MD ABU TALHA SARKER and AHSAN HABIB

The number of users of the Dhaka Stock Exchange’s (DSE) mobile app has more than halved in the past four financial years, apparently due to a protracted bearish trend in the market.

The number of registered users of the DSE-Mobile and its desktop version, named DSE-Investor, stood at 32,900 in the just-concluded fiscal year of 2023-24, which is a 29 percent decrease compared to FY23.

In FY23, the app had 46,622 users, but even that represented a steep 40 percent decline compared to FY22, when the number of users peaked at 77,949.

Saiful Islam, president of the DSE Brokers Association of Bangladesh, said the younger generation, especially students, use the app alongside middle-aged professionals.

He added that the unstable condition of the stock market at present is prompting them to leave the market, he said.

The market saw a bear run for a long time, but when they entered the market, it started to fall, so they became disheartened, he said.

The DSE imposed a yearly service charge of Tk 1,500 on users of the app in 2023, but Islam differed with any allegation that investors were leaving the market due to the imposition of this charge.

“Some people may say that the number of mobile app users dropped due to the imposition of the service charge, but I don’t support it,” Islam said.

“If people can make a profit, the service charge is not a big deal.”

A top official of a merchant bank, preferring anonymity, said most people make trades by calling brokers or representatives while a few prefer to trade from the comfort of brokerage houses.