Glitch-riddled TSB goes down again on payday

Written by Ruby Hinchliffe
2nd December 2020

Update 02/12/2020: TSB reached out to FinTech Futures to clarify “not all” customers suffered downtime on Friday. It also highlights it was, as of 30 September, ranked “19 out of 30” in the FCA’s bank list for IT outages – with one being the worst.

On Black Friday, TSB’s app and website went down for a handful of customers. It also happened to be payday.

But this isn’t the first time this has happened this year. The bank’s digital applications suffered downtime at the end of October and July too, as well as in mid-August and on April Fools.

Downdetector reported issues from almost 300 people before 13:00pm on 27 November. Complaints dropped off at around 15:00pm, and the bank later confirmed to The Sun that technical issues were resolved.

“[It’s] payday so it means that TSB online banking and app is down again,” says TSB customer on Twitter

For many TSB customers, the amount of downtime the bank has experienced since its major outage back in 2018 has become something of a running joke.

One user said on Twitter: “It’s always good when companies are consistent. Payday so it means that TSB online banking and app is down again. Yay!”

A stain hard to remove

In 2018, an IT outage left 1.9 million TSB customers unable to access their accounts for weeks following a botched core banking replacement.

The downtime cost the bank more than £350 million in customer compensation, and other expenses. It also led to a string of senior departures.

In January this year, the bank signed a deal with IBM. The major US cloud provider runs its online banking, systems and cash machines.

But it’s clear the bank has still suffered teething issues this year since signing the deal, designed to scrub out its glitch-riddled history.

TSB’s future

Spanish lender, Banco Sabadell, bought TSB in 2015. The UK subsidiary is currently back on the shelf, after Sabadell’s merger talks with rival BBVA disintegrated less than two weeks after announcing them.

The two firms couldn’t agree on a satisfactory pricing for the deal. BBVA, the acquiring company, experienced a 2% share price rise in the wake of the news.

Sabadell says it will seek “strategic alternatives for creating value with regard to the group’s international assets, including TSB”.

It has not specified whether this means selling the bank, though Sabadell’s renewed focus on its home market suggests it will eventually be sold.

TSB claims it has made progress in “taking full control of our IT”, despite at least five reported days of downtime this year.

The bank is also working on driving down operating costs. It’s in the process of closing 164 of its branches and cutting 960 jobs. This means the bank will operate a far lesser 290 branches at the end of next year, as opposed to its current 475.