When Deutsche Bank’s supervisory board meets as scheduled next week, one topic will certainly be high on the agenda: the debacle surrounding the Postbank integration. After all, the service problems of the former Deutsche Bank subsidiary not only caused reputational damage, but also angered thousands of customers and, according to consumer advocates, even plunged some into existential crises. According to CFO James von Moltke, the damage is expected to amount to 30 to 35 million euros in the fourth quarter alone, after up to ten million euros in the third quarter.
Insiders confirmed one Handelsblatt report, according to which the bank’s supervisory board commissioned its own auditor EY to examine responsibility for the service debacle. Supervisory Board Chairman Alex Wynaendts suggested the audit. The bank did not want to comment on the nature of the audit or on the question of whether the responsibility of all board members is examined, including CEO Christian Sewing, or whether only ex-private customer board member Karl von Rohr is the focus. The audit could result in bonus cuts. Compensation for damages would be rather unusual because managers would have to have proven to have acted with gross negligence. Wynaendts left a query about this unanswered.
Following the recent move of Postbank data to Deutsche Bank’s IT systems, thousands of customers have complained over the past few months: many were unable to access their accounts for weeks or even complained about unauthorized debits. Customers with seizure protection accounts were particularly affected. The board apparently wanted to carry out the IT migration as cost-effectively as possible, had not planned enough employees for the call centers and had poorly organized processes. This brought the financial regulator Bafin into action, which sent a special representative to the bank after it had been inundated with customer complaints.
Bank management had long downplayed the problems; Internal warnings about increasing customer complaints failed to materialize, or were dismissed as “nagging,” as one insider says. The question of management’s responsibility seemed to be brushed aside. “We are currently focusing on improving the situation for our customers,” said private customer executive Claudio De Sanctis recently in response to a relevant question. CEO Christian Sewing also did not want to answer the question of whether the board wanted to forego bonuses because of the debacle; that was a matter for the supervisory board. He will certainly make a “balanced decision” and also take into account that the bank finally has a uniform IT. With 9.2 million euros, Sewing was the top earner in the Dax in 2022. The supervisory board allowed Rohr’s private customer executive’s contract to expire in October. It is unclear whether migration problems played a role.
Consumer advocates are also skeptical
According to company circles, there is also criticism of the division’s head of organization, Manuel Loos, and the German head of private customer business, Lars Stoy. “It’s good that they are doing the special test,” says an insider. “If it is done honestly, you will find that the thing has been pushed through without being finished.” It is also heard that the fundamental “process issues” have not yet been resolved. “We are only working dully on the residue,” says another insider. Sewing had promised to resolve the problems by the end of the year. The aim is not only to clear the backlog, but also to improve customer service and processing, said a spokesman.
Consumer advocates also have doubts about the schedule. “We have the impression that the bank quickly got the acute problems out of sight, but the fundamental processes behind them have not been solved,” says Silke Rey Romero from the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Center. One indication is that customers are still reporting the same problems, something that many people simply cannot get their money. “This is not a question of the availability of customer service, but of the basic functioning of payment accounts,” says Rey Romero. Can the problems be resolved by the end of the year? She doesn’t believe that.
At the same time, Rey Romero demands, the bank should not be allowed to operate in any way with deposits that are inaccessible to customers, i.e. generate interest income, while customers sometimes had existential problems, massive stress and a lot of effort for weeks. So far, the bank has rigorously rejected compensation payments publicly or has only made quick settlements in the background. But that, according to the lawyer, is unacceptable.