Currency dealers work at the dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul on Feb. 3, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s major securities firms are busy expanding their server capacity as the explosive growth in the number of retail investors often causes a delay in access to their mobile trading systems (MTS).
NH Investment & Securities Co. restricted some of its online services on Saturday as part of work to improve its computer systems.
Even in January, the brokerage firm suspended the operation of its homepage service to expand the server capacity of its computer system.
Eugene Investment & Securities also suspended the operation of not only its trading system, but also money transfer and withdrawal, and account opening services on Sunday as part of its work to expand its server capacity.
Other brokerage firms are also busy improving their computer systems on weekends, when the stock market is closed.
These efforts have come with the number of retail investors growing at an explosive pace, making it difficult for existing brokerage firm systems to cope with the massive influx of new clients.
In particular, on Jan. 4, the first trading day of the New Year, and on Jan. 11, when the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surpassed the 3,200-point threshold to finish at an all-time high, a huge number of retail investors flocked to mobile trading apps, causing service delays at a handful of brokerage companies.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
