As IT incidents continue across the financial sector—including an account balance error in Korea Investment & Securities Co.'s mobile trading system (MTS·Mobile Trading System), a Naver Pay payment error, and a yen exchange error at Toss Bank—the financial authorities are strengthening emergency response systems and inspections of the electronic financial infrastructure (base facilities).
According to the financial authorities on the 12th, the Financial Supervisory Service conducted an on-site inspection of Toss Bank the previous day. After completing the inspection this week, it will determine whether to conduct an additional probe. The Financial Supervisory Service is reviewing the sequence of events and whether there are any additional internal verification procedures at the bank in cases where the exchange rate plunges without reason.
At Toss Bank, from 7:29 p.m. on the 10th for about seven minutes, an incident occurred in which an exchange rate in the 472 won per 100 yen range was applied when exchanging yen. At the time, the rate was in the 930 won per 100 yen range. Toss Bank receives yen exchange rates from two banks, adds them, then averages and discloses them, but during a foreign exchange system check, it divided without standardizing the units. At the time, the two banks sent 934 won per 100 yen and 9.34 won per 1 yen, but Toss Bank added 934 won and 9.34 won and then divided, arriving at 472 won, which it set as the rate per 100 yen.
Toss Bank said it would retrieve the yen sold. Toss Bank is also discussing customer compensation measures, but nothing has been finalized. In past cases, compensation measures have sometimes not been offered. In Feb. last year, Hana Bank also saw its posted exchange rate for the Vietnamese dong fall to one-tenth due to a data entry error. At the time, Hana Bank canceled the transaction and did not provide separate compensation.
The Financial Supervisory Service plans to identify the specific cause and scale of damage from the Toss Bank exchange error while reexamining internal control systems across the financial sector. To that end, it recently instructed financial companies and related institutions to inspect electronic financial infrastructure and strengthen emergency response systems, and plans to further raise the level of supervision over electronic financial transactions.