TSB boss shamed into giving up £2million bonus after IT fiasco

THE boss of TSB yesterday gave up a £2million bonus as he was shamed by MPs for complacency over the bank’s IT meltdown.

Paul Pester said that the disaster – in which up to two million customers were locked out of their online accounts during a failed switch to a new system – was the worst moment of his life and begged for forgiveness.

In a hearing before the Treasury Select Committee, he said: ‘We’ve caused some serious disruption to our customers in the past ten days, and for that I am truly sorry. If there’s one decision in my life I could change, it’s the decision to go ahead. Clearly that was a terrible decision for our bank, for our customers and for me personally.’

But Mr Pester, pictured, was criticised by the committee for claiming the system was now running smoothly – despite being confronted with stories of people who are still frozen out – and accuse customers of ‘shouting into the void’ on Twitter instead of contacting TSB. There are reports that its phone lines are jammed, with customers waiting for hours to get through.

Committee chairman Nicky Morgan said: ‘What we’re hearing this afternoon is the most staggering example of a chief executive who seems unwilling to recognise the scale of the problem.

‘To say that social media is shouting into the void doesn’t show much inclination towards being a truly digital online presence. Your Twitter account is recommending that people call, but their calls are either being cut off or they’re having to wait a long time.

‘People are having difficulties getting money out of their ATMs or branches.’

When Mrs Morgan told Mr Pester that two of her staff were trying to log on while he was speaking and were unable to do so, the boss joked: ‘It’s nice to know we have so many customers in the room – thanks very much for using TSB.’

The bank has received 40,000 complaints since the meltdown, with business customers saying they cannot pay staff and others fearing their energy supply being cut off through failed payments.

Although Mr Pester, 54, is giving up a bonus of £2million related to switching to the new computer system, TSB could still pay him a separate, annual bonus for 2018 of more than £1million. He pledged that no customer would be left out of pocket.