Deutsche Bank Discussed Payments Issues With U.K. Regulators
Deutsche Bank Discussed Payments Issues With U.K. Regulators
(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG told U.K. regulators that it’s facing persistent issues in processing high-value payments in the country, a further sign of the IT problems plaguing the lender.
The German lender met with Bank of England officials two weeks ago to explain disruptions of payments going through the BoE’s high-value payments system CHAPS on several days in October, according to a person familiar with the matter. The bank has also discussed the issue with Megan Butler, head of supervision at the Financial Conduct Authority, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the news.
As a result of Deutsche Bank’s problems, about 21,000 payments for online retailer Amazon.com Inc. were delayed in recent months, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing the private information.
Deutsche Bank has long struggled to replace an aging IT infrastructure. Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing last year appointed a new chief operating officer, Frank Kuhnke, to lead the drive and recently hired Bernd Leukert, formerly a senior executive at German software company SAP SE, as head of technology and innovation.
Payments services is a core offering of Deutsche Bank’s transaction bank, which Sewing recently took out of the investment bank and turned into a standalone division now known as corporate bank. He has called the division the “DNA” of the bank and made it a centerpiece of his turnaround plan unveiled in July.
“We continue to invest substantially in our IT and platform capabilities,” a Deutsche Bank spokesman said in an emailed statement. “We put mitigating steps in place to ensure that similar issues cannot re-occur.”
CHAPS has 34 direct participants and processed 4.3 millions payments worth 7.5 trillion pounds ($9.6 trillion) last month, according to its website.
To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Arons in Frankfurt at sarons@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Christian Baumgaertel
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