Postbank: Criticism of the planned branch closures and problems with online banking

Postbank: Criticism of the planned branch closures and problems with online banking

According to a report by www.express.de, Ramona Pop, head of the Federal Association of Consumer Advice Centers, criticized the planned large-scale branch reductions at Postbank. She sees the planned closure of more than half of the branches as a “sheer mockery” for customers.

Deutsche Bank, to which Postbank belongs, plans to close up to 250 of the current 550 Postbank branches in the next two years. This move comes amid massive and ongoing problems with Postbank's online banking that have occurred in recent months. In some cases, customers could not access their accounts and customer service was difficult to reach.

Since the beginning of the year, the consumer advice centers have received around 1,700 complaints from Postbank and DSL Bank customers, almost three times as many complaints as in the entire previous year. In the third quarter alone there were more than 1,100 complaints about the two banks.

The planned store closure is expected to have a significant impact on the market and consumers. Closing branches means less personal customer service and on-site advice, which can be particularly problematic for older people or less tech-savvy customers. In addition, the bank's poor reputation could be further exacerbated as a result of the IT problems, which could lead to a loss of trust and customer churn.

Deutsche Bank should therefore quickly resolve the problems at Postbank and compensate the affected customers in order to restore trust in the bank and avoid long-term negative effects on the market.