TSB chief ‘profoundly sorry’ for IT problems

TSB chief executive Paul Pester has apologised “profusely” to customers who suffered fraud as a result of the IT problems that caused chaos for the bank as he appeared for a second time before MPS.

Mr Pester told the Treasury Committee that the bank was “overwhelmed” by reports of fraud from customers in the days after an IT migration went wrong, saying the bank saw an uplift in attacks 70 times the normal figure.

He said: “I obviously apologise profusely for this.”

The MPS focused their questions on the ability of the bank’s fraud line to handle the influx of cases, noting some customers had reported waiting “hours” for help from staff, but Mr Pester said the phone line had cut wait times to two or three minutes.

Mr Pester apologised repeatedly as he appeared before the committee after a difficult first hearing on 2 May during which chairwoman Nicky Morgan described his evidence as “the most staggering example of a chief executive who seems unwilling to realise the scale of the problem that is being faced”.