TSB bosses face MPs over bank’s IT fiasco as customers are still reporting internet banking troubles
TSB bosses will appear before MPs on the influential Treasury Select Committee today for a grilling over the IT chaos that has left customers unable to access online banking and the mobile app properly for over a week.
Customers are still reporting issues with online banking, and have been struggling to get into their accounts and make transactions.
The problems for the high street challenger bank began last week when a move from Lloyds to new computer systems caused significant issues for thousands of customers.
Read more: TSB boss Paul Pester among top execs to face MP grilling over IT chaos
TSB had previously warned users it would be carrying out upgrades over the weekend between 4pm on Friday 20 April and 6pm on Sunday 22 April, but access issues continued after that, and the bank has brought in experts from IBM in an effort to tackle the troubles.
Today, TSB chief executive Paul Pester will be one of three bosses to give evidence to MPs, alongside TSB chairman Richard Meddings, and the chief operating officer of TSB’s owner Sabadell, Miquel Montes.
Pester has promised customers won’t be left out of pocket as a result of the IT fiasco, and that TSB is “working around the clock to put things right”.
Read more: TSB boss set to lose millions in bonuses as IT meltdown costs top £100m
TSB has told customers it will waive all overdraft fees and interest charges incurred in March and April, and any returned item fees they incur over the two billing periods. The bank said this will apply whether individuals are a personal or a business banking customer.
In a letter to MPs Pester said that a TSB investigation found that 402 customers were able to see data the bank would not normally make available to them, after people began airing concerns on social media that they could see information that wasn’t their own.
Pester also noted issues with declined cards for TSB customers abroad, and “a very large volume” of calls to the bank’s call centres with lower than expected app and internet availability last week.
Nicky Morgan, chair of the Treasury Committee, said:
The Treasury Committee is extremely concerned by the problems at TSB, and by the apparent miscommunication to customers about the extent and nature of these problems.
It’s been reported that services such as online banking have been down for some TSB customers for over a week. Many individuals and businesses will have made arrangements for the planned outage, but not for the additional time that the systems have been unavailable.
We will take evidence from TSB and Sabadell representatives to find out how they got into this mess, who is responsible, and how they are putting it right.
Read more: TSB brings in team of experts from IBM to help tackle online banking chaos