CMA vs Parking Accounts: 8 Compared (2026)

Three things that separate CMAs from parking accounts

Is it covered by depositor protection

A parking account is a demand deposit at a bank or savings bank, so it is protected up to 100 million KRW per person per financial institution, covering principal and interest combined. A CMA is a securities account and does not receive that protection.

Mirae Asset Securities states in its CMA guidance that CMA deposits are not protected by the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation under the Depositor Protection Act. KB Securities likewise specifies, for the issued-note type, the possibility of principal loss from the issuer’s credit risk, and for the RP type, that in the event of insolvency you may end up holding the RP bonds sold to you under a repurchase agreement.

The names are similar and they are used in similar ways, but this one line separates the two products.

Is the yield fixed or performance-based

A CMA is divided by type according to where the deposit is invested, and the nature of the yield differs by type.

The RP type and the issued-note type apply the contracted rate posted by the securities firm at the time of deposit. The MMF type and the MMW type, by contrast, are performance-based and are not fixed figures. Samsung Securities describes its MMW type as invested at a rate agreed in advance with Korea Securities Finance, and notes a separate wrap fee of 0.05% per year.

So CMA yields have to be placed alongside like with like. Mixing the fixed-rate RP and issued-note types with the performance-based MMF and MMW types in one table breaks the comparison. This article covers only the fixed-rate types.

Where the yield is published

Parking accounts display the rate prominently on the product page, and for savings banks the 저축은행중앙회 comparison disclosure shows products from 79 savings banks in one place. There is no such consolidated comparison disclosure for CMAs.

Where each securities firm posts its yield also differs. Korea Investment & Securities and Samsung Securities publish it as a table with a reference date on the product page, while some firms keep only the product description there and scatter the yields across notices.

With notices found through search, check the posting date first. Some of the notices that surface at the top still carry rates from several years ago.

Eight products at a glance

Only the CMA types carrying a fixed contracted rate are included. The performance-based MMF and MMW types are excluded because they are not fixed figures.

CMA products one by one

Korea Investment & Securities issued-note CMA

2.60% per year (before tax, as of July 22, 2026). Corporate customers receive 2.45% per year. The structure invests in notes issued directly by the securities firm, so it carries the firm’s credit risk.

Of the three CMAs checked here, this is the highest. It still pays less than SBI저축은행 사이다입출금통장 at 2.70% per year, and holding 10 million KRW for three months leaves an after-tax gap of 2,132 KRW.

Issued notes are handled only by securities firms that hold the licence. Samsung Securities CMA+ has no issued-note type, offering only RP, MMF and MMW.

Korea Investment & Securities RP-type CMA

2.30% per year (before tax, as of July 20, 2026), the same for individual and corporate customers. It is the contracted rate on on-demand RP for CMA, investing in repurchase agreements secured by bonds with high stability such as government and municipal bonds.

Within the same firm, the gap against the issued-note type is 0.30 percentage points. Holding 10 million KRW for three months, that is 6,398 KRW in after-tax interest.

Samsung Securities CMA+ RP type

2.25% per year (before tax, as of July 20, 2026). The contracted rate set by the firm applies and can change with market rates.

The same CMA+ account also offers MMF and MMW types, both performance-based. The MMW type carries a wrap fee of 0.05% per year.

What the parking accounts look like

Some products pay more than a CMA while still being protected. 전북은행 씨드모아통장 (small-balance tier) applies up to 4.00% per year (before tax, as of July 2, 2026) to balances of 50 million KRW or less, on meeting the preferential conditions, for three months after opening, once per customer.

To use one without a time limit, SBI저축은행 사이다입출금통장 pays 2.70% per year up to 100 million KRW with no preferential conditions. Conditions and deposit bands by product are set out in Top 6 Parking Accounts Compared.

Interest by amount and by period

The calculation stops at three months because 씨드모아’s 4.00% per year applies for three months after opening. For money held longer, the base rate that follows the preferential period has to be included in a fresh calculation.

Interest before tax is the principal multiplied by the annual rate, multiplied by the number of days held, divided by 365, with interest income tax of 15.4% (14% income tax plus 1.4% local income tax) then applied. Interest that is added to the principal and earns further interest is excluded.

Holding 10 million KRW at 2.60% per year for 92 days produces 65,534 KRW before tax, and after 10,092 KRW in tax you receive 55,442 KRW. A CMA is taxed on interest at the same rate.

A single day also computes. Holding 3 million KRW in the Korea Investment issued-note CMA for one day gives about 180 KRW after tax, and about 160 KRW in the RP type.

Where depositor protection divides them

Five of the eight products are protected up to 100 million KRW, and the three CMAs are not covered. How that plays out in practice differs by type.

With the RP type, if the securities firm becomes unable to pay, you may end up holding the RP bonds sold to you under a repurchase agreement rather than cash. Converting them to cash may then be difficult, or produce a loss, depending on the bonds’ rating and market rates.

The issued-note type carries the firm’s credit risk directly, since the notes are issued by the firm itself. KB Securities displays the issuer’s credit rating alongside it as AA+ (Korea Ratings, April 13, 2026).

So the weight of protection shifts as the amount grows. Holding 10 million KRW for three months, the after-tax gap between 씨드모아 and the Korea Investment issued-note CMA is 29,853 KRW. Over the same period, the gap between SBI저축은행 사이다입출금통장 and the issued-note CMA is 2,132 KRW.

A CMA sometimes comes already opened alongside a securities account. That saves opening a new account, and the convenience can be set against protection when deciding the amount.

When a CMA fits

Cash waiting to buy stock

It has to sit inside the securities account to be usable for an order straight away. Held in a bank parking account, there is one more transfer step. For cash with no set purchase date, an RP-type CMA matches the account structure.

When you already use a securities account

There is no new account to open, and idle cash is invested automatically, so nothing has to be moved separately.

Money beyond the protection limit

Protection covers 100 million KRW of principal and interest combined per institution, so once that is used up, split the remainder across institutions or look at products of a different nature. How to divide by amount is set out in Where to Split a Lump Sum of 30 to 100 Million KRW.

When a parking account fits better than a CMA

For emergency savings, where the principal must not fall, a protected parking account matches the structure. Calculations by emergency savings size are in Emergency Fund Parking Accounts: 5 Compared.

Frequently asked questions