UK fines TSB Bank nearly £50 million for IT fail

British regulators on Tuesday said they had fined TSB Bank £48.7 million ($59 million) over an IT upgrade that left customers unable to access services.

The fine adds to £32.7 million paid by the British lender to compensate customers for fallout from its migration to a new system in 2018, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in a statement.

A "significant proportion" of the bank's 5.2 million customers were affected by the switchover that took months to resolve, it added.

"The failings in this case were widespread and serious which had a real impact on the day-to-day lives of a significant proportion of TSB's customers, including those who were vulnerable," said Mark Steward, FCA executive director of enforcement and market oversight.

"The firm failed to plan for the IT migration properly, the governance of the project was insufficiently robust and the firm failed to take reasonable care to organise and control its affairs responsibly and effectively."

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The fine was handed down in conjunction with another British watchdog, the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Former TSB Bank chief executive Paul Pester stepped down in 2018 following the IT debacle.

Source: AFP