Deutsche Bank has reportedly faced customer issues at a Postbank unit, prompting the German watchdog BaFin to consider investigating the problem further. Deutsche Bank AG is confronting a probe by Germany’s financial supervisor after it unsuccessfully remedied software issues at its retail unit Postbank that contributed to disruptions of customer business.

The German regulatory authority BaFin has observed significant disruptions in customer services at Postbank. BaFin is currently investigating whether these issues have regulatory implications. These disruptions encompass problems with online and mobile banking, limited telephone customer service availability, extended processing times for various banking transactions, including account attachments, inheritance matters, account closures, and savings deposit repayments.

The probe is another hurdle for Deutsche Bank in its journey to simplify its computer systems. The lender has been trying to transform or retire the IT at its Postbank subsidiary for more than a decade and in July 2023 declared the completion of the plan — known internally as Project Unity — to migrate client data to its own systems. Deutsche Bank said in July 2023 that finishing the project means it can finally start reaping some of the cost savings that it had initially hoped to achieve much earlier.

The resources thrown at Project Unity were a main reason why the lender has fallen behind competitors in developing digital banking offerings. Previous actions from BaFin In July 2023, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has issued an updated order for digital bank N26 on the prevention of money laundering. The published order recognised N26's efforts to enhance anti-money laundering measures and outlined a plan to address any remaining issues.

N26 is committed to swiftly complying with the order, collaborating with BaFin's special representative, and ensuring regulatory compliance to strengthen customer protection and its position as a responsible financial institution. .