[비즈한국] As non-face-to-face financial transactions become commonplace, IT failures in the financial sector are on the rise. In particular, it has been found that damages caused by errors in Mobile Trading Systems (MTS) and Home Trading Systems (HTS) at securities firms, where transaction frequency is high and individual investors' capital is substantial, are severe. With numerous IT incidents occurring across the financial sector this year alone, there are calls for financial authorities to strengthen oversight and protect financial consumers.
As of the first quarter of this year, the securities firm that received the most complaints due to IT failures was Meritz Securities008560. According to the status of complaints by financial investment firms published by the Korea Financial Investment Association, 13 complaints regarding IT failures were filed with Meritz Securities between January 1 and March 31. This was followed by Shinhan Securities (11 cases), Yuanta Securities003470 (7 cases), iM Securities (5 cases), Mirae Asset Securities006800 (3 cases), SK and Hana Securities (2 cases), and Toss and Korea Investment & Securities (1 case each). A total of 45 complaints regarding IT failures were filed with 60 domestic financial investment firms during the first quarter.
Complaints published by the association consist of self-filed complaints received directly by financial firms, and external complaints received by other institutions such as the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) that were transferred to the firms or requested for fact-finding. In the case of external complaints, those handled directly by other institutions are not counted. IT failure refers to errors occurring on HTS, MTS, and websites.
While IT failure incidents are increasing across the domestic financial sector, the damage is most severe in the securities industry. According to the "Status of IT Failures in the Domestic Financial Sector" recently received by the office of Rep. Kang Min-kuk of the People Power Party from the Financial Supervisory Service, there were 1,763 IT failures in the financial sector (banks, savings banks, non-life insurance, life insurance, credit cards, and securities) between 2020 and May 2025. The total damage amounted to approximately 29.5 billion won, and the downtime reached 480,000 hours. Looking at the specific annual figures, it has increased every year: 238 cases in 2020, 289 in 2021, 327 in 2022, 347 in 2023, and 392 in 2024. There were 170 incidents just through May of this year.
By sector, the securities industry suffered the largest scale of damage, with losses from IT failures between 2020 and 2025 reaching a staggering 26.3 billion won. This accounts for 89% of the total damages across all financial sectors. Conversely, the number of incidents was 475, which is lower than the banking sector (577 cases), which had the highest frequency. While banks had the highest number of cases and downtime (216,436 hours), the financial damage was relatively low at approximately 2.6 billion won.
Major incidents with high financial losses also occurred at securities firms. In 2020, an IT failure caused by a program error at Kiwoom Securities resulted in damages estimated at approximately 4.8 billion won. In 2021, Mirae Asset Securities saw 3.9 billion won in damages, and in 2022, Korea Investment & Securities experienced 2.5 billion won in losses due to IT failures.
Since 2020, the securities firm with the highest cumulative damage from IT failures is Korea Investment & Securities, recording approximately 6.6 billion won. In terms of frequency, NH Investment & Securities had the most with 42 cases. In terms of total downtime, Woori Investment & Securities recorded the longest, at 16,294 hours.
For other financial sectors, based on the number of incidents, the firms with the most IT failures were KakaoBank (64 cases) for banks, the central association (41 cases) for savings banks, Lotte Non-Life Insurance (27 cases) for non-life insurance, and Samsung Life Insurance (44 cases) for life insurance.
IT failure is a chronic issue that remains difficult to eradicate in the financial industry. As non-face-to-face trading increases due to recent economic and political uncertainty, the number of incidents appears to be rising. At Kiwoom Securities, IT failures occurred on its MTS and HTS platforms over two days on April 3–4, coinciding with the U.S. Trump administration's announcement of reciprocal tariffs and the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol. Kiwoom Securities was already mired in controversy in March due to other IT issues, such as real-time stock price inquiry errors and delays in trade confirmation. Even Toss Securities, popular for its simple User Interface (UI), experienced IT failures once in March and twice in May.
Meritz Securities, which ranked first in IT failure complaints in the first quarter of this year, also faced errors on May 6 where U.S. stock orders could not be placed or canceled on its MTS and HTS. In particular, Meritz Securities has faced criticism from users as it also experienced IT failures related to U.S. stock trading on December 19, 2024, and February 21 of this year.
The fact that damage recovery is not being handled properly despite the increasing number of IT failures is also a problem. According to data on the "Status of IT Failures at Securities Firms 2020–2024" received by the office of Rep. Park Sang-hyuk of the Democratic Party of Korea from the FSS last March, only 58% of investors who suffered losses from MTS/HTS service failures in 2024 received compensation. The percentage of victims who received compensation was only 79% in 2020, indicating a further decline.
Rep. Kang Min-kuk pointed out, "The rapid increase in financial IT failure incidents ultimately increases the potential risk of harm to consumers," adding, "The FSS must strengthen inspections of IT operations at companies with frequent IT failures and conduct additional audits or impose sanctions on companies that have failed to adequately comply with the 'Guidelines for Strengthening Financial IT Safety'."