Germany-based financial institution Deutsche Bank has announced the closing of multiple Postbank branches, in order to improve digital services after its mismanaged IT migration. According to Financial Times, Deutsche Bank plans to close as many as 250 of the Postbank’s branches in the following two years.

The decision was made as the financial institution aimed to prevent further disagreements with customers who were affected by the mismanaged IT migration and disrupted services that took place over the summer. Following the migration of Postabank’s customers to Deutsche’s IT platform, multiple of these clients were locked out of their accounts, which overwhelmed the bank’s helplines. In order to manage the situation, Germany’s financial watchdog BaFin rebuked the lender over the failures, with a plan to install a special monitor to oversee how the bank fixes the issues.

Furthermore, many Postbank branches were unable to be closed because of a long-term contract with postal service Deutsche Post DHL, even if they were unprofitable. Deutsche renegotiated the contract with the firm in order to be able to reduce the joint branch network by the middle of 2026. The number of branches that are set to be kept open includes 100 that will no longer offer Deutsche Post solutions.

Alongside the process of closing some of Postbank’s branches, Deutsche Bank will focus on improving Postbank’s digital capabilities and services. The remaining branches of Postbank are set to be optimised and to function as `tech centers`, with the possibility of troubleshooting problems for clients and customers.  Deutsche Bank’s recent developments Deutsche Bank announced several partnerships and launches in the last couple of months, covering multiple geographic areas around the world. In October 2023, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered announced their collaboration, aiming to test a system that was set to enable blockchain-based transactions, CBDCs, and stablecoins in order to talk to one another.

The functionality aimed to take an approach similar to the SWIFT messaging layer in the traditional banking infrastructure. The banks were running a series of test cases at the moment when the news was announced, which included the process of transferring and swapping USDC stablecoins, on the Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN), designed as a permission blockchain system composed of validator notes run by an alliance of financial institutions, banks, and consultancies. Earlier in the same month, the financial institution announced the acquisition of Numis in order to solidify its engagement with corporates and organisations across the United Kingdom.

The strategic move was aligned with Deutsche Bank’s Global Hausbank strategy, which positioned it as the primary point of contact for customers in the financial services sector. According to the press release published at the time, Deutsche Numis had a portfolio of over 170 corporate broking users, with plans to expand its relationship with both existing and prospective clients. In addition, the company was set to offer comprehensive and secure financial and advisory products to support its objectives.

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