Banking bosses have been left red-faced after the break-up of one of Britain’s biggest banks was plagued with problems which started before it was even launched.
Banking bosses have been left red-faced after the break-up of one of Britain’s biggest banks was plagued with problems which started before it was even launched.
TSB, which returned to the High Street last Monday (9 September) after a break of almost two decades, was meant to have a “seamless” split from Lloyds TSB, according to Lloyds Banking Group boss Antonio Horta-Osorio. The launch of the new bank is the largest in British history, with 631 branches and 8,000 staff from the launch day.
However, many customers were left without access to online banking for over 24 hours during the transfer, with a smaller number having no access to their online banking accounts until Wednesday morning – day three of the new bank.
The fault, which also affected Lloyds Bank customers, saw savers unable to access their accounts online or via the bank’s app – which launched last Tuesday and has up to 50,000 users.
“I had to borrow money from my mum”
One disgruntled TSB customer said that they had had to borrow money from their parents because they couldn’t get access to their student account. Alexandra Gaskin, who studies Adult Nursing at Robert Gordon University, said: “I noticed [online banking] wasn’t working, it said I didn’t have online banking or just glitched. I had to borrow money from my mum as I didn’t have time to go to the bank…but needed to transfer money from savings to student account to pay for lunch and to fix my phone.”
Glasgow based law student Ashley French said that she was instructed by the website to reset her password and memorable information, but this still generated an error message when she tried to use her new login details. However, she claims that the old login details worked the following morning. Ms French says she is now looking for a new bank.
TSB have been quick to play down the criticism, saying in a statement to Kettle:
“Our internet bank is operating as normal and customers are logging on successfully. In fact, yesterday we saw over 500,000 customers successfully logging on to their internet bank. We are aware of a small number of isolated issues but these have now been resolved. We would like to take the opportunity to apologise for any inconvenience that may have been caused and should any customer need assistance, they can contact us on 08459 758 758.”
TSB – a brief history
TSB – the Trustee Savings Bank – was formed in 1810 by the Rev. Henry Duncan in Ruthwell, Dumfries and Galloway. The bank later became a major name on the high street, and was absorbed into Lloyds TSB in the mid-nineties.
New TSB chief exec Paul Pester claims: “Its (the TSB’s) sole purpose then was to serve the local people in the community. This is exactly what we’re doing again today as we bring the new TSB Bank back to over 600 communities across the UK to fuel their local economies – and nothing else.”
The bank has 4.5 million customers, and holds £22 billion in savings.
Have you had problems with TSB’s online services? Have your say in the comments section below, on Facebook or on Twitter.
