Postbank: Bafin special representative for Deutsche Bank

2023-10-02 09:11:21

The financial regulator Bafin has appointed a special representative for the parent company Deutsche Bank because of Postbank’s problems with converting its IT systems. “He should ensure that the institute quickly and completely eliminates the restrictions in customer service,” said the Federal Institute for
Financial Services Supervision on Monday. The authority took this measure to protect the interests of consumers.

There were significant problems when converting Postbank’s IT. Customers were temporarily unable to access their accounts and customer service was almost impossible to reach. This has already earned Deutsche Bank a reprimand from BaFin. Bafin President Mark Branson recently insisted that the IT problems be resolved quickly. It is a unique situation how many complaints there are about a single institute. It is no longer just an IT migration problem, but there are other profound disruptions in customer service.

Hanno Mußler Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 30 Hanno Mußler Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2 Inken Schönauer Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 14

Deutsche Bank boss Christian Sewing admitted mistakes. “We have not lived up to our responsibility here,” said Sewing recently at a banking conference in Frankfurt. The customers were very disappointed. Deutsche Bank now has to work even harder to quickly resolve the problems completely and regain trust. “One can only apologize” for the events surrounding Postbank, he said.

In the past few weeks, the situation has improved significantly, said Sewing. Sewing had recently promised a quick solution. “We should be back to the correct level when it comes to seizure cancellations by mid-October,” said Sewing. We are also “on the right track” when it comes to loan payments. All difficulties should be resolved by the end of the year.

Explaining the numerous problems, Sewing said that the situation had been underestimated. “Both internally and externally.” Both employees and customers should have been better trained and informed about the consequences of the migration for IT. “400 to 500” additional employees have now been assigned to the project. He did not estimate how much the problems would likely cost the institute.