The customer debacle at Postbank has consequences. A special representative from the financial supervisory authority is supposed to ensure that the problems are quickly resolved at the parent company Deutsche Bank.
The financial regulator BaFin has appointed a special representative for Deutsche Bank. This is intended to monitor the progress of the subsidiary Postbank in solving customer service problems. BaFin announced this today.
“He will focus on ensuring that orders from customers are processed within a reasonable period of time and that customer orders that have not yet been processed are processed quickly,” said the authority. The representative should regularly inform BaFin about progress.
Bank announces additional new service staff
A spokesman for Deutsche Bank said the institution would work closely with regulators and the special representative “to meet the expectations of our regulators and customers affected by the inconvenience as quickly as possible.”
Deutsche Bank is making progress in improving processing times at Postbank. According to the information, around 400 additional employees were deployed in customer service. Several hundred more full-time employees are to be added gradually in October.
Customers could not access accounts
Complaints from Postbank customers have increased in recent months – especially in connection with the integration of IT into Deutsche Bank’s system.
Numerous customers were temporarily unable to access their accounts. Customer service was difficult to reach.
Recently there was trouble over so-called seizure protection accounts. People who are in debt can use such accounts to protect certain assets from being seized. This is to ensure that money is available for standing orders such as rent and electricity as well as for food or medication.
The head of Deutsche Bank apologized
Since Easter 2022, the group had brought together data from twelve million Postbank customers and seven million Deutsche Bank customers in Germany on a common platform. This was originally supposed to be completed in July. Germany’s largest financial institution wants to save 300 million euros per year from 2025.
The many protests brought consumer advocates and financial regulators into action. BaFin reprimanded Deutsche Bank in an unusually harsh manner.
Christian Sewing, head of Deutsche Bank, apologized. “We have not lived up to our responsibility here,” he said last month. Customers were very disappointed. His institute now has to work even harder to completely resolve the problems and regain the trust of its customers.