An error in Toss Bank's foreign exchange service caused the Japanese yen rate to be posted incorrectly at about half its actual level.
Toss Bank said in a notice on March 10 that it was identifying the detailed cause and resolving the exchange-rate display error that occurred that day.
Earlier at about 7:30 p.m., Toss Bank sent users an alert saying, "Japanese yen at 472.23 won, lowest on record."
The exchange rate for 100 yen was actually about 933 won, but the posted price made it possible to buy at 472 won. Online community posts said some users followed the alert, bought yen and successfully completed exchanges.
The exchange rate has since been restored, and a system check guidance screen is being shown.
A Toss Bank official said an internal check led to a situation in which the exchange-rate display was not smooth for 7 minutes. The official said the service was now in the normalization stage and the cause was being closely examined.
The official added, "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience to customers, and we will thoroughly check and improve our systems so the same thing does not happen again."
Ji-young Lee
ljy@d-today.co.kr