TSB tech woes continue with overnight systems failure

TSB has experienced overnight technical problems which have meant payments didn’t reach customer accounts, coming hot on the heels of a damning report into the management of TSB’s disastrous IT migration last year.

“Overnight, some payments were delayed in and out of TSB accounts. This has now been resolved and the payments to and from customers have all been completed,” said a TSB statement.

This was due to a processing error that has now been resolved, added TSB.

The bank said customers would not be left out of pocket by the latest outrage, but the bank’s reputation has taken another blow.

At about 8am this morning, one customer experiencing problems tweeted:  “Hi @TSB this issue has been going on since 12am this morning so I’m just wondering why it has taken so long for you to recognise the problem and investigate.”

TSB replied: “Hi, we're aware that some customers are experiencing issues this morning. We are currently investigating the cause and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

This comes days after a report on the investigation into TSB’s IT meltdown last year tore into management for multiple failures.

The IT disaster struck in April 2018, when the bank migrated five million customers from Lloyds Banking Group systems, where they were hosted, to a new core banking platform.

Millions of customers found themselves locked out of their accounts, some saw money disappearing from accounts, and others were even able to see other people’s accounts.

The 262-page report, produced by city law firm Slaughter and May, identified numerous failures including the decision to perform a “big bang” migration without fully understanding the risks and the fact that there were no expert external advisers for the project as a whole.

Beyond customers being unable to access their bank accounts, they were also exposed to increased opportunistic fraudsters. According to the Slaughter and May report, these fraud attempts were 70 times higher than normal levels at one point during the crash.

In September, when former TSB CEO Paul Pester stepped down, TSB chairman Richard Meddings said: “Although there is more to do to achieve full stability for customers, the bank’s IT systems and services are much improved since the IT migration.”