisition

Vancouver-based Mogo Inc. is moving forward with plans to get into investments with a binding agreement to purchase Moka Financial Technologies Inc.

Mogo, a digital payments company, expects the acquisition to accelerate its plan to launch a free stock-trading platform for Canadian investors, the company said in a release.

“This is a highly strategic acquisition for Mogo,” said Greg Feller, Mogo’s president and CEO, in a release.

The $64-million all-stock acquisition, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, will expand Mogo’s saving and investing products and “solidify Mogo’s position as the most comprehensive digital wallet in Canada,” the release said.

More specifically, the company sees Moka as complementing its existing MyCrypto account, which includes a digital wallet, and acting as the core of its MogoWealth arm.

Moka, founded in 2017, is an investing app that includes a “roundup” feature whereby daily purchases are automatically rounded up to nearest dollar, with the added cost invested in an ETF portfolio. Moka clients can invest in registered and non-registered accounts and are not held to any investment minimums.

“Moka has built a robust customer-centric technology platform and, as part of a larger, more diversified and well-capitalized digital platform, we enhance the opportunity to grow our business and, importantly, to give our members access to even more digital products and tools to improve their financial well-being,” said Moka founder and CEO Philip Barrar in the release. “We look forward to bringing these two companies together.”

Once combined, Mogo will have 1.7 million clients with $250 million in assets under management, and registered portfolio management capabilities in Canada and Europe.