TSB belatedly starts new era after finally leaving Lloyds computer systems behind
High street challenger bank TSB will belatedly start a new era today as it finally completes a computer migration from its former owner, Lloyds Banking Group.
Services for customers were limited over the weekend as the changeover happened. Some functionality is not due to work properly until the end of April, according to TSB’s website last night, although it said that “all of our services are now up and running”.
The bank will follow a “phased approach” to allowing new customers to sign up online, although new sign-ups in branches will still be possible, it said last night.
TSB, which was acquired by Catalonia’s Banco Sabadell in 2015, has suffered a torrid time in trying to migrate away from the banking platform run by Lloyds.
Read more: TSB warns of 2018 profit dent from increasing Lloyds outsourcing fees
The bank had intially targeted November 2017 for the migration, but it raised eyebrows in the industry by claiming last September that the prospect of an interest rate rise from the Bank of England had forced it to delay.
In February TSB warned that increasing fees paid to Lloyds to rent computer systems will dent profits for 2018, with a £20m fall in annual profits for 2017 mainly down to the rising bill from its former owner.
A successful migration will be a relief to TSB’s management, who have previously pointed to potential cost savings of £100m per year from using their own platform.
Read more: Profits slide at TSB but bosses insists new tech will end cost headache
The migration will likely also give TSB a boost ahead of the announcement of the winners of the remedies packages from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). TSB is considered by analysts as one of the frontrunners to secure a grant of up to £120m.
RBS has been forced to stump up £425m to boost competition in the small business lending sector after it failed to sell its Williams and Glyn network, one of the requirements of regulators after its £45bn financial crisis bailout was considered to constitute state aid.
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