Failed IT conversion
More and more people are complaining about Postbank problems
October 23, 2023, 1:52 a.m
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Deutsche Bank wants to standardize the group’s IT with a major change. But the project is encountering major obstacles at the bank subsidiaries DSL and Postbank. Customers are venting their anger to consumer advocates.
According to their own information, the consumer advice centers continue to receive many customer complaints about problems with the Deutsche Bank subsidiaries Postbank and DSL. Since the beginning of the year, 1,700 complaints from customers of the two institutes have been counted, said the Federal Association of Consumer Advice Centers (VZBV). Between January and September that was almost three times as many as in the entire previous year.
As part of an IT change, twelve million Postbank customers have been gradually brought together on one platform with seven million Deutsche Bank customers in Germany since last year. Complaints from Postbank customers have increased in recent months. The group recently reported great progress in resolving the problems. This particularly affects seizure protection accounts and payouts of construction financing at DSL, said a spokesman on Friday.
According to their own information, the consumer advice centers recorded more than 1,100 complaints about Postbank and DSL in the third quarter alone. VZBV boss Ramona Pop said blocked accounts, non-executed rent transfers or delayed follow-up financing could have serious consequences. It is “doubly fatal” if customers do not receive quick help with such problems.
Financial supervision determined
Specifically, according to the association, poor accessibility and many service problems were reported to consumer advice centers. For example, consumers reported that they received contradictory statements from customer service employees. “They would declare that they are not responsible or that they cannot do anything,” said Pop. The management of Deutsche Bank did not organize adequately trained customer service staff for the project. Pop demanded that the company compensate consumers quickly and unbureaucratically and to guarantee full compensation for damages in writing.
The problems are also affecting the financial regulator Bafin, which appointed a special representative for Deutsche Bank. He should ensure that the restrictions are removed quickly. Deutsche Bank boss Christian Sewing recently said that he expected normal operations to return to normal operations on issues such as seizure protection accounts during October. He sees a similar trend with loan disbursements. However, you also need the fourth quarter to reduce all backlogs.