Criticism of Postbank's planned branch reductions: Financial expert calls on Deutsche Bank to improve customer service

Wie www.boerse-online.de berichtet, hat die Chefin des Bundesverbands der Verbraucherzentralen, Ramona Pop, den geplanten großflächigen Filialabbau bei der Postbank scharf kritisiert. Sie bezeichnete die angekündigte Schließung nahezu der Hälfte der Filialen als „blanken Hohn“ für die Kundinnen und Kunden der Postbank. Pop forderte die Deutsche Bank auf, den Kundenservice zu verbessern und Filialschließungen zu vermeiden, insbesondere aufgrund von anhaltenden Problemen beim Online-Banking.

Deutsche Bank plans to close up to 250 of the current 550 Postbank branches over the next two years. This was announced by private customer boss Claudio de Santis. The IT migration to Deutsche Bank caused considerable problems for both Postbank and DSL Bank. The data of around twelve million Postbank customers was transferred to Deutsche Bank's IT systems, which led to restrictions on account access and customer service that was difficult to reach.

The Federal Association of Consumer Advice Centers has received around 1,700 complaints from Postbank and DSL Bank customers since the beginning of the year. This corresponds to almost three times as many complaints as in the entire previous year. In the third quarter alone, consumer advice centers received more than 1,100 complaints.

The planned branch closures and the associated problems with online banking could have a significant impact on the market and consumers. Customers who rely on face-to-face contact in branches may need to do their banking in alternative ways. At the same time, this could lead to an overload of online banking, which could lead to further problems and restrictions in customer service. It remains to be seen how Deutsche Bank will respond to the criticism and whether it will find suitable solutions to the current problems at Postbank.

According to a report by www.boerse-online.de,