TSB brings in team of experts from IBM to help tackle online banking chaos as customers left unable to access accounts
TSB is bringing in outside assistance to help tackle the banking system troubles that have left customers increasingly frustrated as they cannot access accounts.
Chief executive Paul Pester told the BBC’s Today programme he was bringing in help as the problem entered a sixth day, by drafting in experts from IBM.
“I’ve drafted in a team of global experts from IBM,” he said. “They’ll start working in Bristol and London and across the UK, reporting directly to me.”
Pester has promised that no customer will pay overdraft fees or charges this month.
Read more: TSB online banking returns but customers are still reporting troubles
When given the example of one person who said they had lost £2,000 worth of business as he was unable to pay contractors, Pester said he would of course have a case for compensation.
“We will work through what we think is reasonable and he thinks is reasonable. The last thing we are going to be doing is penny pinching when we are dealing with an issue with our customers,” he said.
It came as troubles continues for some customers today, despite the bank’s announcement in the early hours that the mobile app and online banking were back up and running.
A number of customers were complaining online this morning, saying they were having trouble accessing certain bits of information, while others were getting error messages, with some saying they were unable to get on at all.
@TSB I still can’t see my credit card in the “My Accounts” list, when will this be fixed?— Thomas Hanlon (@tommyhanlon81) April 26, 2018
Well just tried and I can’t get on. Very annoyed. Think you should check before giving out info— Sarah (@port456) April 26, 2018
@tsb Todays update is I can, intermittently, access my personal accounts. I still CANNOT access my Business account. I need to pay myself and staff!— Grant Barbour (@demon_barbour) April 26, 2018
Who’d have thunk it. @tsb app still down. Now getting a Java NullPointerException. Nice to see I’m getting new errors to keep things fresh #TSBFail— Simon Emms (@RiggerTheGeek) April 26, 2018
At 4am this morning, TSB had tweeted: “Our internet banking and mobile app are back up and running. Thank you for your patience and for bearing with us.”
Our internet banking and mobile app are back up and running. Thank you for your patience and for bearing with us.— TSB (@TSB) April 26, 2018
Yesterday, Pester said:
I want to reassure our customers that the engine room of the bank is working as it should. This means that for the vast majority of our five million customers, everything is running smoothly.
They can do their day-to-day banking, such as using their cards to get money out of cash machines and paying for goods with their debit or credit card in shops both on the high street and online.
He said nobody would be left out of pocket as a result of the access issues, saying: “The challenge we are facing at the moment is that while we know everything is working, one of the main ways that our customers see everything is working – through our internet banking and mobile app – isn’t functioning as well as it should be, and for this I’m truly sorry. I can appreciate how frustrating this must be for our customers.”
TSB has since said this morning it understands that for the vast majority of customers “everything is running smoothly”, but as it is bringing up its services gradually, that means some customers will have to wait a while to get access.
TSB had previously warned users it would be carrying out upgrades over the weekend between 4pm on Friday and 6pm on Sunday, but a number of customers have continued to report troubles, with many complaining they could not pay bills or get cash out.
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