FRANKFURT/BONN (dpa-AFX) - The financial regulator Bafin is increasing the pressure on the group's parent company Deutsche Bank in view of massive complaints from Postbank customers. Bafin has been observing "significant impairments in the processing of customer business at Postbank" since the turn of the year 2022/2023, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin) reprimanded on Monday. The financial regulator was examining "whether there were supervisory-relevant deficiencies at the institution." Bafin had asked the bank to "remedy the restrictions in customer service as quickly as possible."

If the situation did not improve, the supervisors could take further measures, such as ordering a special audit or appointing a special representative to monitor whether the requirements made by the supervisor were implemented promptly.

Deutsche Bank is taking Bafin's rebuke "very seriously," the head of Deutsche Bank's Private Clients Bank Germany, Lars Stoy, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur in Frankfurt. "Improving customer service at Postbank is our top priority."

Complaints about Postbank had been mounting in recent months - mainly in connection with an IT changeover. The Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv) reported that in the first half of the current year alone, 583 complaints had been received from customers of the institution. That is almost as many as in the entire previous year.

Postbank customers complained that they could no longer access their accounts, that accounts were blocked or that direct debits were no longer collected. According to the report, customer service was difficult to reach or unable to solve the problems. In some cases, the bank left it at a standard letter as the only response, according to those affected.

As part of a large-scale IT changeover, twelve million Postbank customers have been merged with seven million Deutsche Bank customers in Germany on a common platform in four waves since Easter 2022. With the new structure, the Group aims to save 300 million euros per year from 2025.

The second wave of data transfers around New Year's Eve 2022/2023 caused particular annoyance among customers when, among other things, securities accounts were affected. At the beginning of July, Deutsche Bank had announced that the "Unity" project had been successfully completed. But reports about customers complaining about technical problems at Postbank did not stop.

For several months, there has been a high number of customer inquiries, said Deutsche Bank manager Stoy. He added that the bank had increased its service teams by several hundred employees in recent weeks and will expand them even further. "Nevertheless, we have processing times in some service processes that do not meet our standards."

Stoy assured, "We are working to improve the situation as quickly as possible. But it will still take a few weeks for the situation in the affected areas to return to normal."

The aim, however, is to work through the "backlog" that has arisen as quickly as possible, the manager emphasized. "Every dissatisfied customer is one too many. I would like to formally apologize to our customers for the inconvenience caused. We are currently putting them through a lot, and we want to put that right as soon as possible. We are aware that in doing so we will have to make a great effort to regain lost trust."

The head of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv), Ramona Pop, had criticized in view of the continuing complaints in connection with the IT changeover that with such problems "there can no longer be any question of proper bank processes, since it was evident that central services in payment transactions could no longer be maintained for all customers".

Most recently, there was also trouble with so-called garnishment protection accounts. In such accounts, indebted people can protect a certain balance from seizure. This is to ensure that money is available for standing orders such as rent and electricity, as well as for food or medication. Under the headline "Abuses at Postbank: Verbraucherzentrale NRW switches on Bafin", the consumer protectors from North Rhine-Westphalia demanded "urgent intervention" by the financial supervisory authority. According to the consumer protectors, quite a few customers who rely on garnishment protection accounts are struggling with acute financial problems due to slow processes at Postbank.

According to earlier information, Bafin has been "in close contact" with Postbank for some time "regarding all restrictions in customer service". This also applies to the processing times for garnishment and estate matters, he said. "We have made it very clear that the institution must remedy the deficiencies that have arisen as quickly and comprehensively as possible," the financial regulator had said./ben/DP/ngu