Postbank: BaFin-Chef Mark Branson prangert Probleme als »inakzeptabel« an

The complaints from customers about Postbank in recent months were significant: customers were unable to access their accounts at times, direct debits were incorrectly or not honored at all, and customer service was difficult to reach. Both consumer centers and the German financial supervisory authority Bafin received numerous complaints.

Nun rüffelt Bafin-Chef Mark Branson das Institut ungewöhnlich deutlich – normalerweise äußert sich die Finanzaufsicht nicht zu einzelnen Instituten.

„Ich kann das nicht umformulieren“

The issues are „very unusual. I would even say it is a unique situation when we look at the number of complaints about a single institution. So it is no longer just an IT migration problem, but there are also other profound disruptions in customer service.“

The Deutsche Bank has been gradually acquiring the Postbank since 2009 and is now transferring the data of Postbank customers into the systems of the Deutsche Bank in a final step.

However, there were significant issues with the project named „Unity“, resulting in customers being unable to access their accounts at times and the customer service being hardly reachable.

„I cannot reword“

There was also trouble with so-called seizure protection accounts. Several customers who rely on the funds in such accounts have been struggling with acute financial problems due to slow processes at Postbank, criticized the Consumer Center North Rhine-Westphalia. The consumer advocates had demanded „urgent intervention“ from Bafin.