IT nightmare costs TSB £176m

The fiasco that was TSB’s tech meltdown earlier this year has cost the lender £176.4 million forcing it into the red for the first half of 2018.

The results reflect the damage done when almost two million customers lost access to online banking services after the disasterous introduction of a new IT system in April.

TSB says only 37 per cent of more than 130,000 complaints have been resolved so far, and some IT issues are continuing.

It reported a loss of £107.4m in the six months to 30 June compared with a profit of £108.3 million last year.

“I know how frustrated many customers have been by what’s happened,” said chief executive Paul Pester.

“It was not acceptable, and was not the level of service that we pride ourselves on - nor was it what our customers have come to expect from TSB.”

The large cost of the affair which includes compensation, extra staff and interest waived, forced TSB to a £107 million loss for the six months to June 30, compared with a £108 million profit last year.

And the pain may not yet be over as there could be another £30 million or so in costs in the next six months, according to Ralph Coates, TSB’s chief financial officer.

The bank said that, as of 25 July, 135,403 complaints had been recorded and it had a team of more than 260 people looking into them.