Why DSE's mobile app losing users despite 79% surge in trading?

Highlights

• DSE mobile trading turnover increased by 78.93% to Tk28,794cr in FY26
• Registered users: declined by 37.4% to 16,313
• Submitted orders: fell by 10.6% to 80 lakh
• Executed orders: dropped by 5.4% to 79 lakh

The Dhaka Stock Exchange's (DSE) mobile trading app recorded a sharp decline in registered users in FY2025-26 despite a surge in trading value, highlighting a shift in how investors access Bangladesh's capital market.

DSE data show investors traded shares worth Tk28,794 crore through the app over 239 trading days during the fiscal year, up 78.93% from Tk16,092 crore a year earlier. The growth outpaced the broader market, raising the app's share of total DSE turnover to 16.67% from 14.49% in FY2024-25. In effect, nearly Tk17 of every Tk100 traded on the exchange was executed through the mobile platform.

However, registered users fell 37% to 16,313 from 26,067, while submitted orders dropped to 80.4 lakh from 89.9 lakh and executed orders declined to 78.7 lakh from 83.2 lakh.

The figures suggest fewer investors are using the DSE app, but those remaining are trading significantly larger volumes.

According to DSE officials and market participants, the main reason is the rapid adoption of proprietary Order Management System (OMS) platforms by brokerage houses. Investors are increasingly abandoning the DSE's centralised app in favour of dedicated applications offered by their brokers.

DSE Director Md Sajedul Islam told The Business Standard that more than 50 brokerage firms have launched their own OMS platforms.

"Once a brokerage house introduces its own trading application, its clients naturally migrate from the DSE mobile app. As more brokerage firms adopt proprietary OMS platforms, the number of users on the DSE app continues to decline," he said.

Market participants said leading brokerages now offer faster trade execution, better interfaces, real-time market alerts, portfolio tracking and other advanced features, making their apps more attractive than the DSE platform.

They added that concerns over the DSE app's service quality have also accelerated the migration, leaving it largely used by smaller brokerage firms without in-house OMS platforms.

Brokerage executives said weak market conditions also reduced retail participation.

Saiful Islam, president of the DSE Brokers Association of Bangladesh (DBA), said last year's sluggish market discouraged many retail investors, reducing active beneficiary owner (BO) accounts.

"Young investors are the primary users of mobile trading applications. As market turnover is now recovering, we expect both mobile trading activity and the number of users to increase if the market maintains its positive momentum," he said.

Market experts said the shrinking user base is not necessarily negative if investors are moving to more advanced brokerage platforms, as it reflects growing digital competition. However, if it stems from declining retail participation, it may indicate a deeper structural weakness.

They said the DSE must upgrade its mobile platform with better user experience, faster execution, modern trading tools and stronger integration with brokerage systems, while broadening retail participation so that mobile trading growth is driven by more investors rather than a smaller group of high-value traders.